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looking for good book to read, military-sci-fi in nature

H

hclarkjr

Lifer
i have read books by David Weber ( honor harrington ) , John Ringo, Ian Douglas, Tom Kratman and Taylor Anderson to name a few. i like a good space opera 🙂 all opinions welcome
 
I assume you've also read David Drake? If not, you have piles of good mil-SF to work through.

- Armor - John Steakley
- Parafaith War - L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (and Adiamante, but not really mil-SF)
- Sassinak - Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon
 
there was a trilogy of short stories that came out in the late 70's/early 80's called The Future at War. Wasn't bad but nothing epic either.

There is also the Bolo series which showcases sentient tanks that defend the Earth's Galactic Empire.
 
DaveSimmons said:
I assume you've also read David Drake? If not, you have piles of good mil-SF to work through.

- Armor - John Steakley
- Parafaith War - L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (and Adiamante, but not really mil-SF)
- Sassinak - Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon
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hammers slammers is one of my favorites 😎
 
Starship Troopers is a must if you haven't read it yet (nothing like the movie).

Old Man's War was decent (and the rest of the books in that universe)
 
datalink7 said:
Starship Troopers is a must if you haven't read it yet (nothing like the movie).
Old Man's War was decent (and the rest of the books in that universe)
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Seconded, also second Keith Laumer's original Bolo short stories. (Not so much all of the anthologies padded out with other writers.)
 
hclarkjr said:
i have read books by David Weber ( honor harrington ) , John Ringo, Ian Douglas, Tom Kratman and Taylor Anderson to name a few. i like a good space opera 🙂 all opinions welcome
Click to expand...

I came in here to suggest Scalzi's Old Man's War, but that was already covered. Besides Honor Harrington, Weber's Dahak trilogy is really fun; there's an omnibus of the whole thing called Empire from the Ashes.

Ender's Game is an absolute classic, and the Forever War by Haldeman is also well-known.
 
> Weber's Dahak trilogy is really fun; there's an omnibus of the whole thing called Empire from the Ashes.

Agreed, and I also liked Weber's Path of the Fury (original version not the expanded one) but OP has probably already read that.

Stirling's Draka books were good.

Pournelle's military books were decent, though I prefer most of the authors listed above.
 
hclarkjr said:
hammers slammers is one of my favorites 😎
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Seconded

I just finished reading some of Christopher Anvil's "Interstellar Patrol" stories. Exceptionally good.

Less military Sci-Fi, more space opera-like: Slow Train the Arcturus by (iirc) David Freer.

EDIT: I should note that you can get at least The Tank Lords and Interplanetary Patrol are free form the Baen Free Library
http://www.baen.com/library/
http://www.webscription.net/p-230-interstellar-patrol.aspx <- Interstellar Patrol
http://www.webscription.net/showproduct.aspx?ProductID=624&SEName=the-tank-lords <- Tank Lords (Hammer's Slammers)
 
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How about one of my favorite authors and former fellow SCA member, Poul Anderson?
His Polesotechnic League novels and Dominic Flandry series should fit the bill.
 
> I just finished reading some of Christopher Anvil's "Interplanetary Patrol" stories. Exceptionally good.

They are indeed. Which reminds me: classic space opera:

- E.E. "Doc" Smith - Lensman series
- James Schmitz - Agent of Vega, Telzey & Trigger stories (Baen reissued all these a few years back, you can also buy cheap eBook versions at baen.com)
- Brian Daley - Alacrity & Floyt trilogy (Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds + sequels)
- David Brin - Uplift novels
- Larry Niven - (whole future history arc)
 
DaveSimmons said:
> I just finished reading some of Christopher Anvil's "Interplanetary Patrol" stories. Exceptionally good.

They are indeed. Which reminds me: classic space opera:

- E.E. "Doc" Smith - Lensman series
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Lensman can be fun if you can get past some of the anachronisms, like sexism so bad that it's laugh-out-loud funny at times. But the books were written in the '30s and '40s so it's just a product of the times.
 
Pheran said:
Lensman can be fun if you can get past some of the anachronisms, like sexism so bad that it's laugh-out-loud funny at times. But the books were written in the '30s and '40s so it's just a product of the times.
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Yes, you do have to tell yourself that if it were written today the lensman corps would be men and women, not just 1 female in two galaxies.

You do have to give Doc Smith credit for being species-blind though. Non-humans were never written as being inferior to humans. I can't recall him discussing race one way or the other -- even though his main characters were white, they were treated as being humans rather than American (or Aryan).

Which reminds me, Keith Laumer's Retief short stories are also quite good, though about (aggressive) diplomacy rather than wars.
 
You can check out some of the Warhammer 40k novels. If you aren't familiar with the universe, you could probably start with the Horus Heresy series and work your way around from there.
 
Deception Point, but it was closer to a Tom Clancy book than real sci-fi. Still a pretty good read. If I remember correctly it was written by Dan Brown.
 
FallenHero said:
You can check out some of the Warhammer 40k novels. If you aren't familiar with the universe, you could probably start with the Horus Heresy series and work your way around from there.
Click to expand...

I am finishing up the Gaunt's Ghosts series right now, its pretty good.
 
Wingman series, Mack Maloney. Old hard military post nuke stuff. Great read, but hard to find these days. Fighter pilot main protagonist, supervillian vice presidents.
 
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