My favorite is the Childe Cycle (aka Dorsai series) by Gordon R. Dickson. These focus more on strategy and tactics from a commander's point of view rather than a foot soldier. Some of the books might not strictly fit the definition here (e.g. one book's main character is a war correspondent rather than a member of the military), but I really enjoy them and I think they're very much worth checking out.
I had to binge read The Expeditionary Force series. Alanson has the best depictions of military tactics and space combat ever. His related series of the Mavericks is also very good.
I have to agree with you. Jack Campbell and "The Lost Fleet" and it's spin offs are the best SciFi military novels I have ever read. Thanks. BTW. I am now reading "Rebecca Roanhorse" on your recommendation. A great find!!!
No Jerry Pournelle (The Mercenary) or David Drake (Hammer's Slammers and others)? Otherwise, great video, you've introduced me to a couple of series I didn't know about.
Great video with some amazing editing! I have the omnibus of Forever War and can't wait to read the second and third book. Also the WH40K novels are great, theyre very serious and intense but have a lot of depth to them!
What a fantastic video! Brilliant editing, and what a great list! I have loved all the mil sci fi I have read, but Lost Fleet has been hands down my faveorite, I am currently reading Star Carrier and enjoying it a lot, but Expeditionary Force has been on my list for years now, you've convinced me to pull the trigger and pick it up! I also need to get to the spin off series of Lost Fleet, I have picked up the first two books of the sequel series. Warhammer books are an absolute faveorite of mine, and are often my palate cleansers between more series or hard reads! Would love to hear what you think of some of the 40k books!
I forgot I wanted to talk about Ninefox! I adored the first two books in the trilogy, but I bounced off the third one hard, I tried to like it, but got to like 70% of the way through and DNF'd it :( I felt like all the characters I liked so much from the first two were either gone or so different they may as well of been different characters, and there were so many sexy scenes that just seemed jammed in there, that I didn't remember being in the first two. I will probably give it another go one day but I felt it was missing that super fun tactical combat planning and execution of the first two in favour of romantic sort of sub plots i didn't care for.
I will say ninefox series in general has a very different vibe than most other mil SF. And i cant really put my finger on why…. I heard from friends that the short stories really fill in alot of the gaps… i will have to give those a try
Thanks!!! Lost fleet as multiple spin off, 3 different ones i think. I have the beyond the frontier ones, but havent gotten there yet. Yeah warhammer is intimidating because there is no easy place to start so we will see how horus rising does📚
One more comment! I really appreciate how you take time at the beginning of your videos to set up the parameters/criteria behind your lists. It's really helpful!
This is a spectacular video. The editing was superb. All the funny inserts were great. The list of books is absolutely insane. I could have put them all on my To Be Bought list but I limited it to 9 of the 15. Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into this video
I enjoyed the video. Great topic, great editing, and a charismatic presenter. If I can share 1 piece of advice, it's the first one I learned when I started doing stand-up comedy: You need to reduce the word count in your script's second draft by at least 10% compared to the first. You will find that your videos will develop better flow and pacing. In turn, that will save you time and effort in the editing bay.
You may have jumped the gun on the "Forever War" triology. The first is a masterpiece, the second one is a completly mess. The protaganists actually end up a Disney World. I'm not kidding. For the Vorkosigan Saga you could aregue they are all military sci fi in that they include esspionage and politics in a militaristic society. Still for the best character stories in SF, the Vorkosigan Saga is top notch.
Skippy The Magnificent would like a word about your description of the Expeditionary Force series that focussed on that dum-dum Joe and the smelly monkeys instead of the real star of the series. Exoforce managed to be a hilarious read while still taking the perils of the plot seriously, because the humour comes from the characters rather than being gratuitous.
Many of David Drake's books are available from Amazon so they can't be that hard to find. I'm amazed that he doesn't appear on your list. His RCN and Hammer's Slammers books, inspired by C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian, are great fun.
Run. Do not walk. Run to either Amazon or Kobo and grab "The Treasons Cycle". A series of 2 books (so barely qualifying for your list) by J. L. Doty. In many ways, it's a more "hard" SciFi than many of the series on your list. In "Of Treasons Born", York Ballin (the protagonist) grows literally from a pre-teen boy through a career as an enlisted man, and ends with him as an officer. As he grows and matures, he's used very adeptly by the author to point out some of the absurdity of the society in which he lives. In the second book, "A Choice of Treasons", York is fairly static, but this time it's the situations in which he finds himself that grow and change. A constant subplot is York's origin and how he came to be in the situations in which he finds himself. Part of me hopes that there will end out being a third book in the series, but the loose ends were tied so neatly at the end of the second book, the plot for a third book would have to be VERY contrived. One other thing that impressed me - at least 3 of the series (the "Forever War" series, "Columbus Day", and the "Posleen War" series) I've either recommended to others as a former service member or have had other former service members recommend to me.
You've got several of my favourites on here but one I adore which isn't here is the Serrano Legacy series by Elizabeth Moon. Book 4 Once a Hero is easily my favourite military scifi book. For a popcorn read, I enjoyed the Kris Longknife series - it's got some great characters and is a lot of fun
Great video, Military Sci-Fi is not a genre I've dipped my toe into yet, so I will be revisiting this video again in the future no doubt - I'm going to start with The Forever War.
The problem with Star Ship Troopers is people think they can just watch the movie and know all about it. Except the book is vastly different from the movie.
read and loved Vattas War and The Lost Fleet series also the first book of several others you have mentioned. Would also recommend the Lost Regiment series by William R. Forstchen as something a little different.
If you like the whole military sci-fi thing with 40K. I highly recommend Guant’s Ghosts series, Caiphas Cain series, and Helsreach. Others recommended are the Horus Heresy (it’s really long like 50 books)and The Eisenhorn series. Guant’s Ghosts follows the Tanith First and Only, an imperial guard regiment whose homeworld gets destroyed and they fight for their future and the possibility of a new home. It has something that is very rare in the theme of 40K which is hope. But these guys go through a lot. Caiphas Caine, is about Commissar Caiphas Caine hero of the imperium. Or is he? We follow Caine on his misadventures with his loyal assistant Jurgen occasionally Inquisitor Vale. It’s more of a light hearted series with unreliable narrators and thrilling action. Helsreach is about the Third War for Armageddon. It follows the Chaplain of the Black Templars named Grimaldus. As he is tasked with defending the Hive City of Helsreach with not enough men, resources, and time. Against an overwhelming Ork invasion which is the biggest that the Imperium has ever faced. It’s a classic Space Marine Battle book with great characters. Horus Heresy follows the time of Civil War in the Imperium. When 9 of the Emperor’s sons betray him and lead one of the most devastating wars the galaxy has ever seen. It has betrayal, drama, action. In short it’s a space epic. Finally is Eisenhorn, which is not really military sci-fi. It’s more like a spy or detective novel. It follows inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn and his retinue. You follow him into the secret war of the inquisition. Fighting demons, heretics, and traitors. It has a little of everything and can Eisenhorn keep his soul in this world. Well that’s my spiel.
Great video, thank you, and I had never heard of Planetside so I've added that to my TBR, but, and it's a big one, I don't think you can discuss military SF without including Starship Troopers which practically started the whole sub-genre. I know you set the criteria to exclude single books, but that just felt like a way of not having to discuss Starship Troopers. You'll have to do a second video of standalone military SF novels. 😊
What an amazing video! I hope to finish Old Man's War at some point. I'm also really interested in the Honor Harrington series. I think I have the first two Confederation of Valor books in a bind up somewhere. I loved the Yoon Ha Lee series so very much. I want to try the Elizabeth Moon series as well.
When you read the Honor Harrington series make sure to look up the reading order first. There is a side series that plays an important part of the main story line and you could get lost on some events
Then Rick Partlow, Ryk Brown, Joshua Dalzell, BV Larson the Undying Military series should be at the Top of the List...they are also hilariously funny...The Omega Force by Joshua...and yes I loved Scalzi's books...Kris Longknife and the series built around her are excellent... One series I bet you've never read because outside of Fred Saberhagen I can't think of a real Military SF that came before Bio of a Space Tyrant... And yes have read and reread Honor Herrington. 20 plus books ...and Yrs, already read all of Kloos books and have paid for the next in the series. His characters are excellent. Oh, and the Lost Fleet Series not Dark Fleet...my bad. Oh and it's autocorrect screwing up it's The Undying Mercenaries Series, by BV Larson and yeah read your last two General series Books and yes great reads.
Galaxy's Edge by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole -- I'd say its significantly better than Anspach's Wayward Galaxy. I'd put it with or above Expeditionary Force. They just released book 18 (Series 3 episode 1).
Destroyermen Series by Taylor Anderson starting with: *Into the Storm* I suppose that I think of it more as a parallel Earth story but it is very military but without futuristic weapons.
I really liked reading Jean Johnson's series "Theirs Not to Reason Why" and "First Salik War" - sci-fi, military, space opera, in a future Earth with a global government and where we got it contact with several alien species. Lots of tropes but also really well built universe... First Salik War is a 3 book series about humanity's first contact with alien species and Theirs not to reason why is a few decades after the events of the first series and it has much more action. In this future Earth some humans gain abilities like telekinesis, learning other languages fast and others ...in the First Salik War the main character is a diplomat with very high telekinetic and language abilities, ideal for making contact and learning languages ... in the other series, the main character has an incredible (explained why) ability to see events that will happen in the future and basically sees that hundreds of years in the future the galaxy will be destroyed by an outside enemy unless she starts messing with the timelines of some people, and those people's children, and joins the army in order to be in the right place at the right time to tweak enough people's lives during her life and after she's dead (by practically establishing a religion and having the priests of that religion follow her notes) so that the right people to fight that enemy in the future will be born and will be trained right.
Kink of surprised to see Forever War in the General section. The first book is great, but I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say good things about the sequels.
It might interest you to know the novels the anime Legend of the Galactic Heroes has been translated to English and has been available for some years now. Give it a try.
I am not a military sci-fi fan but what a great episode!👍👍👍 I already have the lost fleet, ninefox gambit, the forever war on my tbr📚 thanks to rachel at theshadesoforange. I'm adding wayward galaxy, planetside to my tbr📚...for now!🤖🚀🐲🔫
Military Sci-Fi is my absolute guilty pleasure. Frontline Series and the Posleen War Series are some of my favorites. Battletech is more of an anthology series and easy read. I’ve done about 40 Books in the BT Universe. Looking forward to pick a up some of your recommendations. They are always great. You were right with embassytown. Man, that’s heavy and quite a challenge. Still enjoying it. ❤
Any suggestions on where to start with BT? I love mech and military sci Fi, but BT has such a long history I don't know where to start eating the elephant
Have you checked out The Spiral Wars series by Joel Shepherd? It's 8 or 9 books starting with a book titled Renegade. I've only read the first three so far, but I thought they were pretty solid military sci-fi (eh, I'm still counting it as military sci-fi, despite some plot elements in the first book that some might say disqualify it). Another military sci-fi-adjacent series worth checking out is The Quantum Evolution trilogy by Derek Künsken. It technically does not qualify as military sci-fi under your standards, since the main protagonist is not enrolled in a military, but they do work with one as sort of a contractor? It's a military sci-fi meets heist scheme plot; I read a review for the first book that referred to it as the lovechild of Ocean's Eleven (in space) and a physics textbook. I enjoyed the entire trilogy.
Thank you for this list. Good to revisit some old favorites, and find some new series and authors to check out. Might I suggest checking out the following: The Last Hunter by by J.N. Chaney (Author), Terry Mixon Against All Odds: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Grimm's War Book 1) by Jeffery H. Haskell No Honor in Death: A Military Science Fiction Adventure (Siobhan Dunmoore Book 1) by Eric Thomson Contact Front (Drop Trooper Book 1) by Rick Partlow Sentenced to War by J.N. Chaney, Jonathan P. Brazee
As I understand it, when Card wrote Xenocide he needed a protagonist with the right back story so he went back to a previous short story he had written and expanded it to Ender's Game.
Thank you for such an informative and enthusiastic execution! I loved your presentation and your energy, and definitely will be looking forward to more of your videos.
Sorry, but without Jerry Pournelle, you really have no credibility. His books pioneered the military strategy theme, along with the viewpoint from the “grunt!’ Also, Nathan Lowell’s ‘share’ series. Plus…you listed Planetside *twice*, with 2 different rankings.
Havent read anything by pournelle alone (mostly rhe stuff he did with larry niven)… sadly, havent been able to read them all. I didnt notice planetfall twice, will have to check that- thanks for feedback!
Thank you for mentioning Expeditionary Force by Craig Allinson you are the first person I have seen recommend this my favourite SF series, I will take the heat for saying experience this series through Audible the narrator R.C.Bray just adds so much to this story in his character creation, thank you again
Not listed that I really enjoy include: Phule's Company by Robert Asprin - a more humorous take on MilSF. The Childe Cycle, tragically unfinished by Gordon R. Dickson; The Thousand Worlds by Joel Rosenberg; and the classic Lensmen series by E.E. Smith. :)
Probably a bit late but in terms of warhamemr 40K if you haven't read anything at all I wouldn't advice starting with Horus Heresy. If you really want military sci-fi I Would say start with Gaunt's Ghost by Dan Abnett. Think of it as Bernard Cornwell Sharpe but grim and depressing and full of battles and with well developed characters. If you want just have a brief glimpse if 40K is for you can read Eisenhorn by the same author. If you just want a solo story with Imperial Guard you can start with Dead Men Walking by Steve Lyons. Btw, thank you for this. Jack Campbell is probably my favourite military sci-fi series of all time. Glad to see it here
Always on the hunt for new Military Sifi. This is one of the better lists I've found. Based your recommendations, "Galaxy's Edge" and the spin off series are a must read! It reads like a Military Sifi version of Star Wars. I wasn't turned off by the similarities. Honorable mentions: - The Ember War - Renagde Star
I don't know if it qualifies a purely 'military' science fiction, but C. J. Cherryh's Union-Alliance universe is excellent. Start with Downbelow Station.
I am so thankful for this video and the comments with more. I couldn’t believe that of the sci fi sub genres, military is one of my favorites. Also Michael Mammy mentioned this week that he is finished with another in the Planetside series.
The General Series, Hammer Slammers, Belisarius and RCN all by David Drake. The General co-authored with Steve Stirling, Eric Flint, and Tony Daniel, Belisarius by Eric Flint. Though you can call all of Drake's work military Science Fiction since his own time serving in Vietnam was always a major influence on his work. Now, a series of novels you are very unlikely to have heard of, all written by the same author. Amazon kindle published: Death Dealer Saga by Jessie Wolf sadly the first in the series isn't showing in my amazon search but I have my own copy of the first 8 books from when she posted them free on a different site.
Some other MilSF for you: Ian Douglas - Warstrider, Star Marines, Star Carrier. If you are going into Warhammer fiction, go for BattleTech (sometimes referred to as Game of Thrones before there was a GoT). Timothy Zahn's COBRA and Blackcollar series. John Hemry (aka Jack Campbell)'s "JAG in Space" the Paul Sinclair books. I'll also give a thumbs up to the Dorsai books (SHAI DORSAI!)
Well, I am glad this popped up in my feed. I quite enjoyed it, and thank you for a few new series to try. Read thru the comments, and I can't add any suggestions. I would say, of all the books mentioned, Drake's RCN series is by far the best. Very consciously modelled on Aubrey's Aubrey-Maturin books,it features solid world building, exciting action, and great characters.
Honor Harrington didn't embarras that admiral...that admiral built a quite shoddy (ship) weapon, which has serious drawbacks (short range, large mass) which led to Honor's ship (the Fearless) being nearly crippled in regular combat in order to make room on the ship to install that weapon in the first place...yes, she makes it work (twice - once for wargames and once in a real battle), but that also means that the opposite side will not be prepared for that one-trick-pony...so frankly it's the bad weapon that gets blamed on Honor herself -.-
Zippy the beer can popped my top. I could not take it after that. The Empire's Corps Christopher G. Nuttall Bears an obvious resemblance to Asimov's Foundation but is way militaristic.
Series I would recommend: RCN, David Drake Honor Harrington, David Weber Starfire, Weber & Steve White Empire of Man, Weber & John Ringo Janissaries, Jerry Pournelle The General, S.M. Stirling & Drake Childe Cycle, Gordon Dickson Frontlines, Marko Kloos Commodore Grimes, A. Bertram Chandler Falkenberg's Legion, Pournelle Lost Regiment, William Forstchen Vorkosigan, Lois McMaster Bujold Hammer's Slammers, David Drake Seafort, David Feintuch D'Shai, Joel Rosenberg Dirigent Mercenary Corps, Rick Shelley Empire's Corps, Christopher Nuttall Vatta's War, Elizabeth Moon - Note that by the end of the series, Kylara Vatta is running a military force, so I do consider it Mil SF. Honorable Mention Lensman, E.E. Smith - I'm too old to find this interesting anymore, but when I read this as a teen, it was amazing. I wouldn't consider Ender's Game to be a Mil SF series, since only the first book is Military SF.
Great recommendations, there are a few I haven't heard of and will definitely check them out. I recently finished the "Empire of Man" series by David Weber and John Ringo. Four books, very entertaining, but simultaneously too long and too short. The main character is royalty, so he has entire regiment who are his body guard, has no real military experience to speak of despite, being their commanding officer. Well written, very original, good character development, and imperial politicking and backstabbing.
I started watching to find new mil sc-fi to read. I lost confidence in any recommendations when she, in essence, said John in 'Old Man's War' joined the military because his wife died and he didn't know what else to do. The author makes it very clear that John and Cathy Perry signed letters of intent and did other pre-enlistment activities when they turned 60. Cathy dies years before the story begins, John completes his sign-up on his 70th birthday. Does it matter? Absolutely. Without John and Cathy doing pre-enlistment stuff the biggest plot twist in the book CAN NOT occur.
Planetside book #4 Darkside Michael Mammay 24 September 2024 my favorite military sci fi: Frontlines series by Marko Kloos Undying Mercenaries series by B.V. Larson The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell Blood on the Stars series by Jay Allan Poor Man's Fight series by Elliott Kay The Spiral Wars series by Joel Shepherd The Ember War Saga series by Richard Fox Hayden War Cycle series by Evan Currie Angel in the Whirlwind series by Christopher G. Nuttall Ruins of the Earth series by Christopher Hopper, J. N. Chaney
Frontlines sounds on the one hand interesting and on the other hand not - why not? Being a ground-pounder (well: Following one and getting his PoV) in an era of starships? Come on I know that even the likes of Honorverse has marines and such, but the really interesting developments are the fights in space, especially since who controll the orbitals will usually win (orbital bombardment is not healthy for troops on the surface of a planet!)
Omg Expeditionary Force is by very far my favorite creative endeavor in all of fiction….. I adore this series and find one of the characters, no spoilers but it’s the asshole beercan IYKYK, the best written character ever. The number of plot twists, greatly described and ultra exciting special forces, regular army, space armada and other types of battles, the moments of loss, sorrow, happiness, celebration, underdog & I’m the baws moments. OMG this is a masterpiece. The racial politics, the shift between types of sci-fi between near future and space opera and all of that. This author should be a national treasure. And his comedy to sci-fi is what Sapkowski’s Witcher series is to fantasy in terms of snorting out your nose while reading on a bus and people watching u weirdly. Also I recommend three GREAT series u have not mentioned: Galaxy’s Edge, Rise of the Republic and Ember Wars - respectively my ranks #4, #3, #2 in the military sci fi genre if Expeditionary Force and spinoff Mavericks are #1
Have you read any of Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg's Legion books? Would Martha Well's Murderbot series meet your criteria? I have enjoyed both very much. Thanks for the video - I have the first Cry Pilot book and will circle around to finish that out straight away.
Hey! Havent ready any of falkenberg’s legion… will check it out. Also sadly murderbot doesnt fit, not technically member of military- it is technically property
Where did you get the epaulets as symbols and the ranks you are using? There are 2 principal systems, the European model with what we call ‘pips’ (used also by former colonies); and the US system (copied by many other countries.). Yours doesn’t seem associated with any recognizable system. (Military retired comment.)😮
Thanks for this. I will definitely be checking some of these out. You might be interested in the ISC Fleet series by Rock Whitehouse. There's an initial three book series covering Earth's first interstellar war, which wraps up at the end of the third book. There are two additional books in the universe which deal with some of the aftermath of the war. I'd say those two also qualify as military scifi. I have enjoyed these and read them multiple times. The author addresses some of the contingencies involved in fighting a war over multiple light years.
Pretty disappointed to see that neither David Drake's 'Hammer's Slammers' series and SM Stirling/Drake's 'General' series are on this list. Both are top notch reading.
Good to see Honor Harrington here. I defintiely agree with your assessment. I think it starts to get a little worse when the tie-in series start affecting things. There's the Shadow series and the Crown (Spy thriller) series, and they are both pretty good on their own. They just act to slow down the main series as well Also, the Posleen War series is another one I agree with you on. The first book is ok. The series out through Hell's Faire is ogreat. And there's some really interesting stuff even after that that happens, but the series departs from a military focus after Hell's Faire.
Ender's Game was the first series I dove into. I have yet to read a lot of this genre but Twilight Company by Alex Freed is in the Star Wars universe, follows a combat group of rebels, and it gives you a look at a neglected area of that franchise. I have the Old Mans War on the shelf to read
@@secretsauceofstorycraft I haven't read his other stuff. . .some Assassin's Creed and other Star Wars. Normally I don't put Star Wars, Star Trek type books in these lists but that book at least is a standout
Check out Sandy Mitchell Ciaphas Cain novels, about a soldier that run away from battle only to run into battle and save the day and they think he nake such a good officer get sent into more battles but all he was trying to do was stay low and away from battle and not get himself killed
When I was younger I lived reading Halo novels and some of them are actually quite good. A big favorite of mine these days is The Spiral Wars by Joel Shepherd, book 9 comes out soon!
Some other recommendations: * Anything by Tom Kratman. He has a number of stand alone books, but his Carara series is very good. He knows his military stuff. He writes with John Ringo a lot. * One absolutely classic series is the Bolo series, started by legend Keith Laumer and continued by both David Weber and WIlliam Keith. (Also featured on the "Dinochrome Command" TH-cam channel). A Bolo Combat unit is a cybernetic tank, the later versions of which are fully sentient. They are actually the main characters in the series, always depicting honor and valor, sometimes in contrast to their human companions. What's interesting is that Laumer started with a series of stories in the 1960's, and his depiction of how the Bolos began is starting to come true today with the Army's emphasis on autonomous vehicles. * Eric Flint's various series. I haven't read too many, but he's a very good writer.
Great list, looking forward to reading some of these. Speaking for myself, could have done without the ai art, though it's clearly the future of both art for these stories as well as writing..
Wow...... Battletech as a tabletop game is celebrstiong its 40th anniversity this year. In those 40 years, there hzve been 120+ novels, 30+ novellas, and 20+ anthologies. The universe has remained consistant for those 40 years, having a timeline from the mid-80s on, with most if the stories set from 3025 - 3150, with some stories set before then. I'm biased, since i write for the universe, but it is an emursive and detailed universe.
Some great choices, and I get these lists are purely subjective, but for me you've missed so many great ones that (IMHO) are way better than some of the "popular" ones that made it! Horus Rising isn't WH40K btw, it's set during the Horus Heresy which is set in 30K, you can look forward to the other 50 odd novels and god knows how many novellas and short stories in that series (I think well over 200 at last count), and then you've got the Siege of Terra series, and then after that War of the Beast series before you get to 40K proper! Really not an easy setting to just dive in to, without being a bit familiar with 40K first. For 40K, and military, I'd recommend the excellent Gaunt's Ghosts series also by Dan Abnett. Think Sharpe's Rifles in a Grimdark setting (only a mere 16 novels in that one), and also the Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell for a, Flashman inspired, light hearted take on the Grim dark future that knows only war!. p.s. what military are those rank insignias from, I've never seen a corporal wear three chevrons, or a lieutenant either for that matter, ever! : )
@@secretsauceofstorycraft don't worry about it, the chevrons really didn't take anything away from a great selection, was just a bit of a tongue in cheek complaint rather than a real rant, it was a good theme to have used as well. Good stuff. Yeah, WH40K can seem a bit daunting at first. A good place to start, as I put on another reply, is the Eisenhorn trilogy.
It doesn't sound remotely like Starship Troopers. Johnny Rico tried for a Space Navy spot but knew it was unlikely because (as the book acknowledged) women had better reflexes and made better pilots. He was surprised to get offered Infantry (offered as in he was free to resign at any time except during actual combat) but he ended up being happy with his choice. Also, Carmen was never his girl -- just a girl he knew. You are conflating the awful movie with the excellent book. And they'd been in on and off conflict with the Arachnids (aka, the Bugs), an equally technologically advanced space faring race, for some time. It went from "state of emergency" to "declared war" while Johnny was in basic. Do you want to know the worst thing about the movie? They whitewashed the lead. In the book Johnny Rico is Filipino.
You were so right about Honor Harrington. Absolutely love the first books, but after about book 6 Honor does seem to go Mary Sue. I will say I love David Weber’s writing. Have you read his Safehold series?
I just finished Legion of the Damned last week, I liked it. Didn't know it was a series, I only knew about the one sequel that was listed in the back of the copy I read. I get what you are saying about the sexual part, I just looked at it as part of the story. Could look at it as an alagoie to the end times of Rome, I could see a few similarities to Caligula.
@@secretsauceofstorycraft maybe, yeah. That's just a thought I had because the emperor was giving me some Caligula vibes. The general that swooped in on the widow and was obsessed with the female general, I just thought of that aspect as a flaw in the character and I find flawed characters more realistic.
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Ask, and you shall receive: www.defense.gov/Resources/Insignia/ PLEASE keep making your videos; it's hard to find reviews on Sci-Fi anywhere; good reviews are even rarer!
My favorite is the Childe Cycle (aka Dorsai series) by Gordon R. Dickson. These focus more on strategy and tactics from a commander's point of view rather than a foot soldier. Some of the books might not strictly fit the definition here (e.g. one book's main character is a war correspondent rather than a member of the military), but I really enjoy them and I think they're very much worth checking out.
Thanks for the reccs!! 🎖️🪖
I liked this unfinished series too.
Childe Cycle definitely should be on the list. Along with Hammer’Slammers and the Bolo books
I agree, Dorsai was a good read.
Tactics of Mistake among my favorites.
I had to binge read The Expeditionary Force series. Alanson has the best depictions of military tactics and space combat ever. His related series of the Mavericks is also very good.
Yayaya i loved it too
I have to agree with you. Jack Campbell and "The Lost Fleet" and it's spin offs are the best SciFi military novels I have ever read. Thanks. BTW. I am now reading "Rebecca Roanhorse" on your recommendation. A great find!!!
Yes!!! 🙌🏻 hope u enjoy her stuff. And i gotta start some of the spin offs, i just havent gotten to them yet
No Jerry Pournelle (The Mercenary) or David Drake (Hammer's Slammers and others)? Otherwise, great video, you've introduced me to a couple of series I didn't know about.
👍🏻
Great video with some amazing editing! I have the omnibus of Forever War and can't wait to read the second and third book. Also the WH40K novels are great, theyre very serious and intense but have a lot of depth to them!
I had less fun with forever free :( but im hopeful for forever peace
What a fantastic video! Brilliant editing, and what a great list!
I have loved all the mil sci fi I have read, but Lost Fleet has been hands down my faveorite, I am currently reading Star Carrier and enjoying it a lot, but Expeditionary Force has been on my list for years now, you've convinced me to pull the trigger and pick it up! I also need to get to the spin off series of Lost Fleet, I have picked up the first two books of the sequel series.
Warhammer books are an absolute faveorite of mine, and are often my palate cleansers between more series or hard reads! Would love to hear what you think of some of the 40k books!
I forgot I wanted to talk about Ninefox! I adored the first two books in the trilogy, but I bounced off the third one hard, I tried to like it, but got to like 70% of the way through and DNF'd it :( I felt like all the characters I liked so much from the first two were either gone or so different they may as well of been different characters, and there were so many sexy scenes that just seemed jammed in there, that I didn't remember being in the first two.
I will probably give it another go one day but I felt it was missing that super fun tactical combat planning and execution of the first two in favour of romantic sort of sub plots i didn't care for.
I will say ninefox series in general has a very different vibe than most other mil SF. And i cant really put my finger on why…. I heard from friends that the short stories really fill in alot of the gaps… i will have to give those a try
Thanks!!! Lost fleet as multiple spin off, 3 different ones i think. I have the beyond the frontier ones, but havent gotten there yet.
Yeah warhammer is intimidating because there is no easy place to start so we will see how horus rising does📚
@@secretsauceofstorycraft yeah beyond the frontier is the one I have the first few books of. I will get to it after I finish Star Carrier I think.
One more comment! I really appreciate how you take time at the beginning of your videos to set up the parameters/criteria behind your lists. It's really helpful!
Thank you! 😊 i’m glad it helps!
Agreed!
This is a spectacular video. The editing was superb. All the funny inserts were great. The list of books is absolutely insane. I could have put them all on my To Be Bought list but I limited it to 9 of the 15. Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into this video
Thanks dale!!!
I enjoyed the video. Great topic, great editing, and a charismatic presenter.
If I can share 1 piece of advice, it's the first one I learned when I started doing stand-up comedy:
You need to reduce the word count in your script's second draft by at least 10% compared to the first. You will find that your videos will develop better flow and pacing. In turn, that will save you time and effort in the editing bay.
Thanks! 😊 i dont have a script just a list of each book and their main characters names since i forget often……. Maybe i should start scripting! 🫡🪖🎖️
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Oh, please don't! I like the "normal conversation" feel of your videos! It's like you're a real person. ;)
Fantastic work, and some great sounding books, some i didn't know. I read the ninefox trilogy, enjoyed it a lot. Very enjoyable video, well done! 👌
Thanks! 🪖
You may have jumped the gun on the "Forever War" triology. The first is a masterpiece, the second one is a completly mess. The protaganists actually end up a Disney World. I'm not kidding. For the Vorkosigan Saga you could aregue they are all military sci fi in that they include esspionage and politics in a militaristic society. Still for the best character stories in SF, the Vorkosigan Saga is top notch.
Yeah-- forever war was the best for sure… forever free is best to pretend it didnt happen… but forever peace was pretty ok.
Skippy The Magnificent would like a word about your description of the Expeditionary Force series that focussed on that dum-dum Joe and the smelly monkeys instead of the real star of the series. Exoforce managed to be a hilarious read while still taking the perils of the plot seriously, because the humour comes from the characters rather than being gratuitous.
🔥 🔥 🔥 yayaya
You use officer names for some of your categories but enlisted rank badges.
Yeah-- i found out after i put it up 😓 i apologize
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Wasn't looking for an apology. Just giving you a heads up.
I agree on that the Childe Cycle should be included. I also think the Hammer's Slammers novels from David Drake should be on the list.
Haha as soon as i can get ahold of it - no problem!
Midshipman's Hope by Feintuch is similar to The Lost Fleet. Tin Men by Golden is a stand alone I really liked.
Ooh thanks for the reccs!!
Many of David Drake's books are available from Amazon so they can't be that hard to find. I'm amazed that he doesn't appear on your list. His RCN and Hammer's Slammers books, inspired by C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian, are great fun.
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Run. Do not walk. Run to either Amazon or Kobo and grab "The Treasons Cycle". A series of 2 books (so barely qualifying for your list) by J. L. Doty. In many ways, it's a more "hard" SciFi than many of the series on your list. In "Of Treasons Born", York Ballin (the protagonist) grows literally from a pre-teen boy through a career as an enlisted man, and ends with him as an officer. As he grows and matures, he's used very adeptly by the author to point out some of the absurdity of the society in which he lives. In the second book, "A Choice of Treasons", York is fairly static, but this time it's the situations in which he finds himself that grow and change. A constant subplot is York's origin and how he came to be in the situations in which he finds himself. Part of me hopes that there will end out being a third book in the series, but the loose ends were tied so neatly at the end of the second book, the plot for a third book would have to be VERY contrived.
One other thing that impressed me - at least 3 of the series (the "Forever War" series, "Columbus Day", and the "Posleen War" series) I've either recommended to others as a former service member or have had other former service members recommend to me.
Im going now!!!!!
You've got several of my favourites on here but one I adore which isn't here is the Serrano Legacy series by Elizabeth Moon. Book 4 Once a Hero is easily my favourite military scifi book.
For a popcorn read, I enjoyed the Kris Longknife series - it's got some great characters and is a lot of fun
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I'm never, ever, ever going to get to the end of my TBR list, am I?
Its one of life’s great mysteries 😆
Isn't it nice to always have something to look forward to?
Great video, Military Sci-Fi is not a genre I've dipped my toe into yet, so I will be revisiting this video again in the future no doubt - I'm going to start with The Forever War.
Its a good place to start
No Henlein! Lololol
Haha 🤣
The problem with Star Ship Troopers is people think they can just watch the movie and know all about it. Except the book is vastly different from the movie.
read and loved Vattas War and The Lost Fleet series also the first book of several others you have mentioned. Would also recommend the Lost Regiment series by William R. Forstchen as something a little different.
Oooh havent heard of that one!thank you! 🪖🎖️
If you like the whole military sci-fi thing with 40K. I highly recommend Guant’s Ghosts series, Caiphas Cain series, and Helsreach. Others recommended are the Horus Heresy (it’s really long like 50 books)and The Eisenhorn series.
Guant’s Ghosts follows the Tanith First and Only, an imperial guard regiment whose homeworld gets destroyed and they fight for their future and the possibility of a new home. It has something that is very rare in the theme of 40K which is hope. But these guys go through a lot.
Caiphas Caine, is about Commissar Caiphas Caine hero of the imperium. Or is he? We follow Caine on his misadventures with his loyal assistant Jurgen occasionally Inquisitor Vale. It’s more of a light hearted series with unreliable narrators and thrilling action.
Helsreach is about the Third War for Armageddon. It follows the Chaplain of the Black Templars named Grimaldus. As he is tasked with defending the Hive City of Helsreach with not enough men, resources, and time. Against an overwhelming Ork invasion which is the biggest that the Imperium has ever faced. It’s a classic Space Marine Battle book with great characters.
Horus Heresy follows the time of Civil War in the Imperium. When 9 of the Emperor’s sons betray him and lead one of the most devastating wars the galaxy has ever seen. It has betrayal, drama, action. In short it’s a space epic.
Finally is Eisenhorn, which is not really military sci-fi. It’s more like a spy or detective novel. It follows inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn and his retinue. You follow him into the secret war of the inquisition. Fighting demons, heretics, and traitors. It has a little of everything and can Eisenhorn keep his soul in this world.
Well that’s my spiel.
Ooh guant’s ghosts sounds awesome!! Could i start there if i know nothing about the 40k world??
Great video, thank you, and I had never heard of Planetside so I've added that to my TBR, but, and it's a big one, I don't think you can discuss military SF without including Starship Troopers which practically started the whole sub-genre. I know you set the criteria to exclude single books, but that just felt like a way of not having to discuss Starship Troopers. You'll have to do a second video of standalone military SF novels. 😊
Yep as a matter of fact that IS my plan! I also have a third video on military scifi as well :) all to come this year!!!
Picked up a few I hadn’t heard of before. Great video.
Awesome! Thanks for watching! 🪖
What an amazing video! I hope to finish Old Man's War at some point. I'm also really interested in the Honor Harrington series. I think I have the first two Confederation of Valor books in a bind up somewhere. I loved the Yoon Ha Lee series so very much. I want to try the Elizabeth Moon series as well.
Sounds like u got your work cut out for you
When you read the Honor Harrington series make sure to look up the reading order first. There is a side series that plays an important part of the main story line and you could get lost on some events
@@TheFallenFaob Thanks for letting me know!
Then Rick Partlow, Ryk Brown, Joshua Dalzell, BV Larson the Undying Military series should be at the Top of the List...they are also hilariously funny...The Omega Force by Joshua...and yes I loved Scalzi's books...Kris Longknife and the series built around her are excellent... One series I bet you've never read because outside of Fred Saberhagen I can't think of a real Military SF that came before Bio of a Space Tyrant... And yes have read and reread Honor Herrington. 20 plus books ...and Yrs, already read all of Kloos books and have paid for the next in the series. His characters are excellent. Oh, and the Lost Fleet Series not Dark Fleet...my bad. Oh and it's autocorrect screwing up it's The Undying Mercenaries Series, by BV Larson and yeah read your last two General series Books and yes great reads.
Galaxy's Edge by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole -- I'd say its significantly better than Anspach's Wayward Galaxy. I'd put it with or above Expeditionary Force. They just released book 18 (Series 3 episode 1).
My TBR list getting unwieldy. You are a quite the temptress. Thanks for another outstanding video, keep up the great work!
Ty!!! 🤣💥
The Ember Wars by Richard Fox.
Great series.
Void Wraith by Chris Fox.
Oooh thanks!!
The only problem with the Ember wars is its so damn long with all the spin off series
Destroyermen Series
by Taylor Anderson
starting with: *Into the Storm*
I suppose that I think of it more as a parallel Earth story but it is very military but without futuristic weapons.
A fun & exciting video. Thank you.
Please investigate the "Starfist" series by Sherman & Cragg.
Ooh thanks for the recc! 🪖🎖️
I really liked reading Jean Johnson's series "Theirs Not to Reason Why" and "First Salik War" - sci-fi, military, space opera, in a future Earth with a global government and where we got it contact with several alien species. Lots of tropes but also really well built universe... First Salik War is a 3 book series about humanity's first contact with alien species and Theirs not to reason why is a few decades after the events of the first series and it has much more action. In this future Earth some humans gain abilities like telekinesis, learning other languages fast and others ...in the First Salik War the main character is a diplomat with very high telekinetic and language abilities, ideal for making contact and learning languages ... in the other series, the main character has an incredible (explained why) ability to see events that will happen in the future and basically sees that hundreds of years in the future the galaxy will be destroyed by an outside enemy unless she starts messing with the timelines of some people, and those people's children, and joins the army in order to be in the right place at the right time to tweak enough people's lives during her life and after she's dead (by practically establishing a religion and having the priests of that religion follow her notes) so that the right people to fight that enemy in the future will be born and will be trained right.
Oooh sounds great!!! 👍🏻 thanks for sharing. Will keep an eye out.
Kink of surprised to see Forever War in the General section. The first book is great, but I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say good things about the sequels.
Forever free started good but ended up not being great 😞 Im more hopeful for forever peace… we will see
It might interest you to know the novels the anime Legend of the Galactic Heroes has been translated to English and has been available for some years now. Give it a try.
I am not a military sci-fi fan but what a great episode!👍👍👍 I already have the lost fleet, ninefox gambit, the forever war on my tbr📚 thanks to rachel at theshadesoforange. I'm adding wayward galaxy, planetside to my tbr📚...for now!🤖🚀🐲🔫
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Military Sci-Fi is my absolute guilty pleasure. Frontline Series and the Posleen War Series are some of my favorites. Battletech is more of an anthology series and easy read. I’ve done about 40 Books in the BT Universe. Looking forward to pick a up some of your recommendations. They are always great. You were right with embassytown. Man, that’s heavy and quite a challenge. Still enjoying it. ❤
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Any suggestions on where to start with BT? I love mech and military sci Fi, but BT has such a long history I don't know where to start eating the elephant
Have you checked out The Spiral Wars series by Joel Shepherd? It's 8 or 9 books starting with a book titled Renegade. I've only read the first three so far, but I thought they were pretty solid military sci-fi (eh, I'm still counting it as military sci-fi, despite some plot elements in the first book that some might say disqualify it).
Another military sci-fi-adjacent series worth checking out is The Quantum Evolution trilogy by Derek Künsken. It technically does not qualify as military sci-fi under your standards, since the main protagonist is not enrolled in a military, but they do work with one as sort of a contractor? It's a military sci-fi meets heist scheme plot; I read a review for the first book that referred to it as the lovechild of Ocean's Eleven (in space) and a physics textbook. I enjoyed the entire trilogy.
I own derek kunsken’s first book and hope to get to it sooon. I also own renegade but havent gotten to it yet
Thank you for this list. Good to revisit some old favorites, and find some new series and authors to check out.
Might I suggest checking out the following:
The Last Hunter by by J.N. Chaney (Author), Terry Mixon
Against All Odds: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Grimm's War Book 1) by Jeffery H. Haskell
No Honor in Death: A Military Science Fiction Adventure (Siobhan Dunmoore Book 1) by Eric Thomson
Contact Front (Drop Trooper Book 1) by Rick Partlow
Sentenced to War by J.N. Chaney, Jonathan P. Brazee
Ender' Game: The first book is basically the scene dressing. The real novels start from book 2
I agree!!!
As I understand it, when Card wrote Xenocide he needed a protagonist with the right back story so he went back to a previous short story he had written and expanded it to Ender's Game.
Thank you for such an informative and enthusiastic execution! I loved your presentation and your energy, and definitely will be looking forward to more of your videos.
Thank you 🙏 more to come
Sorry, but without Jerry Pournelle, you really have no credibility. His books pioneered the military strategy theme, along with the viewpoint from the “grunt!’ Also, Nathan Lowell’s ‘share’ series. Plus…you listed Planetside *twice*, with 2 different rankings.
Havent read anything by pournelle alone (mostly rhe stuff he did with larry niven)… sadly, havent been able to read them all. I didnt notice planetfall twice, will have to check that- thanks for feedback!
Thank you for mentioning Expeditionary Force by Craig Allinson you are the first person I have seen recommend this my favourite SF series, I will take the heat for saying experience this series through Audible the narrator R.C.Bray just adds so much to this story in his character creation, thank you again
Thumbs up 👍🏻!! I love it
Also there is the one part that is only an audio book because it has a full cast reading for characters
Not listed that I really enjoy include: Phule's Company by Robert Asprin - a more humorous take on MilSF. The Childe Cycle, tragically unfinished by Gordon R. Dickson; The Thousand Worlds by Joel Rosenberg; and the classic Lensmen series by E.E. Smith. :)
Thank you!! You are second or third person to mention phule’s company! Sounds pretty great 😊
Ok...a woman liking military scifi! Damn, this will be interesting...especially since women usually do not read stuff like that
Weird. Cuz like i liked these- and i’m a woman 👩 haha
Probably a bit late but in terms of warhamemr 40K if you haven't read anything at all I wouldn't advice starting with Horus Heresy. If you really want military sci-fi I Would say start with Gaunt's Ghost by Dan Abnett. Think of it as Bernard Cornwell Sharpe but grim and depressing and full of battles and with well developed characters. If you want just have a brief glimpse if 40K is for you can read Eisenhorn by the same author. If you just want a solo story with Imperial Guard you can start with Dead Men Walking by Steve Lyons. Btw, thank you for this. Jack Campbell is probably my favourite military sci-fi series of all time. Glad to see it here
Its not too late!! Im just somewhat overwhelmed about which book to start
Always on the hunt for new Military Sifi. This is one of the better lists I've found.
Based your recommendations, "Galaxy's Edge" and the spin off series are a must read!
It reads like a Military Sifi version of Star Wars. I wasn't turned off by the similarities.
Honorable mentions:
- The Ember War
- Renagde Star
Ooooh!!! Thank you! 😊 i will see if i cant find these- i think i have renegade war somewhere…. Will look!! 👀
I don't know if it qualifies a purely 'military' science fiction, but C. J. Cherryh's Union-Alliance universe is excellent. Start with Downbelow Station.
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I am so thankful for this video and the comments with more. I couldn’t believe that of the sci fi sub genres, military is one of my favorites. Also Michael Mammy mentioned this week that he is finished with another in the Planetside series.
The General Series, Hammer Slammers, Belisarius and RCN all by David Drake. The General co-authored with Steve Stirling, Eric Flint, and Tony Daniel, Belisarius by Eric Flint.
Though you can call all of Drake's work military Science Fiction since his own time serving in Vietnam was always a major influence on his work.
Now, a series of novels you are very unlikely to have heard of, all written by the same author. Amazon kindle published: Death Dealer Saga by Jessie Wolf
sadly the first in the series isn't showing in my amazon search but I have my own copy of the first 8 books from when she posted them free on a different site.
Wow! 🤩 thanks for the suggestions!! I will have to go hunting and see what i can find. Sounds like you were lucky to find the ones you did
Some other MilSF for you:
Ian Douglas - Warstrider, Star Marines, Star Carrier.
If you are going into Warhammer fiction, go for BattleTech (sometimes referred to as Game of Thrones before there was a GoT).
Timothy Zahn's COBRA and Blackcollar series.
John Hemry (aka Jack Campbell)'s "JAG in Space" the Paul Sinclair books.
I'll also give a thumbs up to the Dorsai books (SHAI DORSAI!)
Oooooh good more reccs!! Will have to look around for these….
Well, I am glad this popped up in my feed. I quite enjoyed it, and thank you for a few new series to try. Read thru the comments, and I can't add any suggestions. I would say, of all the books mentioned, Drake's RCN series is by far the best. Very consciously modelled on Aubrey's Aubrey-Maturin books,it features solid world building, exciting action, and great characters.
I’m glad too! I have quite the list, but plan to do my best to get to them all!!
Honor Harrington didn't embarras that admiral...that admiral built a quite shoddy (ship) weapon, which has serious drawbacks (short range, large mass) which led to Honor's ship (the Fearless) being nearly crippled in regular combat in order to make room on the ship to install that weapon in the first place...yes, she makes it work (twice - once for wargames and once in a real battle), but that also means that the opposite side will not be prepared for that one-trick-pony...so frankly it's the bad weapon that gets blamed on Honor herself -.-
Eh, sounded embarrassing to me. But same result a punishment for doing nothing really
Zippy the beer can popped my top.
I could not take it after that.
The Empire's Corps
Christopher G. Nuttall
Bears an obvious resemblance to Asimov's Foundation but is way militaristic.
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I liked The Lost Starship series by Vaughn Heppner and for a fun lighter read the Phule's Company series by Robert Asprin.
Thank u!!
Series I would recommend:
RCN, David Drake
Honor Harrington, David Weber
Starfire, Weber & Steve White
Empire of Man, Weber & John Ringo
Janissaries, Jerry Pournelle
The General, S.M. Stirling & Drake
Childe Cycle, Gordon Dickson
Frontlines, Marko Kloos
Commodore Grimes, A. Bertram Chandler
Falkenberg's Legion, Pournelle
Lost Regiment, William Forstchen
Vorkosigan, Lois McMaster Bujold
Hammer's Slammers, David Drake
Seafort, David Feintuch
D'Shai, Joel Rosenberg
Dirigent Mercenary Corps, Rick Shelley
Empire's Corps, Christopher Nuttall
Vatta's War, Elizabeth Moon - Note that by the end of the series, Kylara Vatta is running a military force, so I do consider it Mil SF.
Honorable Mention
Lensman, E.E. Smith - I'm too old to find this interesting anymore, but when I read this as a teen, it was amazing.
I wouldn't consider Ender's Game to be a Mil SF series, since only the first book is Military SF.
🤩 🤯 this is an incredible list!!! Thank you for typing it up for everyone!!! 😃
Great recommendations, there are a few I haven't heard of and will definitely check them out. I recently finished the "Empire of Man" series by David Weber and John Ringo. Four books, very entertaining, but simultaneously too long and too short. The main character is royalty, so he has entire regiment who are his body guard, has no real military experience to speak of despite, being their commanding officer. Well written, very original, good character development, and imperial politicking and backstabbing.
Sounds like something i would enjoy! 😊 thanks!!
I started watching to find new mil sc-fi to read. I lost confidence in any recommendations when she, in essence, said John in 'Old Man's War' joined the military because his wife died and he didn't know what else to do. The author makes it very clear that John and Cathy Perry signed letters of intent and did other pre-enlistment activities when they turned 60. Cathy dies years before the story begins, John completes his sign-up on his 70th birthday.
Does it matter? Absolutely. Without John and Cathy doing pre-enlistment stuff the biggest plot twist in the book CAN NOT occur.
This is true! Good catch. I loved the second book, btw.
Planetside book #4 Darkside Michael Mammay 24 September 2024
my favorite military sci fi:
Frontlines series by Marko Kloos
Undying Mercenaries series by B.V. Larson
The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell
Blood on the Stars series by Jay Allan
Poor Man's Fight series by Elliott Kay
The Spiral Wars series by Joel Shepherd
The Ember War Saga series by Richard Fox
Hayden War Cycle series by Evan Currie
Angel in the Whirlwind series by Christopher G. Nuttall
Ruins of the Earth series by Christopher Hopper, J. N. Chaney
Ooh several i havent heard of!!! Thank u!! And yeah im pretty excited about darkside
Frontlines sounds on the one hand interesting and on the other hand not - why not? Being a ground-pounder (well: Following one and getting his PoV) in an era of starships? Come on I know that even the likes of Honorverse has marines and such, but the really interesting developments are the fights in space, especially since who controll the orbitals will usually win (orbital bombardment is not healthy for troops on the surface of a planet!)
Good point
What, no "Hammers Slammers" short story compilations by David Drake?!
I’d love to get a copy of it if you know where to find it
Omg Expeditionary Force is by very far my favorite creative endeavor in all of fiction….. I adore this series and find one of the characters, no spoilers but it’s the asshole beercan IYKYK, the best written character ever. The number of plot twists, greatly described and ultra exciting special forces, regular army, space armada and other types of battles, the moments of loss, sorrow, happiness, celebration, underdog & I’m the baws moments. OMG this is a masterpiece. The racial politics, the shift between types of sci-fi between near future and space opera and all of that. This author should be a national treasure. And his comedy to sci-fi is what Sapkowski’s Witcher series is to fantasy in terms of snorting out your nose while reading on a bus and people watching u weirdly.
Also I recommend three GREAT series u have not mentioned: Galaxy’s Edge, Rise of the Republic and Ember Wars - respectively my ranks #4, #3, #2 in the military sci fi genre if Expeditionary Force and spinoff Mavericks are #1
Oooh 😲 thabks for the reccs and …. I know- i love that character too! So glad you also loved it!!
In your montage of all the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, you include top-center the book Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
Good eye! I didnt notice that!
If you like Lost Fleet, then you'll love Grimm's War by Jeffery H. Haskell.
I just got the first book! Im sooo pumped to hear this one is just as good!!!!😊
Have you read any of Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg's Legion books? Would Martha Well's Murderbot series meet your criteria? I have enjoyed both very much. Thanks for the video - I have the first Cry Pilot book and will circle around to finish that out straight away.
Hey! Havent ready any of falkenberg’s legion… will check it out. Also sadly murderbot doesnt fit, not technically member of military- it is technically property
You should get your rank designations correct if it's supposed to be ranked.
Yeah 👍🏻 i do apologize. Unfortunately I cant change it now 😖
Where did you get the epaulets as symbols and the ranks you are using? There are 2 principal systems, the European model with what we call ‘pips’ (used also by former colonies); and the US system (copied by many other countries.). Yours doesn’t seem associated with any recognizable system. (Military retired comment.)😮
Sadly found them on the internet… do unknown…
I enjoyed the Wayward Galaxy books except for that one character. Anyone who has read the series knows who I'm talking about.
Yep i know!!
Vorgosigan saga has about 18 books and you should start reading with Shards of honor. It’s a fantastic series but not hard military sci-fi.
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Thanks for this. I will definitely be checking some of these out. You might be interested in the ISC Fleet series by Rock Whitehouse. There's an initial three book series covering Earth's first interstellar war, which wraps up at the end of the third book. There are two additional books in the universe which deal with some of the aftermath of the war. I'd say those two also qualify as military scifi. I have enjoyed these and read them multiple times. The author addresses some of the contingencies involved in fighting a war over multiple light years.
Thanks!! 😊 ill look into it
Larson's Steel World is another fun "bootcamp" one. I liked Kloos's Palladium Wars series too.
Yeah i havent quite gotten to those yet, and a few of these authors have other series that are worth it to look into also!!
Pretty disappointed to see that neither David Drake's 'Hammer's Slammers' series and SM Stirling/Drake's 'General' series are on this list. Both are top notch reading.
Haha 🤣 never read em. they are hard to find here
Good to see Honor Harrington here. I defintiely agree with your assessment. I think it starts to get a little worse when the tie-in series start affecting things. There's the Shadow series and the Crown (Spy thriller) series, and they are both pretty good on their own. They just act to slow down the main series as well
Also, the Posleen War series is another one I agree with you on. The first book is ok. The series out through Hell's Faire is ogreat. And there's some really interesting stuff even after that that happens, but the series departs from a military focus after Hell's Faire.
🔥 yay! 😀 looks like we have similar taste!
You missed so much I don't even know where to start. But ... David Drake.
Can’t get to everything haha 😂 - but i keep hearing about hammer slammers and havent been able to find it in the wild yet
Best Military Sci Fi I have read is Dread Empire's Fall series by Walter Jon Williams.
Ooh good to know! Am on the lookout!
You should check out the War’s Edge Berserkers series.
Ok! Ill see what i can find 😎 thank you!!
Ender's Game was the first series I dove into. I have yet to read a lot of this genre but Twilight Company by Alex Freed is in the Star Wars universe, follows a combat group of rebels, and it gives you a look at a neglected area of that franchise. I have the Old Mans War on the shelf to read
Ooh i hadn’t heard of alex freed! Thank you!
@@secretsauceofstorycraft I haven't read his other stuff. . .some Assassin's Creed and other Star Wars. Normally I don't put Star Wars, Star Trek type books in these lists but that book at least is a standout
Gordon Dickson Childe series starting with either Soldier ask not or Tactic of Mistakes because tgd first book is not military.
Ahhhh -- but will look anyway 😆🪖
A stand-alone book you should check out is Armor by John Steakley.
Yes i have that planned soon!!
*Gibraltar Earth Trilogy* by Michael McCollum
Ooh thank u!
Check out Sandy Mitchell Ciaphas Cain novels, about a soldier that run away from battle only to run into battle and save the day and they think he nake such a good officer get sent into more battles but all he was trying to do was stay low and away from battle and not get himself killed
🪖🎖️ ooh thanks for the recc!!
When I was younger I lived reading Halo novels and some of them are actually quite good. A big favorite of mine these days is The Spiral Wars by Joel Shepherd, book 9 comes out soon!
I’ve heard joel sheperd but havent gotten to him yet! And halo books do deserve more credit!
Some other recommendations:
* Anything by Tom Kratman. He has a number of stand alone books, but his Carara series is very good. He knows his military stuff. He writes with John Ringo a lot.
* One absolutely classic series is the Bolo series, started by legend Keith Laumer and continued by both David Weber and WIlliam Keith. (Also featured on the "Dinochrome Command" TH-cam channel). A Bolo Combat unit is a cybernetic tank, the later versions of which are fully sentient. They are actually the main characters in the series, always depicting honor and valor, sometimes in contrast to their human companions. What's interesting is that Laumer started with a series of stories in the 1960's, and his depiction of how the Bolos began is starting to come true today with the Army's emphasis on autonomous vehicles.
* Eric Flint's various series. I haven't read too many, but he's a very good writer.
Thank u so mich for the recommendations!!
No Draka series, no Hammers Slammers, no Niven/Pournelle
😂 cant read em all
Thought I was the only one who liked military sci fi.
😆 i certainly hope not… more coming
The Gears of War book series was great. Karen Traviss is a fantastic author.
I’ve heard that! Im excited…
Oh awesome I've been looking for a list like this.
Yay!! 😁 im glad u found mine!
If you like military sci fi, watch Battlestar Galactica.
I ❤️ BSG!!! Good taste
Great list, looking forward to reading some of these. Speaking for myself, could have done without the ai art, though it's clearly the future of both art for these stories as well as writing..
Fair enough! Althought it does make for easier access to visuals
I learned three new ways to say "Basilisk" today, heh.
👍🏻
I like your video but you got some of the ranks wrong.
I think it was just one with too many stripes 🙈😅😖 Was it more?
Battletech doesn't qualify as military sci-fi? Well over a hundred novels, covering decades of warfare.....
I have never heard of it….
Wow...... Battletech as a tabletop game is celebrstiong its 40th anniversity this year. In those 40 years, there hzve been 120+ novels, 30+ novellas, and 20+ anthologies. The universe has remained consistant for those 40 years, having a timeline from the mid-80s on, with most if the stories set from 3025 - 3150, with some stories set before then. I'm biased, since i write for the universe, but it is an emursive and detailed universe.
In the grim dark future there is only war!
Hahah
Some great choices, and I get these lists are purely subjective, but for me you've missed so many great ones that (IMHO) are way better than some of the "popular" ones that made it! Horus Rising isn't WH40K btw, it's set during the Horus Heresy which is set in 30K, you can look forward to the other 50 odd novels and god knows how many novellas and short stories in that series (I think well over 200 at last count), and then you've got the Siege of Terra series, and then after that War of the Beast series before you get to 40K proper! Really not an easy setting to just dive in to, without being a bit familiar with 40K first. For 40K, and military, I'd recommend the excellent Gaunt's Ghosts series also by Dan Abnett. Think Sharpe's Rifles in a Grimdark setting (only a mere 16 novels in that one), and also the Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell for a, Flashman inspired, light hearted take on the Grim dark future that knows only war!. p.s. what military are those rank insignias from, I've never seen a corporal wear three chevrons, or a lieutenant either for that matter, ever! : )
Yeah i messed up on the chevrons but its too late to change now :( -- man i wish the 40k was easier to understand where to start
@@secretsauceofstorycraft don't worry about it, the chevrons really didn't take anything away from a great selection, was just a bit of a tongue in cheek complaint rather than a real rant, it was a good theme to have used as well. Good stuff. Yeah, WH40K can seem a bit daunting at first. A good place to start, as I put on another reply, is the Eisenhorn trilogy.
It doesn't sound remotely like Starship Troopers. Johnny Rico tried for a Space Navy spot but knew it was unlikely because (as the book acknowledged) women had better reflexes and made better pilots. He was surprised to get offered Infantry (offered as in he was free to resign at any time except during actual combat) but he ended up being happy with his choice. Also, Carmen was never his girl -- just a girl he knew. You are conflating the awful movie with the excellent book.
And they'd been in on and off conflict with the Arachnids (aka, the Bugs), an equally technologically advanced space faring race, for some time. It went from "state of emergency" to "declared war" while Johnny was in basic.
Do you want to know the worst thing about the movie? They whitewashed the lead. In the book Johnny Rico is Filipino.
Im guessing u meant this comment for my video on starship troopers??? Haha
@@secretsauceofstorycraft No. For this video that begins with a scene from Starship Troopers.
You were so right about Honor Harrington. Absolutely love the first books, but after about book 6 Honor does seem to go Mary Sue. I will say I love David Weber’s writing. Have you read his Safehold series?
No i havent read anything else by weber but i have start of 2 of his other series…. I need to get on that soon
@@secretsauceofstorycraft it’s quite a departure
try david drake the hammer slammers
When i get ahold of it, I plan to! Thank you
I just finished Legion of the Damned last week, I liked it. Didn't know it was a series, I only knew about the one sequel that was listed in the back of the copy I read. I get what you are saying about the sexual part, I just looked at it as part of the story. Could look at it as an alagoie to the end times of Rome, I could see a few similarities to Caligula.
Hmm i see the tome allegory maybe…. Thanks for that perspective
@@secretsauceofstorycraft maybe, yeah. That's just a thought I had because the emperor was giving me some Caligula vibes. The general that swooped in on the widow and was obsessed with the female general, I just thought of that aspect as a flaw in the character and I find flawed characters more realistic.
Enjoyed the video; she could use some help in getting the insignia right though. (I know; picky picky!)
I think so too! Im so sad i messed it up. 😅
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Ask, and you shall receive: www.defense.gov/Resources/Insignia/
PLEASE keep making your videos; it's hard to find reviews on Sci-Fi anywhere; good reviews are even rarer!
How is Hammers Slammers not on this list?
Havent read it.