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Semper Mars: Book One of the Heritage Trilogy | 
 enlarge | Author: Ian Douglas
Publisher: Eos
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $2.15
You Save: $5.84 (73%)
New (19) Used (38) Collectible (2) from $2.15
Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 20990
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0380788284
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780380788286
ASIN: 0380788284
Publication Date: May 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The Year is 2040.
The Marines have landed on Mars to guard the unearthed secrets of an ancient and dangerous alien race: Ourselves. Scientists have discovered something astonishing in the subterranean ruins of a sprawling Martian city: startling evidence of an alternative history that threatens to split humanity into opposing factions and plunge the Earth into chaos and war. The USMC -- a branch of a military considered, until just recently, to be obsolete -- has dispatched the Marine Mars Expeditionary Force, a thirty-man weapons platoon, to the Red Planet to protect American civilians and interest with lethal force if necessary. Because great powers are willing to devastate a world in order to keep an ancient secret buried. Because something that was hidden in the Martian dust for half a million years has just been unearthed . . . something that calls into question every belief that forms the delicate foundation of civilization . . . Something inexplicably human.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...
 Good Beach Reading July 8, 2008
M. Nettleton (Fishers IN USA)
as with each of his works there is enough hard data to go with a decent story that keeps the pages turning
First Book in "Space Marines" Series Shows Promise June 14, 2008
Stewart Teaze (San Diego, CA United States)
SEMPER MARS (1998) is the first book from the "Space Marines" HERITAGE TRILOGY. This story takes place in the near future (2040), with a platoon of US Marines getting sent to Mars to disuade the anti-American UN from completely taking over the interests in a Archealogical site dating from 500,000 years ago.
The UN is also backing a group attempting to seize control of the American Southwest (Aztlan), and a group from Quebec that attempts to invade America from the North. This part of the story is quite believable - but there are other parts, such as the usual "catastrophic manmade global warming" theme, which fall flat... additionally, the predicted 2040 computer technology basically parallels what we actually have in 2008 - so, it is hard to go "wow" when the author describes one of the characters using a 1 Gigabyte memory device (heck, I've got 8GB plug-in devices right now!).
The actual endurance and space battle scenes are quite good... so, even though there are a lot of anachronisms in this first book, I'm going to move on to the 2nd book in the series (written a year later), and hope the technology gets better.
 Semper Mars: Book One of the Heritage Trilogy - one hell of a read! May 18, 2008
Semper Mars introduced me to the work of Ian Douglas, who along with Jack Campbell (The Lost Fleet et. seq) has reignited my interest in military science fiction. I have battled my way through the Posleen wars with John Ringo when the plot to Semper Mars caught my interest. Without giving too much away, the plot for this book is all too plausible if some of the scaremongers on the right wing of American politics are to be believed. The US is been backed into a corner and has weak allies in the UK and Russia while its relationship with Japan is uneasy. The plot line is not terribly demanding: the face on Mars is an alien artifact with its secrets yet to be revealed. The United Nations has become so powerful that it threatens to overcome the US and its allies. At a critical point in time, around 2039-40, Hispanic states to the south of America threatened to seize several US states and establish a Spanish-speaking and hostile republic, while French militants in Quebec threaten from the north. The US Embassy in Mexico City is stormed by militants backed by the Mexican government and as in Saigon during the Vietnam War, embassy staff are helicoptered to safety by the US Marines. The Marine Corps is under threat of dissolution but manages to work its way around the State Department and sent the detachment of Marines to safeguard US interests on Mars. The story is gritty warfare from a Marine perspective and involves heroics above and beyond the call of duty, at a fast route march. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Oo-rah! Simple, silly, fun March 28, 2008
Robert A. Booth Jr. (Masschusetts, USA)
Great light science fiction writing from Ian Douglas. While the plot seems a little silly given the supposed "realistic timeline" leading to the events of the book (this is set in the near future, so it's not as if it's centuries in the future. I believe it's 2057 or something), the action is exciting and funny, the wide range of characters are nice, and the political stuff is kind of neat. You can find much more heavy reading than this, even amongst a genre known (unfairly) for being a bit shallow, but SEMPRE MARS is worth a read. Recommended.
Interesting June 20, 2007
mr sachmo (Carrollton, TX United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Not a bad story, as far as military sci-fi goes. I had a hard time getting past the "archeology" aspects of some of Mars' more controversial geographical features, but I'm like that sometimes.
I liked the fact that the "good guys" weren't supermen, and the "bad guys" were well portrayed as tools of their government, doing their bidding because they are ordered, and not because they are just into doing evil. The end was a little monty haul, but not outside of the realm of possibility.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read.
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