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F.X. Holden

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https://www.facebook.com/hardcorethrillers/

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Contemporary, Thriller, Science Fiction

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https://www.liferichpublishing.com/Au... ...more

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October 2018

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FX Holden writes action thrillers (The 'Aggressor' and 'Future War' Series) and Science Fiction (The 'Coruscant' and 'Red Legion' Series). He has been awarded two US Publishers' Weekly Stars (the Michelin Star of publishing), the US Readers' Favorite award for Best Political Thriller (twice, including in 2025), and the US Book Excellence award for Best Military Fiction!

FX Holden is a pen name for author Tim (TJ) Slee, winner of the HarperCollins Banjo Prize for Australian fiction and the US Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize for Fiction. ...more

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Once the 4th Coruscant (and if I'm not mistaken final) piece is done with, what plans do you have to further the Future War series? Perhaps focus on another part of geography not as well treaded yet?

F.X. Holden Hi ArKay! The 4th Coruscant novel will prob be 2023 some time. I have just released the 7th and last novel in the Future War series - DMZ, which is ba…moreHi ArKay! The 4th Coruscant novel will prob be 2023 some time. I have just released the 7th and last novel in the Future War series - DMZ, which is based in Korea (not so well trodden...)

[b]Here is the blurb: [/b]

The Future War series takes on one of the most likely superpower confrontations of coming years. As a nuclear weapon is detonated over South Korean territory in the Sea of Japan, six protagonists hold the fate of the Korean Peninsula in their hands. Their decisions could see North and South Korea reunited at last, or send the world spiraling into nuclear armageddon.

[b]And a review:[/b]

"From the very first page, we are thrown into action that puts us shoulder to shoulder with the characters in trying to discern who is friend or foe. And when the roles shift, we’re all trying to stay alive until we sort it out... The stakes feel genuine, and no victory comes without our heroes making enormous sacrifices...This is the series for readers who enjoy intelligent fiction that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Very highly recommended. A rock shock of a ride and I loved being here for every page of it!" USA Readers' Favorite.

As for future projects, in 2023 we will see the relase of AGGRESSOR. Here is the preview...

[b]AGGRESSOR: The new series from FX Holden[/b]

Karen ‘Bunny’ O’Hare is a pilot in Aggressor Inc.’s UCAV Tactical Training Program. Her job? Train America’s closest allies in how to fly and fight against the growing threat of unmanned combat aircraft.

Her latest contract: Train the pilots of Taiwan’s Republic of China Air Force during a massive air, land and sea exercise known as Ghost Sabre.

Her mission: to kick off Ghost Sabre by taking a strike package of unmanned aircraft from Guam air base in the Pacific, across the Philippine Sea and ‘strike’ a ground target on the island of Taiwan. Standing in her way are Taiwan’s Air Force, Navy and ground-air defenses.

Succeed or fail, once Ghost Sabre is over, she will hand over her UCAVs to the ROK Air Force and spend the next six months training its pilots how to fly and fight with, and against, unmanned combat aircraft.
If she even lives to see Taiwan, that is.

Not everyone is happy to the see the US transfer potent new air weapons to the breakaway republic. And Bunny has 1,700 miles of open sea between her, and safety.

Aggressor is the first in a new series of novels following the abrasive anti-hero from the Future War series, Karen ‘Bunny’ O’Hare, as she fights to stay alive in a world determined to see her dead.

COMING SUMMER 2023!

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Considering the current battlefield performance of the Russians in Ukraine, how will that affect your future writing about their competence?. In real life, they're not very good at all, Their technology is suspect, and their leadership has proven to be incompetent and corrupt. Their soldiers are grossly undertrained, their lower level officer corps is unable to lead effectively.

F.X. Holden Hi Wade I wanted to wait until after the Ukraine summer offensive to answer this one since previous wars have always shown Russia starts poorly (incom…moreHi Wade I wanted to wait until after the Ukraine summer offensive to answer this one since previous wars have always shown Russia starts poorly (incompetent, disorganized, underequipped) and slowly ramps up to become a formidable foe. I suspected that would happen in Ukraine too, and it has. Ukraine's summer offensive failed, the Russian economy has stabilized, its production of weapons, munitions and mobilization of troops is ramping up. Summer 2024 is not going to be a good summer for Ukraine due also to lack of artillery and missiles flowing to Ukraine from west, and Ukraine's own tardiness in and reluctance to mobilize under 30 yo males, whereas Russia continues to maintain numerical superiority in recruitment of course.

As to how it affects my writing about Russian competence, I have always and prob will continue to over-estimate the effectiveness of new Russian weapons. Their Khinzal 'hypersonic' missiles have proven vulnerable to Patriot and NASAMS. Their Su57 stealth fighter is truly invisible - it has not been sighted in this conflict because only a few exist. Their T-14 Armata tank likewise. Instead, they are drawing down cold war stocks of aircraft and tanks. So I will write a lot less about Russian 'superweapons'.

Where they have proven quick to adapt is in drone and counter-drone warfare on land, though much less so at sea and I think countries involved in near peer wars may find themselves falling behind if they are not careful.

Russia's vaunted Black Sea navy is hiding in port and its bigger (but old) warships have proven particularly vulnerable to drone and missile attack. So I won't be writing about Russia winning any big naval battles in future. All of their defense budget is going into the land war and air in Ukraine, leaving precious little for ship building or upgrades.

In conclusion though, don't write Russia out of the script. It is still numerically strong, economically stable, and its current leader is determinedly bloody minded in his ambition with a 'win no matter the cost' mentality. Russia will be a force for instability for years to come so it will still feature heavily in FX Holden novels!(less)

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F.X. Holden’s books

Average rating: 4.48 · 18,718 ratings · 679 reviews · 22 distinct works • Similar authors

	Bering Strait (Future War #1) 4.42 avg rating — 2,088 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Okinawa (Future War #2) 4.43 avg rating — 1,813 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Golan: This is the Future of War (Future War, #5) 4.48 avg rating — 1,767 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kobani: This is the Future of War (Future War, #4) 4.46 avg rating — 1,692 ratings — published 2020 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Aggressor (Aggressor #1) 4.52 avg rating — 1,594 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pagasa: This is the Future of War (Future War, #6) 4.54 avg rating — 1,511 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Orbital (Future War, #3) 4.38 avg rating — 1,491 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beachhead (Aggressor #2) 4.56 avg rating — 1,343 ratings — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	DMZ: This is the Future of War (Future War #7) 4.43 avg rating — 1,089 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Swarm: The hit series continues (The Aggressor Series Book 3) 4.57 avg rating — 1,055 ratings — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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F.X. Holden's Blog

Author notes for BEACHHEAD.

Trailer image from the Chinese govt sponsored Top Gun style movie - Born to Fly, about the development of the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter.

I meticulously research every one of my novels, and that includes understanding the countries in which they are set. This one is set in China and Taiwan and though I have been to both places many times, I had not been to China since COVID-19. So before pushing Read more of this blog post »

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Published on June 12, 2023 22:04 • Tags: china, clancy, fiction, military, movies, technothriller, topgun

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Series by F.X. Holden

Future War (7 books)
by

F.X. Holden (Goodreads Author)

4.45 avg rating — 11,451 ratings

Aggressor (4 books)
by

F.X. Holden (Goodreads Author)

4.57 avg rating — 4,962 ratings

The Coruscant Series (3 books)
by

F.X. Holden (Goodreads Author)

4.12 avg rating — 564 ratings

F.X. is Currently Reading

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Swarm: The hit series continues (The Aggressor Series Book 3)

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F.X. Holden said: " Not a review really, since I am the author! Think of it as ‘author notes’…

In the Aggressor series of novels China invades Taiwan, not with troops as the west expects, but with autonomous drones. In SWARM, swarming drones combined with cruise and hype Not a review really, since I am the author! Think of it as ‘author notes’…

In the Aggressor series of novels China invades Taiwan, not with troops as the west expects, but with autonomous drones. In SWARM, swarming drones combined with cruise and hypersonic missiles take out a Chinese carrier. In space, hundreds of Chinese ‘parasite’ satellites are used to de-orbit US military satellites, blinding surveillance and knocking out GPS and communications systems.

Fiction?

I try to keep my novels one step ahead of reality, but it has a way of catching me faster than I can write.

Tragically, the conflict scenarios in the Aggressor series move closer every day. On December 29 2023 Russia showed what it has learned from two years of drone and missile warfare against Ukraine: namely, that sophisticated air defenses can be overwhelmed with waves of cheap drones allowing follow up attacks to get through.

Just before 5am on Dec 29 Russia launched swarms of cheap Iranian designed Shahed kamikaze drones from north and southeast of Ukraine. While Ukrainian air defense batteries, including Patriots, were still occupied with this attack, Russian aircraft launched cruise missiles and then at least 5 ballistic hypersonic missiles. At least one of the cruise missile types used showed new capabilities, deploying decoys to protect itself as it closed on its target.

According to NYTimes only 87 of 122 missiles fired were intercepted. Thirty percent got through Ukrainian air defenses to strike warehouses, factories and residential buildings across Ukraine. Other sources say 158 missiles and drones were fired with Ukraine destroying 87 missiles og 27 drones - meaning 44 got through.

Russia used a three-wave swarming attack on Ukraine, with horrific effect. According to the Ukrainian government, around 40 people were killed and 170 wounded in this largest air attack of the war to date.

My wife asked me the other day, when she saw me visibly distressed by events in Ukraine and now also Israel-Gaza. “Why do you write about such things, if you find them so distressing?”

It is precisely because they are distressing that I write about them. I set my novels a few years into the future because this is a future we can still do something to avoid. When you read an Aggressor Inc. novel, in addition to an engaging read, I hope you get some food for thought: “Is this the world I want for my children or grandchildren?”

Unfortunately, as current events like the one I describe above show, I am not writing speculative fiction at all, I am writing about a reality that will very soon come to be if we are not very, very careful. ...more "

Dec 31, 2023 06:47PM · see review

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Core Drift: A Coruscant Novel (The Coruscant Series, #2)

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F.X. Holden said: " Not a review: call it author notes!

Every Coruscant novel springs from the Coruscant world I created as an idea several years ago, and wrote down as the 'Core Encyclopedia'. You'll find it below, and at the back of every Coruscant novel, so if you wan ...more "

May 01, 2021 03:30AM · see review

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Rebel Women Who Changed Australia

by Susanna de Vries

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Jul 22, 2019 02:55PM

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F.X. Holden rated a book it was amazing Africa STORM: An Aggressor Inc. Thriller (The Aggressor Series) by F.X. Holden (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Not a review, since I am the author! Consider this an author note... In Antarctica STORM, the predecessor to this novel, I wrote about a race between the US and Russia to be the first to deploy antimatter weapons. My research for this novel left me co ...more
Sep 21, 2025 02:09AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Africa STORM by F.X. Holden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Africa STORM by F.X. Holden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
F.X. Holden liked Ajitabh Pandey's review of Fulcrum: The epic conclusion (The Aggressor Series Book 5): "This book is very long, over 700 pages, and it is quite captivating. The author has brought back several characters from the previous book in the series - some with a significant role in this, some not so significant. A few characters who have been i" Read more of this review »
Nov 20, 2024 10:25AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fulcrum by F.X. Holden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fulcrum by F.X. Holden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
F.X. Holden liked Edgar Guedez's review of Fulcrum: The epic conclusion (The Aggressor Series Book 5): "NON STOP READING This is non stop reading from Book 1'trough 5. In Fulcrum, Holden brings the war to conclusion trough a delta's of independent stories casting the favorite characters from The Future Of War Series vans Aggressor. So this is about Bunn" Read more of this review »
Nov 20, 2024 10:24AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fulcrum by F.X. Holden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fulcrum by F.X. Holden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
F.X. Holden liked J J's review of Fulcrum: The epic conclusion (The Aggressor Series Book 5): "Wow! His best yet. I rarely give a 5 star review.. This book has it all. Impossible to put down. Enjoy!"
Nov 20, 2024 10:24AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fulcrum by F.X. Holden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fulcrum by F.X. Holden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
F.X. Holden rated a book it was amazing Midnight: A gripping Aggressor Inc. action thriller (The Aggressor Series Book 4) by F.X. Holden (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Hi - This is not a review, more an 'author note' about the writing of MIDNIGHT! Up front, let me say that the AGGRESSOR series describes a future I hope never comes to pass. Both in terms of the events it describes, but also the technologies. These n ...more
Mar 31, 2024 05:13AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Midnight by F.X. Holden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Midnight by F.X. Holden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
F.X. Holden answered Wade's question: Considering the current battlefield performance of the Russians in Ukraine, how will that affect your future writing about their competence?. In real life, they're not very good at all, Their technology is suspect, and their leadership has proven to be incompetent and corrupt. Their soldiers are grossly undertrained, their lower level officer corps is unable to lead effectively. Hi Wade I wanted to wait until after the Ukraine summer offensive to answer this one since previous wars have always shown Russia starts poorly (incompetent, disorganized, underequipped) and slowly ramps up to become a formidable foe. I suspected tha See Full Answer
Mar 19, 2024 07:00AM · 1 like · like
F.X. Holden made a comment on Duayne Israelson’s review of Swarm: The hit series continues (The Aggressor Series Book 3) " Hi Duane, thx for the offer! I regular shout out for help beta reading so just drop by my FB page and stay tuned! "
Jan 11, 2024 05:43AM · see review
F.X. Holden rated a book it was amazing Swarm: The hit series continues (The Aggressor Series Book 3) by F.X. Holden (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Not a review really, since I am the author! Think of it as ‘author notes’… In the Aggressor series of novels China invades Taiwan, not with troops as the west expects, but with autonomous drones. In SWARM, swarming drones combined with cruise and hype ...more
Dec 31, 2023 06:36PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Swarm by F.X. Holden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Swarm by F.X. Holden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by F.X. Holden (?)

“To remind her never to trust her life to an AI because, as she had learned over Korea, though most people would betray you in a heartbeat, a quantum-based lifeform will do it in half that time, and do it more efficiently.”
― FX Holden, Swarm: The hit series continues

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“her eyes skipping over the casualty estimate without causing her pause.”
― F.X. Holden, Orbital

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“Do not be afraid for it is God, your God, who is fighting for you…”
― F.X. Holden, Golan: This is the Future of War

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Polls

Please vote on our military themed August book of the month.

Beachhead by FX Holden

3 votes, 37.5%

Debt of Honor by Tom Clancy (1994)

Debt of Honor (Jack Ryan, #7) by Tom Clancy

2 votes, 25.0%

The Day Before Midnight by Stephen Hunter

2 votes, 25.0%

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

1 vote, 12.5%

Flight of the Intruder by Stephen Coonts

Flight of the Intruder (Jake Grafton #1) by Stephen Coonts

0 votes, 0.0%

8 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
A Good Thriller: PIFM - Chat/Banter/Review Your December 2020 Read	68	96	Jan 02, 2021 08:50PM
Goodreads Librari...: Pls add book to my author page and correct	3	10	Apr 04, 2022 12:46PM
Techno-Thrillers: Aug 2025 BOTM: Beachhead by FX Holden	12	7	Aug 31, 2025 11:34AM
Techno-Thrillers: Oct 2025 BOTM: polls closed	10	12	Sep 08, 2025 06:17AM
Techno-Thrillers: Nov 2025 BOTM: polls closed	12	4	Oct 12, 2025 02:55AM
Techno-Thrillers: * 2025: What’re you reading?	51	54	Oct 31, 2025 06:29AM

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