The Warrior

Casca #17

by Barry Sadler

Shipwrecked on a South Sea island inhabited by warrior tribes, Casca quickly proves himself fearless in combat. Wielding spear and club with murderous precision, the Eternal Mercenary soon earns a respected place in his adopted tribe’s barbarous rituals. Then, when he unveils the devastating power of a new and magical weapon, Casca is elevated from warrior to god…

A god who must lead his army of believers into the bloodiest of battles.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1987

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

American author, musician and former green beret.

To the general public he is most known for the hit single "Ballad of the green berets"

After his musical career he decided to write a series of novels centered around the character "Casca Rufio Longinius" Who is cursed for piercing Jesus on the crucifix with a spear and is forced to forever remain a soldier until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

In the mid 1980s Sadler moved to Guatemala City where he was shot in the head one night in a taxi. He spent 7 months in a coma and died more than a year later.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

May be the worst so far

Wow. This was terrible. I'm actively afraid of how bad the next few will be. I've been reading the Casca series through the Kindle Owners Lending Library, and they are atrociously bad.

Poorly-written racist sexist crap.

The low point of this one was when the main character turned to cannibalism without any significant hesitation.

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casca leaves America for the South Seas seeking his fortune in enslaving islanders but later goes native and defends them instead. The island he lands on engages in human sacrifice and cannibalism as part of their culture. Some may see the trope of a white man becoming the leader of primitive people as an outdated relic of a bygone racist fiction era but this is Casca whose years of experience prove vital. What may me gag was how Casca sees nothing wrong with kicking men in the nuts or eating them at a cannibal feast as children use entrails as jump rope. The village sells one hundred of their own for muskets but only as contracted labor to get around the British Empire's ban on slavery. The novel was a great historical adventure with a satisfying ending with no loose ends like Stephen King's Colorado Kid.

[John Cheeseman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learnt a bit about Fiji and indenture in Australia in the 18th century, apart from that this was a pretty uninspiring book and a disappointing addition to the Casca series.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So you just a soldier doing your job. You shove a spear tip into the side of this supposed messiah, except he is the real thing. He curses you to wander the earth till his return. Not bad right, immortality and all. Oh but he also curses you to be a soldier forever at war, never to know peace. This is the story of Casca the Roman legionnaire that stabbed Christ. Forever wandering the earth fighting one war after another. Great adventure series. Very recommended

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been reading through these books in order, but I disliked this one about halfway through.

After being abandoned on the island, I got bored really, really, quickly and didn't care what happened to Casca. The first 10 books weren't that bad, some were really great. But, lately they are starting to get repetitive and predictable. I miss the cult of the Brotherhood of the Lamb. The best stories included them complicating things for Casca.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most offensive book in the series. Women are good for only one thing in this South Pacific cannibalistic paradise that needs an immortal soldier to rescue them from their child like states of naivete and rituals as Casca left the defeated confederate state of Virginia since he only fought for his state and not for slavery as he goes to the South Pacific in search of easy money as a slaver.

Western civilization superiority is a given as a certainty and all the tropes of South Pacific inferiority is presented as Casca sees everyone as nothing but property to suit himself.

[Carlos Paz · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

Love this series. All of the books are great so far. Must read for anyone who likes adventure books. Very original

[Nicholas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another one that felt like filler.