Weber, David, and John Ringo. March to the Stars. Empire of Man No. 3. Baen, 2003.
March to the Stars is something of a misnomer. Most of the action takes place on the sea, as Prince Roger and his surviving troops and allies cross the ocean on their way to attack the spaceport. Roger is no longer the spoiled brat he was in the first volume. He has matured as a military leader and has faced up to the responsibilities of command. He has also honed his martial skills to something just short of super-hero status. 4 stars if you are a fan of military SF and planetary romance. ( )

This one goes from ship to ship - from K'Vaernen schooners to a spaceship that's far more of a fight than it should have been. Along the way Roger does a little growing up (not much, though), Despreaux runs into serious problems, they find out that their troubles aren't over when they get back home...and mostly, nasty things happen. Quite a few more deaths, and this time it's some of the higher-ups gone (both humans and Mardukans); the "civilization" they contact on the shuttle continent is seriously nasty; etcetera. Cord goes through a lot of changes himself, though - I like Pedi. What this book does is take the mission they've been on through the whole series, escalate it, then make a serious twist in it - Klein-bottle severe twist - and keep them going. There's good bits, but overall I think this is my least favorite of the Prince Roger books. Which means it's only a very good story, not great like the others. ( )

Very good on-planet conclusion, (spoiler) although the chance of having just that type of ship there at the right time is a bit much at the end. ( )

"March to the Stars" is the third book in this series about Prince Roger and the Bronze Battalion. I mentioned in my last review that I hadn't enjoyed book two as much as book one, but that I was going to keep reading the series because my evil twin said the authors redeemed themselves. She was right! I really enjoyed book three!

It's finally time for the crew to cross the ocean and take over the space port. As they cross the ocean they will have to face sea monsters and pirates, and when they reach land things aren't much better! The society they discover performs ritual cannibalism, something that shocks and appals both the humans and their Mardukan friends.

They also discover that they are going to have to cross yet another range of mountains to reach the space port, and that taking the space port may be the least of their problems! Once they receive news of the Galaxy at large they discover that there is an intricate plot against the Queen, and that Prince Roger has been implicated. Now they not only have to get home, they need to clear their names, and save the Queen!

There is one more book in the series, and I can hardly wait to see how they get out of all this mess! ( )

This series isn't holding my interest enough to continue. There are a few more in the series, but I'll stop here. ( )