I sell books for a living, raise three boys on my own, serve in my local church, and write on the side. I love stories about people doing hard things. If it’s not hard, why bother? People who serve do hard things for a career, and that inspires me. I also love the stars. So. Many. Stars. As author Jack McDevitt once said, and I’ll paraphrase him here, the canvas is just too big to have been made just for us [humans]. There’s more out there. I know it. So, put hard things like military service and vast things like space together and you end up with a love for military fiction and war stories.
His Magesty’s Dragon is a rare treat. You won’t find mechsuits in this maelstrom. But Napoleonic Wars and Dragons? Yes, yes, yes! and more. Alternate history meets memorable arial duals, razor-sharp claws and prose, and wickedly smart dragons. The characters fly off the page, fight for King and country, and make boredom fade. And, if you like to binge, there are eight more after it. Enjoy!
Naomi Novik's stunning series of novels follow the adventures of Captain William Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire as they are thrown together to fight for Britain during the turbulent time of the Napoleonic Wars.
As Napoleon's tenacious infantry rampages across Europe and his armada lies in wait for Nelson's smaller fleet, the war does not rage on land and water alone. Squadrons of aviators swarm the skies - a deadly shield for the cumbersome canon-firing vessels. Raining fire and acid upon their enemies, they engage in a swift, violent combat with flying tooth and claw... for these aviators ride…
Fearless is the true story of Seal Team Six Operator Adam Brown. Brown had no business becoming a Seal. Drug addict and a rap sheet? The guy even stole from his parents, and his dad had him locked up for it. It’s a miracle the service took him at all. This guy’s story is stranger than fiction and true to life. Read it and get inspired. Brown’s story shows us how to human.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ECPA BESTSELLER, GOLD AWARD—Over 500,000 copies sold! Fearless takes you deep into SEAL Team SIX, straight to the heart of one of its most legendary operators.
When Navy SEAL Adam Brown woke up on March 17, 2010, he didn’t know he would die that night in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan—but he was ready: In a letter to his children, not meant to be seen unless the worst happened, he wrote, “I’m not afraid of anything that might happen to me on this earth, because I know no matter what, nothing can take my…
Published in one volume, The Furies Series is perhaps the best example of mechsuited combat in the known ‘verse. Vengeance, planet-wrecking pirates, and a death-to-life story that nearly defies description. The read is frenetic, and the weapons and AIs are the best in the business. Of course, the author, David Weber, is one of the great ones. He’s a rare talent, and his penchant for penning war is unrivaled, save perhaps for Patrick O'Brian’s outstanding wet navy fiction. You’re welcome.
So, everyone has read this book or knows about it because of the movie, which was just okay. Ender helped me through junior high and high school. Ender helped me deal with the bully. Ender survied and because he did I believed I could, too. Ender Wiggin is wiggin’ fantastic. And the battle school isn’t bad, either.
Orson Scott Card's science fiction classic Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut―young Ender is the Wiggin drafted…
Heinlein’s book is a classic. It won the Hugo for Best Novel in 1960. Bring up the movies and you deserve a punch in the mouth — terrible. Planetary puke. But the book? Oh my, what a gem. Heinlein’s trooper tale is as much about mechsuited combat as it is about a father and son making peace. Reunification. Repentance. Reconciliation. Second chances. It’s got all the explosions and all the feels, too. All that in a science fiction novel makes for a wonderfully boredom-free weekend. May a hot cup of caf, grab a weighted blanket, and get ready to drop. Come on, you apes, you wanna live forever?
'The historians can't seem to settle whether to call this one 'The Third Space War' (or the fourth), or whether 'The First Interstellar War' fits it better. We just call it 'The Bug War'. Everything up to then and still later were 'incidents', 'patrols' or 'police actions'. However, you are just as dead if you buy the farm in an 'incident' as you are if you buy it in a declared war.'
5,000 years in the future, humanity faces total extermination. Our one defence: highly-trained soldiers who scour the metal-strewn blackness of space to hunt down a terrifying enemy: an…
Unbreakable follows the career of Republic of Alligned Worlds Marine Corps officer Promise Paen - a blend of Katee Sackhoff's Starbuck meets Starship Troopers, with a dash of Summer Glau from Firefly. Mechsuits, multiworld battles, and mayhem? That and more will wreck your boring weekend. (It was also an Amazon and B&N, Science Fiction & Fantasy Best Book-of-the-Month pick, which floored me, so…)
I grew up a fan of an evening news segment called “On the Road with Charles Kuralt.” Kuralt spotlighted upbeat, affirmative, sometimes nostalgic stories of people and places he discovered as he traveled across the American landscape. The charming stories he told were only part of the appeal; the freedom and adventure of being on the open road ignited a spark that continues to smolder. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are our annual family road trips, and I still jump at the chance to drive across the country.
Head West in 1865 with two life-long friends looking for adventure and who want to see the wilderness before it disappears. One is a wanderer; the other seeks a home he lost. The people they meet on their journey reflect the diverse events of this time period–settlers, adventure seekers, scientific expeditions, and Indigenous peoples–all of whom shape their lives in significant ways.
This is a story of friendship that casts a different look on a time period which often focuses only on wagon trains or gunslingers.
After four years of adventure in the frontier, Win Avery returns to his hometown on the edge of the prairie and tracks down his childhood friend, Jeb Dawson. Jeb has just lost his parents, and, in his efforts to console him, Win convinces his friend to travel west with him―to see the frontier before it is settled, while it is still unspoiled wilderness.
They embark on a free-spirited adventure, but their journey sidetracks when they befriend Meg Jameson, an accomplished horsewoman, lost on the Nebraska prairie. Traveling together through the Rocky Mountain foothills, they run into Gray Wolf, an Arapaho…
