Review: Mil SciFi with fish 'n chips
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 25, 2013
Those looking for a gritty account of future ground combat will not be disappointed in Mr. Richards' "CROW".  His combatants are the Chinese vs. the Union (everyone else, but focused on the UK), but this is not meant to be a serious political extrapolation.  There is no fighting on Earth, only off-planet, and the respirator is an essential piece of kit. The American reader may be a bit disoriented by aspects that may be lifted from present-day UK military usage (about which I confess to knowing nothing): the greater emphasis on non-coms, the brutal hazing permitted by enlisted men with longer service time, the absence of women, and the slang.  At least the latter served to further the sense of a different time and place for me.The story begins on the long trip to New Earth, during which training and unit integration take place.  Once arrived, however, the soldiers are immediately thrust into brutal combat, including in the underground warrens.  The underground scenes stand out, in my opinion, for their visceral power.Because the book is written in the first person, as told by one Andy Moralee, there is a lot of emphasis on what combat is doing to him in his own head.  Mr. Richards is very strong in this area, though it is possible that some other readers would find it overdone.Heinlein and Haldeman did this better, but I have read a lot of Military SciFi that was worse.  This was well worth going on to Book Two.