Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

In addition to collecting favorite Military SciFi novels, I thought it might be fun to find favorite military Fantasy novels as well. Except, I couldn't think of as many examples (favorite or not.)

As with sci-fi, I think of "military fantasy" as having a substantial portion of the story told from the point of view of a member of a military / mercenary organization engaged in some form of organized group military action. So, for example, The Lord of the Rings has a couple of big battles in, I don't really think of it as "military".

Anyone know of any other, similar military sword and sorcery?

The one example I can actually think of is:


Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
In this D&D-inspired story, the first of the Paksenarion trilogy, the heroine joins a mercenary brigade, goes through basic training and fights a few battles with sword or pike and shield. (The remaining two books of the trilogy are more traditional solo heroic fantasy.)

Any list of military fantasy which does not include Chronicles of the Black Company is suspect :) Malazan series can also qualify.

I'm partial to my own series...Mythical

Myke Cole's Shadow Ops is in my read stack- premise alone sold me...

Fortress Frontier

I didn't realize there were that many other mil fantasy works. Looking forward to how this list fills out!

John Ringo.

Janny Wurts has several books that would fit, I think. To Ride Hell’s Chasm & her 'War of Light & Shadow' series feature a lot of strategy & tactics. It might be more in the same bag with Martin's Game of Thrones, though. It's not primarily concerned with military matters, but they figure prominently.

I know Elizabeth Moon has been mentioned, but her The Legacy of Gird Omnibus is a good example.

The Doomfarers of Coramonde & its sequel by Brian Daley. I just finished listening to it.

E.E. Knight's Vampire Earth series is all about a soldier after the Earth is invaded. Some might class it as SF, but it reads like fantasy to me.

The Soldier Son Trilogy Bundle by Robin Hobb. Certainly not my favorite, but a lot of folks like her writing.

Jim wrote: "Janny Wurts has several books that would fit, I think. To Ride Hell’s Chasm & her 'War of Light & Shadow' series feature a lot of strategy & tactics. It might be more in the same bag with Martin'..."

Thanks Jim. I added a couple of those to my TBR pile. Doomfarers of Coramonde looks like it's supposed to be serious but the premise is hilarious; I'll read that for the hell of it.

For me, I enjoy Joe Abercrombie. His latest two books in particular, The Heroes and Best Served Cold, feature plenty of battle scenes, swordplay and military tactics. I enjoyed all the books of his First Law trilogy as well; each features at least one battle, though war isn't the focus.

John Marco's Tyrants and Kings Trilogy ( , , and ) is a must read for fans of military fantasy. Great sprawling seiges, naval battles, an overarching theme of politics and intrigue. This is a fantastic series that I highly recommend.

Keith Laumer's Bolo books. David Weber's Honor Harrington series. John Dalmas' Regiment books. Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War." Heinlen's "Starship Troopers."

Doc, I don't know how I forgot to add those, except for the John Dalmas. I haven't read those & have now ordered The Regiment. Have you read Armor & Old Man's War? If not, you should. They're in the tradition of 'Starship Troopers' & 'The Forever War'.

Doc wrote: "Keith Laumer's Bolo books. David Weber's Honor Harrington series. John Dalmas' Regiment books. Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War." Heinlen's "Starship Troopers.""

Jim wrote: "Doc, I don't know how I forgot to add those, except for the John Dalmas. I haven't read those & have now ordered The Regiment. Have you read Armor & Old Man's War? If not, you should. They're in the tradition of 'Starship Troopers' & 'The Forever War'...."

Probably good choices for Favorite Military SciFi. My fault for trying to separate the Fantasy from SciFi genres.

I put The Regiment on my to-read list. Sounds interesting.

Oh, whoops. I went SF. That's why I hadn't mentioned them. Sorry about that. It is an awfully tough line to toe though, G33z3r.

While not primarily concerned with the military, L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Recluse Series has a lot of military manuvers in a fantasy setting. One of my favorite series.

Jim wrote: " I went SF. That's why I hadn't mentioned them. Sorry about that. It is an awfully tough line to toe though, G33z3r...."

Yeah, sorry, I didn't start out intending to be confusing (though I'm often confused!)

I started with the Favorite Military SciFi topic thinking power suits and starships because of our Forever War monthly book discussion, and sort of added this matching fantasy topic as an afterthought.

It struck me as interesting that while I can think of a dozen worthwhile military science fiction titles off the top of my head, I could only think of one example in traditional sword & sorcery fantasy.

This topic has added a couple of new novels to my "to read" list.

I've added some, too. It's amazing how blank my mind can go trying to think of stuff like this. Then someone mentions something & a light bulb goes off.