The Black March

Soldier of the Legion #2

by Marshall S. Thomas

Welcome to the Kitchen of the Gods, a forbidding volcanic cauldron guarded by merciless, invulnerable Omni aliens and giant, primitive exosegs. As the young Legion trooper Thinker and his comrades of Squad Beta fight their way into the Camp of the O's on Andrion 3, they fear their only mission is to die for the Legion. Their enemy has never known defeat, and the squad is helpless and terrified in the grip of the alien's awesome psypower. The battlefield is soon littered with the pitted, smoking A-suits of Thinker's closest comrades. The secrets that the squad uncovers on Andrion 3 will transform galactic politics and launch Beta into a seemingly suicidal attack against Omni targets on a hostile System world in a last ditch effort to exploit newly perceived enemy vulnerabilities. As they drop onto Mongera like microbes, they know it must be victory or death. Failure could mean extinction for their species. Forced to cooperate with their sworn Systie enemies, they meet the O in a burning city and duel with it under nuclear skies. Thinker's Legion lover Priestess is right by his side, and they pledge they will live or die together. They both know that immortality is a cruel joke for a Legion trooper, and the angel of death is with them every instant. As he advances on the O, Thinker is filled with a burning resolve and vows that if he goes out it will be with a record body count. In the era of total galactic warfare, can one squad really make a difference? The Black March is the second book of a six part series that follows Thinker's adventures in the service of the people of ConFree. Other titles in the series include Soldier of the Legion, Slave of the Legion, Secret of the Legion, Cross of the Legion and Curse of the Legion.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Adventure

250 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2006

About the author

My name is Marshall S. Thomas and I am the author of the six-part Soldier of the Legion science fiction series, set in the far future, and also a second series, Prophet of ConFree. I recently completed writing the sixth book in the second series which will be published in a few months.

I love writing and write for the sheer joy of it. I was turned on to science fiction in the late '50s as a teenager and wanted to write SF from that moment. I didn't have the skills to do it until my early 40s when I began the first series. I had almost completed the series when it dawned on me that I had put so much work into it that I really should try to have it published. An astonishing number of rejection letters followed but as I improved my writing and did plenty of rewriting I finally found my first publisher in Timberwolf Press. I've had other publishers since then, but at present I am independently publishing my books.

I studied at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, the University of New Mexico and the University of Miami (Government/International Affairs and History) and then spent 35 years in East Asia. I am currently retired and live in Willliamburg, VA with my wife Kim Lien. We have two children. The first is an arts graduate of Radford University and the second is a biochemistry grad of Virginia Tech now working in NYC.

My first publisher, Timberwolf, also produced a spectacular unabridged, full-cast audio of the first book. The full audio can be found on my newly updated website: https://soldierofthelegion.com.

I now have written a new SF series, Prophet of ConFree. All six books of the Soldier series and the first five books of the Prophet series are available on my website as well as online at the usual places. Please check out my website; it's awesome.

Happy reading! MST.

Reviews

[Sokufamily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, now I'm hooked. Interesting, suspenseful, and action-filled sequences from cover to cover, along with excellent use of different weaponry and tactics, are turning this series into one of my favorites very quickly. Future weaponry is awesome...v, x, flame, tacstars, opstars, laser, cold and hot knives...augmented by the A-suit tacmods' incredibly intelligent AI...Man, the author really has it out for Beta Two Four, as they're constantly thrust into the vanguard for the Legion's main objectives.

Sorry for the short review, but I'm on to Slave of the Legion!

[Bette Kester · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems almost impossible for Marshall to continue the series with enough creative twists and turns that it never gets old or predictable. Just when you think you know what comes next ... there's another brilliantly-crafted turn that captures your imagination and attention. Marshall is now my all-time favorite author of fiction: apologies to Hemingway and Mitchener!

[Graeme Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the first in the series. Fast paced action, characters you can relate to and a good story. The writing style sometimes appears quite childish and over excited but it doesn't interfere too much with your enjoyment. A decent read.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fast paced book. A++

[Bette Kester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Critical acclaim for the adept writing and ability to hold the reader's interest. A must read - even if sci-fi is not normally your "taste."