David Sherman (1958 - November 16, 2022) was an American novelist who dealt overwhelmingly with military themes at the small-unit tactical level. His experiences as a

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

informed his writings.

Early life and education

Sherman was born in

Niles, Ohio Niles is a city in southern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, situated at the confluence of the Mahoning River and Mosquito Creek. The city's population was 18,443 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan a ...

in 1958. He grew up in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, Texas,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and Omaha, Nebraska, from where he joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

soon after turning 18. After his departure from the U.S. Marine Corps, he moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

where he studied at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

. He had a brief stint as a sculptor, winning awards for his work.

Military career

David Sherman enlisted in the US Marine Corps directly out of high school. He went through Boot Camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California and Infantry Training Regiment at Camp San Onofre, a part of

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

, California. He was promoted to Private First Class (PFC) prior to reporting to his first duty station, the First Marine Brigade at Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii where he was assigned to third platoon, Lima Company, Third Battalion, Fourth Marines. While there he was promoted to

Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

and rose from basic rifleman to fire team leader. Following that tour in the peace time infantry, he served as a military policeman at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was released from active duty and honorably discharged upon completion of his six years combined active and reserve service. He holds the

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR, ), is a high precedence United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or ...

, several unit citations, both US and Vietnamese, the Good Conduct Medal, and service and campaign medals.

Writing career

Sherman began writing in 1983. His first book, ''Knives in the Night'', was published in 1987 by the Ivy Book imprint of Ballantine Books as the first novel in Sherman's series, The Night Fighter. The series consists of six books, also including ''Main Force Assault'' (1987), ''Out of the Fire'' (1987), ''A Rock and a Hard Place'' (1988), ''A Nghu Night Falls'' (1988), and ''Charlie Don't Live Here Anymore'' (1989). In 1989, Sherman published ''There I Was: The War of Corporal Henry J Morris, USMC'' under Ivy Book.

Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It ...

published Sherman's DemonTech series, which includes ''Onslaught'' (2002), ''Rally Point'' (2003), and ''Gulf Run'' (2004). Altogether, as of June 2007, Sherman has published 26 novels, including 15 with his co-author,

Dan Cragg Dan Cragg (born September 6, 1939) is an American science fiction author. Biography Cragg was born in Rochester, Newy York. He served in the United States Army from 1958 to 1980, retiring with the rank of Sergeant Major. He served two tours of d ...

Overview

Sherman says this of himself:

I began my writing career writing novels about US Marines fighting the war in Vietnam (I was one and I did). Today I'm writing novels about Marines fighting wars centuries in the future and in a world that never existed. Seems I've been typecast.

On October 24, 2008, Sherman was interviewed for Armed Forces Network (a network and website for US military personnel in Europe), and the interview was posted on their website. In the interview, he discusses Starfist, how the series came to be, and mentions that a motion picture screenplay of the first book, First to Fight, was being shopped around Hollywood. The screenplay was not written by either Sherman or his co-author Dan Cragg, but by Eric Bean, a screenwriter and a die hard fan of the Starfist series.

Literary themes

Sherman's fiction thus far deals with military themes, in particular, military themes involving Marine enlisted men. His only novel that doesn't deal with this theme directly is his Star Wars universe novel (with Dan Cragg), Jedi Trial.

Bibliography

Vietnam War

The Night Fighters

*''Knives in the Night'';

Ivy Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

, 1987. *''Main Force Assault''; Ivy Books, 1987. *''Out of the Fire''; Ivy Books'', 1987. *''A Rock and a Hard Place''; Ivy Books, 1988. *''A Nghu Night Falls''; Ivy Books, 1988. *''Charlie Don't Live Here Anymore''; Ivy Books, 1989.

Novels not part of a series

*''There I Was: The War of Corporal Henry J Morris, USMC'' (Ivy Book imprint of Ballantine Books, 1989) *''The Squad'' (1990)

Science fiction

The StarFist series ''(with Dan Cragg)''

*'' First to Fight'', (Ballantine Books, 1997) *'' School of Fire'', (1998) *'' Steel Gauntlet'', (1999) Reissued by Del Rey, 2013. *'' Blood Contact'', (1999) *'' TechnoKill'', (2000) *'' Hangfire'', (2000) *'' Kingdom's Swords'', (2002) *''

Kingdom's Fury ''Kingdom's Fury'' is the eighth novel of the military science fiction ''StarFist Saga'' by American writers David Sherman and Dan Cragg Dan Cragg (born September 6, 1939) is an American science fiction author. Biography Cragg was born in ...

'', (2003) *'' Lazarus Rising'', (Del Rey, 2003) *'' A World of Hurt'', (Ballantine, 2004) *'' Flashfire'', (2006) *''

Firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...

'', (Del Rey, 2007 hardcover, 2008 paperback) *'' Wings of Hell'', (2008) *''

Double Jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...

'', (2009)

The StarFist: Force Recon Saga (with Dan Cragg)

*''Backshot'', (Ballantine Books, 2005) *'' PointBlank'', 2006 *''

Recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force r ...

'', 2008

The DemonTech Saga

Books published by

#''Onslaught'' (2002) #''Rally Point'' (2003) #''Gulf Run'' (2004) Books published by DTF Publication

(a division of

Dark Quest Books Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

br>
*'' Get Her Back!'' (2011

(novella) * "Surrender and Die" (short story) appearing in ''So It Begins'

edited by Mike McPhail * "Delaying Action" (short story) appearing in ''By Other Means'

edited by Mike McPhail In reference to the novella and short stories, David Sherman says on his web site:

Those three stories amount to the first 35% or 40% of ''DemonTech'' book 4. My current thinking is that I will write two more novellas and a couple of short stories, all to be published by
Dark Quest Books Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...
under their DTF Publications imprint (the same as ''Get Her Back!''). Then I will combine them with some connecting material, and voila, book 4!

Novels not part of a series

*'' Jedi Trial'' (with

) (2004) *''The Hunt''

References

External links

David Sherman's Home PageStarfist Headquarters (fan site)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, David Living people People from Niles, Ohio United States Marines United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Military science fiction writers Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Novelists from Ohio 1958 births 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers