military sci fi suggestions

[stustaff]

Im loving Scalzi, Haldeman currently and looking for more scifi 'wars' in the style of old mans war, or forever war.

few others i have liked are starship troopers, War of the Damned, Aliens(novelisation by Alan dean foster)

Basically I want soldiers story during large scale war type stuff but with clear scifi leanings.

Anyone got any favourites?

Thanks

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by stustaff

Im loving Scalzi, Haldeman currently and looking for more scifi 'wars' in the style of old mans war, or forever war.

few others i have liked are starship troopers, War of the Damned, Aliens(novelisation by Alan dean foster)

Basically I want soldiers story during large scale war type stuff but with clear scifi leanings.

Anyone got any favourites?

Thanks

That's easy. David Drake. Try Hammer's Slammers or Rolling Hot

[wayspooled]

The only 2 things you're going to find the equal of Haldeman's The Forever War and Scalzi's Old Man's War are:

John Steakley's "Armor" and Haldeman's "Forever Peace" Now Card's "Ender's Game" and "Speaker For The Dead" are great but not exactly like what you said.

After those, the next level includes good books like
David Weber's Honor Harrington series
Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century edited by Turtledove and Greenberg
David Drake's series

[stustaff]

Thanks Guys

Weber and Drake have both been on my radar but something puts me off? so weirdly(especially for me) I havent read any of them.

My guesses which are probably wrong are that the harrington series is fvery military tactic and large battle based? Im looking for more the story of the grunt within taht larger battle.

And Weber in the brief look in I have had seems to me to be a bit the Ateam in space?

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by stustaff

Thanks Guys

Weber and Drake have both been on my radar but something puts me off? so weirdly(especially for me) I havent read any of them.

My guesses which are probably wrong are that the harrington series is fvery military tactic and large battle based? Im looking for more the story of the grunt within taht larger battle.

And Weber in the brief look in I have had seems to me to be a bit the Ateam in space?

Should Add i have read Forever Peace - Great, and Enders series - actually preffered speaker for teh dead but did enjoy Enders game.

[wayspooled]

Originally Posted by stustaff

actually preffered speaker for teh dead but did enjoy Enders game.

Yeah, I did too. Problem you have is, hehehe, you've read Haldeman and Scalzi and Starship Troopers and when you're read Armor, you'll pretty much have read the very best military sci/fi has to offer. The top of the heap so to speak.

If you're interested in a little different take, a couple of Cherryh's excellent books are military sci/fi related though I'd call them more merchanter sci/fi. "Rimrunners" is about a marine on one of the carriers being left behind at a station and having to make her way in a space station/merchanter ship environment when all she's ever experienced is the way of life on board military ships. -- The Pride of Chanur is quite different, the human is the alien, the main characters aren't human and they're merchants and they wind up rescuing this human armscomper from some other alien species that captured a human exploration vessel. "Pride" is a brilliant book of the Haldeman and Scalzi class, but not exactly military sci/fi "centered". --- She also wrote a two part series of "Heavy Time" and "Hellburner", the 2nd of which is definitely military sci-fi. The first part of the duology "Heavy Time" it's own story, more merchanter/asteroid mining related, and 4 of the 5 same characters. I would read them together if you are interested in "Hellburner". "Devil To The Belt" is the name of the published duology. Also Tier 1. Heavy Time is a great book but Hellburner is the rare example of a sequel being better than the original.

[wayspooled]

Oh, and I forgot "Sten" by Chris Bunch and Allan Cole. It's a series but the first book really stands out. The further into the series you go, the faster you seem to want to read, if you know what I mean. But the first book is very good Tier 2 stuff.

The Mote In God's Eye by Larry Niven is a good space navy kind of book. It makes it into my Tier 1 but not because of the military aspect, just a good story, very well written.

The Cobra Trilogy by Timothy Zahn is not so much about battlefield as it is about a group of soldiers who received permanent augmentations and their struggle to adapt later, after the fighting. Solid Tier 2.

Dorsai by Gordon Dickson. It's from the 50's but it's good. The dialogue style is... "older".. but it's still a good novel.

[donslade]

David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" series of stories is one of my favorites. His series with S.M Stirling are also very good.

Haldeman's "Forever War" and "Forever Peace".

Harry Turtledove has great alternate history military stuff.

The David Weber and John Ringo series "March Upcountry", "March to the Sea", "March to the Stars", and "We Few" (not listed in the correct order I think). Also Ringo's Aldenata Universe series is mostly good. His "There will be Dragons" series is also good.

Pournelle's "Falkenberg's Legion" series and most of Larry Niven's Man-Kzin War collection are also worthwhile.

Jack Campbell's "Capt. Leary" series is also good.

I'm sure you'll get lots more from the avid readers here.

Don S.

[Timoleon]

A couple of suggestions:
1) The Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard K. Morgan (Altered Carbon, et. al.)
2) The Heritage Trilogy by Ian Douglas

Enjoyable reads!

[N0NJY]

I have one...

Solfleet: The Timeshift Saga
THE CALL OF DUTY
(Book One of the Excalibur Trilogy)

Glenn E. Smith

ISBN 1-4241-6965-8

I only recommend this one because I happen to know the author personally. Honestly, I haven't read the book yet, I've had it a few months and skimmed it. Looks good.

here's the back cover for you:

"The enemy is advancing quickly while the Coalition falters. The time for desperate measure is at hand.

One possible solution lies in an ancient and my sterious alien device known as a portal--a doorway into Earth's past. The Earth Security Council believes that if a key event can be prevented from every happening, then the ultimate outcome of the war can be changed in the Coalition's favor. Theoretically. But theories have a way of being wrong. With no way to predict the results of such a mission with any certainty, Admiral Icarus Hansen, chief of Solfleet Intelligence, a man haunted by actions he has taken in the past, must decide whether or not to go forward with the mission anyway, knowing that whoever goes might never be able to return."

Glenn is a Veteran and has served in the US Army as a Military Policeman and currently (I think, haven't seen him in several months) serves in the Air National Guard as a Combat Arms instructor.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by stustaff

Weber and Drake have both been on my radar but something puts me off? so weirdly(especially for me) I havent read any of them.

I suggest In Fury Born by David Weber. This is a great stand alone novel, or "mega-novel" since it has an arc that starts at the grunt level and goes some where else entirely.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I suggest In Fury Born by David Weber. This is a great stand alone novel, or "mega-novel" since it has an arc that starts at the grunt level and goes some where else entirely.

Good story.




Is the Hammer Slammer's series available in ebook? What's the reading order?

[emellaich]

No one has mentioned that, of course, much of the Baen stuff is available for free from the Baen free library. This means you can get:

Honor Harrington book one for free
The Drake stuff mentioned here.
Weber/Ringo have a series that starts with "March Upcountry"
Lois McMaster Bujolds series on Miles Vorkosigan (or something like that)
Ringo's posleen stuff
A bunch of Bolo stuff
Dalmas, Hogan, Moon, Pournelle, Turtledove, Taylor

Its really hard for me to pick out one -- except to say: how can anyone ask about military science fiction without seeing an answer that says, "Go check out Baen".

Start with the free library: http://www.baen.com/library/

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Good story.
Is the Hammer Slammer's series available in ebook? What's the reading order?

I've found that wikipedia under the author usually provides a good starting point for these 'what order' questions. It suggests that:

Hammer's Slammers

* Hammer's Slammers (1979)
* Cross the Stars (1984) (read online)
* At Any Price (1985)
* Counting the Cost (1987)
* Rolling Hot (1989)
* The Warrior (1991)
* The Sharp End (1993)
* The Voyage (1993)
* Paying the Piper (2002) (read online),
* The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 1 (2005)—Includes all the short stories.
* The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 2 (November 2006)—Omnibus edition; includes At Any Price, Counting the Cost, Rolling Hot, The Warrior
* The Tank Lords—Includes Under the Hammer, Rolling Hot, Night March, Code-Name Feirefitz & The Tank Lords. (read online)

Many/most of them are available and/or are arriving in ebook at Baen.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by donslade

David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" series of stories is one of my favorites. His series with S.M Stirling are also very good.

Haldeman's "Forever War" and "Forever Peace".

I would hesitate to recommend "Forever Peace". Not because it's not an excellent book - it undoubtedly is - but because one shouldn't buy it expecting that it will be like "The Forever War". It really isn't military SF at all, and it's nothing like "The Forever War".