The eSpec family has lost one of its beloved members. David Sherman passed away on the afternoon of November 16. He has been a friend and family by choice for nearly twenty years. He has supported and encouraged us from the moment we met. He contributed to many of the anthologies we curated and later published. When we formed eSpec Books, he entrusted us with his orphaned novels.

Best known for the Starfist series of novels, co-authored with Dan Cragg, and the DemonTech series, David is loved by fans all over the world.

The Works of David Sherman

Short Fiction
“Glass Shades” in After Punk
“The Price of Friendship” in In All Their Glory
“Vest of the Pecos” in Trouble On the Water
“Surrender or Die” in So It Begins
“Delaying Action” in By Other Means
“Contained Vacuum” in In Harm’s Way

Novels
The Night Fighters
Knives in the Night
Main Force Assault
Out of the Fire

A Rock and a Hard Place
A Nghu Night Falls
Charlie Don’t Live Here Anymore
There I Was
The Squad
The Junkyard Dogs
The Hunt

DemonTech
Onslaught
Rally Point
Gulf Run

Starfist
(with Dan Cragg)
First to Fight
School of Fire
Steel Gauntlet
Blood Contact
Technokill
Hangfire
Kingdom’s Swords
Kingdom’s Fury
Lazarus Rising
A World of Hurt
Flashfire
Firestorm
Wings of Hell
Double Jeopardy

Starfist: Force Recon
(with Dan Cragg)
Backshot
Pointblank
Recoil

Star Wars
(with Dan Cragg)
Jedi Trial

18th Race
Issue In Doubt
In All Directions
To Hell and Regroup (with Keith R.A. DeCandido)

In his later years, he created the 18th Race trilogy, but worsening PTSD prevented him from completing the last novel. He requested that Keith R.A. DeCandido, who edited the previous two novels (Issue in Doubt and In All Directions) complete the series using David’s existing copy and the notes he had written on the project. That final volume, To Hell and Regroup released in 2020.

When military science fiction woke too many old ghosts for him, he turned his creativity toward steampunk adventures with his infamous Kitty Belle and remembered that writing could be fun again. He was a quiet man who never wanted to impose, loved scones, and went down to the coffee shop to write. In his later years, he found the family he never knew he had and formed connections that were precious to him. Both they and the family David chose were with him in the end, and his passing was peaceful.

He leaves a hole in our hearts we can only fill with precious memories. May his writing continue to bring enjoyment to his many fans.