I stand corrected Hans. Never Surrender is indeed book 10.
Dictatorships vs democracies in Scifi ?? I guess the distances involved make autocratic rule easier. Can't all be the United Federation of Planets.
Hi @dahedd,
Dictatorships vs democracies in Scifi ?? I guess the distances involved make autocratic rule easier. Can’t all be the United Federation of Planets.
That's understandable but why revive royal families and dynasties? In Christopher Nuttall case I can understand as his origins may have play a role in his choices (He's from Edinburgh). But I've seen American authors reviving royal dynasties too.
Mr. Brown Universe seems much more realistic. Even if we know very little about the pre-plague era, it looks like that Earth had a Central government and, despite the fact they controlled colonization (not very successfully as we already know), it looks that the colonies were independent.
Ok, we have the Takarans with their royal families but that was a choice made by the colonists.
Mr. Nuttall wrote a book (Patriotic Treason) that IMO represents the most realistic autocratic government in the future.
I don't know if Mr. Brown intends to tell us in details about the pre-plague era (government, society, etc.) but I hope he does. For sure it will help us understand better the decisions made by Earth government in parts 2-5 of his saga.
Ok my list of books:
1)The Lost Fleet is a military science fiction series written by John G. Hemry under the pen name Jack Campbell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Fleet
2)Merkiaari Wars 1-4 (5 comeing) Mark E. Cooper
http://www.impulsebooks.co.uk/blog/the-books/
3)Ringworld companion series/Ringworld By Larry Niven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Niven
4)The Exile Empire 1 book by Joshua Done
http://www.amazon.com/the-exile-empire-joshua-done/dp/193736528x
and some think science fiction/fantasy
Empire of the East series by Fred Saberhagen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_East_series
On royal families in sci-fi...
Seems like a number of cases could probably be explained simply by the author being in a country with a royal family or at least being expired by at least one country with a royal family.
As an American, our views on royalty are definitely skewed, but I see some value in a leader looking to make decisions with a sense of ownership in the outcome. We criticize corporate leaders who make short term decisions at the cost of long term growth, but a royal leader with real power would have the long term growth of his empire a priority.
Maybe it makes more sense. Our little experiment is only a few centuries old, but royal systems of government have been around for 10,000 years, and they have worked pretty well.
Seems that a "royalty" would be less complicated for a fiction book. Think of it as a linear form of government that is easier to work with, and insert into a plot line. A republic or democracy is more fluid, so the government characters and historical background would likely be more difficult for the readers. Also, it's possible that an elected government would be impossible on a global scale.
Now that I started thinking about government types in scifi books, I remember a series that I read about 3 years ago. It's the Guardsman series by RG Taark. Kind of a scifi detective mystery story. Lots of action, entertaining characters with a fair amount of dry humor. Very different from the normal scifi stuff that I read, but I was sucked into the story immediately. The type of government was CEO gone wild.
I just finished the first 4 books in the Dark Space series by Jasper T. Scott. Very entertaining alien invasion story with loads of space battles.
Y'all should also take a look at the Ark Royal series by Christopher Nuttall. It's very British and very space navy type story. A fun read.
I'm still eagerly awaiting EP13... I have some business trips coming up so I really hope Ryk can release it soon. Makes the plane flight go by fast.
Another fairly quick read is "The Battle for the Solar System" trilogy by Stephan J. Sweeney.
Since the wait for episode 13 continues I have been looking at some of the first books I purchased with my kindle. The series that I am listing here haven't been listed on the amazon best seller page for quite a while, so maybe some of you will find this useful. The Soldier of the Legion series is hard scifi, ground pounder warfare. The books don't explain tech or get into physics hardly at all. So if that's your thing don't bother. I liked the characters, combat, and the political satire. Another series is Spirit of Empire. The books are "corny", characters to good to be true, with evil really evil and the good guys pure as driven snow. Once again, don't expect deep explanations of physics or how the tech works. The story is what makes it fun, just don't expect any deep reading. I thoroughly enjoyed both series. Hope this will give some of you something to pass the time until 13 arrives.
Almost done with The Lost Fleet, Book 1 - Dauntless, by Jack Campbell. I don't know if I'm going to move on to book 2. The battle sequence in this book pales by comparison to the action sequences described in the Frontier Saga books. "Pales in comparison" is being generous. I have no idea who's flying Dauntless; is it the Captain, or is she issuing orders to navigation and helm? I have no clue, because there isn't one word of dialogue between the Captain and helm/nav. Does Dauntless even have dedicated nav/helm people? I don't know, but apparently Jack Campbell thinks the Captain flies the ship by herself.
I just convinced myself that I will not continue reading the Lost Fleet series. I'm going to move on to the Omega Force series to see if I like that.
I read Warship. I liked it. It wasn't FS, but it was good. There were some inconsistencies toward the end, but overall it was good and I will read the second book when it comes out.
Goose
If you want something short and amusing, "The Science Office" and the follow up "The Mine Field" both by Blaze Ward. Short, but the inner dialogues of the characters is top notch.
One of my favorite series is by Nathan Lowell. It is the Tales of the Solar Clipper series. There are no aliens, no battles and no weapons to speak of. That being said it is a gripping Space Opera on a personal and emotional level. It follows the the life of one young man from adolescence to middle age...Ishmael Wang. There are audio versions on Podiobooks.com. If you need action, it's not for you. If you want characters you find yourself invested in on a personal level, look no further.
Goose.
I'd also recommend The Union Series of books (4th book just out) by Phillip Richards. A serving British soldier he appears to have written some of the books while on operational tour.
Sci-fi action from a grunts eye view. No fancy star ship battles here. Just blood, sweat & mud.
