Semper Mars : Book One of the Heritage Trilogy

Rating:
Summary: Hollow, Bland Military Sci-Fi
Review: When I bought this book and skimmed through it at the bookstore, I expected a riveting sci-fi techno-thriller reminiscent of early Dale Brown ("Silver Tower") and Tom Clancy ("Red Storm Rising"). Boy, was I mistaken! Though structured in the same episodic style as these early techno-thriller masterpieces, "Semper Mars" turned out to be a flat, uninspiring attempt to blend science fiction (based on a earth-shaking archeological discovery on Mars) and near-future military technology and world politics. The characters in the book are shallow and one-dimensional, while the action scenes border on the ludicrous. Far from capturing the intensity of a firefight in space or on the surface of Mars, for instance, all we get are weak descriptions in which the good guys always win, with no casualty to boot, against the best the UN had to offer. You'd almost think that the French Foreign Legion, an elite brotherhood-of-arms as deeply rooted in tradition and excellence as the U.S. Marines, are weekend warriors! And to top it all off there is the beer airstrike near the end of the story. What a joke! Do yourselves a favor and avoid any book written by Ian Douglas or William Keith; he simply is terrible.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best sci-fi books I have ever read.
Review: When I got this book I wasn't sure I would like it. However, once I started to read it I couldn't put it down. Some of the technology in it confused me, but I usually got to understand it. A few times it did get a little confusing, but when I read further everthing became clear. I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy to come out.