The ninth novel in Sherman and Cragg's classic military SF series (First to Fight
, etc.), the strongest entry yet, has earned a well-deserved promotion to hardcover. In the 25th century, those in trouble can still call on the Marines. Having driven the alien Skinks off the planet Kingdom, the guys of the all-male 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) are going back to base, to receive new people, promote old ones and restore their morale with beer, steak and willing women. Back on Kingdom, however, the dictatorship of Dominic de Tomas has turned into something frighteningly like the Third Reich. Part of this Nazi resemblance is tongue-in-cheek (e.g., the Leader has a fat sidekick, Senior Stormleader Herten Gorman), but the vividly described labor camps are anything but funny. And on a farm, a man with amnesia nicknamed "Military Operations" because he knows something about war is organizing the farmers to resist de Tomas and his thugs. As he recovers his memory, he realizes that the farmer's daughter is in love with him. The Leader's minions carrying off the daughter to be de Tomas's consort/love slave ensures non-stop action for the book's last third. The authors have avoided the implausible scenarios and interservice rivalries of some past volumes. This is state-of-the-art military SF. (Dec. 2)
Forecast:
Sherman is a Marine veteran of Vietnam, Cragg a retired Army sergeant. The politically correct may have trouble with the lack of female soldiers à la Honor Harrington, but the traditional male audience at which this is targeted will have no complaints.
