This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF. You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.
C.R.O.W. (Combat Replacement of War) by Phillip Richards is a pretty gritty future infantry combat novel. This novel follows a green recruit named Andrew Moralee who has just been assigned as a replacement in the Dropship Infantry. The Dropship Infantry are like the Marines or paratroopers where they are more elite units that are the pointy tip of the spear in any operation. Andy joins his unit and faces very severe hazing, so much so, that you wonder if the poor guy is going to crack. Eventually, he is saved by the start of a new military campaign to seize back the planet of New Earth from the Chinese who betrayed their European allies by taking the planet from them. The battles that follow include trench and tunnel warfare (tunnel warfare seems to be in these days - see Germline too) and show planetary assaults from orbit.
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| Flickr / bdu_defence_images_uk |
I believe the novel was written by an infantry veteran in the British Army and he has the hard core details nailed down really well. The military jargon, slang, and terminology are of the United Kingdom and the European Union point of view.
I would recommend this book for a read if you are looking for some heavy infantry action in a science fiction setting.
Does it have a cast of characters listing?
No. There are a few core characters, but war is brutal and the cast changes over the course of the first campaign.
What is the scope / scale of the story?
Mainly squad and platoon level, but it flips through company and higher level operations to secure beach heads and consolidate gains made.
Does it have likeable characters?
You do like Private Andy and a few of his friends, but man, what a bunch of SOBs for squad mates and the NCOs suck. While they provide good leadership in combat, you do not want this military life, as it seems to be run by bullies if you survive combat. This is gutter trash in the army, the types that don't win the hearts and minds of the enemy in counter insurgency. I do wonder if this "traditional" military culture would shift in the future with a more automated army.
Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes. You slog through pages of adjustment to the platoon with Andy, where his life is hell, but the combat that comes later is gritty and fast paced. There is plenty of variety in the operations from above to below ground, and building clearing.
How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
The internal plausibility is good. The author has set out to tell a gritty infantry story set in the future and it works with plenty of realistic details. However, the technological innovation seen in the story has not changed infantry operations as the soldiers behave like current infantry with better gear. Things like smart grenades and ammo, autonomous air and land drones, extremely integrated electronic battlefield operations do seem to get downplayed. Oh yeah, the Chinese use highly integrated systems, but they can be hacked to be used against them - too much Battlestar here. Casualties are very high in the story and units take 50+% casualties and are reformed into new combat effective units. This is something I wondered about, but the narrative for the events was good. Orbital bombardment effectiveness seems more limited than I would expect - firing high velocity projectiles from orbit if you're overhead should make you rule the battlefield and break up any formation or armour attack.
What cool bonus features are there?
Very powerful battlefield drones are used (run from the saucer!). The infantry use electromagnetic rifles, really smart missile launchers (you fire, they figure out what to hit it seems), and dropship tanks that accompany the dropships from orbit. Well described infantry kit and equipment that adds a very nice depth to the story.
