Review: The Last Marine: Books One and Two by T.S. Ransdell

T.S. Randell's The Last Marine: Books One and Two are the story of Sean Harris, the last surviving member of the US Marine Corps. He is interviewed by one Sean Levine, a young man who believes that he has a good future ahead of him... If he can trash Harris and his beloved Corps badly enough. The story is told mainly through flashbacks to to the time of the (obviously fictional) Sino-US War.

The story

Harris was a loyal Marine who gave good service to God, Country and Corps under a Republican president. When the original president's term is up and a Democrat gets elected, things go to hell. A nearly won war is all but abandoned. Sean and his friends are abandoned by the country they served and eventually declared to be guilty of treason. It just gets worse from there when the United States goes from a free country to a wokester's paradise of political correctness and disappearing rights.

The characters

The two main characters are Harris and Levine. We also get to meet a bunch of Harris Marine buddies. They're the kind of hard charging, fun loving, drinking, swearing Marines that you'd expect.

The world

The United States of the piece is a Communist Dystopia similar to the Soviet Union. The Elites run the Democrat Party and get all of the best food, housing, travel permits, etc. Think Josef Stalin with his five dachas while working class families had to live in concrete apartments.

The politics

Harris makes a good case for liberty and the way things used to be. Levine listens to it all, but is skeptical because he's been told that the old way of doing things was racist, misogynistic, etc. The politics shown are actually a quite realistic view of how things will go if the left wins.

Content warning

Violence, gore, swearing, sex and probably something else I'm forgetting. I loved these books but I wouldn't buy them for a twelve year old. I might honestly a bit hesitant about letting my fifteen year old read them.

Why read it?

It's awesome and realistic. It feels like you're there with the characters. It feels prescient. The biggest reason to read it is because it's quality entertainment.

Who is this for?

Anyone who likes war stories and/or dystopic fiction would love The Last Marine.