Over the years, sci-fi has exploded into a colossal genre that encompasses all sorts of stories. There’s sci-fi fantasy, grimdark sci-fi, sci-fi romance, and even specific books similar to The Expanse. If you’re out for an adrenaline-filled time, though, you need military sci-fi.
Military sci-fi books look at futuristic wars. They don’t have to be incredibly advanced. Even just a traditional war set in space can squeeze into this genre. But that makes it pretty bloated because any sci-fi book with a fight scene involving military technology could technically be placed here. However, you don’t want to have to read every book in this sub-genre just to find the good ones, which is why I’ve put together this list of my picks of the best.
Our 30 top picks for the best military sci-fi books of all time
Below, I’ve listed our top picks of the best military sci-fi books of all time. I’ve tried to include a good mix of intense action and political drama that revolves around the military so there’s something for everyone.
30. Transformers: Alan Dean Foster
Hear me out with this one: Transformers is a cracking sci-fi movie that takes the amazing TV show and translates it into a form that’s fun to watch hundreds of times. This book is one I read around the time the movie came out, and it contains additional scenes that fleshes out the sci-fi war between the Autobots and Deceptions.
If you love the movie but also Transformers in general, this book is a wild ride. Every combat sequence, including human combat with Decepticon forces, is nice and detailed. It’s fun yet serious and allows you to live through the cinematic universe of the franchise for just a little bit longer.
29. Moonraker: Ian Fleming
A James Bond book might not have been what you were expecting when you opened this list, but as a huge fan of the character and his exciting adventures in espionage, Moonraker has always screamed military sci-fi to me. The novel doesn’t see Bond head into space or have Allied and Soviet soldiers battling with jetpacks around a space station. It’s much more grounded and gripping.
A good chunk of the plot remains the same, but in the novel, our villain aims to use Moonraker, a modified rocket using fuels he has a monopoly on, to create a weapon capable of hitting targets further away than ever before and re-ignite a war he was forced to sit out of after his initial plans went wrong.
James Bond has always leaned on military themes, but based on when this novel was released and the ideas within it, there’s just enough speculation that I believe it jumps into sci-fi in the same way the Metal Gear Solid franchise can with the advanced technologies you see in each of those games.
28. Hoplite: Isaac Hooke
Hoplite is the first book in Isaac Hooke’s phenomenal Alien War Trilogy. While it follows a protagonist from his previous trilogy, Rade, you can start here without needing to go back and catch up. This series sees Rade travel to the farthest reaches of human civilization in search of a lost supercarrier. To investigate, he has to take his trusty squad down to an alien world in the most advanced military mechs known to man.
What he finds is an alien menace unlike anything ever encountered. This book sets up the trilogy nicely and has more than a few surprises and twists that will keep you guessing as you read. The thing I love about Hooke is that there’s always something bigger going on in the background that you’d never guess until it’s revealed, and this book has loads of that.
27. Invisible War: Joe Kassabian
Invisible War‘s story poses an interesting question of what life would look like if a war had been raging for a million years entirely in secret. People go about their lives knowing humanity is expanding further and further into the stars. As far as they know, there’s no life out there and no conflict to speak of.
That is, until protagonist Sargis dies. Upon death, he comes to know a horrible truth that an app has been sucking up every human’s consciousness when they die, shoving it into a synthetic body called a Sleeve, and forcing it to fight in a war that no one knows about.
26. Swarm: B.V. Larson
Swarm is a harrowing military sci-fi book that places humanity and Earth at the bottom of the food chain. We’re primitive pets, and it’s time we were eradicated according to the far superior alien races now taking matters into their own hands.
Kyle Riggs is captured, just like every other human eventually will be, and tested repeatedly to see if he’s worthy of survival. The great news is that he keeps passing with flying colors, but the alien race he’s been caught by is the nicest bunch he’s going to encounter. It’s a fight for survival in a war humans never stood a chance in.
25. Out of the Dark: David Weber
In Out of the Dark, humanity has been set upon by a nasty alien race called the Shongairi. This race is part of The Galactic Hegemony, a collective of species living in peace, but the Shongairi are outliers. They’re violent and constantly threaten this peace, which is why they were chosen to attack a race that looked like it could do just as much damage: humanity.
You follow two main characters as they survive on an Earth that was devastated in minutes by a threat it can’t hope to understand. A rebellion is forming among those dodging alien patrols, and it’s up to these last few stragglers to try to take back the Earth.
24. Against All Odds: Jeffery H. Haskell
Against All Odds doesn’t hold back. Protagonist Jacob Grimm is a disgraced pilot who, unbeknownst to him, fired on a ship full of children, destroying his career and sanity. Now, he’s got to become the Commanding Officer of a ship with a crew who are barely holding it together in a sector of space where tensions are high, and the peace between the two major factions is fraying fast. The book takes a deep look into this flawed character and explores one of the toughest situations they could have been thrust into, making you wonder just how much you could handle.
23. Weapons of Choice: John Birmingham
Weapons of Choice is brilliant and mad. An experiment in 2021 caused a multinational armada to be sent back in time to 1942, right into the heart of the conflict as a US naval task force made its way to Midway Atoll in what will become known as the greatest US triumph of the entire war.
While the 21st-century armada is welcomed thanks to its power and might that helped turn the tide of battle, the people of 1942 are far less accepting of its multinational crew. Layered below the old world, these modern soldiers must now navigate a fear of what else could make its way back in time and whether they’ll ever get to return to where they’re from.
22. Warship: Joshua Dalzelle
In Warship, humanity has conquered space. I know it is a huge claim to make. We’ve been using Faster-Than-Light travel to abuse the bountiful resources of endless space for hundreds of years, and nothing has stopped us so far.
As a result of this gluttony, humans have all but abandoned their militaries. Colossal ships sit stranded and falling apart. Weapons just aren’t a priority when humanity is growing at an unprecedented pace. That is, until something eventually does come along to threaten us, and all we’ve got is a single captain in a rust bucket of a ship to defend us from annihilation.
21. The Lost Fleet: Dauntless: Jack Campbell
The Lost Fleet: Dauntless follows John ‘Black Jack’ Geary. He’s a war hero, known to everyone from childhood because of his legendary exploits. He was also, until recently, presumed dead. Now, he’s been brought back somehow and is sick of the hero worship he sees around him. He’s got to take control of The Alliance Fleet, a force stranded in enemy territory, and somehow turn the tide of this war to help humanity come out on top against the Syndics.
20. Bug Hunt: Isaac Hooke
Bug Hunt is the first entry in another of Isaac Hooke’s brilliant series. It follows protagonist Rade, who also starred in Hooke’s previous titles after starting an interstellar security company. He and his squad provide firepower and backup to anyone who needs it with their setup of six mechs. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
Bankers haunt Rade, and warlords want him dead. When a mysterious client hires his squad to help her transport what is almost certainly some illegal cargo, they accept. Upon arriving at a deserted frontier world, the crew soon discovers that they’ve got to suit up for a bug hunt because an alien swarm like no other they’ve ever seen is on its way.
19. On Basilisk Station: David Weber
On Basilisk Station is the perfect setup for a military sci-fi book. Honor Harrington managed to make a superior look foolish, so he banished her and her crew to an out-of-the-way system on Basilisk Station with nothing but an underprepared and outgunned ship to manage it all.
The only native inhabitants in the system are smoking drugs that make them want to murder each other, the main economy is driven by smuggling and other black market activities, and the Republic is eyeing the system as the next one it’s going to free. It could not be a worse posting, and everything is about to go horribly wrong.
18. 2034: A Novel of the Next War: Elliot Ackerman & Admiral James Stavridis
2034: A Novel of the Next War is a terrifyingly plausible look at the future of warfare on our planet. It begins with the US demonstrating its prowess with stealth technology and sheer might, both of which are quickly thwarted by unknown technologies from America’s new greatest enemies. While grounded, the book looks at military sci-fi in a much more basic sense, demonstrating how a secret leap in advancement from one or two nations could spell doom for the balance of the world order we know.
17. Terms of Enlistment: Marko Kloos
Terms of Enlistment paints a grim picture of humanity’s future. Earth is so packed with humans that everyone lives off welfare and has very little chance of a better life than the slums of every city promise them. That is unless you win a lottery for a ticket on a ship to an off-world colony or sign up for military service.
Protagonist Andrew picks the military for his chance at good food, prestige, and a bonus if he makes it to retirement. Once he’s through basic training, he realizes why this isn’t such a great deal, though, with so many more dangers that he could have known waiting to take his life during the many years in this career path he’s chosen.
16. Flagship: Isaac Hooke
Flagship is the start of another brilliant series from Isaac Hooke. This time, it stars someone new, Jonathan Dallas of Battle Unit 72. The unit is called to investigate the disappearance of a research vessel on the fringes of known space. What Dallas finds isn’t just a threat to him and his entire unit but to the human race as they know it. Now, he’s got to find a way to destroy this enemy before it makes its way to civilization and causes all sorts of damage to an underprepared human race.
15. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress: Robert A. Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is an oldie you may not have heard of before. A colony on the Moon is in the midst of a rebellion against its masters on Earth. This is the culmination of many factors, one of which is the fact that the colony began with two men for every woman, completely altering society with a new norm for marriage, but there’s so much more going on.
As the rebellion grows stronger, its inner circle works with the colony’s AI, a sentience created to serve these people but, for its own reasons, desires to be free and fight back against Earth just as much, if not more, than the humans it’s assisting.
14. Outpassage: Janet Morris & Chris Morris
Outpassage is a great military sci-fi book that focuses on an incredibly flawed character, Sgt. “Det” Cox has been under psychological investigation because of his claims of seeing aliens. Now he’s free and has made it out of the central systems, and he’s not about to tell anyone he’s seeing them again.
After meeting Paige Barnett, the pair makes a discovery that puts the revolution being fought among the space-mining colonies into context and represents what could be the greatest gift or threat to mankind ever known. It’s a gritty tale where the military presence is always watching and feels like a classic sci-fi tale that isn’t afraid to look at society’s flaws.
13. The Forever War: Joe Haldeman
The Forever War is a wild trip that will make your head spin but also highlights the importance of psychological care for those returning from military service. A group of soldiers, the best humanity has to offer, are taken and trained so hard that many of them die before ever seeing any action. Said action is a war with an alien race, but to reach that race, they need to use a form of travel that has relativistic consequences for all those involved.
After a brutal war, the soldiers return home. For them, only a couple of years have passed, but it’s been hundreds of years for Earth. Society has changed, and the soldiers aren’t sure they can handle it. They must navigate life being the oldest living soldiers in a world they can’t adapt to, all the while contemplating the temporal confusion of the fact that they’ve already fought in a war the people around them at the time will never live to see.
12. Hunting Party: Elizabeth Moon
In Hunting Party, we follow the sad tale of Heris Serrano as the long line of military service in the role of Officer in her family ends when one cruel superior manages to get her kicked out of the military. To keep a roof over her head, she signs up as the captain for a luxury interstellar liner, a job where nothing could possibly go wrong, and there’s absolutely no need for military skills of any kind. Well, we’ve all seen The Fifth Element. I think you know that’s not true.
11. Old Man’s War: John Scalzi
Old Man’s War has one of the best military sci-fi settings out there. Earth is a backwater and overpopulated. The Colonial Defence Force is colonizing space, but habitable planets are hard to come by, and every alien race wants to battle humanity for them.
Enter John Perry. He turns 75, visits his wife’s grave, and then does what every retiree in this universe does: sign up for service. The Colonial Defence Force only wants old people with decades of experience because they make better decisions in battle. If Pery can survive two years, he’ll be granted true retirement and a homestead all of his own. But survival at his age in a war against advanced civilizations is no easy task.
10. Leviathan Wakes: James S.A. Corey
The Expanse is a fantastic book and TV series, and this is where it all starts. In Leviathan Wakes, you’re introduced to the intricate system of humanity’s future that’s spread across Earth, the Moon, Mars, The Belt, and beyond. You meet several characters, all of whom are met with some sort of trouble that kicks off the events that will see this universe changed forever.
I can’t explain to you just how good The Expanse TV show is, and the books are even better. Every character will be etched in your mind, and the unexpected plausibility of everything you read about will make you question your actions and motives in real life. In addition, if you claim not to be a fan of political thrillers, then I promise this book is going to change your mind.
9. Armor: John Steakley
Armor is a fantastic military sci-fi book that sees humanity butt heads with an unstoppable force. For thousands of years, our race has been perfecting Armor, equipment that transforms a soldier into an army and fortress rolled into one, and it’s the only thing that can tackle its greatest enemy: a race that biologically enhances itself to out-evolve any threat.
The book follows protagonist Felix, a fierce soldier who is terrified of what he’s about to face despite emerging victorious from mission after mission. However, his survival may not be down to his skills but rather the being that dwells within him—the being he calls The Engine.
8. Earth Strike: Ian Douglas
Earth Strike is a thrilling look at humanity in a moment of advancement when it has almost achieved technological transcendence. However, just before it reaches this point, the spacefaring masters are attacked by an alien race that finds the very idea of technological transcendence abhorrent. Humanity drew this enemy in from deep space, and now it’s down to the kilometer-long starship America to take out this threat and save the entire human race.
7. The Three-Body Problem: Liu Cixin
The Three-Body Problem is often the name given to the entire Remembrance of Earth’s Past series by Liu Cixin. While it has a Netflix series you can watch, the book is definitely the best place to start. With China’s Cultural Revolution as the backdrop, it tells the tale of a secret military project that sends signals into space, hoping to find life. When life hears that signal, it spells doom for humanity.
There’s so much to this series that’s intriguing and hits just about every genre in sci-fi. The military sections are particularly impressive, showing how we can be picked apart so easily with a single piece of advanced weaponry while we can also damage those more advanced than us using nothing but our cunning. The book spans a huge chunk of time, during which Earth is threatened and must find a solution to rid itself of the alien threat before it arrives.
6. Ender’s Game: Orson Scott Card
In Ender’s Game, you follow Ender, a child who is the result of 100 years of genetic interference in an effort to create the perfect general. Humanity is at war with a horrific foe, and it just can’t beat it, but Ender could be the general our race needs to lead us to victory. However, he suffers greatly not only due to his peers while in training but also his own family, who are just as much candidates to help humanity succeed as he is.
The book also sets up Ender’s Saga, a lesser-known sci-fi series that more fans should read. If you enjoy twists and turns and the broader scope of galactic war, you’re going to find a lot you love in this book and series.
5. Foundation: Isaac Asimov
Foundation is often crowned as one of the best sci-fi series out there, with a scope that goes beyond what most human minds can comprehend. In it, you meet humanity after it’s been ruling as the Galactic Empire for 12,000 years. Now, though, it’s about to be hit hard and begin to die. Hari Seldon, the creator of psychohistory, has the ability to see the future and knows how to survive it, so he gathers the best minds of humanity in one place where they will have to endure. This is Foundation; there’s drama to be found here for sure, but the military concepts and ideas are ones you’ll see have influenced pretty much every other book in this list.
Humanity is instructed to outlast the coming trials for the next 30,000 years, but not everyone is on board with this. In fact, a lot of people don’t believe Seldon at all, but they’re fools for not heeding his warnings. This book follows the earliest events in the series, but it still feels like a lifetime by the time you’re done, and you’ll be hungry to see what else the universe has in store.
4. The War of the Worlds: H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds needs little introduction. Earth has been jealously watched for centuries, and now those watchers are coming to take what they believe is rightfully theirs. While it may not feel as exciting as the 2005 Tom Cruise movie adaptation, this book is a tale of the survival of the human race against the greatest odds.
Mars, our closest neighbor and the planet many of us are eyeing as a nice place to retire, is, in this book, home to the most malicious aliens humanity has ever encountered. What I think makes it so great is not the picture of advanced, towering technology taking out everything we think will protect us but the pure hatred you can feel from the antagonist race in every word on every page.
3. Starship Troopers: Robert A. Heinlein
Starship Troopers is a classic sci-fi movie that’s packed with satirical humor. It pokes fun at the modern model of military service to your nation, among other things. The book, however, is much more of a love letter to the armed services. The bug war is background noise to the journey of Johnnie Rico from civilian to hardened veteran in a war that you see a deeper meaning to the longer you read about it.
This is a pretty serious book, all things considered, so give it a miss if you think it’s going to be as silly as the movie. It’s worth diving into if you love military sci-fi, though, because it’s an early book in the genre that portrays it in a way most readers can get on board with because it doesn’t feel like a dumb waste of your attention.
2: Dune: Frank Herbert
Dune pretty much encompasses every sub-genre in sci-fi you could hope to read about. The military side of it is ever-present with colossal, unknowable ships, political conflict that leads to all-out war and aggression, and great alien beasts on a planet humans have no business existing on.
This first book is one part of a much greater whole, but it’ll suck you in and leave you eager for more after the final page. You follow Paul Atreides, a character who is used to the finer things in life but is quickly thrust into a harsher reality where everyone is out to kill him, and he has to help himself if he wants to survive. It’s the tension of pretty much every situation you read about in this book that gets me. As soon as Paul leaves one situation, another rears its head, and you can’t leave him in peril.
1. ATLAS: Isaac Hooke
ATLAS is my favorite book from Isaac Hooke. Starring Rade Galaal in his first appearance in this universe, it walks you through the horrible realities of life in the future. Rade has to deliberately get himself captured by border patrols to enter into military service and train to be a M.O.T.H., the most elite warriors in the galaxy.
We get to see the highs and lows of Rade’s training right up until he gets to use an ATLAS mech, the peak of human military technology. He needs it, too, because a threat so inconceivable shows up to make life for humanity indescribably unpleasant, and Rade’s part of a team who are the only ones who can stop it.
