Star Marines: The Legacy Trilogy, Book 3

Star Marines (2007) is the third SF novel in the Legacy Trilogy and the sixth novel in the Future Marines sequence, following  Battlespace . The initial work in this sequence is  Semper Mars .In the previous volume, the Star Explorer Wings of Isis was observing the Wheel within the Sirius system in 2148. No one in the exploration ship knew what the Wheel was, but a slender golden ship emerged from the alien artifact. It was obviously a spaceship far larger than the Wings of Isis.In 2159, MIEU-1 returned to Earth after a twenty-one year mission to Ishtar in the Lalande 21185 system. Garroway awoke in a cybehibe tube. At first, he felt that he was drowning in an enclosed space, but then his implant reminded him that everything is okay.Colonel Ramsey got a briefing on the political situation. Some people didn't want the First MIEU back on Earth. The high brass were sending MIEU-1 to Sirius to investigate the disappearance of the Wings of Isis.The brass believed that the Wheel was a Tipler Machine, an artificial wormhole. They think that it could be used to travel between the stars. But they were not certain whether a special course would be required to reach a specific destination.In this novel, Clinton Vincent Garroway is a Brigadier General in the US Marine. He commands the First Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Unit.Robert Ellsworth Lee is a Colonel in the US Marines Corps. He commands the First Regiment of the Marine Division.Travis Garroway is a Gunnery Sergeant in the US Marines.In this story, the Ones Who Are noticed a star system in Sector 2420 had regained spacefaring technology. Species 2824 had recently followed a Huntership through a Gateway and destroyed it. Another Huntership was dispatched to the Sector.The Huntership emerged from paraspace six light hours from the primary. Electromagnetic samplings revealed many transmitting objects around the primary. Most were clustered around the third planet. The Huntership began moving sunward.The US Marine Corps is testing a new type unit. The Recon Strike Team will be dropped onto a hostile planet to reconnoiter before deployment of a Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Unit. An RST will have a recon battalion, a special weapons battalion, an air element with sixteen aerospace fighters, and a headquarters constellation.Colonel Lee is charged with converting his regiment into an RST. Today they are testing Individual Marine Assault Craft at the Mars Military Training Command facility in Eos Chasma. Thirty-two IMACs and a cloud of decoys are inserted from orbit into the Martian atmosphere.Travis and the other thirty-one marines are riding the combat-insertion pods through the Martian atmosphere. They are having a bumpy ride over Olympus Mons. Each pod is trailing a streak of hot plasma.Then the pods slow down enough to discard the ablative material, adding to the clutter around the occupied cans. Radio is no longer blocked by the plasma and the pods regain communications with each other. At twelve kilometers, the pods transform into lifting bodies and the drive systems are activated.The pods dive downward and pull up into horizontal flight at fifteen hundred meters. For ninety seconds, they streak across the desert and then land on the surface. The hulls open and marines emerge to attack their objective.Meanwhile, the Huntership is detected by a High Guard monitor. The alien is traveling at .95c and reaches the monitor soon after the first contact. The Huntership decelerates to almost motionless in a split second. The monitor sends the data just before it is discorporated.The training exercise on Mars is terminated as soon as the news reaches Phobos. Transports are dispatched to pick up the marines. Other ships are evacuating Phobos. General Garroway receives orders to activate the RST and transfer command to his MIEU.This tale takes 1MIEU and the new RST outsystem toward Saturn. The High Guard are tracking the alien vessel. It is nudging asteroids into new orbits.The aliens are dropping asteroids on Earth. The next installment in this series is  Star Strike .Highly recommended for Douglas fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of hostile aliens, boarding actions, and brave marines. Read and enjoy!-Arthur W. Jordin

I read this whole series over Christmas vacation. It was a fun read. Lots of action, but you do have to suspend disbelief and not delve too deeply into the possibilities of being able to manipulate things at the subatomic level... But,it was vacation, so I just turned my brain off and enjoyed the action.

I have to agree with the previous review regarding cramming too much into the books...the only reason I gave it 5 stars is because 4.5 wasn't available and i did love the book regardless fo what you may read below.He could have easily added a book between this one and the previous. Also, there was a lot of technical info and history that could have been left out of the book, especially if you have read alot of military SF that focuses on the Marines. Or if you have read the previous five books for that matter. (There are a few other authors who focus on Marines too).He tends to do a lot of explaining. (I don't know if he was just trying to fluff it up a bit) I thought I was reading a Chrichton novel with some of the explanations or character thoughts that never seemed to end.On the other hand, when it comes to his future tech he is the best and he doesn't dissapoint here. The battles and story are great and he could defintiely continue the series if he wished. I just hope he adds more books!But I do love his books and would reccomend his previous works to anyone (Under William H. Keith Jr). If you enjoyed the nanotechnology in this book than try to pick up a copy of his Warstrider series (He is my favorite SF author when it comes to nano tech and its possibilites). I have read many of his books multiple times.Sorry for the book that I just wrote considering I complained about the author doing the same thing!

I love the story, I really thing the author did an amazing job of creating a believably extrapolated future world. Reading the books make me nostalgic for my youthful days in the Navy and reading this series has actually improved how I think of Jarheads.I love the way that politico's are portrayed, A bit askew, but they deserve it. I actually would get frustrated and angry toward the politicians in the book ( a good sign of being emotionally invested in the story ) when I was reading it.I love the science, particularly the deep discussions of quantum physics, that went into developing the world. I prefer it when authors use science to support belief over requiring the reader to suspend disbelief.My one big problem is with how much the author rehashes the same stuff, whether it is events from the previous books or just re-explaining for the 10th time how time dilation effects passengers on near-c space craft...there were times where it was really a task to sift through it because he would put just enough in there that you had to read through the re-hash to pick up the few lines that were relevant to the current situation instead of just being able to skip it.Star Marines was surprisingly thought provoking and I look forward to reading the Inheritance Trilogy...in a few months, because I won't make it if I have to re-read the highlights of the Legacy Trilogy before I get a chance to forget them...

All three books of the Legacy Series are excellent military sci-fi. The read should start with the Heritage series, as the prequel to the Legacy Series. I would highly recommend all books written by Ian Douglas. The stories do seem very real even though they are fiction.They are flowing and sometimes heart-wrenching. Read to beleive.I just hope that in the future we do not meet an alien civilizaion like the Xul. STEP TO THE STARS WITH CARE AFORE-THOUGHT !

plausible yet not too far into the future , and almost believable too!..once in your hooked!,, why? Because you can relate to ALL the characters .....................T

Great story line with side lines that lead to a good ending, will keep you reading till you finish and looking for more.

Excellent story as ever. But. Who in their right mind decided to replace the word 'list' with the word 'text', everywhere! Replace all is a dangerous tool indeed!

Excellent.

Like all in these series, an enjoyable read, especially the changes in society. I've read all the books so where to now...