Rating: 
Summary: Trying to Be Helpful. Really.
Review: "Not a bad little trilogy, and it moves right along," is the basic comment. There is some quite interesting Marine Corps history embedded and the combat sequences are quite enjoyable. Not a book to keep you on the edge of your seat or up all night, but it is mind candy for the commuter.The specifics of what I do and don't like about this book follow. I enjoyed the science speculations. The discussion of propulsion systems and the understanding of orbital dynamics was quite good. Or at least didn't send me hunting for my "for dummies" textbooks with a desperate sense of something wrong, here. The combat sequences are good, especially the sense of surreality when fighting in vacuum, where you don't hear anything that doesn't come over your com. The history lessons were welcome, and not overdone. On the other hand, the politicians once again take a pasting, while the military acts as it never has and with any sort of luck never will in a democracy. This is a weakness of a great deal of military SF, by the way. The authors all seem to luxuriate in the fantasy of a political establishment that either is on the military's side, or too far away to effect the outcome of an action, or (best of all) can be worked around without ever really abrogating the notion of civilian control. Ian Douglas managed to portray a civilian here and there who wasn't completely incompetent. In this trilogy, we get to see a couple civilians who don't end up soldier types, with guns in their hot little hands, portrayed as both competent and good guys. The archeologist characters were interesting. I liked their rationality in the face of discoveries that would tempt anyone into blind credulity. I had a certain amount of trouble with the premise of the good old Ancient Astronauts thing. That isn't Douglas' fault, by the way, it's a fun premise, and provides a good reason for humanity to finally get off the planet. (If you want the best reason of all, try reading Killing Star - which is hair-raising.) I'm just tired of it, that's all. At least Douglas resisted the temptation to stage an intervention. The politics are interesting in so far as Douglas seems convinced that the lunatic fringe is as big and dumb as I fear it is in my gloomier moments. In some way, the fact that most people who want to turn off their brains are currently either quiet or fragmented into so many tiny little sects that they make no difference has removed them from view. Douglas, who evidently reads a lot of the same stuff I do, has noticed that they're there, they don't pay a whole lot of attention to the real work being done in history and archeology, and yep, they are dangerous. Now, there's an interesting phenomenon I noted in all three of these books. In the first four chapters there are lots of problems with grammar, and pretty obvious ones at that. After that, they settle down. In Europa Strike, the problem is worse than that - Douglas doesn't remember who's who. He added a character who is the child of another main character, and unfortunately forgot to proof carefully enough in the first four chapters, so we have the old main character referred to by his son's name. The confusion is straightened out in the fifth chapter between one paragraph and the next. Oh, dear. This did not make me happy. I thought it was a lazy, sloppy sort of mistake. Most of the errors - including the grammar - were like that - I didn't feel that Douglas doesn't know the difference, just didn't pay enough attention to catch them. Overall, not bad, and I wouldn't discourage you from buying these.
Rating: 
Summary: A rare series all 3 books are excellent
Review: A very believable look into the near future. The military actions are fantastic, the people are real and the world is something that can easily imagined. A clear winner and he distances himself from other writers in the genre. A must read for any fan of military sci-fi.
Rating:
Summary: Great Military Sci-fi
Review: Europa Strike is the final of three books in the Heritage Series, a well written trilogy that combines some excellent military fiction with an engrossing science fiction plot that borrows heavily from the speculative archeology in Graham Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods". The characters are interesting and multi dimension, the plot is imaginative and the dialog is gritty and realistic. Once you get started, these books are hard to put down. The third book takes place 27 years after the first, in 2067, when scientists have discovered an alien artifact trapped under the ice locked oceans of the Jovian moon Europa. In a desperate bid for power, the Chinese rush an invasion team to make first contact with the machine. All that is standing between them and the knowledge that could make China supreme on Earth is an outnumbered band of US Marines.
Rating: 
Summary: SOOO disapointing...
Review: I loved the first two books in the Luna Marine Triology. Ian Douglas left so much to hope for with the end of the second book. Find out who the Hunters of the Dawn were, a final battle for supremacy in the galaxy. This had the potential for a really good story! Unfortunatly, it looks like Mr. Douglas wrote the book only to get it on the shelf. It barely tracks with the two previous books. A main personality from the first two stories is barely mentioned! The only excuse for this is if Mr. Douglas plans to write a fourth book. By what I read in Europa Strike, that is just what he plans to do. That or leave many readers SOOOOO disapointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Real world sci-fi
Review: Ian Douglas (AKA William Keith, Jr.) has managed to capture the feel of what it is to be a Marine in this trilogy. Combined with his talent for writing fairly realistic science into his work, he has easily created the best military sci-fi since Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg Legion series or David Drake's Hammer's Slammers. I eagerly awaited this book and wasn't disappointed at all. As for comments about the conclusion not wrapping everything up, why? Mr. Keith's website indicates that a second trilogy is on its way, that will take the Marines to the stars. Why wrap everything up when we have the chance to enjoy a long-running series with an epic sweep? For an example of just how enjoyable Mr. Keith's (Douglas') series can be, I recommend you read the Warstrider series.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting combat, but overall a feeling of impending doom
Review: Mr Douglas is very adept at grasping the essence of both the common soldier and officers' feeling and conduct in a combat situation, his glimpses into the mind of the enemy are also valuable. The technology utilised in space and on Europa seems to be a not too distant derivative of that available to our forces today, and his historical paralells are well drawn, and quite possibly the inspiration for the book as a whole. I was dismayed that the real malevolent foe was not revealed until the end of the novel, but there are obviuosly future campaigns ahead for the Space Marines. Any disappointment at the lack of a neat final ending to the book must be tempered by an anticipation of the series continuing.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent space opera!
Review: One of the most exciting space operas I've read in a long time with a believable timeline in regards to the future events that lead to all-out war near Jupiter. Another really good space opera with exciting events taking place in the 28th Century is "Advent of the Corps".
Rating:
Summary: Dave said no, but...
Review: Sure, way back in 2010 Dave passed along the message not to set foot on Europa, but since when do governments listen to mere Starchildren? Yes, this book may seem a little derivative from Clarke's work, but for the best of reasons: both authors obviously put in the research and determined a likely spot for alien tech in our solar system. Douglas's focus on a seriously divided homeworld and its reprecussions on exploration makes this a valued addition to the genre.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: The author's series of books describing marines in space is nothing short of brilliant. Why brilliant? His attention to detail in taking today's frontiers of physics and extrapolating them into applications in space travel and warfare is extraordinary. He also does a commendable job of making the warriors real people not super heros or one dimensional automatons. I highly recommend all 3 books in this series as a fun yet intellectual treat.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: The author's series of books describing marines in space is nothing short of brilliant. Why brilliant? His attention to detail in taking today's frontiers of physics and extrapolating them into applications in space travel and warfare is extraordinary. He also does a commendable job of making the warriors real people not super heros or one dimensional automatons. I highly recommend all 3 books in this series as a fun yet intellectual treat.
| 
