The Fantasy Review’s list of 6 Military Sci-Fi Books with Bold and Daring Missions.
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
From the blurb:
Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids.
Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job…
Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, #1) by Jack Campbell
From the blurb:
The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century—and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who’s emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief….
Captain John “Black Jack” Geary’s exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic “last stand” in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance Fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics…
Valor’s Choice (Confederation, #1) by Tanya Huff
From the blurb:
Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr was a battle-hardened professional. So when she and her platoon were yanked from a well-deserved leave for what was supposed to be “easy” duty as the honor guard for a diplomatic mission to the non-Confederation world of the Silsviss, she was ready for anything. Sure, there’d been rumors of the Others—the sworn enemies of the Confederation—being spotted in this sector of space. But there were always rumors. The key thing was to recruit the Silsviss into the Confederation before the Others attacked or claimed these lizardlike warriors for their side. And everything seemed to be going perfectly. Maybe too perfectly….
Stand Alone (Wolfhounds #1) by John Van Stry
From the blurb:
Chase had it all planned out, do a little time in one of the emperor’s jails, say a four year stretch for getting rid of some trash that no one would miss, and when he got out, the path to the leadership would be wide open. It wasn’t enough to be one of the gang’s rising stars, or better lieutenants, he needed jail time, serious jail time — not that juvie crap or just going to county, to garner the respect he needed and deserved…
Hard Duty (Merkiaari Wars, #1) by Mark E. Cooper
From the blurb:
Hostile aliens nearly eradicated humanity. Will the next encounter finish the job?
Sixteen billion dead in the last alien invasion of the Alliance’s colony worlds.When survey ship Captain Jeff Colgan discovers a new alien race, he’s required to investigate.
As the aliens discover Colgan’s ship and begin to hunt him down, the captain’s mission changes from one of study to one of survival…
Germline (The Subterrene War, #1) by T.C. McCarthy
From the blurb:
Germline (n): the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage that can be passed to the next generation. Also (slang): secret military program to develop genetically engineered super soldiers. One hundred years from now, Russia and the United States are at odds again. This time the war has gone hot. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the icy, mineral-rich mountains of Kazakhstan…
