David Sherman & Dan Cragg, Starfist: Flashfire

Starfist: Flashfire

David Sherman & Dan Cragg

Del Rey, Feb 2006, $19.95

ISBN: 0345460545

During a violent independence protest at the main gate of Fort Seymour army depot on the remote planet of Ravenette, civilians toss bricks at the soldiers hitting a Lieutenant; the untrained in civil disobedience contract workforce fires at the crowd killing several people. The local populace and that of nine nearby worlds blame the military for overuse of force. Thus what started as a nasty trade dispute has turned bloody.

Those demanding independence from the Confederation rally everyone to their cause. Soon the combined strength of ten orbs assault Fort Seymour. The Confederation sends it battle hardened 34th Marine Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) to put down the insurgency on Ravenette, which the leadership assumes would end the revolt on all the planets. The marines lack critical Top Secret information that a well trained secessionist force is prepared for combat. Learning on the job the error of their ways, the FIST force adapts to fight a strong adversary while the real enemy, known to be waiting for the right moment by the pompous brass, the alien Skank prepares for its assault on the "winners".

Though the series is approximately a decade old and has had ten previous novels, this is a fresh exhilarating military science fiction that centers on conventional warfare. The story line is action-packed from the moment the brick hits the unsure Lieutenant Ios and never slows down as the troops on the ground realize how costly the secrets of their superiors are in lives. David Sherman and Dan Cragg provide a highly entertaining tale that carries a deep warning label about hiding needed information from the front lines fighting any war, past, present, or combat in a future outer space environs.