Joshua Dalzelle Books in Order
Browse all Joshua Dalzelle books in order with series reading guides, brief summaries, background on his sci fi universes, and tips on the best place to start.
Last updated: December 23, 2025
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Publication Order
34 books
Hunted
by Joshua Dalzelle
2025
A savage predator born from twisted science is stalking the stars, leaving mutilated victims on remote worlds. Drawn into the pursuit, Omega Force uncovers a secret that links the killings to Jason’s past and threatens thousands of innocent lives if they fail.
Ghosts
by Joshua Dalzelle
2025
After exposing a chilling conspiracy, Jacob Brown and his battlesynth partner Tin Man are forced to run hard and trust no one. As leaders on multiple worlds begin acting strangely, they try to untangle who is real, who has been replaced, and how to fight enemies they cannot see.
Starfall
by Joshua Dalzelle
2024
After the collapse of the Confederation, rival powers scramble to fill the void. Investigating a strange stellar event, Omega Force stumbles into a race between two emerging superpowers for control of something so dangerous Jason cannot allow anyone to possess it.
Blackheart
by Joshua Dalzelle
2024
For nearly a century the cybernetic assassin known as Viper has terrified anyone marked for death. After her latest hit puts her on Earth’s most wanted list, Jacob Brown is ordered to bring her in or take her down, even though he has already lost to her once.
Dead Reckoning
by Joshua Dalzelle
2023
Mercenary life has cost Jason Burke his home and any hope of a quiet future, but it has given him a crew he would die for. When they are taken by ruthless cartels, he must rescue them without the Phoenix, relying only on nerve and improvisation.
Aftershock
by Joshua Dalzelle
2023
Still recovering from horrific injuries and a mission that nearly broke them, Jacob and his team are tasked with tracking a massive trafficking ring targeting refugee and colonist ships. With millions already missing, Obsidian races the clock to find the victims before Earth reacts in panic.
Unleashed
by Joshua Dalzelle
2022
With the ConFed crumbling and its fleet withdrawing to the core, predators move into the border regions. Learning of a brutal trafficking cartel in the Luuxir sector, Jason Burke turns Omega Force from hired guns into vigilantes determined to shut the operation down.
Heavy Metal
by Joshua Dalzelle
2022
Captain Jacob Brown expects a break after back to back deployments, but Scout Team Obsidian is recalled when a prototype weapon is stolen from Earth. Their hunt drags them into the middle of a planetary civil war where retrieving the device may be harder than surviving the crossfire.
Empire
by Joshua Dalzelle
2022
The United Terran Federation is collapsing after a devastating Alliance strike wipes out entire worlds. With member nations fleeing and the last fleet pulled back to Earth, Admiral Jackson Wolfe is handed a new superweapon and a final mission that will decide humanity’s future.
Vapor Trails
by Joshua Dalzelle
2021
Branded as rogues and hunted by their own commanders, Jacob Brown and Scout Team Obsidian flee in the stolen ship Boneshaker. Chased by both the United Earth Navy and Omega Force, they race to bring down a far reaching terrorist network before anyone catches them.
To Hell and Back
by Joshua Dalzelle
2021
A new killer is tearing through frontier worlds, leaving only rumors and ruined bodies behind. Jason and Omega Force know the truth the others do not, the murderer is their former crewmate Lucky, now calling himself Seven, and stopping him may cost them even more.
No Quarter
by Joshua Dalzelle
2021
The uneasy cold war between the United Terran Federation and the Eastern Star Alliance finally erupts after a horrific strike on a civilian world. As massive fleets converge, Admiral Jackson Wolfe prepares for one last campaign that will decide who rules human space.
The Pandora Paradox
by Joshua Dalzelle
2020
A hidden revolution has left the Machine, a ruthless artificial intelligence, in command of most Confederation forces. Backed by a powerful crime syndicate, Omega Force searches for a way to stop it while Jason wrestles with a dangerous secret that might be the only answer.
Boneshaker
by Joshua Dalzelle
2020
Scout Team Obsidian is still recovering from a disastrous mission when new orders arrive. Jacob Brown and his crew must slip into contested Eshquarian space, track down a rogue Terran cruiser among a rebel fleet, and retrieve it before Earth faces the backlash.
Rebellion
by Joshua Dalzelle
2019
The quadrant edges toward civil war, but most citizens have no idea. Jason Burke discovers that a malevolent artificial intelligence called the Machine has quietly seized much of the Confederation’s military, and Omega Force must find a way to fight an enemy inside the system itself.
Blueshift
by Joshua Dalzelle
2019
The Polaris Project crew volunteers to leave the Solar System and be the first humans to see a distant world near the star Angel 21. When they return eight centuries later, they find an Earth they barely recognize and must uncover what went wrong.
Battleground
by Joshua Dalzelle
2019
Humanity has beaten back two alien threats, yet peace does not follow. As the Eastern Star Alliance pushes raids deeper into Federation territory, Admiral Jackson Wolfe is sent to defuse a standoff that may instead mark the first battle of a human civil war.
Marine
by Joshua Dalzelle
2018
Jacob Brown grew up under the shadow of alien attacks on Earth and jumps at the chance to join the first spaceborne military. Recruited into Naval Special Operations instead, he is dropped onto a lawless world and quickly learns how expendable new marines can be.
Legends Never Die
by Joshua Dalzelle
2018
Omega Force is reeling after the apparent death of their crewmate Lucky on a deadly Pillar World. When hints surface that their friend may have survived, Jason’s grief turns into obsession just as a ruthless faction seizes control of the ConFed Council.
Revolution
by Joshua Dalzelle
2017
Rumors about the fall of the Confederation have circulated for years, but now someone seems ready to make them real. As a quiet plan to topple the ConFed without open war gathers speed, Omega Force must decide whether to save a system they despise.
Iron & Blood
by Joshua Dalzelle
2017
A human colony world falls under Darshik occupation, and the fragile United Terran Federation is too weak for a full scale counterattack. Pulled out of retirement, Jackson Wolfe takes command of a new ship and a desperate mission to break the blockade.
Destroyer
by Joshua Dalzelle
2017
Reports of a new Darshik warship class striking deep into Terran space send Jackson Wolfe and his advanced destroyer to hunt it down. What he discovers is a threat far worse than improved hardware, one that could doom both sides of the war.
The Human Factor
by Joshua Dalzelle
2016
Genetically altered and far from home, Jason Burke has accepted that he will never see another human again. Then he learns Earth may be in serious danger and that his own actions helped create the threat, forcing him to decide whether to intervene.
New Frontiers
by Joshua Dalzelle
2016
The Phage War is over, but the Terran Confederacy is shattered and its fleet in ruins. Sent to the frontier to investigate a mysterious signal and a newly arrived alien species, Captain Celesta Wright must judge whether an offer of help is a trap.
Warship
by Joshua Dalzelle
2015
In the twenty fifth century, humanity’s warships are antiques drifting through a peacetime galaxy. Captain Jackson Wolfe commands one of those forgotten destroyers, until a terrifying alien enemy suddenly appears and forces his crew to fight for all of humankind.
Redemption
by Joshua Dalzelle
2015
Jason Burke has always believed Omega Force fights on the right side of the line, even when the job gets bloody. A crisis involving the mysterious Avarian Empire forces the crew to choose between rival superpowers and confront what justice really means.
Counterstrike
by Joshua Dalzelle
2015
After years of brutal losses, a surprise ally offers humanity a chance to take the fight to the Phage. Wolfe leads a daring offensive that could end the war, knowing the plan will demand enormous sacrifices and that many of his people will not return.
Call to Arms
by Joshua Dalzelle
2015
Jackson Wolfe survives the first clash with a ruthless alien species, but the Phage War is just beginning. As the enemy probes human space and politics muddy every decision, he must weld a neglected Black Fleet into something that can actually win battles.
The Enemy Within
by Joshua Dalzelle
2014
Violent uprisings erupt across Confederation space, and the fleet can barely stamp out one revolt before another begins. Working the frontier, Omega Force is drawn into the chaos and uncovers hints of a single hidden hand behind the spreading unrest.
Secret of the Phoenix
by Joshua Dalzelle
2014
After years of seemingly random attacks, Jason starts to suspect his ship is the real target. While enemies close in, Omega Force hunts for the secret buried deep inside the Phoenix and for the reason so many powerful factions want it.
Return of the Archon
by Joshua Dalzelle
2014
Every member of Omega Force is running from something, but one crewmate’s past was built on a lie. When that old life collides with the present, Jason’s team is dragged into a conflict that could change the fate of an entire alien species.
Soldiers of Fortune
by Joshua Dalzelle
2013
Jason Burke’s new crew, Omega Force, takes what looks like a simple job investigating brutal raids on shipping in the Concordian Cluster. As bodies pile up, they uncover a far more dangerous plot and must decide how far their code can bend.
Savage Homecoming
by Joshua Dalzelle
2013
Jason has spent years keeping Earth’s location a secret, but an unknown alien fleet finally finds his homeworld. With the Phoenix badly outmatched, Omega Force races to defend the planet against strange weapons and a hostage style standoff in orbit.
Omega Rising
by Joshua Dalzelle
2013
Reclusive Jason Burke thinks he is answering a plane crash in the Rockies, but the wreck is a crippled alien ship. Hurled into a lawless galaxy, he must survive criminals and conspiracies while trying to find a way back to Earth.
Where should I start?
If you want a ragtag crew space adventure: Omega Rising → Soldiers of Fortune → Savage Homecoming
If you prefer big fleet battles and politics: Warship → Call to Arms → Counterstrike
If you want to stay in the Black Fleet universe afterward: New Frontiers → Iron & Blood → Destroyer
If ground side special ops stories appeal to you: Marine → Boneshaker → Vapor Trails
If you just want a standalone story: Blueshift
Author bio
Joshua Dalzelle writes the kind of science fiction he grew up wanting to read, fast space adventures with clear stakes and a human core. He is best known for the long running Omega Force novels, the connected Black Fleet Saga, and the Terran Scout Fleet books.
He grew up in the United States reading space operas, military history, and anything with a starship on the cover. That early mix of sci fi and hardware never really left. Aviation fascinated him enough that he turned it into a career.
Before he was a full time author, Dalzelle spent years working in aerospace and aviation. He also served a combined ten years in the United States Air Force, experience that shows up in his attention to chain of command, logistics, and the way crews actually talk to each other under pressure.
He later attended graduate school at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, studying aeronautical science with a focus on space studies. That background gives his books a grounded feel without ever slowing them down. The technology usually makes sense, but the stories are always about people first.
Dalzelle wrote Omega Rising on the side while he was still working in aviation. The book, which strands a burned out human in the middle of an alien underworld, found an audience quickly when it appeared in 2013. On the strength of that response he made the jump into full time writing and never really looked back.
In the Omega Force series he leans into found family, bad odds, and the kind of scrappy ethics that come from working on the margins. Jason Burke and his mismatched crew fly a stolen gunship, take jobs that official powers ignore, and keep stumbling into problems that threaten entire regions of space. Readers come for the blaster fights and banter, and stay for the way the crew quietly grows into something like a family.
With Warship and the rest of the Black Fleet Saga, Dalzelle shifts the camera to big fleet battles and the long grind of war. The books follow officers and sailors who have to fight an implacable alien enemy with worn out ships, limited support, and politics that do not always line up with survival. The later Expansion Wars and Unification War trilogies push those ideas further, asking what happens to a society that has been at war for too long and what victory really costs.
The Terran Scout Fleet novels narrow the focus again to small unit missions. Through Jacob Brown and Scout Team Obsidian, Dalzelle mixes special operations action with conspiracies, espionage, and quiet character moments. Crossovers with Omega Force tie all of these stories into a single universe without requiring homework from new readers.
He also writes standalones such as Blueshift, which follows a deep space expedition that returns to an Earth they barely recognize after centuries have passed. Across all of his work, recurring threads include loyalty, the strain of command, and ordinary people trying to do the right thing inside very large systems.
Dalzelle’s books have sold in the millions and have landed on bestseller lists and award ballots, but he tends to let those facts sit in the background. Day to day, he treats writing like a job he happens to enjoy, showing up to keep these crews moving from one crisis to the next. He lives in a quiet suburb outside Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and son, and keeps in touch with readers who want to talk ships, tactics, or which character should get the next book.
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