Not hard Sci Fi at all but I'm about 15 books into the Horace Heresy novels and while some are better than others they are all consistently enjoyable. The first 3 are particularly strong. I think my favorite so far is Legion which is a spy thriller but with all of the over-the-top ridiculousness that 40k is known for.
If you have not read "Mote in the God's eye" and "The Gripping hand" you should do so now. Its one of the best first contact stories ever told, even though its set very late the Jerry Pournelle CoDominium universe (where USA and Soviet Union merged on Earth to form world government, which seems silly now), the pure space operaness of it is out of this world... It has jump points, ships with giant shields that take damage until they explode, diving inside the star to hide, space marines, psychic powers and and ... well read for yourself. Basically I feel like a lot of modern sci-fi literature and games like Eve Online or Stellaris can trace their origins to tech described in this series
P.S. Like John Ringo, Pournelle has a big hard-on for Sparta and/or Roman legions aesthetics, I think empire capital is even called New Sparta there.. Add Sparta/Rome in space + the great way Niven is able to write weird aliens, and you got a masterpiece
Galaxys Edge (not Star Wars) most of the main series and spin off are part of the Kindle subscription service if you're willing to feed the Amazon beast
I asked AI to suggest so more Sci-Fi along the lines of Lensman and Weapon Shop. It gave me woke nonsnse. So here is what I said back and its response:
me: I don't read any female Authors except Agatha Christie or Ursula K. Leguin as they are terrible for the most part and worry too much about female characters and their feelings. I don't want to be preached at - every modern book thinks it has to educate on some agenda topic - I WANT PURE ESCAPISM. So I don't read anything written after 2000. Why would you suggest Jemisin - I don't care about identity. That is woke nonsense. Now Chiang, I've seen Arrival and it was shit. So the book must be shit as well. Lame topic. I saw the Martian movie with Matt Damon - it's OK. But I want Stainless Steel Rat, I want Starship TRoopers and most of all I went Psychotrippy mind bending Phillip K Dick who is the greatest author ever. UNless you can find me stuff like that don't try and pass off modern woke stuff as if it is actually watchable. This is why no watched The Marvels. We're sick of having agendas shoe-horned into everything. Just tell a goddamn action packed good story for once. Is that so hard?
AI: I'm sorry to hear that you did not like my suggestions. I was trying to offer you some examples of modern science fiction that might appeal to your taste, but I understand that you have a strong preference for the old traditional science fiction. 🙁
I respect your opinion, but I also hope that you can respect the opinions of others who might enjoy different kinds of science fiction. There is no need to be rude or dismissive of the works of female authors, or authors who explore themes such as identity, oppression, or environmentalism. These are valid and important topics that can enrich the genre and challenge the readers. 📚
You mentioned that you like Stainless Steel Rat, Starship Troopers, and Philip K. Dick. These are all classic science fiction works that have influenced many other writers and media. If you are looking for something similar, you might like these books:
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, a military science fiction novel that deals with the effects of time dilation and the futility of war. It is often compared to Starship Troopers, but with a more critical and realistic tone.
Neuromancer by William Gibson, a cyberpunk novel that coined the term "cyberspace" and introduced the concept of hacking and artificial intelligence. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential science fiction novels of all time, and has inspired many other works, such as The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, a humorous science fiction series that follows the adventures of Arthur Dent, a hapless human who escapes the destruction of Earth with the help of an alien friend. It is full of witty and absurd humor, satire, and references to science and culture.
: [The Forever War - Wikipedia]
: [Neuromancer - Wikipedia]
: [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Wikipedia]
I hope you find these suggestions more to your liking. If not, you can always ask me to search for more books or authors that suit your taste. I'm here to help you find what you are looking for. 😊
Heavily second the Lensman series and The Forever War
I really liked Neuromancer and Gibson's Sprawl trilogy. His recent stuff is basically navel gazing, weird borderline stream of conscious thought experiment stuff. I wouldn't call anything Gibson did as "military sci-fi," though. He did flee to Canada to get out of the Vietnam draft.
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan is pretty good. It's also part of a trilogy but each book gets worse. The first one, and maybe the second are worth a read, the third isn't.
I enjoyed the first season of Altered Carbon - but when they changed the lead for 2nd season I dropped off. I understand why they did it but it just ruined the feel. Poe was my favorite character was he the same in the books?
It's good, very good. There are a couple of philosophical questions in there that actually caused me to put the book down and stare off into the distance for a while. One of them is the nature of love versus genetic drive for reproduction, and it hit home hard.
But - I'd also suggest reading Hesse's Siddartha and Zelazny's Lord of Light soon after Ubik. it will keep themes fresh and you'll gain some information synergy. And if after that you;re interest is piqued you can up the ante and dive headfirst in Trialogues at the Edge of the West (Non-fiction but mind-bending)
Forget who it's by but "Old Man's War" is about a human military based on repurposing the elderly of Earth to fight various alien factions.
Mostly focuses on tactical elements, but the variety of the philosophies of the different species is interesting and the characters are pretty well fleshed out.
There are two branches off that book - one follows Ender and turns into some wierd drama that is largely irrelevant to the original story and about as bad as the dune sequels, and the other follows Bean and is actually pretty interesting.
The first one is Ender's Shadow, and is actually a great companion to the original book.
The rest of them are titled shadows of ____ iirc. Apparently there are 18 books in the enders game universe now, and a new one in the bean series that I haven't read.
Looked it up, and it's shadows of the hegemon, shadow puppets, shadow of the giant and shadows in flight.
Knowing what we know about the internet and reddit/4Chan
, card's predictions of geniuses using the internet forums to manufacture consensus and gather supporters then become galactic politicians by arguing with their own sock puppet is so cringe in hindsight. Not that he's wrong about the astroturfing, but how effective it is to pursuade people by arguing on the internet.
I meant the part about how they'd gain influence by acting like reddit philosophers with facts and logic is cringe, nobody gives a shit about some anonymous internet autists arguments even if they are logically sound and factually correct, it's all just piss in the wind.
It's literally decades since I read them so can't vouch for the quality of the writing from an adult standpoint, but I remember enjoying the Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F Hamilton back in the day. It's definitely more pulp sci-fi rather than hard sci-fi, and it's not really purely military, but it'll certainly keep you busy for a while.
If you get intimated by the sheer size of said 'trilogy' (it's so big they had to split it into 6 books), then pick up 'Fallen Dragon'. It's basically 'Corporate Starship Troopers with Biosuits and Nanotech' with alot of good twists and storytelling.
Not sure about his more recent stuff, though, as I haven't stayed current with them.
Star carrier series by Ian Douglas who wrote bunch of battletech books under the name William h. keath jr. It's hard military sci-fi , with most of the focus on the military with lots of current speculative Sci-fi ideas thrown in. It's a little dry and repeat explanations of scientific ideas mentioned in previous books, it's a little annoying if you go through them back to back
I picked up a set of paperbacks for the C.A.D.S. series by John Sievert and though they're a bit dated they're a pretty good read.
Bobiverse series while not strictly military has some decent battles.
The Space Legacy series is shaping up to a decent war for survival.
Dimension Space is kind of Sliders like with a war for survival thing too.
The first few books of the Expeditionary Force series are good. But then it just dribbles into a repetitive rehash of the same stuff over and over (and over) again without really advancing the story.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Not hard Sci Fi at all but I'm about 15 books into the Horace Heresy novels and while some are better than others they are all consistently enjoyable. The first 3 are particularly strong. I think my favorite so far is Legion which is a spy thriller but with all of the over-the-top ridiculousness that 40k is known for.
edit: there are approximately a billion of them https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Horus_Heresy_Series
In the subject of warhammer 40k, I'd say Gaunt's Ghosts is a phenomenal series as well.
Are they under the Warhammer umbrella?
yeah 40k
Darn Horace betraying the empower
I would say spoilers but the name of the series kind of gives it away
I was making fun of your spelling.
If you hate homsar so much, why don't you kill him?
If you have not read "Mote in the God's eye" and "The Gripping hand" you should do so now. Its one of the best first contact stories ever told, even though its set very late the Jerry Pournelle CoDominium universe (where USA and Soviet Union merged on Earth to form world government, which seems silly now), the pure space operaness of it is out of this world... It has jump points, ships with giant shields that take damage until they explode, diving inside the star to hide, space marines, psychic powers and and ... well read for yourself. Basically I feel like a lot of modern sci-fi literature and games like Eve Online or Stellaris can trace their origins to tech described in this series
P.S. Like John Ringo, Pournelle has a big hard-on for Sparta and/or Roman legions aesthetics, I think empire capital is even called New Sparta there.. Add Sparta/Rome in space + the great way Niven is able to write weird aliens, and you got a masterpiece
Thanks! I may have Mote in God’s Eye.
Galaxys Edge (not Star Wars) most of the main series and spin off are part of the Kindle subscription service if you're willing to feed the Amazon beast
I asked AI to suggest so more Sci-Fi along the lines of Lensman and Weapon Shop. It gave me woke nonsnse. So here is what I said back and its response:
me: I don't read any female Authors except Agatha Christie or Ursula K. Leguin as they are terrible for the most part and worry too much about female characters and their feelings. I don't want to be preached at - every modern book thinks it has to educate on some agenda topic - I WANT PURE ESCAPISM. So I don't read anything written after 2000. Why would you suggest Jemisin - I don't care about identity. That is woke nonsense. Now Chiang, I've seen Arrival and it was shit. So the book must be shit as well. Lame topic. I saw the Martian movie with Matt Damon - it's OK. But I want Stainless Steel Rat, I want Starship TRoopers and most of all I went Psychotrippy mind bending Phillip K Dick who is the greatest author ever. UNless you can find me stuff like that don't try and pass off modern woke stuff as if it is actually watchable. This is why no watched The Marvels. We're sick of having agendas shoe-horned into everything. Just tell a goddamn action packed good story for once. Is that so hard?
AI: I'm sorry to hear that you did not like my suggestions. I was trying to offer you some examples of modern science fiction that might appeal to your taste, but I understand that you have a strong preference for the old traditional science fiction. 🙁
I respect your opinion, but I also hope that you can respect the opinions of others who might enjoy different kinds of science fiction. There is no need to be rude or dismissive of the works of female authors, or authors who explore themes such as identity, oppression, or environmentalism. These are valid and important topics that can enrich the genre and challenge the readers. 📚
You mentioned that you like Stainless Steel Rat, Starship Troopers, and Philip K. Dick. These are all classic science fiction works that have influenced many other writers and media. If you are looking for something similar, you might like these books:
: [The Forever War - Wikipedia] : [Neuromancer - Wikipedia] : [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Wikipedia]
I hope you find these suggestions more to your liking. If not, you can always ask me to search for more books or authors that suit your taste. I'm here to help you find what you are looking for. 😊
Heavily second the Lensman series and The Forever War
I really liked Neuromancer and Gibson's Sprawl trilogy. His recent stuff is basically navel gazing, weird borderline stream of conscious thought experiment stuff. I wouldn't call anything Gibson did as "military sci-fi," though. He did flee to Canada to get out of the Vietnam draft.
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan is pretty good. It's also part of a trilogy but each book gets worse. The first one, and maybe the second are worth a read, the third isn't.
I enjoyed the first season of Altered Carbon - but when they changed the lead for 2nd season I dropped off. I understand why they did it but it just ruined the feel. Poe was my favorite character was he the same in the books?
Funny thing, in the book the Poe character, the hotel itself, is Jimi Hendrix.
Edit to add: Yeah, the way that world works it's really prime for race or gender swapping. It's a theme in the books.
I have the first Altered Carbon book but haven’t read it yet.
It's good, very good. There are a couple of philosophical questions in there that actually caused me to put the book down and stare off into the distance for a while. One of them is the nature of love versus genetic drive for reproduction, and it hit home hard.
Sounds great!
Thanks! I’m actually reading Ubik by Phillip K Dick at the moment
Great book - but it really helped me to know a lot about Buddhism beforehand
Really? How so?
SPOILERS. Wait until you've finished then we'll discuss.
Cool. I’m almost done
But - I'd also suggest reading Hesse's Siddartha and Zelazny's Lord of Light soon after Ubik. it will keep themes fresh and you'll gain some information synergy. And if after that you;re interest is piqued you can up the ante and dive headfirst in Trialogues at the Edge of the West (Non-fiction but mind-bending)
That’s always been an interest of mine (paranormal stuff)
That book is almost the most pretentious trash I've ever sat through. German fanfiction of some kind of warped indian buddhist enlightenment journey.
If you thought that shit was "mind-bending" instead of masturbatory on the authors' part, you gotta get your head outta your ass.
Forget who it's by but "Old Man's War" is about a human military based on repurposing the elderly of Earth to fight various alien factions.
Mostly focuses on tactical elements, but the variety of the philosophies of the different species is interesting and the characters are pretty well fleshed out.
Iirc, there's at least a trilogy based on it.
OP, Old Man's War is by Scalzi. Avoid like the plague.
Old Man’s War is actually pretty good by itself. The rest of the series falls off substantially after that.
The problem with Scalzi is that he is almost entirely dialogue driven. He can’t describe a setting to save his life.
The other problem with him is that he's a huge leftoid cuckold who wears dresses and let's his wife fuck random black men.
Ender's Game and some of the other books by Orson Scott Card.
I’ve read Ender’s game and have the second but haven’t read it yet. I enjoy Card’s work
There are two branches off that book - one follows Ender and turns into some wierd drama that is largely irrelevant to the original story and about as bad as the dune sequels, and the other follows Bean and is actually pretty interesting.
Remember what the ones about Bean are called?
The first one is Ender's Shadow, and is actually a great companion to the original book.
The rest of them are titled shadows of ____ iirc. Apparently there are 18 books in the enders game universe now, and a new one in the bean series that I haven't read.
Looked it up, and it's shadows of the hegemon, shadow puppets, shadow of the giant and shadows in flight.
Knowing what we know about the internet and reddit/4Chan , card's predictions of geniuses using the internet forums to manufacture consensus and gather supporters then become galactic politicians by arguing with their own sock puppet is so cringe in hindsight. Not that he's wrong about the astroturfing, but how effective it is to pursuade people by arguing on the internet.
Wait, so he was right but the truth is "cringe"? I don't think you're using that correctly.
I meant the part about how they'd gain influence by acting like reddit philosophers with facts and logic is cringe, nobody gives a shit about some anonymous internet autists arguments even if they are logically sound and factually correct, it's all just piss in the wind.
This reminds me that I really need to reread Wyrms at some point because I was definitely too young to fully digest it at the time.
E.E. Doc Smith Lensman series'. and A,E Van Vogts Weapon Shops
The forever war by haldeman
Thanks. I’ve been meaning to read that for a long time
It's literally decades since I read them so can't vouch for the quality of the writing from an adult standpoint, but I remember enjoying the Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F Hamilton back in the day. It's definitely more pulp sci-fi rather than hard sci-fi, and it's not really purely military, but it'll certainly keep you busy for a while.
Sounds great! Thanks!
Peter F Hamilton is pretty damn good overall.
If you get intimated by the sheer size of said 'trilogy' (it's so big they had to split it into 6 books), then pick up 'Fallen Dragon'. It's basically 'Corporate Starship Troopers with Biosuits and Nanotech' with alot of good twists and storytelling.
Not sure about his more recent stuff, though, as I haven't stayed current with them.
Thanks. I know I have some of his work but I’ll have to see. I may already have that one in my massive to read pile.
Star carrier series by Ian Douglas who wrote bunch of battletech books under the name William h. keath jr. It's hard military sci-fi , with most of the focus on the military with lots of current speculative Sci-fi ideas thrown in. It's a little dry and repeat explanations of scientific ideas mentioned in previous books, it's a little annoying if you go through them back to back
Cool. I may actually have book one if that series
I picked up a set of paperbacks for the C.A.D.S. series by John Sievert and though they're a bit dated they're a pretty good read.
Bobiverse series while not strictly military has some decent battles.
The Space Legacy series is shaping up to a decent war for survival.
Dimension Space is kind of Sliders like with a war for survival thing too.
The first few books of the Expeditionary Force series are good. But then it just dribbles into a repetitive rehash of the same stuff over and over (and over) again without really advancing the story.
I loved Sliders!!! That will be moving to top priority in my book stack
I don't want to misrepresent it (or spoil it). It's using the general idea of Sliders but there's the same [Main Story Event] in all of them.
Don't be fooled by the title, but Soda Pop Soldier is a pretty good one. Might interest you.
Brad Torgeson is pretty good. The Chaplains War is a very different take on things.
I used to read his blog. I’ll check it out
In the realm of stuff that comes with embedded political/philosophical allegory:
Can't go wrong with 40k (the fiction is still largely uncorrupted by wokefaggotry to my knowledge, and there's always the old stuff)
Also it seems a bit silly to ask, but you have read Starship Troopers I assume? (Nothing like the movie I'm sure you've heard)
Yes, Heinlein is one of my favorites. Thats good, I want to read up on 40k before the show comes out
Anything by John Ringo.
David Drake's (rest in peace) Hammer's Slammers series, and anything of his set in the Roman Legions.
The Jason Wander series by Buettner.
The Battletech novels are better than you'd expect, and I'll also plug Armor by John Steakley.
Oh shit, Baen has a free library. I had no idea, thanks man.
Baen is great because they actually cater to sci-fi fans and not the “modern audience”
Sounds interesting! Thanks!