Wing Commander style Books

M

mbwilliams

Spaceman
Hopefully I'm posting this in the correct forum. I apologize if I'm not.

I've read all the Wing Commander books and absolutely loved them. Recently, however, I've gotten to wondering. What other books are out there that have a similar "feel" to them?

If anyone has any recommendations of books that they have read which had a similar Wing Commander style, I would greatly appreciate it.
 
If they don't have to be sci-fi, I strongly recommend Barrett Tillman's Dauntless and Hellcats. The overall feel of the books is quite similar to the WC novels. Basically, Forstchen is writing historical fiction set 600 years in the future by taking Wing Commander and using it to make WWII in space. Tillman's books are simply set in WWII in the first place. The books are written from the point of view of an American dive bomber/fighter pilot and a Japanese scout/fighter pilot. The plot lines cover several major battles during the war, much like the Forstchen novels. There's also plenty of action to be had. Since they are out of print, the best place to get the novels is probably Tillman's website at http://www.btillman.com/. Tillman's nonfiction is also excellent if you have any interest in carrier aviation in the Pacific.
 
mbwilliams said:
I've read all the Wing Commander books and absolutely loved them. Recently, however, I've gotten to wondering. What other books are out there that have a similar "feel" to them?
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There were two Space: Above And Beyond novels that came out around the time of the show. The first one is a novelization of the pilot episode - the second one has them surfing into battle.
 
David Weber's Honor Harrington books have a similar tone to them (historical naval warfare in space).

Baen's Man-Kzin Wars series are less like WC in terms of their warfare, but they're full of Kilrathi. :)
 
The four novels that attach to the Halo series aren't bad. They fill the same role as the WC novels (one prequel, one novelization of a game and two that fill in gaps between games) and have a decent mix of science fiction soldier stuff and space navy engagements.
 
You can also read fanfics in the fan fiction chat forum room. I've really gotten into them since I also wanted to read more Wing Commander style stories. Us fans may not be professional writers, but I find that following my familiar Wing Commander Universe is generally more pleasing than some of the other 'worlds' like 'In Death Ground' or 'The Shiva Option' which are also good sci fi books by professional writers.
 
The first Dark Wing novel has a very WC feel to it, military sci-fi with humans fighting a religious genocidal alien race (actually, I'd say it's closer to the original concept for "Squadron," with a Human Empire). About two-thirds of the way through it segues into more typical space opera, though, which is apparently the path the rest of the series takes. Still worth reading, I think.

David Weber also co-authored the Starfire novels, which are based on an SFB-style board games which apparently has quite a few similarities to Wing Commander.

And although it's not much remembered now and doesn't have much actual space fighting, The Fleet is an excellent collection of short stories by David Drake about the fossils who keep the fleet running (and the fossils who keep running the... well, you know how it goes). I understand it was used as the basis for SSI's Panzer Generals spinoff Star Generals.
 
ChrisReid said:
The four novels that attach to the Halo series aren't bad. They fill the same role as the WC novels (one prequel, one novelization of a game and two that fill in gaps between games) and have a decent mix of science fiction soldier stuff and space navy engagements.
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Good suggestion. I was going to bring them up myself, but it looks like I'm over a month too late.

You should check out The Fall of Reach, which is the first book in the series, if you're really in the mood for some space combat. It plays a bigger role in that book than it does in the others.
 
I've also been looking for WC style Sci Fi Aviation books, but I find myself going back to Stephen Coonts's books- Flight Of The Intruder, The Intruders, Final Flight. The early stuff like FOTI and TI are Vietnam era and just after, respectively. Final Flight is Cold War years but they have similar feel in relating the flight sequences, to the WC novels, but the character development and eye to details is greatly expanded without getting bogged down with jargon and military procedure.

Tillman also had book out called Warriors that follows a retired Air Force pilot as he setups an elite fighter squadron, built around F-20 Tigersharks, for a middle eastern nation

As for Sci Fi based stuff the only thing I've found is the X-Wing series and the Conqueror's series from Timothy Zahn.
 
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