Soldiers book series in reading order

by Tahereh Mafi

by D.J. Molles

by Marie Lu

by Timothy Zahn

by Diana Gabaldon

by W.E.B. Griffin

George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 - 2 January 2008) was a British author and screenwriter. The Flashman Papers are the work Fraser is known for: eleven novels and one short-story collection built on the character Harry Paget Flashman. Fraser also wrote the Private McAuslan stories, non-fiction including The Steel Bonnets (1972), and screenplays - the James Bond film Octopussy, The Three Musketeers and both its sequels, and an adaptation of his own Royal Flash. Twenty-eight titles are catalogued, from Flashman (1969) onward.

Tahereh Mafi

27 books• 6 series

Tahereh Mafi, born November 10, 1988, is an Iranian-American writer of young adult fiction based in Santa Monica, California. Mafi's series are Shatter Me, Shatter Me: The New Republic, This Woven Kingdom and Furthermore. Shatter Me (2011) is the first catalogued title, and Whichwood (2017) and A Very Large Expanse of Sea (2018) come later. Fantasy, science fiction, magic, dictatorship and resistance feature in the subjects. Escape Me (2026) is the newest Mafi title.

Michael Grant writes young adult science fiction and horror. The Gone series opens his catalogue in 2008 and runs through Hunger, Lies, Plague and Fear; BZRK, the Magnificent 12, Messenger of Fear, Eve and Adam and the Soldier Girl books follow. Survival, good and evil, the supernatural and the Second World War are the recurring subjects across 30 catalogued titles published between 2008 and 2019. Hero (2019) is the most recent entry.

Robert Mayer, born October 21, 1959, publishes as Bob Mayer and has also used the pen names Joe Dalton, Robert Doherty, Greg Donegan and Bob McGuire. A West Point graduate and former Green Beret, Mayer is chief executive of Cool Gus Publishing, has written over 60 novels across several genres, has sold more than 4 million books, and is the only male author on the Romance Writers of America Honor Roll. Area 51, Atlantis and The Green Berets are Mayer's number-one series. The catalogue lists 106 titles from Eyes of the Hammer (1991) to The Civil War Little Black Book (2026), with Dave Riley recurring as a character.

Paranormal romance, contemporary romance and romantic suspense make up the work of Rebecca Zanetti, a bestseller on both the New York Times and USA Today lists. The catalogue counts 93 books from 2011, when Claimed, Fated and Hunted appeared, through Bound by Fire (2026). Zanetti's series include Dark Protectors, Realm Enforcers, Scorpius Syndrome, Sin Brothers, Deep Ops, Maverick Montana, Anna Albertini Files, Laurel Snow, Knife's Edge, Alaska and Grimm Bargains. Subjects include vampires, soldiers, disease and dystopia.

Marie Lu

29 books• 11 series

Marie Lu, born Xiwei Lu on 11 July 1984, is an American author of young adult science fiction and fantasy. The Legend series, set in a dystopian and militarised future, is Lu's best known work, alongside Young Elites, Warcross and Batman: Nightwalker in the DC Icons line. The catalogue lists 30 books from Legend (2011) to Rebel (2026), with Silver Dawn listed for 2027. Skyhunter, Stars and Smoke and New Alchemists are further series. Subjects include resistance to government, plague, fugitives, soldiers and the supernatural.

Andy McNab is the pen name of Steven Billy Mitchell, born 28 December 1959, a British novelist and former Special Air Service soldier. Public recognition came with Bravo Two Zero, an account of a Gulf War mission McNab led with the SAS, for which the Distinguished Conduct Medal followed; the Military Medal had come in 1979 for gallantry with the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland. The catalogue lists 57 titles, among them two autobiographies, thrillers built around the intelligence officer Nick Stone, and books for younger readers in the Boy Soldier and Street Soldier sequences. The Rescue (2023) is the newest entry, and no further title is scheduled.

Bernard Cornwell

67 books• 10 series

Bernard Cornwell is an English historical novelist, born on 23 February 1944, who has also written a history of the Waterloo campaign. The Richard Sharpe novels, about a rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars, are Cornwell's best-known work. The Saxon Stories run to thirteen novels about how England was unified. Cornwell's historical fiction draws mainly on English history across five series, alongside one series of contemporary thrillers, and the historical novels carry an end note comparing the story to the historical record. The catalogue lists 67 books from 1981, when Sharpe's Gold appeared, to Sharpe's Storm (2025).

Dalton Fury has 7 books in the catalogue, published between 2008 and 2017. Kill Bin Laden (2008) is the earliest. War and military writing and action adventure are the recorded categories, with subjects covering the United States Army's Delta Force, soldiers, terrorism, al-Qaida and the 2001 Battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan. Black Site and Tier One Wild both appeared in 2012, followed by Full Assault Mode (2014), One Killer Force (2015) and All Lines Black (2017). The run is likely complete.

Timothy Zahn

98 books• 26 series

Timothy Zahn, born September 1, 1951, is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who grew up in Lombard, Illinois. The Star Wars books, above all the Thrawn trilogy, are the core of Zahn's reputation, and those novels are credited with reviving interest in the franchise. Original series include Cobra, Blackcollar, Dragonback, Quadrail, Conquerors Saga, Icarus and Sibyl's War. The catalogue lists 99 books by Zahn, starting with The Blackcollar (1983); Trap Line appeared in 2025 and A Call to Deception is due in 2027.

Military fiction is Harold Coyle's territory: soldiers, terrorism, and imaginary wars and battles. The American novelist, born in 1952, has 27 catalogued books published between 1987 and 2025, beginning with Team Yankee (1987) and reaching No Small Thing (2025). Series include Scott Dixon, Nathan Dixon, Cyber Knights, a U.S. Civil War sequence and Harold Coyle's Strategic Solutions, Inc. Coyle graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, spent 14 years in the US Army, and served in the Persian Gulf War. He has also published as H.W. Coyle and written with Barrett Tillman and Jennifer Ellis.

G.A. Henty wrote historical adventure stories for young readers. The catalogue holds 109 Henty titles, opening with A Search for a Secret (1867) and closing at The Plague Ship (2002). War, military history and the conduct of life are the recurring subjects, and much of the work sits in England and the wider British past. Early titles include The March to Magdala (1868), Out on the Pampas (1870) and The Young Franc Tireurs (1872).

Monica McCarty writes historical romance set in Scotland. Her 26 books appeared between 2007 and 2019, beginning with Highlander Untamed (2007) and ending with Highland Crossfire (2019). Five sequences divide the run: the Highland Guard, the Campbell Trilogy, the MacLeods of Skye Trilogy, Lost Platoon and Rake. Clans, warriors, imaginary wars, revenge and romantic suspense are the recurring subjects. Nothing has been added to the catalogue since 2019.

Gene Wolfe

56 books• 8 series

The Book of the New Sun, four volumes published from 1980 to 1983, is the work Gene Wolfe is best known for and the first part of the Solar Cycle; a 1998 Locus poll ranked it the third-best fantasy novel published before 1990. Wolfe was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, born May 7, 1931, who died April 14, 2019, and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Wolfe was noted for dense, allusive prose, a fascination with memory and the strong influence of Catholic faith. The catalogue lists 56 books from 1970 to 2023, among them Operation Ares (1970), The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972), Peace (1975) and The Shadow of the Torturer (1980). Series include Urth: Book of the Long Sun, Urth: Book of the Short Sun, Soldier Of The Mist and Wizard Knight.

Post-apocalyptic military fiction is D.J. Molles's main line. The Remaining opens with the 2012 novel of that name and sets soldiers against plague, bunkers and collapsed civil order; Lee Harden continues from it. Godbreaker, Ashes of Eormun, A Grower's War and Coming Dark follow. Molles has 36 catalogued books, the newest The Peace Child (2026), and keeps publishing.

Tom Kratman, born in 1956, is an American military science fiction author and a retired United States Army officer. A Desert Called Peace is the central series, starting in 2007 and taking in Carnifex, The Lotus Eaters, The Amazon Legion and Come and Take Them; the Countdown books form a second. Soldiers, mercenaries, terrorism and imagined wars are the subjects, and the novels are long at around 524 pages. Kratman wrote three books with John Ringo in the Legacy of the Aldenata series, and his work carries right-wing politics openly. Twenty titles are catalogued, reaching For the Eternal Glory of Rome in 2026.

Contemporary romance and romantic suspense are the two fields Canadian author Elle Kennedy works in. Born on 19 January 1982, Kennedy has won a RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America. The catalogue credits 78 books to Kennedy, starting with Bad Moon Rising (Short Story) in 2007 and reaching Bad Idea, due in 2027. Kennedy's series include Killer Instincts, Off-Campus, Briar U, Campus Diaries, Avalon Bay, Outlaws, Prep and Small Town Scandals. Subjects tagged on the books include hockey and sports romance.

Diana Gabaldon

33 books• 12 series

Diana Gabaldon is best known for the Outlander book series. Gabaldon, born January 11, 1952, is an American author and television writer whose novels mix historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction or fantasy. Starz premiered a television adaptation of the Outlander novels in 2014. The catalogue lists 33 titles, from Outlander / Cross Stitch (1991) to Besieged (2022), with Dragonfly in Amber (1992) and Voyager (1993) early in the run. Lord John Grey is a second named series. Time travel, Scotland, Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall appear among the subject headings.

W.E.B. Griffin was the best-known pen name of William Edmund Butterworth III (November 10, 1929 to February 12, 2019), an American author of military and detective fiction. Under the Griffin name Butterworth published 59 novels across seven series, 21 of them written with Butterworth's son, William E. Butterworth IV. The catalogue files 194 titles here, including 1960s books issued as W.E. Butterworth, Webb Beech and Walker E. Blake. Series include Brotherhood of War, Presidential Agent and M*A*S*H, and World War II and the U.S. Marine Corps recur in the subjects.

Contemporary romance is the territory of Jill Shalvis, an American novelist whose work includes the Lucky Harbor books. The catalogue records 140 books, opening with Summer of Fire in 1996 and extending to Falling into You in 2026. Heartbreaker Bay, Wildstone, Animal Magnetism, Sunrise Cove, Cedar Ridge and Sky High Air are among the series. Firefighters, bush pilots, sisters, California and Washington state appear in the subject tags, and Shalvis is still publishing.

Grace Burrowes writes historical romance, with subject headings naming the Regency, nobility, England, soldiers, widowers, single fathers and inheritance. Before fiction, Burrowes worked as a technical writer and editor, earned a law degree in an evening program, opened a law practice and completed a master's degree in Conflict Management. Burrowes grew up the sixth of seven children in rural central Pennsylvania and lives in rural Maryland. The catalogue lists 120 books, among them The Heir (2010), The Soldier (2011), The Virtuoso (2011) and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid (2012), with A Gentleman of Very Few Words (2026) the newest. Series include Lonely Lords, Windham Brides, True Gentlemen, Rogues to Riches, Mischief in Mayfair and Lady Violet Mysteries.

John Ringo, born March 22, 1963, is an American author of science fiction and military fiction, with several New York Times best sellers. The work ranges from straight science fiction to military and political thrillers, and more than seven million copies are in print in seven languages. The catalogue starts with A Hymn Before Battle (2000), followed by Gust Front, March Upcountry and March to the Sea in 2001, and reaches Beyond the Rift (2026). Series include Posleen War, Black Tide Rising, Council Wars, Looking Glass, Troy Rising, Von Neumann's War and Special Circumstances. Subjects include space warfare, human-alien encounters, Navy SEALs and survival.

Edward Marston writes historical crime fiction, and the catalogue of 117 books runs to The Corpse on the Bristol Train (2026). Inspector Robert Colbeck, Elizabethan Theater, Domesday, Home Front Detective, Dillman & Masefield / Ocean Liner Mysteries, Christopher Redmayne, Captain Rawson and Bow Street Rivals are among the series. Nicholas Bracewell and Lord Westfield's Men appear in the subjects, together with theater, police work, railroad travel and World War I. Alan Saxon and Merlin Richards are further series, and Marston is still publishing.

R.F. Delderfield wrote English family sagas and popular history. The catalogue holds 55 titles published between 1946 and 1973, gathered into the Swann Family Saga, Horseman Riding By, Avenue and Diana. England, family life across generations, soldiers, the Napoleonic Wars and the Second World War supply the material, and Delderfield wrote history and biography alongside the novels. The 1950s were the busiest decade, and the run closes with Give Us This Day in 1973.