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Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on another planet. A detailed depiction of the conflict, the tactics used to wage it, and the role of a military service and the individual members of that service forms the basis for a work of military science fiction. The stories often take features of actual past or current Earth conflicts, with countries being replaced by entire planets or galaxies of similar characteristics, and certain events changed so that the author can extrapolate on what might have occurred.

Characteristics

Traditional military values (discipline, courage, etc.) are stressed, and the action is usually described from the point of view of a soldier or officer. Typically the technology employed is more advanced than present-day, and described in detail. In some stories, however, technology is fairly static, and weapons that would be familiar to present-day soldiers are employed, but other aspects of society have changed: for example, women being accepted as equal partners in combat roles. Wars are not primarily won by research and development, or even logistics, but by willpower, bravery, tactical foresight, and other military virtues. In many stories technological advances are central to plot development.

History

Perhaps the first work of military SF is H. Beam Piper's Uller Uprising (1952) (based on the events of the Sepoy Mutiny). Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers (1959) is another pivotal early work of military SF, along with Gordon Dickson's Dorsai (1960), and these are thought to be mostly responsible for spreading this sub-genre's popularity among young readers of the time.

The start of military SF as a recognized subgenre is considered by many to have begun with the publication of Combat SF (ISBN 0-441-11531-4, edited by Gordon Dickson) in 1975. This anthology includes one of the first Hammer's Slammers stories by David Drake as well as one of the BOLO stories by Keith Laumer, and one of the Berserker stories by Fred Saberhagen. This anthology seems to have been the first time SF-stories specifically dealing with war as a subject were collected and marketed as such. The series of anthologies under the group title There Will be War edited by Pournelle and John F. Carr (nine volumes from 1983 through 1990) helped keep the category active, and encouraged new writers to enter it.

Viewpoints

While military science fiction, like science fiction in general, is primarily for entertainment purposes, a number of authors have presented stories with political messages of varying types as major or minor themes of their works.

David Drake has often written of the horrors and futility of war. He has said, in the afterwords of several of his Hammer's Slammers books (1979)^{citation needed}, that one of his reasons for writing is to educate those people who have not experienced war, but who might have to make the decision to start or support a war (as policy makers or as voters) about what war is really like, and what the powers and limits of the military as a tool of policy are.

In more recent books, David Weber's Honor Harrington series (1993), while previously featuring righteous heroes triumphing over despicable villains, now centers on an unnecessary war between two groups of positive characters.

Examples

Military science fiction is seen in an array of media, including books, movies, TV and anime, and games. Each of the following examples has been considered as military science fiction.

Books

References

See also

• Militainment
• Space warfare in fiction

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