Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Science. Insiteful political commentary. Marines!
Review: Ian Douglas has a real winner here. He has done a surprizing job of mixing gritty military action with the political and scientific ramifications of war in space. This is not another Star Wars shoot-em up but an insiteful vision of what it may be like to fight a limited war in space in the near future. He also provides us with a unique mystery that we only glimpse enough of to make us want that next book. Great Reading !
Rating: 
Summary: Pray with me, that the sequels will never come out!
Review: If there was an award for the most stupid characters in sci-fi novels, Ian Douglas's heroes of "Semper Mars" would certainly win it. It's bad enough that the background situation is a bunch of pure humbug: Israelis and Arabs have made peace, Bosnians and Serbs have made peace, Indians and Pakistanis have made peace etc., even the French have given up their independence. All under the heading of the United Nations. Only the US is left, all alone in the world, with no other than Russia as it's only remaining ally. This setting deserves to be called "a strike of genius". It either reveals the author's total ignorance of politics, or a cheap shot at exploiting liquor-store level militia sentiments. Oh yes, the stupidity of characters: the US and it's Russian ally have a monopoly on space transport. Which NASA general would then be so stupid to ship 25 Marines to Mars, after 50 "hostile" UN troopers have already gone there? Which chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff wou! ld allow a transport of hostile forces in the first place ??? Another scene: two Marines sit in a foxhole guarding the US embassy in Mexico City during a crisis situation. Two Mexican armored fighting vehicles appear on the scene and open fire. The Marines don't know how to defend themselves. Of course I don't know the Marine Corps of 2040 (when the story takes place), but in 1982 when I left active duty, all fox holes had at least a bazooka or similar armor piercing equipment. And there wasn't even a crisis situation in 1982. Oh man, this is hard to stand. Best of all: the guard performance of the Marines. USMC are elite troops, right? Picture this: two Marines stand guard, while the rest of their platoon is asleep. The guards come under fire, one of them is wounded. The remaining Marine then "has only two choices - return fire or help his injured friend". (Hey - how 'bout setting off an alarm? What is he on guard for?) Ian Douglas then has the poor fellow help his friend, r! ather than returning fire "certainly, all Marines throughou! t history would have acted this way". What is this? A gang of pussy cats? This must be an attacker's dream: you hit one of the guards, and instead of alarming his sleeping comrades and/or defending himself, the second one stops fighting and tends his (not even seriously) wounded comrade. I haven't been a Marine (just regular Army), but this behavior will get you court-martialed. And rightfully so. Seems, that Douglas has picked up his military education from cheap B-movies or useless paper-back fiction. To top it off, then, despite all literary liberty the author fails to produce a compelling, or even mildly interesting, plot. I fell asleep after the first chapters and had to force my way through the rest of the novel (I was on an intercontinental flight and didn't have anything else to read). Forget this book.
Rating: 
Summary: OOH-rah! Long on Esprit de corps, short on substance
Review: Low-cal brain candy for those few of us addicted to all things Marine (Semper Fi!)and science fiction. Some humorous moments, Corps stereotypes abound, but the combat is what you'd expect from a nation raised on Platoon and Born on the fourth of July conciousness. A distracting, enjoyable exercise in not thinking too hard. Both of the sequels seem to run along the same vein.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent . . . and thought provoking!
Review: Mr. Douglas has the gift for combining good, believable characters, a very interesting story, and a commentary on current political trends. The result: one wild ride of a story. Not only does he present a very good sci-fi story, but he also provides a warning about what could occur if the trend towards giving up national sovereignty continues. Perhaps that's the reason why some European readers (who have already sacrificed economic sovereignty with political soon to follow) really don't like this book. As for the commentary about the supposed inaccurate description of the Marines, all I can say is that the characters reminded me of every Marine I've ever known and/or studied. These guys and gals would fit in well with every fire team in the USMC. Also, for those who claim that every foxhole has a "bazooka" (not used since the 1960s), please remember that the scene in question took place at an embassy! Plus, remember Beirut, 1983, when Marines in a known combat zone were ordered to patrol with their weapons unloaded? The Mexico City scene was perfectly plausible for anyone who remembers how badly politicians have screwed the USMC in the past, present and future.
Rating:
Summary: A very good story.
Review: Mr. Douglas's book is a frighteningly realistic look at what might someday come to be. His descriptions of the planet Mars, warring Earth, and struggling humans is thoughtful and entertaining. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this type of story, and am sincerely looking forward to the next book in this trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning and Exceptional
Review: My father is a US Marine, and I just saw the cover and said why not. I put it off for a while and am glad I did, so I wouldn't have to wait that much longer for the next book in the series! Anybody looking for a good story with and action and politics, this is it.
Rating:
Summary: Grade A++ page turner!!!
Review: Now I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit leary of this book at first. I'd never heard of the author, it was a different part of the genre than i normally read, and I've had some prior bad experiences with books about the Marine Corps. But I took a chance and in my opinion it was one of the best decisions I've made recently. This book was well written with a plot that I found extremely interesting. The characters seemed human to me and in fact almost all of the Marines reminded me of one or another of the real Marines that I know! Douglas manages to make the reader care about the characters and what happens to them. Even the villains seemed to have reasonable motives if you accept their basic philosophy. Of course that basic philosophy isn't much to MY liking or many other peoples either I expect. Still it is nice to see villains that ,while you do want them to lose, aren't just the scheming, evil, totally despicable characters that are sometimes used in! fictional works. I was quite entranced by the setting and applaud what I found to be a quite believable and logical chain of events in the book. I think Douglas makes fairly reasonable speculations about technology and life in 2040 and I can't say I've thought that about many of the Sci-Fi books I've read! I enjoyed Doulgas's use of the Cydonian Face (a real life mystery) in the book, it gives a more of a feel of realism that i enjoyed. I also liked the patriotic feel to the book (admittedly I am a fan of the Marine Corps as well) and enjoyed it as a solid work of Science Fiction. In closing I'll say that I feel this was an exceptional book and that I can't wait for Douglas to finish the next book in the trilogy. Keep up the good work Mr. Douglas, I'll be waiting!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Semper FI
Review: OK, First off im in the Marine Corp, im a 0311 infantry rifleman. As most of you know if you know marines Grunts are stupid and most dont read. Well thats me i dont read that much becuase i cant find a book to keep my attention. Well, to the conclusion of the story is, i hate reading and i am enjoying this book alot. I plan on buying the other two also. I do recomend this book to EVERYONE even if you dont like reading.
SEMPER FI
Rating:
Summary: Semper FI
Review: OK, First off im in the Marine Corp, im a 0311 infantry rifleman. As most of you know if you know marines Grunts are stupid and most dont read. Well thats me i dont read that much becuase i cant find a book to keep my attention. Well, to the conclusion of the story is, i hate reading and i am enjoying this book alot. I plan on buying the other two also. I do recomend this book to EVERYONE even if you dont like reading.
SEMPER FI
Rating:
Summary: Good....with a coupla reservations.
Review: Ok, I liked the book. Lotta fun with some interesting situations. Granted, it is a "gung-ho" marine type of book...but, that's not hard to figure out from the title. Personally, I have no problem with a gung-ho American/Marine type of story...especially in these days when America is often portrayed as the exact opposite. It will turn off those that think that way. I don't. The storyline is pretty interesting. Set in 2040, America has set up some habitats on Mars, and is researching the "Face" and other artifacts. Seems these are actually alien structures built a very long time ago. We are finding a treasure house of fascinating alien stuff. We are sharing these facilities with the UN. Which, in this story has become a pretty dominate force in the world. The US, Britain, and Russia are really not a part of the UN these days and there is some serious conflict between us. However, we allow the UN archealogists and scientists access to everything, and we share our research and study the sites together. The UN then sends some troops up to Mars, the US sends some marines up there to counter it...and things get a little interesting. In this story, the UN is a pretty dominate force. It has invaded Brazil because of Brazils lack of care for the rainforest. It wants the US to give up part of the Southwest for an "Aztecan" homeland thing. It has a very aggressive role in the world...all for the "good" of the worlds people of course. This may upset some people who think the world of the UN. I have been studying the UN for quite a while. Tho this book may look at the UN in the worse possible light, there is some factual reasoning to support some of it. Some of it may be a little too much...some of it is plausible. It's a book of fiction however, and the author decided to make the UN the bad guy masquerading as the worlds savior. Anyway, the UN forces decide, for the best interests of the world, not just for the benefit of the US, Britain, and RUSSIA, to take over the MARS station. The UN wants to control the new discoveries on MARS while the US scientists want to publish new findings to the world. However, the UN team thinks it needs to be controlled, and decides to take action to make it so. This also coincides with hostilities on the earth as well. Things are heating up everywhere. The book is mainly about how the US and the few Marines on Mars, as well as the scientists there...deal with this new situaton. It's a pretty fun read. There are a coupla reservations, however, that prevented me from giving this book a higher rating. The research facility on MARS is basically a US funded and built site. We are sharing it with others and the UN, but, it's mostly our show. When the new controversial discoveries are found, the UN commander there doesn't want the information released. The US team wants it be released. The UN commander (a sexy french woman) convinces the US people NOT to tell their superiors about the findings, until she talks to HER superiors first. WHAT?????? Well, for some unknown stupid reason, the US people let her talk to her superiors before they talk to any of theirs...she does, and the UN takes action before the US people tell anyone. I'm pulling my hair out by now. The US owns the station, their commander is the head guy on the station and he lets the UN commander tell her superiors and ask for advice before he even tells his own bosses?? Gimme a break. The other glaring reservation I have. A war starts up on Earth. The US, Britain, and Russia against the UN. Well, the UN is sending cruise missles, blowing up US cities. Troops cross from Mexico and Canada into the US...and the US president is contemplating what he might have to do to appease the UN, possibly surrendering. While the book talks about what the UN is doing to the US, there is not ONE MENTION of anything the US is doing in response. NOTHING, ZERO, NADA. We are just fighting a defensive battle on our own soil, and occassionally knocking down a missle heading our way. WHAT???? No mention at all of any counter attacks by our navy, submarines, air forces...hell, no mention of our navy, air force, submarine fleets at all! We just are being hit, and doing nothing in response, except defensively. Except on Mars. For some unknown reason, the President determines that it's all about Mars. Tho he can't send any troops to Mars to help...the outcome of the 20 marines vs 50 UN troops there is his number one concern. While a world war is going on here on earth. It's quite silly really. Now, these things bugged me. Annoyingly buggy. But, I still enjoyed the book for what it was. Characters were good, the Mars storyline and conflicts were fun. The book, and the series has some great potential...really :) Just bought the second book in the series...stay tuned :-) SF
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