Book picks similar to
Devil Calls the Tune by Chris Maddox
sci-fi
military
no-no-series
vr
First Strike
Scott Moon - 2020
It's a choice.The United Galactic Government is mired in a decade-long war for control of a key planet. Weakened by overextension and political intrigue, they could lose everything.When a child of privilege gives up everything to enlist and fight for what is right, he learns what it means to become part of a team. He encounters refugees, aliens he never expected to empathize with, and the loss of comrades. In the end he must develop the courage to stand up, not only to aliens and governments, but his own family.
Dark of the Void
Anthony James - 2021
The enemy warships are seemingly invulnerable and able to act with impunity, killing and destroying at will. Billions of lives are at risk, along with the new technology the Kilvar have come to steal.Against this opponent, the years of preparation seem useless. And yet…the alliance military has plenty of veterans who never learned how to give up.Lieutenant James Vance – a soldier of many past conflicts - thinks he’s seen the worst of the universe. The Kilvar will prove him wrong.Captain William Flint – his heavy cruiser Loadout is about to come face-to-face with an enemy he can’t possibly overcome.Fleet Admiral Carl Recker is the most decorated officer in the alliance. All his experience may not be enough to handle what lies ahead.Hardened by years on the frontline and endless past conflicts, humanity and the Daklan must figure out a way to defeat the Kilvar. The solution will, perhaps, be far more deadly than the enemy. With new technology comes new risks, and what the alliance has discovered may well be the most terrible weapon of all.Dark of the Void is a traditional-style science fiction action adventure and the first in the Forged Alliance series. Inside this book, a reader will find space combat, ground combat, ruthless aliens, incredible tech and lots more.Author’s Note: Forged Alliance is set twelve years after the Savage Stars series of books. Dark of the Void is welcoming to new readers, with no requirement to read the first series, but if you want to learn the history of this universe, by all means start with the Savage Stars Book 1: War from a Distant Sun.
The Acheron: A Military Sci-Fi Series
Rick Partlow - 2020
He signed up to escape the grinding poverty of the Housing Blocks. And the unlikely friends envisioned boring, peacetime careers as shuttle pilots. The Tahni Imperium had other ideas... Caught in the desperate fury of the Battle for Mars, the two young pilots wind up the last defense against an alien armada, but their war is just beginning. Recruited to fly the Fleet's newest weapon in this new war, they take the fight deep into the heart of the Imperium and battle not just against the enemy but against incompetent leadership and ineffectual tactics. Can the unconventional strategies of a pair of hotshot young pilots change the course of the war? And when the time comes that a choice has to be made between duty to command and loyalty to a friend, which of the two will be willing to make one last flight alone... From the author of the bestselling Drop Trooper Military Sci-Fi Series comes another tale of war against an alien menace known as the Tahni. Perfect for fans of Jay Allan, Jasper T. Scott, and Scott Bartlett. (less)
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.
Children of Earthrise: The Complete Series
Daniel Arenson - 2019
"We hide in shadows. Our planet is lost. We are the last humans, and we must go home." Children of Earthrise is a story of exodus. Of humanity lost among the stars. Of one man rising to lead our people home. In 2016, the Earthrise series became a surprise bestseller, captivating hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. Set two thousand years later, Children of Earthrise begins a new story, one for both new readers and old fans.
Wings of Honor
Craig Andrews - 2021
Their success is unparalleled, and for years they have held the invading Baranyk at bay. But when the alien enemy develops a new weapon that renders the fleet's drone fighters inoperable, humanity is on the verge of destruction.Callan "Coda" O'Neil joined the Terran Fleet Academy with dreams of becoming a prestigious drone pilot and restoring honor to his disgraced family. Fleet Command, however, has other ideas.To counter the alien weapon, Commander Chadwick Coleman, a legendary pilot from the early days of the Baranyk War, is assembling an experimental new squadron that will place real pilots in the cockpit of real starfighters. And he wants Coda to be part of it.With the enemy pressing in, and forced to train under impossible conditions, Coda and his fellow wingmen must learn to fly as one. Failure means the destruction of the human race.And time is running out.
Dryker's Folly: Book 1 in Void Wraith Origins
Chris Fox - 2020
Before the Eradication.One man had a chance to stop it all, and failed...Captain Dryker is a washed up vet mining on the fringes of the Kuiper belt. He loads rocks into the Folly’s railgun, and fires them back to his corporate overlords on Earth. Boring, just the way he likes it. Until one day it isn’t.An alien signal bursts from Pluto, which as it turns out is neither a planet, nor a planetoid body. It is an ancient defense satellite activated because it detected the return of the Vuka Spectra. The Void Wraith.Dryker is the closest ship on the scene, but not the only one vying for the prize. Hostile aliens have emerged from our sun using something called a Helios Gate. The savage Tigris have come not just for the satellite, but to conquer Earth.Dryker’s only hope is finding something, anything, within the installation to counter the alien’s superior technology and save mankind.The prequel to the Void Wraith Saga. Learn how it all began...
Ice and Monsters (The Lost Book 1)
Peter Nealen - 2022
Silent. Deadly… Hunted.Recon Marine Conor McCall didn’t expect action during his training op in the icy waters off Norway. But when a bizarre summer fog engulfed his boat, he and his team found themselves in a pitched fight against strange, cruel monsters emerging from the coastal depths of the North Sea.That was just the beginning.Stranded in a barren land of mountains, glaciers, and black pines, far from home and unable to contact the world they came from, the Marines must prepare for war against murderous barbarians, wicked sorcerers, and foul creatures summoned from the oldest, deepest, and darkest pits of hell.When even their allies are enemies, the Recon Marines must do what they have always done: adapt or die. But with a world of ice and monsters seeking to destroy them, every second is mission-critical.
Mech Warrior: Born of Steel
James David Victor - 2020
Fortunately, that suit is one of the most powerful weapons ever created.A military sci-fi adventure from Amazon All-Star author James David VictorDane Williams barely survived the Exin attack and is faced with a life of pain and torment. With the help of experimental drugs and a robotic suit, he has a chance for a semi-normal life. And as a new Marine in the Mechanized Infantry Division, he has a chance to strike back at the enemy that has caused so much pain and destruction. Can Dane and his fellow Marines fight back and save humanity or is Earth heading for an extinction level event?Mech Warrior: Born of Steel is the first book in the Mechanized Infantry Division series. If you like fast-paced space adventures with engaging characters and exciting battles, you will definitely want to see how the Mech Warriors save mankind, or if they can.
Legacy of War: First Encounter
Joshua James - 2020
Over decades of bitter war, humanity slowly pushed them back.Eighteen months ago, a truce was struck. The aliens disappeared. Humanity stood down.But there are those who will never trust the aliens.The captain of the aging battleship Walker Pierce is one of them.He has spent months in disputed space, against the wishes of his superiors, looking for proof of alien treachery, afraid of what he might find.Because this time, if the aliens return, humanity won't be so lucky.Legacy of War is an enthralling tale of humanity on the edges of the unknown, perfect for fans of Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet and David Weber’s Honorverse.
Lt. Reilly 2321:
Matthew O. Duncan - 2020
Released on a medical discharge shortly after the end of the war with the Serkins, he went out into the galaxy looking for a job. Signing onto the Glacier Runner 17, an old and rundown cargo ship, Rielly finds himself working for a clueless captain, mixed-up in an intergalactic conspiracy, on the run from assassins, and involved with two women in relationships that he could only call "complicated". Fans of Matthew O. Duncan will recognize the universe as the same as from the New Terra Sagas, but this is not a sequel. This is a stand-alone spin-off with new characters, new worlds, and in a different format. Told in the first person from Reilly's perspective, this is a fast-moving, non-stop sci-fi adventure.
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.
Fallen Empire
Marc Alan Edelheit - 2021
The First Galactic Empire has fallen. The Keeper of the Unknowable, Guardian of the Gates, the Eternal Emperor, is dead. Entire star systems have been ravaged by war, planets cracked by powerful weapons, and suns sent into supernova. The infrastructure of an advanced civilization that spanned thousands of stars is ruined. Trillions have died. Instead of liberation and a return to democracy, freedom, and a new golden age, humanity has been plunged into darkness.Eighteen years after the Great Fall of civilization, stranded on the wrecked world Asherho, Keira Kane struggles to make her way. Shattered by war, the climate of the planet has become inhospitable to life and is getting worse with each passing year. The government is a brutal regime, focused on maintaining its own grip on power instead of feeding the few million ragged survivors living upon its surface. What little law and order there is has begun to erode and break down.Adopted, protected, and raised by former Imperial Marines, Keira has been trained as a mechanic and technician. Her skillset is indispensable to maintaining the decaying infrastructure of her dying planet.Sent out on a routine repair job to Hakagi Tower, a seedy apartment block, Keira rapidly finds herself a fugitive, hunted not only by the government she has faithfully served, but by the planetary militia who wants her for their own nefarious reasons. A mysterious battle-damaged warship has also arrived in-system and they want something too.Unbeknownst to Keira, her Imperial Marine companions have been guarding an incredibly valuable secret, one that has the potential to save humanity or see its light extinguished from the galaxy forever.Caught up in a planetary revolt and hunted, Keira is thrust into a life-or-death struggle she never imagined possible. Though she has yet to suspect it, the road ahead is not only dangerous, but a path destined for her and her alone.Does she have the courage to walk it? Does she have the willpower to pick up a fallen standard? Or will she falter and allow humanity to continue its fall into darkness? Only time will tell…Find out why thousands of readers have fallen for Amazon bestselling author Marc Alan Edelheit’s captivating books! The battle to save the galaxy begins here!
The Word Is War
Richard Tongue - 2019
Across the myriad colonies of humanity, rebel forces are rising, clamoring for freedom from the increasingly repressive government of Earth, launching raids on the Confederation Fleet as they prepare for the conflict to come. On the frontier, however, a darker force is emerging, an ancient threat long forgotten, returning to once more threaten eternal, endless tyranny, silent ships massing in the cold depths of space, ready to strike. All that stands between victory and defeat is the Scout Cruiser Xenophon, destined for the scrapyard but recalled to the flag and placed under the command of a renegade officer, Commander Jack Winter, and given a mission that will either save humanity…or seal its fate.
Commando
James Evans - 2019
A colony is under invasion. It’s time to send in the Commandos.
When the Royal Marines are called to New Bristol, they’re expecting their mission will be just another insurgent hunt. What they face when they arrive is anything but a spot of local trouble though.After a brutal firefight, Lieutenant Warden finds himself leading the remaining Commandos in defence of the colonists. Their enemy has superior numbers, weaponry and armour. They see the colony as a soft target, but they weren’t counting on facing the Royal Marine Space Commandos. Warden must bring the fight to the enemy, and bring it with all the fire and fury he can summon. With only their basic weapon packages and equipment available, it’ll be a tough fight.Can one young Lieutenant and a score of Marines bring an end to the invasion?