Books like A Hymn Before Battle

MILITARY SF that hits the G-SPOT and causes a FULL ON HAPPY!! Interesting POLITICS, unique ALIEN CULTURES, intelligent PLOTTING, engaging CHARACTERS...oh yeah, and lots and lots of: \ \ 4.5 stars. I’ve said before that I like military SF, but it is not the sub-genre that I intend to settle down with and spend the rest of my life. Therefore, I am fairly prudish and selective about the books I engage with in this category. Well book bachelors and bachelorettes, this book is definitely ROSE WORTHY as it is among the best military science fiction I have ever come across. The reason I don’t read much military SF is that it is usually lacking in creative world-building/back story, interesting aliens and cultures and three dimensional characters. These are all things I enjoy. This book does a righteous job of being a high octane, shoot em’ up battle saga while at the same time introducing and setting up the series with a kick-glute back-story, some unique alien cultures and a highly evolved political dynamic. BACK STORY:The novel concerns humanity being recruited by a Galactic Federation of alien races in order to assist them in battling a powerful and belligerent race known as the Posleen. Most of the other alien races are extreme pacifists with no ability to engage in warfare despite their high degree of technology and intelligence (kind of buying in the theory that once a culture reaches a certain level of technology and growth, they are more likely to be peaceful). Thus, they want to recruit humanity, with all of our saucy, neat-o-rrific killing skills, to get our WAR ON and be their soldiers***. ***Note: This is very similar in theme to A Call to Arms by Alan Dean Foster. As for as the aliens, the Galactic Federation is made up of some pretty interesting societies which include:Darhel: The bankers and de facto rulers of the GalFed who may not be as nice guyish as they would have the humans believe….Hey just like on Earth, Indowy: The engineers and technicians who supply most of the equipment and technology to the GalFed, Tchpth: The philosophers and scientists of the federation; and Himmit: An extremely secretive race that may be MUCH more powerful than they let on. I thought the descriptions of the aliens and their “less than altruistic” motives and political maneuvering made for interesting reading and added a depth to the story that is sorely lacking in other books of the genre. In addition, the Posleen make really nasty bad guys which makes for a better story. They are described as large, reptilian centaurs that are bred to fight and mentally controlled by a select number of powerful “God Kings” which make up the ruling hierarchy of the society. Somewhat reminiscent of the “bugs” from both Ender’s Game and Starship Troopers. Overall, I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading the sequel. While having all of the extensive discussions of tactics and training and battle details that are the hallmarks of military SF, the narrative managed to stay engaging, fun and compelling with a wonderful back story. Highly Recommended!!!