Book Review: The Heritage Trilogy

I’m going to do something a little different and review an entire trilogy this time. This is one of my favorite book series even though I know the author intended it mostly as backstory for his further series’. The Heritage Trilogy by Ian Douglas, consisting of Semper Mars, Luna Marine, and Europa Strike.

The series centers around one mid-grade Marine officer, and his daughter, and their perceptions and actions during the very possible militarization of space. It takes into account world reaction, changes in military procedures, and very possible discoveries from potential manned missions to mars. It also wraps all that science fiction in a nice little package of current science face and believability. It doesn’t betray a world of future years, but the world of tomorrow, as in literally tomorrow, as in Wednesday.

The first book talks about the Marine Corps battle with obscurity (a very real battle whose opponents are a hostile congress and the Army) and a manned mission to Mars, all the while alluding to a world opinion that doesn’t speak to kindly of the United States (not unlike the real world). As the stories progress the Marine Corps proves its adaptability and capability to conduct non-standard missions in non-standard environments while trying to be proven incapable or irrelevant by the Army, not unlike the Pacific Theatre during World War II.

This pans out in the next two books with the Marine Corps assuming the predominant combatant role in space, while also showing some heavy character development in the Marine and his daughter. The entire trilogy takes place over the span of several years, and, to my eyes anyhow, you see some very realistic changes take place due to the previous books.

In short, it is a gritty, realistic view of what may very likely be just around the corner. It’s not the Space Rangers using their laser blasters on the evil alien Grubi on planet Zephron- 26, it’s the US Marines defending US interests from UN aggressors on the planet Mars. If you’re looking for something fantastical look elsewhere, but if you’re looking for something just plain fantastic I highly recommend the trilogy.