#BookReview: Cherry Drop, by P.A. Piatt
One of those rare Military Sci-Fi where the officers are neither idiots nor savants
Cherry Drop by P.A. Piatt is a Heinlein-style military sci-fi from the perspective of a new officer fresh off the dropship - otherwise known as a cherry.
On his first drop, Second Lieutenant Abner Fortis's unit is sent to an inhospitable backwater colony to observe a routine weapons demonstration by one of the biggest military contractors in the galaxy.
The mission sours when they discover that the contractor is hiding a dark secret - one they are willing to commit mass murder to keep.
The story
DINLI - "Do it, not like it" is the unofficial motto of the International Space Marine Corps. Abner Fortis is a second lieutenant fresh out of officer school, and he will have to take that motto to heart sooner rather than later. His first combat drop, or "Cherry Drop," is on Pada Pada, a hostile and backwater jungle mining colony infested with giant predatory insects and full of volcanoes that regularly spew toxic fumes in the atmosphere. And that doesn't factor in the extra gravity that makes even a basic ruck march an ordeal.
Shortly after his unit lands on-world, Fortis' immediate commander and the highest ranking on-planet is taken out, and he has the command of the entire unit thrown in his lap. Meanwhile, the military contractor and private military company that oversees the mining operation on the planet is hiding something. When Fortis' unit begin to follow the clues, they come into direct confrontation with the company, its mercenary, and a veritable army of artificial soldiers it houses.
The characters
I really appreciate Piatt's treatment of Lieutenant Fortis, the main character. Abner is a terraforming student who joined the Corps to pay off his student debt and have a little excitement before he goes back home to build biodomes. Fortis is clearly green, and he knows little more than he learned in officer school. But he's no dummy, either. He makes plenty of mistakes along the way, but he learns from them. Some of those mistakes get marines killed, and that weighs heavily on him, but that is the nature of war, and he has to learn to rise to occasion. With the help of his gunnery sergeant and the various marines under him, Abner does just that. He is able to take command while learning where and when to delegate and take advice from his subordinates.
The world
The planet of Pada Pada is a high gravity jungle planet filled with venomous "bugs" that come in multiple forms - the smaller ones that will swarm you and get under your armor, and the big ones that look like a cross between a scorpion and a spider, complete with a venomous sting in their tails. Volcanoes spew toxic gas into the air at regular intervals, making things seriously unpleasant for anyone caught on the surface.
The structure of society in Cherry Drop is largely an extension of today's, only the international community has largely adopted American-style military organization and laws. The military is supplied by Mega-Corporations, the Galactic Resource Conglomerate (GRC) taking center stage in the novel.
The technology is much advanced - the GRC is working on groundbreaking precision crafted soldiers, otherwise known as "test tubes." These weapons are artificially manufactured biological soldiers that behave somewhere between killer robots and small children.
The marines in Cherry Drop are far from outside help, and they have to rely on what they have on planet. Lucky for them, that includes body armor, grenade launchers, and armored mech units that provide some safety and shelter. They make great use of unmanned drones and active "auto-flage" suits, that can make themselves virtually invisible to onlookers. But while the Marines' technology is used to great effect, it is not the star of the show. That honor goes to the Marine grunt, who will use whatever he can to defeat the enemy, whether bombs or bayonets.
The politics
Real-world politics do not feature in this novel, but the focus of the plot is the relationship between business interests and the military, and the military-industrial complex does not come out looking good in this story.
Content warning
There is plenty of violence to go around - combatants are shot, burned, blown up, and maimed, and there are vivid descriptions of battlefield surgery. There is little in the way of foul language or sexual content aside from some banter among the troops.
Who is it for?
This book is for military sci-fi lovers in general and fans of Heinlein's Starship Troopers in particular. I'd even suggest it for anyone who enjoys contemporary military thrillers - they are sure to find echoes of the U.S. Military of the present and recent past in the International Space Marine Corps.
Why read it?
Read Cherry Drop for an engaging vision of futuristic space-to-surface military operations that doesn't gloss over the unromantic day-to-day struggles of the common infantryman.