Starfist: Flashfire

Flashfire (2006) is the eleventh Combat SF novel in the StarFIST series. The Coalition of Worlds consists of a dozen frontier planets that have accumulated a huge trade deficit with other planets of the Confederacy. Under the leadership of Ravenette -- the most wealthy member -- the Coalition worlds have decided that the solution to their problems is secession from the Confederacy. The Confederacy would have let the Coalition go to perdition in their own way, but there is always the problem of the alien Skinks. With the Skinks probing the frontier, the Confederacy has beefed up its forces on the Coalition worlds and others in the vicinity. This additional military presence hasn't improved public relations on those planets, but everything about the Skinks is classified at the highest level. Various critics have pointed out the problems with withholding such information from the affected worlds. In this novel, a mob of 300 Ravenette men, women and children forms in front of the main gates of Fort Seymour, a recently reinforced supply deport. The mob throws firebombs and other objects at the 30 soldiers facing them, although most are falling short. Suddenly a brick takes out the officer of the guard and a shot is fired at the soldiers. After the shooting dies down, the vid cameras record the carnage from this incident and the Ravenette government distributes copies of the vids to news agencies throughout the Confederacy. The official reports reach the Confederation government central offices well after the vids appear on local networks. The President of the Confederacy -- Madam Chang-Sturdevant -- is quite irritated at the delays in the official reports, but has to face a full session of Congress with little more than the information in the vids. The Representative of Ravenette -- Preston Summers -- makes a stirring speech and then presents the Coalition demands. An argument ensues and Summers assaults another representative with his cane. The Coalition representatives walk out of the Congress and then the Coalition presents an Ordinance of Secession to the Confederacy. In this story, General Davis Lyons is commander of the military forces of Ravenette. He has served with the Confederation forces and is well aware of their numbers and abilities. He sees no way for the Coalition to win any war with the Confederacy and he informs the convention of delegates from the Coalition worlds that they are going to lose. Yet he has personal reasons for trying to attack the Confederacy and is appointed commanding general of all Coalition forces. Major General Alistair Cazombi is commander of Fort Seymour. He was a fighting general and one of the critics of the high level policy on the Skinks. After serving on Avionia, Cazombi was assigned as C1 for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He had a semi-public confrontation with the Chairman about Confederation policy of sequestering troops who have fought against the Skinks and the Chairman had him tran

It's an extremely well written book. I love the storyline it fits perfectly into the way the modern day military is controlled by political robots who know nothing about fighting a war. I look forward to the next book and hope to enjoy the adventures of the 34th fist last a long time.

It is another well written book. The guys did it again. I love the storyline and how it is going. You kinda wish that the real warriors could do something about the pencil pushers that try to control them, but in the end it should work out. I look forward to the next book to complete this adventure.

An excellent extension of the StarFIST series. I hope the authors can keep the series going with the same quality.

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. Harriet Klausner