March Upcountry by David Weber and John Ringo is the first book in the Prince Roger series. Prince Roger is the heir tertiary to the empire of man and a royal pain to his family and his bodyguards.  He is closely guarded by the Bronze Battalion of the Empress's own detachment of the Imperial Marines.  Prince Roger is a gorgeous playboy who seems to have no redeeming qualities as a prince, much to the chagrin of his mother, the empress.

Not only is he a spoiled rich brat, he is the son of a nobleman who was removed from court on suspicions of treason.  Roger looks and acts just like his father, which causes even more concern to the empress.

Roger is sent on a flag showing mission to an out of the way planet.  There is a political storm brewing and since Roger’s political views are unknown the empress decides it would be better to get him out of the palace.  En route his ship is sabotaged and he and Bronze battalion are stranded on the planet Marduk.  Marduk is one big steamy jungle filled with very dangerous creatures and deadly four-armed natives.  On top of that, the animal and plant life on the planet do not contain the right vitamins and minerals for human survival.

The empire’s enemies, the Saints, are in control of the only star port on the planet.  In order to avoid detection the marines and Roger must land on the other side of the planet, and cannot use their entry shuttles for fear of detection and lack of fuel.  Because of this, they are forced to march on foot all the way across the planet.

The Mardukian technology has discovered black powder in some areas, and in others it is still in the Iron Age.  Roger saves a local shaman from death by killing a large carnivore that is the mardukian version of the cape buffalo.  It turns out that Roger is not the simple airhead that everyone assumed; he has spent a lot of his time being a “playboy” hunting large and dangerous animals across the galaxy on safari and is an incredible natural shot.

From then on the shaman, named Cord, follows him around owing him a life debt.  Not only that, the venerable shaman starts teaching Roger what it means to be a prince.  Slowly Roger begins to grow as a man and his bodyguards start to rely upon his martial and charismatic skills to get them out of sticky situations.

This series is a classic fop prince turns into a man story but it still feels very new.  The blending of science fiction and primitive technology blends seamlessly.  The characters are memorable and their stories are well crafted individually.  For those who enjoy good science fiction or are already David Weber and/or John Ringo fans I highly recommend this novel.  This novel gets an 8 on the It’s Geektime d10 of space operas.