Starfist Lazarus Rising
David Sherman & Don Cragg
Del Rey, Dec 2003, $19.95, 320 pp.
ISBN 0345460006

It may be the twenty-fifth century but the Marines are still the first soldiers on planet fall. The planet kingdom of Yahweh and His Saints and Their Apostles call upon the confederates for help in crushing a peasant uprising the marines of the 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team answer the call. However, the military is shocked to discover they are fighting sentient aliens of rather than human beings. After a difficult war, the marines manage to wipe out the Skinks but they suffered heavy loses including Gunnery Sergeant Charlie Bass.

Back on Heaven, the military theocracy is overthrown and the newly formed government resembles Hitler's Nazi party as the new leader has modeled the government after the SS branch. In the backwoods of Heaven, six POW taken by the Skinks awaken with no memory of who or where they are. They wait until they come upon a village of religious settlers who take them in never dreaming this act will involve them and the POWs in a coup d'etat whose aim is the complete overthrow of the present regime.

Fans of military science fiction will want to read STARFIST LAZARUS RISING and then will seek out the previous books in this exciting series. Readers get a vivid picture in their minds of Heaven, a mix of medieval life and futuristic technology. David Sherman and Don Cragg are excellent collaborators who create heroes that are brave, resourceful and refreshingly original.

Harriet Klausner