Bill The Galactic Hero

Bill, the Galactic Hero is a humorous, satirical science fiction series written by Harry Harrison. The first novel in the series (Bill, the Galactic Hero) was first published in 1965 and roughly retells the famous anti world war one novel "The Good Soldier Švejk" (written by Jaroslav Hašek) but set in the future.

The overall theme of the series is similar to Hašek's work, with the protagonist tricked into joining the army by an unscrupulous recruiting sergeant. He is then sent on a succession of badly organized adventures. Satire is evident throughout with spoof's of many popular Science fiction authors including Isaac Asimov, Doc Smith, Robert Heinlein (Starship Troopers) and Joseph Heller.

Also prevalent throughout is the constant drunkenness, incompetence of officers, petty pilfering that has been seen by many (including a Vietnam veteran) as being very close to the truth.