Early 90s library novels by one author

[Parker McCombe]

I'm trying to find some books I read in school in the early 90s which I think we're all by the same author, though two or more were connected. Two I read in School library and two in my local library, here's what I remember.

One book I think had short stories or a particularly long chapter on a siege on an alien world in which teenage cadet trainees barricaded themselves inside their training centre on an alien world when spidery-bug creatures attacked. I'm unsure as to whether this was in the same book or different one to the same cadet training on a starship under a female instructor whom he was attracted to. I think they were seperate books but not 100% sure.

Of the other two books one featured a character returned to or was on Earth or an outpost where there had maybe been some sort of coup or rebellion and he was running around trying to hide and not get captured. There was a lot of boring exposition during this one that I forgot almost straight away, but there was some cool stuff going on.

The final book was a group of teenagers crash landed on an alien planet. I remember one sequence where they fought a huge mate day like thing that jumped out of a large river they had built a raft for and were traveling down. That's all I can recall, i think I was about 11 or 12.

They were not newly published, at least a few years old so I'm thinking 80s, though maybe late 70s although obviously these may not have been first editions.

There were in the school library and children's/teens section of the public library so it's safe to say they weren't adult fare.

Thank you for your time, I hope someone can help me.

 

[hitmouse]

The first one could be Starship Trooprs by Robert Heinlein.

 

[PaulMmn]

The cadet training on a starship could have been The Forever War (By Joe Haldeman). Or perhaps Ender's Game (by Orson Scott Card).

 

[Parker McCombe]

Unfortunately I don't think it (or they) was any of these three, though I think it was heavily influenced by them. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered Starship Troopers from the movie being out a few years later anyway, and I read Ender's Game as a teenager and, though I might be mixing up elements, to me it felt like a very different type of book. Much more dirrivative. Forever War doesn't have any character names that ring a bell and that's usually what brings stuff back into clarity in my memory. The books seemed to have stranger made up names - I remember one as being Corad or Coric or something along those lines. I don't think any of the main characters had conventional names.

I feel like the first ones were not the first book and picking off after the first book or books of a series. I'm pretty sure both started completely in space with the character's back story established.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

I have a possibility, but the books were published in the 90s, mainly; they vaguely hit some of your key points. Sometimes, when it's been decades since I read some books, I can conflate different storylines into one series; on the chance that may have happened, and my suggestion might be part of what you're looking for, I'll offer The Seafort Saga:

Seafort Saga - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

by David Feintuch.

This probably isn't your series, but on a slim chance...

...I really loved these books once. Good luck finding your series, CC

 

[PaulMmn]

Unfortunately I don't think it (or they) was any of these three, though I think it was heavily influenced by them. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered Starship Troopers from the movie being out a few years later anyway, and I read Ender's Game as a teenager and, though I might be mixing up elements, to me it felt like a very different type of book. Much more dirrivative. Forever War doesn't have any character names that ring a bell and that's usually what brings stuff back into clarity in my memory. The books seemed to have stranger made up names - I remember one as being Corad or Coric or something along those lines. I don't think any of the main characters had conventional names.

I feel like the first ones were not the first book and picking off after the first book or books of a series. I'm pretty sure both started completely in space with the character's back story established.

Starship Troopers - the book, is a whole lot different than Starship Troopers - the movie.