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Combat Books

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War War (Hardcover)
by (shelved 14 times as combat)
avg rating 4.25 — 24,771 ratings — published 2010
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Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
by (shelved 13 times as combat)
avg rating 4.56 — 4,053,186 ratings — published 2023
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A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy (Hardcover)
by (shelved 13 times as combat)
avg rating 3.93 — 65,821 ratings — published 1645
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The Art of War The Art of War (Paperback)
by (shelved 9 times as combat)
avg rating 3.94 — 603,376 ratings — published -500
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Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai (Hardcover)
by (shelved 8 times as combat)
avg rating 3.99 — 17,295 ratings — published 1716
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Tao of Jeet Kune Do Tao of Jeet Kune Do (Paperback)
by (shelved 7 times as combat)
avg rating 4.36 — 8,569 ratings — published 1975
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On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace (Paperback)
by (shelved 6 times as combat)
avg rating 4.29 — 4,631 ratings — published 2004
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Divergent (Divergent, #1) Divergent (Divergent, #1)
by (shelved 6 times as combat)
avg rating 4.13 — 4,507,937 ratings — published 2011
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Bravo Two Zero Bravo Two Zero (Paperback)
by (shelved 6 times as combat)
avg rating 4.13 — 16,735 ratings — published 1991
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Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
by (shelved 6 times as combat)
avg rating 4.13 — 3,908,749 ratings — published 2010
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A Hard Place: A Sergeant's Tale A Hard Place: A Sergeant's Tale (Paperback)
by (shelved 6 times as combat)
avg rating 3.70 — 33 ratings — published 2007
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Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5) Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.46 — 141,661 ratings — published 2020
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Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3) Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.23 — 192,240 ratings — published 2018
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Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2) Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.24 — 240,026 ratings — published 2018
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All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.10 — 417,257 ratings — published 2017
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The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1) The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.22 — 341,575 ratings — published 2006
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Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.48 — 1,099,875 ratings — published 2006
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Matterhorn Matterhorn (Paperback)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.28 — 49,543 ratings — published 2010
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On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society (Paperback)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.11 — 12,683 ratings — published 1995
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Red Storm Rising Red Storm Rising (Audio Cassette)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.21 — 86,351 ratings — published 1986
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Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.37 — 4,370,802 ratings — published 2009
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The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.36 — 10,350,127 ratings — published 2008
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Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1) Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)
by (shelved 5 times as combat)
avg rating 4.31 — 1,509,566 ratings — published 1985
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This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #7) This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #7)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.65 — 194,794 ratings — published 2024
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The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6) The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.62 — 236,248 ratings — published 2023
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The Butcher's Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #5) The Butcher's Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #5)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.67 — 276,722 ratings — published 2022
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Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1) Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.41 — 716,172 ratings — published 2020
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Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.36 — 2,953,522 ratings — published 2023
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Medieval Combat: A Fifteenth-Century Illustrated Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat Medieval Combat: A Fifteenth-Century Illustrated Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.09 — 309 ratings — published 1467
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Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4) Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.36 — 169,221 ratings — published 2018
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A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting (Hardcover)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.03 — 2,868 ratings — published 2006
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The Things They Carried The Things They Carried (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.15 — 358,141 ratings — published 1990
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The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1) The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.15 — 562,324 ratings — published 2018
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American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.03 — 144,227 ratings — published 2012
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A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3) A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.46 — 3,007,378 ratings — published 2017
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Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1) Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.31 — 450,662 ratings — published 2016
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The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk, 1943 The Battle of the Tanks: Kursk, 1943 (Hardcover)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 3.95 — 930 ratings — published 2011
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Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.23 — 26,249 ratings — published 1957
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A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2) A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.63 — 3,547,753 ratings — published 2016
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.62 — 4,263,162 ratings — published 2007
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What It is Like to Go to War What It is Like to Go to War (Hardcover)
by (shelved 4 times as combat)
avg rating 4.01 — 10,049 ratings — published 2011
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Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games) Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.49 — 1,383,788 ratings — published 2025
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The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1) The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.25 — 831,598 ratings — published 2022
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The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #4) The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #4)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.52 — 321,781 ratings — published 2021
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The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #3) The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #3)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.36 — 390,673 ratings — published 2021
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Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2) Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.46 — 477,058 ratings — published 2021
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Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.31 — 8,282 ratings — published 2019
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System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries, #7) System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.24 — 87,225 ratings — published 2023
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A ​Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #5) A ​Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #5)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.45 — 2,354,881 ratings — published 2021
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The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1) The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)
by (shelved 3 times as combat)
avg rating 4.16 — 305,310 ratings — published 2019
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Adam Fenner
“I miss it: the smell of sand, sweat, and gunpowder, rings of salt from dried sweat on my pants’ legs, and around my waist just under where my armor sits.”
― Adam Fenner

Judith Lewis Herman
“Combat and rape, the public and private forms of organized social violence, are primarily experiences of adolescent and early adult life. The United States Army enlists young men at seventeen; the average age of the Vietnam combat soldier was nineteen. In many other countries boys are conscripted for military service while barely in their teens. Similarly, the period of highest risk for rape is in late adolescence. Half of all victims are aged twenty or younger at the time they are raped; three-quarters are between the ages of thirteen and twenty-six. The period of greatest psychological vulnerability is also in reality the period of greatest traumatic exposure, for both young men and young women. Rape and combat might thus be considered complementary social rites of initiation into the coercive violence at the foundation of adult society. They are the paradigmatic forms of trauma for women and men.”
― Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

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