"Hot space fleet battle books?" Topic

Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" series. Serieses? The space combat is good, and he also touches on the cultural aspects of star empires in a long term war. The writing is good, though I probably wouldn't binge on more than 2 or 3 in a row as there is some formula there that becomes apparent if you read them back-to-back-to-back.

Rich

'The Star Carrier' series by Ian Douglas (aka William H. Keith). He also writes about star marines.

I can recommend both of those above and the Ark Royal series on Kindle.

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Timothy Zahn's Conqueror series.
Elizabeth Moon's "Vatta War" series (fleet battles start appearing later in the series, but the story is excellent)
R. M. Meluch's "Tour of the Merrimack" series. (More one ship than fleets, though big battles do happen.)
Mike Shepherd's Kris Longknife series. Not all feature fleet battles, but the battles that happen are well done.
A second rec for The Lost Fleet books. Not brilliant, but fun, and his fleet battles are detailed and thought out, and one of the few I've read that actually addresses the issue of "light lag."
The Dread Empire series by Walter John Williams.
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, though the "fleet battle" is mostly "running away from the fleet of an evil space god." It's strange, but it's amazing.

While I never recommended the plot/character/political dynamic development, I'm STILL a big sucker for Weber and White's Starfire game novelizations. Big fleets flaring and fading like embers in the night sky.

Same can be said for the Honor Harrington's, but never could read a whole one of those. Not sure if some leavening effect of White, or simply a love of early Starfire was the difference.

A few smaller scale books come to mind, but will defer as 'not fleet'.

I've asked this question before, never got SO many answers, though Lost Fleet was mentioned before.

I had thought it was mostly groppo combat, but have been schooled different. Still hunting a copy in the basement…

Doug

I highly recommend this series.

TMP link

Through Struggle, the Stars: thehumanreach.net

The web site is well worth exploring on its own. Good ship information and more in the Setting section.

"The Human Reach is the setting for the novels Through Struggle, the Stars and The Desert of Stars, as well as future books. It is a world in which the laws of physics are obeyed, and the politics are an all-too-real extrapolation of today's."

"The first novel, Through Struggle, the Stars, begins in 2139. A network of artificial wormholes has allowed humanity to reach nearby stars, where nations fiercely compete to settle new colony worlds. War is imminent between Earth's great powers for reasons no one fully understands. Midwest Book Review calls Through Struggle, the Stars "a fine and fast-paced read, very much recommended" and the venerable Analog magazine praises it as "all good, great fun." On Amazon.com, it has been ranked in the top 10 bestsellers in War fiction and Space Opera, and in the top 600 books overall."

"The sequel, The Desert of Stars, was released in March 2013."

"Both stories, and the web site, feature art by renowned science fiction illustrator and Atomic Rocketeer Winchell Chung."

I can recommend both of those above and the Ark Royal series on Kindle.

Seconded! The Ark Royal series is quite good and has a very "wing commander" feel to it. Btw, if you can find them since they are long out of print, the Wing Commander novel series is pretty good, written by various authors including William Fortschen, Andrew Keith and Christopher Stasheff.

I read the first Lost Fleet book and while it was okay I have to admit I'm in no rush to read any more in the series (although I'm sure I probably will at some point). Currently reading Ark Royal which is entertaining enough although the author's style leaves a lot to be desired as he is constantly switching (within the same scene!) between character's names/ranks/formality etc. For example.

Captain, no it was Commander now, Fitzwilliam watched as Captain Smith entered the bridge. Ted made his way over to the command chair and sat down and beckoned for Fitzwilliam to join him; James sighed inwardly as he walked over to the chair that should have been his.

Ted and Captain Smith are the same person, as are James and Fitzwilliam, but the author switches between how he addresses them, sometimes within the same line! Aargh! I think the only reason I'm still reading is that the Ark Royal is basically the Galactica from nuBSG (old, archaic, thick armor, washed up captain, savior of the human race etc) but I'm rapidly running out of patience for the writing style. There are some good ideas in here but Nuttall desperately needs a good editor/proofreader.

For all the problems with Weber's Harrington books, the early ones especially will always be the standard I expect SF naval books to reach for (barring the long expository explanations of tech etc that frequently interrupt the narrative). The later ones though went in a less appealing direction and scale which is why I think I'm currently running two books behind in the series lol.

+1 to the Wing Commander books, at least the ones by Fortschen; I just finished one up recently and it resulted in adding more not-WC fighters to my next Studio Bergstrom order.

No hope of science, but Michael Stackpole's Rogue Squadron books for Star Wars were fun if you're a fan of sci-fantasy naval action (I think there were 8 in total, although that might include Wraith Squadron).

I'll give a plug for an obscure oldie – Fire on the Border by Kevin O'Donnell. Out of print, but usually a copy floating on ebay.

R. M. Meluch's "Tour of the Merrimack is sailing ships in space. broadsides and boarding actions with swords. Wasn't impressed with this book. The captain is never on the bridge. He is always running around the ship with a sword fighting in melee. The second book was a little bit better.

I highly recommend this series.

Sorry, found it a bit annoying to have to hit a link, then hit another one before actually knowing of what you spoke:

TMP link

So, the first one is single frigate? How large are the actions of the last two?

+1 to the Wing Commander books, at least the ones by Fortschen,,,

May I quote you on the used book shelf I have at the store? Those NEVER sell. ;->=

However you felt about the rest of the movie, I could watch the assault on Pegasus station over and over and…

And have, with the soundtrack off.

Doug

So, the first one is single frigate? How large are the actions of the last two?

Small squadronal action(s) the second and a larger squadron action in the third. The first one is quite good as the opponent is not quite what one would expect…

Hope that helps.

@TheBeast – sure!

I just picked up "This Corner of Space"…

Thanks for the recommendation

In the old classics department, try Doc Smith's Lensman series. Ya gotta love combat carried out with "ravening beams of coruscating force".

I'd second (third, or forth….) the 'Lost Fleet' series. Not brilliant, but the writing is always competent, the fleet actions are generally well thought out and the main character succeeds due to skill, rather than insane luck and secret technology (I'm looking at you, Honor Harrington….)! Fun and quick reads.

I also read the first two books of the 'Star Carrier' series, and while it has FIGHTERS (argh) it's also fairly well written and has an interesting technological background that (so far) seems to be well thought out. So I'd give it a read too.

-Will

Thanks to EMcKinney's recommendation, I just bought and downloaded the Human Reach books to date.

Cheap enough, will let you know what I think about them when I get the chance.

Hope that helps.

A bunch! Still not quite the scale I would have hoped, but sounds like it's getting there.

Course, as a fan of anime's Heldensagen Vom Kosmosinsel, and while I decry plot and character in Lensmen, I've got to love the scope of a conflict in two galaxies passing through each other, it's hard to find ANYTHING big enough. ;->=

Since the call was for 'books', I could mention the manga associated with the anime…

Any other suggestions? More, more, more!

Doug

There are also the Leary books (With the Lightnings, Lt. Leary Commanding, etc.) by David Drake. Mostly single ship actions and lots of skullduggery on the ground, but Drake does occasionally throw in a fleet action or two.

Very "sailing ships in space" but the writing is well done.

Rob