Recommended Reading

Introduction

One of the best forms of marketing for a writer is “Word of Mouth marketing.”  That means someone recommends a book (or other project) to another person, and so that other person buys a copy to see what the first was talking about.  So, in the interest of “paying it forward” (and maybe to try and earn a little something on the affiliate links), here are books and other products that Fennec Fox Press recommends.
This list was originally located on the Fennec Fox Press page, but hosting limitations on that site broke all the links, so I’ve moved it here.

Books Published by Fennec Fox Press

Shieldclads Series

The Earth Alliance has developed a new class of warship:  The Shieldclad.  And just in time — a war with a new, technologically advanced enemy has just begun… or are they really an old enemy?

  1. The Merrimack Event
  2. The Farragut Affair (coming 2022)

Law of Swords Series

THE LAW OF SWORDS: A set of laws written to prevent infighting among Svieda’s Royal Heirs in the event the King dies unexpectedly. One of these laws has never been needed… until now.

  1. In Treachery Forged
  2. In Forgery Divided
  3. In Division Imperiled

Inari’s Children  Series

Once magic was plentiful and the world was dominated by a singular empire whose name has long been lost to history. In its time, the great wizard Inari developed his greatest creation: The kitsune. His enemies were quick to copy him, and soon the world was populated with many different types of this remarkable creature. Two thousand years later and these different breeds of kitsune are fighting amongst themselves, and the rest of the human world joins them.

  1. The Kitsune Stratagem
  2. By Claw and Arrow (planned, but postponed)

Other  Books

To The Rink of War (Note: An expansion of this short story into a full length novel is planned, but currently delayed)

This Book Cannot Make Any Money

Other Books with Stories by David A. Tatum

Worlds Enough: Fantastic Defenders

Worlds Enough: Fantastic Detectives (Coming 2022)

Starflight: Tales from the Starport Lounge

Novel Recommendations

These are novels I’ve read and enjoyed, myself, over the years, and in several cases are by authors I’m friends with or have worked with.  Not in any particular order.  In the case of series, I will only be linking to the first novel — I figure you can decide, for yourself, if you want to read the remaining books — unless I find a reasonably-priced omnibus edition.  Some of these books are quite well-known works by famous authors, some are tie-ins to popular media, and some are rather obscure, but all are good reads.  And this is hardly every book I will ever recommend, just a random selection of titles I happened to think about while constructing this page (and not even all of those — I wanted to include at least one Isaac Asimov book, but I couldn’t limit it to just one).  In most cases, I’m linking to the eBook version, but sometimes I have to link to a different edition for technical reasons.

Science Fiction

Live Free or Die (Troy Rising series)

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington series)

Trading in Danger (Vatta’s War series)

The Collected Works of Jules Verne

John Carter: Barsoom Series Omnibus

Starship Grifters (Rex Nihilo series.  This was the first book in this series as written, but it is the second chronologically)

Still Falling (Solstice 31 Saga)

How Much For Just the Planet (Star Trek Tie-in)

Dreadnaught (Star Trek Tie-in)

Battlestations (Star Trek Tie-in)

Final Frontier (Star Trek Tie-in)

Women of Futures Past

Fantasy

The Hobbit (the Tolkien legendarium)

The Wiz Biz (Wiz Biz series.  This is an omnibus edition of the first two books of the series, so if you want to buy the remainder you should start with Book 3)

Storm Front (Dresden Files.  Of note, this is probably my LEAST favorite of this series, but it is the first book in it. I read it out of order, and likely would not have continued the series had this been my first experience)

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz series.  Note that the eBooks for this series are NOT a bargain; I would judge them overpriced, especially compared to the paperbacks.  But the publisher overcharging for eBooks is not a reason to dismiss a good book)

ConVent (the Vampire Con Series)

Hazzardous Universe (Hazzardous Universe series.  I own an eBook version of this, but unfortunately that no longer seems to be for sale)

The Color of Magic

Dragon Precinct (Precinct series)

Schooled in Magic (Schooled in Magic series)

Confessions of a D-List Supervillain (D-list Supervillain series)

Darkness Rising (Catmage Chronicles series)

Uncharted (Arcane America series)

The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment)

Historical Fiction

Arundel (Amazon calls this the Chronicles of Arundel series, but this is the first time I’ve heard it called by that name)

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Horatio Hornblower series.  Note that this is the first book chronologically, not the first written.  Also, I’m not a fan of this edition’s cover, but it’s the only one I found for the Kindle)

Master and Commander  (Originally called the Aubrey-Maturin series, though with the release of the movie, some editions re-titled it the Master and Commander series)

Sharpe’s Rifles (Richard Sharpe series)

The Complete Midshipman Bolitho (Bolitho series.  I really liked the first several novels of this series, but I feel it took a bad turn somewhere in the middle and never finished it.  I still enjoy those first few books, however)

Ramage (Ramage series.  As with the Bolitho series, above, I particularly liked the first several, but never finished it; I still recommend the early books, however)

Other

The Children’s Illustrated Clausewitz (this is neither available as an eBook, nor available on Amazon, but must be ordered directly from the publisher.  It’s still strongly recommended, whether for a child or adult.  If, however, you prefer the original version, you can find a link to Clausewitz’s On War in my research materials section)

Dipped, Stripped, and Dead (The Daring Finds mysteries)

Reference Books for Writers and Self Publishers

Research Materials

Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders: A Writer’s (and Editor’s) Guide to Keeping Historical Fiction Free of Common Anahronisms, Errors, and Myths

The Art of War (Note:  The edition I own is no longer in print. I’m not certain as to the quality of this edition)

On War (See also the Children’s Illustrated Clausewitz, above)

The Book of the Five Rings

The Military Institutions of the Romans

The History of the American Sailing Navy (Note: This book has been out-of-print for decades, so only used copies are available.  My own has been used so often it’s falling apart)

Children of Odin:  Illustrated Edition of Northern Myths (Note:  I’m providing the eBook link, but due to the illustrations you may prefer the print in this case)

Marriam-Webster’s Geographic Dictionary

Writing and Style Guides

Note:  Some of these are for American English standards, others (where noted) are for British English standards.  If you’re looking for an Australian English style guide, well, so am I.

Chicago Manual of Style (I personally dislike this style guide, for reasons well espoused by author CJ Cherryh, but it is the most ‘popular’ style guide, being a standard for most college-level academics and many publishers)

Words Into Type (At a convention I intended some years ago, Baen Books publisher Toni Weisskopf claimed this was their favorite style guide.  It is, however, out of print, and increasingly outdated, so I’m not sure if it still is)

Marriam-Webster’s Guide to Punctuation and Style

Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (British)

The New Oxford Style Manual (British.  Note that some editions of this style guide are called the New Hart’s Rules)

Self-Publishing Resources

The Law (in Plain English) For Writers

The Law (in Plain English) For Publishers

Things Which AREN’T Books

Kindle Paperwhite (I recommend this model of eReader for your eBook novels over the basic Kindle, the Kindle Oasis, or the Kindle Fire, as well as competing eReaders such as the various models of Nook or Kobo.  I still prefer print books for illustrated books and reference guides, however, and make no eReader recommendation for those types of books)

An Inspirational Keyboard