Wing Commander type novel

Bigt028

Rear Admiral
ok, so since i cant play my favorite Wing Commander games on today's PC's i have to resort to win98 or dosbox.
i turned to novels, and found the following two very close to the wing commander universe. capivating and enjoyable characters. anyone else read these?

Orphangae and Orphan's Destiny by Robert Buettner. he is releasing the thrid novel called Orphan's Journey first quater or 2008.
 
They were giving away copies of Orphan's Destiny at Dragon*Con in 2005. It was in a stack next to my bed for a while and I eventually read all of it. I'd say it owes a lot more to Starship Troopers than it does Wing Commander, though... so if you haven't read that book or The Forever War, do so immediately.

It's hard for me personally to define things as being 'like Wing Commander', though, since there are so many elements to the series. Does it just need to have similar characters? A similar setting? Also be a World War 2 analog? Etc.

I would reccomend anything in Larry Niven's Known Space universe to Wing Commander fans -- definately the origin of the Kilrathi. The various Man-Kzin Wars spinoff books are the only ones that directly deal with a war, but I'd read something like Ringworld first. The same goes for Jerry Pournelle's CoDominium future history stuff - start with Mote in God's Eye and get into the military stuff if you enjoy it.

David Weber's Honor Harrington books remind me of Wing Commander a lot, in various ways -- probably the characters and the level to which it plays fast and loose with its allegory (it's the age of sail in space instead of World War II.) Start with On Basilisk Station and go right down the series.

The same goes for David Drake's RCN series (Lt. Leary Commanding is the first one, I think), which is pretty much the same concept but done less often by a better writer. If you enjoyed Dr. Forstchen's Wing Commander novels, you would probably like any of Drake's harder military sci fi (Hammer's Slammers, etc.)
 
you are correct, the novels definately have a Starship Troopers feel, and that's exactly what others have said about it. i enjoyed the movie so i know the novel will be good. I havent yet read The Forever War, i was waiting until after i completed the trilogy of Orphan's.
thanks for the input
 
RCN series starts with With The Lightnings. Commanding is the 2nd book.

RCN series book listing

(I really need to catch up on the series. I kinda lost track of it after Commanding, due to RL issues and my crappy memory.)
 
i just posted a reply for someone who just received a few Wing Commmander novels. i really enjoyed them all, my favorite was "Fleet Action"
 
thanks, now i want to get an idea, i have the WC novels by Dr. Forstchen's, i was reading in another forum that there were novels fromthe movie. Pilgram Stars, is that worth reading, and was there a squal to that book?
 
thanks, now i want to get an idea, i have the WC novels by Dr. Forstchen's, i was reading in another forum that there were novels fromthe movie. Pilgram Stars, is that worth reading, and was there a squal to that book?

There was a sequel that was never released but there's a detailed outline, and IIRC events from that are referenced in Star Soldier.
 
Pilgrim Stars is itself a sequel - to the novelization of the movie. Even if you didn't like the movie, the novelization is sufficiently expanded and well-written enough to be wholly entertaining... it's also necessary for introducing the various plot threads that Pilgrim Stars (and Truth) continue.
 
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