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Inheritance Trilogy #1
Star Strike
Planet by planet, galaxy by galaxy, the inhabited universe has fallen to the alien Xul. Now only one obstacle stands between them and total the warriors of a resilient race the world-devourers nearly annihilated centuries ago . . . A power vast, ancient, and terrifying, the mighty Xul have lost track of the insignificant humans hundreds of years after devastating their home world—which has enabled the United Star Marines to operate unnoticed and unhindered. A near-autonomous intergalactic policing force, they battle in defense of an Earth they may not live to see again. Now, following the trail of a vanished twenty-fourth-century transport, they are journeying through an unexplored stargate to the edge of an unknown galaxy many light years from their sun. For the last, best, and only chance to defeat the tyrants of the universe may at long last be at hand . . .
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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671 people want to read
About the author
Ian Douglas
99 books570 followersIan Douglas is a pseudonym used by William H. Keith Jr..
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 12, 2022
The Galaxy is a hellishly big place.
Just the thing to get my reading schedule for the year back on track, after a bit of a speed bump.
The Inheritance trilogy is the third (somewhat contained) trilogy of the Marines in Space series. As such, I suppose it can be read in isolation, but I did read the Legacy trilogy before this, and I have to say that it added a lot of dimension to the events depicted here.
For example: the alien races that are referenced fairly frequently here, as well as earlier dealings with the Xul, are described over the course of the earlier trilogies, and specifically the second one (Legacy). One of the aspects of this series that I have been enjoying, is the mythos that Douglas has created, going back to ancient history and much further, to the origin of humankind, and how that ties in to events in the bigger cosmic picture.
I don't want to get too long winded, though.
This novel takes place around 550-odd years after the events of Star Marines and the devastation of Earth. The Xul are re-emerging as a threat to humanity's continued existence, and, well, we all know what happens next. I won't go into details, other than to say that this is Military Science Fiction and that there are very, very big explosions (and then some).
Bonus stars for: Skybase, and Starwall.
The panorama was breathtaking, and magnificent. It was like looking at a towering cliff, but instead of rock the cliff face was made of stars, of millions, of billions of stars massed and piled high and thronging deep, a wall of blazing stars interlaced through with the snaking tendrils of black, obscuring dust clouds, and with the shining radiant clouds and delicately hued sheets of reflective nebulae, their tattered edges gilded by starlight.
August 13, 2019
Good solid military SiFi book. While the 3 trilogies are connect by a central timeline they are standalone stories. Nice well thought out aliens and science in the story. Recommended
February 4, 2009
This is *terrible*. Unless you happen to be a Marine Corps/Space Opera crossover fan-person, which I'm really not. I've seen Mr. Men books with better character development. The technology is unconvincing, the political premises are bizarre, and, frankly, it could do with some editing. But when you run out of all other space opera...
May 1, 2011
This is the first book in the third trilogy about US Marines. The story jumps ahead about half a millenium. The Xul still threaten humankind, but have been quiescent since the events of Star Marines. As per usual, the Marines are hindered by a misguided politician, then proceed to save the day and win a great victory. There is the usual boot camp training sequence with a new scion of the Garroway line.
While the plots are becoming somewhat formulaic, these novels are still of high quality. The action is gritty, the story is epic, and the books are real page turners. I was afraid that all the “future tech” would somehow make the story less relatable, but this is not so. Douglas manages to explain well how technologies like AIs, direct mind link to computers and virtual spaces change the way humans interact. He also infuses the book with a sense of history, and understands that political entities and priorities can shift dramatically over time.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=656
While the plots are becoming somewhat formulaic, these novels are still of high quality. The action is gritty, the story is epic, and the books are real page turners. I was afraid that all the “future tech” would somehow make the story less relatable, but this is not so. Douglas manages to explain well how technologies like AIs, direct mind link to computers and virtual spaces change the way humans interact. He also infuses the book with a sense of history, and understands that political entities and priorities can shift dramatically over time.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=656
February 5, 2017
This is the 1st book in the Inheritance Trilogy by Ian Douglas. In this one it has been over 500 years since the Space Marines attacked and destroyed an outpost of the Xul. The Xul have since lost track of Earth and it's colonies. The Xul find an Earth ship which has been fleeing the galaxy at sublight speeds for hundreds of years. They attack and destroy it but not before removing knowledge which will lead them back to Earth. The Space Marines and Earth are notified of this by the ships AI just before it is destroyed. The Marines devise a plan to take the battle to the Xul despite opposition from Earth politicians. They meet a race of beings with the technology to make stars go nova and with their help battle the Xul. This is a great read and a great example of Military Science Fiction and I recommend it to all fans of Ian Douglas.
December 9, 2015
This was a good first book in a new trilogy. I have read (and am reading) other books by this author, and have enjoyed them so far. I like how the author describes space battle and space travel without falling into the trap of explaining everything. Some of the action was a little predictable, but how the battles resolved themselves was well done. The author's line marriages in the book remind me of Heinlein's group marriage concept where multiple men and women are married to each other without it being a "gay thing" necessarily. The ending was a little unexpected, and it will be intriguing to see who the enemy is in the next book.
May 14, 2025
Parts of this novel were awesome. Super fun. It's got a great premise, with humans trying to survive in a universe where the Xul, a very advanced, ancient alien race, wipes out intelligent, technologically advanced species whenever they find them. Humans barely survived coming into contact with them centuries before, and it seems that the Xul have luckily lost track of them. However, they're about to come back into contact.
Great stuff. There's lots of cool technology, much of it based on good hard science, and the rest based on fun impossibilities (like faster than light travel) that make this type of novel work. If it had been all about that, I think this would be a 5 for me. But huge chunks of the novel are given up to a pointlessly drawn-out marine boot camp and a bunch of other military life throat-clearing passages that get super dull. We would go from edge of your seat action to a complete stop, with a couple of people chatting about stuff the author seems to care about. There are long conversations about politics, usually lamenting the way regular people don't understand what it is the marines are doing for them and how ridiculous the public is. You could have pictured Col. Jessup delivering a lot of these lectures.
Then we'd get a little action again. Then stop to have a long chat. I can put up with long technobabble passages in a novel like this, with all the weapons being described and given goofy alphanumeric names, and the origin of the FTL drives explained, and the like. I wish it was only that.
I almost never do this, but I skipped a bunch of it. Skimmed many pages. It didn't matter a bit to the story. And that, of course, was my problem with it. The readers digest version of this story would be great. All the action and none of the dreary, pointless, editorializing conversations.
I wonder if I'm being too hard on this, giving only a 3 and some harsh criticism. Then I ask myself, do I want to read the sequels? Or related series? I don't. And there's a bunch of them, so that's a bummer.
Great stuff. There's lots of cool technology, much of it based on good hard science, and the rest based on fun impossibilities (like faster than light travel) that make this type of novel work. If it had been all about that, I think this would be a 5 for me. But huge chunks of the novel are given up to a pointlessly drawn-out marine boot camp and a bunch of other military life throat-clearing passages that get super dull. We would go from edge of your seat action to a complete stop, with a couple of people chatting about stuff the author seems to care about. There are long conversations about politics, usually lamenting the way regular people don't understand what it is the marines are doing for them and how ridiculous the public is. You could have pictured Col. Jessup delivering a lot of these lectures.
Then we'd get a little action again. Then stop to have a long chat. I can put up with long technobabble passages in a novel like this, with all the weapons being described and given goofy alphanumeric names, and the origin of the FTL drives explained, and the like. I wish it was only that.
I almost never do this, but I skipped a bunch of it. Skimmed many pages. It didn't matter a bit to the story. And that, of course, was my problem with it. The readers digest version of this story would be great. All the action and none of the dreary, pointless, editorializing conversations.
I wonder if I'm being too hard on this, giving only a 3 and some harsh criticism. Then I ask myself, do I want to read the sequels? Or related series? I don't. And there's a bunch of them, so that's a bummer.
December 4, 2011
I've been a fan of Ian Douglas for quite a while. Found his work at a local Borders and I bought his entire Legacy Trilogy. I loved it. Found it every intriguing, as a fan of sci fi that enjoys works that are more hardcore than StarWars.
I think it was the shock factor of actually "devastating" earth [go read it for the true details] that magnetized me to his previous work, and I was also drawn to the futuristic theme interwoven into the combat suits, small cylindrical Marine drop-pods, battle spacecrafts and the setup of modern grounded structures. Obviously a lot of thought went into that series by the author, and I give him his due credit.
But in this new series, perhaps the third Trilogy set written by the author, I was disappointed. Why? Because the work became very predictable, adamantly redundant and slightly stale, in my opinion. The main villains to humanity in the previous series, keep rising as a deadly ancient menace that is focused on eradicating all other sentient life in the galaxy. And the resilient humans keep rising over the years, becoming smarter over the centuries as they assimilate the eldritch technology stolen from the Xul [and given from other friendlier old aquatic races from foreign a distant world]. Trans-c technologies that help to provide super acceleration have been extensively studied and innovatively applied to earthly Marine cruisers/warships. There are several rings around the earth, which serve as communal housing depots and office establishments. The dispersal of Nano-D clouds is introduced, helping the Marines to devour their foes on harsh battlefields. But they good guys are still no match for the Hunters of the Dawn [the Xul villains], technology wise.
In this brand new series... the grand plot is Exactly the same. I did not see any new innovations that could clearly tag this as a completely New Trilogy. This book, Star Strike, would even be best called Part 4, from the previous Trilogy tale. Here in Star Strike, the humans keep looking for new distant star clusters that host the alien Xul, and they seem to employ slightly newer technologies in their spaceship warp-drives and their contained warheads.
The Space Marines are called on once again, alerted about a recently destroyed space transport piloted by an AI that was launched back in the other trilogy [transporting important rich humans in cryo-sleep to the Andromeda galaxy], after earth was ravaged by the Xul alien invaders. Now, the alien Xul are starting to hunt the earth again, but the earth's disparate government alliances are virtually at war with one another. Humans are fighting other rebel human forces. And no one wants to pay for an expensive war campaign against the Xul, and the Marines need sanctioning political and military support before they can be deployed into space.
Arguments arise again between the world powers. And we have the traditional bickering in grand assemblies [exactly formatted like the meetings in the previous Trilogy], as politicians and senators clash with veteran militant idealists who are advocates for the greater good.
Its almost like the humans are confronted with this cyclic dilemma: "Damn the Xul are back, and they're probably hunting earth again. They're bigger and stronger. And we'll be damned if we fight, and damned if we don't..."
Core storyline is basically the same as in the previous Trilogy: A sneak attack is obviously the solution, upon Starwall, the identified habitual nexus of the Xul. Giant tuned Star-gates in space will help the Marines virtually teleport to a distant star cluster, and there, you bomb the bad guys [after you "gain sanctioning clearance" to use that particular star-gate from the colonial masters that claim the right to it]. After blasting the bad guys, we may have to bomb the star-gate as well, so they can't chase us back to the galactic heart of Sol. You win, and Species-2824 survives... for now, till the next book.
The main protagonist is a blood relative of the original hero from the first Trilogy, since these books have like 100 to 500 years between each tale. And sometimes, traveling back and forth over light years across the stars is the main cause why the large time gaps exist between the books. In this book, Private Aiden Garroway is the rising hero. But there is little or no character development for this protagonist. I found myself not caring about battle build ups, because I couldn't relate to the hero; you don't really get to know what makes him tick. Therefore, you don't really care about what happens to him.
Halfway into the story, the Stars Of Aquilla are presented: a distant star cluster approximately 350 light-years away, where there may be more "friendly" sentient life... or maybe the lifeforms there are evil. But on the other hand, the Xul may have pounded the lifeforms at the Stars of Aquilla several centuries ago, causing several supernovae to be witnessed from that distant segment of space.
The Marines are now thinking of heading out to that star system, to glean any remnants of high-tech alien technology, to use against the Xul... but what awaits them there? And what about the pending invasion at Starwall? What will happen to earth??
Hell, I really don't care.
I couldn't bear to read this one to the very end. It's just too predictable. I love the author and I respect his style, but this new Trilogy already sounds like a story he's told before. Yes, there was action in deep-space... but I'd seen it all before, in the previous Trilogy--the good guys use new tools to do the same thing.
Everyone will have their own opinion. Just don't expect anything extremely new plot wise, in this Star Strike.
I think it was the shock factor of actually "devastating" earth [go read it for the true details] that magnetized me to his previous work, and I was also drawn to the futuristic theme interwoven into the combat suits, small cylindrical Marine drop-pods, battle spacecrafts and the setup of modern grounded structures. Obviously a lot of thought went into that series by the author, and I give him his due credit.
But in this new series, perhaps the third Trilogy set written by the author, I was disappointed. Why? Because the work became very predictable, adamantly redundant and slightly stale, in my opinion. The main villains to humanity in the previous series, keep rising as a deadly ancient menace that is focused on eradicating all other sentient life in the galaxy. And the resilient humans keep rising over the years, becoming smarter over the centuries as they assimilate the eldritch technology stolen from the Xul [and given from other friendlier old aquatic races from foreign a distant world]. Trans-c technologies that help to provide super acceleration have been extensively studied and innovatively applied to earthly Marine cruisers/warships. There are several rings around the earth, which serve as communal housing depots and office establishments. The dispersal of Nano-D clouds is introduced, helping the Marines to devour their foes on harsh battlefields. But they good guys are still no match for the Hunters of the Dawn [the Xul villains], technology wise.
In this brand new series... the grand plot is Exactly the same. I did not see any new innovations that could clearly tag this as a completely New Trilogy. This book, Star Strike, would even be best called Part 4, from the previous Trilogy tale. Here in Star Strike, the humans keep looking for new distant star clusters that host the alien Xul, and they seem to employ slightly newer technologies in their spaceship warp-drives and their contained warheads.
The Space Marines are called on once again, alerted about a recently destroyed space transport piloted by an AI that was launched back in the other trilogy [transporting important rich humans in cryo-sleep to the Andromeda galaxy], after earth was ravaged by the Xul alien invaders. Now, the alien Xul are starting to hunt the earth again, but the earth's disparate government alliances are virtually at war with one another. Humans are fighting other rebel human forces. And no one wants to pay for an expensive war campaign against the Xul, and the Marines need sanctioning political and military support before they can be deployed into space.
Arguments arise again between the world powers. And we have the traditional bickering in grand assemblies [exactly formatted like the meetings in the previous Trilogy], as politicians and senators clash with veteran militant idealists who are advocates for the greater good.
Its almost like the humans are confronted with this cyclic dilemma: "Damn the Xul are back, and they're probably hunting earth again. They're bigger and stronger. And we'll be damned if we fight, and damned if we don't..."
Core storyline is basically the same as in the previous Trilogy: A sneak attack is obviously the solution, upon Starwall, the identified habitual nexus of the Xul. Giant tuned Star-gates in space will help the Marines virtually teleport to a distant star cluster, and there, you bomb the bad guys [after you "gain sanctioning clearance" to use that particular star-gate from the colonial masters that claim the right to it]. After blasting the bad guys, we may have to bomb the star-gate as well, so they can't chase us back to the galactic heart of Sol. You win, and Species-2824 survives... for now, till the next book.
The main protagonist is a blood relative of the original hero from the first Trilogy, since these books have like 100 to 500 years between each tale. And sometimes, traveling back and forth over light years across the stars is the main cause why the large time gaps exist between the books. In this book, Private Aiden Garroway is the rising hero. But there is little or no character development for this protagonist. I found myself not caring about battle build ups, because I couldn't relate to the hero; you don't really get to know what makes him tick. Therefore, you don't really care about what happens to him.
Halfway into the story, the Stars Of Aquilla are presented: a distant star cluster approximately 350 light-years away, where there may be more "friendly" sentient life... or maybe the lifeforms there are evil. But on the other hand, the Xul may have pounded the lifeforms at the Stars of Aquilla several centuries ago, causing several supernovae to be witnessed from that distant segment of space.
The Marines are now thinking of heading out to that star system, to glean any remnants of high-tech alien technology, to use against the Xul... but what awaits them there? And what about the pending invasion at Starwall? What will happen to earth??
Hell, I really don't care.
I couldn't bear to read this one to the very end. It's just too predictable. I love the author and I respect his style, but this new Trilogy already sounds like a story he's told before. Yes, there was action in deep-space... but I'd seen it all before, in the previous Trilogy--the good guys use new tools to do the same thing.
Everyone will have their own opinion. Just don't expect anything extremely new plot wise, in this Star Strike.
November 16, 2023
What an awesome novel!
Military Sci-Fi does not get the credit it deserves. Not only are they juggling intricate plots encompassing the known universe, but they also extrapolate current military tactics to pull off some amazing battle scenes, or very cool uses of fringe or unknown technologies.
Hit or miss microfilaments shot through space capable of sending back reams of data.
Very cool alien races, that seem to me well conceived, plausible and robust.
Found this by chance at a book sale - so not sure how easy or hard it will be to find the other two in the series, but I will certainly be searching.
Military Sci-Fi does not get the credit it deserves. Not only are they juggling intricate plots encompassing the known universe, but they also extrapolate current military tactics to pull off some amazing battle scenes, or very cool uses of fringe or unknown technologies.
Hit or miss microfilaments shot through space capable of sending back reams of data.
Very cool alien races, that seem to me well conceived, plausible and robust.
Found this by chance at a book sale - so not sure how easy or hard it will be to find the other two in the series, but I will certainly be searching.
January 5, 2018
Summary: This book has some significant problems, not least of which is the incessant US marines propaganda, that said though it is highly readable, introduces a very interesting set of aliens and although the plot is a bit predictable it moves along nicely and the final outcome is very satisfactory
Plotline: The plot moves along nicely if a little predictable
Premise: I like the premise, the star gates etc, it works very well, although thin at the edges (i.e. just accept it rather than thinking too deeply)
Writing: Highly readable
Ending: Very nice
Pace: Never a dull moment!
Plotline: The plot moves along nicely if a little predictable
Premise: I like the premise, the star gates etc, it works very well, although thin at the edges (i.e. just accept it rather than thinking too deeply)
Writing: Highly readable
Ending: Very nice
Pace: Never a dull moment!
November 14, 2021
Always a good story
Mr Douglas writes some well thought out tales. I am always surprised at what real world facts will pop up as a matter of background in the story. I enjoy searching the terms and finding them in real science or history adds a little more to the story.
Mr Douglas writes some well thought out tales. I am always surprised at what real world facts will pop up as a matter of background in the story. I enjoy searching the terms and finding them in real science or history adds a little more to the story.
May 7, 2022
I liked it enough to start the next book in the series.
October 23, 2013
A thousand years or so in the future, humanity has spread out among the stars. Protecting the Commonwealth (basically a future version of America) are the United Star Marines. Star Strike follows the stories of a General, a war-weary combat veteran, and a new recruit as they are called to defend humanity from an old enemy. The xenophobic Xul nearly annihilated Earth the last time they visited. Now they're back to finish the job. Can the Marines take the fight to the Xul? Or will the Corps' 1103 birthday be its last?
I enjoyed this book. The plot was well-developed and the technology realistic. I believed I was observing humanity a thousand years into the future. The alien adversaries (and allies, for that matter) were sufficiently strange and ominous. The battles were intense. I even found myself liking the characters, flat as they were.
And they were flat. Usually this turns me off of a book completely. But Douglas showed signs of trying to develop character. I hope he succeeds in the next books in the trilogy. Content wise, I went in knowing the language would be harsh. That didn't bother me. What did annoy me was Douglas's bashing of religion and his assumption that, in the future, humanity will shrug off any kind of sexual restraint.
I suppose Douglas succeeded in one important way: I intend to finish the trilogy.
I enjoyed this book. The plot was well-developed and the technology realistic. I believed I was observing humanity a thousand years into the future. The alien adversaries (and allies, for that matter) were sufficiently strange and ominous. The battles were intense. I even found myself liking the characters, flat as they were.
And they were flat. Usually this turns me off of a book completely. But Douglas showed signs of trying to develop character. I hope he succeeds in the next books in the trilogy. Content wise, I went in knowing the language would be harsh. That didn't bother me. What did annoy me was Douglas's bashing of religion and his assumption that, in the future, humanity will shrug off any kind of sexual restraint.
I suppose Douglas succeeded in one important way: I intend to finish the trilogy.
February 11, 2025
This is the third trilogy in this series, so it’s unfortunate that these books are so repetitive. Once again, the science is cool and the technology is awesome. The battles are also pretty entertaining to read. All of this is weighed down by Douglas’ unrestrained love of the Marine Corps though. I can stomach a touch of patriotism, and I can understand his fascination with military discipline. I expect that in military science-fiction, but so much of this book is devoted to it.
On top of that, like I said, it’s just too repetitive. It reuses plot details from the other trilogies, including more bootcamp and another mission sent across space to fight the Xul. They encounter more potential alien allies. There’s also another corrupt politician who wants to disband the Corps and avoid fighting the Xul at all costs. Douglas is more even-handed in his exploration of the politics in his future than you might expect, but inevitably, politicians are always the enemy and military personnel are the level-headed ones. He also likes to use the concept of Islamic extremists in space a lot, but I suppose that’s to be expected given that this was written during the Bush era. Sometimes his future is fascinating, but sometimes it feels really outdated. Alien mathematicians were a nice touch though.
Overall, eh.
On top of that, like I said, it’s just too repetitive. It reuses plot details from the other trilogies, including more bootcamp and another mission sent across space to fight the Xul. They encounter more potential alien allies. There’s also another corrupt politician who wants to disband the Corps and avoid fighting the Xul at all costs. Douglas is more even-handed in his exploration of the politics in his future than you might expect, but inevitably, politicians are always the enemy and military personnel are the level-headed ones. He also likes to use the concept of Islamic extremists in space a lot, but I suppose that’s to be expected given that this was written during the Bush era. Sometimes his future is fascinating, but sometimes it feels really outdated. Alien mathematicians were a nice touch though.
Overall, eh.
March 10, 2010
This was probably my first hard sci-fi book I've ever read. As such, I didn't really care for that aspect of it. There was a lot of info dumping and while I like science, even it went over my head at times, not to mention slowed the story down.
The real problem I had with this book was that I didn't read or even know that there were two other trilogies that preceded it. My fault really. Ian Douglas did a good job at telling what happened before without bogging things down so I was able to easily follow it.
Info dumps aside, Star Strike read fast but it wasn't in the greatest, I can't wait to see what happens next way. It read fast because there was little characterization. Things were told and there was hardly any internalization or moments of feeling.
Star Strike wasn't a bad book but it wasn't a good one. It was rather eh. I might have cared more if I had read the previous two trilogies or I might have been disappointed that Douglas milked the series. I'm curious to see where it ends so I will pick up the other two books.
The real problem I had with this book was that I didn't read or even know that there were two other trilogies that preceded it. My fault really. Ian Douglas did a good job at telling what happened before without bogging things down so I was able to easily follow it.
Info dumps aside, Star Strike read fast but it wasn't in the greatest, I can't wait to see what happens next way. It read fast because there was little characterization. Things were told and there was hardly any internalization or moments of feeling.
Star Strike wasn't a bad book but it wasn't a good one. It was rather eh. I might have cared more if I had read the previous two trilogies or I might have been disappointed that Douglas milked the series. I'm curious to see where it ends so I will pick up the other two books.
September 1, 2013
I liked the last 20% of this one. Early on it's a Marine boot-camp and delves into the early history of the Marines. Later it deals with Marine politics which was extremely irritating to be force-fed like that. Mixed with this it's Marine ooh-ra chest-thumping, also extremely irritating to read. Occasionally in that first 4/5ths it delves into the story background but it's a rapid-fire data dump of several hundred years of activity to get to the present day scenario. FINALLY it gets interesting - the mission, the foe, space combat.
If it weren't for that final 5th I wouldn't want to read more. Currently pondering what format to read the next part of the story in to see if it continues with the interesting part of the story now it's got the setup and politics out of the way.
If it weren't for that final 5th I wouldn't want to read more. Currently pondering what format to read the next part of the story in to see if it continues with the interesting part of the story now it's got the setup and politics out of the way.
February 16, 2010
Ugh, I just dont know what to start with on this one. Think of a train wreck and that even then barely covers it. Dont get me wrong, im all for Sci-fi and stuff, but this just didnt work in my opinion. Apparently in the future no one cares to get injured because its near impossible to die, everyone is dull and lifeless even in combat situations, and to top it all off this book feels like a rough copy of Feed. The pacing is awfully slow and feels disjointed in alot of places. Do yourself a favor, avoid this book wherever you see it.
July 9, 2013
This sounded so good, but after only a few chapters my eyes glazed over. I didn't follow what was going on. There was a lot of terminology being thrown around as if I should already know. Different scenes, different planets. I didn't even understand who the Kul were. It wasn't illuminated during that brief prologue.
This COULD be because, this is the 3rd trilogy of the same topic. I was under the impression that they were mutually exclusive, but maybe not so much because I was totally lost. That's unfortunate, because now I probably won't ever try Douglas again.
This COULD be because, this is the 3rd trilogy of the same topic. I was under the impression that they were mutually exclusive, but maybe not so much because I was totally lost. That's unfortunate, because now I probably won't ever try Douglas again.
October 22, 2011
After all the buildup about how fierce the xul are and their destructive capability the end was a bit anticlimactic.why are the names of ships always from the 20th century it's been a millennium haven't there been anymore heroes or notable personalities to names ships and operations after?.The Islamophobia was extreme,every facet of human society has changed but Muslims are the same stereotypical intolerant selves?.I won't be reading anymore of the series.
October 26, 2019
Le premier livre d'une autre série de space opera par le talentueux Ian Douglas, pseudonyme de William H. Keith. Le combat entre les humains et leur ancien, et formidable, ennemi, les Xul. Tout ce que l'on peut désirer dans un space opera et la science-fiction militaire : des vaisseaux spatiaux, des batailles spatiales, des extra-terrestres différents. Ian Douglas a une écriture serrée, qui nous emporte dans l'action. Bien aimé.
March 30, 2008
Picks-up 800 years after the previous trilogies.
Also a good read (lots of action and interesting speculation on how technology will affect humanity), but feels more recycled than the second trilogy.
Also a good read (lots of action and interesting speculation on how technology will affect humanity), but feels more recycled than the second trilogy.
February 21, 2009
Short review: I can't wait for the next book in the series.
Longer: If you like military science fiction - the commitment to the corps, military concepts and tradition, space war, all the rest - then this is for you. Well defined characters, believable science, and non-stop action. I like it!
Longer: If you like military science fiction - the commitment to the corps, military concepts and tradition, space war, all the rest - then this is for you. Well defined characters, believable science, and non-stop action. I like it!
February 28, 2012
Only read the first few chapters of this book before tossing it. Take cliche marine stereotypes, pair with space suits, and throw in a few elements from old spy thrillers, particularly borderline sexism.
July 12, 2012
Another great book by Ian Douglas. And a great continuation of the previous two series. The military action is spot on and the political games are just as fun to read. His universe has always been a great place to explore and will be picking up the next two books as soon as I can.
December 10, 2008
Very interesting book. Fairly well written. Takes a few chapters to get involved in the story line, but once you get past that, it's a rather pleasant read.
July 29, 2010
I like military scifi and this was pretty good. It was a bit slow to get to the action, but good enough for me to read the rest....
August 28, 2012
Stars are not projectiles...
October 19, 2012
Excellent author in the Genre (Marines in space). Interesting underlying premise: Xenophobic aliens that routinely wipe out intelligent live reaching a certain technological level.
September 6, 2014
I know its the author's background but there is too much medical stuff and not enough ass kicking in this book. still worth a beach read.
September 24, 2009
A rather enjoyable book.
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