Earthrise

Earth is not the jewel of the galaxy. Earth is prey. In Daniel Arenson's Earthrise, humanity is a young, half-feral species clinging to one blue world while older, hungrier things circle in the dark — and when the centipede horrors the soldiers call "the scum" come raiding out of the void, it is teenagers in ill-fitting fatigues who are handed rifles and sent to hold the line. This is military science fiction from the mud: boot camp, body bags, and the long war to prove a small species deserves to survive. The flagship Earthrise cycle opens on Marco Emery and Addy Linden, conscripts marched through basic training into an interstellar meat-grinder, and follows their unit across battle after battle. From there the universe widens across roughly forty self-published books in four movements: the original Earthrise war, then Children of Earthrise, which leaps generations ahead to a scattered, hunted remnant of mankind fighting to find a lost homeworld, plus the Soldiers of Earthrise and A Prayer for Earthrise sequences, which open further fronts and voices in the same long defense. One author, one continuous saga, told at a relentless clip. Expect pulpy velocity, a high casualty count, and unashamed heart — camaraderie, grief, and gallows humor closer in spirit to Starship Troopers and Ender's Game than to cerebral hard SF. Newcomers start with Earth Alone, the first book of Earthrise, and read forward; each sub-series is simply a later chapter in humanity's fight not to be forgotten.