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Starfist #4
Blood Contact
Through three centuries of interstellar travel, intelligent alien life- forms had never been encountered . . . until now.
When a scientific team exploring an obscure planet fails to make its regular communications check, the Marines of third platoon are sent to investigate. They prepare for a routine rescue operation, but what they find on Society 437 is a horror beyond description. Only a handful of ragtag pirates who were in the wrong place at the very worst time have survived, and there is little trace of the scientists.
What happened to the scientists? Why have the pirates been spared?
Gunnery Sergeant Bass and the men of third platoon are about to find out,
and the answer carries a terrifying implication for the Marines—and the entire human race.
When a scientific team exploring an obscure planet fails to make its regular communications check, the Marines of third platoon are sent to investigate. They prepare for a routine rescue operation, but what they find on Society 437 is a horror beyond description. Only a handful of ragtag pirates who were in the wrong place at the very worst time have survived, and there is little trace of the scientists.
What happened to the scientists? Why have the pirates been spared?
Gunnery Sergeant Bass and the men of third platoon are about to find out,
and the answer carries a terrifying implication for the Marines—and the entire human race.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 7, 1999
20 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
David Sherman
67 books99 followersDavid Sherman was the author or co-author of some three dozen books, most of which are about Marines in combat.
He wrote about US Marines in Vietnam (the Night Fighters series and three other novels), and the DemonTech series about Marines in a fantasy world. The 18th Race trilogy is military science fiction.
Other than military, he wrote a non-conventional vampire novel, The Hunt, and a mystery, Dead Man's Chest. He also released a collection of short fiction and non-fiction from early in his writing career, Sherman's Shorts; the Beginnings.
With Dan Cragg he wrote the popular Starfist series and its spin off series, Starfist: Force Recon—all about Marines in the Twenty-fifth Century.; and a Star Wars novel, Jedi Trial.
His books have been translated into Czech, Polish, German, and Japanese.
David passed away in November 2022.
He wrote about US Marines in Vietnam (the Night Fighters series and three other novels), and the DemonTech series about Marines in a fantasy world. The 18th Race trilogy is military science fiction.
Other than military, he wrote a non-conventional vampire novel, The Hunt, and a mystery, Dead Man's Chest. He also released a collection of short fiction and non-fiction from early in his writing career, Sherman's Shorts; the Beginnings.
With Dan Cragg he wrote the popular Starfist series and its spin off series, Starfist: Force Recon—all about Marines in the Twenty-fifth Century.; and a Star Wars novel, Jedi Trial.
His books have been translated into Czech, Polish, German, and Japanese.
David passed away in November 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 6, 2012
This is another good book in the Starfist series but…I did not like this one as much as the other ones. It is a bit surprising since I generally like when they throw a few slimy never-before-seen aliens into the mix.
Somehow this book never felt as fun to read or as engaging as the the other three ones. The marine “stuff” and the battles where well written and fun to read as usual but the aliens where somewhat shallow and illogical. There where never any real explanations as to why the aliens where even there and why they where acting as they did. More annoying was that these aliens, that where obviously intelligent enough to travel between the stars, seemed to get pretty dumb when confronting the marines.
The naval officer, Snoddgrass, was probably in the book to add a bit of humor but he was so overly stupid and silly that is was only marginally funny. I was waiting for him to get smacked by the marines the entire book but it never really happened apart from verbally a few times. Instead he magically transitions in the last few chapters to a hero type guy. Both predictable and not very likely.
A still enjoyed the book quite a lot but I feel it could have been better.
Somehow this book never felt as fun to read or as engaging as the the other three ones. The marine “stuff” and the battles where well written and fun to read as usual but the aliens where somewhat shallow and illogical. There where never any real explanations as to why the aliens where even there and why they where acting as they did. More annoying was that these aliens, that where obviously intelligent enough to travel between the stars, seemed to get pretty dumb when confronting the marines.
The naval officer, Snoddgrass, was probably in the book to add a bit of humor but he was so overly stupid and silly that is was only marginally funny. I was waiting for him to get smacked by the marines the entire book but it never really happened apart from verbally a few times. Instead he magically transitions in the last few chapters to a hero type guy. Both predictable and not very likely.
A still enjoyed the book quite a lot but I feel it could have been better.
November 30, 2021
Best of the books so far. Three problems with this book, however. The first is after defeating the aliens and checking their headquarters, they found no artifacts. What happened to the swards the elite were carrying? What happened to the scientific equipment stolen from the scientific stations? And last they indicated that no bodies were found, yet the author deliberately had one crushed beneath the Dragon assault vessel.
July 5, 2018
Definite improvement. I am starting to enjoy these more and more.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
October 19, 2022
I like the direction the series is going now. Interested in seeing how the rest of the series plays out with aliens now added to the mix.
May 5, 2024
Military Veteran authors David Sherman and Dan Cragg are back in Book 4 of the 14 "Star FIST" (Fleet Initial Strike Team) military SciFi books. This time it's the 34th FIST of the Confederation Marine Corps which is the focus and in particular Company L and more specifically Gunnery Sergeants Joseph "Shadow" Dean and Charlie Bass, who are the main focus of much of where 'the rubber meets the road of combat action' on a planet far from 'Old Earth'. That planet is the target of Marines and what they encounter is a very dangerous, puzzling situation with far-reaching consequences. If you enjoy perspective-shifting stories about combat, barracks life, off-duty time, 'drill and ceremonies', training for and travel to combat encounters, Sherman and Cragg are masters of detailing these areas and building tension. Sometimes, frankly, you think it's possible to skip over some of this and get to the action, but if you do, some 'key minutia' is in those sections. Very Definitely Recommended. Four DANGEROUS Stars. 344 Kindle pages, experienced mostly in text-t0-speech.
February 5, 2021
Books about MARINES in Space! meeting Banzai! yelling ALIEN Japanese soldiers are not exactly my usual cup of tea, but this remains a fun read. At its best, Starfist Blood Contact approaches the menace of the Alien franchise. At its worse, Blood Contact is about as exciting as old WWII B-movies where the Japanese charge blindly into annihilation. In either case, the first half of this book is so fun.
Why? Probably not because we evolved to be afraid of skinks, but because we evolved to be afraid of mysterious threats. There is a menacing, rising tension throughout most of the book. Humanity, having grown confident after 500 years of settling the stars, realizes they face potential oblivion. A science observation post goes silent. Terrified survivors stare terrified at the foggy wastelands, knowing an evil threat exists. Sent to investigate, MARINES from Space! land and explore the situation, and evil ALIEN Japanese soldiers bide its time, cackling menacingly as they plot a fast one on the good old humans, using technology both unique and mysterious, creating a promising setting for a tough battle. An opening skirmish demonstrates the killing power of the ALIEN Japanese soldiers.
But then once battle is joined about halfway through the book, it all goes downhill. ALIEN Japanese soldiers are no match for MARINES from Space! With the firepower and tactical insight of morons, they lose against MARINES in Space! These MARINES have air support, square jaws, superior leadership, and act like morons too. But victorious ones. The most exciting part of the second half is a pirate subplot. But the first half of this book is quite a fun read. I hope to find more books like it someday.
I wish the Starfist series had acted consistently towards the ALIEN Japanese soldiers threat. Instead, it frustratingly meandered on random subplots focused overmuch on humans.
Why? Probably not because we evolved to be afraid of skinks, but because we evolved to be afraid of mysterious threats. There is a menacing, rising tension throughout most of the book. Humanity, having grown confident after 500 years of settling the stars, realizes they face potential oblivion. A science observation post goes silent. Terrified survivors stare terrified at the foggy wastelands, knowing an evil threat exists. Sent to investigate, MARINES from Space! land and explore the situation, and evil ALIEN Japanese soldiers bide its time, cackling menacingly as they plot a fast one on the good old humans, using technology both unique and mysterious, creating a promising setting for a tough battle. An opening skirmish demonstrates the killing power of the ALIEN Japanese soldiers.
But then once battle is joined about halfway through the book, it all goes downhill. ALIEN Japanese soldiers are no match for MARINES from Space! With the firepower and tactical insight of morons, they lose against MARINES in Space! These MARINES have air support, square jaws, superior leadership, and act like morons too. But victorious ones. The most exciting part of the second half is a pirate subplot. But the first half of this book is quite a fun read. I hope to find more books like it someday.
I wish the Starfist series had acted consistently towards the ALIEN Japanese soldiers threat. Instead, it frustratingly meandered on random subplots focused overmuch on humans.
Read
May 10, 2013 Star Fist Blood Contact would be best described as addictive and exciting. David Sherman wanted to entertain his audience by telling a story of twenty-fifth century marines battling a deadly alien species. I think the theme of the book is to not give up hope when all odds are against you. The few surviving pirates wanted to give up with the deadly aliens hunting them down, but a pirate named Cameron took command of the pirates and organized them. The Marines came in to search for surviving scientists but found the pirates instead. Sherman wrote the story from different people and creatures perspectives to help the reader understand what is happening throughout the book. This style also helped me understand the different characters view on the events.
This book is very exciting and descriptive. It was so descriptive that it made me feel like I was marching through the swamp with them. I even felt close to the characters like I had known them for a lifetime.
This book is very exciting and descriptive. It was so descriptive that it made me feel like I was marching through the swamp with them. I even felt close to the characters like I had known them for a lifetime.
November 23, 2014
Don't be dissuaded. If you like marine, war, alien battle stories, this should fit the bill moderately well. So why didn't I, unfamiliar with the authors and the series, like it? Too much battle detail. You might be one who likes that, so for you it would be a plus.
Looking for relief from a constant barrage of academic literature, I sought diversion in the standbys of earlier years - science fiction. Unfortunately, one of the aspects of sci-fi I most enjoyed is the painting of alien physiologies, biochemistries, cultures, and languages, virtually none of which was satisfied by the "Starfist" aliens.
Looking for relief from a constant barrage of academic literature, I sought diversion in the standbys of earlier years - science fiction. Unfortunately, one of the aspects of sci-fi I most enjoyed is the painting of alien physiologies, biochemistries, cultures, and languages, virtually none of which was satisfied by the "Starfist" aliens.
June 24, 2011
The first alien life-form is encountered by the human confederation three centuries after interstellar flight began. On Society 437 a scientific research team makes contact with horrible results. A platoon of Marines from the 34th FIST are sent on a rescue mission that turns into a fight for survival.
Read
September 6, 2012A goody. Really enjoying the series.
March 25, 2016
Decent 'first-contact' space marines yarn. Creepy aliens that are moderately creative. As with the prior ones its the universe thats interesting, not really the 'action'.
May 3, 2016
Could've lived without the skink PoV chapters, didn't really add any value to me...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews