Books like 'Grimmer Than Hell'

Readers who enjoyed Grimmer Than Hell by David Drake also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

futuristic  sc-fi  space  action / adventure  military, war & conflict  dystopia  war  military  dark

  • Morning Star by Pierce Brown

    Morning Star by Pierce Brown

    Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars
    · 74 ratings
    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating conclusion to the Red Rising Trilogy: Morning Star.Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war...
  • Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey

    Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 48 ratings
    Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper...
  • Golden Son by Pierce Brown

    Golden Son by Pierce Brown

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 73 ratings
    As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution...
  • Obsidio by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

    Obsidio by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · 52 ratings
    Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao...
    Categorized as:
    dark  dystopia  military  war  action-adventure  ai  audiobook  book
  • Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

    Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 60 ratings
    Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault...
  • Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

    Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 71 ratings
    We are not alone.On Ganymede, breadbasket of the outer planets, a Martian marine watches as her platoon is slaughtered by a monstrous supersoldier. On Earth, a high-level politician struggles to prevent interplanetary war from reigniting. And on Venus, an alien protomolecule has overrun the planet, wreaking massive, mysterious changes and threatening to spread out into the solar system...
  • Evershore by Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson

    Evershore by Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the final of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Listen to Jorgen's story along with Cytonic...
    Categorized as:
    dystopia  war  sci-fi  young-adult  fiction  audiobook  space  aliens
  • Born of Legend by Sherrilyn Kenyon

    Born of Legend by Sherrilyn Kenyon

    Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    It is in the darkest hours of a universe’s past that their legends are born and their heroes rise…No one knows exactly how much heart they have until their mettle is put to the hazard and they reach the lowest point of hell. There, they have only two choices. Lie down and die. Or find the strength to push themselves to their feet and fight back with everything they have...
    Categorized as:
    dark  dystopia  military  war  abuse  action-adventure  adult  aliens
  • Dark Age by Pierce Brown

    Dark Age by Pierce Brown

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 41 ratings
    The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Morning Star returns to the Red Rising universe with the thrilling sequel to Iron Gold.For a decade Darrow led a revolution against the corrupt color-coded Society. Now, outlawed by the very Republic he founded, he wages a rogue war on Mercury in hopes that he can still salvage the dream of Eo...
  • The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King

    The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    This is what happens when, in the chaos of an alien apocalypse where the all-powerful galactic empire of Congress has laid the smackdown on Earth for breaking its universal laws on genetic experimentation, the world's smartest human (sort of) swears to obey the galaxy's greatest assassin (definitely) on Wednesdays through Mondays, if she will give him Tuesdays in turn...
  • Miles Errant by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Miles Errant by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    Contains: The Borders of InfinityBrothers in Arms Mirror DanceMiles Naismith--in the person of his two alter-egos Admiral Naismith and Lieutenant Lord Vorkosigan--embarks on a perilous series of adventures, from the liberation of Barrayaran allies from a Cetagandan POW camp to the rescue of clone children scheduled to be murdered for their bodies...
  • The Legend of ZERO: The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King

    The Legend of ZERO: The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    This is what happens when, in the chaos of an alien apocalypse where the all-powerful galactic empire of Congress has laid the smackdown on Earth for breaking its universal laws on genetic experimentation, the world's smartest human (sort of) swears to obey the galaxy's greatest assassin (definitely) on Wednesdays through Mondays, if she will give him Tuesdays in turn...
  • Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey

    Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 71 ratings
    Abaddon's Gate is the third book in the New York Times bestselling Expanse series. For generations, the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt - was humanity's great frontier. Until now. The alien artefact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has emerged to build a massive structure outside the orbit of Uranus: a gate that leads into a starless dark...
  • Miles, Mutants, and Microbes by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Miles, Mutants, and Microbes by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Content: Falling free Labyrinth Diplomatic immunity Miles Vorkosigan/Naismith : his life and times.Two complete novels and a short novel in one large volume:Falling Free—The Nebula Award-winning novel. Leo Graf was just your typical efficient engineer: mind your own business and do the job...
  • Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey

    Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 57 ratings
    The sixth book in the New York Times bestselling Expanse series. NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.The Free Navy - a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships - has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets...
  • Secret of the Phoenix by Joshua Dalzelle

    Secret of the Phoenix by Joshua Dalzelle

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Captain Jason Burke has begun to suspect that the random attacks on his ship and crew over the last couple of years may not be so random after all. Evidence is mounting that there is something on the Phoenix ... something that powerful factions will stop at nothing to get their hands on...
  • Buccaneers by Jamie McFarlane

    Buccaneers by Jamie McFarlane

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    The crew of the Hotspur just happens to be looking for a new home. If Nick James is right, and he usually is, the Tipperary solar system is about to become the busiest trading hub in the galaxy. To sweeten the pot, the cloud-city of Lèger Nuage is offering free warehouse space to qualified traders. It's a deal that seems too good to pass up. Of course, nothing's as simple as it seems...
  • Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton

    Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 46 ratings
    The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star... vanishes. It does not go supernova...
  • Madame Guillotine by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole

    Madame Guillotine by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Leave no man behind. On Detron, a simmering protest boils over and turns deadly when militants hiding among the demonstrators deliberately shoot down a group of legionnaires, executing one survivor and taking two for ransom. The only Republic asset the captured leejes can rely on is a lone marine sniper who defies orders in a desperate attempt to save them...
  • Red Rising by Pierce Brown

    Red Rising by Pierce Brown

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 84 ratings
    "I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.""I live for you," I say sadly.Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future...
  • Memento by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

    Memento by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    From New York Times bestselling authors Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff comes an Illuminae prequel digital novella that gives readers a hair-raising glimpse into the calamity that befell the invincible AI system known as AIDAN–and the daring young programmer who would risk her life to keep it from crashing.AIDAN is the AI you’ll love to hate...
  • Zero Recall by Sara King

    Zero Recall by Sara King

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    It's been 53 turns after the legendary Commander Zero graduated as a Congie warrior. Joe, now a battle hardened veteran, has spent his life surviving wars he had no right to survive. Yet his real test is coming: New forces are conspiring to start a great war like the universe has never seen, one that would rip apart the very fabric of Congress...
  • Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

    Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 67 ratings
    They call him father, liberator, warlord, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the pale blue planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-second of his life. A decade ago, Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society...
    Categorized as:
    dark  dystopia  military  war  action-adventure  audiobook  book  drama
  • Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Contains: Cetaganda Ethan of Athos Labyrinth.Diplomat, soldier, spy - Lieutenant Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan of the Barrayarayan Empire, a.k.a. Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, is a young man of many parts...
  • Unforgiven by M.R. Forbes

    Unforgiven by M.R. Forbes

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Sheriff Hayden Duke was born on the starship Pilgrim, like his father, and his father before him. He’s got a long way to go before he can rest. How can he when the entire world is under siege?   By demonic aliens. By a brutal thug who calls himself King. By an unknown and powerful threat that may be responsible for the end of humankind. The road may be long. The odds may be bad...
  • Shattered Silence by Anna Carven

    Shattered Silence by Anna Carven

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Enki Zakanin just wants peace and quiet. He's completed his mission, and on the journey back to the Kordolian Fleet Station, he'd prefer to be left alone so he can manage the literal demon inside his head. Alone. So when a strange distress call breaks the silence, his first instinct is to ignore the signal...
  • Confederation by Michael R. Hicks

    Confederation by Michael R. Hicks

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    In the second book of the In Her Name science fiction & fantasy series, Reza Gard has been banished from the Kreelan Empire and is once again a stranger in a strange land as he returns to the human Confederation. Befriended by a marooned Confederation naval officer leading a desperate fight against the Kreelans on a distant colony world, she reunites Reza with Nicole Carré...
    Categorized as:
    dystopia  military  war  action-adventure  adult  aliens  book  fiction
  • Homeworld by Evan Currie

    Homeworld by Evan Currie

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    War comes home to the Sol system when the Drasin track a human ship back to Earth, with devastating consequences. Facing massive force of invading alien ships wielding terrible power, the crew of the NAC spacecraft, their allies, and the people of Earth must mount a desperate effort to stop them...
  • We Few by David Weber, John Ringo

    We Few by David Weber, John Ringo

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Prince Roger MacClintock was an heir to the galaxy's Throne of Man-and a self-obsessed spoiled young brat . . . until he and the Royal Marines sent to protect him were stranded on Marduk with only their feet to get them half way around the entire planet. So far, they've traversed a continent, crossed a sea full of ship-eating monsters, taken over an enemy spaceport, and hijacked a starship...
    Categorized as:
    military  war  action-adventure  adult  aliens  audiobook  book  epic
  • Demons Don't Duel by Hannah Walker

    Demons Don't Duel by Hannah Walker

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Dea's life is all about his role as a commander of a battlecruiser. At the height of his career, he can take command of any ship he wants, he's well respected, and surrounded by friends and family. Yet, something has been missing for a long time. Part of his soul was left behind at the academy, with someone he walked away from all those years ago. Uri loves control...
    Categorized as:
    military  war  action-adventure  adult  aliens  book  demons  fiction
  • B Free by Cynthia Sax

    B Free by Cynthia Sax

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.Or so he believes.When he intercepts a communication mentioning the existence of one of his kind, he has to investigate the source. The message could be a trap set by his enemies...
    Categorized as:
    dark  military  war  action-adventure  adult  aliens  alpha-mc  book
  • Captives by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

    Captives by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Humanity has finally found a new home, but the price is blood ...After a long, perilous journey, Hell Divers Xavier Rodriguez and Magnolia Katib discover the Metal Islands, a sunny habitable zone where thousands of people live by fishing and farming. But this "paradise" is really a violent warrior society ruled by the cannibal king el Pulpo...
  • Auberon by James S.A. Corey

    Auberon by James S.A. Corey

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    A novella set in the universe of James S. A. Corey’s NYT-bestselling Expanse series, Auberon explores a new and alien world and the age-old dangers that humanity has carried with it to the stars. Now a Prime Original series.Auberon is one of the first and most important colony worlds in humanity’s reach, and the new conquering faction has come to claim it...
  • Vortex by S.J. Kincaid

    Vortex by S.J. Kincaid

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    The impossible was just the beginning. Now in their second year as superhuman government weapons-in-training at the Pentagonal Spire, Tom Raines and his friends are mid-level cadets in the elite combat corps known as the Intrasolar Forces. But as training intensifies and a moment arrives that could make or break his entire career, Tom’s loyalties are again put to the test...
  • Savage Homecoming by Joshua Dalzelle

    Savage Homecoming by Joshua Dalzelle

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    Ever since he joined Omega Force, Captain Jason Burke has lived with the underlying fear that one day Earth would be discovered. His desire to keep Earth’s existence and location a secret has driven him to extremes, and kept him far away from his homeworld for a long time.But now Jason’s greatest fear is realized, and a fleet of alien ships has attacked his planet...
    Categorized as:
    military  war  action-adventure  adult  aliens  audiobook  book  epic
  • Angles of Attack by Marko Kloos

    Angles of Attack by Marko Kloos

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    The alien forces known as the Lankies are gathering on the solar system's edge, consolidating their conquest of Mars and setting their sights on Earth. The far-off colony of New Svalbard, cut off from the rest of the galaxy by the Lanky blockade, teeters on the verge of starvation and collapse. The forces of the two Earth alliances have won minor skirmishes but are in danger of losing the war...
  • Tides of War by M.R. Forbes

    Tides of War by M.R. Forbes

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    After being saved from annihilation by the Old Gator’s daring plan, Gabriel and the crew of the Magellan find themselves in the most unlikely of places: a captured enemy starship. While learning to control the alien vessel introduces a new set of challenges, the secrets they discover within may prove to be the edge they so desperately need...
  • Weapons of War by M.R. Forbes

    Weapons of War by M.R. Forbes

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    In the year 2280, an alien fleet stole our Earth. For fifty years they hunted us. For fifty years they enslaved us. For fifty years we lived in fear. Nothing lasts forever. They can try to quell us. They can try to break us. They can chase us to the ends of the Earth. They can chase us to the ends of the Universe. We’ve won our first battle. We’ve earned our first taste of hope...
  • Invasion by M.R. Forbes

    Invasion by M.R. Forbes

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Two hundred years ago, aliens invaded Earth. A violent war followed. The enemy won. Some of us escaped... ...most of us didn’t. On Proxima they flourished - the invasion forgotten. On Earth we floundered - the horror began. Their world is advanced, peaceful, and secure. Our world is broken, savage, and overrun. A new invasion is coming. A hunger that has swallowed half the universe...
  • Sanctuary by Ivan Kal

    Sanctuary by Ivan Kal

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    -NOTE- This book has been professionally re-edited as of March 23, 2016 A new start, six hundred light-years from Earth. Tomas Klein founder of Olympus had brought his people to a new world, freed them from constraints of Earth and its governments. But a new world brings new dangers. Tomas Klein will need to set aside past regrets and rise up to the challenge...
  • Chains of Duty by Anthony James

    Chains of Duty by Anthony James

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    For Captain John Duggan, it seems like war never ends. Each success brings another mission and more death. Following events at the Helius Blackstar, Duggan is given the Space Corps’ newest warship – a heavy cruiser armed to the teeth with the latest weapons and technology...
  • Forsaken by M.R. Forbes

    Forsaken by M.R. Forbes

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Sheriff Hayden Duke was born on the starship Pilgrim, like his father, and his father before him.He expects to die any second.He's already been attacked by demonic aliens, rogue soldiers, and even the people he thought were his friends.He's survived.Barely.Outcast. Forsaken. He's entered a strange new world. A world he knows nothing about. A world he's never stepped foot on before...
  • First and Only by Dan Abnett

    First and Only by Dan Abnett

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    In the Chaos-infested Sabbat system, Imperial Commissar Gaunt must lead his men through as much in-fighting amongst rival regiments as against the forces of Chaos. For a thousand years, the Sabbat Worlds have been lost to the Imperium, claimed by the dread powers of Chaos. Now, a mighty crusade seeks to return the sector to Imperial rule...
  • Home World by B.V. Larson

    Home World by B.V. Larson

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    The Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way. When the Earth is invaded by a rival empire, James McGill’s legion must defend the Home World. The top brass has complex plans, but none of that matters much to McGill, who chooses his own unique path...
  • Path of the Fury by David Weber

    Path of the Fury by David Weber

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    A space adventure with a strong female character in the tradition of Sassinak and Generation Warriors--by the bestselling author of Mutineers' Moon. The "invincible", planet-wrecking pirates made a big mistake when they raided ex-commando leader Alicia DeVries' quiet home world and murdered her family...
  • Cauldron of Ghosts by David Weber, Eric Flint

    Cauldron of Ghosts by David Weber, Eric Flint

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Sequel to national bestsellers Crown of Slaves and Torch of Freedom, Cauldron of Ghosts is the return of Secret agent Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat in the Wages of Sin, the classic tie-in series set in David Weber's Honorverse...
  • Final Battle by Michael R. Hicks

    Final Battle by Michael R. Hicks

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Following Confederation, Final Battle is the last book in the saga of Reza Gard. Reza is caught up in a daring plot to assassinate the Confederation President, even as something goes terribly wrong in the Empire and its warriors lose their will to fight. Reunited with Tesh-Dar, Reza and his friends fight to save the woman he loves, with the fate of the Empire and Humanity hanging in the balance...
    Categorized as:
    dystopia  military  war  action-adventure  adult  aliens  book  fiction
  • Chasing the Dragon by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole

    Chasing the Dragon by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole

    Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    They all want the Dragon dead. The Dragon was trained from his youth to operate as a lethal killing machine. He has tangled with crime lords, dangerous insurgents, even Nether Ops… and none of these forces has been able to bring the elusive warrior to heel. Enter the notorious bounty hunter Tyrus Rechs. Rechs takes on the job as a favor to an old Savage Wars buddy...
  • Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks

    Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    She came from one of the more disreputable aristocratic families.Sharrow was once the leader of a personality-attuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilization based around the planet Golter...
    Categorized as:
    dark  military  war  action-adventure  adult  ai  aliens  audiobook
  • ReDawn by Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson

    ReDawn by Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the second of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Read Alanik’s story between Starsight and Cytonic.“Don’t trust their lies. Don’t trust their false peace...
Fantastic book recommendations by book lovers for book lovers.
Find out more about thebooknaut.com.



Looking for more inspiration? Enter another book title to get more suggestions on what to read next.


Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.