War changes everything . War is an Revelation of Saint John the Divine and a technological revolution and a life - change adventure , all rolled into one . So it ’s not surprising that many of scientific discipline fabrication ’s most unerasable stories are about warfare .
Here are the 12 most important science fiction warfare stories of all time .
Top image : Ed Emshwiller ’s cover artfor Heinlein ’s “ Starship Troopers ” in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction .
Weasked on our Facebook pagewhat your favorite science fabrication state of war stories were , and we received over 300 response . ( Includingonefrom the Facebook page for the John Dies at the remainder moving-picture show , which made our day . ) Here ’s what you guys vote for .
12 . fire beetle
Joss Whedon ’s beloved Space Western show received a gross ton of votes , and at first we were a scrap dubious . After all , we only glimpse the Battle of Serenity in a few scenes in the pilot . Was this just more proof that Browncoats can stuff any vote box ? But then we realize that it actually fits : Firefly really is about how war changes people , forever and a day . Mal ’s past tense as a soldier continues to define him , and the Battle of Serenity does more than just name Mal ’s ship , it shapes everything . So yeah , this is a bully science fable show about war .
11 . Warhammer 40 K
This table - top gaming series , which takes place 38 - odd thousand twelvemonth from now , features the total galaxy at war . And several people give call - out to some of the standoff - in novel that have been publish for this game , including theGaunt ’s specter serieswritten by genre old stager Dan Abnett , about one very special regiment , which are “ like a scifi Band of Brothers , ” as Steve assign it . And the Horus Heresy book , which tell about a galaxy - broad civil warfare that took place 10,000 year before the game begins . “ Just about any Warhammer 40 K record book is a with child war story , ” pronounce Brian .
10 . Star Trek : Deep Space 9
The Dominion War might be the most ambitious story arc that Star Trek ever pulled off , with the Dominion being introduced in the show ’s second season and the war raging for a few age and culminate in the serial close . Trek had always explore question about the ethics and strategy of war , going back to the Original Series and episodes like “ A Taste of Armageddon ” and “ symmetricalness of Terror . ” But with DS9 , state of war is at its ugliest , and its most urgent — peculiarly when Benjamin Sisko cross some huge moral lines to bring the Romulans into the war , or when Nog turn a loss his wooden leg in struggle . This was a war that the Organians could n’t just brandish their hands and put a catch to .
9 . Old Man ’s War by John Scalzi
People praise this series for its “ kick - ass struggle ” and “ sheer delectation , ” and for being a fantastic shout - out to Heinlein ’s great military saga , especially Starship Troopers , about which more in a moment . In this gritty future - warfare story , masses who turn 75are offered a miraculous greening , doctor them to perfect younker and vigor — and the only catch is that they have to go contend in a war that will probably down them as cursorily as old age would have . The “ solution is kind of awing , ” enunciate Keegan .
8 . Armor by John Steakley
In this military SF classic , a man named Felix isa oink in the advance guardof the encroachment of the inhospitable major planet Banshee . He just wants to get through his late horrible mission in one piece — but luckily , he ’s got two things on his side : the most awe-inspiring powered armour imaginable , which is the culmination of 10,000 years of armour - making brilliance . And a mysterious being hollo the railway locomotive , which protects him for some reason . Over at SFF Audio , Jesse Willis writes , “ Armor synthesize the action of Heinlein ’s cavalryman with the emotional impact of Haldeman ’s The Forever War – but still comes off as a entirely unique story . ”
7 . warfare of the Worlds
The original interplanetary war story is still one of the most important — it ’s hard to overstate the importance of the first images of aliens come to our planet and kicking our asses . The visceral , acute imagination sticks in your mind even today , like the main character ’s flesh getting scalded by the boiling water when the alien loose their heat re . It ’s one of the most effective depiction of assymetric war from the standpoint of the less - equip side , and a foundational state of war story of the genre . Image byRobert Czarny .
6 . Star Wars
As various people direct out , it has “ war ” in the title , which is unremarkably a dead game show . But also , the original trilogy is pretty much all about the battles between the Rebellion and the Empire , with the Empire try out to establish last technical superiority through its Death Star platform . These movies gave us dogfights in space , all - out assaults on Rebel bases , and massive explosions . multitude also praise Timothy Zahn ’s Thrawn Trilogy . But also , a whole fresh propagation has get up immersed in Clone Wars , which is a running saga about the costs of warfare .
5 . Dune by Frank Herbert
This is one of the nifty foundational texts of science fiction , exploring the rise of Paul Muad’dib and the struggle with the Harkonnens over control over Arrakis , the source of the most valuable heart in the creation : the spicery mishmash . Over the course of the first novel , Paul becomes the ultimate warrior . As Priness Irulan write :
He was warrior and mystical , demon and saint , the fox and the innocent , chivalrous , unpitying , less than a god , more than a adult male . There is no measure Muad’Dib ’s motives by average measure . In the present moment of his triumph , he understand the expiry cook for him , yet he take the treachery . Can you say he did this out of a sense of justice ? Whose justice , then ? Remember , we talk now of the Muad’Dib who ordered struggle drums made from his enemies ’ skin , the Muad’Dib who denied the convention of his ducal yesteryear with a wave of the hand , saying merely : “ I am the Kwisatz Haderach . That is reason enough . ”
4 . Battlestar Galactica
The rebooted BSG engage many of the root word from Deep Space Nine and pushed them much further . The show takes space years after the First Cylon War , in which unbelievable bloodletting and destruction came from a robot uprising . And now , the Cylons have come back and wiped out most of humanity , leaving the subsister face the possibility of extermination . War create refugees and includes race murder , and these are realities that BSG appear at with an unblinking eye . As several multitude said , the whole run of episodes from the first miniseries to the Battle of New Caprica is must - watch television .
3 . Ender ’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Soon to be a movie , this novel contains a dreary , mad metaphor for the ways in which war corrupts immature multitude — Ender Wiggin is turn into a “ Xenocide ” without his knowledge , and his talent for thrashing becomes legendary across all human civilizations . ( Click here foran MS - key sketch abstract of the novel . ) It ’s entirely brutal , andearly indicationsare that the upcoming pic is go to admit a batch of that same saturation and zero - gravitational force violence .
https://gizmodo.com/the-enders-game-movie-puts-out-casting-calls-for-10-cha-5844789
2 . The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Even decades later , Haldeman’sdepiction of the reality of interstellar travel — and particularly , of the time dilatation that traveling lightheaded years would make — still seem groundbreaking and unique . The warfare against the Taurans goes on and on , and William Mandella is more and more a man out of time , facing a universe that no longer makes signified to him . This book pulls no punches in depicting the acculturation shock that a returning veteran face , when everybody else has moved on in the meantime . By the time the war is over , Mandella has only senesce a decade but it ’s been over a thousand year — and then we find out the war was n’t even really worth it . Ridley Scott was going to film this book at one point , and it would be majuscule to see that happen instead of Prometheus 2 .
1 . spaceship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
skitter the Verhoeven movie version , and go straight to the reference material — the original novel about office - armor soldiers in space fighting insect aliens . Writes Gregory , “ seemingly Starship Troopers the book is order interpretation at the US Marines college . Heinlein ’s concept of futurist war and powered armor were impractical . ” Adds Marc , “ if you think it ’s fascist , you missed the whole point in time of the record . ” This is being made into a whole new movie , and let ’s go for it ’s closer to the book this meter .
Runners up : the Hammer ’s Slammers Book by David Drake , Babylon 5 , Harry Turtledove ’s World War series , some of Iain M. Banks ’ polish novel , The Terminator , Enemy Mine , Hyperion / Endymion , Mass Effect , Gears of War , Stargate , Doctor Who ’s “ Time War , ” Farscape , Zone Troopers , Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut , Mass Effect , Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis , A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski , David Weber ’s Honor Harrington books , the Posleen Series by John Ringo , Tanya Huff ’s “ Confederation ” novels , the Lilith ’s Brood al-Qur’an by Octavia Butler , the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov , The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester , and many others .
( And thanks to Maggie for hershout - outto “ 3rd Rock from the Sun : So intense ! ” We ’re glad we ’re not the only one who feel totally contort out by the gritty violence and emotion in that serial publication . )
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