Dan Cragg Books In Order

Publication Order of Starfist Books

Publication Order of Starfist: Force Recon Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Star Wars: Clone Wars Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Books

Publication Order of Star Wars Legends Books

Dan Cragg
Dan Cragg was born in Rochester, New York on September 6, 1939. From 1958 until 1980, he served in the United States Army, and retired with the rank of sergeant major. Dan served two tours of duty in Vietnam, 1962-63 and 1965-69, along with tours of duty in South Korea, Germany, and Italy.

Then from 1985 until 2003, he worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, DC as a management analyst; member, Fairfax County History Commission, 1997-2003; auxiliary police officer, Fairfax County PD, 1996-2002.

During his tour of duty in the US Army, he received, among other awards, the Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal, with eleven campaign stars.

“First to Fight” is the first novel in the “Starfist” series and was released in 1997. Stranded in this hellish alien desert, stripped of their strategic systems, quick reaction force, and supporting arms, and just carrying one day’s worth of water, Marine Staff Sergeant Charlie Bass and his seven man team are faced with a grim future seventy-five light-years from their home.

The one thing between his Marines and safety was eighty-five miles of waterless and uncharted terrain and two thousand bloodthirsty savages with their state-of-the-art weapons in their hands and murder on their minds.

However this enemy did not reckon on the warrior cunning of Marines’ Marine Charlie Bass and the bravery of the few good men that would follow this man anywhere. Even to death.

“School of Fire” is the second novel in the “Starfist” series and was released in 1998. Betrayal, murder, and combat at the edge of human space.

Deployed out to assist the oligarchs of Wanderjahr in putting a rebellion down which threatens this planet’s economic and political stability, these Marines have to fight two wars at the same time. One against the well-led and resourceful guerrillas and another with the well entrenched police bureaucracy.

However who’s the real enemy and who can actually be trusted? On Wanderjahr, nothing is like it appears (not even the animal life), and everybody’s got his own agenda. Inexorably, the Marines of the 34th FIST are drawn deeper and deeper into the politics of this world where terror, murder, and betrayal are the accepted methods of government, and everybody is ripe for an old-fashioned butt kicking.

“Steel Gauntlet” is the third novel in the “Starfist” series and was released in 1998. It is the 25th century, however the Marines have still been looking for a few good men.

After the resource rich planet of Diamunde gets seized by the armed forces of industrialist Marston St. Cyr, the Confederation Marines face their most desperate of battles to date against the mechanized forces of this bloody usurper. Promised a walkover by the military planners, but instead the Marines have to run a gauntlet of steel, with weaponry that is centuries out of date.

In order for the Confederation’s invasion army to seize this planet, the Marine FISTs have to first secure a planethead against St. Cyr’s much bigger forces which are equipped with far superior weapons. Together with their outgunned comrades, the Marines of 34th FIST (Fleet Initial Strike Team) have to do the impossible. Or die.

“Blood Contact” is the fourth novel in the “Starfist” series and was released in 1999. Through three whole centuries of interstellar travel, intelligent alien life-forms had never once been encountered. Until now.

When this scientific team exploring some obscure planet fails to make its regular communications check, the Marines from the third platoon get sent in to investigate. They prepare for a routine rescue operation, however what they end up finding on Society 437 is a horror that defies any description. Just a handful of ragtag pirates that were in the wrong place at the worst of times survived, and there is little trace of the scientists.

What happened to the scientists? And why have the pirates been spared? Gunnery Sergeant Bass and the men from the third platoon are about to find out, and the answer carries with it a horrifying implication for the Marines, and the entire human race.

“Technokill” is the fifth novel in the “Starfist” series and was released in 2000. An evil coterie of ruthless masterminds, a horrifying secret, a murderous battle of cunning and lethal skill. It is time to send the Marines in.

After the Confederation makes a stunning find on some alien world, this nefarious group of opportunists from the highest echelons of power are plotting to steal the vast riches for themselves. Along with the ability to crush any resistance, these moguls possess unlimited resources, spacecraft, and a lethal arsenal of cutting edge weapons.

The only one that doesn’t come with a price tag is the Confederation’s president. Now she’s sending Gunnery Sergeant Bass, the men of the third platoon, and one special agent to expose the shadowy figures behind this corruption. And so, one this obscure planet, which is home to unimaginable treasure and this unsettling species, the toughest of fighters in Human Space face off against their fiercest of battles. For there will be no losers in this war, just the triumphant, the vanished, and the dead.

“Backshot” is the first novel in the “Starfist: Force Recon” series and was released in 2005. Jorge Lavager (charismatic leader of the mysterious Union of Margelan), is ferociously guarding this agricultural research facility on the planet Atlas. What this facility is concealing is going to prove whether Lavager is an idealist that seeks to unify Atlas under this banner of freedom and prosperity, or is just a tyrant that aims to control all of Human Space.

The Marines of Fourth Force Recon’s second platoon get dispatched to Atlas in order to uncover the truth. They’ll need to sneak past state-of-the-art surveillance equipment that is barring unlawful entry to this planet and land in this desolate area miles away from their target. And should they find lethal new weapons rather than legit research, the 36 Marines are supposed to seize the compound, which is guarded by armed-to-the-teeth and merciless soldiers, and destroy all of it. However what this recon team finds on Atlas sets this chain of events off which will force some tough choices on these Marines, and end in quite the deadly surprise.