Page 3 of 6 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 56

Thread: Fiction authors with real experience.

  1. #21
    Site Supporter Sero Sed Serio's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
    Kent Anderson. Vietnam SF turned Portland cop in the 70s turned Oakland cop in the 80s. Wrote 3 books:

    Sympathy for the Devil: Vietnam SF
    Night Dogs: Portland PD
    Green Sun: Oakland PD

    All are good, but Night Dogs is one of my favorite novels of all time.

  2. #22
    banana republican blues's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Blue Ridge Mtns
    Karl Marlantes (Highly recommend his book "Matterhorn")
    There's nothing civil about this war.

    Read: Harrison Bergeron

  3. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Drang View Post
    As was Joe Haldeman.

    Jerry Pournelle and Gene Wolff were Korean vets.

    Cyril Kornbluth eventually died of wounds from the Battle of the Bulge; Randall Garret was a Marine in the Pacific Theater.

    Murray Leinster was a WWI vet. (Although I cannot verify that he even deployed.)
    It's interesting that David Drake and Jerry Pournelle both based major series around mercenary units (Hammer's Slammers and Falkenberg's Mercenary Legion), but with very different takes on the behavior and motivation of the protagonists. Both are excellent reads. Pournelle builds a lot of political and societal context into his story lines.

  4. #24
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    The land of flatbeds and no teeth.
    Quote Originally Posted by HCM View Post
    He was present in World War I, and he was even wounded in world war one but he did not actually “fight” in World War I.

    He was an ambulance driver in Italy for the American Red Cross which at the time was a neutral NGO. He was wounded by mortar fire while operating a red cross canteen feeding Italian soldiers.

    He covered the Spanish Civil War as a reporter but again was not a combatant.

    You know who was a combatant in the Spanish Civil War though? George Orwell. He also spent five years in Burma as a British colonial policeman. I think it would be impossible to write books like 1980 for an animal farm if you had never spent any time in government service.
    I am impressed, you are very astute and well read.

    I always thought Orwell was very predictive of the Pigs in Congress.
    Last edited by Arbninftry; 12-14-2019 at 12:44 PM.

  5. #25
    I read a modest bit of David Drake as a high school student, and early Joe Haldeman while OCONUS for the first go-around; they're both very different works for me to read, on the far side of the the (my?) war years, as I am. The texture of the reading is somewhat more frictious at times; but the stories are that much better in the rereading for it.

    I found these brief writings to speak well to some particulars:
    https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1439133093/1439133093.htm
    https://david-drake.com/2009/vietnam/

    Drake's "Redliners" is a hell of a lot harder to read on the far side of the war years, then it was as a child.
    Jules
    Runcible Works

  6. #26
    Lt Robert A. Heinlein, USN.
    Lt Elizabeth Moon, USMC.

    They didn't see combat but they certainly worked with people who did.
    But they don't do Gun Porn.

    I get David Drake's e-newsletter. Demonstrates that PTSD is always.
    Code Name: JET STREAM

  7. #27
    JL Bourne is a retired mustang naval aviator, a forum member here, and my best friend of many years. Some of you have shot with him.
    #RESIST

  8. #28
    Site Supporter NEPAKevin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Poconos, PA
    Sean Parnell IIRC Ranger/10th Mt. Div. wrote Outlaw Platoon(non-fiction) and has two fiction novels out. He's also running for congress someplace out in western PA.
    Last edited by NEPAKevin; 12-14-2019 at 02:46 PM.

  9. #29
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    TEXAS !
    Quote Originally Posted by NEPAKevin View Post
    Sean Parnell IIRC Ranger/10th Mt. Div. wrote Outlaw Platoon(non-fiction) and has two fiction novels out. He's also running for congress someplace out in western PA.
    I haven’t read his fiction but Outlaw platoon is well worth a read. Better than fiction IMHO.

    Definitely give this a listen


  10. #30
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    E. Wash.
    Newspaper columnist James Brady (now deceased) was a marine officer during the Korean War. I've read several of his books, including his non-fiction memoir of his time in Korea.
    I remember his description of the the march back from the Chosin Reservoir being quite vivid.

    https://www.amazon.com/Marines-Autum...al-text&sr=1-4
    Last edited by idahojess; 12-14-2019 at 04:14 PM.

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •