Military reading lists usually lean toward history, leadership and memoir. And those types of books matter and have their place, but when Military.com asked veterans which science fiction books service members keep recommending to one another, four titles surfaced again and again: Starship Troopers. The Forever War. Armor. Old Man's War. Their settings couldn't be more different, but each asks the same question: What does military service do to a person? The Reddit threads drew more than 30,000 views, with veterans, retirees, active-duty service members and military readers recommending everything from Dune and The Expanse to Red Rising, Warhammer 40,000 and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Two vintage “Science Fiction Quarterly” covers show midcentury science fiction art from the pulp magazine era. Veterans and military readers recommended classic military sci-fi titles to Military.com, reflecting a genre that has long used futuristic wars, alien worlds and speculative technology to explore real questions about service and combat. (Public domain images; composite by Ryan LaBee/Military.com).
At first glance, they have almost nothing in common. They share a familiar hook for military readers: fiction that lets service members step away from reality while still finding something recognizable inside the story. One Marine veteran who responded to Military.com via direct message said that books, movies and games move through military life because service members are still people with their own tastes once the uniform comes off. They explained:
