Helpful Score: 4
"Marines, we have just become a low-tech deep recon patrol . . ."Stranded in a hellish alien desert, stripped of their strategic systems, quick reaction force, and supporting arms, and carrying only a days water ration, Marine Staff Sergeant Charlie Bass and his seven-man team faced a grim future seventy-five light-years from home. The only thing between his Marines and safety was eighty-five miles of uncharted, waterless terrain and two thousand bloodthirsty savages with state-of-the-art weapons in their hands and murder on their minds. But the enemy didnt reckon on the warrior cunning of Marines' Marine Charlie Bass and the courage of the few good men who would follow him anywhere--even to death. . . "HARD TO PUT DOWN . . . Any book written by Cragg and Sherman is bound to be addictive, and this is the first in what promises to be a great adventure series. FIRST TO FIGHT is rousing, rugged, and just plain fun."
Helpful Score: 2
I've met both authors in person at conventions, and attended some small conferences with them, both are military vets who not only "talk the talk" but they've "walked the walk" and it comes across in their writing.
This, the first book in their popular Starfist series, is a prime example of the old writer's creed of, "write what you know". Being a vet myself, I found I could not only relate well to the characters, but nothing in any of the books in the series ever rang "false" to me. In each case the characters react and interact they way an actual unit does, but during combat and during "down time".
I highly praise both authors for bringing to the page the full sense of what it's like to be part of a small unit in a much larger organization and then combining that with a science fiction storyline that is both believable and entertaining.
This, the first book in their popular Starfist series, is a prime example of the old writer's creed of, "write what you know". Being a vet myself, I found I could not only relate well to the characters, but nothing in any of the books in the series ever rang "false" to me. In each case the characters react and interact they way an actual unit does, but during combat and during "down time".
I highly praise both authors for bringing to the page the full sense of what it's like to be part of a small unit in a much larger organization and then combining that with a science fiction storyline that is both believable and entertaining.
Helpful Score: 1
Space Marine adventure. Great futuristic battle and tactics descriptions.
Helpful Score: 1
Okay, I really enjoyed this book. Perhaps because, like the author, I was also a Marine and Viet Nam veteran. But why is it when someone writes military sci-fi about a small unit there always has to be a young officer who is an incompetent a--h---, who also turns out to be a coward?
I know such existed in real life. Hell, as an officer, I even knew some of them myself. And, probably, there were times I was one too. But some of the things the young officer in this story did, or didn't do, would have shamed even a new private reporting in at his first duty station.
In describing the requirement that an officer in the space-age Marines had first to be an enlisted man, you would have thought the idiots would be weeded out before being selected. This type of character is a tired cliche.
Having said all that, I have just requested the next two books in this series.
I know such existed in real life. Hell, as an officer, I even knew some of them myself. And, probably, there were times I was one too. But some of the things the young officer in this story did, or didn't do, would have shamed even a new private reporting in at his first duty station.
In describing the requirement that an officer in the space-age Marines had first to be an enlisted man, you would have thought the idiots would be weeded out before being selected. This type of character is a tired cliche.
Having said all that, I have just requested the next two books in this series.
For those who love military action books and believable science fiction, this is and excellent book. It is immediately obvious that both writers come from and totally convey the knowledge base and experiences of military men that have been in combat. The action is intense and unceasing. If you are looking for this type of fiction in a long, well written series then pick this book up. It is the first in a series of 15 books. The series is well worth the investment.
I really enjoyed this book. It was, by virtue of its genre as a military action book, fairly predictable, but that is why I love these. Good creative writing with a few unusual surprises.
