World War IV Books in Order

This is one of James Hunt's earlier military-leaning dystopian setups, and it comes with a bigger geopolitical frame than many of his later thrillers. The series jumps forward to a world still shaped by the aftermath of an earlier catastrophe, where old powers are rising again and new alliances are being tested by open war.

The main through line is the Mars brothers, who are trying to hold together what they and their allies have built while larger forces close in. Alliances sets the stage in a future shaped by the Great War of 2020 and the uneasy order that followed it. A Broken Union pushes that order further toward collapse as former superpowers resurface and the balance of power starts breaking apart.

The scale is bigger here.

Even so, Hunt still keeps the story personal enough to follow. He likes war fiction best when the politics and strategy are tied to family, loyalty, and the cost of leadership. The questions are not only who wins the next battle. They are also who holds the line, who fractures under pressure, and what a victory is worth if it leaves nothing solid behind.

If you want compact military dystopian fiction with a near-future backdrop, shifting alliances, and a central family at the heart of the conflict, this series is the place in Hunt's catalog where that side of his work shows up most clearly.