Okay, this may sound pretty silly, but does anyone know of any series on space pirates? I mean like the show Firefly. I don't want the Firefly books, lol, but just looking for somethng in that area... good guys just trying to make a living and getting into trouble. I've got books on military scifi, but just wanted to read something a little different. (Please don't laugh too hard!)

Thanks!

Leslie

Hey now, never be ashamed of reading what you like to read!  :)  No one will laugh at you for that!  Well... at least not here anyway.  We all have our idiosyncrasies.  Myself, I've been reading a lot of the children's Star Wars books by Jude Watson.  Yeah, maybe I'm 30 years older than the intended audience, but they're good stories, and in cases better than some of the adult Star Wars novels!

Space pirates.... I'm going to have to think about that.  The closest I can come up with off the top of my head is the Mag Force 7 books by Margaret Weis and Don Perin, but those are more military SF independent-mercenaries-for-hire than pirate/ Firefly type characters.  Then again, Mal, Zoe and Jayne could be considered mercenaries to some degree.  (Particularly Jayne.)  The Mag Force 7 characters actually first appeared in Weis' Star of the Guradians books before getting their own series, but you don't need to read them to enjoy Mag Force 7 (although I highly recommend them for fans of epic space opera).

Star of the Guardians
The Lost King
King's Test
King's Sacrifice
Ghost Legion

Mag Force 7
The Knights of the Black Earth
Robot Blues
Hung Out

You know, I read the Star of the Guardians series years ago and I think I have one of them posted... Most of the SciFi books I've posted I've read years ago. Haven't read much until recently, then found this place. Now I have books piled up to read.

I'll check out Mag Force 7. Love Margaret Weis.

That's great - Mercenaries-for-hire. ( I have a sticker on my car that says, "On the seventh day, Joss created Jayne" )

I got a box full of books from a family member and Timothy Zahn's The Icarus Hunt was in it. It looks pretty good and the review stated it had some humor, which is always good:)

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check them out right now.

Nice bumber sticker. :)

Timothy Zahn is a good author... I know I've read Icarus Hunt but honestly I don't remember a lot about it.  I do remember I liked it though.  I'd also recommend his Conquerors trilogy.  More good military SF that he's known for.

Mike Resnick has a book called Starship: Pirate. ( ISBN 9781591024903 )

It's the second book in a 4-book (so far!) series.

Thanks! I just checked it out on Amazon and looks like I'm going to request the first one. Gotta start at the beginning, right?

Does anyone here like John Ringo? Into the Looking Glass is on it's way to me and I've also requested the second in the series. Should have waited on that one just in case... I just got Startist: First to Fight by David Sherman and Dan Gragg. Know these aren't the books I'm asking about here. Oh yeah, I have Jack Campbells Dauntless from the Lost Fleet series on my wish list. So I guess I'm good to go with military scifi, lol.

You know, I loved C. J. Cherryh's Chanur's Saga, but it's been about 20 years since I've read it. For some reason that comes to mind while I'm looking for books, yet I can't reread a book for some reason. I loved the series... And Dune, of course, but I can't reread that as well.

Thanks for the replies!

OMG! There is a long waiting list for Mike Resnick's Starship: Mutiny and the lowest price on Amazon is $15.00! Must be good:)

You know, I loved C. J. Cherryh's Chanur's Saga, but it's been about 20 years since I've read it. For some reason that comes to mind while I'm looking for books, yet I can't reread a book for some reason. I loved the series... And Dune, of course, but I can't reread that as well.

C.J.Cherryh has a whole other series of books that started with Downbelow Station.  You might want to look into that.

-Tom Hl.

Just checked Downbelow Station... I wonder if Cyteen would be good as well. I've also read the Morgaine Saga, Faded Sun series, and the Gene Wars books. Looks like I'm taking you're suggestion:) (I've looked at books all day... time to play some Rock Band, lol. My poor eyes...)

Thanks!

Mike Resnick's Starship series has been really fun. It can get a little long in the dialogue department, though, especially when discussing political or military philosophy. The Icarus Hunt reads more like a pulp mystery novel rather than a story about space pirates. It's a great novel, one of my favorites by Zahn, but I don't think it's exactly what you're looking for.

There are two books I'd recommend with space pirates. The first is Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder. If you don't mind audio, audible.com is offering a free download of it for a limited time. Here's the link: http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?productID=FR_AREN_000812&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

The second is Space Vulture by Gary K. Wolfe and John J. Myers. Wolfe is the creator of Roger Rabbit and Myers is an Archbishop of the Catholic Church. They grew up together and decided to write Space Vulture as an homage to the golly-gee ray gun science fiction of their childhood. So, in spots the writing could be considered rough, but it's harkening back to an earlier era. It has a certain bit of charm.

I recommend the series by Kate Elliott.  The Highroad trilogy under the name Alis Rasmussen.  They are in the same world as the Jaran series but at a different time.  And much more outlaw and pirate.  It is her early work.  But you can see her skill already.

Thanks!

Looked for Sun of Suns... Not available on Amazon (And not here, lol), which didn't give me much info, but I'll surf the web to check it out. Thanks for the link for the audio! I usually like to read the book because for some reason I can't really get into someone reading the story, but if that's what's available then I'm gonna check it out.

Space Vulture looks cool. Different... probably what I'm looking for. The Highroad Trilogy looks good as well. I've been checking out the books suggested then getting sidetracked checking out others. It has been years since I've read and finished a book (haven't had the time or the attention span to read a book, until recently). It's summer break (going to college), my fave show is done (Battlestar Galactica), I'm caught up on the Dune's, yet I haven't read Paul of Dune. I'm just in the mood for something else. I've been reading (don't laugh!) Hellgate London: Exodus. It's my favorite PC game and I can't play it on my PC! 

Thanks again:)

About 20 years ago a multi-purpose writer named Harry Harrison wrote a whole bunch of books about The Stainless Steel Rat. Rat is a space pirate, I suppose. He is a sort of con-man, master all purpose thief, and other things. I don't know how many of these books there are. I read The Adventures of The Stainless Rat, containing three of them and posted it (I notice there are 7 of this one posted). They are written with a sort of tongue-in-cheek humor that reminded me of Terry Pratchett or some of Piers Anthony. Short novels, amusing, definitely not heavy stuff . I liked the one I read.

I am really surprised that this series was not mentioned long before I post this.

Give Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books a try. They're not about space pirates, per se, but do feature a group called the Dendarii Mercenaries. They're also hilarious, and I think would appeal to a fan of Firefly. If you really want the focus on space adventures, try The Warrior's Apprentice or The Vor Game, the two earliest Miles ones chronologically (all the books in the series can be read independently, but the earlier ones are much more space opera based while the later ones get more into planetary politics).

I would also second the recommendation of the Stainless Steel Rat books; the quality varies, but the early ones are pretty solid light reading.

Miles!  Lois McMaster Bujold has everything packed in those books.  Romance, politics, humor.  And really silly uniforms.

Shards of Honor and Barrayar come before The Warrior's Apprentice.

I like the titles to The Stainless Steel Rat books... The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus, The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You, (...For President, ...Goes to Hell). Looks like there are about 10 single books. I'll check them out, thanks.

The Vorkosigan series looks so familiar. Maybe just because I've heard the name so often. Got the author's site up to check them out. It lists the order to read the series.

Thanks!

Does anyone here like John Ringo? Into the Looking Glass is on it's way to me and I've also requested the second in the series. Should have waited on that one just in case...

I would have waited. The first book was FANTASTIC. Not so much with the 2nd and 3rd books. Mainly because the main characters that were great in the first book take second fiddle or leave all together later on. Just be aware that the rest of the series isn't as great as the first book. Not bad books, but no where near the awesome coolness that was the first book...

Cool. I should be getting Into the Looking Glass in and I cancelled the order for the second one after I wrote the post:)

Check out the Steven Brust website.  He's put up a free downloadable Firefly story which I very much enjoyed.  Captured the exact flavor of the series.  http://www.dreamcafe.com

If the used price at Amazon is too high, try abebooks. Their used books are frequently $1.00, plus shipping.

Definitely the stainless steel rat if you liked the firely show.  The characters are great.

You may also want to check out a bunch of David Drake's Books.  Not my style as much but may fit what you are looking for