Space Marines 3Edited by
Nick Nethery
(Raconteur Press, March 2024, pb, 250 pp.)
“Blotter Report” by Spearman Burke
“How to Decline Lodgers with Extreme Prejudice” by Lori Janeski
“Full Moon Men” by Charles Hackney
“Call to Quarters” Wally Waltner
“Incident at Spurgle Station” by Tom Rogneby
“Just One” by JJ Lynn Daniels
“Semper Fi” by Bruce Erling Strange
“The Assassin’s Blade” by Daniel G. Zeidler
“Walking in the Black” by Michael Morton
“Remember the Avalon” by J. Kenton Pierce
Reviewed by Seraph
I was fortunate to have been able to review a previous anthology from this publisher, and I won’t spoil it, but it was all about big freaking robots, and I loved it. So I had high hopes (and maybe some high expectations) coming into a collection all about warriors in space. Not a single story fell short. This anthology features 10 original stories about those who answer the call, knowing that same call will carry their boots out into the far reaches of space. “Armored Space Soldiers” is about as crowded a genre as any, but these stories have been cultivated with a close eye upon what it means to be a warrior. Not just the fighting part, which is pretty commonly covered, but the human parts: the hopes, the doubts, the various idiosyncrasies that can’t help but come out under stress, the everyday life, and the sacrifice. I wrote in my review of the previous anthology that there is a kind of magic that happens when an author is in love with what they are writing about, but I would like to amend that here. While I still hold the statement to be true, it is virtually impossible for any living person to have any relatable experience with a giant robot, no matter how much love one has for the idea. Soldiers, however, are relatable in a very complex (and inevitably more deeply human) way that is capable of stirring emotions and passions in a profound manner… which remains true whether you view them in a positive or a negative light. There is a deeper magic to be found here, and this anthology set the new bar for me.
“Blotter Report” by Spearman Burke
I suppose that you can’t start an anthology about Marines without a little bit of them hating on the Navy. It may or may not be hardwired into the Marine at birth, and always amuses. This one went a little hard on the lingo early on in the story, but it settled down a bit and hit a good stride. There is plenty of action as the Colonial Marines are deployed from a Galactic Navy ship in orbit to deal with a civilian riot, and as is only fitting, absolutely nothing goes according to plan. Intel is faulty, the resistance is more entrenched than expected, and someone riding a desk thinks reports are more urgent than combat action. Day that ends in “y”, check. Any story dealing with future combatants has to take a little time to set up what kind of gear and tech the marines are working with, but this initial story in the anthology handles it with grace and sticks the landing.
“How to Decline Lodgers with Extreme Prejudice” by Lori Janeski
A few marines, a ship full of pirates, and a glaring language barrier translate into pure chaos. I’ve known a marine or two who would call that a good time. The Strani are pirates who picked the wrong space station to plunder. Four marines on leave have their rest and relaxation terminated early, and in true Marine fashion, decide to clear the threat themselves. The sentry removal tactics while whistling the Marine Hymn hit the mark perfectly, as did the poor scientists’ reactions while watching the small team of humans swiftly and silently eliminate the enemy’s number advantage. The last lines of the story had me smiling and I’m not ashamed to admit I had different versions of the Marine Hymn on repeat while I finished reading the rest of the stories. Besides, a red-headed woman with a knife who just so happens to be a hell of a Marine? Those poor pirates never had a chance.
“Full Moon Men” by Charles Hackney
I honestly had no idea you could fit so many different high-fantasy concepts into a science fiction story about armored space marines and make any sense at all. It should be utterly incoherent. It did take a couple of reads just to get my bearing on all of the different elements, but somehow the author managed to blend them almost seamlessly. Most of that second read through consisted of just making sure I read it right the first time. Vampire pirates killing Faeries on a space station? Check. Avian samurai mixing it up close and personal with an Imperial Cataphract? No problem. Oh, and the cataphract is a lycanthrope. Of course. I can’t over-emphasize how much it just shouldn’t work, but it really does. It is almost inspiring to see the depth of imagination and attention to the little details that went into this story.
“Call to Quarters” Wally Waltner
As a former musician, I really appreciated this story. You really don’t see a whole lot of stories that paint professional musicians in a heroic light, but you make those musicians Marines and it falls into place. There is always the danger, as a warrior, that the person calling the shots sees you more as a weapon, an asset, than a person, and that mentality is on full display here. Yes, the marines absolutely read the context clues correctly, and figure out what they weren’t being told in time to do something heroic, but without all the cloak and dagger maybe there didn’t need to be heroics. The price that comes due for that heroism threatens to take that humanity and professional aspiration away from the primary musician that the story follows, but the last lines embody so much of what it means to be in command. This concept, that yes, I messed up. I can never make up for what happened, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying? It hits home in a way I haven’t encountered in a good while.
“Incident at Spurgle Station” by Tom Rogneby
Loss is an integral part of serving. It is as inevitable as gear that never works as it should when you need it most, plans not surviving contact with the enemy, and rations tasting terrible. I’m not sure it ever hits as hard as when it is the young and eager that pay the ultimate price. Corporal Vincent Allan Redfield is lucky to be alive, as are most of his team, but not all of them. What should have been a fairly routine response mission goes to chaos almost immediately, and as the less trained and far less armored enemies fall back, Vinny and his newest recruit end up on the wrong side of a desperate explosive situation. Losing a fellow marine is the kind of thing that tests the very core of you, and those who survive bear an extra burden. They break, or they find a way to honor the dead in their own manner. This story gets it right, and I applaud that.
“Just One” by JJ Lynn Daniels
The hallmark of stories about Space Marines, of whichever variety, is what they are able to achieve outnumbered, outgunned, and generally in over their heads. It is the overcoming of those long odds that is so heroic and gripping. This story takes that to its natural limit, and the title says it all. It almost sounds like a joke… how many marines does it take to fight off a ship full of pirates? It only takes one. And maybe a brotherly voice in his head via cybernetic implants just to let him know he is not alone, or losing it in the deepness of the void. But mostly just the one marine. Throw in a hefty side of shapeshifting and laser guns, and you have the recipe for an oddly satisfying conclusion.
“Semper Fi” by Bruce Erling Strange
One of the most sacred duties of a warrior is the protection of those who cannot protect themselves, and children are the epitome of that designation. The trafficking of children is an abomination in its own right, and when it is done by those in authority, it is even worse. Jacob Whitefeather is a Navy Corpsman attached to the United Republic Space Marine Corps, when the unit he is attached to performs a routine boarding action against a pirate vessel. The pirates put up a hell of a fight, much more than seems to make sense for what limited cargo they appear to be carrying, but once they are subdued, the reason becomes evident. The marines free a group of children the pirates had captured and were planning to sell. There are a number of twists and turns to get to the (rather satisfying) conclusion, but it all boils down to someone who took an oath, and lived those words even when it meant standing against a powerful politician engaged in atrocities. The last few lines remind me so much of some marines I was friends with, it really was just perfect. Semper Fi, indeed.
“The Assassin’s Blade” by Daniel G. Zeidler
Kaia is an Enhanced Specialist Template in the post-Imperium Age, possessed of numerous cybernetic upgrades and extreme training. Which essentially means that she is invaluable, irreplaceable, and always in danger. She is highly intelligent, enough to know that the danger just as likely could come from an ally as an enemy, but that is currently the least of her problems. The outpost she is currently carrying out a mission at comes under attack by a reclaimed Imperium battleship and the fanatics who crew it, but the tables turn so very quickly when she infiltrates the ship’s network. The story is kind of 40K meets Cyberpunk, if the Imperium lost its long war, and it is really an enjoyable tale.
“Walking in the Black” by Michael Morton
No good deed goes unpunished. You’d think that saving an entire station by fighting his way through a small army of enemies, poorly equipped or otherwise, would get Sergeant Jordan DeMarco a little bit of slack. Encased in his MACE armor, the attackers never had a prayer, though it certainly didn’t come easily. The banter between Jordan and Lance Corporal Santis, the other marine on detail with him, is pretty on-target, and the way the two marines divided and conquered the enemy was flawless. There is a certain amount of extra detail that has to go into EVA combat, but it didn’t slow down the pace and actively contributed to moving the plot forward. All in all, well done and enjoyable.
“Remember the Avalon” by J. Kenton Pierce
If the opening story started with marines cracking jokes about the navy, I’m not sure how to describe this final one. While most of the stories in the anthology, and indeed the genre of Space Marines all but assume that there is some kind of Human Imperium or Republic, this particular story flips that script. Rather than fighting for the survival of whichever ruling authority exists, the Terrans have no home planet anymore. They aren’t the only ones who have suffered, there is quite the… colorful assembly of other creatures that have joined the Terrans in taking the fight to those who have terrorized each of their races for too long. Science fiction as a whole has very little difficulty imagining such alliances, and while this story definitely hit different than the others in the anthology, it was certainly imaginative and very much in the spirit of the relentless and loyal Marine. I can’t say it was the capstone to the anthology that I expected, but it was a welcome one.