A Hymn Before Battle {John Ringo} Why? Great military SF, written by an ex-Airborne paratrooper, with a solid handle on what makes a fun, rollicking, good read. Earth is contacted by the Galactics, a group of aliens under attack from the warlike Posleen, and in need of Earth's warriors. First book in the Posleen series.
Ideas to Steal Absolutely fantastic powered armour, what Battledress should be. Rampaging unstoppable aliens, much nastier than the Kzin, the Kafers, the Klingons and Heinlein's Bugs all wrapped into one. Backstabbing aliens in a Galactic political situation where Humans are just too dangerous to be allowed to live.
Gust Front {John Ringo} Why? The second book in Ringo's Posleen series, it develops the ideas further as Earth itself comes under attack. Better characterisations, more interesting battles and a great climax in front of the White House.
Ideas to Steal Posleen learning what "army engineers" are the hard way. The climactic battle. WWII warships taking on Posleen landers - and winning.
Starship Troopers {Robert Heinlein} Why? Great military SF, with a bit of idealism thrown in. The development of the modern idea of powered armour comes from this work. Heinlein's aliens are two-dimensional, but serve to give his Mobile Infanrty (MI) something to fight.
Ideas to Steal Combat drops from space. Female pilots to remind the grunts why they're fighting. Great powered armour ideas (Battledress was stolen from here).
A Fire Upon the Deep {Vernor Vinge} Why? Brilliantly weird - Vernor Vinge manages to create a fascinating and believable SF universe, that covers the range from low-tech spaceflight is impossible to hi-tech spaceflight is doable to the ultra-tech where magic happens. Definitely mind expanding.
Ideas to Steal The galaxy's zones of possibility, from the Slow Zone at the galactic core to the Transcend at the galactic fringe where the godlike Powers reside. The multi-body Tines, intelligent only in packs, and regarding an individual as the particular members of a pack.
A Deepness in the Sky {Vernor Vinge} Why? A return to the universe of A Fire Upon the Deep, this time much earlier (30,000 years) and centered around a race of spiders just beginning to reach for their stars, and recently discovered by Humans. Very character driven, this has interesting alien characters but some depressing themes amongst the Human stories.
Ideas to Steal The spider people's winter wars when all are meant to be hibernating. The Human fleet space battles. The Queng Ho founder's cunning plan.
The Mote in God's Eye {Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle} Why? One of the best novels exploring the issues of first contact with a truly alien species. The Human society is sketchily laid out, and we're left wondering just why British aristocracy and ancient naval culture have survived to the stars, but it provides a suitable backdrop for the Moties' fascinating civilization.
Ideas to Steal The Moties, their different castes (Master, Mediator, Engineer, Worker, Warrior, Messenger, Watchmaker) are great. Also, the Crazy Eddie idea is a real "aha!" point where the Moties begin to make sense.
The Gripping Hand {Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle} Why? The follow on novel to The Mote in God's Eye, and published 18 years later, this work expands the Human civilization and fills in gaps previously left. It also brings a resolution to the question of what to do with the Moties and expands our knowledge of them.
Ideas to Steal The fight in the Watchmaker warren. Kevin Renner's dashing exploits.
Oath of Fealty {Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle} Why? A look at life inside of one of Earth's first arcologies. Dated technology, but worth reading for the issues it raises about arcology life (although it is show in a very good light).
Ideas to Steal The springboard at the top of the mile high arcology. The way arcology and LA residents are so divided.
Trouble Twisters {Poul Anderson} Why? David Falkayn is one of Poul Anderson's merchant heroes, a worthy protege for the great Nicholas Van Rijn. Three stories share this book, each one moving the Falkayn character a step closer to greatness. They are marvellously good fun stories, suitable for almost immediate adaptation to Traveller.
Ideas to Steal The three-cornered wheel. Falkayn's buddhist dragon and talking cat partners. Falkayn's quick wits, constant heroism and boundless confidence.
Mirkheim {Poul Anderson} Why? Another David Falkayn book by Poul Anderson, this one shows a more mature Falkayn who must deal with the perils of being a husband and father (even if mostly an absent one) and abundant other details that flesh out his character, background and relations. Some of the story is a little indulgent, but it is great fun, and a good example of revenge served cold.
Ideas to Steal The way the nobility on Hermes carries themselves. The Human/Babur plot, serving two very different purposes with one action. As always, Falkayn's oddball alien crew.
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Movies for Traveller GMs
The 13th Warrior Why? Based on Michael Crichton's novel "Eaters of the Dead", itself based on translations of original Arab works by Ibn Fahdlan who was purportedly hijacked by a bunch of Vikings, whilst on a diplomatic mission (played by Antonio Banderas). It makes for a reasonably realistic and very interesting look at Viking adventurers and heroes - the sort of people PCs might run into on a backwater world.
Ideas to Steal The locals superstitious regard for the Wendol is something that could be easily reproduced in TNE or Milieu 0 games, where the edges of civilization hold terrors unknown to those from the core. The dynamics of the story are also well worth stealing as they pretty much follow a good D&D adventure plot.
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RPG Books
The Traveller's Handbook
The original Traveller T20 rules, based on the d20 System. A great set of generic sci-fi roleplaying rules. Especially good because of the starship, vehicle and computer design rules.
GURPS Traveller
The GURPS version of the Traveller rules, noted for its great source and background material, and alternate Traveller history.
The original Traveller T20 rules, based on the d20 System. A great set of generic sci-fi roleplaying rules. Especially good because of the starship, vehicle and computer design rules.
The GURPS version of the Traveller rules, noted for its great source and background material, and alternate Traveller history.
