Rating: 
Summary: Here we go again!
Review: We are back at the world that Forstchen has created, this time twenty years after the events that were described in book 8, "Men of War." The challenge this time are the Kazan, of the same race as the Hordes, but more advanced, and the resurgent, although weak, Bantag, still led by Jurak. An innovative element is the entire Kazan culture, with a secretive and powerful religious sect that manages to be more dangerous than the Kazan emperor, and this sect's daring experiment in biological manipulation and religious braiwashing of humans. There are some elements from earth's modern military history that play out well in the novel, like the controversy between the advocates of a battleship navy and those who pull for a carrier navy (big guns against planes), and most of the new characters are engaging. There are problems with "Down to the Sea," though, and the four stars reflect those problems. For starters, the introduction on the back cover refers to a Lieutenant Michael O'Brien who is captured by the Kazan. Maybe he was, but this character does not appear in the book at all. The two who are captured are O'Donald's son and Richard Cromwell (Tobias Cromwell's son), who ends up being the hero of the story. Other points have to be addressed: there is a certain implausibility with so many of the Republic's landmarks and even warships named after American Civil War battles. After wars such as the ones described by the author in which humans confronted the Hordes and millions died, the American Civil War should be a fading, almost quiet memory for the men from New York and Maine. It is not very convincing that the newest, biggest battleship of the Republic is named "Gettysburg," since so many battles in this New World have been far costlier than Gettysburg, and have meant far more to the natives. English as the official language is convenient but, again , not convincing: millions speak Russian, Greek, Latin, Chinese, etc. English as imposed from above would be a struggle. Still, I liked the book. For all my complaints, this is the best series going right now. Besides, at the rate the Republic is advancing, space will soon be their next endeavour.
Rating:
Summary: Great Revival of a great Series!
Review: What a really nice surprise. I picked this book out of habit. Often once I get hooked on a series I continue to buy the novels produced in the series regardless of the quality. This was the case in the Regiment series. The series before this novel had been showing the strain of 7 novels set in the same world with the same characters. The plot was repeating and the characters were losing their luster.This book is a breath of fresh air. Set twenty years after the events in the last Regiment novel "Down to Sea" casts the children of the heroes of the previous books into the lead rolls. This is a ploy that often backfires in series extensions but it works very well this time around. The new enemy in the Kazan are related to the hordes of the past but are far more advanced then the horde of the past. In this conflict the horde will have the technological advantage, not the humans. The son of a traitor is the hero or zero of this war. Quite a good book, which is the promising beginning to a new series, set in the same world as the Regiment novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Leaves many gaps
Review: When writing a series book like this that has a multifacetd storyline and variables it helps to not leave people hanging and have more consistency. For instance we know its 20 years later but little is said about what has happened then. Having a timeline chart would be helpful. Another would be a worldmap. This has always been a complaint of this series which the author did include in book #8. In this one we have no idea about what countries are in the Republic, where the major rivers, oceans, and cities are, or where the campaigns are taking place. Also there is alot of mention of the alien technology in the previous books. I find it hard to believe that in 20 years the humans hadn't visited all the ancient horde sites or deciphered the sacred scrolls. Finally while most of the book is a good page turner the ending, as in book #8, is too chopped off. But all in all I still reccomend the book and I look forward to the next.
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