Kingdom's Swords
Encyclopedia
This is the seventh novel of the military science fiction
StarFist Saga
, written by David Sherman
and Dan Cragg
.
, it was related that the Skinks (an alien race thus far mostly unknown to the Human Confederation) have invaded the planet Kingdom. The planetary government reluctantly requests Confederation assistance, but thanks to miscommunications and pure bureaucratic bungling, the Marines of 34th FIST are deployed thinking that they are on their way to put down a peasant rebellion.Kingdom's government are very religious and make it harder for the 34th FIST to fight the Skinks. Kingdom's army is poorly equipped and poorly trained to fight the Skinks. So the Skinks catch the 34th FIST by surprise. Only one platoon of the unit has encountered the Skinks before, in Blood Contact
, and had been forbidden to talk about their experiences, or even reveal the existence of these aliens. Even worse than this surprise is a new devastating weapon in use by the Skinks. The Rail Gun, a weapon that makes it impractical for the Marines to use aircraft or armored vehicles in close combat. And to make matters worse for Company L, their commander is unexpectedly summoned back to Earth.
In this book, the casualty rate is very high for the 34th, even worse than they had experienced in Steel Gauntlet
. Sherman and Cragg have been very careful so far in the series not to kill off important characters, but break this rule in Kingdom's Swords.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
StarFist Saga
StarFist series
StarFist is a series of military science fiction novels set in the 25th century and written from the viewpoint of the men of the Confederation Marine Corps 34th FIST and later in the spin-off series Starfist: Force Recon....
, written by David Sherman
David Sherman
David Sherman is an American novelist who deals overwhelmingly with military themes at the small-unit tactical level. His experiences as a United States Marine during the Vietnam War show prominently in his work.-Biography:Sherman was born in Niles, Ohio...
and Dan Cragg
Dan Cragg
Dan Cragg is an American soldier, essayist, and science-fiction author.-Biography:He is the son of James Wilson and Gertrude Cragg and was married to the late Sun P....
.
Overview
In the previous book, HangfireHangfire
Hangfire is the sixth novel of the military science fiction StarFist Saga, written by David Sherman and Dan Cragg. This installment of Starfist contains three significant and independent plots, one involving members of third platoon, Company L, and the second involves Brigadier Sturgeon, the FIST...
, it was related that the Skinks (an alien race thus far mostly unknown to the Human Confederation) have invaded the planet Kingdom. The planetary government reluctantly requests Confederation assistance, but thanks to miscommunications and pure bureaucratic bungling, the Marines of 34th FIST are deployed thinking that they are on their way to put down a peasant rebellion.Kingdom's government are very religious and make it harder for the 34th FIST to fight the Skinks. Kingdom's army is poorly equipped and poorly trained to fight the Skinks. So the Skinks catch the 34th FIST by surprise. Only one platoon of the unit has encountered the Skinks before, in Blood Contact
Blood Contact
Blood Contact is the fourth novel of the military science fiction StarFist Saga, written by David Sherman and Dan Cragg. This book in the series follows Gunnery Sergeant Bass and the rest of 3rd Platoon, Company L, 34th FIST as they investigate a missing scientific team on the planet Society 437...
, and had been forbidden to talk about their experiences, or even reveal the existence of these aliens. Even worse than this surprise is a new devastating weapon in use by the Skinks. The Rail Gun, a weapon that makes it impractical for the Marines to use aircraft or armored vehicles in close combat. And to make matters worse for Company L, their commander is unexpectedly summoned back to Earth.
In this book, the casualty rate is very high for the 34th, even worse than they had experienced in Steel Gauntlet
Steel Gauntlet
Steel Gauntlet is the third novel of the military science fiction StarFist Saga, written by David Sherman and Dan Cragg.In Steel Gauntlet, St. Cyr, a maniacal sadist who has reinvented the doctrine of armored warfare has taken control of the planet Diamunde, and 34th FIST is deployed as part of a...
. Sherman and Cragg have been very careful so far in the series not to kill off important characters, but break this rule in Kingdom's Swords.