Michael Mammay Books In Order

Publication Order of Planetside Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Michael Mammay is a American bestselling author of science fiction novels who is best known for the “Planetside” series of novels. Before he became an author, he spent several decades in the army. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at WestPoint though he is now a retired army officer. Since he graduated with a military history degree and served in the military for many years, he has the knowledge and experience to write military science fiction novels he has become so popular for. Once he left the military, he went on to teach American literature before he quit to become a full-time author. The veteran army man fought in several wars including Somalia, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and by the time he retired he had risen through the ranks and was a colonel just like the lead characters in his debut novel “Planetside.” The novel was Library Journal’s selection for the best book of 2018. Michael currently lives with his wife in Georgia.

Growing up, Michael read a lot of fantasy and science fiction and since he also read and taught literature, by the time he decided to become an author, he understood most aspects of literary writing. For his debut novel “Planetside,” he was not influenced by science fiction but rather was inspired by his reading of “Gone Girl.” He had been penning his manuscripts in the third person and he was hit by the beauty of first-person voice in “Gone Girl” that he knew he had to write a novel in the same voice. It took one night to write a complete chapter that he sent out to several readers. Getting a good reaction was all he needed and after reading “Heart of Darkness” he sat down to write the rest of the novel. Apart from the literary influences, Mammay has also been influenced by his experiences as an army officer serving in different theaters of war in Africa and the Middle East. Having spent more than twenty seven years in the military and obtaining a master’s degree in military history has clearly been instrumental in his writing of the Planetside series. This is evident in the realistic depiction of soldiers and the life of a soldier during wartime.

After retiring from the military, Mike became a teacher though he always wanted to become an author. In 2014, he applied to Pitch Wars with a fantasy manuscript but with so many applications, he was not selected to become a mentee in the program. Over the following year, he met Dan Koboldt, the man who was supposed to have become his mentor. When Dan came to know of his military background, h asked if he would be interested in writing a guest post for his Fact in Fantasy and Science Fiction series and he obliged. During this time Michael had written the manuscript for a military science fiction and using critique partners had massively improved his skills that he impressed most of the potential Pitch Wars mentors he submitted it to. Since it was something Dan his friend was more conversant with, it was decided that he was better suited to help Mike. Over the following weeks, Mike worked hard to improve the manuscript and with the help of a literary agent, he finally published his debut in 2018.

Michael Mammay’s “Planetside” is a thrilling military fiction that introduces Colonel Carl Butler. He had requested to come out of semi-retirement as he was to travel to the outer reaches of the galaxy to undertake what should have been a routine investigation. He has been called up by a powerful old friend and when he calls, he immediately knows it must be something huge. It turns out that the son of a high councilor has disappeared from Cappa Base. It is one of the most remote space stations that watches over a battle-ravaged planet. The story is that he had been wounded and had to be evacuated from the station but he had never arrived at hospital command. When Butler arrives at the space station, he finds it to be a labyrinth of sabotage and dead ends, as radar data goes missing, witnesses disappear, the Special Ops leader refuses to come up from the planet and the hospital commander obstructs the investigation. All this is even before he has to deal with a vicious alien enemy. The only option Captain Butler is left with is to travel down to the hostile planet to find the answers, even though this is likely to be one of the most dangerous things he ever did in his career.

In “Spaceside” by Michael Mammay, Colonel Butler is back from his mission on Cappa but he arrives to an unexpected reception. Half of the galaxy treats him like a pariah while the rest believe he is a war hero that had saved their way of life. He is forced back into semi-retirement and appointed the Deputy Vice President of Talca Four’s Corporate Security. He is in charge of protecting high-grade military installation though what he does has more to do with the corporate battlefield. For the most part, all he does is impress investors and clients which is low-risk work until he gets new orders. When one of their competitors gets their computer network hacked into, his superiors get jumpy and want him to investigate the attack to find out who was responsible and how they did it. Butler knows all about wargames and this sounds like something more complicated than sabotage. As soon as he starts his investigation, his first witness is killed and the murder is kept under wraps which is highly unusual. As the main suspect in the case, he thinks that someone is stalking him that he finally succumbs to the stress. He might be onto something much more complex than anything he had ever had to deal with before. But these are just the type of conditions that Butler thrives in.

“Colonyside” by Michael Mammay continues to follow the life and times of Carl Butler, the disgraced military hero now a disgraced recluse. He is hoping that he can make a new life on a remote planet where everybody left him alone and did not care about his crime. But given his skills, that is not going to happen any time soon. When a CEO’s daughter disappears, he summons Butler as he believes there is no one better suited to the job of finding her. Butler is not interested in the case but since he knows how painful it can be to lose a daughter he agrees to help. The government sends a military ship that Butler will use to travel to and investigate the dangerous jungles of a newly made colony where it is suspected the girl may be hidden. Paired up with a motley crew of government assigned aides, he dives headfirst into what he thinks is an open and shut case until somebody tries to kill him. With corporations playing games with the laws, the military hamstrung and the local governor incompetent, Butler is right back in familiar territory. But no matter how dangerous the case gets, he is determined to get to the bottom of the puzzle.

2 Responses to “Michael Mammay”

1. Peter Grimbeek: 2 years ago

   I enjoyed Michael Mammay’s well-crafted stories. You know that the protagonist is going to win despite all the odds, but the fun of the story is seeing how much trouble he lands in and how he gets out of that hole again.

   Reply
2. Twilight Zone: 3 years ago

   Did NOT like these books at all!..
   Didn’t know who could trust who or if you
   could believe any of the people to help
   anyone in command…
   Reading the books reminded me of the time
   (1967-70) I wasted in ‘Nam as an 18-21 year
   old. Give me the kind of science fiction
   Sir Arthur C Clarke wrote it something
   thought provoking like Rod Serling’s
   “The Twilight Zone”-still the best of any-
   thing ever put on television…

   Reply