Tom Kratman

Tom Kratman is a United States science fiction author. His writing is primarily in the subgenre of military science fiction.

Kratman was born in Boston, where he attended Boston Latin before enlisting, aged 17, in the US Army. He served with the 101st Airborne Division and in Panama with the 193rd Infantry Brigade. He then went to Boston College on an Army scholarship. Following his graduation Kratman was commissioned as an officer in 1980 whereupon he spent three more years in Panama followed by a four-year stint with the 24th Infantry Division. He was then part of the United States Army Recruiting Command, before serving with the 5th Special Forces Group during the Gulf War.

Kratman left the regular army in 1992, and went to law school. He earned his juris doctorate in 1995, but remained a member of the United States Army Reserve and also worked for MPRI. He was recalled to the Army in 2003 for the Iraq War but was found to have a heart problem. He then spent time at the U.S. Army War College as Director, Rule of Law, for the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute. Kratman retired in 2006 as a Lieutenant Colonel and became a full-time author.

Kratman was nominated for a Hugo award for his novella Big Boys Don't Cry in 2015, as a part of both the Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies slates, after a block voting campaign. In the final voting, no award was voted for by WSFS members in the novella category.

Kratman met his wife in Panama, and has four children and three grandchildren.

Essays

• The Amazon's Right Breast (2011) As part of Baen's Free Nonfiction 2011.
• Indirectly Mistaken Decision Cycles (2012) As part of Baen's Free Nonfiction 2012.
• Training for War (April 2014) (ISBN 978-1625793027), Baen Free Nonfiction.

Stand Alone Works

• Big Boys Don't Cry (novella; 2000, 2014)
• A State of Disobedience (December 2003) (ISBN 0-7434-9920-4)
• Caliphate (April 2008) (ISBN 1-41655-545-5)

Series

Legacy of the Aldenata

• Watch on the Rhine (August 2005, with John Ringo) (ISBN 0-7434-9918-2)
• Yellow Eyes (April 2007, with John Ringo) (ISBN 1-41652-103-8)
• The Tuloriad (October 2009, with John Ringo) (ISBN 1-4391-3409-X)

A Desert Called Peace (Carrera) Series

• A Desert Called Peace (September 2007) (ISBN 1-4165-2145-3)
• Carnifex (November 2007) (ISBN 1-4165-7383-6)
• The Lotus Eaters (April 2010) (ISBN 1-4391-3346-8)
• The Amazon Legion (April 2011) (ISBN 1-4391-3426-X)
• Come and Take Them (November 2013) (ISBN 1-4516-3936-8)
• The Rods and the Axe (July 2014) (ISBN 978-1476736563)

Countdown

• The Liberators (February 2011) (ISBN 1-4391-3402-2)
• M Day (September 2011) (ISBN 1-4391-3464-2)
• H Hour (July 2012) (ISBN 1-4516-3793-4)

• Free Nonfiction 2011, Baen Ebooks
• Free Nonfiction 2012, Baen Ebooks
• Training for War (April 2014), Baen Free Ebook
• Castaliahouse.com, Castalia House, February 24, 2014
• Tom Kratman - Baen Books
• Baen Books
• Baen Books