6 military sci-fi must reads

Hi everyone, here are 6 must-read military science fiction books. I'd love to get your recommendations in the comments. What's your fav mil-sci-fi?
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MY SCI-FI NOVELS
linktr.ee/book...
DELPHINE DESCENDS -
After her family is killed and her homeworld occupied, young Kathreen Martin is sent to the distant world of Furoris for re-education. She will live the rest of her life as a serf - to be bought and sold as a commodity of the Imperial Network.
When her only chance of escape is ruined, a chance mistaken identity offers her a new life as the orphaned daughter of a First-Citizen Senator and heiress to a vast fortune.
She vows to claw her way into power to sit among the worlds’ elite. Then, with her own hands, she will reap bloody vengeance on them all.
But, to beat them she must play their game. She must become worse than them all.
BLACK MILK -
Prometheus has the chance to bring his wife back from the dead, but doing so will mean the destruction of Earth.Spanning time, planets and dimensions, Black Milk draws to a climactic point in a post-apocalyptic future, where humanity, stranded with no planet to call home, fights to survive against a post-human digital entity that pursues them through the depths of space.Five lives separated by aeons are inextricably linked by Prometheus’s actions:
Ystil.3 is an AI unit sent back in time from the distant future to investigate Prometheus’s discovery...
The mysterious Lydia has devoted her life to finding a planet that the last remaining humans can call home…
Tom Jones (he’s a HUGE fan!) is an AI trapped inside a digital subspace, lost and desperate to find his way back to his beloved in real-time…
Dr Norma Stanwyck is a neuroscientist from 24th Century Earth whose personal choices ripple throughout time...
Prometheus must learn the necessity of death or the entire universe will be swallowed by his grief.
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GOODREADS:
You can follow me on Goodreads to see what I'm currently reading. / show. .
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[@michaelsudsysutherland5353]

I'm surprised there were no David Drake story collections. "Hammers Slammers" are a great read, especially for military veterans, as like Heinlien (WWII) & Haldeman (Vietnam), Drake was greatly influenced in his perspective by his time in Vietnam (and Cambodia) and an Armored Cavalry soldier. He writes from a very visceral soldiers point of view. I certainly didn't appreciate that until after I'd been in the military and come back from Iraq. From that point onward, Drake became my mil-SF benchmark.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

Yeah. Dave is great. .

[@TheEricthefruitbat]

How this was passed over is beyond me.

[@michaelsudsysutherland5353]

@@TheEricthefruitbat Good excuse for another video covering a hand full of other Mil-SF books?! 😂

[@tenchraven]

Agreed. Enders Game is crap next to the Slammers

[@tomfennesy9105]

Not every story is a masterpiece but way better then most.

[@jplauy]

The Lost Fleet, is a very good Sci-Fi book series.More in order with a Naval Space Fleet but, military.

[@biocapsule7311]

Was going to suggest that too. While the plot isn't novel, it is likely the best in realistic relativistic space combat. Personally, I find Starship Trooper unreadable. The Author spend more time pontificating how his ideology is right and everyone else wrong or stupid. Can't even get past the first 4 chapter.

[@rpierce9810]

Love this series!

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

Loved the novels, seems like it would make a better film or series adaptation than "Starship Troopers" ever was. Also had a great counterpoint in the more recent/near-future of "Stark's War"

[@brandonboi9465]

My first real intro to sci-fi. I was so excited when I found out there were multiple books as a kid. I must have read the series within a month. I'm pretty sure I got low grades that semester because of that! hahaha Jack Campbell is the goat.

[@Nichomachean5]

YES! rereading the first six right now so I'm all prepped to read the next five. :) Underrated to say the least. Gripping all the way through.

[@davidboivin7996]

Try Dorsai and Tactics of Mistake from Gordon R. Dickson (The Childe Cycle Series).

[@massivereader]

There you go! How can anyone overlook "Tactics of Mistake"

[@SigmaUrash]

@@massivereader My personal favorite.

[@boskonian]

@@SigmaUrash me too!

[@ashley-r-pollard]

Again it heartens me to read that the Dorsai books have not been forgotten.

[@marcbridgham4536]

Some of the best sci fi of any sort

[@sriranjit3684]

1. Ender's Game 2. All you need is Kill 3. Starship Troopers 4. Slaughterhouse 5 5. Old Man's War 6. The Forever War

[@Adidasler593]

Thanks

[@its6696]

Armor,by John Steakley. An absolute must read.

[@careypennington9336]

it's so under rated and left out! It could be the next First Blood if anyone could put it on screen

[@its6696]

@@careypennington9336 Oh,fast moving power armor and Ants!It would be glorious.Think Pacific Rim meets Lord of the Rings meets Starship Troopers.

[@robertcohen1888]

Sadly John Steakley only ever wrote two novels armor and vampires (which was turned into two movies). But neither as impressive as the novels.

[@jpmangen]

Yes indeed Armor is my favorite. Can’t believe it wasn’t here. I thought it would be in the top 3

[@jessefurqueron5555]

I met Steakley a few times. Back in the days of Dallas Sci-Fi Fantasy convention. Was a nice small yearly con where you could hang out with authors and artists and get to know them. Steakley, Richard Pini, Bob Asprin, Stephen R Donaldson, Clayborn Moore and so many others.. I liked Armor by Steakley, but I’ll admit, IMHO, I always thought it reminded me a bit much of Starship Troopers. But it’s a good book in its own terms, I think I’ll go dig it out and reread it.

[@D.E.X]

John Steakley. Armor. David Drake. Northworld Trilogy. The Childe Cycle. Gordon R. Dickson. Tactics of Mistake and Dorsai! and the Final Encyclopedia, in that order, for a start.

[@j.e.anderson6013]

Someone else mentioned Jerry Pournelle. I would like to suggest King David’s Spaceship and Janissaries by the same author. He also edited a series of books called There will Be War which contains short stories by numerous authors and also essays. The series includes the original Ender’s Game novella. In addition, I would mention the Bolo series of books first started by Keith Laumer. The series is about the Dinochrome Brigade; composed of sentient armored fighting machines who fight for humanity. Since first appearing in the 60’s, a number of authors have written short stories and novels in the same universe including David Weber, John Ringo, Linda Evans, Mercedes Lackey, and David Drake.

[@peterfmodel]

Janissaries is great. There is a reasonably good audio novel on utube. I actually went through all 7-8 hours of it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGeZiGeDZtBngdk

[@douglaspierce8480]

Both great series!

[@brandonboi9465]

I remember when I finished book 1 of Janissaries. I loved it so much that I tried to find a hard copy of it and was like "No this can't be right? These books look so old?" Only to find out that it was written in 1979, some 40+ years ago. I was so captivated by his style of writing and knowledge of history that I missed certain nuances in the beginning. The fact that his story remained culturally relevant to today after nearly half a century is astounding to me.

[@frankmontez6853]

Love love the Bolo series

[@RodneyGraves]

@@brandonboi9465 Finally completed in Mamelukes (Janissaries) (June 2, 2020).

[@petermoore9504]

The Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold are an absolute must read.

[@randyford4864]

My girlfriend, now wife introduced me to this series. We loved it so much that we named cats Miles and Ivan. They lived up to their names.

[@petermoore9504]

@@randyford4864 I think Ivan is one of my favorite characters. A Civil Campaign is the best book,but there isn't a single bad one. Ps I'm not surprised you married her.

[@leoyoung7547]

I introduced my new wife to the series and we ended up reading the last few books to each other. Such a wonderful experience.

[@mattrobson3603]

Absolutely. The series is light on the combat and military stuff, but it's fantastic for entertainment value. Bujold is an expert at crafting characters and dialogue.

[@randyinchesapeake8129]

If I remember my Heinlein history correctly, Starship Troopers was his last book to fulfill a Contract for Juvenile Sci-Fi. The response branded him as a Militaristic Warmonger. His next novel; no longer confined by a contract for Juvenile Sci-Fi, was Stranger in a Strange Land. The response had hippies knocking on his door offering to "share water". Robert A Heinlein was an extremely complex individual.

[@richardburrell7665]

No vote franchise unless you are a veteran! Makes complete sense.

[@stevenscott2136]

It's interesting how hard it is to get people to see that militarism and peace are not mutually exclusive. It's the old "we only sleep peacefully because other men stand ready to do violence on our behalf" situation. Or "si vis pacem, para bellum" if you're an ancient Roman.

[@IRMentat]

@@richardburrell7665 it’s not the veterancy that matters it’s the active sense of responsibility/involvement towards the wider society. The military was just the most direct way to show a willingness to get involved during hard times, not to mention that the book military was very small by even modern standards and ridiculously elite/heavily-equipped force (full Encasement power armour for every soldier sporting nukes and jet packs) so getting in was as much an earned privilege as it was a right for anyone of sound mind to make the attempt.

[@doctorzombie9799]

​@@IRMentat, so many miss that. You need federal service to vote and it just so happens to follow someone in the military. The movie was fun but did the book dirty.

[@colin1818]

@@IRMentat - Exactly. Furthermore, most "veterans" earned their franchise not from military service but from non-uniformed service to the state.

[@stevethepirate2875]

David Drake's Hammer's Slammers, David Weber's Honor Harrington series, Armor by John Steakley, Bill Baldwin's Helmsmen series are one and all great military sci-fi.

[@jeb791]

Unlike meany other Sifi mill. authors David Drake was in combat during Vietnam

[@d3mist0clesgee12]

Armor is hidden gem, one of my favorite all time MC's (main character / protangonist), could have done some serious world / galaxy building series.

[@UnwashedPearl]

I've always connected Starship Trooper then, roughly twenty years later, to Forever War then, roughly twenty years later, to Old Man's War and how each reflects the American zeitgeist of the era. I've never reread to actually analyze them, but would love for someone else to do the hard part and present findings.

[@ryancohen5580]

Starship troopers, is one of the best books ever

[@richardburrell7665]

Starship Troopers...made my join the actual paratroopers....I was pissed off they hadn't invented the jumpjet boots before I ETS'd...and I was born to make orbital drops...the parachute ones were exciting...but not that exciting...

[@radioblitz1494]

okay, ill do it i have alot of time on my hands sooo seen you in a month if i remember to come back :D

[@SHVRWK]

@@radioblitz1494 it's 10 months lol

[@octopusdreams7305]

All of these were great books. They are my usual suggestions for someone who wants to start military sci-fi.

[@mikesims9857]

Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison. Hysterically honest.

[@tanker6473]

Not MSF but the Stainless Steel Rat (Harrison) is excellent also.

[@jeffpenrod8573]

I came here looking for this. If you served in the military, it will seem familiar

[@bertpettersson6042]

The fact that you dont mention the Honor Harrington series (starts off with "On Basilisk Station") by David Weber is a real crime against humanity.

[@rpierce9810]

This series is so good. I love the politics, the battle scenes, the intrigue. The only thing I didn't like was the chronology of the books was hard to follow with the side stories.

[@TheEricthefruitbat]

While I was surprised he didn't mention this series, I didn't care for it.

[@craiglortie8483]

@@TheEricthefruitbat it does have a love it or hate it kinda vibe to it. :)

[@RustyDust101]

I saw this comment first, so I had to turn off the video and had to give the video a dislike. The Harringtonverse is so beautifully crafted, and is among the best with its continuity of its own science premisses (gravity based propulsion, extremly strong upper and lower shields, etc). Its not simply the technobabble of the StarTrek universe, or the quasi-magic of 'The Force' in the Star Wars universe. No, it is based on relatively strong scientific concepts that limit communication, final speeds, acceleration rates, etc.

[@mattrobson3603]

@@craiglortie8483 Not really? I liked the first maybe four or five books of the series. But as it progressed - and gained popularity - the publisher decided that everything the author slapped out of the keyboard was gold and stopped editing. So as a result the Harrington series became bloated and dull. I don't fail to finish many books that I start and I gave up on the one where Honor was escaping from a prison planet. A later collaboration with Eric Flint solidified my opinion of the unedited David Weber: Never use a word when you can use a phrase, never use a phrase when you an use a sentence, never use a sentence when you can use a paragraph, never use a paragraph when you can use a page, and never use a page when you can use a chapter. Couple that with the dialogue being campy and arch, and I had a recipe for not liking a SF novel (the book he wrote with Eric Flint was 'Crown of Slaves', and it was not great.) When it comes to David Weber books I'd recommend anything from maybe Honor Harrington Book Four and earlier to a fan of MilSF, and nothing after that.

[@promcheg]

David Weber, David Drake, Eric Flint, S.M. Stirling, Jack Campbell, and Myke Cole write better military science fiction/fantasy, maybe not the better books overall. Still, the military aspects of fictional storytelling are way better. This includes world-building, which is not that great in most books on your list. Don't get me wrong, I read all the books on the list, and I think they are outstanding books. But we are talking about military science fiction. No one does better work when it comes to combat mechanics than David Weber and Jack Campbell or paying attention to a small thing like logistics, for example.

[@killcat1971]

Unfortunately they are to "right wing" for modern awards, hence why Scalzi gets hyped so much.

[@keithdavis4649]

There's also John Ringo, too. Posleen wars, the "March Upcountry" series, Live free or die and others.

[@promcheg]

​@@keithdavis4649 Yep, also Elizabeth Moon (Vatta's War), Tanya Huff (Valor series), Jean Johnson (Theirs not to reason why), Mike Shepherd (Longknife series), Walter Jon Williams (Praxis series), H. Paul Honsinger (Man of War series). Those are just from the top of my head, without even thinking hard. The genre of military science fiction is wast, and those 3 classics, everyone is pulling for this kind of list, are just the beginning. And in my humble opinion do not represent the pinnacle of the things this genre has to offer. I would even say, that they barely qualify.

[@stile8686]

@@killcat1971 I always get a chuckle when Eric Flint is categorised as right-wing, considering he is a former labour union organiser. His heroes in particular are usually working-class stiffs.

[@killcat1971]

@@stile8686 Well nowadays "right wing" pretty much means "not ultra progressive/minority", unfortunately it also means that books are judged not on their quality but on their, or the authors, politics. I've seen some truly terrible books being promoted.

[@RedBlitzen]

Look through the books of David Weber. Nearly all of my recommendations for military sci-fi can be found there but the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson isn't bad either.

[@richardburrell7665]

You need Dread Empires Fall in your life.

[@jameschristensen6021]

the honor harrington series br david weber

[@fredkelly6953]

Christian Johnny rules. The Prince by Pournelle/Stirling is a military sf must read. Actually my first msf was Dorsai by Gordon Dickson from the Childe Cycle. It was like this is sf but not as you know it, there was such a military flavour to it. I also enjoyed the Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake and also found the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold a good easy read although Miles lost his way a bit in the last few books. But imo Falkenberg reigns supreme, start with the Mercenary.

[@massivereader]

I think you hit all the high points there. Although I purely love the Vorkosian books, especially "Barrayar" LMB, like the Miller and Lee Liaden books might also be classified as space opera. While they both often have a military background and setting in many of the novels they focus more on politics and relationships than tactics, training and conflict.

[@pauldiamond9219]

I recall absolutely loving the The Dorsai Trilogy by Gordon Dickson 30 plus years ago.

[@xaviercvt8960]

I really enjoyed Marko Kloos "Frontlines" series, with its "straight to the point" writing. Humanity Vs humanity Vs giant cloverfield like aliens... Then, there is the Lazarus series by J Sawyer where humanity uses armed to the teeth superhuman avatars to fight hive aliens. It is yet very interesting regarding psychological consequences of being weak as a human and then be a semi god of war in an avatar. And my final choice is for David Gunn trilogy "Death head" in which Sven, a wolverine like veteran soldier becomes an instrument of death for the Emperor. As a French reader, I really enjoy military sci fi, which is unfortunately not a so popular genre in France... Except for "Gurvan" a series of novels by PJ Heraut starring a clone fighter pilot in a neverending interstellar human Vs human war. I think it was translated but not sure if it's still available. Nice vid, keep on!

[@Zandanga]

Agree on Kloos. Have all the Frontlines series and reread every few years.

[@trentvlak]

"overwhelmingly powerful aliens steamroll humans everywhere but pull their punches on invasion to allow Earth to survive"

[@biocapsule7311]

I would suggest 'The Lost Fleet' series, by Jack Campbell. The story is somewhat simplistic. But it likely has the best realistic relativistic fleet to fleet battle in sci-fi. With the Expanse being the next closest to how things should work. How fleet works, how fleet logistic, military culture. Frankly, for me, Starship Troopers is unreadable. Personally I can't finish the first 4 chapter. I wouldn't say Heinlein 'examine' anything. He spends way too much time pontificating how his ideology is 'right' and everyone else is wrong or stupid. But he is always 'right' if his opposition consist of people with juvenile retort. The movie was hilarious. The only part I disliked about Ender Games is the idea of 3 siblings shaping the path of the entire human civilization.

[@travisporco]

yes, couldn't agree more

[@BobChaz]

JFK, Teddy Kennedy, and Bobby Kennedy.

[@biocapsule7311]

@@BobChaz Not even remotely to that level. The Kennedys are just a well-known America political family, nothing more. And they didn't effected much of human history if anything more then any other famous historical figures. The 3 Enders practically shape the known human spaces. They are the equivalent of an entire concept of a 'deep state'. With only a more 'religiously incline' parent as the focus oddity as a plot point. They are neither enhanced or with extra ordinary powers. It would be like choosing 3 of the greatest philosophers in history and cast them as siblings and it wouldn't be as impactful as the Enders, not to mention which 3. It's such a ludicrous notion. And btw, the *Soong sisters* are even more significant then the Kennedys. And has as much to do with their husbands as their own agency, that shape modern Chinese history. Which at most is the lives of a quarter of the worlds population by proxy, over the course of half a century. And that would be generous estimation. The Kennedys? I am not sure whether it's a joke or not. Take Hyperion Cantos, the 7 pilgrims came from 7 different walks of lives, experiences. And their contribution isn't about ideological shaping of human space. They are the right people at the right time.

[@keithdavis4649]

You're right, the movie was a horrible piece of pig-poop. The director never even read the book (his admission). The story, however, is actually pretty good. Consider the time it was written, and the societal mores of that time.

[@waynemorgan8727]

@@keithdavis4649 Also, consider that all the political viewpoints Heinlein expressed in his many novels and stories weren't necessarily his own, but were crafted either to make the stories more acceptable to editors or to explore the "what-ifs" of situations.

[@CoronisAdair]

Something a bit more recent, I'd recommend David Weber's Honor Harrington series

[@84Actionjack]

Honor Harrington Series for military scifi

[@epone3488]

Try Galaxy's Edge for a pulp military sci-fi with some interesting commentary on "why fight"

[@longstrike124]

Check out the Galaxy's Edge series, it's initially a much more ground level mil SciFi that reminds me of the grittier parts of Old Mans War. It doesn't have the pedigree of these others but it's a recent addition to the genre that totally holds up. You'll know right away if it's for you, there's no slow build. I think it's free on kindle but idk

[@rvhill69]

Cobra by Timothy Zahn is good. The Damned Trilogy by Alan Dean Foster has a fun idea, what if, humans were the most most dangerous sentient race in the galaxy, and Earth is a hell world.

[@paulnihil1867]

I Have to agree with you on both choices. They treat human warriors a bit different then usual.

[@stevenscott2136]

The Damned series was a welcome change from the overused "aliens are all supermen" trope.

[@archercolin6339]

Glad to see both Starship Troopers and Forever War on this short list. ST is probably my favourite book of all time, but I always recommend that anyone reading it follows up with The Forever War. I would disagree with the suggestion that THE BOOK (rather than the film) glorifies war, saying rather that if it 'glorifies' anything it's putting others before oneself. As to other books in the genre, there has been a - pardon the pun - explosion in recent years. I would list Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series, David Weber's Honor Harrington, Christopher Nuttall's various series as excellent entries.

[@spencesanders7879]

I don't know how anyone could actually confuse the movie Starship Troopers as having anything to do with the book except a few names. In order to read it y9ou need to find a dead tree version printed pre-1980. I have a 1979 edition and one of the 1987 one I bought in the 90's. There are a lot of changes, small things that individually do not change the story, but do change the entire feel and tone. The idea of patriotism and personal responsibility takes a major hit in the newer versions.

[@randyinchesapeake8129]

Censorship sucks!

[@massivereader]

@@randyinchesapeake8129 I've read an awful lot of Heinlein. To the best of my recolledction by his own word, "Starship Troopers" alnong with "Podkayne of Mars" was initially conceived of as entries in the "Heinlein Juvenilles" a very successful and lucrarive series of independent novles published in hardback (by Doubleday?) in advance of the holiday season so that they could be given as Christmas gifts to young readers. RAH didn't get along with the editor. IIRC PoM was so heavily edited (he had to write an entirely new ending where the protaganist didn't die) that when the same type of arguements went on with 'Troopers", He decided to Write "Strangers" to blow up the contract. No way was a novel which ended with group sex and canibalism going to get past the censors to young impressionable minds.

[@randyinchesapeake8129]

@@massivereader Your memory sounds about right, from what I remember, myself. Also ... what is the Christian act of Communion, if it's not symbolistic cannibalism? The bread as the body of Christ and the wine as his blood ... I always thought that the implied comparison to common Christian practice was clearly obvious. (?) If you're truly into Heinlein, and you haven't read it already, try to get your hands on a copy of "For Us, The Living" (Pocket Books, 2004). I just dug mine out of the pile and; as I remembered, it contains an introduction and a lengthy afterward just slam-packed full of interesting biographical information about Heinlein that I believe includes the subject we are discussing. That's probably where I got my info, but I have other things to do at the moment and simply wanted to recommend this for your reading pleasure and search for knowledge. And it's always interesting to read stuff written way back in the 1930s which STILL has relevance today!

[@massivereader]

@@randyinchesapeake8129 Yes, read that. What I remember may also have been discussed in the two volume version of "Expanded Universe" that had forewords, afterwords and/or essays about the included short works and discussed other works in a mostly chronological order. I think there was another compendium as well, "Grumbles from the Grave"(?) that published various of his papers and the original unrevised portions of the edited works with commentary by the archivist. I'm pretty sure Asimov kicked the trend off as he liked to tell (write) stories about his stories. I remember him doing this as far back as the seventies with the anthologies he edited as well as his short story collections, then he started doing outright compendiums of essays and commentary on his published works after every hundred books. The good doctor liked to talk, and one of his favorite sujects was himself. It was quite the fashion for a while, something Harlan Ellison gleefully cribbed for his "Dangerous Visions" anthologies. Of the 'big three' I think Clark was the least forthcoming about how his (admittedly less frequent) works interfaced with his personal life. As to the communion thing, it's always been quietly snickered about by some of the more militantly protestant congregations as 'ritual cannibalism', sort of in the way the online atheist community was poking fun at the resurection by making and passing around memes about Easter being a celebration of 'Zombie Jesus' around a decade ago.

[@randyinchesapeake8129]

@@massivereader I now have my copy of "Expanded Universe" in front of me, it's in terrible shape! It's in 4 pieces, 5 if you count the front cover! But it's readable, which is what counts! Thanks for mentioning "Grumbles from the Grave"! I'm familiar with the title, know that I don't have a copy, but at 65 years old I honestly can't remember if I've read that or not ! Which would be a treat if I discover that I have not, so I'm going to look into it. Again ... thanks! My brother and I have a MASSIVE collection of antique Sci-Fi. I'm just finishing up re-reading Blue Mars from Kim Stanley Robinson's Red, Green, Blue Mars trilogy ... but now my Bro tells me that there is also a "White Mars", so I guess I'm gonna have to buy that one to finish the series. As to your "massivereader" handle, I actually have a "Super Reader Award" from a Library stashed somewhere ... suitable for framing! (LOL!) It's totally worthless, but was a pleasant surprise to be unexpectedly recognized for something I'm gonna do regardless. I wasn't making any moral judgments about the Communion comparison. It just is what it is from an intellectual standpoint for me, and I try to avoid Religious disagreements. But it's impossible to discuss Sci-Fi, particularly the older stuff, without touching on pretty much every controversial issue known to mankind. That's a big part of the attraction, for me. For instance, in the Mars series I'm reading now they had to decide what form of Government to set up in their newly independent Martian State. So they dug into the History of every single form of Government that had ever been tried in an attempt to pick the best parts of all of them! It's an interesting hypothetical situation to ponder, and Sci-Fi does a lot of that. And I had NEVER heard of "Zombie Jesus"! (SMH!)

[@shoutingstone]

I very much enjoyed the Lost Fleet series of books by Jack Campbell. On a very surface level it has shades of Battlestar Galactica but the comparison is only skin deep. It's the story of the battered remnents of a fleet of ships trying to make their way back to friendly space after the catastrophic failure of their attack on an enemy home world which turned out to be a trap. The author is a former navy admiral and that really come across in his descriptions of the fleet battles. Each book is named after a ship in the fleet, the first book is called Dauntless

[@jaimeosbourn3616]

Gordon Dickson's "Dorsai" books Fred Saberhagen's "Berserker" novels. Other authors have also written in that series. Larry Niven (And many others) "The man-Kzin wars"

[@robertgotschall1246]

Keith Laumer has several good war stories about the Dynachrome Brigade that I like better then Hienlen. Some of the Death World series by Harry Harrison are also pretty good. Ringworld by Larry Niven isn't strictly war related but I believe it formed the basis for much of the graphics in the movie Star Wars.

[@davegrenier1160]

Glad to see "The Forever War" on the list. I'm old enough to have read the serialized version in Analog magazine during the summer between the 10th and 11th grades. In fact, the June 1972 issue of Analog, featuring "Hero", the first installment of what would become "The Forever War", was the first Analog mag I ever bought, and I continued buying and reading them for many years thereafter. I still have my (paperback) edition "The Forever War", which I purchased in 1976 while serving in the US Army in Germany (as an 11D). (My copy of "Starship Troopers" was printed in May 1968, probably purchased and read before I turned 12.) Haldeman has his troopers fighting side-by-side, unlike Heinlein's troopers, who fight in dispersed, low-troop-density environments, due to the range and lethality of the weapons employed. (This, along with the power suits, was dropped from the movie.) Haldeman's experience may have led him astray in this regard, or he may have made a conscious decision to keep his troops in immediate contact for dramatic effect. (I'm now going to watch the video on the book, to see if the criticism of it is the same as mine.)

[@peterfmodel]

I agree "the forever war" is great, i picked it up when it was first printed in novel form. If you like starship trooper make sure you read "Armour" by John Steakley. Its basically Starship troops years after the star of the war, I have no idea how copyright was resolved, but its very good?

[@lilidutour3617]

@@peterfmodel I enjoyed the Forever War but dropped the sequal. Thanks for the suggestion of Armour. I'll find a copy.

[@peterfmodel]

@@lilidutour3617 I agree, the sequel was no where as good.

[@TegusChromis]

I also really enjoyed the Forever War. However, I don't like the ending, which, in my opinion, is a massive deus ex machina

[@peterfmodel]

@@TegusChromis I do agree, it did lack plausability, but the story up to that point was captivating.

[@hburns16]

When I taught a college-level course on US Military history, I gave the students some extra credit opportunities. One of them was to read "Starship Troopers" & "The Forever War" using them as a basis to compare & contrast how they reflected the military experience of the authors. Haldeman in Vietnam & Heinlein in WWII. It was interesting some of the essays I got back, particularly from students who were Cold War & Gulf War veterans. I would be curious to see what would come from the folks with more recent experience. Great video. I think you missed an opportunity to talk a bit about some of the more 'schlocky' work like "Hammer's Slammers" or the Bolo books. Hard to go wrong with sentient, unstoppable tanks! Also, missing out on anything from John Ringo (his Troy Rising series is a Libertarian tour de force) or David Weber and his Honor Harrington books seems like clear miss. And, while I'm talking about schlockiness, If you haven't read Howard Tayler's "Schlock Mercenary", you have missed out. Tayler did a daily web comic for more than 20 years, based around a group of misfit mercenaries in the far future. Really great work as full body. Funny, and poignant in places with surprising character growth for a daily comic.

[@vanlepthien6768]

Heinlein was never in combat.

[@hburns16]

And your point is?

[@AyarARJ]

Schlock Mercenary plug. Lol you get a +1

[@massivereader]

Ooh baby, you have to read the Kratman 'carera' books.

[@philsmith2444]

I guess it’s technically a series even though there’s really no story arc, but Larry Niven’s “Man-Kzin Wars” has some really good stories with themes and concepts you might not be expecting.

[@stephenwalton8507]

Expeditionary Force by Craig Alanson. It's more of a spoof than actual milscifi, but it's tons 'o fun. The series maybe goes on about two books too long, but hey: inertia. Alanson does a good job of taking the piss out of a tired genre and tells some entertaining yarns in the process.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

Exfor is the fluffernutter version of milsf. I loved it and couldn't put the books down, and Skippy just made me buy the whole series. He's awesome, but also a jerk like that.

[@spencerbookman2523]

The series by John Ringo that starts with Into the Looking Glass is a guilty pleasure of mine. It has unconventional bio-mage alien enemies and a soldier (or Marine, probably) in a powered suit dual-wielding Barrett .50 cal. 'pistols'. What's not to like? I read all the books that there were back-in-the-day, but I never checked to see if the series ever continued. Seems like the story hadn't concluded at that time, so maybe there are more books out there now...

[@garyostenfoltz6870]

I like his other series. Specially the poslene war series watch on the Rhine.

[@allenrichardson2956]

I’ve been wanting a conclusion to the Vorpal Blade series for years.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

My favourite John Ringo book is Into the Looking Glass, but after the first volume it kind of went places that lost the focus of the theme, and though I enjoyed the two sequels with Travis Taylor, the series seems to have died.

[@Longjohnsilver58]

I believe parents are a child’s best and most important teacher. Robert Heinlein’s starship troopers was required reading in my house. One day when my daughter was a freshmen in high school, a teacher was talking about juvenile delinquents. She quoted the book and the teacher loved it. She told him where she got it and he then read the book. When I was in college I always tried to plug in a quote just so I could cite the reference. Love that book.

[@tap10lan]

Since this is a more than a year old clip, I don't know how many will notice this comment, but Linda Nagata's "Red" trilogy is a fantastic comment on our time (USA fractioning, where power resides, the information side of war, with fewer, but more competent soldiers, personal freedoms being infringed upon, etc.)

[@cto1gg]

Armor by John Steakley from 1984 is an important work in the "mobile infantry" sub genre of Military SF. It's been reprinted dozens of times and still readily available. The Seafort Saga by David Feintuch from the 90's is great fun, but difficult to find in print. Unfortunately both of these authors died relatively young.

[@massivereader]

It's amazing how many times Feintuch's 'Horatio Hornnblower in space" approach has been copied in the ebook-verse, yet he rarely gets mentioned.

[@d3mist0clesgee12]

Armor, one of my favorite protagonist of all time, hidden gem not too many people know about it, could have done some epic galaxy building sequels. Need Brandon Sanderson to finish off these series 🙂

[@desdenova1]

Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson.

[@burkanarburky4447]

miss Honor Harringtion

[@tonyhunt768]

The 'Dorsai' books by Gordon R Dickson are worth a read. Maybe a bit long in the tooth, but a reasonable series.

[@aliciacampos5789]

I loved Enders Game. I enjoyed Old Mans War and liked The Forever War. I want to read Slaughter House Five. Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War is a great military sci fi series. I also really liked Rachel Bach’s Paradox trilogy.

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Thanks for the recs. I’ll check those out 😀

[@craiglortie8483]

@@Sci-FiOdyssey check out "bio of a space tyrant" series. Piers Anthony's scifi attempt that turns out as a good read.

[@peterfmodel]

All good choices and all well worth reading all of them. The Tom Cruise movie was actually very good and while its very different from the manga, the changes work. However Jerry Pournelle and David Drake should be included in any list of war sci-fi. The best war related novel i read and there are a lot of very good ones, is "We all Died at Breakaway Station" by Richard C Meredith. Written in 1969 and the story arc is very simple, but by golly it is captivating (and rather depressing)

[@ashley-r-pollard]

I'm gladdened to read that someone other than me has read and liked We All Died at Breakaway Station. A lost classic. Also, often overlooked is David Gerrold's Starwolf trilogy: Tales of the Starwolf.

[@JohnVKaravitis]

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card All You Need Is Kill - Sakazuraka Hiroshi Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein SlaughterHouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut Old Man's War - John Scalzi The Forever War - Jon Haldeman

[@lazerwater6137]

Terms of enlistment is a big must read

[@RedBlitzen]

The manga "All You Need Is Kill" is also a light novel. I think that came first.

[@AyarARJ]

David Weber, Honor Harrington...where? Early series book hands-down best treatment of naval tactics and the consequences of technological improvements. Tom Kratman for theory of war, ethical considerations for how to conduct a war (ethics; possibly not your ethics).

[@massivereader]

There you go. Krautman is one that will never get mentioned by ost.

[@j.dunlop8295]

Old classics, also, Old Man's War, which derived from the greatest classic, The forever War, written by an Vietnam vet, it made more than twenty future military predictions, that have come to fruition!

[@mike5d1]

How about "The Ion War" by Colin Kapp. I bought it in the 1980's and I still go back and re-read it every 2 or 3 years. I'm not some one tries to analyse what I read in depth but I really enjoy this book and wish that I could find out if the Author wrote a follow up to it.

[@AFMountaineer2000]

Ive read Starship Troopers and didnt care for it but I have been planning on reading Old Man's War. The Forever War sounds very intriguing and Ill add it to my list. One must read I have for you if you havent read them yet is Galaxy's Edge by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole

[@cannabiscupjudge]

To be fair, Kurt Vonnegut repeatably rejected the idea that he wrote Science Fiction - he believed that he wrote books about people, and the fact that sometimes he included spaceships and aliens didn't mean that he was exploring the genre. Personally, I don't consider Slaughterhouse 5 Science Fiction. For that matter, I disagree that 1984 belongs in the genre, though I'll concede that both of those views are personal and subjective.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

I would agree with you. We are not alone in thinking this.

[@peterpuleo2904]

"The War Against the Rull" by A.E. Van Vogt is excellent. The :"Rull" are a precursor to "The Thing".

[@massivereader]

Ah, a fellow 'golden age' affectiando. Do yourself a favor and dig up "The Wasp" by Eric Frank Russel. Long out of print and hard to find, but theres an e-book version floating around.

[@peterpuleo2904]

@@massivereader I will seek one out. Thanks for the recommendation.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

Sort of, and Robert Buettner wrote a homage to van Vogt's Rull with his Jason Wander series that begins with Orphanage.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

@@massivereader Deffo good book to read.

[@michaeldrinkard678]

Definitely needs to include David Drake's Hammers Slammers. Drake's novels hit hard and leave an impression on you.

[@chuckgviolin3538]

I don't know. I thought Edge of Tomorrow was surprisingly good. I expected garbage and got a quite charming Groundhog Day film.

[@dangermouse9348]

The Sten series by Allen Cole and Chris Bunch are well worth a read.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

Yep, another classic.

[@pauldiamond9219]

"Bill, the Galactic Hero" by Harry Harrison is also a book I loved back in high school.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

A witty and fun parody and satire of Starship Troopers.

[@scottfree6479]

Live free or Die by Ringo is kinda terrible but I love it anyways.

[@angushume2054]

Some here I have not read and sound worth looking into. I can also recommend the odyssey series by Evan Currie.

[@angryginger791]

I've been reading "The Spiral Wars" series by Joel Shepherd. IMO, it's not quite as high level as some sci-fi, but is nonetheless very well written. The military aspects, to me, are what make it most interesting. Shepherd clearly understands the differences between soldiers and civilians, and the depth of his characters shows that.

[@olddoc4430]

Consider “In Fury Born” by David Weber.

[@laynelair7537]

That is an excellent story! Read it 4 times and just hated to put it down! 5 stars all the way!

[@richardshawver7264]

I have read 5 of the 6. Excluding the manga but enjoyed the movie. Slaughter house 5 is only so so. Time time jumps make it somewhat confusing to really enjoy. I've also read most of the others in the comment section that I scanned.

[@elizabetha8565]

Terms Of Enlistment was my favorite.

[@reverance_pavane]

Robert Frezza's A Small Colonial War and Fire in a Far Away Place. Keith Laumer's Bolo series. David Drake's Hammers Slammers gets the most press, but don't forget the RCN and Venus series and independent stories like The Forlorn Hope. Gordon Dickson's Dorsai series (part of his overall Childe Cycle), starting with Tactics of Mistake, Soldier Ask Not, and Dorsai!. Jerry Pournelle's Future History (written in homage to H Beam Piper's Terrohuman Future History), particularly The Mercenary and other stories of Falkenberg's Legion. Also the There Will Be War and War World collections he edited (in particular therein the Don Hawthorne stories). Paul Steakley's Armor. Tanya Huff's Valor Confederation series. David Weber's In Fury Born, and his Honor Harrington, and Empire of Man (w John Ringo) series.

[@nickr7080]

Point here - starship troopers is also widely considered the first detailed use of power armour- copied in many subsequent books

[@letsbuildsomethingNOW]

I first read Starship Troopers & Ender's Game in the mid-90's because they were on the Marine Corps Commandant's reading list. They're still a couple of my favorite books.

[@ronparsons8786]

Weber's Starfire Series The Bolo Series The Berserker Series Ian Douglas (Keith Laumer?) Star Carrier/Corpsman/etc series. My favorite military sci Fi series...

[@bassslap2001]

The Ember Wars by Richard Fox . Great world building, character that are fleshed out. His books are hard to put down. I have read well over a hundred works in various SiFi genre's this is one of the best.

[@SafetyBriefer]

Very kind of you.

[@bassslap2001]

@@SafetyBriefer I am a loyal red shirt after all. You have truly earned all the accolades you receive. Being a fellow Army brother, 82nd 11B1P myself we stick together. Continue "Being all you can be" !

[@d3mist0clesgee12]

Great list, haven't seen the movie Slaughter house but have read the rest and are some of my favorite Scifi. Have you read Armor - John Steakley? Hidden gem in this genre, one of my favorite MC's. Thanks again.

[@TheMajorActual]

_Go Tell The Spartans_ and _Prince of Sparta,_ by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling, are solid, easily on the level of _Starship Troopers._ To echo others, below, _Armor_ by Steakley; _Hammer's Slammers,_ by Drake. Also, _Dorsai,_ by Gordon R. Dickson; _The Regiment_ series, by John Dalmas; the _Bolo_ series, by Keith Laumer; and _Falkenberg's Legion,_ by Pournelle (that incorporated _West of Honor_ and _The Mercenary_ in one volume, and are the bookend stories to _Go Tell The Spartans_ and _Prince of Sparta_ )........I could go on, buy I'd be here all night, lol....

[@jessrevill1852]

Totally agreed.

[@jakeaurod]

Starship Troopers was required reading in a Political Theory class I took in college.

[@tishapatton7446]

I'm newly subscribed to your channel. I also love the film version of Starship Troopers. We are all entitled to intervals of poor cinematic taste, as long as we own it. And you did.

[@omnivision616]

All of these are amongst my favorites except Old Man's war. Haven't read that one but need to check it out. Starship Troopers hits different after I got out of the Military.

[@waynemorgan8727]

I think I first read Starship Troopers in 1961 or 62. I used to re-read it every year or so; now I still re-read it every couple years. It amazes me to see the crap that people project onto that novel, in an effort to make it fit into their worldview. Of course, the folks that do that generally think that history and morality came into existence with their birth . . .

[@xiongfa2152]

I'm not sure about the Graphic Novel he mentions but he's spot on with the rest. Too many people asking 'why not this or that', he's just said '6' and I agree with all of his mentions as must reads IF you are a military sci-fi person; or want to be. The Honor Harrington series is great, but honestly, not a MUST read as it doesn't explore any new themes...and the more he gets on with political crap the less I wanted to read. I like Weber, but I don't think he is groundbreaking. There are a LOT of good military sci-fi writers out there but not many of them actually break new ground. LOL, though, if I had to get on a soap box and scream 'WHY NOT...?' it would be for the "Sten" series by Cole & Bunch.

[@alankohn6709]

David Drake Hammers Slammers and Belisarius, David Weber Honor Harrington, 1632 books, Empire of Man series. Since you seem to like books published pre 1980 Keith Laumer The Bolo series which continues to be written by multiple authors. Timothy Zahn The Cobra series or the Conquerors' trilogy. John Ring Polseen War series, Troy Rising series, Paladin of Shadows (Ok not really Sci fi) Looking Glass Series.

[@LostCylon]

John Ringo and David Weber are two of my favourite authors.

[@bobschaefer6519]

Falkenbergs Legion by Jerry Pournelle should be on that list also

[@munderpool]

I re-watched 'Slaughterhouse Five' and would actually suggest that the book is not SciFi, but is about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Billy Pilgrim fades into his fantasy world of time travel to escape his memories of horror, and the inability to fit back into civilian life and deal with comparatively meaningless quandaries of day-to-day living.

[@EnPassantChess]

Excellent selection! And, of course, yet another great video.

[@Ansonidak]

The Mote in Gods Eye and it's sequel The Gripping Hand should make the list.

[@mackmaloney3776]

The Wingman series -- 20-book series, all military sci-fi

[@munderpool]

David Drake's 'Ranks of Bronze'. I prefer the original short story to the novelette or novel it evolved into. Drake was in 'Nam as well.

[@OnlyKaerius]

Frontlines series - Marklo Kloos (and yes, I saw someone else mention it). Freehold series - Michael Z Williamson. The legend of ZERO series - Sara King (though it's incomplete). Rimes trilogy - P R Adams.

[@Philistine47]

Glen Cook is better known for fantasy - including military fantasy, such as The Black Company series - but he also has some pretty solid military sci-fi to his name. I would particularly recommend _Passage at Arms,_ _Shadowline,_ and _The Dragon Never Sleeps,_ each of which offers a very different perspective on the conflicts depicted.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

Yep, Passage at Arms and The Dragon Never Sleeps are awesome reads.

[@mrgodliak]

The Spiral Wars by Joel Shepherd is one of my favorites!

[@tomestep8095]

John Ringo, Michael Z. Williamson and Tom Kratman are a few others. Ringo wrote the Empire of Man series with Weber, The Aldenata Series, and Troy Rising. All are very good, but if you like an ending to a series, you will find him frustrating to read. He never finishes a series. He ties up the previous line, but leaves an opening to return. He just never seems to return. YMMV. Williamson's Freehold series is very good and explores freedom in interesting ways. The series is mostly stand alone books. The only ones that deal with the same timeline and people are Freehold, The Weapon, and Rogue. Kratman's Carrera series is about Islamic extremism and human tyranny. If you find that you like either of those, you might want to avoid it. Very good military reads, though. He draws on his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[@angelrivera2339]

I don't know about Kratman. A desert called Peace read like conservative fantasy porn. No real world building, too many things went the main character's way and the opponents were one dimensional. Kratman has writing skills so I finished the book. As much as I enjoy seeing the destruction of extremist terrorists, I felt in the end that I didn't care if the main character won. I read Freehold. Generally, I consider books that describe Libertarian utopia a waste of time. The Libertarian books I have read are paradise without people working to make a society work. I would recommend Freehold. This book at least showed challenges of a libertarian society and the main character faced challenges adjusting and trying to thrive in it. Seeing her adjust and thrive was thrilling and fun. John Ringo is a good writer and The Aldenata series was a fun read,but it has been years since I read it.

[@tomestep8095]

@@angelrivera2339 Kratman is a former Colonel who is playing out his fantasies in books. It's ok. I like exploring people's ideas, whether i agree with them or not. If you only look at things that agree with you, you learn nothing. Same with Freehold series. It explores ideas. I liked the Empire of Man series with David Weber better, but Aldenata was fun. Troy Rising is fun also.

[@angelrivera2339]

@@tomestep8095 I think that the Heritage trilogy by Ian Douglas is pretty good. I liked the beginning struggle of humanity trying to find its place in a hostile galaxy. The books from the Falkenberg's Legion universe by Jerry Pournelle are a good read.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

@@angelrivera2339 Krattman is the literary equivalent of Marmite.

[@micwclar]

Nothing by Jerry Pournelle? Falkenberg's Legion? Set in Niven's Co-Dominium, is one of the best military SF series, looking at an empire about to crumble and how to prepare to pick up the pieces when it does.

[@stile8686]

Good choice. Minor nitpick, the Co-Dominion was created by Pournelle and later invited Niven to collaborate with him in writing in its setting, resulting in The Mote in God's Eye which I considered one of the best tales of human first contact with aliens.

[@micwclar]

@@stile8686 I didn't know that. Thanks for the correction.

[@stevenscott2136]

The story of how that came to be written is in Niven's "N-Space" anthology, if you're the "peek inside the author's brain" type.

[@ManelGabriel]

How about the David Weber Honor Harrington series/verse books?

[@osvcaptain]

The David Weber 'Honorverse' is the best Military SiFi I've ever read. That said, Jay Allan's Crimson Worlds and it's spin off Refugees, and it's maybe linked series Blood on the Stars are a close second.

[@carlk8308]

Wow. Great channel! Saw this video randomly up on my home page - "6 military sci-fi must reads", and thought, "Yeah, I'll check that out." I love your pics here - have read all but one (Slaughterhouse Five), which I just downloaded. - Subscribed.

[@richzillablue]

A Soldier's Duty, the first of five books in the 'Theirs Not to Reason Why' series by Jean Johnson. From the back cover; "Ia is a precog, blessed-or cursed-with visions of the future... To save the galaxy, Ia must become someone else: the soldier known as Bloody Mary." This series, more than any I've ever read, perfectly captures the military mindset. Starship Troopers comes close but I feel Johnson's perspective and setting are less dystopian than Troopers. I would say it's mainly suspense and character driven. The scifi elements are solid but not necessarily unique or groundbreaking. Another thing I appreciated about the entire series was the toned down romantic elements, especially given Johnson's usual offerings are known for their romance-centric sub-plots. I absolutely loved this series and it's in my Top 3 list of all-time favorite scifi books.

[@allenrichardson2956]

Best military science fiction novel for me was “Von Neuman’s War” by John Ringo and Travis Taylor.

[@derrickstableford8152]

Tactics of Mistake- the Dorsai trilogy

[@JimPBarber]

All of these are in my top Ten!!! I round them out with David Drake's Hammers Slammers, Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns, John Steakly's Armor, and Niven and Pournell's The Mote in God's Eye.

[@djolds1]

The Mote in God's Eye and Hammer's Slammers would seem to be must-reads in the mil-scifi genre.

[@stevenscott2136]

I wouldn't call Mote military SF. There are military elements in it, but it's not really ABOUT military matters. It's a first-contact story, and the military are simply the ones in position to do the contacting. A good book, certaintly, but I think someone actively looking for military stories would be disappointed by its comparative un-militariness.

[@djolds1]

@@stevenscott2136 I can see your point. I would say I see Mote as a very good exploration of the military mindset more than "Aliens" style military action. And of course it is the first entry in Pournelle's Future History, which is packed with excellent mil-scifi.

[@isagoes6156]

You have good taste in your picks.

[@olliverklozov2789]

We are Bob! Imagine meeting a species that greets you with "You are food!"

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

While "Starship Troopers" is better as a novel the difference between the Skinnies and Bugs in the movie adaptation is slightly annoying, but the Jack Campbell "The Lost Fleet" series dealing with a century-long war's effects is interesting. Myke Cole's "Shadow Ops" trilogy is an interesting take on military service (the use of a military glossary at the end is also helpful) and John Hemry's "Stark's War" trilogy is interesting and deals with both the conscience of serving as a soldier versus defending the citizens you're trying to protect along with the strain of command when being thrust into a position you didn't ask for

[@tyronealfonso]

Don’t let that put you off?? Edge of Tomorrow was awesome, I thought.

[@camaroguy2919]

I really liked Vaughn Heppner's Assault Troopers. one of my favorites.

[@Activated_Complex]

The Falling Torch, by Algis Budrys

[@johnfairhurstReviews]

Wooow, read all of these, except the manga, and enjoyed most of them, so it goes. Like quiet a few comments, I'd suggest David Drake and David Weber if you do a follow up video