The first three books The March Up Country, March to the Sea and March to the Stars involve the Prince and the marines that are with him trudging through an extremely primitive and very deadly planet. They must reinvent technology time and time again to overcome seemingly impossible odds.
This book series begins with yet another impossible task since the Prince has been framed for treason. He must find a way to reclaim the Empire with very little or no resources and do so without letting anyone know about it. The method they pick to ultimately do so is rather inventive, and yet highly believable.
There are certain author combinations that work; the skills of the authors just seem to connect to each other in a fashion that indicates that they know what they're doing. I have read many joint projects that were blatantly obviously so. One (which I won't mention by name) has three authors who might as well have been writing three entirely different books with only the occasional token name thrown into the mix just to make it seem like they were on the same planet.
Indeed, even some of the more successful author combinations; Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman come to mind, sometimes delineate plot lines where you can tell which author is in charge of which section. They do this quite well; and obviously supplement each other's work, but "We Few" and the entire "March to the Stars" series is entirely seamless.
There is one main character and an impressive of ensemble characters. People die. People live. But most importantly, despite being what I would brand 'Action Comedy Light' in tone, it manages to have a palpable dramatic undertone and make you care about the characters.
The only downside to the book, which is very minor, is that it simply doesn't have the 'techno-to-primitive' flair that the first book did. The tone of the books is slightly different; but this book is still worth reading for two reasons that are entirely independent of the difference in tone from the first three books. First, it provides an interesting perspective into the way a potential future empire might work. Second, it is a very fun read. Those joining in without having read the first three books can get along ok, but will admittedly be a little left out; not that they won't know what is going on, its just that the fate of certain 'lesser' characters won't be quite as important to them.
On the whole, I liked it a great deal.
Style: 4 Substance: 3.75
