Some years ago a friend of my husband recommended a book series for my son. I never followed up on it and can’t remember the name of the author or the title of the series. According to Mike , it was a series of books about an immortal soldier (maybe the Roman centurion at Christ’s crucifiction, but I might be remembering that part wrong) who is cursed to travel through time fighting in all wars.
My son is going to be deploying to Iraq in February and he tends to go through the reading material pretty swiftly on deployments, and hardback books are expensive to ship. I was thinking about buying cheap used paperbacks to send him, so I thought of this series. I asked my husband to track down Mike’s email addy for me, so I can ask him directly, but he (my husband) hasn’t gotten around to it yet. So I thought I’d ask here and see if it rang any bells for anyone.
Sounds like Casca the eternal mercenary, written by Master Sergeant Barry Sadler, he of the “Ballad of the Green Berets”. I’ve linked to Amazon.ca, but I’m sure you can find decent used copies all over the place.
I actually read the Casca series as a kid. If I recall correctly, they’re in the same format as those cheap cowboy series that pump out hundreds of books over a couple of decades (not that that’s a criticism, I read those too). In which case, I recommend trying your local used bookstore, which is where I found them.
Sheesh, yeah. I posted that link without checking out the prices. I’ve got no idea why books that were fairly run of the mill paperbacks new cost so much used – maybe they’ve become collector items because of Sadler’s colourful life and death.
I read the series when I was in my early 20’s. My advice is to read the first couple and then not bother with the rest. After the first, they all have the same basic plot. Since Casca is immortal, you know he’s never going to die. Since he was cursed by Christ, he’s also never on the winning side. Really, Sadler wrote the same novel over and over…and he was a barely competent writer.
Yeah, these are definitely pulp fiction. After about the 5th one, you know exactly what is going to happen, and what phrases the author is going to use to describe the events. If you can find them at a used book store, they are worth the $.25. Otherwise, skip them.
Yep – that’s them. Once I saw them I remembered that Mike had also mentioned that they were written by the Ballad of the Green Beret dude. Looks like only the first 3 or 4 were actually written by Sadler, though – then the next 20 of 'em were written by ghostwriters under his name. The last few have been by a different guy altogether.
Anyway, I’m not paying Amazon prices for them. I’ll try my local used book store. Thanks everyone!
I think more in the vein of the Executioner (Mack Bolan?) and Destroyer (Remo Williams) series - not quite as many books, and a somewhat consistent feel. But I agree with Scumpupet al. The first couple are OK - the Aztec one where he grabs his own heart back after being sacrificed :eek: was the high point for me.