Earth At War Books in Order
Part ofRick Partlow Books in OrderSee the Earth At War books by Rick Partlow in order, with short summaries, series background, and where to start this alien war series.
Last updated: July 8, 2026
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Earth At War books in publication order
6 books
1st to Fight
by Rick Partlow
2020
Retired Marine and sci-fi writer Andy Clanton never expected to become part of a real alien war. The worst part is that the invaders look disturbingly, terrifyingly human.
Primary Targets
by Rick Partlow
2020
Earth is now part of a much larger war, and Andy Clanton is back in uniform whether he likes it or not. New allies, new enemies, and brutal combat make the learning curve steep.
Return Fire
by Rick Partlow
2020
The war heats up, and Andy and his people stop reacting and start hitting back. The problem is that every counterattack pulls humanity deeper into a conflict it barely understands.
Enemies & Allies
by Rick Partlow
2021
Nothing stays simple once alliances start shifting mid-war. Andy has to navigate battlefield danger and political danger at the same time, and one may be worse than the other.
Allied Powers
by Rick Partlow
2022
The war reaches a harder, more uncertain phase as humanity leans on allies it may not fully understand. Andy faces the cost of victory in a conflict that keeps changing shape.
Enemy Forces
by Rick Partlow
2022
The campaign widens, the pressure mounts, and trust gets harder to give. Andy and his allies have to hold together long enough to survive another turn in the war.
Earth At War books in chronological order
1st to Fight
by Rick Partlow
2020Earth At War, Book 1
Primary Targets
by Rick Partlow
2020Earth At War, Book 2
Return Fire
by Rick Partlow
2020Earth At War, Book 3
Enemies & Allies
by Rick Partlow
2021Earth At War, Book 4
Enemy Forces
by Rick Partlow
2022Earth At War, Book 5
Allied Powers
by Rick Partlow
2022Earth At War, Book 6
Series background & context
Earth At War takes one of Rick Partlow's favorite subjects, military science fiction, and gives it a neat twist. The main character, Andy Clanton, is not a soldier at the start of the series. He is a retired Marine who now writes military science fiction, which means he has spent years imagining alien invasions before one actually shows up.
It is not the invasion he expected.
One of the fun ideas in the series is that the aliens are horrifying not because they are totally unfamiliar, but because they are not. The war has a strange mirror quality to it, and that helps set Earth At War apart from more standard bug-hunt stories. Andy's perspective also gives the books a little dry humor under the pressure. He knows the tropes. He also knows real combat, and Partlow gets good mileage out of that mix.
As the series moves forward, the scale widens from first contact shock into a larger interstellar war full of uneasy alliances, shifting priorities, and the recurring Partlow theme that the battlefield is dangerous but politics may be worse. Andy keeps getting pulled deeper into events because he is experienced, practical, and very hard to keep on the sidelines once the shooting starts.
The tone is brisk, accessible, and action-heavy, but it still makes space for camaraderie and improvisation. If you like military SF that takes Earth into a bigger galactic fight without losing its human point of view, this one works well.
Start with 1st to Fight.
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