100 books like Flight of the Intruder

By Stephen Coonts,

Here are 100 books that Flight of the Intruder fans have personally recommended if you like Flight of the Intruder. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Anthony Riches Author Of Wounds of Honour

From my list on insight as to why men go to war.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m pretty well qualified to provide you with a list of five great books about men at war because, frankly, I’ve spent half my life reading them and the other half trying to write them (you be the judge!). My degree in Military Studies was focused on the question of what makes men endure the lunacy of war (whether they be ‘goodies’ or ‘baddies’), and it was in fiction that I found some of the clearest answers–clue: it’s often less about country and duty and more about the love of the men alongside the soldier. In learning how to write, I also learned how to recognize great–enjoy!

Anthony's book list on insight as to why men go to war

Anthony Riches Why did Anthony love this book?

This has to be one of–if not the–greatest single book I’ve ever read about war in the ancient world. I read the first ten pages, and I was interested; then I read the next forty, and I was utterly hooked. As a description of an elite military force holding out against overwhelming odds it fascinated me, but as a human story of the way Spartan society worked to produce those warriors, imbued with heroism, honour and humour in equal amounts I was simply blown away.

It’s fair to say that this book has been my greatest influence all the way through my writing career. I dare anyone with an interest in the genre to read this and then deny that they were informed, entertained, and (perhaps darkly) amused by the story and its payoff. This is God-tier writing, plain and simple, and, not for no reason, the closest thing the…

By Steven Pressfield,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Gates of Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the Sunday Times bestseller Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield tells the breathtaking story of the legendary Spartans: the men and women who helped shaped our history and have themselves become as immortal as their gods.

'Breathtakingly brilliant . . . this is a work of rare genius. Savour it!' DAVID GEMMELL

'A tale worthy of Homer, a timeless epic of man and war, exquisitely researched and boldy written. Pressfield has created a new classic' STEPHEN COONTS

'A really impressive book - imaginatively framed, historically detailed and a really gripping narrative' ***** Reader review

'Beautifully written and a great joy…


Book cover of Outlander

Annemarie Musawale Author Of In the Shadow of the Styx

From my list on supernaturals who don’t sparkle in the sunlight.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is Annemarie and I’ve been reading stories almost as soon as I was taught how to read. I’ve also been writing them. My fascination with the supernatural came about, I guess because an active imagination for a small child comes almost naturally from a fear of the dark. The dark held many terrors for me, and in a perverse contrariness, this prompted an interest in supernatural beings. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all real, and the more we know about them, the better. Or at least, that’s what I deduce from my never flagging interest, and I guess that’s why there’s always an element of the supernatural/paranormal in all my stories. 

Annemarie's book list on supernaturals who don’t sparkle in the sunlight

Annemarie Musawale Why did Annemarie love this book?

Is Claire supernatural because she can go through the stones? Her skin is certainly milk-soft and bright enough to shimmer in sunlight, but she doesn’t. Even when her hair starts to go white, it doesn’t exactly shimmer. However, she does fit, and so does the story because Unusual things happen to quite ordinary-looking people.

But the most magical thing about this book is the love that Jamie and Claire find in each other. Swoon.

By Diana Gabaldon,

Why should I read it?

37 authors picked Outlander as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The first book in Diana Gabaldon’s acclaimed Outlander saga, the basis for the Starz original series.

One of the top ten best-loved novels in America, as seen on PBS’s The Great American Read!
 
Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon’s work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion and…


Book cover of The Martian

Johnny B. Truant Author Of Dead City

From my list on Sci-Fi real science that justifies unreal things.

Why am I passionate about this?

Before I was an author, I was a scientist pursuing a PhD in molecular genetics. When I left the lab and started writing, that scientist’s need for real-world sense stuck with me and became a theme in everything I write. The authors I like understand that “suspension of disbelief” is a limited resource, so they’d better only ask readers for it when it counts. Get the baseline facts and logic right, and I’ll believe and enjoy the fantastical stuff spun from it so much more. 

Johnny's book list on Sci-Fi real science that justifies unreal things

Johnny B. Truant Why did Johnny love this book?

You can’t get more “real science" than this book! The author is an engineer who refuses to ask readers to take things on faith if there’s any way he can give them a real-world grounding with the science we already have. 

I loved it because I completely and totally believed it. Weir works within the rules of the real world rather than ignoring them and hoping readers don’t notice, which is what so many books do. All you need to do is believe that a manned mission to Mars is possible, and the rest won’t raise a single “but wait; that wouldn’t happen” eyebrow!

By Andy Weir,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked The Martian as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old human error are…


Book cover of Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13

Robert M. Brantner Author Of Skyheist: An Aviation Thriller

From my list on pilots in the greatest profession known to man.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a pilot. I started flying when I was in high school, and now I am a captain for one of the world’s largest airlines. My journey has been the greatest adventure I could ever imagine, but so many others are out there. Far too many adventures for one person to experience. Through great books, I have been able to visit so many facets of the profession I love so much. I treasure so many of the amazing books about flying that have been written and greatly anticipate the many more that are just beyond the horizon.

Robert's book list on pilots in the greatest profession known to man

Robert M. Brantner Why did Robert love this book?

I wanted to be an astronaut. I was drawn to the adventure, excitement, and thrill of rockets. One of the most thrilling experiences of the American space program was the flight of Apollo XIII.

The commander of the flight, Jim Lovell, working with writer Jeffery Kluger, took me aboard this ill-fated flight, filling in all my questions about the flight and how to solve the challenges. I have often turned to this book throughout my flying career.

Being a pilot involves overcoming obstacles, although most are not as severe as those faced by the crew of Apollo XIII. Nevertheless, this book showed me that with focus, hard work, and an outstanding crew, there are a few challenges that can’t be overcome.

By Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Lost Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In April 1970, during the glory days of the Apollo space program, NASA sent Navy Captain Jim Lovell and two other astronauts on America's fifth mission to the moon. Only fifty-five hours into the flight of Apollo 13, disaster struck: a mysterious explosion rocked the ship, and soon its oxygen and power began draining away. Commander Lovell and his crew watched in alarm as the cockpit grew darker, the air grew thinner, and the instruments winked out one by one. The full story of the moon shot that almost ended in catastrophe has never been told, but now Lovell and…


Book cover of The Right Stuff

Robert M. Brantner Author Of Skyheist: An Aviation Thriller

From my list on pilots in the greatest profession known to man.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a pilot. I started flying when I was in high school, and now I am a captain for one of the world’s largest airlines. My journey has been the greatest adventure I could ever imagine, but so many others are out there. Far too many adventures for one person to experience. Through great books, I have been able to visit so many facets of the profession I love so much. I treasure so many of the amazing books about flying that have been written and greatly anticipate the many more that are just beyond the horizon.

Robert's book list on pilots in the greatest profession known to man

Robert M. Brantner Why did Robert love this book?

This was the book that made me a pilot. I often tell people that the movie was about the astronauts, whereas the book is about the pilots who were astronauts.

In this book, Wolfe captures the essence of what it is to be a Pilot better than any other book I have ever read. I first read this when I was in my teens. Before every check ride, I revisited selected passages to get in the right frame of mind to go out and crush my flight.

This is the book that inspired, encouraged, and drove me. I have read and re-read it more times than I can remember, and I will undoubtedly continue to read it far into the future.

By Tom Wolfe,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Right Stuff as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A wonderful novel and perfect book club choice, The Right Stuff is a wildly vivid and entertaining chronicle of America's early space programme.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY US ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY

'What is it,' asks Tom Wolfe, 'that makes a man willing to sit on top of an enormous Roman Candle...and wait for someone to light the fuse?' Arrogance? Stupidity? Courage? Or, simply, that quality we call 'the right stuff'?

A monument to the men who battled to beat the Russians into space, The Right Stuff is a voyage into the mythology of the American space programme, and a dizzying…


Book cover of Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys

Robert M. Brantner Author Of Skyheist: An Aviation Thriller

From my list on pilots in the greatest profession known to man.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a pilot. I started flying when I was in high school, and now I am a captain for one of the world’s largest airlines. My journey has been the greatest adventure I could ever imagine, but so many others are out there. Far too many adventures for one person to experience. Through great books, I have been able to visit so many facets of the profession I love so much. I treasure so many of the amazing books about flying that have been written and greatly anticipate the many more that are just beyond the horizon.

Robert's book list on pilots in the greatest profession known to man

Robert M. Brantner Why did Robert love this book?

I read every book I could find on space flight. However, none meant more to me than this one. It wasn’t necessarily the story of the two flights Collins made that touched me. What set this book apart for me was the fact that he wrote it himself. What resulted was a first-hand experience as an astronaut. 

When I was a kid, I was able to pass enough math and physics to become a professional pilot, but I had nowhere near the aptitude required to be an astronaut. I always found this a disappointment in my life. After spending hours with this book, I was taken on a journey no other author was ever able to fulfill. For that, I will always be grateful.

By Michael Collins,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Carrying the Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Reissued with a new preface by the author on the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 journey to the moon

The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon in July 1969 have done nothing to alter the fundamental wonder of the event: man reaching the moon remains one of the great events―technical and spiritual―of our lifetime.

In Carrying the Fire, Collins conveys, in a very personal way, the drama, beauty, and humor of that adventure. He also traces his development from his first flight experiences in the…


Book cover of Halo: The Fall of Reach

Bryan Wilson Author Of The Forsaken Planet

From my list on sci-fi and fantasy books that inspired me to write my book.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have had a love of sci-fi and fantasy since I was twelve, and I have been an avid reader since then. I have always had an obsession with all things space and the mysteries that reside out there, and it was my dream to create a story that intermixed that with the fantasy worlds I grew up adoring. Since I released my debut book, I have broken into the indie social scene across multiple platforms. I am part of a sixteen-person author group where we share our passion and ideas for one another’s writing, and I have been on numerous BookTube channels and podcasts discussing the craft.

Bryan's book list on sci-fi and fantasy books that inspired me to write my book

Bryan Wilson Why did Bryan love this book?

I recommend this book because it can help give a reader a good idea of what to expect with the military aspect of my story. I was always a massive fan of the games and was sure to jump into the books when they were released. And I enjoyed the books just as much.

I like to think the overall franchise influenced the ideas I came up with for my battle school setting in book one and other factors pertaining to the story.

Book cover of Battletech 18: Highlander Gambit

T. August Green Author Of Shadow

From my list on to transport you across time and space.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since early childhood, I was fascinated by aircraft, space travel, and racing cars. I watched the Apollo missions with wonder and CanAm racing on Wide World of Sports with equal enthusiasm. I built models and flew missions of imagination. The floor of my bedroom became many tracks laid out with masking tape. Making the transition to real cars was more difficult but my passion for sci-fi, space adventure, and speed marches on to this day. Star Trek was a huge enabler that drove me to see the world differently, and sixty years later, it still does. The road of our own discovery is an endless one.

T. August's book list on to transport you across time and space

T. August Green Why did T. August love this book?

The BattleTech universe is a complex one that spawned many novels, but out of that list by various authors, this one stands out as my favorite. Set in the distant future, a long, bloody conflict between clan warriors and inner sphere soldiers spans multiple solar systems. They take to the battlefield in enormous walking tanks called Mechs where the outcome can be swift and brutal. The interesting part of this book is how it focuses on one soldier, and his diverse heritage as he tries to find his place in a regiment steeped in ancient traditions. Striving to prove his worth both to himself and his new unit, he digs deep for the skill and courage to stand against a ruthless enemy in an inhospitable world.

By Blaine Lee Pardoe,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Battletech 18 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Death Commando Loren Jaffray is dispatched to the planet Northwind to destroy the elite Northwind Highlanders by winning their trust and starting a war from within--but Loren is waging his own personal battle between honor and duty. Original.


Book cover of Rolling Thunder

Tom Burkhalter Author Of Everything We Had: a Novel of the Pacific Air War November-December 1941

From my list on air war stories that put you in the cockpit.

Why am I passionate about this?

I read the books in my list decades before I started writing air war stories. My first novel was a sci-fi space opera about hot starpilots flying from what I called “spacecraft carriers” in an interstellar war. Over the years I’ve flown sailplanes, power planes, and logged time in the SNJ and the DC-3. Since I was never there, flying high-performance airplanes in combat, I try to read all the histories and memoirs and pilot’s manuals I can get my hands on, and study pictures of the people, time, place, and airplanes I’m writing about. 

Tom's book list on air war stories that put you in the cockpit

Tom Burkhalter Why did Tom love this book?

The first few pages are a great example of how to begin a story, right in the middle of the action, trying to land a shot-up F-100 Super Sabre.

You can see in your mind’s eye the concrete rectangle of the runway, feel the stick in your hand, see the gages showing that your engine and your hydraulic systems are bleeding out, and will you really make it to the runway? That’s a pretty good introduction!

Berent is a veteran fighter pilot with all sorts of stories to tell, not only limited to the cockpit in the air. 

By Mark Berent,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rolling Thunder as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Rolling Thunder is an historical novel about the decisive role politics played during the Vietnam War. Its characters range from men in the field to the Pentagon and the White House. Fighter pilots and Special Forces warriors try to do their best but are hampered by President Johnson, Secretary of Defense McNamara, and their staff members who despise the military. Only one aging USAF general, who fought in Korea and WWII, is on their side. His clashes with his Commander in Chief, Lyndon Johnson, are epic in proportion and startling in content.

In Rolling Thunder, the time is late 1965…


Book cover of Fields of Fire

Anthony Riches Author Of Wounds of Honour

From my list on insight as to why men go to war.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m pretty well qualified to provide you with a list of five great books about men at war because, frankly, I’ve spent half my life reading them and the other half trying to write them (you be the judge!). My degree in Military Studies was focused on the question of what makes men endure the lunacy of war (whether they be ‘goodies’ or ‘baddies’), and it was in fiction that I found some of the clearest answers–clue: it’s often less about country and duty and more about the love of the men alongside the soldier. In learning how to write, I also learned how to recognize great–enjoy!

Anthony's book list on insight as to why men go to war

Anthony Riches Why did Anthony love this book?

I came across this book while researching why the US Army (and Marines) struggled so badly in the Vietnam War. As with all the books I’m recommending here, it spoke to me of how men go to war for their duty but stay at war for their brothers.

It speaks volumes of the frustrations and contradictions of a war in which an American generation skewed to the poor and racially discriminated against was sent to fight a highly motivated army of liberation and paid the price for their obedience. And told me more about what really happened in the valleys of that benighted country than any history book could.

I read it cover to cover and then read it again, eagerly consuming its truth at a time when the scars were so fresh that the truth was barely starting to emerge, and I commend it to you both as a…

By James H Webb,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Fields of Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hailed as the most important novel to emerge from the Vietnam War when first published in 1978, this book launched a spectacular writing career for James Webb that now includes four bestselling novels. A much-decorated former Marine who fought and was wounded in Vietnam, Webb tells the story of a platoon of tough, young Marines enduring the tropical hell of Southeast Asian jungles while facing an invisible enemy--in a war no one understands. Filled with the sounds and smells of combat, it is nevertheless a book about people, an amazing variety of closely observed characters caught up in circumstances beyond…


Book cover of Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
Book cover of Outlander
Book cover of The Martian

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