Lazarus Rising(Starfist Series, Book IX) FROM THE PUBLISHER
In their fiercest combat yet, the hard-charging Marines of 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) have finally won their battle against a full-scale alien invasion of planet Kingdom. But victory over these savage enemies comes at a terrible price, especially for the Marines of Company L's decimated third platoon. The leader these men would follow into hell itself - Gunnery Sergeant Charlie Bass - was consumed in a fiery ambush that obliterated everything but his dog tags and a few scraps of DNA.
On planet Kingdom, citizens try to return to some semblance of normalcy as the military conducts patrols to search out and destroy any remaining alien Skinks. The old government of squabbling religious leaders has been replaced by a ruthless new regime. All power rests with Dominic de Tomas, a depraved despot who will stoop to any means to achieve his vile ends. His reign of terror bodes ill for the fragile planet still reeling from the chaos of war.
In a cave in some forgotten Kingdom backwater, several humans slowly regain consciousness. Their minds have been probed repeatedly...by whom and for what reason they cannot say, for they've been stripped of all memories of themselves and their past lives. In time wounds will heal, but who knows if they will ever fully recover.
For now, finding food and water takes precedence. And so these half-dead outcasts begin a journey into the unknown - in search of civilization, in search of themselves. And one survivor's journey will take him to places of overwhelming danger, where his identity will be revealed to the shock of all.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
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 la Honor Harrington, but the traditional male audience at which this is targeted will have no complaints. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
When the victorious Marines of the 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team return to their home planet Kingdom, they find a tyrannical government in power and a reign of fanaticism in place of reason. In the meantime, a man without a memory wanders the planet seeking his identity. The ninth Starfist novel appears in hardback (the first time for the series) and provides a fast-paced tale of military heroics and personal courage for fans of sf military fiction. For most libraries. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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