"Which books influenced current Military SF?" Topic

Which books do you feel laid the foundation for current military themed SF books?
A. Verne "Msster of the World"
B. Verne "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
C. Verne "Robur the Conqueror"
D. Wells "War of the Worlds"
E. Wells "The Shape of Things to Come"
F. Wells "When the Sleeper Wakes"
G. Wells "The Land Ironclads"
H. Chesney "The Battle of Dorking"
I. Piper "Uller Uprising"
J. Heinlein "Starship Troopers"

Can you think of others that I haven't listed?

J

The Mote in God's Eye. Pournelle and Niven.

J if going from your list but books like the Lensman series probably were an influence also (not all Military SF is ground based. Spaceship combat comes into play also).

"Books" excludes several important pieces of fiction for being too short. But they were not without influence. I"d add
Keith Laumer's "Bolo" stories, from which we get "Ogre" and all its descentants.
Fred Saberhagen's "Berserker" stories--the self-reproducing machines out to exterminate life--and
David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" stories with the atomic-powered tanks with armor heavy enough to stay in the game.

In books, I think Andre Norton deserves at least an honorable mention for cross-tech and SF weapons vs magic/psionics. Star Guard and the first two "Witch World" books, especially. And I think Piper's Space Viking might have been more influential than Uller UPrising

Hmm. In terms of space combat Doc Smith of course--but also Ed "World Wrecker" Hamilton, who tends to be more influential than read these days. And perhaps Malcolm Jameson--but I could be biased there. I imprinted on Bullard of the Space Patrol pretty early.

Now, if we were talking SF RPGs and not miniatures games, the names to conjure with would be C. L. Moore, Leigh Brackett, "Doc" Smith, Edmond Hamilton, and Jack Williamson.

And anyone who thinks GW's Squats were without a literary foundation has never had to cope with Dutch-Valerians with space axes.

I talk too much.

Actually, I was talking more about the classic 19th Century works that provided the foundation for more modern military themed SF. I don't disparage some of the suggestions, but were they really foundational works or extrapolations?

I was being polite. Many of those 19th Century works are foundational to science fiction, but not really to military SF gaming, and not often even to military SF.

I'd grant you "Dorking." It really is the first "next war" story, and from there the line runs straight to When William Came, The Riddle of the Sands and Third World War 1985 series, which includes Team Yankee.

Verne's a great read, but nothing follows--unless it's perhaps Fu Manchu or James Bond in the movies, where some lunatic with an invention is out to conquer the world.

Wells--if you except "Sleeper" where he famously "sold his birthright for a pot of message"--speculates intelligently about alien invasions or future warfare. Good solid foundational SF, but not really influential in military SF or SF gaming. He had no military background, and it shows.

The names I listed are roughly contemporary with Heinlein and Piper. Smith, Moore, Hamilton and Williams I think all published ahead of either of them. Drake is about half a generation younger.

If you want a 19th Century text, try Serviss' 1898 Edison's Conquest of Mars--a shameless unauthorized sequel to The War of the Worlds, but hugely influential in military and semi-military SF. An amazing number of "firsts" for something few people have even heard of.

For Space Combat, I'd go with the Horatio Hornblower and Aubrey/Maturin series for the "Battleship" combats of, say, Weber and Drake.