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I need some help sherdog, my brother in law is in the airforce, going through tech school and wanted to send him some books to read. Because of the quarantine they aren't allowed to do much. He said that he likes Military history, but also wouldn't mind novels that are set around WW2. I am completely out of my depth because I only really read Sci-fi or horror novels. Can anyone recommend anything like this? I know he mentioned that he read Catch-22, but other than that, any suggestions would be welcome, thank you.
He also mentioned that he likes high fantasy novels, so if you don't have any military recommendations, I'll take those too.
Off the top of my head, I'd recommend Steven Pressfield. The guys a former Marine (although he was in the air-wing
) and writes primarily historical military fiction. As a former marine myself, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, I feel he does a good job a paining a realistic military mindset in his characters. His attention to detail is top notch, and I've never read another author who nailed what it feels like to be in combat.
He best works dealt with ancient Greece and Macedonia, but he does have one book on WW2 involving the formation of the Long Range Desert Group (the precursor to the British SAS) and their activities in North Africa.
As far as high fantasy, I'd suggest the massive Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steve Erikson. Greatest fantasy series I've ever read, but LONG at 10 books in the main series (averaging over 1,000 pages per) plus another dozen or so supplemental books/prequals. Erikson was an anthropologist by trade before he started writing. A unique background that allowed him to describe a fictional world in a detail that seems very believable.