Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" series is also amazing, great for those who love ship combat on a large scale. Elizabeth Moon is also excellent, Trading in Danger series. Both authors are ex service people ( Jack is actually John Henry - Ex US Navy, and from memory Elizabeth Moon was a Marine) so they bring a real authenticity to the writing and the world.
Elizabeth Moon also wrote an excellent series about a female medieval mercenary. It is fantasy but still very clear about the realities and risks of medieval warfare
Indeed, I was actually surprised the Lost Fleet was not up there, as I think it is better than the Man-Kzin wars, which, at least at one point became mired in "Slaver Stasis Box Stories, part 3" territory. Although it is classed as "Military Fantasy" by Amazon, Marc Alan Edelheit's various Stiger-related books (initially "Chronicles of An Imperial Legionary Officer") is very good, and posits a lost Roman legion transported (hence lost) on the eve of its likely destruction to another world, where a new roman empire is eventually established.... fast forward a couple thousand years, and you have "Stiger", a captain in this legion, who encounters Dwarves, Gnomes, Orcs, Elves, and Dragons... Strong emphasis on the military aspects of the situation. An interesting Alt-History milSF series is also Destroyerman, by Taylor Anderson (also ex-military, much like Jack Campbell). It involves a decrepit WWI destroyer which, at the onset of WWII is chased through a storm by a Japanese battleship, and finds itself on a hothouse earth where humans never evolved -- and there are two major species fighting for dominance, a species similar to dinosaur raptors, and a cat-monkey like species descended from a species on Madagascar. As the stories continue, it becomes clear that the Destroyermen were not the first or only humans to make the passage, only the most recent and most technologically advanced. Then there is Evan Currie, who has an excellent series (with spinoffs) called the "Odyssey" series, with humans encountering another humanoid collective (not inimical), as well as a humanoid star empire (very inimical). The series harkens back to Doc Smith's "Skylark" series, with the humanoid collective being like the Norlaminians, and the Empire as the Fenachrone. Currie also has the "Silverwings" series, which centers on a Special Ops type at the intersection of an inimical First Contact. Christopher Nuttall steps in with a number of milSF series -- the Ark Royale series, which is a sequence of trilogies, and standalones, set in the same context, but with advances and new ships and personnel as the subjects -- mostly Naval actions. He also has another, "Empire Corps" series, which is more of a "Space Marines" series. Then there is his "Angel in the Whirlwind" dual series, which most closely resembles Honor Harrington, involving as it does a female space navy commander at a key time in her star nation's history. He also has a fantasy series, "Schooled In Magic", which does have a moderate amount of military action, set in a world where magic exists, and technology has not really been developed beyond medaeval levels... the main protagonist, Emily, does introduce a wide array of early industrial technologies, including steam locomotives, gunpowder, the printing press, and, yes, "double-entry bookeeping". The series completed with 25 books and has a couple spinoffs. I will note Michael Z Williamson's Freehold series (Williamson is also a former military man) which takes a strong libertarian bent. Lastly, I'll mention Charles Gannon's "Caine" series, which involves a Retief-like character who winds up at the intersection of all too many interactions at the edge of war. This one has a little of everything -- exploring new worlds, learning of new species, combat, and learning about "how this universe got this way". His appeal is certainly to those who love Nivens' alien races, among other things. His universe has, so far, established and explored four different non-human races. This one also has a spinoff series ("Lost Soldiers") by other authors using a set of characters introduced in book 4.
Carrerra series by Tom Kratman, Bolo series created by Keith Laumer, War World series by Jerry Pournelle, Torin Kerr series by Tanya Huff, Chohei Kambayashi's "Yukikaze" series.
Armor by John Steakley is my favorite stand-alone novel. The Man-Kzin Wars books are, largely, fantastic. Recommending both in one video? You just earned a sub, my dude.
Hey so I started armor based on your comment and thank you so much. I'm not done yet but this is exactly what I was looking for. Felix and that "engine" that turns on and turns him into a killing machine. The visceral description of the combat, the cool armor and the way the other characters behave around him on that first drop. I'm still getting through so no spoilers but thank you so much for the recommendation 💯💯💯👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
I've read some of the Honor Harrington books, a lot of the Man-Kzin books, The Armor book and most of the Slammer's books. These are all very well done. Glad to see Dave get some recognition. I read his first Hammer book when it first came out. He's been gone about a year now. Any time I left a comment on his web site - he always responded. A really good guy. And - he could Translate Latin! I told him I was so jealous of his ability to read Caesar in the original Latin ... I took German, Chinese and Russian but ... I've no facility with languages ... none ... .
The General series by David Drake and S.M. Stirling are must reads, as are Drakes' Leary commanding books. Gaunts Ghosts by Dan Abnett are also strongly recommended.
The classification is pretty open, if you're talking about the mesh of Military tropes in a Science Fiction setting, I would also offer Tanya Huff's Valor Conferderation series and there's also a Ringo/Weber collaboration with Empire of Man series... You could even include some of the early Vorkosigan Saga novels...
lost fleet, Jack Campbell. Timothy Zahn, Cobra wars. Original book starship troopers by Heinlein (in the book, there is no schnazi marketing, or appologies.)
I'm a little surprised that the "Falkenberg's Legion" series by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling didn't make the list. IIRC at least one of the novels was on the required reading list at West Point.
Definitely one of my favorites--the entire Falkenburg saga (and the Co-Dominion Universe it is set in) is fantastic. Another not mentioned: Frezza's A Small Colonial War and Fire in a Faraway Place.
Undying mercenaries - a 18 book long series which is still ongoing and going VERY WELL! one of the best military sci fi series out there BY FAR in my opinion.
I'm waiting for Ringo and David Weber to finish the _Empire Of Man_ series- interested in what happens next to the newly crowned Emperor Roger MacClintock and the remnants of the Bronze Barbarians!
Great series. I have read the first book of The Honor Harrington series and Hammers Slammers series many times. I actually own a Hammers Slammers board game.
Another great video. I've always loved militaristic sci-fi because the confines of Earth are no longer an obstacle, so conflicts can truly reach absurd proportions of scale. A billion people just got wiped out? Jot it down in logistics and keep marching forward. That said, I once requested of you a video regarding Mega-Corps and you went above & beyond with delivering. I wanted to also recommend that you look into the sci-fi universe of a book series known as "Red Rising", and the social hierarchy within it; I believe you would find it quite intriguing.
I heavily recommend Galaxy's Edge series and Wayward Galaxy. The other series I'd recommend is Drop Trooper. Galaxy's Edge is incredible and a very compelling story. Wayward Galaxy is a mix of comedic and interesting storytelling with an absolutely amazing ending. Lastly, it is a mixed feeling of a story because it has more than four books, but the first four could have just been the end of the series, and it would have been a good ending.
I really enjoyed the Honorverse stories. I read, well heard actually, the core novels, I'll attack the spin-off novels in due course I suspect. Another military series I really enjoyed was World War, by Turtledove, and the sequel series Colonization. The story has a great hook where an alien invasion is initiated during Earth's WWII, much to the consternation of earthlings and invaders alike.
Edit: John Steakly wrote armor and John Ringo wrote Aldenta series. Thanks @Michael Todd I love Armor. I've read it so many times. I wish John Ringo would finish that series. I also like Empire of Man series. Anyone read Orion series by Ben Bova or the Final Encyclopedia series by Gordon R. Dickson?
The Final Encyclopedia" series is also known as "The Childe Cycle" or Dorsai". I've read most of them, but have stalled at "The Final Encyclopedia" because the tiny font hurts my eyeballs. But I do have that book, as well as "Young Bleys" and "Others."
I would recommend plenty of tissues, though, because there are some seriously major tear-jerkers in that series like The Traitor and Miles to Go. The former had a fantastic twist ending that would make you ugly-cry, and the latter will make you cry whenever the poem Frost is uttered.
Darrel have you heard of Casca by Barry Sadler? It may not be SF(depends on how you define SF) but it is historic military about an immortal Roman soldier and you get some nice action and a history lesson. Worth a look imho
Armor - one of my favorite Sci-fi books. I ran across it because I had read Starship Troopers and was looking for something similar, but different. Read it 3 times. I'm ex-military, so was my father and both grandfathers, so I completely feel the "retired and hidden" soldier vibe at the end.
Three top modern military space series which would change your mind. Jay Allan’s Crimson Worlds series which included Refugees and ending with Blood on the Star, a 30+ book series going full circle. Craig Alanson’s Expedition Force with is up to 16 books. Saving the best for last is B V Larson’s Undying Mercenaries series with 20 books and counting and the funniest series I have ever read.
I was a fan of Chris Bunch's Lost Legion series which was a sci-fi military series that was a bit of a retelling of Asimov's foundation series from the nits and bolts of the military trying to regrow an empire after being abandoned at the far end of a dying human empire.
Armor by John Steakley was incredible. Imagine Star ship troopers but from with a focus on the psychological damage of being involved in such bloodbath.
The "Star Carrier" series, 9 books, by Ian Douglas is an excellently told space combat series. "On Silver Wings" series, 9 books, by Evan Currie has both ground and space action I highly recommend both series
Fun Fact: Niven wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series titled "The Slaver Weapon". The story was based on a short story set in the Man-Kzin universe. The Kzinti, Kzinti telepaths, stasis boxes, and Man- Kzin wars are all part of the episode. The Kzinti are even mentioned in other Trek series.
Maybe the first two books, but these are military epics. Not a merry band of pirate's going around and blowing shit up and arguing with a beer can books.
The video is good but the comment are what I really like, so many recommendations, I'm saving those video just to come to the comments for book recommendations
Read Stanley's "Armor" twice. Very good read. On a par with a WW-2 book recall titled "Barbara". Don't recall author, but, picked out of a librarydiscard pile cheap.
Thanks for a list a new series I need to read. Also if anyone is looking for a military that is full of characters that larger than life. I recommend giving the Tour of the Merrimack by R.M. Meluch.
Of course the Honor Harrington series is basically "Hornblower in space". Ships forming a battle wall instead of a battle line (because space is 3D) and firing broadside weapons.
First Contact by Ralts Bloodthorne over at Royal Road is at almost 900 chapters and gets into epic action in a way few others do. Seldom does a series involve more than one war, more than one big bad, and involve people having to go through getting invaded multiple times. Some of it is a little derivative but not reductive. Interesting aliens, great characters, and a unique universe which has its own opinions about what is going on. Has parts about war so good I bet they almost make you cry.
Picking up on a few other recommendations - Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet, Rick Partlow's Drop Trooper and my top pick, David Feintuch's Seafort Saga, a sci-fi CS Forrester
Its a crime that the orphanage series isn't included in this list. And since John Rings was mentioned his looking glass series was great as well (though abandoned and never finished....grumble grumble).
For the Honor Harington books, most readers recommend actually starting with the second book in the series, The Honor of the Queen. OBS has some strange concepts that weber doesn't really return to in the rest of the series, and HotQ sets up many major political beats throughout the rest of the main series.
Jerry Pournelle's "Future History" series, detailing the deep back-story behind his and Larry Niven's _The Mote In God's Eye_ classic, needs to be in here, as does David Drake's _The General_ series.
Crimson Worlds by Jay Allan is fun. The first book is in 1st person POV, but the rest of the series is in 3rd person. It's less focused on starship combat and much more on ground combat as the main character is a marine.
Although only partially a military Sci-fi series, I strongly recommend "Vorkosigan saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold. I find her worldbuilding much better than any of those mentioned here, characters more fleshed out and varied, and action sequences, such as they are, very believable (although the others have their moments in that respect.) Honorable mention to Elizabeth Moon and her multiple series, in particular "Familias Regnant / Serrano Legacy". A tad, umm, simpler than Bujold, still a very good read.
I"d also recommend Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. Each book is of a different genre (romance, political etc), and her characters are very well drawn and grow in their abilities throughout. And they're really good reads, too. Highly recommended.
Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson. The Lost Regiment series by William R. Forstchen. Ring of Fire series by Eric Flint. The last two have their Sci-Fi roots but are set in a more primitive or historical setting.
Expeditionary force is a good series, and if you liked that, I'd recommend both Galaxy's Edge by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole and Earth at War by Rick Partlow
The Praxis series by Walter jon Williams is far superior to many mentioned, especially if u like good character development(lost fleet??) as well great military (space and planetside) action
Frontline series was very good overall, but the final book was a serious letdown and seemed more like an episodic addition more than the actual continuation or end of the story. We didn't even get a proper epilogue about the conflicts at large... (I unfortunately cant get into more details without spoilers...)
yeah unfortunetaly the last couple of books seemed a bit of a letdown. I haven't read the 8th but I had a hard time getting through the 6th and the 7th was just a ok.
This list is missing the Galaxy Edge series (KTF). Ember Wars series, Expeditionary Force series, and Old Man's War series. I love the Frontline series. Kloos teases us with these slow releases though.
Crimson World's, United Federation Marines, The Ember War and Forgotten Ruin are some of my favorites. Marko Kloss never finished Frontlines as far as I know.
Rodney Hartman's Wizard Scout Chronicles are really neat blend of Military Sci-Fi, Time Travel, and Magic. If you haven't read them I would highly recommend them
Spoiler for the Man-Kzin Wars, if anyone's interested: "The Warriors" is the first and perhaps most vivid demonstration of what's now known as the Kzinti Lesson: "A reaction drive is a weapon devastating in direct proportion to its efficiency as a drive" -- or if you like, the hotter your rocket, the cooler a weapo it makes. In this story, the human captain hits on the idea of pointing his ship's main drive at the Kzinti ship ... and a fusion drive is a VERY, VERY HOT rocket indeed.
Please consider (1) Poor Man's Fight by Elliot Kay (5 novels + short stories), (2) Drop Trooper by Rick Partlow (12 books starting with Contact Front), and (3) Old Man's War by John Scalzi (6 books). An honorable mention is David Gerrold's Star Wolf series (The Voyage of the Star Wolf, The Middle of Nowhere, and Blood and Fire - ignore Star Hunt: it doesn't fit into the series at all.)
David Gerrold's Star Wolf is great, but the original Star Wolf series from the late sixties by Edmond Hamilton is even better. The two have nothing in common except the authors independently came up with the same name a few decades apart. The original Star Wolf trilogy desperately needs to be in print again.
Freedom's Fire by Bobby Adair is my favourite military sci-fi series. Basic description below. War, victory, rebellion, freedom. They worked, they trained, they learned and todays the day a bunch of factory workers join the fight for Earth, but not for the Grey masters.
My best reads in this genre: 1. Expeditionary Force series and spinoffs 2. Ember Wars series and spinoffs 3. Rise of the Republic series 4. Galaxy’s Edge series and spinoffs and prequels 6. Old Man’s War series I do highly recommend. But Expeditionary Force is on another level for me.
A couple of others I was going to recommend (Jack Campbell and Jon Scalzi) have already been mentioned in comments, but here are a few others: Joe Haldemann - The Forever War (you can actually get them as a single volume "Peace and War"). CJ Cherryh - her Alliance-Union and Chanur novels have some military elements, but it's not the main focus of most books. I haven't read any of her other series so don't know how much military stuff there might be in those. EE Doc Smith - the Lensman series (it shows its age, but still an enjoyable read). If you like graphic novels, there are several series from the 2000AD stable that might appeal - Rogue Trooper, ABC Warriors, Insurrection, Jaegir and probably others.
No armies or space navies involved in the atevi books, but the atevi Guild Assassins have a strong tactical outlook that military SF readers ought to appreciate. Plenty of close-quarters work.
I like that you included Doc Smith, but if we're going to include space opera as a kinda-sorta "military sci-fi", we should also include the only writer to do that sub-genre before Smith, its creator Edmond Hamilton. Many of the early stories that are considered to be where space opera was born also work as military sci-fi, like the tales of the Interstellar Patrol, which read like a space police procedural, but several of his one-off stories have military themes including "The Weapon from Beyond", which was adapted into an anime movie in Japan (though it was never dubbed to English that I'm aware of). It's a shame that old-time greats like Edmond Hamilton and Doc Smith are not better remembered these days. Their work holds up!
The Dorsai books (Childe Cycle) by Gordon R. Dickson. Not all are military, but it is based on the Dorsai. And not sure how Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg books don't make a list like this. Very military.
Some great series, although both the Honourverse and the Posleen war series are never really brought to a close. Both authors went on to other series without giving a true conclusion to the one that made their name.
Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" series is also amazing, great for those who love ship combat on a large scale.
Elizabeth Moon is also excellent, Trading in Danger series.
Both authors are ex service people ( Jack is actually John Henry - Ex US Navy, and from memory Elizabeth Moon was a Marine) so they bring a real authenticity to the writing and the world.
Thanks for these!
Elizabeth Moon also wrote an excellent series about a female medieval mercenary. It is fantasy but still very clear about the realities and risks of medieval warfare
Indeed, I was actually surprised the Lost Fleet was not up there, as I think it is better than the Man-Kzin wars, which, at least at one point became mired in "Slaver Stasis Box Stories, part 3" territory.
Although it is classed as "Military Fantasy" by Amazon, Marc Alan Edelheit's various Stiger-related books (initially "Chronicles of An Imperial Legionary Officer") is very good, and posits a lost Roman legion transported (hence lost) on the eve of its likely destruction to another world, where a new roman empire is eventually established.... fast forward a couple thousand years, and you have "Stiger", a captain in this legion, who encounters Dwarves, Gnomes, Orcs, Elves, and Dragons... Strong emphasis on the military aspects of the situation.
An interesting Alt-History milSF series is also Destroyerman, by Taylor Anderson (also ex-military, much like Jack Campbell). It involves a decrepit WWI destroyer which, at the onset of WWII is chased through a storm by a Japanese battleship, and finds itself on a hothouse earth where humans never evolved -- and there are two major species fighting for dominance, a species similar to dinosaur raptors, and a cat-monkey like species descended from a species on Madagascar. As the stories continue, it becomes clear that the Destroyermen were not the first or only humans to make the passage, only the most recent and most technologically advanced.
Then there is Evan Currie, who has an excellent series (with spinoffs) called the "Odyssey" series, with humans encountering another humanoid collective (not inimical), as well as a humanoid star empire (very inimical). The series harkens back to Doc Smith's "Skylark" series, with the humanoid collective being like the Norlaminians, and the Empire as the Fenachrone. Currie also has the "Silverwings" series, which centers on a Special Ops type at the intersection of an inimical First Contact.
Christopher Nuttall steps in with a number of milSF series -- the Ark Royale series, which is a sequence of trilogies, and standalones, set in the same context, but with advances and new ships and personnel as the subjects -- mostly Naval actions. He also has another, "Empire Corps" series, which is more of a "Space Marines" series. Then there is his "Angel in the Whirlwind" dual series, which most closely resembles Honor Harrington, involving as it does a female space navy commander at a key time in her star nation's history. He also has a fantasy series, "Schooled In Magic", which does have a moderate amount of military action, set in a world where magic exists, and technology has not really been developed beyond medaeval levels... the main protagonist, Emily, does introduce a wide array of early industrial technologies, including steam locomotives, gunpowder, the printing press, and, yes, "double-entry bookeeping". The series completed with 25 books and has a couple spinoffs.
I will note Michael Z Williamson's Freehold series (Williamson is also a former military man) which takes a strong libertarian bent.
Lastly, I'll mention Charles Gannon's "Caine" series, which involves a Retief-like character who winds up at the intersection of all too many interactions at the edge of war. This one has a little of everything -- exploring new worlds, learning of new species, combat, and learning about "how this universe got this way". His appeal is certainly to those who love Nivens' alien races, among other things. His universe has, so far, established and explored four different non-human races. This one also has a spinoff series ("Lost Soldiers") by other authors using a set of characters introduced in book 4.
@@dawnmoriarty9347 Paksenarrion is one of the few fantasy stories I keep returning to.
Elizabeth Moon's Serrano series is one of my favorites!
Carrerra series by Tom Kratman, Bolo series created by Keith Laumer, War World series by Jerry Pournelle, Torin Kerr series by Tanya Huff, Chohei Kambayashi's "Yukikaze" series.
Pournelle’s Codominium and Sparta books are better than War World.
Dan Abnett’s Gaunts Ghosts for Warhammer 40k is pure gold, IMHO.
Old Man's War is a masterpiece series
You couldn't be more right about that!
Def my favourite so far of this genre
Meh first book is okay. Then scalzi tried to milk its popularity with the gibberish sequels
I just don't understand why people think this
I love the series it is awesome.
Stars at War II (Insurrection & The Shiva Option) by David Drake & Steven White. A terrific sci if military read.
Excellent series. I read through all of them from the Baen website.
Armor by John Steakley is my favorite stand-alone novel.
The Man-Kzin Wars books are, largely, fantastic.
Recommending both in one video? You just earned a sub, my dude.
Armor is a must read! ANTS!!!!
Hey so I started armor based on your comment and thank you so much. I'm not done yet but this is exactly what I was looking for. Felix and that "engine" that turns on and turns him into a killing machine. The visceral description of the combat, the cool armor and the way the other characters behave around him on that first drop.
I'm still getting through so no spoilers but thank you so much for the recommendation 💯💯💯👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
@@heroscapewarrior4217 Minor, unconnected spoiler: Steakley only ever wrote one other book, "Vampire$". It is nowhere near as good.
Haldeman - Forever War.
The Honorverse is one of my favorite series and even joined the fan club. Also really enjoy the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi.
If you like John Scalzi you’ll love the red rising series.
@@Taddy_Mason Thanks, I will look into them.
@@ShawnMM be careful, it’s all consuming!!
Wish to God they killed honor and moved the story to a different path .
I'm with HMS Musashi.
I've read some of the Honor Harrington books, a lot of the Man-Kzin books, The Armor book and most of the Slammer's books.
These are all very well done.
Glad to see Dave get some recognition. I read his first Hammer book when it first came out. He's been gone about a year now. Any time I left a comment on his web site - he always responded. A really good guy. And - he could Translate Latin! I told him I was so jealous of his ability to read Caesar in the original Latin ... I took German, Chinese and Russian but ... I've no facility with languages ... none ...
.
"Forever war" "Forever Peace" by Joe Haldeman
"Starship Troopers" by Robert A Heinlein
The General series by David Drake and S.M. Stirling are must reads, as are Drakes' Leary commanding books. Gaunts Ghosts by Dan Abnett are also strongly recommended.
The classification is pretty open, if you're talking about the mesh of Military tropes in a Science Fiction setting, I would also offer Tanya Huff's Valor Conferderation series and there's also a Ringo/Weber collaboration with Empire of Man series... You could even include some of the early Vorkosigan Saga novels...
lost fleet, Jack Campbell. Timothy Zahn, Cobra wars. Original book starship troopers by Heinlein (in the book, there is no schnazi marketing, or appologies.)
Try David Brin's Startide Rising! Also the Xeelee series by Stephen Baxter!
I'm a little surprised that the "Falkenberg's Legion" series by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling didn't make the list. IIRC at least one of the novels was on the required reading list at West Point.
Agreed!
John Christian ftw! I reread the Future History omnibus at least once a year.
I concur. The Motie sub-series is also one of the best first contact stories I've ever read.
My thought, too.
Definitely one of my favorites--the entire Falkenburg saga (and the Co-Dominion Universe it is set in) is fantastic. Another not mentioned: Frezza's A Small Colonial War and Fire in a Faraway Place.
Armor and Legacy of the Aldenata are just...*chef's kiss*.
Undying mercenaries - a 18 book long series which is still ongoing and going VERY WELL!
one of the best military sci fi series out there BY FAR in my opinion.
Thanks!!
Definitely one of the best modern military series out there
In my top 5 of all time .Have you ever read or listen to Strange company by Nick Cole.Great book and two is good also Voodoo Warfare
@@retiredretired8496 cant say I have, will definitely check it out, tnx for the recommendation.
Is this a book series or audio books? I couldn't find it listed in my library system or on half price books.
Ringo's series is excellent. I wish he'd go back there and drop the zombies.
I'm waiting for Ringo and David Weber to finish the _Empire Of Man_ series- interested in what happens next to the newly crowned Emperor Roger MacClintock and the remnants of the Bronze Barbarians!
Cant wait for it
Armor is so amazing.
Expeditionary Force series (Craig Alanson) - especially the audiobook voiced by R.C. Bray
R.C. Bray is just giving a +100% charisma buff to any series he voices.
Very good list - thanks for including Ringo!
Falkenberg's Legion series by Jerry Pournelle is my favourite.
The Posleen series is great. Also The Legion of the Damned is a great series of books, highly recommended!
Great series. I have read the first book of The Honor Harrington series and Hammers Slammers series many times. I actually own a Hammers Slammers board game.
The General series by SM Sterling & David Drake
The Legion series by William C Dietz
Another great video. I've always loved militaristic sci-fi because the confines of Earth are no longer an obstacle, so conflicts can truly reach absurd proportions of scale. A billion people just got wiped out? Jot it down in logistics and keep marching forward.
That said, I once requested of you a video regarding Mega-Corps and you went above & beyond with delivering. I wanted to also recommend that you look into the sci-fi universe of a book series known as "Red Rising", and the social hierarchy within it; I believe you would find it quite intriguing.
Thanks👍 I’ve read the first in that series but never got round to starting the second… though I intend to at some point.
You always give excellent recommendations. Keep making more videos please 🙏🏻 😊
Lost Fleet series and the companion series Lost Stars and Lost Fleet: Outlands
I love the Lost Fleet 📚
@@dawnboren594 Try thye Murderbot Diaries. Great series. And the Praxis series is really good too
There is also a "First Fleet" series by Campbell.
You should also take a look at the "Dorsai" series by Gordon R. Dickson
I heavily recommend Galaxy's Edge series and Wayward Galaxy. The other series I'd recommend is Drop Trooper. Galaxy's Edge is incredible and a very compelling story. Wayward Galaxy is a mix of comedic and interesting storytelling with an absolutely amazing ending. Lastly, it is a mixed feeling of a story because it has more than four books, but the first four could have just been the end of the series, and it would have been a good ending.
Ktf
Love galaxys edge
but have you heard of our lord and savior skippyhasyourmoney.
@@sixwingproductions oi, that cult was supposed to be banned how're ya still around
@@hiddenhundred8565 sketchy mc sleezbag. gotta love those beatles.
I really enjoyed the Honorverse stories. I read, well heard actually, the core novels, I'll attack the spin-off novels in due course I suspect.
Another military series I really enjoyed was World War, by Turtledove, and the sequel series Colonization. The story has a great hook where an alien invasion is initiated during Earth's WWII, much to the consternation of earthlings and invaders alike.
I'm also a big fan of the Honorverse. I have the WorldWar series by H. Turtledove- but I haven't picked up the Colonization sequel series yet.
@@brianknapp6215 The series was a very satisfying conclusion.
I've read both of these all the way thru and love em.
Edit: John Steakly wrote armor and John Ringo wrote Aldenta series. Thanks @Michael Todd
I love Armor. I've read it so many times. I wish John Ringo would finish that series. I also like Empire of Man series. Anyone read Orion series by Ben Bova or the Final Encyclopedia series by Gordon R. Dickson?
The Orion series is one of my favorite books.
The Final Encyclopedia" series is also known as "The Childe Cycle" or Dorsai". I've read most of them, but have stalled at "The Final Encyclopedia" because the tiny font hurts my eyeballs. But I do have that book, as well as "Young Bleys" and "Others."
@@CptvonChaos I think of that series often.
BOLO is a great sci-fi series too.
For the honor of the regiment.
I would recommend plenty of tissues, though, because there are some seriously major tear-jerkers in that series like The Traitor and Miles to Go. The former had a fantastic twist ending that would make you ugly-cry, and the latter will make you cry whenever the poem Frost is uttered.
I don't think any list of military sci-fi is complete without mentioning the Childe Cycle, the collection of Dorsai novels by Gordon R. Dickson.
Just about to mention that...
Darrel have you heard of Casca by Barry Sadler?
It may not be SF(depends on how you define SF) but it is historic military about an immortal Roman soldier and you get some nice action and a history lesson.
Worth a look imho
Galaxy edge series! It's so good.
Cheers Jeff
Armor - one of my favorite Sci-fi books. I ran across it because I had read Starship Troopers and was looking for something similar, but different. Read it 3 times. I'm ex-military, so was my father and both grandfathers, so I completely feel the "retired and hidden" soldier vibe at the end.
Hammers Slammers sounds really cool. I plan on checking it out
Excellent stories, but beware--the good guys aren't necessarily...
Three top modern military space series which would change your mind. Jay Allan’s Crimson Worlds series which included Refugees and ending with Blood on the Star, a 30+ book series going full circle. Craig Alanson’s Expedition Force with is up to 16 books. Saving the best for last is B V Larson’s Undying Mercenaries series with 20 books and counting and the funniest series I have ever read.
Honor Harrington is awesome but you outta check out Prince Rodger/Empire of Man by Weber & Ringo.
How about the "Sten" books?
I was a fan of Chris Bunch's Lost Legion series which was a sci-fi military series that was a bit of a retelling of Asimov's foundation series from the nits and bolts of the military trying to regrow an empire after being abandoned at the far end of a dying human empire.
Love the quote you chose! Absolutely marvelous! ❤
Great list. Thanks everyone for giving more books to read.
Armor by John Steakley was incredible. Imagine Star ship troopers but from with a focus on the psychological damage of being involved in such bloodbath.
The "Star Carrier" series, 9 books, by Ian Douglas is an excellently told space combat series.
"On Silver Wings" series, 9 books, by Evan Currie has both ground and space action
I highly recommend both series
Fun Fact: Niven wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series titled "The Slaver Weapon". The story was based on a short story set in the Man-Kzin universe. The Kzinti, Kzinti telepaths, stasis boxes, and Man- Kzin wars are all part of the episode. The Kzinti are even mentioned in other Trek series.
I'd recommend Jason Ansspac and Nick Cole's Galaxys Edge series
You should check out Grimm's War by Jeffery H. Haskell. If you like Honor Harrington, you will love Jacob Grimm.
I totally agree!
How can you not include Expeditionary Force by Criag Alanson (15+ books) , the best military space opera ever.
Maybe the first two books, but these are military epics. Not a merry band of pirate's going around and blowing shit up and arguing with a beer can books.
Agreed. EF is a great series. I’ll never read the word BA-NA-NA the same way again.
If you like the books, listen to the audiobooks. It’s a whole new level with the narrator’s accents.
That's how I listen to it. R C Bray is the best. @@ab5olut3zero95
@@03BangBangI love the f***ing beercan man. It’s the most epic character ever.
The video is good but the comment are what I really like, so many recommendations, I'm saving those video just to come to the comments for book recommendations
Read Stanley's "Armor" twice. Very good read. On a par with a WW-2 book recall titled "Barbara". Don't recall author, but, picked out of a librarydiscard pile cheap.
Hell Has No Heroes (Original Title: "Barbara") (c) 1962 by Wayne Robinson. Maybe this is what it is now?
Thanks for a list a new series I need to read.
Also if anyone is looking for a military that is full of characters that larger than life. I recommend giving the Tour of the Merrimack by R.M. Meluch.
Of course the Honor Harrington series is basically "Hornblower in space". Ships forming a battle wall instead of a battle line (because space is 3D) and firing broadside weapons.
First Contact by Ralts Bloodthorne over at Royal Road is at almost 900 chapters and gets into epic action in a way few others do. Seldom does a series involve more than one war, more than one big bad, and involve people having to go through getting invaded multiple times. Some of it is a little derivative but not reductive. Interesting aliens, great characters, and a unique universe which has its own opinions about what is going on. Has parts about war so good I bet they almost make you cry.
Picking up on a few other recommendations - Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet, Rick Partlow's Drop Trooper and my top pick, David Feintuch's Seafort Saga, a sci-fi CS Forrester
Ive read almost all pof the ones you mentioned but the last. I would add the blood on the stars series, Crimson worlds both by Jay Allan.
Its a crime that the orphanage series isn't included in this list. And since John Rings was mentioned his looking glass series was great as well (though abandoned and never finished....grumble grumble).
For the Honor Harington books, most readers recommend actually starting with the second book in the series, The Honor of the Queen. OBS has some strange concepts that weber doesn't really return to in the rest of the series, and HotQ sets up many major political beats throughout the rest of the main series.
Not a series, but the original and best, the one and only, Starship Troopers! 😄
Jerry Pournelle's "Future History" series, detailing the deep back-story behind his and Larry Niven's _The Mote In God's Eye_ classic, needs to be in here, as does David Drake's _The General_ series.
Crimson Worlds by Jay Allan is fun. The first book is in 1st person POV, but the rest of the series is in 3rd person. It's less focused on starship combat and much more on ground combat as the main character is a marine.
I am interested on the series The Posleen War, is there any side were I can read it online?
Although only partially a military Sci-fi series, I strongly recommend "Vorkosigan saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold. I find her worldbuilding much better than any of those mentioned here, characters more fleshed out and varied, and action sequences, such as they are, very believable (although the others have their moments in that respect.)
Honorable mention to Elizabeth Moon and her multiple series, in particular "Familias Regnant / Serrano Legacy". A tad, umm, simpler than Bujold, still a very good read.
I"d also recommend Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. Each book is of a different genre (romance, political etc), and her characters are very well drawn and grow in their abilities throughout. And they're really good reads, too. Highly recommended.
Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson. The Lost Regiment series by William R. Forstchen. Ring of Fire series by Eric Flint. The last two have their Sci-Fi roots but are set in a more primitive or historical setting.
Expeditionary force is a good series, and if you liked that, I'd recommend both Galaxy's Edge by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole and Earth at War by Rick Partlow
The Praxis series by Walter jon Williams is far superior to many mentioned, especially if u like good character development(lost fleet??) as well great military (space and planetside) action
Try Hell Divers: The Hell Divers Series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. Brilliant reading.
Expeditionary Force by Craig Alanson "Trust the awesomeness" Such a good series. Give it a try.
Frontline series was very good overall, but the final book was a serious letdown and seemed more like an episodic addition more than the actual continuation or end of the story. We didn't even get a proper epilogue about the conflicts at large...
(I unfortunately cant get into more details without spoilers...)
yeah unfortunetaly the last couple of books seemed a bit of a letdown. I haven't read the 8th but I had a hard time getting through the 6th and the 7th was just a ok.
This list is missing the Galaxy Edge series (KTF). Ember Wars series, Expeditionary Force series, and Old Man's War series. I love the Frontline series. Kloos teases us with these slow releases though.
Excellent video. I would like to hear your thoughts on Niel Asher .
I've read Armor and really loved it.
The lost regiment. Scifi in the sense that wormhole travel is involved. A union regiment is sent to an alien planet. Very good.
Northworld Trilogy - David Drake
Legacy of Heorot - Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes
Protector - Larry Niven
Yep, Mons-To-Be-Read grows every I watch this dude's channel....
Crimson World's, United Federation Marines, The Ember War and Forgotten Ruin are some of my favorites. Marko Kloss never finished Frontlines as far as I know.
Rodney Hartman's Wizard Scout Chronicles are really neat blend of Military Sci-Fi, Time Travel, and Magic. If you haven't read them I would highly recommend them
and I recommend Elliott Kay - Poor Man's Fight a "day hard" in space. And John Conroe - Zone War a dron war
Spoiler for the Man-Kzin Wars, if anyone's interested:
"The Warriors" is the first and perhaps most vivid demonstration of what's now known as the Kzinti Lesson: "A reaction drive is a weapon devastating in direct proportion to its efficiency as a drive" -- or if you like, the hotter your rocket, the cooler a weapo it makes. In this story, the human captain hits on the idea of pointing his ship's main drive at the Kzinti ship ... and a fusion drive is a VERY, VERY HOT rocket indeed.
Always loved the Forever War.
Please consider (1) Poor Man's Fight by Elliot Kay (5 novels + short stories), (2) Drop Trooper by Rick Partlow (12 books starting with Contact Front), and (3) Old Man's War by John Scalzi (6 books). An honorable mention is David Gerrold's Star Wolf series (The Voyage of the Star Wolf, The Middle of Nowhere, and Blood and Fire - ignore Star Hunt: it doesn't fit into the series at all.)
Green zone war great cast and fun combat Definatly a good one.
David Gerrold's Star Wolf is great, but the original Star Wolf series from the late sixties by Edmond Hamilton is even better. The two have nothing in common except the authors independently came up with the same name a few decades apart. The original Star Wolf trilogy desperately needs to be in print again.
Freedom's Fire by Bobby Adair is my favourite military sci-fi series. Basic description below.
War, victory, rebellion, freedom. They worked, they trained, they learned and todays the day a bunch of factory workers join the fight for Earth, but not for the Grey masters.
My best reads in this genre:
1. Expeditionary Force series and spinoffs
2. Ember Wars series and spinoffs
3. Rise of the Republic series
4. Galaxy’s Edge series and spinoffs and prequels
6. Old Man’s War series
I do highly recommend. But Expeditionary Force is on another level for me.
Gaunt's Ghosts ftw!
Indeed, I found his lack of Abnett disturbing.
Stephen Goldin's The Eternity Brigade (1980) is an excellent read.
A couple of others I was going to recommend (Jack Campbell and Jon Scalzi) have already been mentioned in comments, but here are a few others:
Joe Haldemann - The Forever War (you can actually get them as a single volume "Peace and War").
CJ Cherryh - her Alliance-Union and Chanur novels have some military elements, but it's not the main focus of most books. I haven't read any of her other series so don't know how much military stuff there might be in those.
EE Doc Smith - the Lensman series (it shows its age, but still an enjoyable read).
If you like graphic novels, there are several series from the 2000AD stable that might appeal - Rogue Trooper, ABC Warriors, Insurrection, Jaegir and probably others.
No armies or space navies involved in the atevi books, but the atevi Guild Assassins have a strong tactical outlook that military SF readers ought to appreciate. Plenty of close-quarters work.
I like that you included Doc Smith, but if we're going to include space opera as a kinda-sorta "military sci-fi", we should also include the only writer to do that sub-genre before Smith, its creator Edmond Hamilton. Many of the early stories that are considered to be where space opera was born also work as military sci-fi, like the tales of the Interstellar Patrol, which read like a space police procedural, but several of his one-off stories have military themes including "The Weapon from Beyond", which was adapted into an anime movie in Japan (though it was never dubbed to English that I'm aware of). It's a shame that old-time greats like Edmond Hamilton and Doc Smith are not better remembered these days. Their work holds up!
While not a pure Military sci-fi series, the Kris Longknife books by Mike Shepherd have many similar elements and are very good.
Some good picks there.
Worthwhile!
I agree with the list, Love Honor Harrington. But Fred Saberhagen's Berserkers should be there
Galaxy's Edge is pretty rad.
Came here to say this
KTF Legionare
Had a couple of those from Audible. This guy RC Bray who reads them sounds exactly like an old space marine telling tales of his unit's adventures.
The Dorsai books (Childe Cycle) by Gordon R. Dickson. Not all are military, but it is based on the Dorsai. And not sure how Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg books don't make a list like this. Very military.
Tree cats need to be toned down in honor Harrington. I get more chapters about them than most of the ship combat.
Cassandra kresnov series starting with crossover by Joel Shepherd is an excellent series. Imo better than a lot of the ones mentioned here
Agreed
I like Ringo normally but the posleen war just left me cold
War’s Edge: Berserkers is super good. Very gritty.
I must have good taste as all five series are on my already have or am currently reading list.
Th war against the Chtorr, David Gerrold
UN Expeditionary Force (Craig Alanson)
Lost Fleet (Jack Campbell)
Some great series, although both the Honourverse and the Posleen war series are never really brought to a close. Both authors went on to other series without giving a true conclusion to the one that made their name.
Also some of the StarWars early books are good military SF - the 1st trilogy of Tim Zahn & another by Michael P. Kube-McDowell.
I think the 8 book series of Chung Kuo is what I would've included. But cool nonetheless.