Book picks similar to
Invaders by Vaughn Heppner


sci-fi
science-fiction
military-science-fiction
fiction

Mercury's Bane


Nick Webb - 2017
    We remember them like yesterday: pieces of our stolen heritage. Things like NASA. Football. Parades and pies. Good things, comfortable things. We remember a time when we were alone in the universe, safe and oblivious. But it's all gone now. We called them the Telestines, and in the face of their ruthless invasion we were powerless. By 2040, all the world's governments and militaries had fallen, and the remnants of humanity exiled to the solar system. We looked down on our blue planet, so close to our birthplace, so close to our home. But the miles may as well have been lightyears. Our anger smoldered in the darkness of space. On Mars. On Ganymede. In the dank crowded filth of the asteroids. We swore: we will take our planet back. And today, it begins. Our fleet is ready. Our soldiers determined. Earth will be ours again.

Steel World


B.V. Larson - 2013
    Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn’t the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers…someone had to do their dirty work for them, their fighting and dying. I, James McGill, was born in 2099 on the fringe of the galaxy. When Hegemony Financial denied my loan applications, I was kicked out of the university and I turned to the stars. My first campaign involved the invasion of a mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World. The attack didn’t go well, and now Earth has entered a grim struggle for survival. Humanity’s mercenary legions go to war in STEEL WORLD, bestselling author B. V. Larson’s latest science fiction novel.

Prominence


A.C. Hadfield - 2017
    Or way of life. They tried to send us into extinction. But we, the Coalition, fought them and won. That was a decade ago. We had assumed they were beaten for good. We were wrong. They’re known as the Host: a cabal of aliens seeking to dominate our sector of space. And they’re back—with help from a powerful new enemy. Against their wrath, we must stand. We’re outnumbered and unprepared. If we lose, we lose everything. But there is hope. An ancient race of long-dead but technologically advanced aliens called the Navigators have a ship called the Blackstar that could potentially turn the tide. That is if I, Kai Locke, a humble ship racer, can find it and learn how to harness its power in time. If I fail, the Coalition will fall, and the Host will consign us to a distant memory. I refuse to let that happen. I will fight to my last breath for the Coalition’s survival.

Genesis


Ken Lozito - 2017
    Innocent lives have been lost. Escaping wrongful imprisonment wasn’t something Connor had in mind, but being put into stasis aboard Earth’s first interstellar colony ship was something he couldn’t have prepared for. For three hundred thousand colonists, the new colony brings the promise of a fresh start…a second chance. Connor might be the wrong man for the colony, but he’s the right man to see that it survives what’s coming. A new world with new challenges, but the mission has changed. If you loved Old Man’s War and Ender’s Game, you’ll love Genesis - First Colony , a new military science fiction series. Take advantage of the special discount price for a limited time!

Requiem for Medusa


Jason Anspach - 2018
    it's personal. The scum hiding deep inside the Reach out along galaxy's edge thought they could kill her and not pay the price. For years these hardened killers have run roughshod over the lawless worlds where Republic justice is never as fast as the blaster in your hand and where double-crosses and death are a part of every deal. They thought this time would be no different. They were wrong. This time, the Guild sent the legendary bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs. As the infamous Rechs pursues the men who murdered his colleague, he's hell-bent on justice, heedless of the trail of destruction he leaves across ruined worlds and fantastic gambling meccas alike. Because for Rechs, this isn't just another Guild contract... it's personal.

Scrapyard Ship


Mark Wayne McGinnis - 2013
    Worse yet, he’s relegated to his grandfather’s old house and rambling scrapyard. To complicate things, the women in his life are pulling from every direction. But It’s through a bizarre turn of events that Jason is led to a dried up subterranean aquifer hundreds of feet below ground. Here he discovers an advanced alien spacecraft, one that will propel his life in a new direction. The adventure begins… and with it new troubles for Jason: The Craing, an unstoppable interstellar threat, is headed right for Earth. A desperate situation goes from bad to worse as the Alliance crumbles.Fortunately, Jason’s unorthodox and impetuous nature seems to work in his favor as he moves up to the captain’s chair. First order of business is to reconnect with his SEAL team compatriots and face this enemy head on. What's at stake? The very survival of the human race.This is a full-length 70,000-word novel, first in the science fiction adventure series for Scrapyard Ship.

Cold Welcome


Elizabeth Moon - 2017
    But instead she is thrown into danger unlike any other she has faced and finds herself isolated, unable to communicate with the outside world, commanding a motley group of unfamiliar troops, and struggling day by day to survive in a deadly environment with sabotaged gear. Only her undeniable talent for command can give her ragtag band a fighting chance.Yet even as Ky leads her team from one crisis to another, her family and friends refuse to give up hope, endeavoring to mount a rescue from halfway around the planet—a task that is complicated as Ky and her supporters find secrets others will kill to protect: a conspiracy infecting both government and military that threatens not only her own group’s survival but her entire home planet.

The Merrimack Event (Shieldclads #1)


David A. Tatum - 2017
     After some meddling on the part of the Admiralty, many of the Academy's best are assigned to the oldest, smallest hulk in the Wargame, the unfortunately named corvette Chihuahua. Thanks to a genius engineer, an Army veteran loaned to the Navy for the war game, and an unconventional captain, they make a new discovery which turns her into the most valuable warship in the fleet: The first ever Shieldclad warship. The crew abruptly finds itself center stage in a real combat action, however, when Earth is attacked by an unknown foe, and a lone squadron of these once-mothballed ships is the Alliance's only hope to respond…

Merkiaari Wars Series: Books 1-3


Mark E. Cooper - 2013
    Will the next encounter spell the end of mankind? 3 books and 1,200+ pages of alien invasion and interstellar action. Over 250 five-star ratings on Goodreads! In the far future, nanotechnology will be all that keeps us alive in a brutal war with the Merkiaari. Into this war-torn galaxy a courageous Marine, an alien geneticist, and a broken hero will unite in common cause... The Merkiaari Wars Series: Books 1-3 includes the first three installments in an epic space opera about space exploration and alien invasion. If you enjoy military science fiction stories that mix philosophy with political intrigue, then you'll love Mark Cooper's unequivocal masterpiece. Pick up this box set, and you'll get a free two-chapter preview of Operation Breakout (book 4). Buy The Merkiaari Wars Series: Books 1-3 and start reading today! Author Interview Q - What inspired you to write The Merkiaari Wars?A - I love science fiction and space opera. I can never read enough futuristic war novels about galactic empires! I always write books that I would read myself. When people ask me about other author's novels, I tell them to try the books I love. Books like C J Cherryh's Chanur series. I absolutely devoured them. Did you know my aliens, the Shan, were inspired by Chanur? I love the idea of cat-like aliens. My space battles are David Weber's fault. I could never get enough of Honor Harrington. And lastly, I couldn't possibly ignore his collaborations with John Ringo. John’s Empire of Man series is EPIC!Q - What order should I read the books in?A - Although each book in the series "could" be read as a standalone book, I don't recommend it. Each one is intricately woven into the overall story arc and linked to the plots of the previous novels. I'd suggest the following sequence:- Hard Duty- What Price Honour- Operation Oracle- Operation Breakout- Incursion (TBA)Q - So, why should readers give these books a try?A - Because the Merkiaari Wars series is a fast and fun story full of interstellar action that takes no prisoners! Each of the books is packed with futuristic space battles or ground warfare with high stakes -- mankind's extinction. Ultimately, readers who enjoy lightning-fast pacing about space exploration and alien invasion in a far future time will love the series. The Merkiaari Wars Series eBook Categories: - Space Opera books- Alien Invasion- Space Exploration novels- Genetic Engineering- Galactic Empire Series- Military Thriller- First Contact books- Space Marine- Space Fleet

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.

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.

Strange Company


Nick Cole - 2021
    Best to steer clear of the freaks in Voodoo, kid.”Surrounded and outgunned, a group of private military contractors known as “Strange Company” find themselves on a remote planet at the edge of known space, and on the losing end of a bad contract. Orbital D-beam strikes, dropships bristling with auto-guns, missiles, and troops - even Monarch space marines in state-of-the-art advanced battle rattle - will try to prevent the company from reaching the exfil LZ and getting off-world.For Strange, that means it’s time to hang tough and get it on with as much hyper-kinetic violence as they can muster to get clear of the whole mess. And what the Strange can’t get done by violent assault and crazy firefights, they’ll get done by the freaks of Voodoo Platoon - operators who have been changed by the Dark Labs into powerful and unnervingly unnatural asymmetrical weapons.This is the Strange Company. Because in the Strange, it’s always really Strange. Join them - and get ready for full auto combat at the furthest limits of human exploration.

The Ender Wiggin Saga (Ender's Saga, #1-3)


Orson Scott Card - 1993
    In Ender's Game, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin begins his life as the result of genetic experimentation created for the sole purpose of saving the earth from an alien race seeking to destroy all humankind.After three thousand years have passed, Ender Wiggin continues his destiny to win humanity's war. In part two of The Ender Wiggin Saga, Speaker for the Dead, Ender becomes known as Ender Xenocide: the man who killed an entire race of thinking, feeling beings -- the only other sapient race found in the galaxy, until Lusitania was discovered. Wiggin finds himself having to unravel the secrets of the Pequeninos and face the specter of war against an alien race once again, threatening the lives of sapient beings.The third episode of The Ender Wiggin Saga is Xenocide. The Starways Congress declares war on Descolada (a deadly virus that thrives on the three sapient races co-existing on the planet Lusitania) and sends a fleet to destroy Lusitania. Mysteriously, the fleet disappears, and only a young girl, who is one of the godspoken humans gifted with enhanced intelligence, can unlock the mystery.Now included for the first time is the fourth installment, Card's Children of the Mind. Lusitania is threatened by a fleet carrying planet-destroying weapons that were used by Ender thousands of years in the past, and Ender's oldest friend, Jane, a computer intelligence that evolved with him for over 3,000 years, has her power threatened by the Starways Congress. Ender's siblings, Peter and Valentine, created by Enderon his first trip Outside, have come to join in the battle to save Lusitania and Jane.The Ender Wiggin Saga unleashes a millenium-long epic tale of loyalty, conflict, and deadly games -- a science-fiction buff's treasure.

Escalation


Ryk Brown - 2016
    It will take a new savior to inspire the masses, and once again lead those willing to fight against oppression. But who will the new savior be?

Starship Eternal


M.R. Forbes - 2015
    A dire warning from futures past... A desperate search for salvation… Captain Mitchell “Ares” Williams is a Space Marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty, whose Shot Heard ‘Round the Universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He’s handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he’s as efficient at charming the media as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters. After an assassination attempt leaves Mitchell critically wounded, he begins to suffer from strange hallucinations that carry a chilling and oddly familiar warning: They are coming. Find the Goliath or humankind will be destroyed. Convinced that the visions are a side-effect of his injuries, he tries to ignore them, only to learn that he may not be as crazy as he thinks. The enemy is real and closer than he imagined, and they’ll do whatever it takes to prevent him from rediscovering the centuries lost starship. Narrowly escaping capture, out of time and out of air, Mitchell lands at the mercy of the Riggers - a ragtag crew of former commandos who patrol the lawless outer reaches of the galaxy. Guided by a captain with a reputation for cold-blooded murder, they’re dangerous, immoral, and possibly insane. They may also be humanity’s last hope for survival in a war that has raged beyond eternity.