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Marshall S. Thomas
1. SOLDIER OF THE LEGION
A rough truce divides the known galaxy between the System, the despotic slave empire that rules the inner systems, and the Confederation of Free Worlds, claiming the awesome infinity of the Outvac frontier. When Squad Beta of the ConFree Legion drops onto the primitive world of Andrion 2 to counter a mysterious System incursion, they know the Systies are out there somewhere, armored DefCorps soldiers waiting to slice them to bloody bits in a microfrac. The young Legion trooper Thinker (Beta Three) vows that this will never happen on his watch. It soon becomes chillingly clear that Beta is facing more than Systies. The ultimate Evil is awaiting them all, writhing in the shadows, merciless and all-powerful, and humanity itself is poised on the brink of extinction.
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As he travels further into the dark Thinker finds both love and death, and realizes that the Legion has always been his destiny. He is torn between his desire for the violently possessive Valkyrie and the sweet innocent Priestess. The squad is soon seeking its fate in a series of suicidal attacks on hostile planets against an enemy that has never known defeat. Beta One says they are going to change history, but Thinker doesn't care about history. He cares only about Beta and his closest comrades. As the dead begin to outnumber the living he vows ruthless vengeance against his enemies. He knows the stakes are a lot higher than his immediate survival — and that Beta Three is not just along for the ride.
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The ConFree Legion offers both immortality and death to the young and foolish. Thinker doesn't mind — all he wants is to see the future. As a soldier of the Legion he knows his fate is to die under strange stars, for the Legion. He is determined to survive as long as possible and to go out with a very high body count. Beta Three is a fatalist, a dreamer, a believer. He doesn't know what the future holds — but he knows he will be facing his enemies when he dies.
Soldier of the Legion is the first 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 March of the Legion, Slave of the Legion, Secret of the Legion, Cross of the Legion, and Curse of the Legion.
Excerpt from Barnes & Noble
REVIEWS
"The genre of military fiction took off after the publication of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers in 1959. Now Marshall Thomas enters the field with an exciting new series that gives an homage to the old classic... The narrator is “Thinker,” otherwise known as Beta Three — a member of the Beta team of the Legion. He no longer has a civilian name, or a past. Having survived their basic training on Planet Hell, we join him on his squad's Final Problem, a 'live-fire' exercise to rescue slave women from their pirate captors... From there, it's (almost) non-stop action all the way... The soldiers of Beta Team are likable and sympathetic, their problems are vast, and this is a welcome entry in the military SF genre." — Review by Barbara Peterson for The Thunder Child, Vol I, issue 10, October 2006
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— Review by Barbara Peterson for The Thunder Child, Vol I, issue 10, October 2006
"Soldier of the Legion draws on a rich tradition of military science fiction — from Heinlein to Haldeman to Epic Comics' Alien Legion... Thomas has put a lot of consideration into the technology, weaponry, and tactics of his futuristic Legion and it pays off in what is an epic testosterone-driven military adventure."
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— Review from the Nth Degree, the Fiction and Fandom 'Zine, September 2004
"A sergeant's yell, "Do you want to live forever," has a different meaning to a Soldier of the Legion (trade from Timberwolf Press) since Legion soldiers will live forever if they don't die in battle. Marshall S. Thomas tells an exciting tale of a platoon, trained together, from the time they graduate by attacking a slave ship. Thinker is a great character and he and his team mates have a lot of enthusiasm saving natives from imported aliens and attacking their enemies base across a sea of lava. This is a great first novel, with a well-thought-out background and neat technological war toys. I look forward to their next battle."
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— Henry L Lazarus, sciencefiction.com, Philadelphia Weekly
"Exciting read... Heart pounding action. Mind blowing battles... Adrenalin pumping encounters with alien life... futuristic sci-fi masterpiece... Marshall Thomas should soon be a major name in futuristic sci-fi. I enthusiastically recommend this book."
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— Laurel Johnson, Midwest Book Review
"Marshall Thomas' Soldier of the Legion is set in a far future where the known galaxy enjoys an uneasy truce between the System, the inner core slaver empire, and the Confederation of Free Worlds. Protecting the interests of ConFree is the Legion, a professional military corps that gives its soldiers very cool hardware and the best available biotechnology... Thomas' Legion universe is richly imagined... The depth of this detailed background gives the universe that so very important "lived in" feel... The influence (of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers) is clearly visible in Soldier of the Legion, but Thomas has a better grasp of character... Soldier of the Legion has a ton of action, interesting plot twists, and a rigorously detailed story line and background. The characters are memorable, and the series shows great promise of good things to come."
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— Review by Timothy Doyle for BookThink #51, September 2005
"Take an immortal and put him into an armor suit that can withstand all but the most brutal of attacks, arm him with weapons capable of firing anything from lasers to miniature nuclear explosives, and you have a Legion trooper. This book follows Beta Squad, a whole group of these intergalactic butt-kickers, through adventures that would cause all but the most stalwart to wilt... There is a lot to like about this book. The gadgets and technobabble abound, but thankfully it goes farther than that. Thomas has created quite an interesting culture in the Legion. They aren't just mindless soldiers... Four stars."
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— Review by Scott Roche for the Joe Bob Report
"Take an immortal and put him into an armor suit that can withstand all but the most brutal of attacks, arm him with weapons capable of firing anything from lasers to miniature nuclear explosives, and you have a Legion trooper. This book follows Beta Squad, a whole group of these intergalactic butt-kickers, through adventures that would cause all but the most stalwart to wilt... There is a lot to like about this book. The gadgets and technobabble abound, but thankfully it goes farther than that. Thomas has created quite an interesting culture in the Legion. They aren't just mindless soldiers... Four stars."
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— Review by Scott Roche for the Joe Bob Report