Book picks similar to
Cast Adrift by Christopher G. Nuttall


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

Battleship Leviathan


Craig MartelleCraig Martelle - 2021
    A small team of humans fighting for all humanity.Built for a time when the races were just finding their way to the stars, finding that they could dominate others. The galactic conquests created the arms race and the ancients, the Progenitors had to protect their own. They built a ship to drive the others away.It worked. And it didn’t. The Progenitors abandoned the galaxy to the newcomers, leaving relics behind as monuments to their failure.Humanity spread to the stars and ran headlong into the established races. A new war begins, and no one conducts war better than humanity except for the Blaze Collective.The two go head-to-head while humanity frantically searches for something to give them an advantage. Ancient technology. The derelicts scattered across the galaxy. Gutted and useless.Except for one, hidden in plain sight, close to Earth. Major Declan Payne takes his team aboard to find that the ship is no derelict, and it needs him as much as humanity needs it.Battleship: Leviathan. A Doomsday Weapon whose only goal is peace.

The Nameless War


Edmond Barrett - 2011
    Their aim, nothing less than the total destruction of humanity. All that stands in their way, five officers, a handful of ships… and the human need to survive!

Inception


Andrew Beery - 2012
    Had I known how often I’d be expected to die over the next several millennia, I might have made a stronger effort to stay dead. The year actually started off rather nice. I finished my PhD in high energy physics and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in the United States Air Force. My first posting after the promotion was to the Lunar One Air Base where I worked with my father, Dr. Robert Kimbridge on “The Project.” “The Project” was our name for a VASIMR Ion Drive interplanetary space craft that used Thorium LFTR reactors for both shielding and power. Capable of a sustained point one G of acceleration, our prototype was expected to make the Mars run in less than a week. By the end of November the ESX Arizona was ready for her first trial runs and I was her pilot. History has an odd way of repeating itself.

Governor


David Weber - 2021
    The death toll has climbed ever higher, year after year, with no end in sight. But the members of the Five Hundred, the social elite of the Republic's Heart Worlds, don't care.  Their star systems are light-years from any threat of attack. Their children are sheltered from the “mandatory service” that falls so heavily on the Fringe Worlds' backs. Their trade connections with the Rishathan Sphere bring them wealth and influence. And their contracts to build ships, fighters, missiles, and all the other sinews of war have made them the wealthiest human beings in the history of the galaxy. Rear Admiral Terrence Murphy is a Heart Worlder. His family is part of the Five Hundred. His wife is the daughter of one of the Five Hundred's wealthiest, most powerful industrialists. His sons and his daughter can easily avoid military service, and political power is his for the taking. There is no end to how high he can rise in the Republic's power structure.  All he has to do is successfully complete a risk-free military "governorship" in the backwater Fringe System of New Dublin without rocking the boat. Without dredging up any lunatic Fringe conspiracy theories. Without undercutting the Five Hundred's stranglehold on wealth and power. But the people sending him to New Dublin have miscalculated, because Terrence Murphy is a man who believes in honor. Who believes in duty—in common decency and responsibility. Who believes there are dark and dangerous secrets behind the façade of what "everyone knows." Terrence Murphy intends to meet those responsibilities and unearth those secrets, and he doesn't much care what the Five Hundred want.  He intends to put a stop to the killing.  Wherever that takes him, he will go. Whatever that costs him, he will pay. And whatever that requires, he will do. Terrence Murphy is coming for whoever has orchestrated fifty-six years of bloodshed and slaughter, and Hell itself is coming with him. A new novel in the world of In Fury Born, one of David Weber's most celebrated novels.   About The Gordian Protocol: “Tom Clancy-esque exposition of technical details . . . absurd humor and bloody action. Echoes of Robert Heinlein . . . lots of exploding temporal spaceships and bodies . . . action-packed . . .” —Booklist “[A] fun and thrilling standalone from Weber and Holo. . . . Time travel enthusiasts will enjoy the moral dilemmas, nonstop action, and crisp writing.”—Publishers Weekly About David Weber: “[A] balanced mix of interstellar intrigue, counterespionage, and epic fleet action . . . with all the hard- and software details and tactical proficiency that Weber delivers like no one else; along with a large cast of well-developed, believable characters, giving each clash of fleets emotional weight.”—Booklist “[M]oves . . . as inexorably as the Star Kingdom’s Grand Fleet, commanded by series protagonist Honor Harrington. . . . Weber is the Tom Clancy of science fiction. . . . His fans will relish this latest installment. . . .”—Publishers Weekly “This entry is just as exciting as Weber’s initial offering. . . . The result is a fast-paced and action-packed story that follows [our characters] as they move from reaction to command of the situation. Weber builds Shadow of Freedom to an exciting and unexpected climax.”—The Galveston County Daily News “Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in this long-awaited Honor Harrington novel. . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.”—Publishers Weekly “This latest Honor Harrington novel brings the saga to another crucial turning point. . . . Readers may feel confident that they will be Honored many more times and enjoy it every time.”—Booklist  “[E]verything you could want in a heroine. . . . Excellent . . . plenty of action.”—Science Fiction Age “Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!”—Anne McCaffrey “Compelling combat combined with engaging characters for a great space opera adventure.”—Locus “Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection. . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice . . .”—Publishers Weekly

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.

Starfire


Mike Lee - 2011
    The Captain is given an impossible mission, find out what happened to the AMS StarFire, the Alliances' newest and deadliest, war ship. The AMS StarFire has a crew of over 3,000 men. Captain Lombard is given 50 men and sent on his mission. Find out why he is now facing a Board of Inquiry over his actions.

Gray Panthers: Battle for Earth


David Guenther - 2014
    America has traded security for liberty following the attack with the suspension of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Constitution is not even taught in school any more. In this environment, Dan “D2” Daniels, a retired Army NCO of the old breed sworn to protect the constitution finds a crashed space ship and learns at the same time Earth will soon be invaded. Using the technology from the space ship, Dan forms an army of fellow senior veterans with two missions. First, to revive the Republic they had sworn their allegiance to and their second mission to save that Republic, and the world with it. Their first foray includes converting the CVN 80, USS Enterprise, a rusting air craft carrier, from a rusted heap waiting to be scrapped, into the first ship of the new space fleet of the Gray Panthers.

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?

The Last Watch


J.S. Dewes - 2021
    The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.The Divide.It’s the edge of the universe.Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.At the Divide, Adequin Rake, commanding the Argus, has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted.They're humanity's only chance.

The Star Brotherhood (AGU: SC Intelligence #1)


Thomas DePrima - 2013
    The team, introduced in Book 4 of the A Galaxy Unknown series, and with small roles in subsequent books, is now featured in their own story as this AGU: SCI series kicks off. This story is a mix of low-tech and high-tech as shootouts in saloons and city streets vie with spaceship chases and space battles to dominate the pages of this book. Space Command Intelligence operates to the full width and breadth of Galactic Alliance space— and sometimes beyond. Intelligence gathering is a dangerous profession, and most agents operate alone, or with a single partner, but there are exceptions. Trader Vyx, originally a lone field agent, was saddled with two information gatherers when he left the Gollasko Colony, but mutual bonds of respect soon grew between the three men. When two female operatives were rescued from Tsgardi slavers by Vyx, Byers, and Nelligen, SCI temporarily assigned the women to Vyx's team. Now, years later, the team is still together, and operating as one of the most effective groups in SCI.With the defeat of the Uthlaro Dominion, their former territory has fallen into anarchy. Space Command doesn't have adequate resources to bring the region under control while facing other enemies on multiple fronts in Regions One and Two, so SCI agents have been sent in to do what they can.Trader Vyx and his team are on the planet Bleadalto, two hundred light-years from Uthlarigasset. Their mission is to assess the situation there and learn everything they can about the slavery problem, but the once out-of-control-violence situation on Gollasko seems like a tea social compared to everyday life on Bleadalto. Within hours of arriving on the planet, Vyx is forced into a gunfight with a Brotherhood thug. The large crime organization is not pleased.

The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 3


David Drake - 2007
    Upon this tactical foundation, Drake uses historical metaphor to provide a rich and detailed future-history that is both unique and strangely familiar. The characters that make up the Hammer’s Regiment are neither cartoon heroes nor propaganda villains; rather they are competent professionals engaged in a deadly business. The inevitable conflicts between policy, necessity, and human nature are often at the forefront of the Slammers narratives, and it is this rich fusion ofa elements that makes Drake’s Slammers fiction instantly identifiable and utterly compelling. The Hammer’s Slammers series is some of the most important and influential work in military SF. The Vietnam War made indelible marks on the science fiction genre, and Drake’s service with the Blackhorse Regiment during the war gives his fiction a unique perspective. It is this perspective that is sometimes lacking in military SF, and one that makes Drake’s work so important to the science fiction genre as a whole. This three-volume set collects all the Slammers short fiction and novels into a set of uniform editions, and presents a new, previously uncollected piece of fiction in each volume. This third volume collects the last two Slammers novels, The Sharp End (1993) and Paying the Piper (2002). The novella “The Darkness” was written for this volume, and has been uncollected prior to the publication of this volume.

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...

A Fiery Sunset


Chris Kennedy - 2018
     The plot by the Galactic Union’s Mercenary Guild against the Four Horsemen has culminated in an invasion of Earth. Faced with an overwhelming force, the Human mercs had no choice. They’ve fled, leaving Sansar Enkh to go to the Mercenary Guild headquarters on Capital Planet to stand trial for humanity. On the run, Jim Cartwright and Nigel Shirazi have travelled to the Winged Hussars’ secret base of New Warsaw, in an effort to convince Alexis Cromwell to join the fight, while the other mercenaries who escaped the fall of Earth have gone to the perceived safe haven of Karma. Alexis Cromwell is reluctant to commit to an unwinnable fight, though, and there is no safety to be found in Karma. When the Mercenary Guild Tribunal is revealed to be a sham, the Horsemen are forced to choose—is it better to hide and protect the Human race, or is it time to fight for what they believe in? All is not as it seems, though, and the galaxy stands poised on the brink of a second Great Galactic War. Vastly outnumbered, the Four Horsemen had better come up with a stellar plan, or for them, it might well be A Fiery Sunset.

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.

Marines


Jay Allan - 2012
    The deal was simple; enlist to fight in space and he would be pardoned for all his crimes.In the 23rd Century, assault troops go into battle wearing AI-assisted, nuclear-powered armor, but it is still men and blood that win battles. From one brutal campaign to the next, Erik and his comrades fight an increasingly desperate war over the resource rich colony worlds that have become vital to the economies of Earth's exhausted and despotic Superpowers.As Erik rises through the ranks he finally finds a home, first with the marines who fight at his side and later among the colonists - men and women who have dared to leave everything behind to build a new society on the frontier, one where the freedoms and rights lost long ago on Earth are preserved.Amidst the blood and death and sacrifice, Erik begins to wonder. Is he fighting the right war? Who is the real enemy?