I don’t know if these books have been mentioned in the past on these forums, I’m still sort of getting a feeling for this place…
Anyways, in a recent cast, Sean mentioned enjoying ‘naval battles’. This put in mind a series of books I’ve been enjoying by David Webber. There are several things that make this series very interesting to the average geek.
First, it’s a trap. It is, for all intents and purposes a fantasy/alternate history series wrapped hiding beneath a flimsy dollar store Halloween costume. The setup of an advanced human civilization is very temporary and only there to draw you in at first and serve as a way to replace ‘magic’ in the setting in a way. Insert Arthur C. Clarke quote here.
Second, and this is where it’s interesting, the series features some of the most technically interesting and riveting ship battles (not starships) I’ve read in a while. Almost everything else that Webber writes in those novels is average to good, but his naval combat is excellent.
Third, the characters aren’t bad. They’re not excellent and the writing is definitely not George R.R. Martin, but it’s decent enough to be entertaining and while the characters are usually predictable, they somehow remain interesting. While you can usually figure out what they’re going to do, you still surprisingly can’t wait to read them do it.
Anyways, if you’re looking for a series that’s not too heavy but still pretty entertaining and not hard core sci-fi, then I’d absolutely recommend David Webber’s Safehold series (first book is Off Armageddon’s Reef), especially if you enjoy naval combat.