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School of Fire (Starfist, Book 2) | 
 enlarge | Authors: David Sherman, Dan Cragg
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 301082
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0345406230
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345406231
ASIN: 0345406230
Publication Date: June 28, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
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Product Description
Combat, betrayal, and murder at the edge of human space . . .
Deployed to assist the oligarchs of Wanderjahr in putting down a rebellion that threatens the planet's political and economic stability, the Marines must fight two wars at the same time . . . one against the resourceful, well-led guerrillas and another with the entrenched police bureaucracy.
But who is the real enemy and who can be trusted? On Wanderjahr, nothing is as it seems--not even the animal life--and everyone has his own agenda. Inexorably, the Marines of the 34th FIST are drawn deeper and deeper into the politics of a world where murder, terror, and betrayal are the accepted methods of government . . . and everyone is ripe for an old-fashioned butt-kickin'.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
Another Potential Classic Marred by Minor Flaws April 2, 2008
Stewart Teaze (San Diego, CA United States)
SCHOOL OF FIRE(1998) is the 2nd book in the STARFIST series of Miltary SciFi stories, set in the 25th Century... and, like the first book in the series FIRST TO FIGHT(1997), it is an overall excellent book that is marred by some minor but glaring faults.
There are certain passages that are simply outstanding, parts where I laughed out loud, like when PFC Godenov comes up with a quick explanation for his different method of training his troops; or parts that were extremely sad, like the cemetary scene at the end of the book.
However, while most of the outrageously long list of 70's Philadelphia Flyer characters that were introduced in the first book are not mentioned, there are still enough around that it continues to be a bit of a bother - and, again, none of them EVER seem to get killed off by the author... missing this time, are 'UAV operators "Cowboy" Bill Fleet' & asst., fine that two of the Philly Flyers characters are gone, but what happened to the UAVs? They would have been really useful in this story... and most extremely annoying is that "Extreme Solar Activity eliminated long-range RF comms by affecting the ionization layer" just at the right moment in the story... when, the fact is, such a situation would have been more likely to aid long-range military beyond LOS (HF) comms, not hinder it.
In any event, I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
 Too bad they don't give literary awards for "just plain fun to read" February 14, 2007
D. J. Pryor
A great yarn that moves out at a steady double time from start to finish. We get enough back story to set the stage, and then send in the Marines! The authors fill in the gaps as needed as the story progresses w/o making look like an "oh yeah" add in. It flows well.
The day to day humdrum scenes are brief enough so as not to bore, but still vivid and informative enough to clearly paint the necessary picture. The political workings in the background (to the main characters) are likewise short, concise and to the point. As for the combat, not surprisingly they also do a very good job capturing the "20 years of boredom punctuated by 5 minutes of abject terror."
I have seen some reviews state the characters are shallow, lack depth etc. While this may be true of the auxiliary characters (personally I could care less about the life story of the baddie + supporting staff) their main protagonists all but jump off the pages at me. This was especially true in the scenes where they are placing some of the junior Marines into leadership positions in the local forces to train them. As they describe the thoughts and actions of the trainers during their first leadership experience they hit the "oh crap" of someone young and unsure of himself right through the exhilaration an experienced soldier gets when given the chance to train others.
They explain the oddball (some say unbelievable) tactics of the local forces with the "politically appointed leadership," and while it may be a stretch it works when you remember that in every major action our own military has been in we have had to relearn what we should have remembered from the last war and then some. So 200 years of no military + political appointed leadership = volley fire. Ok.
If you can turn off your nit-pick gear and just relax and be entertained then grab this book.
A More Civilized World? July 24, 2005
John A Lee III (San Antonio, TX)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In the original installment of the Starfist series, the marines were sent to a backwater, neo-barbarian planet to lay down the law. In this one, they still get sent to a backwater but it is supposedly a relatively civilized place. The problem is that the upper crust, who called the marines to begin with, are as bad a lot as any of the insurgents the jarheads have been called on to fight. Fighting, however, is not their primary job description. Instead, they are to train the local forces how to do it for themselves. In short, they are advisors and we all remember how dangerous that can be.
The marines have their work cut out for them. The "elite" troops they are to train are good at the parade ground stuff but their war fighting doctrine leaves a bit to be desired. Can you imagine firing by platoon volley while standing in straight ranks while the bad guys fire at you from concealment? It's one of those situations where the powers that be are more interested in a good appearance than in effective troops. After all, the peasants who fill the ranks are pretty cheap to replace.
David Sherman and Dan Cragg do a good job of capturing the military mindset and it makes for enjoyable reading. They are never going to get literary prizes but I, for one, am glad that they would rather tell a compelling story.
 Hoo-Haa! May 15, 2003
Clayton A. Blackwell (Fort Polk, LA)
1 out of 12 found this review helpful
Why did I buy this book? Again the same arguements. I don't really care for Marines, the cover was stupid, too much hoo-haa. I think these books lace their pages with some kind of narcotic. They're really not that good but I keep going down the series. Who knows, maybe sometimes I just want a cheap stupid read?I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. Same problems as the first.
One amazing read October 23, 2002
Katie (Sheridan, WY United States)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The first book of the series (Starfist: First to Fight) was great. This one is, in my opinion, even better. It will keep you guessing all the way to the end. It is a must read for warfare and science fiction lovers. The writers' style is great for keeping you hooked. All in all, it is one of the best books I have ever read.
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