Military Sci-Fi books and authors.

[Tonguez]

Tusk-anini has a head like a warthog, and Escrima is a Filipino stick-fighter who fights one of three matches in a fencing competition between Phule's Company and the elite Red Eagles squadron.

Not really gritty. More "Bad News Bears" than "Dirty Dozen". Fun stuff, tho.

Thats it. One of the few 'sci-fi' books I've enjoyed (probably because it was low sci-fi)

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Don't forget Gordon Dickson's Dorsai series ... great, especially if you're a fan of B.H. Liddell Hart's writing.

There's also Fred Saberhagen, whose Berserker writings are military-touched sci-fi.

My other favorites have been mentioned. David Drake, Jerry Pournelle, Heinlein, Keith Laumer, John Steakley, Joe Haldeman, S. M. Stirling, John Dalmas.

Some of the best military sci-fi is in short story collections. Beyond single themed books like Hammer's Slammers, look for collections edited by David Drake and Joe Haldeman among others -- there's a lot of great short story work out there.

 

[Ibram]

I just picked up the Warhammer 40K omnibus EISENHORN TRILOGY by Dan Abnett. It brings together his books XENOS, MALLEUS & HERETICUS.

I have yet to crack it yet, but it looks pretty good. Has anyone read those books? I've always been reluctant to delve into the 40K universe, because a) I don't wargame, and b) there are soooo many books in the line. I didn't know where to start.

The Eisenhorn trilogy is an exelent series, though its not quite military SF. All you need to know about the 40K universe is explained in a little blurb at the begining of each of their books.

If they are good, can anyone recommend more books in the line?

Ravenor is the followup to the Eisenhorn trilogy, detaling the adventure of Eisenhorns greatest student. You might also want to look into the Gaunts Ghosts series, which i think is now comming out in omnibus editions. Avoid the Inquisition War series like the plague, and any other books by that author (he has a habit of using all the bad 40K stuff and ignoring all the good stuff). You may also want to check out the short story collections that GW publishes from time to time, which usualy contain lots of good stories.

 

[Undead Pete]

The Eisenhorn trilogy is an excelent series, though its not quite military SF. All you need to know about the 40K universe is explained in a little blurb at the begining of each of their books.

Ravenor is the followup to the Eisenhorn trilogy, detaling the adventure of Eisenhorns greatest student. You might also want to look into the Gaunts Ghosts series, which i think is now comming out in omnibus editions. Avoid the Inquisition War series like the plague, and any other books by that author (he has a habit of using all the bad 40K stuff and ignoring all the good stuff). You may also want to check out the short story collections that GW publishes from time to time, which usualy contain lots of good stories.

Thanks. I'll look out for them as well. The Eisenhorn Omnibus was a great bargain....only $9.95 for a 750+ page trade paperback monstrosity.

 

[Rackhir]

The draka series as Military fiction have some serious flaws for me. Especially in the historical sections. Like where the Draka have 1960's military technology vs everyone else's 40's tech. Tech does not exist in a vaccum. Even if you have an edge at the start of a conflict, your enemies will capture and reverse engineer what you are doing or at least come up with ways to match you. The Nazis were notably ahead of the allies in terms of pure tech, but simply weren't able to actually build it in signficant enough numbers to actually use it. Had the germans managed to get say more me262s into action, you can bet that there would have been a significant boost to Allied Jet fighter development. Despiration is an excellent motivator. It's also much more about the draka and the social conflicts than it is the Military.

Harry Harrison's Colonization series struck me as a much better example of high teck vs low tech in warfare. He has also written a large number of various alternate history novels with military bents. However, I really don't consider his sort of stuff or the Sterling stuff to be really military books. Since they are really about societies not the actual people fighting, however much they may have wars going on as motivators for action.

 

[Raptor]

I always thought the Draka series would make an excellent D20 game, now if I ever get around to working on it for my players thats another story.

Rick Shelley was another decent mil sci fi author with his Officer Cadet to Colonel series and his Fires of Coventry series. Both well worth the read IMO. I am hoping that Ian Douglas releases his next book for his StarCorps series soon.

 

[Mallus]

I'm not heavily read in military SF, but I'll tell you what I liked...

The Mote in Gods Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It's Horatio Hornblower meets Star Trek in the 31st century.

Starship Troopers --by Robert Heinlein. A classic.

The Forever War --by Joe Hadelman. In my top 5 SF novels of all time.

Hammer's Slammers --by David Drake... particularly the stoty "The Butcher's Bill".

The Bolo Stories by Kieth Laumer... particularly "The Last Command", its makes me cry.

Also, consider the Hyperion and Endymion books by Dan Simmons. While not strictly military SF, both feature strong mil. characters/battle sequences (nowhere else will you find space Catholics in power armor...)

 

[jtone]

I've enjoyed most of the books listed here. Another series you might want to consider is the Belisarius series by David Drake and Eric Flint. It's an alternate history where forces from the future try to change the past - one working through Byzantine Rome and the other through an Indian dynasty. Belisarius isn't as supernaturally prescient as Pratchett's Patrician, more along the lines a maturer Miles Vorkosigan (Bujold), but he still comes up with some mind bending strategies.

The first two books are available free via the Baen Free Library. Here's a link to the online version of the first book, An Oblique Approach.

 

[argo]

I can't believe that no one has mentioned Haldeman's Forever War, and the sequel Forever Peace.
Classic Military SF.

Forever War was an awsome book and a classic of the genre.

Forever Peace is a pile of self-indulgent tripe. It abandons internal consistency for preachy lectures from the author about halfway through and the final solutioun proposed by the main characters is such that I lost all sympathy for them. I abhore the book.

But Forever War was very very good.

 

[Null Boundry]

Chris Bunch's Shadow Warrior compendium was sweet... had some of that nice classical SF style to it that I as a relative oldtimer appreciate.

His Sten books are an enjoyable read as well.