• Casca the Eternal Mercenary

  • Casca Series, Book 1
  • By: Barry Sadler
  • Narrated by: Gene Engene
  • Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (573 ratings)

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Casca the Eternal Mercenary  By  cover art

Casca the Eternal Mercenary

By: Barry Sadler
Narrated by: Gene Engene
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Publisher's summary

This is audiobook number one in the Casca Series.

When they flew Casey into the hospital at Nha Trang, the medics were sure he would die. That he didn't was only the first surprise. The second, and bigger one, was that Casey had been fighting for 2,000 years, ever since that day on Golgotha when he thrust his lance into the side of the man on the cross. "Soldier, you are content with what you are. Then that you shall remain until we meet again." Thus does Casca's journey begin, a man who cannot die, does not age, and knows no skills but those of battle.

©1979 Barry Sadler (P)2002 Books in Motion

What listeners say about Casca the Eternal Mercenary

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An interesting story for every Soldier to read.

Where does Casca rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

a solid 9 out of 10

Who was your favorite character and why?

Casca: The eternal mercenary's life dichotomy of valiant servant to empire while maintaining a "Howard Roark egotist" type personality parallel the personality of many Soldiers I know, especially the one I watch shave each morning.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

forgotten favorite

discovered Casca books back in the 80s. forgotten about them after Saddler died. forgotten how good the stories are

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Can't stop listening

This is as much fun as it is improbable. Based on the legend of Longinus, the author blends Ben Hur and the best of that ilk into a great adventure tale. I am truly addicted to the series.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Opening Book

I love this series. I read it almost 30 years ago. Looking forward to the next book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

As good as I remember

I read many of the books in this series, as a young US Marine on ship over thirty years ago, and had always intended to revisit the series. This first installment is as good as I remembered, made better by an excellent theatrical reading by the narrator. On to book 2!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • SD
  • 06-08-21

Live Long and .....

Casca is an old favorite but first time enjoying the Audible version, thank you. I am a Marine, retired for 20 yrs, and feel I understand both more and less of his troubles. My wife has a degrees in Religious Study and as lent me some insight, not intentional, into the roman soldier's actual assist in Jesus' death on the cross. Originally I assumed the story of Casca was sympathetic to the hero and to my concept of Jesus but that is not really true. Both suffer in the telling of Casca's "curse". Jesus' punishment of Casca's attempt to relieve a fellow human of immense suffering is inconsistent with EVERY image of the idea of Jesus and the very reason he was on the cross. Casca's contribution to Jesus' predestinted demise was not entirely for the benefit of the son of god's painless passing. Speeding Jesus on his way was also practical and self serving, of course. Additionally, Jesus was an unknown quantity. Casca was NOT coming to the aid of the first coming but was doing as he knew he would want any man to do for him. Any MAN, as a god would certainly not need to be saved! How did I get here? I enjoyed the audiobook version as much as I did the text version. Just differently!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Historical fiction at it's best !

I sometimes read pure history books but also enjoy a good scifi/fantasy book on occasion. This one gave me a dash of both and I enjoyed Sadler's writing style and development of both the character and the story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Finally got a chance to listen

My cousin, who was in the army years ago, once mentioned this series to me. The idea of story of the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side and was damned to live on in perpetuity always interested me. The book doesn't disappoint.

A few comments. Sadler was writing during a time before the internet and I'm sure a lot of the historical background has holes or errors because researching so many details would be laborious and time consuming. But you need to set aside those quibbles and remember that this is fiction.

Secondly, Sadler tends to put modern expressions and idioms into the minds and voices of his characters. This is just another idiosyncrasy you're gonna have to set aside if you want to enjoy the story.

Likewise, you can lay your woke sensibilities aside. This book series is very politically incorrect when it comes to all sorts of subjects but especially regarding women.

I suspect the narrator is polarizing. I personally like his dramatic style and the voices he uses to portray the various characters, male and female. Based on the mixed reviews I've seen for other similar narrators, I'm sure there are more than a few listeners who won't like this one.

The production quality is not as good as modern audio books. I've encountered this in other old recordings. They just didn't bother with editing out breathing, mouth sounds, pops and even burps. This can be a little distracting until you get used it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

umique

From the newly immortal soldier who pierced the side of Jesus. is it a work of fiction? sometimes anything might be possible.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

time flew

great compeling story, writing and narration. very dry and to the point gave a feeling of being there

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