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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never a dull moment!, April 29, 2000
In the first Starfist novel, the 34th FIST went up against a bunch of nomadic, "low-tech" tribes. Next, they trained a puppet-police force to stand against rebels. Then, they spearheaded an invasion against an entire mechanized army. What's left for the fourth book, you ask? Heck, ALIENS! A remote research outpost on a planet a bit too far gone to be accurately called "remote" suddenly disappears. True to form, the bureacracy (sp?) diddles around before deciding to send a single FIST platoon and the Navy's most embarrassing rejects to investigate. Of course, L platoon, 34th FIST, draws the short straw...probably the best thing the powers-that-be could've done. *g* So, how do you makes heads and tails of a planet covered by swamps and impassable mountains, littered with corpses, full of gigantic lizards (some of which want to melt you), and all the while encumbered with the only human survivors, a rag-tag band of pirates? Just put Charlie Bass in charge! This novel was non-stop from the beginning! Old comrades, new friends, mysterious pasts, enigmatic genocides, and a diabolically sentient race that's next to impossible to track, mindless in its persuit of the destruction of all things human, and simply ingenious in its tactics all add together to make a truely original read! Not your typical "slimey alien drooling on floor grunts a few gutteral noises then whips out a super-advanced weapon and blows the sun up" cookie-cutter beastie, these are coldly calculating commanders with hordes of mindless minions to do their bidding. This is a very highly recommended book! I couldn't find anything to tick on it for, except maybe Dan Cragg and David Sherman's continual downplay of the Navy forces...which, as an ex-Navy man myself, I can totally understand. All in all, I can't wait for book five and six to come out!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They just don't write them any better than this!, December 8, 1999
What can I say? These guys have been there, done that, wore out the T shirt long time ago...it shows in their writing. My pet peeve with Mil-SF, or anything in military fiction, is characters that just don't make sense. That isn't a problem here - The characters in this book - well, if anybody thinks Dr Lydia Bynum is a *completely* fictional character, well, I know a real-life counterpart - "Dragon Lady" - who made O-6 on the last promotion list. Her ethnic mix isn't Greek-Liberian, but otherwise, her physical description and mannerisms are very similar...right down to the fact that she's as good with a 9mm as Dr Bynum is with a blaster. Bottom Line - There are no "Buck Rogers" heros in this story - that's why I like it. No unbelievable handsome or beautiful people that make great decisions and get all the lucky breaks. If that's what you like, go somewhere else. Change the technology gimmicks, make the aliens human, and this story could be a US or Royal Marine landing party going ashore to rescue scientists trapped in some Third World hotspot...My guess is, there's no legal reprecussions if you set the story centuries in the future, on some other planet, with aliens standing in for some economically disadvantaged ethnic group. This is no bright and shining future vision - think of the difference between, say the "STAR TREK"(tm) universe and the future presented in, say, the "Aliens" universe, "Babylon 5" or "Enemy Mine". I've got 24 years in the military, and my experience ranges from wading the surf in a Marine Rifle platoon, to being a "staff puke" on several expeditionary operations. This stuff rings true...and if you do have some familiarity with recent US operations, the "in-jokes" in this book are hilarious! If you need to unwind from the Holiday and end-of year rush, settle back with this book, light up a "Clinton", pop open a "Reindeer" Ale and enjoy.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Predictable but good, January 4, 2000
I found the book to be a good story that doesn't bog down the reader with a bunch of psyhcological garbage that you usually find but instead provides nonstop action that makes for fun reading. It does tend to be a bit predictable but still good.
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