Military SF

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Military SF is SF that focuses particularly on armed conflict (war), typically from the perspective of military personnel, and often with detailed attention to military strategy, materiel, battles, relationships across the ranks, and so on.

The defining feature of military SF is the focus on the military aspects; thus, "Star Wars", although it has "war" in the title, is not "military SF" as very little of it focuses on war. However, any SF that is about war is likely to have some military SF elements. So, for instance, "Star Wars", while not "military SF" by any account, nevertheless includes several scenes that draw from military films; a certain militaristic element; and elements drawn from military propaganda films (especially the last scene, drawn to Leni Riefenstahl).

Numerous recastings of traditional historical / military genres have been exported to space or alternative historical eras.

Perhaps one of the earliest famous works of military SF are Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers (1959) (made into the execrable 1997 film) and H. Beam Piper's Uller Uprising (1952) and Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen (1965). A significant early anthologoy includes Gordon Dickson, editor, Combat SF (1975). Following Heinlein's lead, much of this work leans from Libertarian to conservative to fascist. A significant contemporary publisher is Baen Books, which publishes Lois McMaster Bujold's works among others. Significant anthologies include Jerry Pournelle's There Will Be War (a series of anthologies) and Harry Harrison & Bruce McAllister's There Won't Be War (anthology).

A number of works have specifically used the military SF genre to critique the military, war, or violence, sometimes incorporating feminism by reference rather than from an explicitly feminist viewpoint. See, e.g., Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (critique of use of war and military by society); Harry Harrison's Bill the Galactic Hero (1965 parody of space opera, and critique of military recruiting techniques). Even when not critiquing, a number of works have been written using a military context that have thoughtfully explored the role of the military in society, or explored the potential for horror in warfare. Other examples:

  • David Drake's "Slammers" books,
  • David Drake's Counting the Cost;
  • Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. See also
  • Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Lucky Strike"
  • Connie Willis' "Schwarzchild Radius"

Women and feminist SF writers have long been a feature of the genre, crafting stories in which an exceptional woman is a soldier or leader (like Jeanne d'Arc), and alternative or future realities in which women and men both serve in the military. (See Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion stories for an alternative fantasy take in which women serve in the military; Elizabeth Moon's The Serrano Legacy and Vatta's War series; "Battlestar Galactica (2004)" for a SFnal take in which women and men both serve in the military; Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series which features a patriarchal society). See also C. J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station; David Weber's Honor Harrington series (SF). More recently see Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (nautical dragon alternative historical fantasy stories).

A number of anthologies have been published that have explored women and "war", as opposed to the "woman warrior"; these typically include military SF, but may also include works focusing on the military from other perspectives.

Related & countertrends

Feminist SF writers have also engaged the military, war, and violence, in a number of other genres, some of which occasionally touch on military SF in their focus on battle tactics, warriors, etc.

  • Women warriors: Works involving women warriors often incorporate a de facto feminism, either including women soldiers and warriors without comment, or using the presence of women in the military to periodically raise feminist issues or social critiques of war and the military. For instance, Xena: Warrior Princess repeatedly engaged the question of peace versus warfare and the way of the warrior, and had numerous episodes featuring battle tactics, sometimes recreating historical battles (in Xenaverse faux-historical style).
  • Anti-war feminists, and anti-war writers more generally, have explored the effects of war on civilian populations; the uses of war and militarization to maintain power and control in society. See, e.g., George Orwell's 1984; story in which women are maintained for breeding in a perpetual war --?; Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time in the dystopian possible future. Ecofeminists such as Starhawk in The Fifth Sacred Thing have explicitly contrasted militarism and violence with pacifism and nonviolence. See also Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home, for another story that juxtaposes a violent society with a peaceful one.


List of military SF of interest

Female protagonists

See also

Further reading

Discussions and reading lists
General anthologies
  • The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century, Harry Turtledove, editor
References
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