Product Description
With its endless miles of infested swamps and heavily patrolled borders, the Cambodian jungle is an easy place to die. But for Casca Longinus, condemned to wander the globe as an eternal warrior, it's a place to make $200,000--if he can get a family of Chinese refugees out alive. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Cambodian jungle adventure
This was set in the 1970s shortly after Pol Pot and his charming Khmer Rouge cohorts took over Cambodia.Casca is recruited by a Chinese family to rescue trapped members of their family deep in Cambodia's jungle.Hot on his heels is a Colonel intent on securing prestige by capturing the Americans and the story involves the rescuers being one step ahead of the chasers through much of the latter part.
A one-off adventure story, I found some of the dialogue heavy going and the characters close to Casca too predictable and one-dimensional.The pace of the action was familiar Sadler and he felt much more at ease with the description of the environment, and you could clearly see he'd been there.

Lacking Original Intent
I found Casca: Soldier of Fortune to be missing the usual suspense and mystery of previous (chronologically) episodes of the immortal character.In large part, the more contemporary setting of the Vietnam era/Indochineseregion was too recent in history to provide an adequately romantic visionof life and war.Casca (a.k.a. Casey Romain) plays a less pivotal rolewith narator time being more equally split among his cohorts in the jungle. It took me over half of the book to really sink into the plot.I couldn'tidentify with the supporting cast.A short book, such as Barry Sadlercomposes, does not lend itself to this kind of schism.If you really likemodern war stories, this might still be your cup of tea...or coffee.But Imuch prefer the medieval or ancient adventures of our eternally cursedlegionnaire that delve more deeply into his psyche.This work is toodivergent from the original feel of Sadler's authorship.

Lacking Original Intent
I found Casca: Soldier of Fortune to be missing the usual suspense and mystery of previous (chronologically) episodes of the immortal character.In large part, the more contemporary setting of the Vietnam era/Indochineseregion was too recent in history to provide an adequately romantic visionof life and war.Casca (a.k.a. Casey Romain) plays a less pivotal rolewith narator time being more equally split among his cohorts in the jungle. It took me over half of the book to really sink into the plot.I couldn'tidentify with the supporting cast.A short book, such as Barry Sadlercomposes, does not lend itself to this kind of schism.If you really likemodern war stories, this might still be your cup of tea...or coffee.But Imuch prefer the medieval or ancient adventures of our eternally cursedlegionnaire that delve more deeply into his psyche.This work is toodivergent from the original feel of Sadler's authorship.

Lacking Original Intent
I found Casca: Soldier of Fortune to be missing the usual suspense and mystery of previous (chronologically) episodes of the immortal character.In large part, the more contemporary setting of the Vietnam era/Indochineseregion was too recent in history to provide an adequately romantic visionof life and war.Casca (a.k.a. Casey Romain) plays a less pivotal rolewith narator time being more equally split among his cohorts in the jungle. It took me over half of the book to really sink into the plot.I couldn'tidentify with the supporting cast.A short book, such as Barry Sadlercomposes, does not lend itself to this kind of schism.If you really likemodern war stories, this might still be your cup of tea...or coffee.But Imuch prefer the medieval or ancient adventures of our eternally cursedlegionnaire that delve more deeply into his psyche.This work is toodivergent from the original feel of Sadler's authorship. ... Read more

Product Description
A new battle. A new legend in the 2-million-copy-selling series.

In medieval Venice, Casca becomes embroiled in a blood feud that sparks a war between families. But then, war is something the immortal warrior has survived before...

Casca lives on! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

I don't get it
Can someone tell me what Goldman and his reading of the Gutenberg Bible in the beginning had to do with this story!!!????? Yeah it mentions a guy like Casca. But there was no tie in of this in the story!!!

I thought that according to history books Marco Polo was an adventurer discoverer? He goofed around with the Khan's son for 20yrs!!! What's up with that. No tie in of what we know of Marco Polo and anything in this story.

Let's see, you travel roughly two years to deliver a message from the Pope to the Great Khan, he gives his message to take back and they take 20 yrs????!!!! What was the Pope's response? Was he still alive, was the massage revelent after 20 yrs? I mean roughly the whole book was this journey!! and no closure?

Then at the end of the book, all of a sudden the story takes a turn and it looks like the writer just threw a bunch of non coherent stuff and ends with him with a ship builder that mentions marco and it's been 100yrs???

Terrible way to end!

I would give it 1 star, but it is Casca......

The only Casca book that ever took me more than an evening to finish.
As a fan of the original series who sadly lost them all in a move, I was excited to find new stories by a new author.I tried to like this one, I really did, but it just isn't Casca.Others have pointed out most of the book's faults, but one thing nobody has mentioned that plagued me throughout the book was the poor editing.Constant misuse of words like their/they're and other homophones indicates that no real attempt was made to edit beyond simple spellcheck.The editing department gave their job the same attention to detail that was given to the cover art.

Better, but still a way to go
I have to admit that this is better than his original attempt at this series. The battles are muchimproved. The problem is that he is still overly descriptive of areas of the story that really does not require it. I found myself skipping pages again.When a reader has to skip pages for a lack of interest, you loose the reader's attention. Sadler had the ability to reach out and pull you into the story, and when you did come up for air or food you were ready to dive back in immediately. In this book, ofttimes I found myself on the outside looking in, and I really didn't care if I finished. The author also had a tendency to stray from the story and loose the plot for a while, which confused me at times.

I'm sorry but if this author makes another attempt at this series I doubt I will read it.

Defiant to the End!
This latest Casca novel, the 2nd in this new authors Casca tryout, is still unfortunately coming up short.

Barry Sadler's Casca novels were fantastic pulp hero type action novels, filling a groove for readers that loved such short novels like Conan the Barbarian could truly appreciate.

Out of all of Sadler's writing ventures, only Casca really shined like a well polished blade. I still own all of the series.

I am glad and humbled that someone has tried to take up the huge writing reins to continue this series. A solid writer could well take on this saga, giving hungry old readers of the series - as well as new ones - new adventures of Casca, the eternal mercenary. There are hundreds of untold times to pick and choose from.

As much as I admire someone making an attempt, this author has come up somewhat short of just making a Sadler pulp adventure story. He shows potential, however. Practice makes perfect.

Well, one hopes anyway.

Better but still not Sadler
Paul Denegelegi's second Casca book is markedly better than the first but still contains a little too much over descriptive passages, making the book a little heavy at times.This story has Casca meeting a young Marco Polo in Venice and then accompanying him to China and the court of Kubilai Khan and he enjoys many adventures there.

Dengelegi writes well when battles are decribed but all too often there seems to be a little wandering from the main plot which detracts from the storyline.Sadler wrote in an all-action mode and this is what Casca fans really want, not a ponderous storyline which is why Denegelegi attracts a lot of criticism.

One thing I particularly disliked was the final part where the writer attempted to connect this book's storyline with the beginning of his first book and in the process contradicted Sadler's storyline for the character.Careless and with a little more care this would have been avoided. ... Read more

Product Description
Condemned to outlive the ages and wander the globe, Casca finds himself in feudal Japan, where he joins forces with the legendary samurai warrior, Muramassa. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Yet another great idea washed away...
This is a 3 1/2 star story and was another Asian adventure that I was hoping could topple the past ones. Though a tad better than his last one, not as good as The Warlord.

Barry seemed to have good ideas, but after Book #14, the series was seriously running out of steam. It saddened me then, and still saddens me now. Barry Sadler was either running out of time or ideas, or I was hoping other writers could refreshen a series that still holds alot of great adventerous potential.

The fact that Casca was playing 2nd fiddle here instead of being the main focus was forgivable, but not having our immortal warrior even practising with the infamous and most feared and best forged sword ever - the katana - was a major let-down for me.

Casca is a warrior. He would master every type of weapon, especially bladed ones! To not have him become adept with the best made sword ever was near blasphemous. But Barry does an outstanding job of writing Asian stories with seemingly strong understanding of the Asian way of things in all, from life to warrior. Excellent.

Great fast-paced action story, with the famous and legendary historical figure of samurai warrior, Muramasa, being written as correctly as the historical data on him is known.

Casca's Japanese adventure
Casca ends up washed ashore in feudal Japan and is taken under the wing of expert swordsman Jinto Muramasa and together the two embark on a bloody spree through Japan to bring a warlord to victory over his deadly rivals.

The passage relating to the manufacture of a sword is brilliantly done and some aspects of Japanese court ritual are interesting but sometimes the plot wears a little thin and some of it feels like its mere filling.But nonetheless its a good story and worth keeping.

For the world of Casca see www.casca.net ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Casca's Oriental Adventure
This was my first CASCA book I ever read and it had me hooked right away. Its a good story of a man journeying east to China to serve in the court ofthe Emperor Tzin.There's plenty of action, betrayal and humour scatteredamongst the fighting to give it a well balanced feel.I particularly likedthe passages referring to his stay in the inn at Dubrae.This follows onfrom God of Death so read that one before this in order to get the contextof this story right.

CASCA IS AWESOME!
yOU HAVE JUST GOT TO READ THIS STUFF, ITS SIMPLY GREAT WRITING FROM AN AUTHOR WHO KNOWS WAR AND BEEN THERE. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A blend or mixing of two ancient legends
This action adventure novel is one of the better and more imaginative ones out there.
This story is where the old Christian legend of St.Longinus runs into that of the Wandering Jew and like Reese's peanut butter cup ends up being one entity or character.

What few people know is that there is a legend concerning a Roman centurion who stabbed Christ in the side with a spear.
The name of this particular individual was Longinus.
After doing so this soldier miraculously recovered his eyesight as he was going blind.
Afterwards he was so impressed by this miracle that he became a christian convert and thereafter became known as St.Longinus.
And the spear that he used to stab him with had become a holy relic
known as the holy lance or "Spear of Longinus".
Also according to christian legend he was later on martyred for his faith.

The 2nd legend on which Barry Sadler's novel is based is that of The Wandering Jew.
According to this old legend (an anti-semitic one also), A shoemaker named Ahasuerus meets Christ, as he is being led away by Roman soldiers to his crucifixion.
He taunts or insults Christ who in retaliation curses him to wander the earth forever until the 2nd coming.
Some accounts state that Jesus had rested himself on the walls of
this man's house when he Ahasuerus came out and told him to get off and get lost.
Then in anger Christ had turned around and cursed this man to live forever until judgement day.
So much for turning the other cheek and forgiving your enemies.

So now combine these two legends and you have Casca The Eternal mercenary.
Here you have a Roman centurion whose name is Casca Rufio Longinus.
Remember the name of the Roman saint/martyr mentioned above?
Like the original legend of Longinus Casca does stab Christ in the side with a spear,however with one major departure from the original story.
Christ then looks down on Casca and curses him to live forever until the 2nd coming.
It is at this point that the story resembles the legend of the wandering jew.
And the incredible saga of Casca Longinus begins down through history, in the following series of novels that come after this
one.

It is a long endless tormenting, harsh tale of one man condemned to a life of violence and bloodshed.
Who finds himself surviving and living against his wishes, and never knowing anything but the brutality of endless warfare.

awsome story
Bar none the best war/soldier fiction written. I have all original books from #1 to "Halls of Montezuma". Too bad we lost Barry. I could not put a single one of his books 'Casca' down 'til finished reading them. SO cool. The last ones are written by other authors but they are pretty good. The ones written by Barry stand out above the best. Truely a collectors item. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Piratical Casca!
Although Casca novels are rich with detail and historical adventure, this one could have been much better than it was. This started the decline of the series. Was Barry running out of steam?

Though not Sadler's worst casca book, definately not close to being his best.

A Rum Book, me hearties!
Casca has a stab at being a pirate while doing a good turn for a ruthless plantation owner, little knowing his paymaster has a hidden agenda!A good tale of the high seas and Sadler uses realistic terminology to givethe reader the feel of being there.Definately one to read but not at sea! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Desert of ideas - bland mission
While interesting enough in that its a rescue mission set in the early 60s in Algeria, its just a little too much of a 'comic' style story, with the characters lacking depth and as a result you don't feel any sympathy towards them.The bad guy - a renegade ex-Wehrmacht officer turned Tuareg - is so two-dimensional its surprising he can't slip under a door.

The character of Gus Beidemann, which is always worth a read, is far too coarse and stuck in the idea of the bad social habits the earlier depictions in Panzer Soldier and Legionnaire showed, that he's hardly one to like.Even African Mercenary showed a more human side to Gus which was absent here.

This is a perfect demonstration of how to take likeable characters from earlier books and turn them into caricatures so that the reader can't identify with them.The one character that had any interest for me was Sharif Mahmud, the Arab tribal leader.At least he relieved the tedium of a passionless group of mercenaries being assembled by Casca to rescue two teenagers from the clutches of a 'terrorist' cell on a mountaintop.

The best part of this book was when the attack on the camp came and this raced along fairly well.After that there was a sort of unravelling and too many of the characters were killed off.The writer (a ghost writer, not Sadler) confused himself because if you jot down the names on a piece of paper and then cross them off when they get killed, he misses one or two out.Suddenly you have only a handful left, including miraculously the two teenagers despite trained military people dying by the bucketload.

The character of the medical officer, Sims, was so obviously stolen from the film 'Wild Geese' its embarrassing.

All in all an average book.Worth a read but nothing to shout about.

Coming back into the mythos fray...
This Casca novel brought Barry Sadler back from the dregs of the last couple of novels. Better written all around. Perhaps because this was what Sadler knew firsthand more. I dunno.

Either way, this was one of those that could be a neat movie, the likes of Man On Fire. It was alot like that. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Joe Ronning PHd
Dr. Sadler's rather brilliant analysis of the statistical data available is outshined only by the vision he brings to the problems of EIA aestetics.His books will be looked at in 50-100 years as glaring blueprints of "what can happen"

The man who wrote President George Bush's (Sr.) speech to the Brazil conference of 1994 is a visionary, history will vindicate his findings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Badly written and poor research
This review refers to the novel rather than the CD which I haven't bothered to listen to.Casca 21 covers the first year or so of the First World War which you would think would provide the basis for a sound and exciting story, given this is about an Eternal Mercenary fighting throughout history.

Sadly the writer missed the boat with this one.Forget the attributed writer on the cover, this definitely was not done by Sadler who was, by this time, lying in a coma in an American hospital.The publishers hired a ghost writer to pen this one and he realy had no idea of the conflict and when things happened.

Even if the reader has no real knowledge of history, the content rarely gets exciting, the combat passages, of which there are an abundance, just don't feel exciting or make one want to turn the next page.The writer has a cold, dispassionate approach to the story and it transfers to the pages.

There are two parts of this book which don't have combat situations; the first part which picks the life story of Casca up in 1914 when he's a homeless man in London and chance crosses his path with a discovery of money and he uses it to take a train to Wales and become a miner.The first indication that the writer knows nothing of the subject matter he's putting down is calling the Welsh village 'Beowulfsdel'.Living close to Wales I know for a fact there is no such place and no Welsh settlement ever had such a name.Beowulf is Saxon, which would be insulting to the Celtic Welsh.If a writer takes little care in the subject matter, such errors will creep in.

The life in a Welsh village is interrupted by the start of the war and Casca and his fellow miners enlist and are sent to the front.There is precious little depth to the characters and even to the scenery or immediate environment so the reader is confronted with cardboard action and cardboard characters.Halfway through the book Casca and his friends get leave to Paris and get involved in a fracas which ends up with them sent back to the front.

The latter part of the book is a sadly repetitious sequence of fighting and more fighting.It gets tedious and you dearly hope something will come along to give depth to the story but alas, nothing does.All that happens is that all of Cascas friends die and Casca ends up a near corpse on a ship heading for Gallipoli.

The ghostwriter had terrible trouble in researching the First World War.As the action took place in 1914 and the start of 1915, I wonder how he managed to put the British army at Verdun (where the French army was dug in and no action occurred there until 1916) and also mention Romania entering the war when in fact they only did in August 1916?It appears that the series had become an unwanted burden to the publishers and the fact Sadler was lying in a bed half dead they lost the will to make sure readers were given a story that held them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Memorable and cinematic!
If you love Casca, then you will love this book. I liked the fact that Barry brought back Casca's best friend and fighting companion from Book # 5 The Barbarion, (one of the all-time best of the series), in the form of Glam.

Though he wasn't called Glam here, he was the same character, reincarnated. Very memorable, even after all of these years. Though built like a bear, and fought like a lion, he was funny as hell. great characterization here, along with great battle scenes, only the likes that Barry sadler knew how to write firsthand.

A must read for adventure fans.

Casca's Vietnam experiences in the French Foreign Legion
Having noticed the unhelpful review below, I decided to write a proper one about the book.Casca is recruited into the French Foreign Legion in the aftermath of the second worldwar - the first part of the story deals with Casca's escape from a shattered Berlin and is wonderfully written - and trains in Africa.

He is then shipped to Vietnam and is involved in the bitter war against the Viets fighting for independance.Gus Beidemann joins Casca and the two enjoy a few hilarious adventures before they are dropped into Dien Bien Phu in 1954 which saw the eclipse of France's Indochinese empire.The battle is well written and gives you some idea as to what went on in that terrible siege.

For the world of Casca visit www.casca.net

THIS IS AN EXLENT SET OF BOOKS.
I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS SET OF BOOKFOR TEN YEARS AND HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND THE FULL SET CAN YOU HELP? ... Read more

Product Description
Wandering the globe under a curse received from the dying Christ on Calvary, Casca Longinus fights onward, surviving and looking for the day when He promised to return, so the curse may end. Now, shipwrecked on a South Seas island inhabited by warrior tribes, Casca quickly proves himself fearless in combat. Wielding spear and club with murderous precision, the Eternal Mercenary soon earns a respected place in his adopted tribe's barbarously primitive rituals. Then, when he unveils the devastating potential of a new and magical weapon, Casca is elevated from warrior to god, and summons his army of believers for the bloodiest of the island's battles. ... Read more