Best war fiction books according to redditors
We found 890 Reddit comments discussing the best war fiction books. We ranked the 328 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 890 Reddit comments discussing the best war fiction books. We ranked the 328 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Janny Wurts - War of Light and Shadow plays around with this concept. I don't remember precisely, its been 13 years. Also, it may be an incomplete series - not sure.
http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0618706410
This?
Not superglue, but has anyone read Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War? In the opening chapters a soldier had a leech crawl up in his penis. Of course as it expanded from the blood it sucked it restricted urination. They eventually had to cut the side of penis to relieve the pressure. The soldier was described as being in a ton of pain. How accurate the event is can be anyone's guess but this will make any guy cringe.
EDIT: It's written by Karl Marlantes
Check Amazon first and look at the Omnibus editions of some of the pre-Horus Heresy books. They're a better bang for the buck in my opinion and it's really great to get deep into the 40k stuff before you start the HH to see how far they backslid from the ideas of The Great Crusade.
Soul Drinkers (those poor, dumb bastards)
Word Bearers (hella grimdark)
Iron Warriors
Space Wolves
Etc.
You talked to the right guy! If you want an awesome point of view and introduction (or just great stories if you are already a fan) to the Warhammer 40k universe I suggest you read the following in the order I put them:
Eisenhorn Omnibus
Ravenor Omnibus
The Emperor's Gift
All these are intertwined, there is another trilogy to follow up Eisenhorn and Ravenor but only the first book has been release for that so far. The Eisenhorn Trilogy are three of my favorite books and I read from many, many sources outside of WH40k
Ah my bad, it is called "Outside context".
And the reference to that
>Reference to the Iain M. Banks book Excession. The author coined >the term "Outside Context Problem" to indicate a surprising and >unexpected situation, such as an invasion by massively superior >alien force occuring in the middle of World War 2.
For SciFi bookworms probably more interesting: https://www.amazon.com/Balance-Alternate-History-Second-Worldwar/dp/0345388526/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494493466&sr=1-1&keywords=harry+turtledove+world+war
It's 15 hours btw. And it refers to the average life expectancy of a Imperial Guardsman on the frontline against orks.
(the guard is one of the most interesting factions as it's composed of baseline humans in flak-jackets fighting hyper-violent fungus, planet-stripping hive monsters and literal demons.)
> he's not attempting to indoctrinate myself with his own beliefs through his writing.
He is now. Check out Empire.
> Right-wing rhetoric trumps the logic of story and character in this near-future political thriller about a red-state vs. blue-state American civil war, an implausibly plotted departure from Card's bestselling science fiction (Ender's Game, etc.). When the president and vice-president are killed by domestic terrorists (of unknown political identity), a radical leftist army calling itself the Progressive Restoration takes over New York City and declares itself the rightful government of the United States. Other blue states officially recognize the legitimacy of the group, thus starting a second civil war. Card's heroic red-state protagonists, Maj. Reuben "Rube" Malek and Capt. Bartholomew "Cole" Coleman, draw on their Special Ops training to take down the extremist leftists and restore peace to the nation. The action is overshadowed by the novel's polemical message, which Card tops off with an afterword decrying his own politically-motivated exclusion from various conventions and campuses, the "national media elite" and the divisive excesses of both the right and the left.
You should expect most answers on the official subreddit for the series to be pretty biased. Most people who hated AFFC of ADWD aren't here because they've dropped off by now, even if they were big fans and waiting for TWOW
Here are the problems with the last 2 books, and you can use this very rough and short list to determine if you wanna keep reading:
For some people, that stuff sounds appealing--those people are telling you in the comments right now that AFFC is their favorite in the series. For some, that stuff is super duper boring. Parts of season 4 and all of season 5 cover the important bits though, so if that sounds painful just watch those episodes. The show characters are very different from the book characters, so expect to be disoriented.
Book recommendations would be The First Law trilogy for fantasy, and Welcome to the Multiverse for scifi.
I could never get into Clancy, no matter how hard I tried. I always feel like I'm reading a Wikipedia article on a piece of military equipment.
The hands down best fiction book on the Soviet way of war is the Red Army by Ralph Peters, he captures the Soviet military mindset perfectly. The barely controlled chaos one would expect in such a war is faithfully described. It's the "little" details, like say traffic jams, that would play a huge role, but are overlooked by most authors without a military background.
It's simply great, I couldn't recommend it enough.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Army-Ralph-Peters/dp/1451636695
Alright lets do this.
Fantasy:
You like friendship and grimdark? You get the Slayer series:
http://www.amazon.com/Gotrek-Felix-First-Omnibus-Novels/dp/1844163741/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426257019&sr=1-1&keywords=gotrek+and+felix+omnibus
You like malice and conniving and plot twists? You get the Darkblade Series:
http://www.amazon.com/Chronicle-Malus-Darkblade-Warhammer-Anthology/dp/1844165639/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426257058&sr=1-1&keywords=darkblade+omnibus
You like the Empire n shit? They did a whole series about every "part" of the army:
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Omnibus-Warhammer-Chris-Wraight/dp/1849705879/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=15PKR46KZZN2847VPRMN
The omnibus contains the arty, pikemen, and 2handed swords companies. There is also a Reiksguard book and some others.
40k:
You like comedy? You get Ciaphus Cain (currently 2 omnibus, books getting a bit stale now but the early ones are good):
http://www.amazon.com/Ciaphas-Cain-Hero-Imperium-Novels/dp/1844164667
You like philosophy (kinda)? You get the Night Lords series:
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Lords-Aaron-Dembski-Bowden/dp/184970676X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426256834&sr=1-1&keywords=night+lords+omnibus
You like pure bloody action? You get any of the Gaunts Ghosts:
http://www.amazon.com/Gaunts-Ghosts-Founding-Dan-Abnett/dp/1844163695/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426256866&sr=1-2&keywords=gaunts+ghost+omnibus
You like the movie The Dirty Dozen? You get The Last Chancers:
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Chancers-Warhammer-000-Novels/dp/1844163008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426256913&sr=1-1&keywords=last+chancers+omnibus
You want all the pre-lore in the game? You start collecting the Horus Heresy books (up to like 30 of em):
http://www.amazon.com/Horus-Heresy-Box-Volumes-1-12/dp/1849708290/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426256963&sr=1-2&keywords=horus+heresy
I got plenty more. But these are good places to start. If you like one race in particular over others, let me know and I can recommend some race specific books for you.
Terms of Enlistment + sequel, by Marko Kloos.
John Birmingham covers a scenario like this in these books: http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Choice-Axis-Time-Trilogy/dp/0345457137
There's a whole series based upon The Road not Taken by the same author. It's called the Worldwar series and starts with In The Balance:
http://www.amazon.com/In-Balance-Alternate-History-Worldwar/dp/0345388526
It's pretty good if you like that kind of scifi or military fiction in general.
I need to read it again.
Favorite military book for me, read once and then again on station, was Red Army by Ralph Peters, available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Army-Ralph-Peters/dp/1451636695
Fifteen hours. Best IG novel by far.
If you want exaggerated stories of heroes overcoming impossible odds, sure, go ahead and buy stuff like Gaunt's Ghosts. You'll be basically reading about Space Marines.
If you want a brutal, ultra realistic novel about how shitty life is in a warzone as a grunt in the Imperial Guard, get Fifteen Hours. Best Black Library book by far.
http://www.amazon.com/Fifteen-Hours-Warhammer-40-000/dp/1844162311
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. He also wrote A Thousand Splendid Suns.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
I’m reading this for my library’s adult book discussion in three weeks. I got lucky because it’s available in KU! It’s a personal account of the Vietnam War.
Although you are looking for novels related to WWI or WWII, the book The Things They Carried relates to the Vietnam War, but has very little to do with it. The collection of short stories follows a variety of characters with all very different backgrounds. I do not believe you must know a lot about the political context of the war to understand the effects it had on the characters. Lastly, the collection is classified as fiction but there appear to be some very real moments because O'Brien was in the Vietnam War. Worth a quick read.
Personally, if you're just starting out, I'd go with the Ultramarines Omnibus by Graham McNeill.
He's considered one of GW's top authors, and the whole trilogy is fantastic.
It scales up really well too, and will teach you a lot from a basic start.
It's also mega cheap on amazon!
Hey. That's not entirely true.
I'll have you know the average life expectancy of an Imperial Guardsman in combat is a healthy Fifteen Hours
I still remember a tag-line in a White Dwarf was something like
> "2 months training, 1 week transport, average life expectancy: FIFTEEN HOURS"
Believe it or not, there are scrubnut Space Marines, just like there are shitty superheroes. If Iron Man and War Machine are up against nameless, cannon fodder Space Marines, then they'll get a win, easily.
I've read The Ultramarine Omnibus, Heroes of the Space Marines, Victories of the Space Marines, and probably a couple of other books that I'm forgetting. One of the things that you'll find in each of those collections are examples of Space Marines getting their asses kicked as easily as regular soldiers. It's a little odd that these relatively rare, extremely disciplined, well-trained, power armor-wearing super soldiers can die easily at times, but it happens.
For example, in the novel Nightbringer, a company of Ultramarines traveled to the planet Pavonis to deal with a civil uprising. They were in a governor's mansion when (if I remember correctly) a Chaos portal opened up and some dog-like Chaos creatures emerged. These Chaos dogs raced through the mansion until they found a door guarded by two Ultramarines, who they promply eviscerated.
These Chaos dogs weren't particularly powerful, either. Minutes after the Ultramarine guards were killed, a lone Inquisitor wearing street clothes and armed with a plasma pistol killed one of these beasts pretty easily. Those two Ultramarines just sucked.
Another example: the opening cinematic to Warharmmer 40K: Dawn of War II. Look how easily the faceless Blood Ravens died. The captain was a badass, but the men under his command were kinda lame.
If Iron Man and War Marchine fight a single, lameass Space Marine, then the fight's theirs.
http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Choice-Axis-Time-Trilogy/dp/0345457137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376926573&sr=8-1&keywords=weapons+of+choice
Here ya go.
The Ultramarines Omnibus by Graham McNeill has a section that involves them defending Tarsis Ultra from a splinter force from Tyranids hive fleet Leviathan.
I considered whole book to be a good read
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultramarines-Omnibus-Warhammer-000/dp/1844164039
You need to edit this comment ASAP with a link to purchase :-)
Edit
hardcover
paperback
kindle
What do you mean by modern? What kind of material do you want?
Do you want to include Grozny and Chechnya? Afghanistan?
I actually do have a few things that come to mind, though unfortunately most of it (all?) is written by the opposite side's perspective.
This PDF is a summary of lessons learned by the Ukrainians during the conflict with Russia, dated 2015. It relies solely on Ukrainian sources, but it does talk at length about what the Russians are doing, and includes the most recent use of Russian combined arms warfare.
Red Thrust by Zaloga devotes a surface level scenario to every branch of the Soviet army during a late-80s conventional war. While it wasn't written by a Soviet, it certainly has a fair bit of research behind it, and it makes a nice primer. I actually posed a tactical question to the sub about the book earlier, the comments here are quite insightful.
Fangs of the Lone Wolf is written, similar to Red Thrust, as a series of tactical vignettes from the Chechen wars, albeit entirely from the Chechen perspective. In it's attempts to be thorough, however, it cannot help but cover Russian tactics.
Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army is a much more thorough work than Zaloga's. It's only downside is that it's written by Westerners during the Cold War. It primarily focuses on company sized units and above, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit dull at times, but it's professional level material, and very good for that.
Although it's only a web article, perhaps this post about the Soviet tactics used in Afghanistan could be of merit to you?
Lastly, a personal favourite of mine is Red Army by Ralph Peters. It takes the typical WW3 techno-thriller and flips it on it's head - it is solely from the perspective of the Soviet ground forces, and is a remarkably down to earth and human war novel. While hardly a technical work, Peters is no fool when it comes to either military matters or writing, and the novel is a delight.
This alt history novel series is an excellent read. Although in this series, both the Allies and the Axis powers received tactics and technologies from the future in story.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
I like the 'Going Home' series.
With Wings Like Eagles
The Blonde Knight of Germany
Stuka Pilot Be forewarned, the man was an unrepentant Nazi.
Samurai!
Edit: If you want some non-aviation but still military books:
Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918 World War I and Its Violent Climax
The Last Battle
Slaughterhouse 5 Fiction
The Things They Carried
To Hell and Back
But by far, my favorite series:
The first trilogy follows the Island of Nantucket, which is thrown back to the bronze age and loses access to high-energy physics. The Emberverse is the rest of the world (though mostly the US) who stay in present day, but also lose access to high-energy physics.
If you want to go more Sci-Fi, I'm currently reading and enjoying:
Also on my list to read:
Great, guess I'm on another tank battle kick. Good a time as any to re-read Red Army.
The list was too long to fit into a self-post, here is the continuation.
Prolific Authors: (5+ Books)
Science Fiction with apocalyptic elements:
Literally everyone in this thread should go read Kill Decision.
It's a sci-tech action thriller by a relatively new author who writes in the vein of Ludlum and Clancy - the book takes place in a scary potential near-future of autonomous drone swarm attacks occuring in the US, the shadow organizations who control them, and the spec-ops team trying to stop them.
This video is straight out of its pages, including that hellish noise and local-to-macro communication - it's frightening.
It won't at all.
I'd say the show ran through the book material before season 1 even ended.
If you're interested in some other alternate history / Scifi, I can recommend a series more in the style of Tom Clancy than Phillip K Dick. Axis of Time Trilogy. It's more action orientated and there is time travel involved, but I found it checks a lot of the same boxes MITHC does in keeping my attention.
https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Choice-Axis-Time-Trilogy/dp/0345457137
Sounds like you like short books with easy reading and heavier themes?
Maybe give World War Z (Journalist interviews people around the world trying to piece together events before, during, and after a zombie outbreak - lots of political commentary and survival skills in there) or The Things They Carried (interconnected short stories about the Vietnam War) a try?
You could also try more John Green, or some of his suggestions from this sub.
If you'd rather stick to classics, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 are the dystopias you're "supposed" to read immediately following 1984.
Any of these three series I recommend as modern-day Lord of the Rings classics
Eisenhorn, books 1-3 of a 9 book series are simply the best books I've ever read - the series is currently on book 7. I recommend Eisenhorn to anyone that just likes to read. Books 4-6 are just as good, called Ravenor, with the 7th book in the series now out, called Pariah.
Another amazing series of books I love are the Old Man's War books, effectively a series of 6 books with some short stories in between and the last book being broken up into thirteen short stories (such was the demand for the books while they were being written). Fantastic, fantastic series - I recommend them to anyone.
I also love and recommend The Dark Tower series, 7 books. They're the only thing written by King that I've liked.
I have mostly nonfiction recommendations, but hope the following are of some use to you! I used these in my classroom in the past year with much success.
I can edit and add more fiction later when I get home, and look over my bookshelf as well.
World War II
"In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" by Erik Larsen - highly recommend, especially if you are familiar with Larsen's previous book, The Devil in White City
"The Monuments Men" by Robert M. Edsel - highly recommended, especially if you are interested in the juxtaposition of art, war, and espionage.
"Unbroken" - by Laura Hillenbrand, highly recommended. Hillenbrand's command of the language and prose coupled with the true story of Louis makes this a compelling read. Even my most reluctant readers couldn't put this done.
Vietnam War
"The Things They Carried" and "If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up, and Ship Me Home" by Tim O'Brien are quintessential war canon. Must reads.
Iraq/Afghanistan/Modern Military Operations:
"The Yellow Birds" by Kevin Powers was called "the modern AQOTWF" by Tom Wolfe. Pretty poignant book. Absolute MUST READ.
Swan Song - Robert McCammon Of the books I read last year this was my favorite.
Old Man's War - John Scazi - It's a pretty fun Military Sci-fi series
Leviathan Wakes - S. A. Corey - Near space, space opera.
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson - Epic Fantasy with an interesting magic system, good place to start with a popular author
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie - "Grimm Dark" fantasy, he does an interesting thing by playing with a LotR style quest.
The Black Prism - Brent Weeks - Interesting Magic system, one of my favorite ongoing fantasy series. Much better than his first trilogy IMHO
Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovitch - Funny urban fantasy series that takes place in London
His Majesty's Dragon - Namoi Novik - Napoleonic* war + dragon's, fun quick reads.
Sevenes - Neal Stephenson - Stand Alone sci-fi novel about human's trying to survive in space as the world ends.
I can suggest more if you want, and I assume you've probably read at least some of these. Hope you enjoy some of them at least though.
Not necessarily. You're assuming both sides have nuclear weapons. You're also assuming the US government is willing to unleash nuclear weapons on their own cities.
Orson Scott Card already wrote a book about this, called Empire
If the reading gets too grimdark for you, give the Cain series a shot.
Looks like that might be Worldwar by Harry Turtledove. Not sure if it's what the OP was talking about.
Do you like alternate history time travel? Check out John Birmingham's Axis of Time series. :
A US-led task force off Indonesia in 2021 finds itself sent back to 1942, just prior to the Battle of Midway. The novels deal with a rapidly altered version of World War II, and to a lesser extent the social changes that result amongst the Allied powers.
Here you go: https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-Law-Trilogy/dp/0316387312
I’m basically a book pusher where these are concerned.
I was also going to say The Things They Carried. I read that book in high school in my AP English class at same time we were studying the Vietnam war in History. The feelings that book left me with have never gone away.
I recently read Terms of enlistment by Marko Kloos and it had a very realistic basic training in the book.
You're getting lots of recommendations, so I'm just giving you the most recent one I have read that fits your description that I liked.
The Hobbit is always a favorite of mine. But otherwise, I can never recommend The Things They Carried enough. It's a fictional account of the Vietnam war, but it doesn't always seem that way. It's gritty and doesn't really spare you the horrors of the war and what people going through it had to deal with. Oh, raffle, My favorite book!
ETA: And if I happen to win, I'd love this book, since Dick Van Dyke is possibly my favorite person ever.
Frontlines series by Marko Kloos is on sale on Amazon (and then all audiobooks with excellent Luke Daniels narration are very cheap for owners of the Kindle version : )
Please double check prices before buying anything
Amazon Title |amaz| Audible Title |whisper
---------------|------|---------------|-------
Terms of Enlistment|$0.99|Terms of Enlistment|$1.99
Lines of Departure|$0.99|Lines of Departure|$1.99
Angles of Attack|$0.99|Angles of Attack|$1.99
Chains of Command|$1.99|Chains of Command|$1.99
Fields of Fire|$1.99|Fields of Fire|$1.99
Yes. Ralph Peters found it so bad that he wrote his own! It's much better!
Amazon link
Remind me of the Orson Scott Card novel about about an American coup. Main character dies halfway through, rather unsuspectingly, only to be replaced by a green recruit. It's called Empire and its really difficult to get through.
Salamanders Omnibus
Ultramarines Omnibus
Sons of Dorn (novel)
Soul Drinkers Omnibus
I was reading this WW3 novel; Soltau was one of the objectives for OPFOR (on its way to Weser river) and OPFOR destroys Luenberg as a propaganda thing
I know what you mean about story and meaning and context. I always liked history, but I'm drawn to the same types of books you are. Some of these might be eschewed by "proper" historians, but they're all great reads that manage to teach some history as well. If you're interested in the subject matter, you'd likely enjoy them.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Both are Pulitzer Prize winners, guy-ish and accessible literary fiction.
Also, James Elroy's L.A. trilogy, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential and White Jazz. An omg his autobiography My Dark Places.
My husband recommends anything by Jim Harrison.
EDIT: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
I personally like the Ciaphas Cain Omnibus.
The Ciaphas Cain stories are a little less grimdark 40k. They can be fairly light hearted, action packed and often humorous (a lot of pop culture references). It's enjoyable to read something that doesn't take itself too seriously after reading a lot of the dense 40k novels out there. It is not focused on space marines but that shouldn't be an issue.
Also they are dirt cheap on amazon, along with the first omnibus (books 1-3 plus 3 short stories) you could get the second omnibus (books 4-6 plus short stories) for $21 all together.
The World War series is really good, about aliens invading Earth in the middle of WWII. It starts with In The Balance
Another of my favorite Turtledove books is A Different Flesh, which a series of stories about the colonization of the New World where Homo erectus crossed from Asia instead of the ancestors of the Native Americans.
Agent of Byzantium is great, too. A series of stories in an alternate Byzantine Empire where Mohammed converted to Christianity instead of founding Islam.
Possibly Harry Turtledove's Part 1 in his WorldWar series.
http://www.amazon.com/Balance-Alternate-History-Second-Worldwar/dp/0345388526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323840078&sr=8-1
Dumped from my ~/docs/books.txt file:
Jonathon Stroud - The Bartimaeus Trilogy
John le Carre - Little Drummer Girl
Sloan Wilson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloan_Wilson
Norman Mailer - The Naked and the Dead
Storm of Steel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_of_Steel
Karl Marlantes - Matterhorn http://www.amazon.com/Matterhorn-Novel-Vietnam-Karl-Marlantes/dp/080211928X
Sharon Kay Penman
Neal Stephenson - Reamde: A Novel http://www.amazon.com/Reamde-Novel-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0061977969
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
1493 by Charles Mann
The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
The Storm of War by Andrew Roberts
The Worst Day by RJ Davin http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Day-RJ-Davin/dp/1921791624/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324288263&sr=1-7
Starship Troopers
Christopher Stasheff
Books by James Rollins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rollins
Noah Gordon
The Physician
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Physician
Books by Sheri Holman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheri_Holman
Books by Barry Eisler http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Eisler
Claire Messud - The Emporer's Children
Norman Rush
Robert Stone
James David Duncan
Cormac McCarthy
Zadie Smith
Eisenhorn is probably the best possible place to start in 40k. You get every possible angle of 40k explored in this omnibus as well as a some fantastic characters. Add Ravenor for flavor.
After that, dive into the military side of things with Gaunt's Ghosts. This covers primarily the Imperium vs Chaos side of the conflict, but also the internal conflicts the Imperium suffers from.
Now that you're thoroughly acquainted with the human side, view the universe through the eyes of the super-human Space Marines in The Ultramarines Omnibus. This series shows the strengths (and weaknesses) of the Space Marines as well as introducing the terrifying Chaos Space Marines more thoroughly.
Cry for death to the False Emperor with Soul Hunter. Follow up with the sequels in Void Stalker and Blood Reaver to get a very interesting perspectives from the Renegades.
Finally, finish your introductory odyssey with The Horus Heresy. You'll be reading how the modern universe came to be.
This is a "fuck-ton" of reading and will keep you busy for 6 months to a year or more before you finish. These series are the best of the best in the novel side of things. There are huge amounts more in the Army Codexes ^^that ^^you ^^should ^^be ^^able ^^to ^^find ^^for ^^$0 ^^on ^^"sharing" ^^sites and other excellent novels. PM me anytime and I'll happily answer questions/suggestions.
Wow, no one has mentioned the Worldwar series by Harry Turtledove yet? Aliens invade in the middle of World War II. It's super detailed & there's 6 or 7 fat, juicy books in the series.
A surprising number of these books were assigned reading from classes.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
And I'm currently reading a book recommended by an excellent redditor somewhere in this sub, Mad in America by Robert Whitaker
I'm not sure how "from scratch" the civ building needs to be, but I enjoyed the Island in the Sea of Time trilogy. It is about the island of Nantucket getting sent back in time to the Bronze Age. The small population must try and build a civilization from their small pocket of modernity.
Related is the Dies the Fire series, also by Sterling. This is about what would happen if all technology suddenly stopped working. The later books in the series get progressively more "fantasy," but the first few are about the different types of civilizations that crop up and the conflicts between them.
The Helmand province is one of the stricter areas of Aghanistan in terms of modesty and gender roles. Kabul has been and still is one of the more progressive cities in the nation.
If you're interested, check out A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's a really beautiful book about the lives of several women living in Kabul during the Taliban takeover in the 1980s. It's fiction, but the author is an Afghan man with a lot of experience, both personal and impersonal, on the subject.
By "Imperial Guard Book" do you mean the omnibus? If not -
Fifteen Hours by Mitchel Scanlon - Read this book if you find yourself getting worn out on the ol' 40k literature flaw of "The protagonist of this book is an invulnerable powerhouse who can defeat anybody ever." Fifteen hours is a paperback kick in the pants about a lowly guardsman trying not to die on the front lines of a planet he's not even supposed to BE on. It can also be found in the Imperial Guard Omnibus.
I second the votes for Eisenhorn, it'll make your Ravenor experience even better (coming from somebody who read Ravenor then Eisenhorn, I wish I had done it the other way around).
Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling.
Not exactly apocalypse, but the result of a world-shattering event regardless. And then his entire Change series. They're all excellent.
*Edit: Capitalization
Say no more fam.
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. Here's the amazon link. My suggestion is to go for a fun as hell book first. This one is a Modern Fantasy, so modern setting with a flare into the fantastic. This author is writing to entertain you by blowing the shit out of monsters (the bad ones), so he's not going to Saturday-morning-cartoon spoon feed you a moral message with a side of action. None of that "But what does the author realllly mean? No, oh no, this guy's going to give you elder vampires that tank direct mortar fire and sustained belt fed .50 cal's and C4 detonations and have them square off with a werewolf afterwords. Fun. As. Hell.
If you're feeling a blood and guts, swords and axes kinda book try The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie This guy is dark and grimy with his action, and once again, this guy is writing to entertain you, not give you something to talk about with friends that watch Oprah. This is more like John Wick movies smashed together with Braveheart and a smidge of Lord of the Rings.
Her best finished series is: Cycle of fire
Her best ongoing series: Wars of Light and Shadow
It's encompassing a lot of books now, and is coming out pretty slowly. However, read the first book to get a good feel for the overall plot.
Was the "Going Home" Series.
It's in the first book, linked below. Not a bad series.
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Home-Novel-Survivalist-American/dp/0142181277/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415568502&sr=8-1&keywords=going+home
KU is awesome for readers like you and I. Problem is the 'quality' of some of the writing.
​
There are several series buried in the tons of books available. The first one that comes to mind for me is Marko Kloos Frontline series beginning with Terms of Enlistment, its kinda dark but I read all six of the books he's done, having read all of them I believe he'll be back (or I hope he isn't done) to add more.
​
I've read thru quite a few others, mostly on the military scifi end, but if you're interested in fantasy, there are also a lot of books available in that genre too
The bobiverse is a good, fun, new one... Martin Kloos is great if he likes military scifi. Vernor Vinge is great with little or no bodily fluids, just spiders and dying civilisations...
Well, you raise an interesting question when you say you're after "book 'one' of the lore". I don't actually think there is such a thing.
See, 40k is more an environment, a genre, than a story-arc. So much goes on that is totally independent of everything else. And, in fact, with the Horus Heresy stuff a lot of it even happens in a totally different timeline. An analogy would be like asking for book-one in the Star Trek universe; you could pin down the very first thing that ever happened in terms of date, but it would bear zero resemblance to a lot of the more popular, better writing.
Now, I've been kicking around 40k fluff for, god, getting on for thirty years. And for my money the best place to start would be a set of books based around the Inquisition - since they're the ultimate enforcers of the Emperor's will in both Civil and Military matters they see rather more of human society than merely the battlefield. If you only buy one book make it the Ravenor omnibus by chap called Dan Abnett (he also wrote the Gaunt's Ghosts novels, as well as being one of the main writers of the Horus Heresy series, so he knows what he's on about).
The Ravenor books contained in this omnibus give you three things:
However, saying that, there's a few bits of free stuff kicking around the internet that are worth reading on their own merits. They're showing their age these days but hell, so am I:
The first is Deathwing, a short-story written as part of the release of Space Hulk; this was a board-game based around Space Marines in Terminator armour assaulting huge, ancient spaceships that appear every now and then, emerging from the Warp with no warning. In an ideal world they're empty and stuffed with delicious technology. However, a lot of the time they're filled with nasty surprises; hence the Terminators and their storm-bolters. Games Workshop are pretty good at deleting anything from the internet that violates their copyright, but a .pdf of it is here.
The second, though, is more important, and is basically as holy a piece of writing as you'll ever get in 40k. It's the story of the final, monumental, universe-deciding duel between The Emperor and his twisted, warped son Horus. Again, GW do an inquisition-grade job of purging it from the archives, but a copy of it is here, if you can excuse the advert at the start. Thinking how the Horus Heresy series will end, and how they'll revisit this, sends a shiver down my spine.
Anyway. Wall of text over. I hope you enjoy whatever it is that you choose in the end :-)
Oh yeah, it's a whole genre. The three that I have enjoyed the most are:
"Going Home " by A. American - Morgan is ~250 miles from home & family in Florida when everything fails / EMP, and he has to walk home. Book 1 of a series, Book 10 was just released a few days ago. Don't get too worried about the grammer / structure of Book 1, it was his debut book, and he has gotten better as an author, and editors are doing a better job.
There's a whole story about how the book came to be. https://www.amazon.com/Going-Home-Novel-Survivalist-American/dp/0142181277
"Deep Winter" by Thomas Sherry. Volcano erupts in Washington state. There's 4 or 5 books in this series. https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Winter-Thomas-Sherry-ebook/dp/B004J171BC
"Lights Out" by David Crawford. EMP event around Austin, Tx. I did enjoy the story, but some of the situations were just a bit too convenient (in my opinion ). https://www.amazon.com/Lights-Out-David-Crawford/dp/0615427359
Enjoy!
It definitely does, and Sanderson's work on the final 3 books was pretty inspired to say the least.
Also, check out
https://www.amazon.com/Lies-Locke-Lamora-Gentleman-Bastards-ebook/dp/B000JMKNJ2
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Kings-Brandon-Sanderson/dp/0765365278/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KRSFJE42GMR8VFGZGC72
https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-Law/dp/0316387312
https://www.amazon.com/Prince-Thorns-Broken-Empire-Lawrence/dp/1937007685/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492715571&sr=1-1&keywords=prince+of+thorns
>Post Apocalyptic Survival books
Dies the Fire, by SM Stirling
This is a series about what happens if our toys get taken away. Think modern people with medieval levels of technology. It's actually 3 series in one. There's this trilogy, a parallel trilogy, and a follow up series set 15 years from the end of the one I originally recommended.
Evan Currie, Marko Kloos, Craig Alanson, Josh Dalzelle; these are all writers I know for certain started as self-published authors. Also, probably H Paul Honsinger and Nick Webb.
If you want to sell self published MilSF, read and study the first books in all those series, and then emulate them.
http://www.amazon.com/Nightbringer-Ultramarines-Novel-Warhammer-000/dp/0743442997
^ This book, which is Book two in this book v
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultramarines-Omnibus-Warhammer-000/dp/1844164039/ref=cm_lmf_tit_1
Nam
I think it's fiction btw, but historical fiction and the author is an actual vet.
Some of my favorites are The Housekeepr and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I'm also a big fan of Walter Moers(German), but his books aren't everyone's thing. Goodreads might also be a good place to continue your search. I just did this search and found many books that would meet your requirements.
I'm about half way through the first one, Curse of the Mistwraith.
I don't think I can answer your question. It's self-evidently long. It would be hard for a ten book series not to be 'complex' in terms of plot at the very least.
Philosophical is in the eye of the beholder. It's certainly true that the problems seem to stem from the conflicting non-violent, non-avaricious ambitions of the main characters rather than from a desire to conquer or to hold back the evil overlord.
It's well-written but in a manner that will annoy some while over-joying others. My approach to such a quandary would be to read the first X pages and see how it hits you.
You can even 'look inside' on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Mistwraith-Wars-Light-Shadow/dp/0586210695/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1453371126&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=curse+of+the+mistwraith
Pick up a few of the books. I would read, in order:
Caiphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM
Gaunt's Ghosts
Eisenhorn
Ravenor
Those 4 will give you a fairly firm grounding of the lore and a feel for the universe. The first two are war books, the latter two focus on the inquisition.
I started with Ben Counter's Soul Drinkers omnibus and I was frickin' hooked!
http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Drinkers-Omnibus-Warhammer-Novels/dp/1844164160/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449252118&sr=1-3&keywords=warhammer+40k+Ben+Counter
The Things they Carried by Tim Obrien is basically exactly what you described.
I love Slaughterhouse Five!
Some favorites,
A Visit From the Goon Squad is worth mentioning because I know a lot of people really like it, but I couldn't get into it.
For easy reading veering into adult territory, I'd probably recommend some Tim O'Brien or Kurt Vonnegut. The Things They Carried (short fiction about the Vietnam War) or Slaughterhouse-Five (PTSD after the bombing of Dresden) are good starting points.
Now, if you just want "favorite adult books" of any difficulty, I've got a much longer list...
I would suggest Axis of Time trilogy. Its a time travel story where a multi-national America led armada in 2021 has time traveled into 1942.
Which two cultures clash? 2020's highly liberalized America and 1940s highly conservative society.
> Thousands died in the chaos, but the ripples had only begun. For these veterans of Pearl Harbor—led by Admirals Nimitz, Halsey, and Spruance—have never seen a helicopter, or a satellite link, or a nuclear weapon. And they’ve never encountered an African American colonel or a British naval commander who was a woman and half-Pakistani. While they embrace the armada’s awesome firepower, they may find the twenty-first century sailors themselves far from acceptable.
The 1940s people are totally shocked by an African American Lesbian officer. Some local people revolt against them, FDR wants to utilize them to win the war. Einstein is horrified to find out about Holocaust being committed in Europe. J Edgar Hoover is super pissed to hear about people from the future spreading rumors about him being gay. Well I don't wanna give too many spoilers, but its a pretty amazing culture clash story.
http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Choice-Axis-Time-Trilogy/dp/0345457137
I'm not 100% sure it's what you're looking for, but The Things They Carried is fantastic. It's a collection of short stories about soldiers in the Vietnam War, though I'm not sure if it has the grittiness I think you might be looking for. Worth checking out though. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0618706410
I'm sorry for your loss.
The first two people that come to mind are my childhood friends who were so close to me. We would hang out every day after school and all day during the summer. Football, swimming, exploring the creek. We did everything together. Come high school we all kind of drifted apart due to moving and I miss them. We rarely talk and I really need to change that. But whatever they are going through or doing right now, I wish them well. This song hits so close to home.
[Item] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002TWIVNA/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_7?colid=1SIUS7LA411J7&coliid=I3TY6QXRCEA39A)
Thanks for the contest.
This is the first book in his 8 book series that explores similar themes, discussed in a few other replies.
https://www.amazon.com/Balance-Alternate-History-Second-Worldwar/dp/0345388526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484408647&sr=8-1&keywords=in+the+balance
It's a real good read. It's not comedic, no, haha.
Here's the first volume on Amazon.
Read this: https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-Law/dp/0316387312
Hi Ivan! If you like military stories you should check out The Things They Carried. This is a book that many American students are required to read in high school and college. I think you'll enjoy it.
I see this and think of these books.
https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Decision-Daniel-Suarez/dp/0451417704
This is from The Things They Carried, which is one of my favorite books of all time. True to your excerpt, it's a very interesting interplay of fiction and autobiography.
what about:In the Balance: An Alternate History of the Second World War (Worldwar, Volume 1) by Harry Turtledove.
http://www.amazon.com/In-Balance-Alternate-History-Worldwar/dp/0345388526
I really liked the book Red Army by Ralph Peters, I rank it right up there with Red Storm Rising.
It never covers the reasons for the war, it is pretty much just from a military perspective although it dances around from the privates, to mid level officers to the generals. And as the title implies, it is primarily from the point of the view of the Red Army, and I think it does a fantastic job at humanizing them (even though I will always root for the US, I did feel bad when some of the characters died).
Next up
Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez
Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:
Amazon Smile Link: Control Point
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Matterhorn is not only the best war novel I have ever read, it is one of the best books I have read period.
I'm still haunted by it.
Thanks for the input guys. One thing to clarify, was it reissued? I see on Amazon this one from 2006
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Drinkers-Omnibus-Warhammer-Novels/dp/1844164160/ref=pd_sim_14_6/185-9598647-7379142?ie=UTF8&dpID=51sOdDcLS4L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=M0BZSM4QA9DRW55Q3QPT
And this one from 2013
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Drinkers-Redemption-Ben-Counter/dp/1849704597
If so, were there any major changes?
I would recommend Terms of Enlistment and Lines of Departure. Good books. Although you'd have to read through both books to get to the part you'll love, it will be worth it.
Books! Especially the two Dan Abnett trilogies: Eisenhorn and Ravenor.
http://www.amazon.com/Eisenhorn-Warhammer-40-000-Omnibus/dp/1844161560
http://www.amazon.com/Ravenor-The-Omnibus-Dan-Abnett/dp/1844167372
Each is an "omnibus", three relatively short novels that were combined into a single book (750 or so pages paperback each?).
Start with Eisenhorn, it's a great primer to the general 40K world. Ravenor is much darker, and also fantastic.
Oh my God, it's such good stuff. Pirate the epub versions, or buy a used copy for pennies somewhere. I think they're out of print now.
Another great book on this topic but from the POV of the Soviet Union in WWIII is Red Army:
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Army-Ralph-Peters/dp/1451636695
That book and Red Storm Rising are two of my favorites.
I'm glad you asked! I know you said you like American and more modern history but I'm going to suggest something from a little bit further back.
One of my personal favorites is "A Conspiracy of Paper" by David Liss. It's set in the 1700s in London so it's not too extreme of a culture shift and it's an action/mystery novel that I couldn't put down. It's also really well researched and has a lot of history about one of the earliest stock markets in the world.
http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Paper-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/dp/0804119120/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b
If you're feeling a little more bold, check out Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. It's set in the 12th century and it traces the growth of a town into a city over about 100 years. If you like fantasy as a genre, this might be more your thing and it is also has a lot of history about what life was like during the Middle Ages and its a cool mystery/drama to boot.
http://www.amazon.com/Pillars-Earth-Ken-Follett/dp/045123281X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331181793&sr=1-1
Lastly, this is less historical and more of a just a really good read but check out The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It's a collection of war stories from Vietnam and really gets you into the mindset of what it was like to fight over there and then come home. I read it years ago and loved it.
http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0618706410/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331181955&sr=1-1
Let me know if you end up liking any of these! Everyone has different tastes so you may find something else you like better but these are the first three that popped into my head.
Going Home, I only read this one out of the series but enjoyed it.
I'm pretty sure this is curse of the mistwraith by janny quartz
the link to the amazon is here
Read Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez, all about autonomous drones. Fun read, scary as hell. https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Decision-Daniel-Suarez/dp/0451417704
I don't have a "blurp," sorry :) Here's the amazon link to my first novel if you want to check it out. http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Ops-Control-Myke-Cole/dp/1937007243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416598299&sr=8-1&keywords=Myke+Cole
If you're able to enjoy "what if"/alternate history sci-fi - the WorldWar series by Harry Turtledove (first book here) is basically "how would the earth's societies and governments react if aliens invaded. In 1942." This has some of what you're looking for, in the sense that human society is torn apart and drastically changed, but it's not apocalyptic. It's a four-book series and if you really loved it there's more set in the same universe after that.
Read the "Look Inside" previews to see if any of these is for you.
On My Way to Paradise by David Farland/Dave Wolverton.
Wool by Hugh Howey.
Camp Concentration by Thomas Disch.
Jennifer Government by Max Barry.
Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos.
This one is backwards but a great book. Weapons of Choice Basically a 2021 battle group gets transported into the battle of midway in the middle of WWII. Changing the course of history.
Damn this shit is fucking FIRE! Love it! Thank you for your words.
If you guys like this you should check out Myke Cole's Shadow Ops
Is X-Men meets Black Hawk Down. A military story with magic from another world where humanity is taking advantage of.
You might try the Island in the Sea of Time trilogy by S.M. Stirling.
Island in the Sea of Time https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451456750/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_fB9RDbNWDM7P0
Here is the book.
They may not have a homeworld, but that doesn't have to mean they don't have a mythos attached to them. I actually liked the concept of the inquisition skull with the third eye, maybe you can go with that. Are they a type of 'seer' chapter, on the edges of imperial jurisdiction, that other chapters come to when they are need information too dangerous to acquire through normal methods? You could weave a story where the scions have been involved in the background of many different conflicts while the main chapters were in the spotlight.
Either Matterhorn or The Book Thief.
How old is your nephew? Does he prefer books on modern or historic soldiery/warfare? There are a few adult books (like The Things They Carried) I read as a teen that I really enjoyed, but I wouldn't give them to anyone younger than 15 or 16. There are also several juvie books (like My Brother Sam is Dead or Under the Blood Red Sun)that are fantastic reads, but they're mostly historical fiction.
Right now I'm reading The Things a Brother Knows which is shaping up to be excellent, but I'm not nearly far enough along to officially recommend it.
My book of the year: The Passage by Justin Cronin. A couple of other very good books that are also available on the Kindle are Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Good Squad, Emma Donoghue's Room, and Karl Marlantes' Matterhorn.
Not a sequel but the book that runs parallel.
Not a sequel per se, but the book that Shadow Complex dovetails into, so sort of a sequel.
Try Island in the Sea of Time if you like the social and political aspects of the whole " We have been sent back in time! Now what?" fiction
http://www.amazon.com/Island-Sea-Time-S-Stirling/dp/0451456750/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334043393&sr=8-1
You might want to check out Karl Marlantes' book What It Is Like To Go To War; it explores this line of thinking in more detail. (Marlantes is a Vietnam veteran; the novel he wrote based on his experiences there, Matterhorn, is a modern classic.)
My first thought from your description was the Shadow Ops series by Myke Cole.
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Ops-Control-Myke-Cole/dp/1937007243
The Things They Carried
Click and read the first few pages.
[A Hero's War] (Low Quality)
[Island in the Sea of Time]
[Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality]
So what type books do you suggest on the subject? I have heard these to are pretty good novels about the hypothetical ground war in Europe. http://www.amazon.com/Red-Army-Ralph-Peters/dp/1451636695/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2JK25VZ6ZNS08&coliid=I3MYN941OLF33Q
http://www.amazon.com/Team-Yankee-Harold-Coyle/dp/0425110427/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2JK25VZ6ZNS08&coliid=I1F8NGLSHARZST
The advanced camera+computer+UAV combination is what makes this such a troubling machine. Daniel Suarez talks about how these robots will/could change warfare in his TEDtalk as well as in his 2013 techno-thriller, Kill Decision. Just imagine adding weaponry to this thing. It can locate, identify, track, and kill you without a person's commands. I don't even like going online to tal
The Eisenhorn and Ravenor Series by Dan Abnett from the Black Library.
http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Decision-Daniel-Suarez/dp/0451417704
That is a thing.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/MEEEEEM/
I'd like GTA 4, my friends all have the game, but I got keys during the steam sale instead...
Also, read this: http://www.amazon.com/Ciaphas-Cain-Imperium-Sandy-Mitchell/dp/1844164667
Tim O'Brien: The Things They Carried Great book if you haven't read it.
I finally finished Solaris and I'm starting Terms of Enlistment. A recommended book that popped up on my feed sounded interesting but it was a later book in the series so I'm going in from the first one.
Update: Finished Terms of Enlistment a few days ago and moved onto the second book in the Frontlines series Lines of Departure. I'm 60% through it at the moment and really digging the series so far. I'll probably finish it this weekend. I'm also reading through the Preacher comic series.
Solaris was good overall but the hard sci-fi portions about the planet were a bit of a chore to get through. I was way more interested in the people involved in the story than the technical aspects and history of the planet they were on even though it's important to get a sense of just how alien the place is.
I love sci-fi in general but I've always been more of a horror/mystery book guy. I felt like Terms of Enlistment was a good choice for getting into the military sci-fi genre and couldn't wait to get into the next one when I finished it.
edit: fixed bolding since I was posting from mobile and didn't do it originally. Also added an update above and links below.
Solaris
Terms of Enlistment
Lines of Departure
On the Western side of things I know of The Cross-time Engineer by Leo Frankowski as well as Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling.
Both are the start of their respective series with the Cross-Time engineer starting a 5-novel series and Island starting a trilogy.
I looked at the first book today and it has over 1,500 ratings. I was shocked as well. His first book went out as a freebie, and it was a brilliant gamble for him. He just happened to do it with a damn good story. The Amazon marketplace is flooded with terrible freebies, but that one was a page turner.
Here is the mobile version of your link
For (currently) free Kindle books, David Weber's On Basilisk Station is the first book in the space-opera Honor Harrington series. The second book The Honor of the Queen, is one of my favorites in the entire series. Eric Flint's 1632 turned into a massive and awesome alternate-history series. If you'd like to delve into Alaskan-based murder mysteries, give Dana Stabenow's A Cold Day For Murder a try as the first in the some eighteen book Kate Shugak series.
For paid Kindle books, there's Hugh Howey's Wool Omnibus is the beginning of the dystopian Silo series; the followup Shift Omnibus is actually a prequel trilogy that I haven't gotten yet but is very readable. Naomi Novik's first novel in the alt-history Temeraire series, His Majesty's Dragon, is currently $.99.
In print, Elizabeth Moon's military fantasy The Deed of Paksenarrion is available used for a very affordable price and is an epic series. The Cage was my introduction to a fantasy universe written by SM Stirling, Shirley Meier, and Karen Wehrstein. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander is a sort of alternate history/light romance series set in Scotland that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Brent Weeks' assassin-based (excuse me, wetboy) fantasy Night Angel Trilogy was recently released as an omnibus edition. Empire from the Ashes collects Weber's Dahak sci-fi trilogy into an omnibus edition. Weber and John Ringo co-wrote March Upcountry and the other three novels in the sci-fi Prince Roger quadrilogy. If you haven't tried Harry Turtledove's alt-history sci-fi WW2 'Worldwar' series, In the Balance starts off a little slow plot-wise but picks up good speed. EE Knight's sci-fi/futuristic fantasy Vampire Earth starts off with Way of the Wolf. Mercedes Lackey wrote the modern-fantasy Born to Run with Larry Dixon, and the rest of the SERRAted Edge books with various other authors. Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk and slightly dystopian Snow Crash is hilarious and awesome. Maggie Furey's Aurian is the first of a fantasy quadrilogy that I enjoyed many years ago.
If you're at all familiar with the Warhammer 40k universe, the Eisenhorn Omnibus is Dan Abnett's wonderful look into the life of an Imperial Inquisitor. He's also written a popular series about the Tanith First-and-Only Imperial Guard regiment starting with The Founding Omnibus. He also wrote the first book in the Horus Heresy series, Horus Rising (I highly recommend reading the first three novels together as a trilogy and then cherry-picking the rest).
... and if you've read all that already, I'll be impressed.
Edit: Why yes, I do read a lot. Why do you ask?
Myke Cole's Shadow Ops series deals with people with "super" powers and is pretty darn good. The first on is Control Point.
You remind me of Tim O'Brien
A. Americans survivalist series maybe?
https://www.amazon.com/Going-Home-Novel-Survivalist-American/dp/0142181277/ref=pd_sim_14_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0142181277&pd_rd_r=8TJMWAWP45BAAWTEGQ7B&pd_rd_w=RT0pR&pd_rd_wg=44RPd&psc=1&refRID=8TJMWAWP45BAAWTEGQ7B