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<blockquote data-quote="SoonerP226" data-source="post: 3604903" data-attributes="member: 26737"><p>Jack Carr's <em>Terminal List</em> series is pretty good. He also reads "mean reviews" of his books on his YouTube channel. Before he retired from the Teams, he was asked to put together a reading list for the Naval Special Warfare command, and every month he puts out a reading list. Sometimes they're just good reads, and sometimes they're books that he's used as reference materials for his novels. You can find it here ( <a href="https://bookshop.org/shop/jackcarrusa" target="_blank">https://bookshop.org/shop/jackcarrusa</a> ), a site that lets you order the books online while helping local bookstores.</p><p></p><p>There are some pretty gruesome scenes in his novels, and much of his writing is informed by his career as a SEAL, so you can be pretty sure that most of those scenes actually happened at some point. (There's a scene involving a karambit in <em>The Terminal List</em> that he has talked about on a few podcasts; gruesome as it was, it was a technique actually used by the Shining Path guerillas.)</p><p></p><p>James Hornfischer's WWII naval history books are outstanding. <em>Last Stand Of the Tin Can Sailors</em>, about the Battle Off Samar, is an amazing story that's exceptionally well told. <em>Neptune's Inferno</em> covers the naval battles of Guadalcanal, and <em>The Fleet At Flood Tide</em> generally follows Admiral Raymond Spruance through the war. (He has a fourth book, <em>Ship Of Ghosts</em>, about the USS Houston, that I haven't read.)</p><p></p><p>The irony of <em>Last Stand</em> and <em>Inferno</em> is that <em>Last Stand</em> will leave you understanding how we won WWII, and <em>Inferno</em> will leave you wondering how we won. <em>Last Stand</em> is about men taking the reins and charging into battle with no realistic hope of survival, yet somehow pulling off the unthinkable and turning back a vastly superior force, whereas <em>Inferno</em> is the epitome of the USN saying, "never let progress stand in the way of tradition."</p><p></p><p>Andy Weir's <em>The Martian</em> and <em>Project Hail Mary</em> are both excellent reads. I would recommend listening to the Audible version of <em>Project Hail Mary</em>, as there are some things in it that are better heard than read. (Weir's second novel, <em>Artemis</em>, is OK, but not nearly as good as the first and third.) All three novels are stand-alone stories, so you can read them in any order you choose. I would recommend not reading about or listening to anything involving <em>Project Hail Mary</em> before reading it, though, as it's very difficult to say anything about it without spoiling something. I wouldn't even read the publisher's blurb about it if you order it online.</p><p></p><p>Jack Campbell's <em>Lost Fleet</em> series is really good if you like "naval battles in space" sorts of sci-fi. The hero of the story is a man whose last action in battle (a headlong, hopeless charge at the enemy) prevented the destruction of his side's fleet, but he was thought lost. At the opening of the first novel, it's a century later, and his stasis pod has just been found by a massive fleet on its way to a sneak attack on the enemy.</p><p></p><p>The sneak attack turns out to be a trap, and all of the officers of flag rank are killed, leaving the hero (a Commander when he was lost, "posthumously" promoted to Captain) as the senior officer in the fleet due to his time in grade. After a century of warfare, he is also the only officer left on either side who understands strategy; essentially, the primary tactic of both fleets is the headlong charge (ironically taken from the hero's last-ditch effort), which results in high losses among the younger, bolder officers, so they lose and never get to rebuild the tactical or strategic experience.</p><p></p><p>The Lost Fleet novels can each stand on their own, but it is better to read them in order, as there is a through-line in the over-arching story of the attempt to get the Lost Fleet home.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SoonerP226, post: 3604903, member: 26737"] Jack Carr's [I]Terminal List[/I] series is pretty good. He also reads "mean reviews" of his books on his YouTube channel. Before he retired from the Teams, he was asked to put together a reading list for the Naval Special Warfare command, and every month he puts out a reading list. Sometimes they're just good reads, and sometimes they're books that he's used as reference materials for his novels. You can find it here ( [URL]https://bookshop.org/shop/jackcarrusa[/URL] ), a site that lets you order the books online while helping local bookstores. There are some pretty gruesome scenes in his novels, and much of his writing is informed by his career as a SEAL, so you can be pretty sure that most of those scenes actually happened at some point. (There's a scene involving a karambit in [I]The Terminal List[/I] that he has talked about on a few podcasts; gruesome as it was, it was a technique actually used by the Shining Path guerillas.) James Hornfischer's WWII naval history books are outstanding. [I]Last Stand Of the Tin Can Sailors[/I], about the Battle Off Samar, is an amazing story that's exceptionally well told. [I]Neptune's Inferno[/I] covers the naval battles of Guadalcanal, and [I]The Fleet At Flood Tide[/I] generally follows Admiral Raymond Spruance through the war. (He has a fourth book, [I]Ship Of Ghosts[/I], about the USS Houston, that I haven't read.) The irony of [I]Last Stand[/I] and [I]Inferno[/I] is that [I]Last Stand[/I] will leave you understanding how we won WWII, and [I]Inferno[/I] will leave you wondering how we won. [I]Last Stand[/I] is about men taking the reins and charging into battle with no realistic hope of survival, yet somehow pulling off the unthinkable and turning back a vastly superior force, whereas [I]Inferno[/I] is the epitome of the USN saying, "never let progress stand in the way of tradition." Andy Weir's [I]The Martian[/I] and [I]Project Hail Mary[/I] are both excellent reads. I would recommend listening to the Audible version of [I]Project Hail Mary[/I], as there are some things in it that are better heard than read. (Weir's second novel, [I]Artemis[/I], is OK, but not nearly as good as the first and third.) All three novels are stand-alone stories, so you can read them in any order you choose. I would recommend not reading about or listening to anything involving [I]Project Hail Mary[/I] before reading it, though, as it's very difficult to say anything about it without spoiling something. I wouldn't even read the publisher's blurb about it if you order it online. Jack Campbell's [I]Lost Fleet[/I] series is really good if you like "naval battles in space" sorts of sci-fi. The hero of the story is a man whose last action in battle (a headlong, hopeless charge at the enemy) prevented the destruction of his side's fleet, but he was thought lost. At the opening of the first novel, it's a century later, and his stasis pod has just been found by a massive fleet on its way to a sneak attack on the enemy. The sneak attack turns out to be a trap, and all of the officers of flag rank are killed, leaving the hero (a Commander when he was lost, "posthumously" promoted to Captain) as the senior officer in the fleet due to his time in grade. After a century of warfare, he is also the only officer left on either side who understands strategy; essentially, the primary tactic of both fleets is the headlong charge (ironically taken from the hero's last-ditch effort), which results in high losses among the younger, bolder officers, so they lose and never get to rebuild the tactical or strategic experience. The Lost Fleet novels can each stand on their own, but it is better to read them in order, as there is a through-line in the over-arching story of the attempt to get the Lost Fleet home. [/QUOTE]
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