Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: Having read March Upcountry and March to the Sea, I preordered this book and waited anxiously for it. I have to say I was disappointed. I was hoping for a wrapup to the trilogy, instead we have 500 pages of improbable gore ending in another cliff hanger. The plot takes decidedly Manticorian flavor with too much court intrigue and not enough Marines in action. This would have been a great 3 book set. The setup for a fourth book is not subtle and makes me wonder how long the authors plan to milk this franchise. They're almost out of characters.I definitely won't pre-order the next volumn. I'll probably wait and read the reviews first.
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: I am probably dating myself here, but I find Weber/Ringo's works to be every bit as entertaining as Robert Heinlein's and David Eddings stories. I don't think I can pay a higher compliment. It's very apparent that one or both have some combat experience, the battle descriptions and the mental attitudes of the characters are too close to reality to be "made" up.
March to the Stars did not disappoint me in any way. Nor did it proceed as I had thought it would. That was pleasant, I like a little surprise now and then. I am looking forward to the next installment. I agree that if this turns into a ten book series it may hard to keep it as exciting and fresh as it has been. But I could easily see it being a six book series. Doesn't matter I will still buy and read em all. To those Nay-sayers and armchair editors out there, write something better...I'll buy it and read it too. To David Weber and John Ringo...keep it up guys, in this old farts opinion, you're doin good. "nuff said".
Rating:
Summary: H. Beam Piper would be pleased
Review: I don't how or when these guys decided to use H. Beam Piper's univers, but I am sure that he would be pleased. These to guys are like him Calivers. The story, hits the junction just right. No repeating, of the same process of army building again. Just the next step. what will Prince Roger, do once he reaches the port. The Story is just right and holds your attention. It is best read right after the first two books. outstanding.
Rating: 
Summary: As good as the first book of the series
Review: I have read all 3 books of the series and liked the first and third book a lot. The second book, I was either ill or it just didn't fit quality wise with the first and third. I even thought about not reading the 3rd book because the second was rehash of first, not well constructed, left you frustrated because it used so many people's point of view, etc. however, not I am glad I did read the 3rd one and am looking for the fourth - sixth in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Letdown
Review: I have to admit I had extremely high expectations for March to the Stars, probably too high. After all March Upland and March to the Sea were two of the best books I have read in years. The characters, character development and action were superb. However this third installment left me a little unsatisfied. In March to the Stars you have for the most part the same characters, same action, so where is the problem? The problem is that they are the same. I mean how many barbarian hordes can you slaughter before it gets a little old? How long can unrequited love continue before it gets stale and you begin to believe the characters involved are mere idiots instead of soul scared human beings? (I have to admit this part really bothered me, the romanticist in me wanted to see a lot more development in the relationship between the prince and Sergeant Despreaux and the turn it took disappointed me. My problem you say? Correct but it did not help to give me an overall "feel good" for the book.) Another problem I had with this series is when will it end? In my opinion this could have been wrapped up in this volume ending what I would consider to be one of the best stories written in the past few years. But no, we are left on the hook again. Not necessary a bad thing but I fear that excessively prolonging it will diminish the excellent story that has already been written. I look to the Wheel of Time or the Sword of Truth series' as examples of authors who just don't know when to stop! I am sorry to see a good thing run into the ground and I fear it may happen here. John Ringo's A Hymn Before Battle series is heading down that path quickly. Every story needs closure or it becomes tedious and boring. In summary this volume was average at best. The best I can say about it, since I will probably have to wait another year for the next one, is that I won't waiting around with that gut wrenching anticipation that March to the Sea gave me.
Rating:
Summary: A little bit of a change of pace.
Review: I just bought the hardback of this last night. I read it in one sitting, though I had cheated by reading the first few chapters at Baen's website. It's an excellent book, which I stongly recommend. I did not enjoy it quite as much as the first two in this series\universe, but that may be because the shifting settings in the book. Again, though, it's a great book which I recommend to fans of this series in particular and the genre in general.
Rating:
Summary: fails expectations
Review: I looked forward to this book with great anticipation. The first two were very 'addictive,' and I thought that this series would be a trilogy... but it may go on to March to the Galaxy, March to the Kingdom, March Against the Saints, March Against...., etc. The problem with the series lasting this long is that the law of averages in military science fiction, to be believable, requires that characters can not survive an indefinite number of battles... except of course, Prince Roger. And if he were the only character the reader cared about, and killing barbarians and other deserving foes were the main focus, the series could go on forever. However, the authors are so good at what they do [creating more 'human' and in-depth characters than found in average stories of this genre] that when the characters die, who cares who the replacement winners are?? ... they will all die anyway. (One of the basic rules of fiction is to create characters the reader cares about enough to keep reading. And the 'new' replacement characters in this series don't compensate for the loss of some of the most important of the present characters.) Then as mentioned in another review, Prince Roger has grown as a human being and a military man, but he and his love interest
can't grow enough to overcome their backgrounds, plot manipulation [how many "knocks at the door" can there be? or Roger's changing hereditary status ], and the fact that almost no author[s] can create a series with a mature love relationship between a man and woman. So we [the readers] are condemned to be as frustrated, almost as the Roger and Despreaux are. Finally, the last part of the book is manipulated with a 'chance' encounter with lethal opposition. If you read this book, don't get too attached to the characters, but I guess it's too late for this advice. We already care a lot because of the first two Great books.
Rating:
Summary: More politics coming
Review: I think John Ringo is a great (relatively) new author and I look forward to everything he writes. Until this book, his collaboration with the established David Weber worked well, with Ringo's humor and great writing about infantry combat and personalities blending well with Weber's space opera and political intrigue. But as this book progressed, I saw less and less Ringo and too much of Weber's repetitive treatment of politics in space empires. I was disappointed with the ending in several dimensions, and I'm pessimistic about how much room there will be for Ringo's part in the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Weber
Review: I would like to start out by saying that, while the title of my review (and the overall tone) is "Thoroughly Weber," John Ringo makes this book come alive (as he has the previous ones). With the first two, it was almost like the infamous misrepresentation of the Marines (and any other armed forces for that matter): "Travel to distant lands, meet strange and exotic native peoples, and kill them." Now, as with the Honor Harrington series, another layer of plot gets pasted on, adding to the size of the volume that, frankly, could do with a lot less space: Politics. Hunam-Human politics, Marduk-Marduk politics, Human-Marduk politics, Human-Marduk-Human politics. Some reviewers complained about the over-sized fish, about the pirates/raiders/slavers, about the improbability of the end of the book. If you really want to read them, feel free. I won't repeat their concerns here. Very few authors are able to withstand the "Bigger, Flashier" urge when writing a series. Even if you do manage it, eventually all your plots begin to feel the same - and sales drop. So, Honor Harrington's series grew slowly, then the growth became exponential in complexities. Now it's almost impossible to read if you haven't bought, read, digested and re-examined the entire series, you miss out. Hopefully, this series won't go the same way. But this latest book certainly indicates that it might. The battles are more epic, the dangers nastier, and the bad guys have finally come out into the open. No surprise, really, that it's the same person you've probably suspected would crop up again somehow since the first book. And that's sad. You shouldn't be able to predict who's going to be the major villain until the end. Even in science fiction. My take on this book? It's a nice bit of mind candy for the bus commute. It's a fun read, a good ride, but you'll be able to put it down and mostly forget it at the end of the day.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Weber
Review: I would like to start out by saying that, while the title of my review (and the overall tone) is "Thoroughly Weber," John Ringo makes this book come alive (as he has the previous ones). With the first two, it was almost like the infamous misrepresentation of the Marines (and any other armed forces for that matter): "Travel to distant lands, meet strange and exotic native peoples, and kill them." Now, as with the Honor Harrington series, another layer of plot gets pasted on, adding to the size of the volume that, frankly, could do with a lot less space: Politics. Hunam-Human politics, Marduk-Marduk politics, Human-Marduk politics, Human-Marduk-Human politics. Some reviewers complained about the over-sized fish, about the pirates/raiders/slavers, about the improbability of the end of the book. If you really want to read them, feel free. I won't repeat their concerns here. Very few authors are able to withstand the "Bigger, Flashier" urge when writing a series. Even if you do manage it, eventually all your plots begin to feel the same - and sales drop. So, Honor Harrington's series grew slowly, then the growth became exponential in complexities. Now it's almost impossible to read if you haven't bought, read, digested and re-examined the entire series, you miss out. Hopefully, this series won't go the same way. But this latest book certainly indicates that it might. The battles are more epic, the dangers nastier, and the bad guys have finally come out into the open. No surprise, really, that it's the same person you've probably suspected would crop up again somehow since the first book. And that's sad. You shouldn't be able to predict who's going to be the major villain until the end. Even in science fiction. My take on this book? It's a nice bit of mind candy for the bus commute. It's a fun read, a good ride, but you'll be able to put it down and mostly forget it at the end of the day.
| 
