Dreadnaught


Jack Campbell - 2011
    Now Fleet Admiral Geary's victory has earned him the adoration of the people-and the enmity of politicians convinced that a living hero can be a very inconvenient thing.Geary knows that members of the military high command and the government question his loyalty to the Alliance and fear his staging a coup-so he can't help but wonder if the newly christened First Fleet is being deliberately sent to the far side of space on a suicide mission.

The Hub: Dangerous Territory


James H. Schmitz - 2001
    It's prime real estate for criminals, unscrupulous corporations, and invaders from beyond Federation space. But in Hub space, a citizen is expected to stand up for herself, blaster in hand; so when Trouble comes Hubward in large doses, there's an armed citizenry waiting for it.

On Silver Wings


Evan Currie - 2011
    Through it all, life has been found in almost every system we visited and yet we've never encountered another intelligent species.Until now.When the Colony on the planet known as Hayden's World stops transmitting on their CASIMIR FTL system, a Solari Fleet Task Force is sent to investigate. When they arrive there are enough oddities in the situation that they in turn send in a special operations unit to contact the colonists and determine what happened.Only one of those operators survives to make planet fall.Sergeant Sorilla Aida finds herself against an alien force of unknown power and capability. Her only assets? A depleted suit of power armor, her rifle, basic kit, and a few hundred Hayden born civilians looking to take back their home.Just what she was trained for.On Silver Wings is an 81 thousand word novel.

Training Daze


Mike Shepherd - 2011
    Kris Longknife dodges assassins, gains an unwelcome (though rather handsome) bodyguard, and puts together a training squad to travel from planet to planet, preparing crews for the newest, fastest, and deadliest fighting ship. And, of course, nothing goes as planned!

Cordelia's Honor


Lois McMaster Bujold - 1996
    Discovering deception within deception, treachery within treachery, she was forced into a separate peace with her chief opponent, Lord Aral Vorkosigan - he who was called "The Butcher of Komarr" - and would consequently become an outcast on her own planet and the Lady Vorkosigan on his. Sick of combat and betrayal, she was ready to settle down to a quiet life, interrupted only by the occasional ceremonial appearances required of the Lady Vorkosigan. But when the Emperor died, Aral suddenly became guardian of the infant heir to the imperial throne of Barrayar - and the target of high-tech assassins in a dynastic civil war that was reminiscent of earth's Middle Ages, but fought with up-to-the minute biowar technology. Neither Aral nor Cordelia guessed the part that their cell-damaged unborn son would play in Barrayar's bloody legacy. This edition includes an author's afterword, and a chronology of the events in the Vorkosigan Saga series. Cover art by Gary Ruddell.

War Dogs


Greg Bear - 2014
    Maybe my last.They made their presence on Earth known thirteen years ago.Providing technology and scientific insights far beyond what mankind was capable of. They became indispensable advisors and promised even more gifts that we just couldn't pass up. We called them Gurus.It took them a while to drop the other shoe. You can see why, looking back.It was a very big shoe, completely slathered in crap.They had been hounded by mortal enemies from sun to sun, planet to planet, and were now stretched thin -- and they needed our help.And so our first bill came due. Skyrines like me were volunteered to pay the price. As always.These enemies were already inside our solar system and were moving to establish a beachhead, but not on Earth.On Mars.

The World Turned Upside Down


David DrakeJohn W. Campbell Jr. - 2005
    Clarke (Astounding Science Fiction May'46)2 Menace from Earth by Robert A. Heinlein (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Aug'57)3 Code Three by Rick Raphael (Analog Feb'63)4 Hunting Problem by Robert Sheckley (Galaxy Sep'55)5 Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction July'39)6 Pail of Air by Fritz Leiber (Galaxy Dec'51)7 Thy Rocks and Rills by Robert Ernest Gilbert (If Sep'53)8 Gun for Dinosaur by L. Sprague de Camp (Galaxy Mar'56)9 Goblin Night by James H. Schmitz (Analog Apr'65)10 Only Thing We Learn by C. M. Kornbluth (Startling Stories July'49)11 Trigger Tide by Wyman Guin (as Norman Menascoe Astounding Science Fiction Oct'50)12 Aliens by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction Aug'59)13 All the Way Back by Michael Shaara (Astounding Science Fiction July'52)14 Last Command by Keith Laumer (Analog Jan'67)15 Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell (as Don A. Stuart Astounding Science Fiction Aug'38)16 Quietus by Ross Rocklynne (Astounding Science Fiction Sep'40)17 Answer by Frederic Brown (Angels and Spaceships 1954)18 Last Question by Isaac Asimov (Isaac Asimov: The Complete .. #1 1956)19 Cold Equations by Tom Godwin (Astounding Science Fiction Aug'54)20 Shambleau by C. L. Moore (Wierd Tales Nov'33)21 Turning Point by Poul Anderson (If May'53)22 Heavy Planet by Lee Gregor (Astounding Science Fiction Aug'39)23 Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper (Astounding Science Fiction Feb'57)24 Gentle Earth by Christopher Anvil (Astounding Science Fiction Nov'57)25 Environment by Chester S. Geier (Astounding Science Fiction May'44)26 Liane the Wayfarer by Jack Vance (The Dying Earth 1950)27 Spawn by P. Schuyler Miller (Wierd Tales Aug'39)28 St. Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson 29 Thunder and Roses by Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding Science Fiction Nov'47)

Freehold


Michael Z. Williamson - 2003
    Mistakes might be made, but they are never acknowledged, especially when billions of embezzled dollars earned from illegal weapons sales are at stake. But where does one run when all Earth and the planets are under the aegis of one government?

Sunrise Alley


Catherine Asaro - 2004
    Samantha and the man soon find themselves on the run.

The Synchronicity War Part 1


Dietmar Arthur Wehr - 2013
    As the outgunned Space Force is driven back in battle after battle in what appears to be a war of extermination, one officer experiences precognitive visions that help him blunt the enemy onslaught but he can't control or predict when they occur.With the Senior Brass convinced that he's a tactical genius, he's given more and more responsibility and is terrified by the belief that Humanity's Fate rests on his shoulders. Can he solve the mystery of his precognitive visions before the Human Race plunges into the abyss of total extermination? This is Volume 1 of a military SF series about desperate space battles and the men, women and Artificial Intelligences, who fight and die in them.

Legionnaire


Jason Anspach - 2017
    And most days I don’t know if the legionnaires are putting out the flames, or fanning them into an inferno. A hostile force ambushes Victory Company during a reconnaissance-in-force deep inside enemy territory. Stranded behind enemy lines, a sergeant must lead a band of survivors against merciless insurgents on a deadly alien world somewhere along the galaxy’s edge. With no room for error, the Republic’s elite fighting force must struggle to survive under siege while waiting on a rescue that might never come. When you think you’ve surrounded the Legion... you’ve just made your last mistake.

Trading in Danger


Elizabeth Moon - 2003
    For Ky, it's no contest: Even running the prestigious Vatta Transport Ltd. shipping concern can't hold a candle to shipping out as an officer aboard an interstellar cruiser. It's adventure, not commerce, that stirs her soul. And despite her family's misgivings, there can be no doubt that a Vatta in the service will prove a valuable asset. But with a single error in judgment, it all comes crumbling down.Expelled from the Academy in disgrace—and returning home to her humiliated family, a storm of high-profile media coverage, and the gaping void of her own future—Ky is ready to face the inevitable onslaught of anger, disappointment, even pity. But soon after opportunity's door slams shut, Ky finds herself with a ticket to ride—and a shot at redemption—as captain of a Vatta Transport ship.It's a simple assignment: escorting one of the Vatta fleet's oldest ships on its final voyage . . . to the scrapyard. But keeping it simple has never been Ky's style. And even though her father has provided a crew of seasoned veterans to baby-sit the fledgling captain on her maiden milk run, they can't stop Ky from turning the routine mission into a risky venture—in the name of turning a profit for Vatta Transport, of course.By snapping up a lucrative delivery contract defaulted on by a rival company, and using part of the proceeds to upgrade her condemned vehicle, Ky aims to prove she's got more going for her than just her family's famous name. But business will soon have to take a backseat to bravery, when Ky's change of plans sails her and the crew straight into the middle of a colonial war. For all her commercial savvy, it's her military training and born-soldier's instincts that Ky will need to call on in the face of deadly combat, dangerous mercenaries, and violent mutiny. . . .

Warship


Joshua Dalzelle - 2015
    The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy? Would humanity fold and surrender, or would they return to their evolutionary roots and meet force with force? One ship—and one captain—will soon be faced with this very choice. Against incredible odds, Jackson Wolfe is determined to save humanity–and in the process, might end up saving himself.

Sixth Column


Robert A. Heinlein - 1949
    Now the only hope resides in a mountain redoubt where six men work in secret on a plan to rock the planet. . . .

Beacon 23


Hugh Howey - 2015
    It is a lonely job, and a thankless one for the most part. Until something goes wrong. Until a ship is in distress. In the 23rd century, this job has moved into outer space. A network of beacons allows ships to travel across the Milky Way at many times the speed of light. These beacons are built to be robust. They never break down. They never fail. At least, they aren't supposed to.