What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I love reading books with militaristic themes, especially in the fantasy genre. Are there any good books out there? It doesn't matter if it's fantasy or not.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder is a good fantasy one.

Also the Sword of Truth series has a lot of military and war. This one is much more adult compared to the first.

Shards of Honor and its sequels, especially The Warrior's Apprentice, by Lois McMaster Bujold. The Warrior's Apprentice

Tanya Huff's Confederation series - https://www.goodreads.com/series/4208...

Sci Fi OK? There are a number of scifi books with that format.

Legend by Marie lu

I've not read a lot of fantasy with much military focus; it tends to be a topic I avoid. (Probably The Lord of the Rings is the strongest actual fantasy I've read with militaristic themes. My beloved Seanan McGuire has put some military themes in the later books of the October Daye series, mostly with the MC acting as a diplomat trying to avoid war, but that's probably not quite what you're looking for.) Looking over my shelves, here are some in other genres:

SF:
Ender's Game
Old Man's War

Thriller:
Pretty much all of Tom Clancy's stuff; I read and enjoyed the Jack Ryan series myself.

Contemporary:
Catch-22 (still the classic on the bureaucratic absurdity of a military)

Finally (and this is more a film than a book recommendation), you might really enjoy Henry V. I highly recommend the Kenneth Branagh film version for bringing out the military themes.

All You Need Is Kill

As mentioned above, Ender's Game and all the books associated with it.

I would recommend some of the new flintlock fantasy written over the past several years.

The Powder Mage series by Brian McClellan which begins with Promise of Blood or the Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler which begins with The Thousand Names.

You could also try some old school epic fantasy The Dark Border series by Paul Edwin Zimmer which starts with The Lost Prince

If you like romance, Suzanne Brockmann writes a lot with military MCs, male and female.

Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "Sci Fi OK? There are a number of scifi books with that format."

Yes, I love science fiction so it's perfectly fine to suggest.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. To tell the truth I wasn't expecting so many answers, but it's a pleasant surprise and one I welcome whole heartedly. I'll be sure to check everything out.

Check out these listopias:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

Lobstergirl wrote: "Check out these listopias:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3......"

Thanks, Lobster! I'm checking them out right now. :-)

Stephen Ericksson's Books of the Malazan most of the main characters are soldiers, and one particular company of soldiers are major characters throughout all ten books. Ironically the first book is rather less military than the others, although you do spend a bit of time in army camps anyway (book 4 on the other hand, is almost start to end one big military campaign).

Gardens of the Moon (for book 1)

Lobstergirl wrote: "Check out these listopias:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3......"

I love the list for War/Romance. Thanks for posting these!

Jack Higgins has written a ton of books in this genre beginning with the excellent The Eagle Has Landed. Many of his novels are sent during WW2 and involve espionage or special missions rather than general combat. He has also penned a good deal of contemporary works focusing on hotspots such as the Middle East and Northern Ireland (one recurring character is a former IRA member who now works for MI6). Fun, easy reads that move quickly.

One of my favorite "hard military" novels is Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising, a massive tale about a conventional third world war. It's not too tech-heavy and very engrossing.

My father and cousin read all of these books by W.E.B.
Griffin. I think my father read a couple of the series twice.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Systemic Shock

Oil crisises, a resurgent caliphate in the middle east (after revolutions), China and India, and a non-Soviet Russia (that aligns with the US grudgingly), biological warfare.

Surprisingly un-dated, although he missed cellphones.

The Deed of Paksenarrion - Elizabeth Moon

Two more of note:

CW2 by Layne Heath focuses on a helicopter pilot in Vietnam that becomes drawn deeper and deeper into the war. Both exciting and haunting, with a good ending.

Incident at Muc Wa by Daniel Ford is an early novel about Vietnam concerning a team of American advisors sent to establish a base on the site of a French defeat. Very engrossing and ultimately turned into a good movie called Go Tell the Spartans.

Chieftains by Bob Forrest-Webb centers around a British tank involved in a Soviet invasion of West Germany. Quite realistic and sobering. As this had a small initial printing run in the '80s, copies became scarce and fetched high prices, but you can now find it for Kindle for five dollars.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik is military historical fantasy set during the Napoleonic War.

- Iain M Banks - While not strictly speaking future war story, in most of his culture cycle books there is a bit element of future war. The most strong, maybe being Excession. If you are interested, check the SFBRP podcast out, he has done a podcast on each of these books.
- Hyperion - Dan Simmons (the plot is about 7 people on a quest telling their life story. The 2nd is great future war scenario. The second part of the series is apparently even more future war)
- Forever War series by Haldeman (At least the first one is brilliant. A far future reflection on the reasons and effects of war. I think Haldeman was 'inspired' by the Vietnam war)
- Starhip Troopers by Heinlein (very 60s/70s but very famous)
- Armour by Steakley (Not my thing but fits well into the above)
- Ancilliary Justice trilogy Ann Leckie (award winning, but imo totally overrated - but sure worth a read)

And very good to read together or, if you like as contrast:
- Ender's Game series - Orson Scott Card
- Old Man's War series - John Scalzi

And a quite dark one with islamic / jihad themes:
- God's war - Kameron Hurley

The Shining Company

try crypronomicon by Neal Stephenson. forever war is another good read

War God series by David Weber - fantasy side

Honor Harrington Series by David Weber - Awesome SF Series with kick-butt female lead

Belisarius series by David Drake / Eric Flint - Alternate history / SF

Cobra series by Timothy Zahn

Safehold series - David Weber

All of the above have great militaristic qualities and good stories as well

Aggressor Six

The Black Company