Favorite Military Science Fiction Book

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phalanx93 RE:Red Storm Rising????? 8/13/2004 10:46:08 PM

military science is a valid subject of study includes the entire spectrum of military affairs (tactics, tech, etc.) and so tom clancy as MSF is valid

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mike_golf RE:Red Storm Rising????? 8/13/2004 11:57:19 PM

Phalanx, see my answer in your Red Storm Rising thread. Military science fiction is science fiction with a military focus, a la Jerry Pournelle's Mercenary series, for example. Fiction about military science is not military science fiction. I don't mind discussing techno-thrillers and military/action fiction, like "Red Storm Rising", but there are an amazing number of posts on this board that are incorrectly considering Tom Clancy's books to be military science fiction. It would be like calling Tolkien's books, which are fantasy, science fiction.

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slurm RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book 9/2/2004 3:05:56 PM

Besides the plethora that have been mentioned here already.. Near Future - Walter Jon Williams' 'Hardwired', 'Voice of the Whirlwind' and 'Angel Station', though not hugely Military, there is significant military subject matter. Jerry Pournelle's 'Future History' series. David Brin's 'Uplift War' series.

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mox16 RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book (Greg Bear, etc.) 9/3/2004 10:47:26 AM

I don't think I've seen him mentioned. Greg Bear is one of the best "hard" sci-fi authors out there. Not always pure military but usually at least an underlying part of the story. He does a good job at "near future" sci-fi as well. "Moving Mars" is a great one, revolutionary war between Earth and Mars, lots of interesting tech and politics too. My favorite of his is "Anvil of Stars" about a group of children out to avenge Earth's destruction. Awesome tech as well as moral and ethical issues. Really mind-bending tech like noach... Eon is also a good one, can't remember any others at the moment. Kinda soap opera-ish but when I was in gradeschool I read the entire Robotech/Macross series of books by Jack McKinney. I have every single book in the series stored away. Transformable mecha just rock.

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mike_golf RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book (Greg Bear, etc.) 9/3/2004 7:08:16 PM

mox16 wrote: "Eon is also a good one, can't remember any others at the moment." Not at all military sci fi, but I really enjoyed "Darwin's Radio" too.

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oldman RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book (Greg Bear, etc.) 9/4/2004 6:52:11 PM

Has anyone read The General series by Stirling and Drake?

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FelixA9 RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book (Greg Bear, etc.) 9/5/2004 2:56:19 PM

1. The Alchemist series by Peter F. Hamilton. Fatnastic. 2. Armor by John Steakley 3. Forge of God / Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear 4. Red Storm Rising by Clancy 5. Footfall by Niven/Pournelle 6. Second Variety (short story) by Phillip K. Dick also made into a movie with Peter Weller called "Screamers"

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Desertmole RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book-Slammer's Fan 9/7/2004 1:15:29 AM

David Drake does a lot of excellent stuff. The Hammer's Slammers series has been entertaining me since 1984, and I like the LT. Leary series as well.

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doggtag Anvil of Stars 9/7/2004 8:38:42 AM

I never did finish that. "The Forge of God" is the 1st part of that story, in case you missed it, mox16..

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doggtag RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book: not enough time! 9/7/2004 8:50:31 AM

Used to belong to that Science Fiction Book Club years ago, but just got too busy doing other things to read all the ones I kept. I probably have at least a dozen that looked good, but I never read them fully. Something for retirement, I guess. I don't remember the name, but there was this story about mining the Oort clouds and forming a defensive belt out of the asteroids to protect our solar system against some hostile ETs. I remember the story's "precursor" was in an Analog or Asimov sci-fi book back in the late 80s/early 90s, then the author finished a full story by maybe 1992-1993. There was a lot of mention about "space convoys" and the "trucker lingo" of the day (it was written in the eyes of one of the "truckers"). I didn't buy that one, but was going to. If anyone knows the name of it, much obliged..

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eon RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book: Frank Herbert? 9/9/2004 9:15:56 AM

Here's a good question for this thread. Is Frank Herbert's famous novel "Dune" MSF? I classify it as more-or-less in the genre, as it mainly deals with an armed revolt on one planet vs. an interstelar combine of rather staggering nastiness (IMHO). Also, the dictionary at the front is heavily biased toward telling you things you need to know about the military technology in the story (most of which is, again IMHO, pretty d***ed silly, like the "monitor", I think it was, the spaceship that was supposed to destroy land targets by falling on them and crushing them[?]). I tend to disregard the sequels because (A) they got increasingly ridiculous and (B) were written by other people anyway, regardless of Herbert's name on the byline. Any other thoughts on this meander?.

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Ehran RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book: Frank Herbert? 9/9/2004 12:37:19 PM

the postulated tech was strange. the society was very strange and i cannot really see an advanced culture so largely turning it's back on technology. i mean in the year 10000 i would hope none of my hypothetical descendants are growing grain by staring at the south end of a north bound quadraped. he did have a deft hand at the political infighting end of things.

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eon RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book: Frank Herbert? eon to Ehran 9/10/2004 9:35:08 AM

I thought Herbert was a bit too infatuated with the then-nascent "deep-ecology" movement (witness his dedication of the book to the "dryland ecologists"). Unfortunately, if the neo-Luddite branch of the ecology movement gains more power, in far less than ten millenia we may be the north-bound bipeds pulling the plows (to avoid the "heinous enslavement of animals", as per PETA). Which of course means that by the year 10,191, the human race will be extinct. (Pleasing the deep-ecos and the Voluntary Human Extinction crowd no end, but cold comfort to the rest of us.).

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jastayme3 RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book 9/10/2004 10:51:25 PM

Gurps Traveller: Ground Forces

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chasmo RE:Favorite Military Science Fiction Book 9/11/2004 5:47:48 PM

I've found Enders Game to be one of the best in MSF, although I liked Ender's Shadow, the same story told from Bean's perspective, to be superior to EG. Also, the Pournelle-Niven-Barnes "Legacy of Heorot," featuring an ex-military man as the lone soldier to provide security on a newly established colony on the Isle of Avalon, on some distant planet is very good. The enemy "Grendel" is an incredible extra-terrestrial creation. The sequel to ..."Heorot," "Beowulf's Children," continues the story some years later with the first generation of star-born in control and ready to explore the mainland. I did find the sequel to be superior to the original. These are two I've read several times. I'll be hunting down some of the many others mentioned here. Chasmo

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