Space Battles and Pew-Pew!!1!

Tower75

Tower75

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Good [insert your time of day here], all.

Can anyone recommend a good scifi book/series with some good space battles in 'em?

I really like the Helfort novels, I really enjoy the science and technical thought that's been put into the battles - ships are millions of kilometres from each other, it takes 24 minutes for a salvo to reach the enemy, you have to predict where the ships are going to be as an object that's in motion stays in motion*, etc.

Something similar to that, or the like would be greatly pounced upon.

To some extent I like the Honor Harrington books too, but I find David Webber's work a bit of a slog at times.

Thanks, all.

*Additional: anyone else get annoyed in scifi shows/books when a ship's engine is knocked out and the ship stops moving? Find some air-resistance in that vacuum did ya?
 
Have you tried our very own P J Strebor's work (@Droflet)? Gets great reviews and is often compared to Weber. And you're supporting a Chrons author!

Also, Peter F Hamilton gets plaudits for his space work.
 
Hey Tower. Yes I would suggest PJ Strebor too! Guys like Richard Fox with the Ember War and the uber popular Nick Webb Legacy books have been a lot of fun. Lots of pew pew in them.

Isaac Hooke has a cool new series out. I havent started it yet, but have the first book.
 
Jo Zebedee said:
Also, Peter F Hamilton gets plaudits for his space work.
Click to expand...
Ha! Makes it sound like he works for NASA or something. I can imagine his diary entry as "Tuesday: popped in for a cuppa at the international space station. Did a spot of space work while I was there - nothing major, just diverted an asteroid.":D:LOL:

I can vouch for his space work though: detailed, highly researched SF. He spends about a year before even starting each manuscript.(y)
 
Tower75 said:
I really like the Helfort novels, I really enjoy the science and technical thought that's been put into the battles - ships are millions of kilometres from each other, it takes 24 minutes for a salvo to reach the enemy, you have to predict where the ships are going to be as an object that's in motion stays in motion*, etc.
Click to expand...

Reminds me somewhat of the Jack Campbell Lost Fleet series, if you can get past the initial premise. The space battles themselves can become somewhat abstract, but the way they account for the vast distances of space and time is unique. Series starts with Dauntless. Short and sharp books.
 
The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook . A Great book . I rather liked his take on Space Battles. (y)
 
Thanks, all.

Some good recommendations there.

I must admit, I tried the Lost Fleet series, but I really struggled to get into the story. I might give it another try.

I keep meaning to read Hamilton. The size of his work is a little daunting; considering I'm still on page 270 of a 360-odd novel at the moment, I think I started it in September. Eh, life.

I see that book hiding in your avatar, Jo Zebedee. What's that? :sneaky: [Runs off to Goodreads] Yeah, I'll have that one too. Thanks. (y)

Pray tell, what is the book of P J Strebor?
 
Tower75 said:
Thanks, all.


I see that book hiding in your avatar, Jo Zebedee. What's that? :sneaky: [Runs off to Goodreads] Yeah, I'll have that one too. Thanks. (y)

Pray tell, what is the book of P J Strebor?
Click to expand...

Ha, yes, I hide books in my avatar. (They do have some space stuff in them, but the focus is firmly on the characters in my stuff. But the odd space ship scene creeps in there.) Ty.

P J Strebor's first book is Uncommon Purpose.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A01REKM/?tag=id2100-20
 
I can confirm that Hamilton has some awesome space battles, but they are only a small portion of his books so you would have to read a fair bit to get to them. But the build up is very much worth it, particularly the night's dawn trilogy, not so much the commonwealth saga though (due to the nature of interstellar travel)....
 
I will third or fourth Hamilton. For me the Commonwealth Series has some awesome battles, Nights Dawn trilogy also does and so does Fallen Dragon one of his standalones.

Walter John Williams: Dread Empires Fall Series - Probably one of the most "realistic" set of space battles, maneuvers with G forces and target acquisition etc etc all make for a very technical battle - I expect this would be how space battles would play out.

Micheal Cobley - Humanity's Fire Series - Some pretty cool space battles and a lot of talk about military etc

Gary Gibson - The Shoal Sequence - Some really interesting space battles in the first two books.

Kevin J Andersons - Saga of Seven Suns - Probably has the most space combat of any I have listed - the whole series premise is based around an interstellar war with multiple factions and species.

Dan Simmons - Hyperion Cantos - There are limited battles and these seem to revolve around the core concept of time-debt. I found it very interesting though.

Lois McMaster Bujold - Vorkosigan - A lot of Bujolds Vorkosigan stuff has wormholes and interstellar fleets and is specifically Milatiristic in parts (this does vary depending on the novel as Bujold liked to mix things up.

Anyway those are the authors from the top of my head with notable space battles, I hope this helps!
 
SilentRoamer said:
I will third or fourth Hamilton. For me the Commonwealth Series has some awesome battles, Nights Dawn trilogy also does and so does Fallen Dragon one of his standalones.

Walter John Williams: Dread Empires Fall Series - Probably one of the most "realistic" set of space battles, maneuvers with G forces and target acquisition etc etc all make for a very technical battle - I expect this would be how space battles would play out.

Micheal Cobley - Humanity's Fire Series - Some pretty cool space battles and a lot of talk about military etc

Gary Gibson - The Shoal Sequence - Some really interesting space battles in the first two books.

Kevin J Andersons - Saga of Seven Suns - Probably has the most space combat of any I have listed - the whole series premise is based around an interstellar war with multiple factions and species.

Dan Simmons - Hyperion Cantos - There are limited battles and these seem to revolve around the core concept of time-debt. I found it very interesting though.

Lois McMaster Bujold - Vorkosigan - A lot of Bujolds Vorkosigan stuff has wormholes and interstellar fleets and is specifically Milatiristic in parts (this does vary depending on the novel as Bujold liked to mix things up.

Anyway those are the authors from the top of my head with notable space battles, I hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Cracking list. Many thanks.
 
Oh ok so I just thought of some more:

Joe Haldeman: Forever War - This is specifically militaristic and is one of the few novels I have read where relativity plays a key role in the developing battles. I have a review Here although I must add there are spoilers in the review.

Orson Scott Card: Enders Game - This focuses quite heavily on Ender and his use of unconventional military tactics. (I found the whole space room antics very enjoyable)

Robert Heinlein:Starship Troopers - What I like about this in terms of space battles is it gives you the view of the grunt, not the captain or staffers just a good old cannon fodder in human form.

Timothy Zahn: The Thrawn Trilogy - Loads of space battles and jedis, and droids. I really liked these novels and was pleasantly surprised at the star wars feel (the characters felt like direct extensions of the films) and by the writing quality.

Ill take a look through my bookshelves when I get home and see if any others jump out at me.
 
Another author I've just read who may be of interest is Michael R Hicks. I've not written my review yet but he writes reasonably well and has very detailed shoot them up space and land based battles (probably more on the land based ones to be fair). I'm not sure I'd recommend them as they have a lot of faults (mainly how every major character is just so so so perfect at something - varies between characters but they are all the very best at something!). He is a very prolific self-publisher and there's plenty out there that love him as well as plenty that... don't.

However the reason I bring him up is that the first chronological book (the one I've read) in his In Her Name series is currently free as an ebook on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004IPQE0I/?tag=brite-21 so you can at least try without risk!
 
The best space battles I've read recently are in Isaac Hooke's Captain's Cruicble series. They're at a reasonable level of realism (about Honorverse level) and include some interesting tech. (I especially like the way drone technology is used)

What really makes them stand out for me is that they're tactically interesting. Both sides use the 'geography' of space to great effect and neither burn their ships up as cannon fodder - they want to win with minimum casualties and jostle for decisive strikes on the opposing fleets.

Of course, on occasion, it does decend into a good ole fashioned furball. :)
 
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