Space warfare book series in reading order

by David Weber

by John Scalzi

by Iain M. Banks

by Timothy Zahn

by Sandy Mitchell / Alex Stewart

David Weber

90 books• 23 series

David Mark Weber, born October 24, 1952, is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. The Honor Harrington books are his best-known work, and his first novel, written with Steve White, sold to Baen Books in 1989; Baen has remained his principal publisher. Weber's catalogue holds 90 titles from Insurrection (1990) to Challenges (2025), spanning the Honorverse, Safehold, War God, Dahak and Gordian Division series. Space warfare, women soldiers and imaginary wars and battles run through the recorded subjects.

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.

Jack Campbell

44 books• 13 series

Jack Campbell is the pen name of John G. Hemry, born April 14, 1956, a retired United States Navy officer who writes military science fiction. Under the Campbell name, Hemry has written 21 volumes of The Lost Fleet and the steampunk and fantasy Pillars of Reality series. Beyond the Frontier continues The Lost Fleet as a spin-off. As Hemry, the Stark's War and Paul Sinclair series appeared, along with short stories in Analog. The 44 catalogued books run from Dauntless (2006) to Squad Kill (2026).

Orson Scott Card

114 books• 29 series

Orson Scott Card, born August 24, 1951, is an American writer known chiefly for science fiction. Card is the only person, as of 2024, to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in consecutive years, for Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). Card coproduced the 2013 film of Ender's Game. The Tales of Alvin Maker won the Locus Fantasy Award. The catalogue counts 114 books from A Planet Called Treason / Treason (1978) to Ender's Tribe (2026), with Homecoming Saga, Mither Mages, Worthing and Women of Genesis among the other series.

C.J. Cherryh

105 books• 23 series

C.J. Cherryh is the pen name of Carolyn Janice Cherry, an American writer of speculative fiction born September 1, 1942. The silent h came at the prompting of editor Donald A. Wollheim, who judged that Cherry read like the name of a romance writer. Downbelow Station (1981) and Cyteen (1988), both set in the Alliance-Union universe, each won the Hugo Award, and the Foreigner series sits alongside them among Cherryh's notable work. The catalogue holds 105 books from Brothers of Earth (1976) to Alliance Unbound (2024). Worldbuilding grounded in research across history, language, psychology and archeology is what Cherryh is known for.

Kevin J. Anderson

182 books• 44 series

Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author, born March 27, 1962. Tie-in work covers Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E. and The X-Files, including comics such as Tales of the Jedi with Tom Veitch. Original series include the Saga of Seven Suns, Saga of Shadows, Terra Incognita, Gamearth and Dan Shamble, Zombie PI, and Assemblers of Infinity was nominated for a Nebula Award. Rebecca Moesta shares credit on 9 catalogued books. The catalogue lists 182 books from Resurrection, Inc. (1984) to Sleep With the Fishes (2026).

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.

Larry Niven

93 books• 21 series

Larry Niven, born Laurence van Cott Niven in 1938, is an American science fiction writer working primarily in hard science fiction, with elements of detective fiction and adventure. Ringworld (1970) took the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Ditmar awards, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named Niven its Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in 2015. Jerry Pournelle co-wrote The Mote in God's Eye (1974) and Lucifer's Hammer (1977) with Niven. The catalogue holds 93 titles from The Coldest Place (1964) to Starborn and Godsons (2020). Series listed include Known Space, Ringworld Prequel / Fleet of the Worlds, Dream Park, Heorot, Moties, State and Magic Goes Away, a fantasy sequence treating magic as a non-renewable resource.

David A. Drake (1945-2023) wrote science fiction and fantasy. A Vietnam War veteran, Drake practised law before turning to military science fiction. The catalogue holds 106 books published between 1975 and 2021, from The Barrow Troll (1975) to The Serpent (2021). Series include Hammer's Slammers, the Lt. Leary / RCN novels featuring Daniel Leary and Adele Mundy, the Books of the Elements, Northworld, Reaches and Crown Of The Isles. Tony Daniel shares the credit on 2 titles and Eric Flint on 1. Subjects record space warfare, imaginary wars and battles, and epic fantasy.

Elizabeth Moon

35 books• 10 series

Elizabeth Moon, born March 7, 1945, is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who served in the United States Marine Corps before turning to writing. The Speed of Dark won the Nebula Award in 2003, and Moon has also written newspaper columns and opinion pieces. The catalogue lists 35 books from 1988 to 2026, opening with Sheepfarmer's Daughter and Divided Allegiance (both 1988) and Oath of Gold (1989). Horngard (2026) is the newest. Series include the Deed of Paksenarrion, Serrano Legacy, Vatta's War, Vatta's Peace, Paladin's Legacy, Legacy of Gird and Planet Pirates. Space opera, epic fantasy, women soldiers and pirates appear in the subject tags.

John Scalzi

75 books• 17 series

John Scalzi, born May 10, 1969, is an American science fiction author and a former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The Old Man's War series is Scalzi's best known work, and three of its novels earned Hugo Award nominations. Scalzi has kept the blog Whatever since 1998, won the 2008 Hugo for Best Fan Writer largely on its strength, and used it for charity drives. Non-fiction subjects include finance, video games, film, astronomy, writing and politics, and Scalzi consulted on the series Stargate Universe. The catalogue holds 75 titles from Rough Guide to Money Online (2000) to Monsters of Ohio (2026), including Agent to the Stars (2004), Old Man's War (2005) and The Android's Dream (2006).

The Expanse is the work James S.A. Corey is catalogued for: space opera built on interplanetary voyages, space warfare and conspiracy. Leviathan Wakes (2011) opens it, followed by Caliban's War (2012), Abaddon's Gate (2013) and Cibola Burn (2014), with novellas such as The Butcher of Anderson Station, Drive and Gods of Risk between them. Corey also wrote the Star Wars novel Razor's Edge (2013) and has started the Captive's War series. Twenty-nine titles are catalogued, reaching The Faith of Beasts in 2026.

Fred Saberhagen

75 books• 10 series

Fred Saberhagen (Fred Thomas Saberhagen, May 18, 1930 to June 29, 2007) was an American science fiction and fantasy author, most famous for the Berserker stories and novels. Saberhagen also wrote vampire novels with Dracula as protagonist, and a post-apocalyptic sequence that opens with Empire of the East and continues through the Swords and Lost Swords books. The site lists 75 books from The Golden People (1964) onward, including Berserker (1967) and The Dracula Tape (1975). Subjects include robots, artificial intelligence and space warfare.

Harry Turtledove

141 books• 28 series

Harry Turtledove, born June 14, 1949, is an American historian and novelist of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction and mystery, based in Southern California. The catalogue counts 142 books, starting with Wereblood and Werenight (1979), published as Eric G. Iverson, and listing The Succulent Succubus for 2027. Other pen names are H. N. Turteltaub, Dan Chernenko and Mark Gordian. The Videssos Cycle, Southern Victory / Timeline-191, Worldwar, Colonization, Crosstime Traffic, The War That Came Early and Gerin the Fox are among the series. World War II and the American Civil War are frequent subjects.

Iain M. Banks

32 books• 3 series

Iain M. Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013), born Iain Menzies Banks, was a Scottish author who published mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks. The Wasp Factory (1984), the debut novel, has sold over a million copies in 80 languages, allowed Banks to write full time, and was ranked second-best Scottish novel of all time in a 2016 BBC Scotland poll. The Times placed Banks on its 2008 list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. The catalogue of 32 books includes the Culture novels Consider Phlebas (1987), The Player of Games (1988) and Use of Weapons (1990), as well as The Crow Road (1992), and ends with The Culture: The Drawings (2023).

Alan Dean Foster

162 books• 30 series

Alan Dean Foster, born on 18 November 1946, is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, with several book series, more than 20 standalone novels and many film novelizations. Catalogued titles open with The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972), followed by Bloodhype (1973), Icerigger (1974), Star Trek Log One (1974) and Midworld (1975). Lost on Paradise (2026) is the newest title. Foster series include Pip & Flinx, Icerigger, Journeys of the Catechist, Damned, Star Trek: The Animated, Alien Movie and Transformers. Subjects include the Humanx Commonwealth, interplanetary voyages and human-alien encounters.

Poul Anderson

160 books• 18 series

Poul Anderson (25 November 1926 to 31 July 2001) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy who also wrote historical novels. Anderson won the Hugo Award seven times and the Nebula Award three times. The catalogue lists 160 titles, from Duel on Syrtis (1951) to Swordsmen from the Stars (2020), with series including Flandry, the Polesotechnic League, the Psychotechnic League, Time Patrol, Hoka, Maurai, King of Ys and Harvest of Stars. Subjects on file include space opera, time travel, space warfare and epic fantasy.

Evan Currie, born in 1976, is a Canadian writer of space opera, military science fiction and techno-thrillers. His 41 catalogued books span 2011 to 2026, from Into the Black (2011) to Once and Future (2026), grouped into sequences including Odyssey One, Warrior's Wings, Archangel One, Imperium of Terra, Scourwind Legacy, Superhuman, Anselm Gunnar and SEAL Team 13. Human-alien encounters, interplanetary voyages, space warfare and conspiracies are the recurring subjects. Currie studied computer sciences and has worked in the lobster industry, and his books have been translated into Polish and German.

Brian Herbert

61 books• 14 series

Brian Patrick Herbert, born 29 June 1947, is an American author known for his work on the Dune franchise created by his father, Frank Herbert. Herbert's own novels include Sidney's Comet (1983), Sudanna Sudanna, Prisoners of Arionn and Man of Two Worlds, written with Frank Herbert. Dreamer of Dune (2003) is Herbert's biography of his father, and Herbert has edited Songs of Muad'dib and the Notebooks of Frank Herbert's Dune. The catalogue lists 61 books to 2024, with Kevin J. Anderson sharing the credit on 6. Series include Legends Of Dune, the Timeweb Chronicles, the Hellhole Trilogy, Stolen Gospels and several Dune graphic novel sets.

William C. Dietz

66 books• 18 series

William Corey Dietz, January 30, 1945 to March 15, 2026, was an American science fiction writer working principally in military science fiction and video game novelizations. Sixty-six titles are catalogued, from Galactic Bounty / War World (1986) to Red Dawn (2025). Series include Sam McCade, Drifter, Winds of War, Mutant Files, America Rising and Star Wars: Dark Forces, and Legion of the Damned stands as the recurring character entry. Subjects name space opera, space warfare, human-alien encounters and imaginary wars. David Drake shares credit on one title.

James Swallow is a British author based in London whose output covers original novels, tie-in fiction, short fiction, audio dramas and video games. Swallow's own series include the Marc Dane action thrillers and the Sundowners novels, which mix the Western with steampunk. Tie-in work draws on Star Trek, Warhammer 40,000, Doctor Who, 24, Stargate and 2000 AD. Swallow is a BAFTA nominee and has won Scribe Awards for Star Trek, Watch Dogs: Legion, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Star Cops work. The catalogue holds 126 books from Who Killed Captain Kirk? (1993) to Flames of Betrayal (2026), including the non-fiction Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher (2003).

Nancy Kress

58 books• 10 series

Nancy Kress, born January 20, 1948, is an American science fiction writer who began writing in 1976. Beggars in Spain (1991), a novella that won both the Hugo and Nebula, later grew into a novel. Kress won further Nebula Awards for Best Novella in 2013 and 2015, and also writes a column for Writer's Digest. Series include Sleepless, the Probability Trilogy and the Yesterday's Kin Trilogy, alongside the Write Great Fiction series. The 58 catalogued books run from The Prince of Morning Bells (1981) to The Queen's Witch (2026).

Dennis Taylor writes science fiction about artificial intelligence and the colonisation of space. Four books are catalogued: We Are Legion (2017), For We Are Many (2017), All These Worlds (2017) and Heaven's River (2020). Space flight, space warfare, planets and the extinction of the human race are the recorded subjects. Nothing has followed 2020.

Robert A. Heinlein

83 books• 11 series

Robert A. Heinlein wrote science fiction from 1939, starting with the short story Life Line. Interplanetary voyages, space colonies, space opera and time travel are the recurring subjects, and the catalogue carries a Hugo Award winner. The Future History timeline groups a large part of the early work; the Juveniles were written for younger readers, and World As Myth came later. Eighty-two titles are catalogued, with editions dated through 2025.