This is the seventh book in Joel Jenkins’ great Dire Planet series set on ancient Mars. This book must have the most action of all the series. It felt like there was hardly a page where someone wasn’t either dying or losing a limb or head. In any of Joel Jenkins’ books, you never know if the character who you like and thought important will live to the end of the book. This book has several that surprised me by dying. Some I expected not to last, do.
Joel Jenkins’ version of Mars is much different from other versions I’ve read. The women are the warriors, while men are kept protected to ensure their safety. On this ancient Mars, women outnumber the men by a large number. Each man has between 1 to 30 plus wives. They are expected to produce more males for the future of the Martian race.
When you first pick up any of the Dire Planet books, you might think that it will be another Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars clone. It’s not, while it may have an American hero transported to Mars who falls in love with and marries a Martian beauty, that is where most of the obvious similarities end. As I mentioned earlier, this Mars is ruled mostly by women warriors. Unlike ERB’s Mars, the inhabitants wear clothes and don’t run around naked.
Another thing you will notice and like is that Joel can introduce a new character in a paragraph and he or she will become a favorite. Another thing you will discover is that if you read the books in order, you will find the series is all one story. Each book is a chapter with storylines that continue into either the next book or a later one.
I’ve mentioned this in other reviews of the Dire Planet series, many of the secondary characters can easily become a main character in their own book. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen in any of Jenkins’ series.
If you like sword fights, alien races, space travel, time travel, and beautiful warrior women, this is the series for you. If Joel Jenkins wrote the book, you know it will be great. Be sure to check out and buy every one of his books you can find. You will not regret it!
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