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We Were Soldiers: A Military Sci-Fi Novel of Galactic War and Sacrifice
To save humanity, Earth sold its sons and daughters to an alien war machine.
After a global collapse leaves humanity starving, Earth cuts a deal with a powerful alien food, technology, and a chance to keep the species alive in exchange for one small detail—our soldiers now belong to them.
Mark Calder used to be a paramedic in New Orleans. His old job involved saving lives, terrible coffee, and occasionally getting yelled at by people who thought WebMD made them doctors. His new job involves being dropped into an interstellar meat grinder where everything wants to kill him, half the command structure is incompetent, and “routine mission” is military code for prepare to die.
As Mark and his squad are thrown into one impossible battle after another, they’ll have to survive alien monsters, catastrophic leadership, and the growing suspicion that the people in charge may be every bit as dangerous as the enemy.
Good they’re heavily armed.
Bad so is everyone else.
We Were Soldiers is a military sci-fi thriller packed with brutal combat, dark humor, desperate odds, and the kind of squad banter that usually means somebody is about to have a very bad day.
If you like cynical soldiers, giant war machines, hopeless missions, and heroes who save the world while complaining professionally, this one’s for you. Pick up your copy now and dive into a war where survival is never guaranteed.
After a global collapse leaves humanity starving, Earth cuts a deal with a powerful alien food, technology, and a chance to keep the species alive in exchange for one small detail—our soldiers now belong to them.
Mark Calder used to be a paramedic in New Orleans. His old job involved saving lives, terrible coffee, and occasionally getting yelled at by people who thought WebMD made them doctors. His new job involves being dropped into an interstellar meat grinder where everything wants to kill him, half the command structure is incompetent, and “routine mission” is military code for prepare to die.
As Mark and his squad are thrown into one impossible battle after another, they’ll have to survive alien monsters, catastrophic leadership, and the growing suspicion that the people in charge may be every bit as dangerous as the enemy.
Good they’re heavily armed.
Bad so is everyone else.
We Were Soldiers is a military sci-fi thriller packed with brutal combat, dark humor, desperate odds, and the kind of squad banter that usually means somebody is about to have a very bad day.
If you like cynical soldiers, giant war machines, hopeless missions, and heroes who save the world while complaining professionally, this one’s for you. Pick up your copy now and dive into a war where survival is never guaranteed.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 30, 2026
About the author
Sean Robins
91 books64 followers"Who am I? I am Spider-Man."
Well, not really, but this should tell you all you need to know about me and my writing style.
I'm a huge Marvel (plus Game of Thrones, Star Trek AND Star Wars) fan, which shows since my novel is loaded with pop culture references. If you are a sci-fi fan (I assume that you are, otherwise what are you doing here?) you will enjoy them tremendously. I even went full Deadpool in my first draft and broke the fourth wall multiple times, until my editor told it was distracting and kept taking her out of the moment. Shame. Those fourth-wall breaks were hilarious. Still, I can guarantee a few laugh-out-loud moments. Case in point: The "good" aliens in my novel are a race of pranksters, whose main goal in life is pulling other people's legs (They have four legs, hence the slight change in the idiom). My favorite author is Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files), which is probably how I ended up writing in a first-person POV with the same light-hearted, funny tone as he does. The fact that my MC's name is Jim is purely coincidental though.
I am a university/college level English teacher, and including Canada, I have lived and worked in five different countries. I have met people from all around the world. Plus, my parents are from a different background, and so is my wife. As a result, diversity has become a major theme in my novel. My characters look like the bridge crew from Star Trek. One of my female characters even impersonated Uhura once, albeit posthumously.
Well, not really, but this should tell you all you need to know about me and my writing style.
I'm a huge Marvel (plus Game of Thrones, Star Trek AND Star Wars) fan, which shows since my novel is loaded with pop culture references. If you are a sci-fi fan (I assume that you are, otherwise what are you doing here?) you will enjoy them tremendously. I even went full Deadpool in my first draft and broke the fourth wall multiple times, until my editor told it was distracting and kept taking her out of the moment. Shame. Those fourth-wall breaks were hilarious. Still, I can guarantee a few laugh-out-loud moments. Case in point: The "good" aliens in my novel are a race of pranksters, whose main goal in life is pulling other people's legs (They have four legs, hence the slight change in the idiom). My favorite author is Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files), which is probably how I ended up writing in a first-person POV with the same light-hearted, funny tone as he does. The fact that my MC's name is Jim is purely coincidental though.
I am a university/college level English teacher, and including Canada, I have lived and worked in five different countries. I have met people from all around the world. Plus, my parents are from a different background, and so is my wife. As a result, diversity has become a major theme in my novel. My characters look like the bridge crew from Star Trek. One of my female characters even impersonated Uhura once, albeit posthumously.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 5, 2026
What a fantastic book to read. Earth has gone to "you know where" in a handbasket. Very poor infrastructure and even worse food availability. And medical supplies are a joke. Then one day the Velorians come knocking. We will help you if you provide us with soldiers. Too bad the true cost of that help was not understood at first. But Mark Calder, a paramedic, read a pamphlet that promised health care to your loved one, and Mark's young daughter badly needed help. And so it begins - a five year journey to fight for the Velorians while they help his daughter. But the cost may prove to be too high. I cannot wait to read the second book in this series. And look for the Easter egg Sean put in. Loved the whole tone of this story. Great job.
May 2, 2026
This is a slam-bang military sci-fi read. Strong primary characters. Some really scary aliens to fight against. The only thing about the writing was hard for me, was how much of a downer it was—depressing. I don’t think Sean Robins used a Thesaurus, per se. It was more like a metaphor/analogy collection of the best ways to depress a reader. The world he describes is so bleak, I almost couldn’t keep reading—but I did and finished the book. I’m somewhat of a realist, but this was deadly to the spirit. Hopefully Robins doesn’t see the world as he writes it.
April 24, 2026
I liked this book. The problem is that I read almost the same book years ago. It’s just slightly different. I found it funny that the author name is actually mentioned in this book. If you haven’t read the other book then you should have a nice read. But I don’t think I’m gonna get the next book
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews