Starfist: Force Recon: Recoil

by David Sherman and Dan Cragg

Book Overview

Swift, silent, and deadly-they strike where no one else dares. Fear is the fastest-growing crop on Haulover, a newly colonized planet where someone-or something-is destroying isolated farmhouses. The unseen enemy strikes without warning, then disappears, leaving no stone standing, no trace of families or farm animals. When the Confederation receives a desperate plea for help, it's time to send in the Marines. Impossible missions are a matter of course...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 034546060X
• ISBN13: 9780345460608
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Waiting For the Marines

Recoil (2008) is the third SF novel in the StarFIST Force Recon series, following Pointblank. A StarFIST novel -- Firestorm -- covers the intervening period. In the previous volume, General Lyons learns that the riot at Fort Seymour was a setup. He has Colonel Raggel interrogate the informant and then sends orders to the Seventh MP battalion for the arrest the responsible parties. Lieutenant Colonel Cogswell cancels all scheduled activities and throws a beer bust for the troops. Puella wins a bet with her top sargeant about ingestion of chocolate covered slimies. And Charlette is rescued by the marines. In this novel, Jak Daly is now an Ensign and has been assigned back to his old outfit. It is very unusual to assign an newly commissioned officer to the same unit where he had been a noncom. But General Indrus wanted him back in the Fourth Force Reconnaissance Company. Jimmy Jasper is a lay preacher in Tabernacle on Kingdom. He had been abducted by the Skinks during the war, but showed up after the Skinks left. He seems to believe that the Skinks are Angels of the Lord. Puella Queege is a corporal in the Seventh Independent Military Police Battalion. Puella had been a clerk in one of the MP companies and had been awarded a Bronze Star for warning the Coalition forces of the attack by Confederation Marines. She had also won a shootout with the Mayor and two flunkies, who were robbing a bank during that attack. Moses is a young skink. He had been found in some bulrushs near the river, hence the name. He has been adopted by the Brattle family of New Salem on Kingdom. Anders Aguinaldo is a General in the Confederation Marines, the only four star general in the Corps. He commands Task Force Aguinaldo, a joint command that was created in response to the Skinks. Rene Raggel was a Colonel in the Coalition forces, an aide to General Davis Lyons. Now he has been preempted by Task Force Aguinaldo. He is given a personal interview with the general and gets temporary command of the Seventh MP battalion. In this story, Jimmy raises a missionary fund and buys two one-way tickets to Earth. At the port, he meets Sally Consolador and gives her the other ticket. She is also a former abductee of the Skinks. On Earth, Jimmy starts having pentecostal style revival meetings. His audience grows larger -- over a hundred thousand at one revival -- and his private meetings begin to reach the rich and influential. His message of the Angels of the Lord begins to affect public policy. The President's staff want to arrest Jimmy as a traitor. Yet the president wants to know more about him. She has a private meeting and Jimmy walks out, deeming her too freethinking for his message. Dr. Joseph Gobels, and his assistant Dr. Pensy Fogel, come to Kingdom to get Moses. They tell the Brattle family that the alien will be returned in a month after the noninvasive tests are completed. His foster father feels obligated to release him to the Confederation

Best of the Force Recon Series to date

I have enjoyed the StarFist series since I stumbled on it 5 years ago. The Force Recon series has been decent so far but this book really put it over the top. The story dovetails nicely with the main series without detracting from it. The characters are well written but the names can sometimes be off putting. If you have read any of the other Force Recon series, this is a definite read for you. If you are new to the series, you could read this standalone and still be able to get what is going on.

The time problem

Another solid effort from Sherman and Craig. I am looking forward to the next book to see how this all turns out. There are plenty of worse ways to be entertained or waste an evening. The only problem that I am having with this series is that time doesn't make sense. We're told that a starship can take several weeks to arrive yet drones and ships and messages seem to arrive almost instantly. Other than that the book is excellent and the action exciting. I am grateful that the authors do not hesitate to kill off characters. This allows room for others to develop. I really enjoyed some of the commentary on pentecostal worship. A different spin in the series. Continues to surprise.

Great SCI FI book

This is another great book from David Sherman and Dan Cragg. If you like action you need to read all the books in this series and their other series. To understand this book you don't need to start with book one but I would if I was you. Well worth your money.