Book picks similar to
Aries' Red Sky by James L. Young Jr.


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Cherry Drop (Abner Fortis, ISMC Book 1)


P.A. Piatt - 2021
    When he makes his first combat drop, or cherry drop, he’s a know-nothing second lieutenant added to the mission roster as an afterthought. The Space Marines are tasked to support the Galactic Resource Conglomerate (GRC) while they test a revolution in military technology: Precision Crafted Soldiers (PCS). All the Space Marines have to do is kill bugs. Even when a tragic accident leaves Fortis in command, the mission is still an easy breather. When the Space Marines discover proof of a long-buried betrayal, though, friends become enemies, and their mission goes awry. Does Fortis have what it takes to lead the Space Marines to survival in the face of overwhelming odds?

We Dare


Eric Thomson - 2019
    The Marines of Ghost Squadron are humanity’s foremost black ops specialists who strike without warning and vanish without a trace.  They will do whatever is necessary to protect humanity anywhere in the known galaxy.  With the Commonwealth increasingly unstable thanks to venal politicians, greedy financiers, and power-hungry revolutionaries, they don’t lack for missions.When an undercover Constabulary officer vanishes after uncovering a massive cartel-run human trafficking operation, the Commonwealth’s interstellar police force calls for help from Naval Intelligence.  Because the cartel’s operations could upend the delicate political balance between the older core worlds and the more recently colonized outer star systems, Ghost Squadron gets the job.  Its mission: find the missing Constabulary officer and choke off the growing slave trade bedeviling humanity’s perilous galactic frontier.Ghost Squadron’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Thomas Decker, spent the last ten years as a Naval Intelligence agent.  His job was thwarting plots and terminating the Commonwealth’s internal enemies alongside his partner, a trained assassin.  Now, with several hundred of the deadliest Marines ever fielded at his back, Zack Decker will change the course of history and usher in a new era. Humanity's interstellar empire ended in "Ashes of Empire."  Witness its birth a thousand years earlier in Eric Thomson's new series "Ghost Squadron."

Alliance


Jonathan P. Brazee - 2017
    Humanity is involved in a limited war with the alien Klethos, where gladitorial combat decides the fate of worlds, but that doesn’t affect the common Marine or sailor. His career has been training hard but never seeing actual combat. All of that changes when a new enemy invades the galaxy, one that threatens both humanity and Klethos. Mankind hasn’t fought an all-out war in centuries, but they’re about to. McKeever is assigned to a special task force with the mission to find out what makes this new enemy tick, and, if possible, stop them in their tracks before humanity is eliminated like so much insignificant vermin.

The Contingency Four Book Boxed Set


G.J. Ogden - 2020
    More than 1,100 pages of epic space opera action and adventure with unique heroes and twists that you won’t see coming. Over 1.5 Million Page Reads and counting! From book one: No-one comes in peace. Every being in the galaxy wants something, and is willing to take it by force. The Hedalt were no different. They came from the distant reaches of the galaxy to wage war. Their fleet wanted to take Earth for its prize, but we were ready. We were stronger. For years, we fought them, ship-to-ship, until we scattered their forces and drove them back. Pursuing the Hedalt fleet to their home world, we delivered the decisive blow. We nuked their planet and wiped them out for good. Or so we thought. For decades, Earth Fleet sent out Deep Space Recon missions to scour the galaxy and clean up the remnants of the Hedalt Empire. Eventually, we found only ghosts – empty outposts and long-dead colonies. But, close to the edge of known space, I – Captain Taylor Ray – and my crew are about to make a discovery that will change everything. The war isn’t over. The war has yet to begin. The series includes: The Contingency The Way Station Gambit Rise of Nimrod Fleet Earth’s Last War

Hard Drop


Will van der Vaart - 2013
    Their objective is classified, marked only by coordinates leading them into a deserted city at the heart of the fighting. From the beginning, everything possible goes wrong. A missile strike rocks the carrier mid-launch, and only a fraction of the unit reaches the surface alive.Outmanned, outgunned, and scattered, with a hard deadline to orbital bombardment looming, it is up to Drop Commander Tyco Hale to rally his troops and reach their objective. But what they find, hidden deep in the tunneled passages under the city, will change everything about what he fights for and what he believes in. With the unit in tatters and loyalties divided, the choice he makes in the dark will seal all of their fates - and much more besides.

Resolute Command


James Prosser - 2013
    Humanity has been enslaved or scattered to the galaxy, hiding out in lonely systems far from home. A cry for help from an enemy ship prompts action from an unlikely group of refugees and a lone fighter pilot. This begins an epic adventure that will unite the remains of the human race and take them into the depths of the darkest soul.The battle for survival is underway and the War for Terra has finally begun.

The Forever, Part 2


Craig Robertson - 2018
    Hopeless odds. Then things got worse. Jon Ryan has beaten the odds so far. He saved humanity from a sinister alien threat, and he stopped the insane android president of the United States three separate times. But the president won't stay dead, and a super race threatens to end Jon's hopes for a peaceful future.Jon's mind-boggling alien technology has been enough to keep everyone alive. But, just when there's reason for hope, a new, more deadly race sets its sights on him. This threat may just be unstoppable. They made Jon fight. He plans to make them very sorry they did.Meanwhile, Jon discovers an alternate time-line version of himself, one who suffered the loss of his species. Jon finds himself on a quest to find his duplicate who's lost in time and space.Can Jon save humanity, his family, and himself when defeat looks absolutely certain? Can one good man stand against unbeatable odds one more time?

Storm Divers (Fractured Republic Saga #1)


Terry Mixon - 2016
    For Adam Hale, the thrill of plunging his tiny ship into the unimaginable maelstroms on the king of planets helps him forget the blood-soaked tragedy that ended his military career. Rachel Price came to Jove Station to find her missing partner, Zane Hale, who is also an intelligence operative for the Republic. To do that, she must convince Zane’s brother—the man responsible for slaughtering dozens of her friends on Mars—to help her. Amid the crowds of the first annual system-wide storm diving competition, they stumble onto an insidious conspiracy that changes everything they thought they knew about each other and themselves. They must overcome the past and work as one or Jupiter will eat their bones.

A Faded Star


Michael Freeport - 2016
    The crew of their newest flagship, the Rampart encounters an alien scout who is being chased by a dangerous foe. The encounter shakes the beliefs held by the people of Lashmere. With the aid of the mysteries of the origin tablet, they discover the true origins of their colony. These may be the last humans in the universe. Can they survive against their ancient enemy? Their only choice is to embrace an unknown past and fight with everything they have.

Star Brigade: Quartet (Star Brigade Books 1-4)


C.C. Ekeke - 2018
    Ekeke's bestselling Star Brigade Series At the dawn of the 25th century, Star Brigade was an elite military unit in the Galactic Union, and Habraum Nwosu one of its best soldiers. Until a deadly ambush massacred his team and Star Brigade’s reputation. BUT THE UNION STILL NEEDS HEROES Extremist threats and old enemies return from the fringes of space to threaten the Galactic Union’s inhabitants. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION Now Habraum must rebuild the Brigade from scratch with a dwindling roster of untested recruits, all while fighting to protect the Union he serves with his own shoot-first, punch-next brand of justice. The Star Brigade Quartet contains the FIRST FOUR books in the series, a prequel novella and several exclusive short stories for a discounted price. 300+ five-star reviews, 1500+ pages of space battles, supersoldier combat, and heart-pounding intergalactic intrigue. Find out why readers are so enthralled by this riveting science fiction saga.

Empire in Crisis


Dietmar Arthur Wehr - 2016
    But the Empire is getting old and creaky. Its government is riddled with corruption and is choking on red tape. The Space Force is bloated with the incompetent who have risen to high rank due to nepotism and patronage. The Emperor has been assassinated and the Empire is surrounded by alien races that are becoming more hostile and more powerful as time goes on. When an exploration fleet in the rift between sections of the spiral arm are attacked by an unknown race, the dead Emperor’s clone-son, now on the throne, recognizes that the Empire is standing at the edge of an abyss and must find a way to not only win this new war against the alien aggressors but also overcome the inertia of the arrogant Space Force officers who are more ready to overthrow their Emperor than fight the war. Fans of military SF action will find it in this book. Excerpt: “Ah, not so fast, Ren. We’ve just picked up five, I repeat, five unidentified ships heading this way at point eight cee. If they maintain this speed, they’ll get here in about thirteen minutes. Here’s the interesting thing. They’re coming from the same direction as your longitudinal signal. I think it’s highly likely that they came out of that same wormhole just a short while before you found it. Standby while we try to make contact with the rest of the squadron.” Logan stepped closer to Montoya’s Command Chair. When Montoya turned his head in Logan’s direction, Logan leaned over and said, “If they came out of this wormhole, there may be more of them emerging at any moment. I recommend we pull back to extreme detection range.” Montoya nodded. “See to it immediately, SubCommander.” Logan went over to the Helm Station and told the Helm Officer what he wanted done. Detection of ships using warp drive was limited to a range of just under 11 light minutes or 200 million kilometers. At Bird of Prey’s maximum speed of 4.4 times the speed of light, travelling that distance would take just 2.5 minutes. The trick was to stay in contact with the relay ship by longitudinal wave transmission. That wasn’t a problem for Logan’s ship since they knew exactly where to point their transmitter, but the relay ship had to be kept updated via data transmission as to what Bird of Prey was doing so that it could adjust its transmitter to compensate. Logan checked the chronometer for elapsed time since the relay ship had begun detecting the bogeys. Almost four minutes had gone by. He wondered about the bogey’s speed. If they were capable of faster speeds, why not do so? Could it be that their detection range was shorter than the squadron’s light cruisers’? His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Black Eagle’s commander. “Oh Christ! Ren, those five bogeys have just boosted to four point six cee! They’ll be here within ninety seconds! We haven’t been able to make contact with any other ship yet! I’m taking us to Battle Stations, Ren! Stand by!” “XO, bring us to Battle Stations too.” Montoya’s voice had been calm. Logan wondered if his CO’s stomach was churning just as much as his own was right now. Logan put his Command helmet back on and used the virtual controls to sound the Battle Stations alarm. “We’re at Battle Stations, Comma—“ Logan’s sentence was cut off by Magnasson’s voice.

Underneath the Moon


Dan Holt - 2015
    Doug had started to believe the conspiracy theories and rumors that had swirled for years; that NASA had discovered more than just rocks on the Moon and had conspired to keep the rest of the world in the dark. A super computer’s enhancement and compilation of the old photos proved his belief and sent him on a quest that has now revealed revolutionary new space travel technology and will enable him to lead a group on a return journey to explore ancient ruins on the lunar surface. But Doug’s pursuit of the truth and discovery of a destroyed GLASS city on the Moon pale in comparison to what lies underneath the lunar surface. What he finds will solve the mystery of a long-dead Apollo Astronaut and provide clues to the missing elements of Earth’s ancient history. But, even he isn’t prepared for the discovery that will reveal the past and change the future of mankind…FOREVER!

One Helluva Bad Time: The Complete Bad Times Series


Chuck Dixon - 2019
    Everyone and everything needs to get the hell out of their way. They have mission(s) to complete. Go up and click 'Read For Free' or 'Buy Now' and dig into an adventure that will have you hearing the sounds of the past, while smelling the gun powder as the team fights across the world, and time. A FEW QUOTES ABOUT CHUCK DIXON: “Chuck is a damn good writer who is really good at hooking you, giving you fun characters, and telling you one hell of an adventure story.” Larry Correia, Monster Hunters International, the Grimoir Chronicles “An intelligent and well thought-out high action time travel story.” Noah Mullette-Gillman, Luminous and Ominous “Dixon excels at putting down action, of introducing larger-than-life heroes, kicking them through the door into a big mess, and having them sort out a situation in a flurry of martial arts moves and big guns.” Mel Odom, The Rover series.

Lucky's Marines: The Complete Series


Joshua James - 2020
    

Devil’s Road


Gary Gibson - 2020
    The racecourse circumnavigates the post-apocalyptic ruins of Teijouan, and with a choice between being eaten by the monstrous Kaiju that prowl the island’s devastated cities or murdered by her fellow racers, the odds against surviving another Run, let alone winning it, are slim.Dutch doesn’t care about the odds nearly so much as she cares about getting back behind the wheel of her beloved Ford Falcon—except for one problem: she’s spent the last five years incarcerated in a high-security prison for her part in a heist.So when a crooked billionaire offers to put her back in the race on condition she uses it as cover for a secret retrieval operation, she can’t refuse.Can Dutch survive assassins, monsters, and psychopathic drivers long enough to complete her mission as well as take part in the race—or is this the year death finally catches up with her in a blazing tangle of wreckage?