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Andy Moralee knew that life with his new company of Dropship Infantry would be hard, but nothing could prepare him for life in one of the toughest units in the Union army. New arrivals, nicknamed ‘Crow’ by their platoons, are the lowest form of life in his Company, and he finds himself at the mercy of unforgiving commanders and bullies, all the time knowing that the real enemy are waiting for him at the end of his journey through the void. The enemy know that the Union are coming, they have dug in and fortified, and they are ready.

C.R.O.W is a Military Science Fiction novel that follows Andy Moralee across the cosmos, and into combat against a well-equipped enemy prepared to fight to the very end.

Phillip Richards is a soldier serving in the British Army, and an avid fan of science fiction. He has served in the army for twelve years since enlisting as a 17 year old boy, and since having done so he has served on eight operational tours. This includes operations in Kosovo as a peacekeeper, the Iraq Invasion of 2003, and several tours of Afghanistan. During this time he has promoted through the ranks to sergeant and has spent two years instructing infantry recruits in North England.

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2012

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Phillip Richards

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5 stars
233 (30%)
4 stars
276 (36%)
3 stars
179 (23%)
2 stars
48 (6%)
1 star
25 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
36 reviews
November 22, 2018
Labored

In finding hard to explain why I could not finish. The distribution and trite characters are painful. The side bar explanation make the story evolution slow. I wanted to give it a chance..but failed.
Profile Image for Ron.
Author 2 books170 followers
July 9, 2015
I gave up. After a rousing opening scene, the book reverted to a hundred pages of seen-this-a-hundred-times GI newbie backstory.
Profile Image for Paul Nelson.
681 reviews163 followers
November 14, 2012
Andy Moralee is a C.R.O.W, a combat replacement of war or a new recruit in the Union Dropship Infantry.
The Union is the collaboration between the Europeans and the Russians, New Earth is the first planet to be colonised in the Alpha Centauri system 300 years ago, heralded as the dawn of European influence in space.

New Earth is currently inhabited by the Chinese as the Union was cast out during the infamous betrayal when the Chinese turned their backs on the Allies and forced the Union off the planet. Technically the Union and the Chinese have been at war since the betrayal, but barely a shot has been fired in anger as both sides prepare, building their strength for the next move. And if the Union defeat the Chinese she would become a true colonial power in the eyes of the world.

Moralee is stationed on the Challenger undergoing intensive training, beatings at the hands of bullies and finding it very difficult to make any friends as C.R.O.W.s are held in such low regard by everyone.
As a drop ship trooper Moralee has to face extremely low survival rates as we are told once, twice or maybe even half a dozen times that '1 in 3 drop ships were destroyed by enemy fire'.

Well written, realistic and gritty, this is a harrowing tale as many of Moralee's troop succumb to enemy fire. Conditions are shocking as battles take place in the trenches around the massive greenhouses, in a city and the excellently described altercations underground in the warrens. I've read books with better tech and weapons but its worth reading for Moralee's personnel battles and his rise to a battle hardened veteran, 2nd in command of his unit.
Overall worth the £2 on kindle
Profile Image for Mad-robot.
12 reviews
November 7, 2012
A well written military sci-fi book. The comparisons to Starship Troopers are warranted, as the author saw action in the military. The worst about this book is that there isn't a sequel!
Profile Image for Jason Williams.
44 reviews8 followers
August 8, 2018
Bravo Two Zero, but in a subnuclear WW3, but with a veneer of science fiction.

(Ignore reviews mentioning spelling and grammatical errors; those people just don't understand UK English)
Profile Image for Paps.
562 reviews3 followers
June 15, 2020
A really good book, the author doesn't try to play the Heroe as some sort of rambo in the making or something like that, no he is a young recruit, that is shoved into combat and has to survived. I think its is quite realistic with the military enviorement, and the autor doesn't go creating improbable technology that would make him create a lot of plot holes and nonsense. A good entretaining read.
Profile Image for Maria.
2,366 reviews50 followers
January 13, 2018
Anyone who wants to experience what it is like to be the man on the ground during a war should try this book. The reader experiences anxiety right along with the characters, although perhaps not the sheer terror. My interest in reading war stories has mostly to do with tactics, but I found myself in the grip of Andy Moralee's bitter introduction to battle and its consequences and unable to shake myself loose. As soon as I finished the last sentence, I ordered the next in the series and started it immediately. The author does gritty realism well. I am still steeped in violence and loss and see cowardice versus bravery in a whole new light.
73 reviews
September 4, 2017
At first I thought just another military sci fi book but this has a dark and gritty feel to the overall story. A more realistic look and feel of what an army would look like as it's equipment improves but people stay the same. The characters are interesting with both dark and light morals to each character. Will be reading more of this series

Profile Image for Jason  Schoenleber.
45 reviews
March 23, 2015
needs editing

Several misspelled words and cases of incorrect punctuation. I would have rated higher if it was written better and the main character wasn't so whiny.
Profile Image for John Davies.
604 reviews14 followers
June 21, 2022
This is a different Sci fi military novel, in that it doesn't shy away from showing the horrors of war, and of new recruits being bullied. It's an ok novel, but I honestly didn't care for any of the characters, and it was a slog to finish it.

Andy Moralee is a new recruit, or a C.R.O.W. (Combat Replacement Of War). He's just joined the British Army (actually a European Union) force to re-take the colony of New Earth from the Pan-Asian Union (mostly Chinese)

As a CROW, he's bullied relentlessly by several of the senior soldiers in his platoon, until he snaps and fights back with the help of a friend, who nearly kills one of the bullies.

Then the real battle starts, with the platoon using a dropship to get to the New Earth surface, and immediately falling under attack by the Chinese defenders. With his entire section wiped out, he joins another, and they slowly fight closer to the main Chinese city.

With undertones of Starship Troopers, fighting underground in warrens and tunnels, before the final assault of the city, Andy sees the men he fights with slowly killed off one by one, and eventually, only he and a couple of other survivors are left.

It ends with him being shown respect by other seniors solders who have survived, on his way back to Earth.
87 reviews
June 17, 2019
Great

This book was a visceral experience and I can't wait to continue to the next one in the series. Very much recommended to all.
Profile Image for R. Venture.
Author 15 books13 followers
May 22, 2016
Phillip Richard's first outing with 'Combat Replacement of War' Andy Moralee is damned good fun, set in a universe which from the outset suggests a robust and interesting back-story.
I know eBook quality is a real deal-breaker for some people, so let's start with that. There are some tiny errors in the text (like 'ordinance' instead of 'ordnance') but none at all which I found off-putting. On the whole this book has far, far fewer errors in it than other books I have read (*cough* Extinction Point *cough*) and as a result it was a pleasurable enough read.
Story-wise the formula is simple enough: introduction to life on ship, as seen through the eyes of a rookie (or "crow"), followed by a drop into live combat which moves through distinct stages. At the end of the book, although the protagonist's unit has not been pushed into the literary trap of being the sole group that saves the universe, the main character has undergone logically valid and satisfying emotional changes. And his friends... well, let's just say that in Richards's universe, it pays not to get too attached to people.
On the whole I'd definitely recommend this to people who like military sci-fi and combat stories. It will resonate with fans of Starship Troopers and The Forever War. I wouldn't suggest it as a bedtime story for people who abhor violence or blanch at the thought of gore!
I have already purchased part two, LANCEJACK, and I expect to be reading EDEN after that. This series is easily worth it.
18 reviews
November 9, 2015
CROW by Phillip Richards is one of those "grim scifi combat" books that's comparable to Rick Shelley's "Lucky 13th" Series, where the tech isn't that far from our own, or perhaps the "Starfist" series by Sherman and Cragg. In fact, warfare had changed very little in the CROWverse. Infantry still use guns (albeit, miniature railguns), and air support is now exclusively via UAV, but otherwise, little has changed. It's still grenades, missile launchers, and cold steel (i.e. bayonets).

The setup is generic enough. The Union (whose military seem to be almost exclusively British) is invading "New Earth" to take it back from the Chinese, who had invaded it a few years back and kicked out the Union forces. Now the Union is going back, and the recruits, such as the narrator/hero Andrew Moralee, fresh out of basic training, and dumped onto dropship infantry. During the voyage he's hazed and bullied, and once on the ground, he fought and cowered and cried and killed and watched friends die, and was changed forever.

While the story was supposed to be scifi, by replacing a few terms it could have been describing British action in Afghanistan or British invasion of the Falklands. The enemies are generic enough, and the tech wasn't given much thought (no power packs in these railguns, eh?) I mean, the tech described in here is less advanced than Call of Duty Advanced Warfare with exoskeletons and jumppacks and smart rifles and such. Seems section leaders have smart grenade launchers on their rifles, but otherwise there's very little tech.

Frankly, there's really very little in this book that stands out other than it's British. All the military terms are British, and all the characters seems to be British. It's as if the author is trying to tell his own story in an allegorical way, without much of a conflict, climax, and resolution.

If you want grim and scifi, with good action, maybe you should read David Drake's Hammer's Slammers series instead, or perhaps Starfist series. I find it difficult to recommend this book, though I guess the next book may be better now that the introduction / world building stuff is done.
Profile Image for Procrastinador Diletante.
105 reviews7 followers
August 31, 2016
Encontrei uma indicação sobre este livro num fórum de miniaturas, num tópico sobre obras que retratam guerras no futuro. Peguei na obra um bocado a medo, visto que é a primeira do autor - Sargento da infantaria no Exército do Reino Unido - mas já que as críticas dizam tão bem...

Não fiquei desapontado e tenho a dizer que o livro só não leva com 5 estrelas visto que é uma obra independente, só disponível em Ebook e sem um editor profissional (se bem me lembro da introdução, foi a mãe do autor que lhe fez a revisão, por exemplo) e isso nota-se - há algumas gralhas na formatação do texto e erros ortográficos. E a história do próprio universo é um bocado parca em informação - sabemos que estamos a acompanhar tropas Inglesas da União (que se percebe mais tarde ser a União Europeia) a tentar retomar uma colónia espacial tomada pelos Chineses. A Índia e o Japão também são potências inimigas da União, enquanto que a Rússia é aliada. E pouco mais se sabe...

Não tendo o conteúdo político/filosófico ou o comentário social de obras como o 'Starship Troopers' ou o 'The Forever War', o livro é um retrato brutal de um campo de batalha do futuro em que os elementos humanos são pouco mais do que "carne para canhão". Não há heróis mas sim apenas pessoas a tentarem sobreviver. Acima de tudo, nota-se que é escrita por alguém que já esteve experiência real de combate.

Espero sinceramente que os outros 2 livros da série sejam pelo menos tão bons como este e acho que o autor merecia o apoio de uma editora a sério!
Profile Image for Mike Nemeth.
672 reviews13 followers
February 15, 2015
Phillip Richards may have penned a classic. He gets into the mind of the recruit and deals with the petty conflicts that done seem so petty to the guys dealing with being the rookie amongst a bunch of soldiers expected to be deployed in a war they know will result in many of their deaths. The environment is hostile for Englishman Andy Moralee. He's labeled a crow, an acronym for combat recruit of war or in this case replacement. He's the new guy and runs afoul of a first-class bully named Woody, who has muscles but obviously issues that he would rather take out on the young kid in his company rather than deal with. Moralee explains in pretty serious detail what it's like to head out to New Earth to dislodge the enemy Chinese army that's taken the planet from the Union. The battle is certain to be high in casualties, and everybody knows they are very likely to die or be horribly injured. Moralee is no hero. He's scared. He thinks that makes him less of a soldier. He doesn't realize he's just like everybody else. Richards cranks up the action about halfway through and doesn't let go. He gets into the heart of the destruction and senselessness of battle from a warrior's point of view. The feelings he illustrates are raw and graphic. It's a powerful story and worthy of any reading list. This guy knows how to tell a soldier's story.
612 reviews4 followers
April 12, 2016
Part of The Empire at War Box Set: British Military Science Fiction

British military SF?! I don't think I've ever read a military SF that is so unapologetically British before - and it definitely took a chapter or two to get used to the slang (yes, I'm definitely a posh bird compared with these lads these days. Yay for academia!). Definitely tickled me though to read all these "mates" and "could be worse - could be in Pompey!" :)

As for the story: it's a gritty, war is terrible kind of novel. Our hero, Andy Moralee, starts off as a new guy ("CROW") and is bullied by those who should be watching his back and unprepared for the horrors of combat. The descriptions of combat are pretty good - the body count is high and the technology feels like it's integral to the story (it's a little of a wallpaper over Afghanistan or similar though)

Definitely picking up book 2!

Profile Image for Anna Adler.
Author 6 books53 followers
February 6, 2017
For the first third of this book, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. The point of the story seemed to be that your own comrades in arms can be worse than the enemy, and it got painful to read at times. I cared about the main character and I didn't want to see him getting bashed like that. But then the plot suddenly took off at full speed and proved to be a harrowing war story with a high body count. Even though this is science fiction, I found myself comparing it to WW I with better technology. There's nothing glorious about battle in this book. It's shown as brutal waste of human lives, as the Europeans (The Union) and the Chinese fight over the control of colonized planets. The main character, Combat Replacement of War (C.R.O.W.) Andy Moralee, is no battle-hardened space hero. He's a teenager, and he's scared. He's nothing but a drop in the ocean of interplanetary warfare. I found him very human and relatable, and I have a big soft spot for underdogs. Once the action got started, C.R.O.W. kept me on the edge of the seat all the way to the end. First rate military scifi.
131 reviews3 followers
January 13, 2016
Well worth a five star rating

Brilliantly written. Nothing is missing from this novel, it is jam packed with male hormones just waiting to burst into action. This novel is science fiction at it's best with a futuristic army at the core of the story, with nothing to outlandish or over the top. The actions are portrayed by someone who has served, or has thoroughly researched the hierarchy of the armed forces and it's command structure. The author has also managed to bring into the story a very humane side to it where we follow the fears and tribulations of a young trooper straight out of training and into the hell of battle.
Well done indeed Phillip Richards.
Profile Image for Beth Berner.
2 reviews1 follower
January 15, 2014
I have read a lot of military sci-fi and I would consider this one of my new favorites. It isn't fluffy that is for sure. If you like gritty and realistic battle scenes you will like this book. I felt like I was right there with Andy thru his entire deployment. From the beginning you really feel for the guy and you definitely want to beat the snot out of some of his fellow soldiers. This is a good account of the horrors of battle as seen thru the eyes of young inexperienced soldier on his first mission. Can't wait to finish the series.
Profile Image for Richard.
934 reviews1 follower
October 13, 2014
I don't often read military SF but this was worth my time. British troops on New Earth battling the Chinese after a treacherous invasion kicked them out. Small scale tactics underground for this one, with the 'big picture' not having an impact on the lives of the CROWs in the ground. Lots of imaginative detail of close quarter combat makes this move along with a minimum of fuss. The author manages to convey the sense of going into space and fighting in a strange land in a convincing fashion.

Profile Image for Ian.
176 reviews3 followers
June 8, 2016
This was a solid story. Kids sent to war on another planet and all the typical posturing that comes of putting them in that situation to begin with. The initial hazing drama is rather formulaic and you can basically see where its going not too far into the narrative.

Once the dropship infantry land, the story really comes to life and its quite the trip. The tunnel warfare sections were masterfully written and are what really pulled this one up a star in my review. The ending third of the book was hard to put down and was well worth the flat beginning.
Profile Image for Lehria.
23 reviews1 follower
June 19, 2018
Not my usual type of book to read as I prefer paranormal romance or urban fantasy. This military sci-fi sucked me right in though.

Seeing the world and war through the eyes of Andy was fascinating and horrifying. Although he did heroic deeds during warfare, he doesn't see it that way. He just wanted to survive.

The description of New Earth, the action and the raw emotions pulled me into this world and had be turning page after page.

I'm so glad to see that book 2 and 3 are available.
Profile Image for Xander Bennett.
21 reviews27 followers
February 23, 2015
Follows the journey of a single 'crow' (it's an acronym for replacement soldier) from the moment he finishes training through a rapid deployment in a very bloody assault. It's interesting, fun, and informative. The science is soft, explained that he's a random private, he doesn't need to know how his gun fires or how the ships can go faster than light beyond 'they do'.

It was enjoyable and I'll probably look into the rest of the series at some point.
Profile Image for Andrew Rose.
337 reviews5 followers
March 22, 2014
Relentless violence

In the vein of starship troopers, a young conscript is sent to the stars to fight for his country. Unlike that book he is unsure his country cares and is fighting other members of humanity. There were a few grammatical errors but it was a gut wrenching read and I look forward to the next. If you liked Atlas or John Ringo give this a try
Profile Image for Tony.
90 reviews
March 27, 2016
Good, brisk read. Gives a good feel for "the fight" at the section/squad level - if you've worked in a British-style infantry unit, this will feel pretty familiar. You can tell the author's day job is being an infantry platoon second-in-command. I'm willing to give other editions in the series a try.
Profile Image for David.
285 reviews6 followers
May 8, 2013
From a fairly gloomy first third, this book develops into a pacy futuristic war scenario which I enjoyed a fair bit. The author clearly has relevant experience and, in spite of the future setting, there is gritty realism here too.
2 reviews
May 26, 2023
Fun book, the author actually writes English not 'American English' which was great to read.

This is not a complex book with complex characters, but if you want a book for the plane or the commute it's a fun read.
Profile Image for Barry.
1,079 reviews24 followers
October 28, 2012


One hell of a ride. Great military science fiction. Trooper Andy Moralee fights on New Earth and finds himself as a fighting man.
Profile Image for Mark Alger.
Author 1 book5 followers
June 19, 2014
3 1/2 stars. Don't know why this bugs me. But I liked it overall. Except...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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