The Fires of Coventry

Federation War #2

by Rick Shelley

In the sequel to The Buchanan Campaign, Sergeant David Spencer and the Royal Marines of the Commonwealth battle to free the planet Coventry from the overwhelming forces of the Confederation of Human Worlds. Reissue.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Fiction, Military Science Fiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Otis Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Shelley keeps the grease in the frying pan hot with The Fires of Coventry, the second installment of his Federation War trilogy, and it is a prime cut of 1990s military sci-fi for folks who like their space battles served up with plenty of mud, sweat, and gunpowder. After kicking the Federation off the farming world of Buchanan, Sergeant David Spencer and the Royal Marines of the Second Commonwealth don't get a lick of rest before they’re packed up and shipped straight into another hornets' nest. This time, the battle lines are drawn on the industrial planet of Coventry, where the Federation has dug its heels in deep to protect a massive, vital manufacturing hub. Shelley doesn’t waste any time with fancy-pants philosophy; he drops you right back into the foxholes, treating you to tactical ground combat that feels as raw and exhausting as a fourteen-hour shift pulling stumps in the August sun. What makes this book such a dandy continuation is how Shelley handles the pure, unadulterated chaos of a planetary siege without losing track of the regular boys doing the fighting. He writes the military lingo, the supply shortages, and the bone-deep weariness of the frontline grunts so well you can practically feel the grit in your teeth and the grease on your knuckles. While the plot bounces around a bit between the infantry squads dodging heavy artillery and the high-ranking officers plotting fleet movements in orbit, the pacing moves along quicker than a startled copperhead. It’s a rock-solid, no-nonsense classic from that builds a mountain of tension for the final showdown. If you want your science fiction packed with trenches, teamwork, and heavy firepower, this second chapter delivers the goods in spades.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

The "plot" of the story involves the "Federation" attacking the "Coalition" for reasons left unexplained. Instead of killing people, or taking the lightly defended planet prisoner, the "Federation" troops set fire to everything, also for no apparent reason.
On the cover, there is mention of a secret weapon that involves fire and/or a sun, but I never did figure out what that referred to.
No stars since I actually got exasperated with this book trying to find the point.