Customer Reviews

First to Fight

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was disappointed with this book, contrary to the majority of reviewers, it seems. It's not that the basic premise was bad, although it's certainly been done several times before. It's not that the combat scenes aren't exciting -- clearly the authors have some personal knowledge of the subject -- but the technology is really quite simplistic: personal direct fire weapons, squad "automatic" weapons, APCs, radio-equivalents, etc. I think a civilization that has interstellar travel would be far more advanced than this, and a good author with an eye towards future technologies could make things far more believable and interesting. This led some reviewers to point out that the basic story tracked the situation in Somalia in the early '90s when a Recon unit was pinned down in Mogadishu. Well, it's not, folks: real battles aren't settled by single combat, and modern war is not nearly as clean-cut and heroic as it's portrayed here. If you want to know about Somalia, read Black Hawk Down. If you want good combat sci-fi that doesn't read like a "veteran's romance novel," where Marines are good and tough and the enemies are easy to identify, culturally backward and somewhat stupid, look elsewhere.

As military science fiction goes, this one is very readable. It is not crafted as tightly as some others, Weber's Honorverse comes to mind, but it is a good read that will provide several hours of enjoyable entertainment.

The story concerns a group of marines. These are not US Marines but are their ideological descendants. In the first part of the book, we a treated to the life of a recruit from his initial enlistment through boot camp. He is then assigned to an infantry unit which gets deployed to a backwater planet on a peacekeeping mission. Through the medium of best wishes, the high brass decide that a peacekeeping mission does not rate a full complement of combat equipment so the unit is somewhat at a disadvantage when it hits the fan. Under the tutelage of the more experienced men around him, the young marine gets his first taste of combat.

This is what Melville called a "potboiler". It may not stick in long term memory as a great work of literature but it was well worth the effort. I look forward to reading the next installment in the series to see what happens.

First off, I'd just like to say that, as a former military manmyself (Navy, not Marines), this book sticks pretty durn close to whatactually goes on (with the exception of the plasma weapons and chamelion suits, that is....) in the military. The comraderie, which the reader is immediately drawn into, the joking and prank-pulling, the immediate shift to serious professionalism when the situation calls for it, yup, Dave Sherman and Dan Cragg have definitely "been there, done that!"

The storyline itself is amazingly addicting. I admit I was a bit leery when buying the first book, but was hooked after the prologue. The characters are complex, but not too much so, and you really begin to find yourself sympathyzing with them as the plot unfolds. You get this intense hatred for "military intelligence" from the start, and that doesn't let up through the three books I've read so far! The authors do a superb job of explaining the relevant parts of history and technological breakthrus leading up to the present situations, cleverly disguised as mission briefs instead of a few paragraphs taken out of the general flow of the tale in order for the author to explain. I liked that. Maintains continuity.

On a down-note, there are a few places where the action seems to jump, such as a patrol heading into a combat situation, then the scene changes, and when we get back to the patrol, they're cleaning their guns and checking for survivors. In most cases, this felt like a cheezy crop-job by the editors in an effort to cut out "needless and redundant violence"...which is one of the better parts of the story! This doesn't happen often, though, so I decided not to lop off the fifth star in the rating.

Overall, an excellent series, well-worth the money and shipping time! The universe in this series is huge and complex, so I can't forsee an end to the series....thankfully! I eagerly await the next installment. END

I just wanted to add a counterpoint to the somewhat overly uncritical reviews out there.

First ... the executive summary is this: This is not the best military sci-fi available, but it is readable and enjoyable as long as your expectations aren't too high. If you like the notion of 'Marines in Space', go ahead and get this book but buy it cheap, read it for fun, don't worry, be happy.

Now for the critique:

I'll clarify to potential readers that this book is not any kind of 'hard' sci-fi. The future-tech is overwhelmingly undeveloped ... very little seems to have advanced in military capabilities as described in the StarFist universe. I could have done without the inexplicable 'futurized' versions of some 20th century hardware that I can't imagine should exist in the future -- why would you have amphibious landing craft and blown-air [as opposed to some kind of futuristic anti-gravity which would have been more interesting] hovercraft when you have interstellar flight?). I'll also agree whole-heartedly with a previous reviewer that the complete lack of females in the military is inexplicable some several centuries in the future.

On the plus side, the characters are fairly simple but robust, pleasantly so in many ways ... we don't need chapters, pages, or paragraphs of exposition about character's motivations in order to identify with them enough to enjoy the story, and the authors did a fine job there.

But for my main critique, as a former Marine, I have to counter other reviews saying that these Marines are realistic ... they are NOT realistic. They are caricatures ... they are the haze-of-fond-memory-through-a-rosy-lens memories of military camaraderie and esprit de corps. The structures of the military organs, the behaviors, the rank structures all smack of Gomer Pyle (or earlier) views of American military life. There is no such thing as a "career [low rank here]", and hasn't been for decades. The modern militaries don't allow people to remain low ranking members for "life" ... officer or enlisted, you must advance in rank, or you are discharged.

But do these obvious caricatures detract from the stories? Not really, simply because of the way the stories are written ... I can get over the Gomer Pyle-ishness of some of the characters simply due to the strength of one of the funnest main characters I've encountered: Charlie Bass. He reminds me of a mixture of R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket and Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge. He's one tough mamma jamma. OOH RAH!!!!

The following are just some minor nit-picks: there is too much for my taste use of Army terms in this military organization which the story spells out is based on the USMC. Marines do not have Kitchen Police (KP), they have Mess Duty. And time is ALWAYS 4 digits ... 1700 (spoken "seventeen hundred"), never "17 hours". Oh yeah, Marines say "Ooh Rah" ... not "hoo-ah" or "hooray" or any other cheer.

When it comes to writing military SF the combined talent of David Sherman and Dan Cragg is hard to surpass. The writing and plots are virtually seamless with no flip flopping between unrelated materials.

In First to Fight we are treated to good background information without being bored. We learn about the main characters backgrounds and what drives their motivations. Such as the Joe Dean who came from an Army household and his motivations for going into the Corps. We Get to understand why SSgt. Bass mistrust the UPUD's. There are glimpses into what future military boot camp might be like. Almost every detail in this book tied into something else and nothing stood out as frivolous.

The book begins a year or so before the main story, on the introduction of a new piece of military hardware and the problem associated with it. With that background in place we move onto the main story.

Part one includes the story of a young man's desire to perform military service and his trials through boot camp. This part sets up the training and function of the Corps. and the mindset.

Part Two is the new private as he intereacts on his first duty assignment and how the newbies are brought into the fold by the old salts. To some this might seem boring but it gives some insight into the traditions binding together a band of warriors and how it affects them.

Part three begins the mission of providing humanitarian aid on an alien world and the requirements needed. This section like the rest concentrates on the people involved and not the science or the logistics. It provides a glimpse into how humanitarian missions or other non combat missions might turn into combat.

Part four is the resolution to this crisis and how all the previous parts come together. Sorry if this seems vague but I don't want to give the story away. All in all David Sherman and Dan Cragg are outstanding in this series. It brings to SF another aspect of the future. This series doesn't concentrate on spaceships, giant robots, single heroes/heroines that can do everything or unrealistic ground warfare.

The setting could be placed in any modern warfare arena because the tactics are real and practical. The interactions make sense and I cannot think of any other writer who can bring the futuristic elements of ground combat better than these two authors.

Starfist lived up to the expectations of exciting and action-packed military SF, right up to page 198, where the authors chose to pontificate on their anti-2nd-Amendment political views, and at the same time take a public dump on another SF author. They should stick to military SF and keep their poltiical correctness to themselves. They don't have the skill to blend both.

If you want a book that you have to think about(not that thinking is a bad thing) get Ender's Game or Starship Troopers. If you want a book that you can read and just enjoy it for the story and not its deepm psycological meaning read this serise. Here are the beginings of the adventures of the 34th FIST, a group of elite military soliders in the 25th century. Yes they are sterotypical, but so is alot of other great science fiction. If you enjoyed Starship Troopers, Ender's Game or even Dune you will enjoy this serise and this book in particular.

An earlier reviewer talked of military cliches, and how everything seemed the same, that the writers couldn't imagine huge societal changes that will obviously have taken place by the time the 25th century arrives. That there will be changes is true, but it will be more along the lines of changes in the trappings of civilization. Over the millenia, since humankind has learned to fight in groups, very little has changed. Strategy, tactics, and technology has evolved of course, but one thing has remained constant. To succeed in war, a belligerant must take and hold ground. It's sometimes almost as valuable to deny ground to the enemy, but in the end it must be taken and held. Cavalry couldn't do it all, aircraft can't do it, tanks can't do it, and in the future whatever takes the place of these won't be able to do it, either. It has always been up to the ground-pounder, assisted by the other arms, sure, but only the ground-pounders can prevail in the end.


This first book in what has become a highly entertaining series is remarkable in its devotion to the ground-pounder, and especially the ground-pounder who makes it all happen: the guys at the sharp end, both enlisted and non-commissioned officers.

I highly recommend this saga, if you want realism at the small unit level. And if you're interested in what other Starfist fans are saying about the books of Sherman and Cragg, there's now a fan website available at http://www.starfisthq.org. Discussion forums, news of future books, and you can also make contact with the authors who do participate from time to time.

It's science and military fiction that has been told many times before. A young recruit joins up, is trained, and goes into battle. However, these authors do a very good job of building character, moving plot, writing believable enviornments and enemies and allies. Is it mind candy for the sci-fi crowd? Yes, it is, but is is tasty. I stayed up late to finish it and ordered the next two volumes.

First to Fight (1997) is the first novel in the StarFIST series. The 31st Fleet Initial Strike Team is issued a new item of equipment, a Universal Positionator Up-Down link, that will replace the radios, geo position locators, and vector computers throughout the companies. The UPUD has been field tested only at Aberdeen, but passed with flying color. When Gunnery Sergeant Charlie Bass questions such tests and suggests that his company take its current equipment along as backup, he is told that the company has been ordered to immediately turn in all of it. In the field, the UPUDs don't work as advertised, resulting in a number of unnecessary deaths. Back at the base, Bass thoroughly damages the company rep, Daryl George, before he is pulled off. Daryl drops charges against Charlie when told his company could be charged with criminal negligence due to his misrepresentations. Charlie, however, is convicted of conduct unbecoming a noncommissioned officer, demoted one level, and re-assigned to the 34th FIST.

In this novel, Joseph F. Dean joins the Confederation Marine Corps and is sent to the training planet, Arsenault. After many weeks in Boot Camp and Advanced Infantry Training, Dean is assigned to the 34th FIST on Thorsfinni's World, with Charlie as his platoon sergeant. His first liberty is even more exciting than the training courses. And then the 34st is sent to Elneal to provide humanitarian aid.

This novel gets off to a slow start after the initial UPUD fiasco (which most ex-service types will find familiar -- except Charlie gets in a few good licks), dwelling on the nature and peculiarities of military training, Marine style, but starts picking up the pace after Dean arrives on Thorsfinni's World. The other characters -- McNeal, Chan, Claypoole, Schultz, etc. -- are probably composite archetypes based on people the authors have known; nobody could be such a total goofball as Claypoole seems in his first appearance.

This series concentrates on the riots, raids, insurrections, and other relatively small incidents handled mostly by the Marines in our own history. Although the Marines have always been involved in the larger conflicts, the FISTs are the kind of ready deployment force that is the first to fight in most smaller actions. And, in this novel, they soon find themselves in a nasty fight.

Some reviewers have wondered why the Marines are not equipped with more futuristic weapons. First, the Navy has the planet-busters if these become necessary. Second, the Army has the tactical nukes, heavy artillery, and heavy tanks if these become necessary. Third, there are people who want to continue living on the planet after the Armed Forces leave. Thus, the Confederation sends in the Marines, light infantry capable of maneuvering in virtually any terrain and armed with weapons capable of taking out anything they face. Minimum force for maximum effect.

Recommended for Sherman & Cragg fans and anyone who enjoys small-unit combat in a SF setting.