Top 15 Best Military SciFi Series (Ranked!)
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- Опубліковано 30 лип 2024
- my top 15 military science fiction book series ranked! Remember this is SERIES only. Was your favorite on here? Hope you enjoy.
#scifibooks #military #booktube
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - intro
00:42 - what is milSF
01:37 - ranking system
02:18 - private
08:45 - corporal
12:15 - lieutenant
18:50 - major
24:19 - cadet
25:40 - honorable mention ROTC
27:47 - general
33:48 - outro - Розваги
![Lp. Последняя Реальность #107 РОДНОЙ ДОМ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IK3QKzKUlHM/mqdefault.jpg)
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 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
My TBR list getting unwieldy. You are a quite the temptress. Thanks for another outstanding video, keep up the great work!
Ty!!! 🤣💥
Picked up a few I hadn’t heard of before. Great video.
Awesome! Thanks for watching! 🪖
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! 🪖
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
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 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.
Really fun and informative video! There is a lot here to consider reading!
Glad you enjoyed it!
New sci-fi fan, your channel is very thorough and scratches my itch for knowledge about this genre. Thanks!
Wow 🤩 thank you so much!
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.
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. ;)
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
Good job - loved it!
So glad! 😃 yay 😁
I'm never, ever, ever going to get to the end of my TBR list, am I?
Its one of life’s great mysteries 😆
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!!!
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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Oh awesome I've been looking for a list like this.
Yay!! 😁 im glad u found mine!
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!
i like your sense of humour, thanks for the review
🔥 thanks 😊
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
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
A fun & exciting video. Thank you.
Please investigate the "Starfist" series by Sherman & Cragg.
Ooh thanks for the recc! 🪖🎖️
🌟brilliant as always
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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
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.
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??
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! 🪖🎖️
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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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
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.
I do, actually, look forward to your videos, and this one is the epitome of why.
Awwww 🥰 thats so kind! Thank u! ☺️
Thanks for sharing this list. I don't read a lot of military scifi, so most of them beyond the private category were unknown to me. I think I'll pick up Planetside and give it a try! Also, I think you missed a great opportunity to use a clip from Forrest Gump where he says "Lieutenant Dan!!" 😆
Hahaha 😂 i didnt even think of it!!! So sad!!! 😭 next time
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.
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Great video.
I have really liked the novels written by J.S. Dewes the Devide series. Starting w The Exiled Fleet. There is 2 books so far and the 3rd is coming out in December 2024. Her other book Rubicon is really good too
Loved rubicon but as of now its a standalone….
Quick commen about Lost Fleett:
- the main series is actually 14 books, which is sort-of divided into parts for some reason (maybe following sub-plots) - and the other 8 books are every bit as good as the first 6 (or even more so.) Worth the time, for sure. The 14 books bring the whole story to an epic conclusion and turn the whole circle.
The 2 spinoff series are:
- Genesis Fleet (starting with "Vanguard") and
- Lost Stars (starting with "Tarnished Knight")
Having said that, if you enjoyed the Lost Fleet so much, an absolute MUST READ is the Odyssey One series by Evan Currie (and also his Hayden War / On Silver WIngs series.) I was actually very surprised you did not have it in your list at all... The series is in my absolutely top tier! Easily equal to Lost Fleet in my book...
Another good series is Koban by Stephen Bennett. This does not really start as military scifi in strict sense, but takes you there rather quickly, and absolutely amazing read! Sort-of military scifi without military...
Honorable mentions:
- Siobhan Dunmoore by Eric Thompson (starting with "No Honor in Death")
- Black Fleet by Joshua Dalzelle (3 trilogies = 9 books, starting with "Warship")
Others have mentioned Star Carrier and Kris Longknife, both great series.
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!
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
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.
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
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" UA-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!!
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!
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
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
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!!
My dad told me, “If you want to write; read, read, read!” Well, I hope to write a hard sci-fi series with a couple of military focused books, so this video gave me some great pointers.
Wonderful!! Thanks for watching…
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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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
Another good series is "Hammer's Slammers" by David Drake. He was a tanker in the Vietnam war and translates that experience well.
great video! I subscribed.
Please consider reviewing "Armor" by John Steakley. Only a stand alone, but the story is amazing. unfortunately the author died and only had 2 novels published.
🔥 i plan to read armor!! Its on my shelf
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
Glad to see the Forever War here as I was such a huge fan and read it more than a few times back in the twentieth century. I re-read it a few years ago and realized how dated it feels today. Still, a fascinating story.
I really liked it!!
One military scifi series I cannot recommend enough is the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett. Yes it takes place in the warhammer 40k universe, but instead of focusing on space marines and other superhuman beings, it focuses down to the common grunts, the imperial guard, and specifically a half formed regiment and it's misadventures in decades of war in the Sabbat Worlds crusade. It stars off slow, and takes a bit to ramp up, but by necropolis it has become amazing, and later books are constantly ramping up in quality. I loved this series so much. There is also a long game played by Abnett, where he plants some stuff very very early on, and it comes into play many books later, and it hits like a dumb truck. A couple of incidents broke me completely, and I was literally in tears.
Very fun series, and I highly recommend it.
Could i start there if i have read literally zero warhammer books? Or do i need to dive into the universe first?
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Well, do a basic read of what the universe is like and what is going on, like a 3-4 min wikipedia read, and even that is arguably not necessary. The series doesn't explain much about the universe, but also doesn't ask much, since it really is about the common folks and not the more fantastical elements of the 40k lore.
The basic things you need to know is the imperium of man is a totalitarian militaristic state where life is super cheap, and literally everything out there is out to get you. Including your fellow man.
The term "grimdark" originates from the 40k universe after all.
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Another great Warhammer Mil Sci Fi book is Double Eagle, Fighter Pilots on a ground war. Again 40k but another good entry into the setting. I dont think you need to go spending time on the wiki or familarizing yourself with the setting to just read some good books. Gaunts Ghosts, Double Eagle, Eisenhorn, all great entry points that do a good job of introducing you
@@secretsauceofstorycraft for WH40K try starting with Eisenhorn Trilogy. It's not military, but it's a great introduction to the universe as a whole.
A good video. I don't know if you're aware of the Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake (a means of his dealing with his experiences in Vietnam) and The Prince- (or The Co Dominium Stories or the) by Jerry Pournelle.
No! Hmmm thank you 🙏 hard to get ahold of…
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Drake would often rewrite classic (as in Homer "classic" 🙂) stories into a mil sci-fi setting... The Hammer's Slammers had many stories from his experience (as mentioned above) as a interpreter (cough: interregator) in Viet Nam attached to the Blackhorse (a Tank regiement). Within the came universe (and with overlap of some characters) he did the Odyssey and Jason and the Argonauts ( Cross The Stars and The Voyage).... Then his Lt Leary books are another variation of the "navy in space"... Sadly he passed December of 23. He will be missed.
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
You have made a top notch video. However, you are on a journey, and the best is yet to come. The only series that tops Campbell's Black Jack Geary, in my mind, are written by Ian Douglas. Do yourself a favor and check out first his 9 books about Marines In Space, then his 2 books Star Corpsman about military medicine, and finally his 9 book series about a Space Carrier crew.
Oooooh!!! Exciting!!
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!
I learned three new ways to say "Basilisk" today, heh.
👍🏻
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….
I enjoy reading David Weber books but for whatever reason I only ever read book one in the Honor Harrington series. I recommend trying out some of his other works though if you haven't already
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I don't know if that's what you have in mind, but I read the first two books of the "Out In the Dark" trilogy with Chris Kennedy, and they're both very fun. I plan to read the third book sometime this month
@@maxturgeon89 I haven't read those ones yet but I plan to!
@@maxturgeon89there is the Dahak trilogy not its actual name but it starts with mutiners moon. There is also the Safehold series that like the Honor Harrington series is a long one.
Big advantage of Military SF is that it hold middle point between Hard SF (so actual legitimate futuristic military tech, at least in the good series) and Soft SF with focus on charakter drama, what also is big aspect of realistic military service.
I agree!!
A few other suggestions.The Final Architecture Series by Adrian Tchaikovsky - at least partially military and fully epic :) And an older series : The Helmsman by Bill Baldwin, i read the first book , was pretty good/classic / goodreads quote : "lower caste military hero meets imperial princess"/ with some technically advanced and detailed stuff !
Wow thanks! I’ll look into to baldwin…. Of course i have the first teo books in tchaikovsky’s series but i didnt know it was mil SF
Gauntlet thrown down. Need a Grammaticus response. 😆 ...with you on Old Man's War: I DNF's Zoe's Tale, just too much a departure from the earlier books.
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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!!! 😃
I was shocked by how many of these I had not heard of. Possibly my favorite series of all time is the Cassandra Kresnov series by Joel Shepherd.
!!
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.
First up, missing works you might want to check out. Rick Partlow's Drop Trooper series, very compelling read. Heritage Marines by Ian Douglas, which is a trilogy of trilogies, I love it. and last, but not least, Robert Buettner's Orphanage series.
Ooooh!! Thank you!!! 😊 will go look those up!
@@secretsauceofstorycraft My pleasure.
Some series that I have really enjoyed are: the Fury Series by David Weber, the Vixen War Bride Series by Doscher, the Caine Riordan Universe by Gannon, the Empire of Man Series by Weber and Ringo and finally the Looking Glass series by Ringo.
This is a specific list! Thank you! 😊 ill probably start with david weber…..
I loved this list, but in the Fleet Admiral/Army General category (that you left out) Dan Abnett's Tanith First and Only is the top/Acme/1a.
Haha 🤣 Ill start with horus rising and see how it goes….
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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!
as far as military scifi goes I have only read ender's game, old man's war and starship troopers. Loved old man's war and enders game, starship troopers, not so much. The movie was good though. I will have to check out Forever War next.
I highly recommend it! Hope u enjoy some others on the list too!
"the Forever War" was actually a response to "Starship Troopers", since it talks about the worst side on those kind of intergalactic war and militarism.
🤔 interesting
@@secretsauceofstorycraft it came out 10 years later I think.
Oh yes! Military Science Fiction is also my favourite subgenre! I dedicated my whole channel to just one series.
Wow! 🤯 must be a good series!
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
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!
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…
What about Hammer's Slammers, by David Drake. Black Fleet Saga (9 book series) by Joshua Dalzelle , I loved this one. First three, the best, for me.
I couldnt get ahold of hammer slammers…. But i havent heard of black fleet!!
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!!
The Planetside trilogy will become a quatrilogy laterthis year, with Darkside. Keep an eye out for it. Manmay also have a few stand alone books that are very good also.
Lost Fleet is a curious case. You can see the author gettign better each book. The first I think is very weak, but bit by bit it becomes an A+ series. My favorite spin off is the Lost Stars, but the most recent one is a serious contender for the title of best one.
I agree with your assessment of Lost Fleet! Cant wait to start with some spin offs soon. And i just heard about darkside!! It was too late to put in video but im pumped…
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Just a reminder: read them in release order. The Lost Stars series is 99% independent of the others, but is still affected - and affects - the main ones.
Keith Laumer's BOLO stories and the Dorsai stories don't recall the author at the moment
I just got dorsai!!!
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!!!!!
Love Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series and its spinoffs. Author served in the navy I believe. He shows the tactics used when fleets have to fight each other while having to consider being light hours or light minutes apart. Another major series to consider as a military series or partially a military series (with lots of politics) is James S. A. Corey's Expanse series.
Yeah lots of ppl forget about military side of expanse, unfortunately doesnt quite meet the silly criteria i set. But still a good series
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Lost Fleet Series the BEST !!!!
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!!
I started Backyard Starship, also cowritten by J.N. Chaney (Wayward Galaxy). The beginning was great. Seeing where it goes. It's present day earth, but then somehow it becomes military sf/space opera. Why can't they have novels that are just the length of a movie? I guess that's what novellas are.
Let me know how it holds up! 🪖
Just about anything by John Ringo is good, although the Ghost series is definitely for adults only. His Looking Glass series and Troy Rising series are particularly good.
Ghost series??? Intriguing…
@@secretsauceofstorycraft John Ringo freely admits that the Ghost series is his "Oh, John Ringo, NOOOO!" series. It's not all adult-oriented, but there are sex scenes that were raunchy enough (and chauvinistic enough) that he thought it would turn off everyone. Rumor says he was as shocked as everyone else when they sold well. So you have been warned.
However, I can certainly recommend both the March Upcountry series (with David Weber) and the Posleen saga. Ringo was former Army enlisted and writes his military characters with a LOT of accuracy.
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.
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.
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.
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 😆🪖
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!!
Honor Harrington should have ranked higher
Haha 🤣
Thought I was the only one who liked military sci fi.
😆 i certainly hope not… more coming
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!!
And I was getting ready to call you Captain Whitney.
Haha
The ExForce Series is SO stinkin good! Gotta love Skippy!
Skippy the a-hole! Hahaa!! Glad u like it too!!
The Elizabeth Moon Serrano books aren't bad either, and they're dramatized with the Vatta books on Graphicaudio. I'm surprised you didn't cosplay as a soldier.
Eh… not like i have the outfit just lying around….
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!
Gotta love R.C. Bray...
Yessssss
How is Hammers Slammers not on this list?
Havent read it.