Steel World is a good book. It's not an amazing book, but it is good. It kept me entertained, and that's what a book is supposed to do. There were plenty of spelling mistakes and some really odd descriptions. When the author explained that soldiers were crawling into a position, they "slithered", which made me cringe a bit. Anyway! I'm hoping for some better character development as McGill was a bit flat. Actually, he's a bit unintelligent at times, and not in an endearing way. If comparing with Scalzi's Old Man's War, Steel World has a long way to go.
That said, I will continue reading these books. I am curious where McGill is heading next. ( )

The written equivalent of a comic book based on a simple, yet really useful, twist in our future that sets up everything that follows. A quick read with no depth and little characterization but still fun with a fast-moving plot (even if it does become highly predictable). Escapism, pure and simple, that does not even remotely require turning on your brain. ( )

Humans kicking alien butt in powered armor. Yeah!

A quick, light read. Great if you're looking for a quick hit of military sci-fi. ( )

Oh, hey, this turned out to be a very good military sci-fi book. I was surprised since the only other book I read by Larson was just on the edge of being unreadable. No, seriously, I went in with very low expectations of his writing skills and ended up not wanting to put the book down.

It is a fairly straight forward military sci-fi where aliens have a large presence. We follow the story only from the human side, but the alien species involved are distinct from each other and reasonably well-built. Sure, there are lizards, but as an alien species, they are just as plausible as any other alien species. The tech involved is interesting (and pretty cool) and the galactic "rules" that all the species live by are logical and consistent.

Is the main character a bit of an azz... well, sure, but it isn't over the top and he isn't smarmy about it. There aren't any significant female characters in the book - those that are there are only "rewards" - but they aren't particularly objectified either, and they certainly are not bimbo sexpots (which is a nice change).

For a read-alike, you could try Marko Kloos' Frontlines series - they are quite similar in writing style and content. ( )