Book picks similar to
Vengeance from Ashes by Sam Schall


science-fiction
sci-fi
military-science-fiction
space-opera

Valor's Choice


Tanya Huff - 2000
    They must act as soldier/protectors of the far more civilized races who have long since turned away from war... — Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr was a battle-hardened professional. So when she and those in her platoon who'd survived the last deadly encounter with the Others were yanked from a well-deserved leave for what was supposed to be "easy" duty as the honor guard for a diplomatic mission to the non-Confederation world of the Silsviss, she was ready for anything.At first it seemed that all she'd have to contend with was bored troops getting into mischief, and breaking in the new Second Lieutenant who had been given command of her men.Sure, there'd been rumors of the Others - the sworn enemies of the Confederation - being spotted in this sector of space. But there were always rumors. The key thing was to recruit the Silsviss into the Confederation before the Others either attacked or claimed this lizardlike race of warriors for their own side. And everything seemed to be going perfectly. Maybe too perfectly...

Wolfhound


Kindal Debenham - 2011
    As a newly commissioned officer in the Celostian Navy, his goal was to serve well until the day he could retire. Then disaster strikes on his first cruise aboard the CNS Wolfhound, and he will have to display all the courage, skill and determination he has in order to keep the remaining crew members out of danger. Because if he does not, the only ones to tell the tale will be prisoners of war—if there are any left at all.

The Log of the Gray Wolf


Shane VanAulen - 2011
     “The Log of the Gray Wolf" is a self-published science fiction novel. Readers have found it to be a fast-paced and packed with action. This is a story crafted around a young man becoming a man, an officer, and a hero. It is a story set against incredible odds, where this underdog crew of gray wolves and young pups must somehow escape their world, steal a damaged ship and fight their way through enemy forces while raining pain down on the enemies of mankind. The adventure begins in a future time when Earth has colonized new worlds and has also found new enemies. The Karduans are a race of blue-skinned humanoids ruled by a matriarchal society. The Blues, as they are nicknamed - are aggressive and militant with their female rulers possessing telepathy to control their subservient male population. Most human worlds are ruled by the United Confederation of Earth, which had evolved from the old United Nations format after the Apocalypse War. At this time period, Earth has been at war for several years. Our hero, Mike Collins former midshipmen, now an Ensign, finds himself trapped on a breakaway world that has made a deal with the Karduans. This leads him and his classmates along with a group of retired veterans to plan an escape to rejoin Earth's forces. Join the fight! Note from Author: This book has been revised and re-edited since first self-published. Ratings and comments from early readers about editing are from before latest edits. Please look at reader ratings talking about content as editing has been pretty much fixed. I hope you enjoy it.

Mission Zero


S.J. MacDonald - 2011
    After a PR disaster has activists and media storming the Admiralty gates, First Lord Dix Harangay sends Minnow out on a makework patrol. Inspector Mako Ireson goes with them to investigate what’s really going on. Mako has never been on a starship before. He can’t tell port from starboard, doesn’t know what the 0-G sign means at freefall hatchways, and may need to change his underwear after the launch.Nobody is expecting that the “mission zero” they've been sent on will turn into a real operation. When it does, the Minnow’s crew has to rise to the challenge and justify their skipper’s faith in them.This is the first mission of the legendary Fourth Fleet Irregulars, the unit you send for when you need a miracle.For Mako Ireson, it will be the adventure of a lifetime.

Brilliant


Rick Lakin - 2018
    Edited to improve the timelines with new scenes.We all dream of discovering our superpower. For seventeen-year-old Jennifer Gallagher, that superpower is an IQ of 206. Captivated with the StarCruiser Brilliant movie franchise since she was five, she has a chance to intern with the Hollywood studio that produces the series.She knows that StarCruiser Brilliant is the key to finding out what happened to her father, but discovers that Brilliant will take her to the stars on her search.The first book of the StarCruiser Brilliant series will thrill and excite you as you get to watch Jennifer grow from a precocious teen to a powerful, professional woman and discover her true superpower.If you have read Brilliant before and would like the new edition, send me an e-mail at rilakin - at - gmail - dot - com and answer the following question: In the Virtual Copa, what was the name of the dancer Tayla replaced when she danced with Gene Kelly?Specify e-book, mobi, or pdf and I will send you the updated version and thanks for reading.

The Apocalypse Troll


David Weber - 1999
    Well, there was a US Navy carrier group on his southern horizon, but he was US Navy himself, so he didn't mind. Then came the UFOs, hurtling in from the Outer Black to overfly the carriers at Mach 17. Their impossible aeronautics were bad enough - but then they started shooting at each other. And at the Navy. With nukes. Little ones at first, but winding up with a 500 megatonner at 90 miles that fried every piece of electronics within sight. Richard Ashton thought he was just a ringside observer to these now over-the-horizon events. Until the crippled alien lifeboat came drifting down and homed in on his sailboat; suddenly he had his hands full of an unconscious, critially wounded alien warrior - who just happened to be a gorgeous female, too. And that was when it began to get really interesting...

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.

The Stars Now Unclaimed


Drew Williams - 2018
    Her mission: to recruit children with miraculous gifts in the hope that they might prevent the Pulse from once again sending countless worlds back to the dark ages.Hot on her trail is the Pax--a collection of fascist zealots who believe they are the rightful rulers of the galaxy and who remain untouched by the Pulse.Now Jane, a handful of comrades from her past, and a telekinetic girl called Esa must fight their way through a galaxy full of dangerous conflicts, remnants of ancient technology, and other hidden dangers.And that's just the beginning . . .

Son of Justice


Steven L. Hawk - 2016
    There's no question, he has what it takes to be a professional soldier.There's just one problem. His father is General Grant Justice, the most famous man in the galaxy and leader of a new governmental alliance that unites four alien races. When it comes time to enlist, the younger Justice has to make a choice. Rely on his last name and claim an automatic commission as an officer? Or enter basic training as a lowly private and earn his way to the top?For Eli, the decision is an easy one. He changes his name and enlists as an anonymous recruit.Unfortunately, not all of life's choices have such clear-cut answers. An alien-led rebellion is brewing in the ranks of the army he has just joined, and Eli is forced to choose sides. His actions will determine the fate of his father, the alliance, and the entire human race.

Pirates


Jim Rudnick - 2015
    Years ago, he proved victorious against a band of aliens. His ongoing fight with his own alcoholism however remains a stalemate. And suddenly, Pirates have appeared on the RIM. They have kidnapped the passengers of many craft and sold them into slavery and Scott is ordered to find them and rescue them. But the pirates aren't acting alone. They are sponsored by a powerful Royal with ambitious plans, and she isn't about to let some Navy captain stand in the way of her mining empire. Scott must rescue the slaves while simultaneously navigating the treacherous space of interstellar politics. If he fails, a Royal will gain more power, the entire Confederacy may unravel, and Scott's alcohol addiction will be the least of his worries…”

Terms of Enlistment


Marko Kloos - 2013
    For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements, where you're restricted to two thousand calories of badly flavored soy every day:You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can join the service.With the colony lottery a pipe dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth. But as he starts a career of supposed privilege, he soon learns that the good food and decent health care come at a steep price…and that the settled galaxy holds far greater dangers than military bureaucrats or the gangs that rule the slums.

Warrior's Scar


Shawn Jones - 2013
    To the United States government, his journey was designed to test a strange technology. To Cort, it was a way to finally escape a society he no longer wanted to participate in.Cort and Sköll arrive in the future to find themselves barricaded in a vast underground cavern filled with everything they might need to survive their unknown future. From how-to books to enough weaponry and powered armor to wage a war, Addison was well prepared to face whatever challenges awaited him.Or so he thought.For more than three centuries, the family he didn't know existed had been waiting and preparing for his arrival. In a world transformed by plagues and technology, Cort has become a legend within that family.Now it was up to the family legend to make good on the centuries-old promise, ‘Hope lies in the blood.’

Star Force: Origin Series Box Set (81-84)


Aer-ki Jyr - 2016
    

Steel Breach


Casey Calouette - 2015
    They have fought a war for 35 years against the insectoid Kadan that they have no intention of ending. It’s too essential to a society where the only social movement is via battle promotion. Then it all changes when the Kadan nearly annihilate the front lines. Vasilov Officer Colonel Cole Clarke has just returned home from service with the Sigg Military. Now that he has learned how the Sigg fight, he's bringing that knowledge to the Vasilov Military, plus an entire battalion of second hand Sigg Armor purchased on the scrap market. But instead of a fresh battalion of troops, he’s assigned a penal battalion filled with convicts. The Vasilov Military doesn't accept change easily, even when they need it. What would happen if an entirely new style of warfare came onto the battlefield? Could a strike force of second hand armor trump the defensive doctrines they’d used for thirty five years or would they be doomed to failure and death on the icy planet Lishun Delta? One squadron of armor. One Colonel. A thousand of the worst convicts in the Vasilov Military. Will they be up to the task?

Gateway


Brian Dorsey - 2014
    A promotion, an engagement to a beautiful (and powerful) woman, and the restoration of his family's honor. But this newfound prestige comes with a price, and Stone is soon ordered to carry out a fool's mission by a commander who is unfit to lead. Amidst the decimation of his battalion, his eyes are opened to the truth via a most unlikely source, a woman, from the same people who are his sworn enemies. As he struggles to understand the nature of the war his home planet has been waging for so many generations, Stone must accept that his fate is his responsibility alone. He is willing to die for his country; is he willing to kill for it too?