Book picks similar to
Desperate Measures: The Issog by C.R. Daems


science-fiction
sci-fi-romance
r-sci-fi-military-mercs-war
review

Vengeance from Ashes


Sam Schall - 2014
    Then they took away her freedom. But they couldn't take away her duty and honor. Now they want her back. Captain Ashlyn Shaw has survived two years in a brutal military prison. Now those who betrayed her are offering the chance for freedom. All she has to do is trust them not to betray her and her people again. If she can do that, and if she can survive the war that looms on the horizon, she can reclaim her life and get the vengeance she's dreamed of for so long. But only if she can forget the betrayal and do her duty.

Gladiator


Jonathan P. Brazee - 2016
    Gladiators, as they are better known, are genetically modified human champions who meet Klethos d’relle in the combat ring when the Klethos issue a challenge for a human world. Win, and the planet stays in human possession; lose, and not only do they lose their lives, but the world as well. With the Klethos much more advanced and militarily powerful, able to defeat humanity in an all-out war, the challenge ring is the only way to retain at least some of the worlds of man. While life as a gladiator is full of celebrity status and the gratitude of humanity, it comes with a heavy price. Not only is there the real risk of death in the ring, if a gladiator survives that, the “Brick,” or Boosted Regeneration Cancer, will claim her life within a few years. Lance Corporal Veal, who has found a home in the Marines, has to decide whether to accept the nomination. She would have to leave her brothers and sisters in the Corps, be assigned to the combined human gladiator course, and undergo extreme genetic modification that will leave her almost unrecognizable from the woman she was before. Becoming a gladiator will enable her to serve humanity to a far greater extent than anything else she could do as a Marine grunt, but at a tremendous personal cost. Author’s note: For those readers familiar with my other Marine-related books, this one is a little different in that there is far less combat action, particularly from a Marine unit standpoint. This novel, which is the first of three planned books that follow three different women serving as United Federation Marines or as a Navy corpsman, is more about duty, sacrifice, and what it means to serve in defense of others.

Guard at the Gates of Hell (Gladius Book 1)


George Olney - 2016
    The Empire, the structure that held civilization together for a thousand years, is collapsing. Trying to hold things together is the Corps of Imperial Gladius, one of the pillars originally created to support and protect the Empire throughout its long life. A Gladius is a genetically bred ultimate soldier, the best soldier that ever existed. Despite that, the Emperor, a deeply paranoid sociopath, fears the Corps and is trying to destroy them, regardless of what that will do to the Empire's security.A surviving portion of a devastated Gladius legion arrives on the isolated and decadent world of Cauldwell to be confronted with the fact they must once again take up their ancestral trade, war. The appearance of the legion is probably the most newsworthy event on Cauldwell for the last century and star reporter Shana Ettranty decides to do a series of stories about them for her network. That decision radically changes her life when she decides to undergo Gladius recruit training to get a better perspective on the Corps. As she continues, Shana learns deeply buried secrets about Cauldwell... and about herself. Those secrets will change the course of human history. In the end, they destroy the Empire.This is a military science fiction book written by a retired Army officer whose viewpoint has ranged from being in the ranks to general staff, not just an action book. The story asks some very tough questions about survival and sacrifice made to let humanity survive. In it, the Corps and Shana are forced to make some hard decisions. Are their answers right or wrong? In the end, only the reader can decide.

The Annexation War


Mason Elliott - 2014
    Naero Amashin Maeris serves as the valiant, headstrong young fleet captain of Strike Fleet Six, spearheading the Alliance advance. They battle against Triaxian zealots, Hevangian assassins, and every deadly trick, tactic, and surprise their ruthless enemies can hurl at them.Hundreds of fleets clash to decide the fate of trillions enslaved to corrupt tyrants–tyrants devoid of all honor. Terrible losses mount on both sides. The stress of the brutal, interstellar naval war tears at everyone. Triax unleashes horrific genocide devices to scorch their worlds as they retreat. Naero's crews and their brave Spacer Marines struggle to defeat the implacable foe, and save what lives they can.Yet one thing remains certain. No matter who falls. No matter who dies.TRIAX MUST BE DESTROYED!

Renegade Magic


Jennifer M. Eaton - 2020
    When a small team of criminal buffoons grabs her instead, she’s honor bound to execute them despite their pleas of innocence.The Star Renegade crew is guilty on many counts, and they must be punished for their crimes. However, they use their smuggling profits to feed the hungry. Dania will face her own execution for not enforcing royal edicts, but how can she execute people breaking the law for all the right reasons?Star Renegades is Guardians of the Galaxy meets Firefly and Robin Hood.Jump on board and start your inter-galactic adventure today!

Broken Worlds


Drew Avera - 2016
    Dead planets float in their wake as the empire fights to assert themselves as the supreme race. Ensign Brendle Quinn has spent five years loyally serving the Greshian Empire in their relentless quest to dominate the Alorian Galaxy. But as his ship decimates planet after planet, he finds his sympathies swinging towards their defeated enemies. Sergeant Anki Paro, a Luthian Marine, has been anxiously awaiting the call to deploy. As the last line of defense against the crushing Greshian forces, she hopes the time has finally come where her world can stand against tyranny and protect the rest of the worlds in her sector of the Alorian Galaxy. As her path towards war draws near, Anki begins to notice a shift in balance as her society prepares itself for imminent destruction. Questions of misplaced loyalties lead her to wonder if the world she is trying to save has any real intentions of surviving. As Brendle and Anki’s worlds collide, they find themselves in an unlikely alliance to try to stop the full might of the Greshian Empire before there’s nothing left to fight for. The Alorian Wars is a military science fiction series for fans of The Expanse, Star Trek, and Old Man’s War. If you want a fast-paced space opera adventure then look no further, The Alorian Wars is here!

Star Raider


Jake Elwood - 2015
    This time she got greedy, though. She swiped a priceless artifact from Carmody, the most powerful man on Hesperus. He's been beating his daughter, Lark, so Cassie took the kid too.Now Carmody is tearing the galaxy apart hunting Cassie down. The artifact isn't just a priceless relic of a lost civilization. It's the key to a galaxy-wide conspiracy. Cassie needs to figure out the significance of the ancient egg, but with bounty hunters and mercenaries hounding her from one end of the galaxy to the other, she and Lark have another puzzle to solve -- how to stay alive.

Sins of Her Father (Privateer Andromeda series Book 2)


Mike Kupari - 2018
    Zander Krycek made a choice that saved his world of Ithaca, but doomed his reputation and banished him to a planet far, far away. THE EVIL EMPIRE: The Orlov Combine intends to swallow Ithaca in the same way they have devoured so many worlds, creating a “company planet” where the residents are litle beter than slaves. THE DAUGHTER: Adisa Masozi never knew her father, but was taught he was a monster. Now she must reclaim her father’s legacy of leadership. And the place to start is with the mysterious aliens who also inhabit Ithaca. THE NATIVES: The saurians have held themselves aloof from galactic politics for eons in order to regain the strength to exact their revenge on an ancient foe. They have the means to resist the Combine. If they can be convinced to help. THE PRIVATEER: Enter privateer Captain Catherine Blackwood and her ship, the Andromeda. Blackwood and her crew have handled dangerous cargo and dicey situations before. Now, they’ll have to navigate assassination attempts, warring factions, and civil unrest. But Catherine has made a promise, and the freedom of a world hangs in the balance. The Privateer Andromeda series continues! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Praise for the prequel, Her Brother's Keeper: “After co-writing Dead Six and Swords of Exodus with Larry Correia, Kupari makes his solo debut with this space opera that is bound to attract fans of Mike Shepherd’s Kris Longknife series or Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War books. An excellent choice for both teen and adult sf readers.” —Library Journal "Mike Kupari is an awesome storyteller."—Larry Correia Mike Kupari is the author of debut science fiction novel Her Brother's Keeper, as well as coauthor, with Larry Correia, of the best-selling Dead Six miltary advanture series including Dead Six, Swords of Exodus, and Alliance of Shadows. Mike grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and enlisted at the age of seventeen. Mike is recently returned from his second active duty overseas with the U.S. Air Force, where he was an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician in the US Air Force. Mike also served six years in the Army National Guard. He has worked as a security contractor with several firms, did a tour in Southwest Asia with a private military company, and is an NRA certified firearms instructor.

The Zanari Inheritance (Children of Zanar, #1)


Niall Teasdale - 2017
    The colony where she had grown up, her family, was gone, dead under circumstances the authorities seemed keen to hide. To find the truth, Kaya must team up with a mercenary and a rag-tag group of smugglers. And the truth is something which will change her life forever.

Porter


Laurence E. Dahners - 2011
    Whereas most science fiction stories of "teleportation" such as Heinlein's "Tunnel in the Sky" or the "stepping discs" in Larry Niven's stories focus on the moving of large objects long distances, this one explores the notion that even the ability to open a small portal between nearby locations would give the possessor of such an ability tremendous power. Of course others would like to have Allie's power and try to gain control of it, first by capturing her father and then by kidnapping her family. This takes her away from her new career as a guitar-playing "Rock Goddess". To their dismay, the villains have not considered that the power to make "ports" gives Allie the ability to protect herself and her family.

Tempered: A Space Opera Military Adventure


T.S. Paul - 2019
     Casey Lewis led the best Special Operations unit in all of the Confederation until it betrayed her. Taking revenge, she expected to die in a blaze of glory and gunfire but that was not to be. Now she's Chef of the Navy and it's her job to teach, tutor, and investigate each and every kitchen in the fleet. On her own terms. When she accidentally uncovers a plot against not only the battleship she's on but the Confederation as a whole, all hell breaks loose. Bad Casey is back and she's not fooling around this time! ***This book contains bad language, sexual situations, violence, more violence, and a whole lot of innuendo. No actual Chefs were harmed in the making of this book.

Exploration Command


Doug Dandridge - 2014
    Short on every resource but the intelligence of their personnel, Exploration Command goes where no human has gone before, discovering new worlds, species and civilizations, pushing the boundaries of knowledge, and always on the lookout for new discoveries that could help the Empire in its struggle against the invader. In this volume are three novelettes about Exploration Command, the scientific part of the Fleet. In Retribution, a Command team finds a devastated alien civilization being aided by missionaries from the Empire. Or are they? In Timeless, an ancient derelict is found in a place where no ship should be. Does it hide the secrets to a technology the Empire has sought for over a thousand years? And in They Don't Care, alien species are being wiped out by a renegade race. Can a single two ship team stop them, or will more species go into the long night? For those readers of Exodus: Empires at War, these stories fill in some of the background of the Empire and add to the series. For newcomers, they are a great introduction to the series.

Eve Of War


R.L. Giddings - 2020
    His old enemy, the Yakutians, having risen from defeat, are now in the ascendancy. And with their warships making cruel in-roads into Confederation space, the Admiralty is in desperate need of Faulkner’s experience.It’s a call he can’t refuse.Eve of War is the first book in the Silver Fleet series with books 2 and 3 to be published in the Spring of 2020. If you love Old Man’s War and Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet books you’ll love this epic military sci-fi series.

Astrid's War: Attack on the USS Valley Forge


Alan Householder - 2019
    

Diffusion Box Set: An Alien First Contact Adventure Series


Stan C. Smith - 2018
    Over 1,200 pages to feed your sense of wonder. Something amazing lies hidden in the remote jungle wilderness of New Guinea. It is unremarkable in appearance yet beautiful in purpose. It is intelligent yet not human. It is a gift. But gifts always come at a price.Together in one box set for the first time, the Diffusion series is a story of first contact unlike any other. As one reviewer states, reading this series is “like entering a mystifying portal and attaching jumper cables to your imagination.”Books included in this complete box set:- Diffusion- Infusion- Profusion- Savage- Blue Arrow“Don't worry, you'll have time to breathe at the end! From the first word I was drawn into a vortex of action and tension! This did not abate until the last word was read. Whew, what a ride! Kudos Mr. Smith!”- Tammy, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“This whole series has been incredible not only to read, but to become immersed in the ongoing lives of all involved. Hopefully this is not the End! Stan Smith has an amazing gift that enables him to make his books on the edge of virtual reality.”- Claudia Riggs, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“You need to read this series! Underestimating the potential for destruction that the Lamotelokhai holds within, the actions of a misguided few come with potentially lethal consequences for the whole planet.- Mandy Walkden-Brown, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“New Favorite Author. This author just keeps on getting better with each book. I am enthralled with his world. The characters are well developed and entertaining. The action is non-stop.”- Linda W, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★“This series has to be the most original concept in recent years, and is executed by an author who puts images into your head that will hold you in thrall.”- Walter Scott, Amazon reviewer  ★★★★★ Scroll up and grab this heavily discounted series!