/lit/ - Literature

>>18594816
It's maybe not quite what you're looking for, but one of the main protagonists of Orson Scott Card's two Formic War prequel trilogies, Lem Jukes, fits the bill pretty well. He starts out as a corporate asshole who attacks free miners to steal the asteroid they've been mining for his own purposes, so that he can climb the corporate ladder faster. But as soon as the real villains of the story enter the stage, the aliens known as Formics, he undergoes a good deal of character development and ultimately becomes instrumental to the war effort on the business side of thing. For instance he's willing to cut through corporate red tape to get shit done that needs to get done. Even though in the beginning it seems like he's poised to be the guy you're supposed to hate, he's actually a character that really grows on you and he unexpectedly became my personal favorite out of all the main protagonists. If I dare use the word, Lem might be something of a subversion of the corrupt corporate executive stereotype.

The two trilogies veer towards hard sci-fi too, despite the alien invasion, because humanity is still very low tech at the start of the war and has never ventured outside its own solar system. Therefore most although not all of the technology the characters have available is on the down-to-earth, plausible side of things.

Besides all that, I have really enjoyed the Formic War series immensely so far and would recommend it regardless. Eagerly waiting for the final volume to drop.