This is the first in the "Roger McLintock" series of books, and also begins the Marduk trilogy in which Prince Roger McLintock, spoilt younger son of the Empress of an interstellar empire, is stranded on the primitive planet Marduk.
The sequence of books so far in the series is:
March Upcountry
March to the Sea
March to the Stars
We Few.
The title is a reference to Xenophon's "The Persian Expedition" which is the story of ten thousand" Greek mercenaries who found themselves stranded in the middle of Persia when Prince Cyrus, whose bid for the throne they had been hired to support, was killed in battle in 401 BC. They had to fight their way home through enemy territory. Xenophon, who was in command of the survivors by the time they got home, subsequently wrote an epic account of their story. These days it is most commonly available under the title "The Persian Expedition" but it has also been known as "The Ten Thousand" and as "Anabasis" - which means "March Upcountry".
Prince Roger, third in line to the throne of the Empire of Man, is on his way with his bodyguard to a ceremonial visit when their ship is sabotaged and damaged. As they limp to the nearest spaceport, on the largely unexplored and barbarian planet Marduk, they are jumped by two carriers from a hostile star nation,the "Saints."
Roger and a company of his bodyguard find themselves stranded, with no weapons or equipment beyond what they can carry, on the opposite side of the planet from the starport. To return home they will have to trek thousands of miles through all kinds of terrain, and cross the oceans. The flora and fauna of Marduk are as dangerous as anything which has ever lived on earth - the land animals make T-Rex or Velociraptor packs look like a minor nuisance and the sea creatures could have Liplorodon for breakfast.
But the animals of Marduk are as nothing compared with the challenge of dealing with some of the tribes of the indigenous intelligent species.
If he and his companions are to get home, Prince Roger will have to grow up in a hurry ...
This series is an excellent collaboration between John Ringo and David Weber. The naval battle scenes and political manouvering could have come out of an Honor Harrington book, while the ground fighting scenes are very reminiscent of the "Posleen" series. In other words, the best of both writers.
Perhaps there was some hubris in giving this novel the name of a classic story of high adventure which has been read avidly for nearly two and a half thousand years. If there were any chance that I would be around to collect my winnings or pay up, I would be prepared to bet that in 4,404 AD, when this novel is as old as the original "March Upcountry" was when this came out, people will still be reading Xenophon. I doubt if they will still be reading about Prince Roger. But that doesn't mean our generation can't read it and ejoy it.
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