Unearthed Shelf

Classic Sci-Fi Books

Finding classic science-fiction novels, popular series, hidden gems, and underrated masterpieces has never been easier!

Military Books

Old Man's War by John Scalzi book cover

Old Man's War

Author: John Scalzi

Year: 2005

Rating:

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-- and alien race…

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On Basilisk Station by David Weber book cover

On Basilisk Station

Author: David Weber

Year: 1992

Rating:

Honor Harrington in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way p…

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Dauntless by Jack Campbell book cover

Dauntless

Author: Jack Campbell

Year: 2006

Rating:

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century--and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized, be…

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The Forever War by Joe Haldeman book cover

The Forever War

Author: Joe Haldeman

Year: 1974

Rating:

The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy that they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away. A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite Military unit, Private Wi…

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Xenocide by Orson Scott Card book cover

Xenocide

Author: Orson Scott Card

Year: 1991

Rating:

On Lusitania, Ender finds a world where humans and pequeninos and the Hive Queen could all live together. However, Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequeninos require in order to become adu…

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The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov book cover

The Positronic Man

Author: Isaac Asimov

Year: 1992

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Powerful and haunting, The Positronic Man is an unforgettable novel that redefines Isaac Asimov's and Robert Silverberg's place among the greatest science fiction authors of all time. In the twenty-first century the creation of the positronic brain l…

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Forever free by Joe Haldeman book cover

Forever free

Author: Joe Haldeman

Year: 1999

Rating:

From back cover Ace paperback November 2000: A veteran of The Forever War, William Mandella lives on the snow-covered planet set aside for his kind, supporting his family by ice-fishing and teaching physics. But now Mandella's life has become obs…

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Old Man’s War by John Scalzi book cover

Old Man’s War

Author: John Scalzi

Year: 2005

Rating:

John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against more advanced species. Citizens volunteer for the Colonial Defense Forces after retirement, in exchange for…

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Mutineers' Moon by David Weber book cover

Mutineers' Moon

Author: David Weber

Year: 1991

Rating:

MUTINY! For Lt. Commander Colin Maclntyre, it began as a routine training flight over the Moon. For Dahak, a self-aware Imperial battleship, it began millennia ago when that powerful artificial intelligence underwent a mutiny in the face of the en…

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Gullivar of Mars by Edwin Lester Linden Arnold book cover

Gullivar of Mars

Author: Edwin Lester Linden Arnold

Year: 1964

Rating:

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