Books

[sachmo71]

I read a lot. In the interest of sharing the gift of reading, I'll offer opinions of the books that I have finished reading. Please feel free to discuss/comment/scoff at my views, because that's what it's all about.

[John Galt]

*scoff*









Sounds interesting - I'll be reading. ;)

[sachmo71]

The most recent book that I read was the first book of The Guardians of the Flame (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1568650612/qid=1082658620/sr=1-18/ref=sr_1_18/002-0755085-1712849?v=glance&s=books) collection, titled The Sleeping Dragon.

The Guardians of the Flame is a series of fantasy books written back in 1985. The premise of the story is that a group of college aged role players is transported to their gameworld by their dungeonmaster/professor. It doesn't sound like much of a premise, but the story takes some interesting turns.
**************************SPOILERS*******************************

I like the way Rosenberg fleshes out his characters. Take the DM/Professor for instance. It turns out that he has the power to transport people to this world, but is unable to transport himself. His solution is to transport the group there, give them a nice stock of equipment, and have them find a way to bring him over so that he can rule it. Simple plan, which of course immediately gets off track, but I found that I completely understood the professor's motives. In his mind, what he was doing wasn't evil, but more of an act of desperation. He had every intention of getting the group through the world alive, and in fact was concerned for them. He wasn't your typical evil bastard, just a bastard! :)
The story get's off to an interesting start, and Rosenberg is not afraid to show his characters weakness. The whole novel revolves around the characters learning about their new surroundings, and them trying to cope with their changed bodies, minds, and new powers. I especially liked Michael, who was crippled in our world, but a powerful warrior in the game. He becomes the defacto leader of the group, and has to come to terms with dealing with both the other "game characters" and his fellow players. There is a lot of interchanging of names in the story, where Rosenberg will identify the character by their game name, then by their human name, so it helps to get to know the characters early. Rosenberg spends a good amount of time with each of them.
The life in the gameworld turns out to be much harder than anticipated, though. Rosenberg isn't afraid of putting his subjects into harms way, nor having them make poor decisions. In fact, they usually end up doing the wrong thing, but that helps to illustrate the learning process that they have to go through.
As the story moves on, and they come closer to their goal, some of the characters have to decide if they even want to go back to their old lives, or live an interesting, albeit shorter, life in the gameworld. Most of the questions I found myself asking were covered here by Rosenberg. He really made each character a unique, thinking person, even if the world is a little flat.
The cons?
I would have liked a bit more background history for the gameworld. Most of the characters had been playing in campaigns in this world, and the knowledge gained may have allowed them to make some better decisions along the way. I mean, if I were transported to Greyhawk, I would know that's it's generally a good idea to avoid the north, and if you meet a hermit alone in the woods...RUN! A small gripe, really.
The end story could have used some work. Most of the story was spent illustrating the individuality of the members of the group, but they all decide to "band together" and make hard choices when a life is in the balance. I would have expected at least one of the them to make the wrong choice at this point, but he chose to go another direction with it. Maybe the characters learned a thing or two in the time they spent in the gameworld, but I would have been more impressed if he continued to take risks with the story. Eh, another small gripe.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, maybe more than I thought I would. I look forward to reading the rest of the volume, which is books 2 and 3. I think there are three more after this one.

I guess I should create a rating scale, so in honor of our resident gamemaster, I give this book:

6/10 Cougars!

[sachmo71]

John,

Glad to have you along!

Next up:

Warday (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0030707315/qid=1082660369/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-0755085-1712849?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[Fonzie]

I remember Guardians of the Flame! I loved 'em when I read 'em back in high school - I wonder if my opinion would change on rereading. I might have to revisit this series.

Oh, and *scoff*. ;)

[SirFozzie]

There's about 10 books in the Flame series, and Baen's starting to put out Guardian of the Flame omnibuses (3-4 books in 1)

[sachmo71]

There's about 10 books in the Flame series, and Baen's starting to put out Guardian of the Flame omnibuses (3-4 books in 1)

10 huh? I've got some reading ahead.

[Celeval]

The first group are great. IMHO, Rosenberg has slown down a lot... seems that much less happens in the recent books.

[sachmo71]

The first group are great. IMHO, Rosenberg has slown down a lot... seems that much less happens in the recent books.

Maybe he's Robert Jordan in disguise? :D

[sachmo71]

On my vacation, I was able to finish Warday (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0030707315/qid=1082660369/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-1103036-1589454?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. Yes, it's THAT Whitley Strieber. This book has been sitting on my bookshelf since I bought it in 1985. Back then, I was facinated by modern warfare, and I was into post apocolyptic fiction...drivel such as The Survivalist, The Wingman, and CADS. Real crap, but it was my thing. Anyway, when I saw this book, I bought it and started reading it right away. Unfortunately, this book didn't have enough heroes, or bloodshed, or whatever it was that I was looking for back then, so I put it down and never gave it a second thought. Then for some reason, about a week ago, I picked it back up and started to read it. I found it hard to put down, even without the gore!

********************SPOILER**********************************

The story is about an author (Strieber) and a reporter (Kunetka) who make a five year journey around the US after it is involved in a limited nuclear war with the Soviet Union. On October 28th, 1987, after the US deployed a satellite missile defense system known as Spiderweb, the Soviets launch a nuclear strike against the US, with the US responding in kind. No other countries are involved in the war. Among the targets are large parts of the midwest where all of the missile silos and bomber bases are located, Wasington DC, New York, and San Antonio. On top of that, there is some nuclear activity on the high seas as the American and Soviet navies blast each other into oblivion. As an added bonus, the Soviets detonate 10 large megaton weapons high in space over the US, where the electromagnetic pulse shorts virtually evey single piece of electronic equipment in the country. (Take that, Mr. Aflek!)

The story is told in a series of personal reflections, official documents, and interviews with various people. Some of the more interesting themes of the story are a largely unaffected California virtually becoming it's own country, heavily increased aid from the newest superpowers in the world: Great Britain and Japan, and the creation of a Latin American country in territory bordering Mexico, Texas, Claifornia and New Mexico.

Pros:- Since this book was written in 1985, much of the information is dated, but it is still an interesting scenario. The war portrayed by Strieber was more of a near miss of Armageddon than anything else. He never really explains why both sides didn't open up their full nuclear arsenal and blow each other to hell and back, but he does hint on at the system breaking down before this happens. Some of it is a streach, but I bought it.
The book is spooky. The radiation and firestorms are the least of the survivors worries. The economy was shattered when the EMP bombs were detonated. Diseases run rampant as medical supplies dwindle, food becomes scarce, and stress depleats the immune systems of many people. Everything sort of snowballs into a big, ugly mess, and thinking about it in personal terms only makes it more chilling. Even though I know we are further away from this sort of thing ever happening, with the climate of the world being what it is today, and knowing that there are people who would spread this sort of destruction on us if they had half of a chance brings things a little closer to home.

Cons- Strieber obviously has an agenda, and the book has a...errr, left leaning slant. :)
Strieber comes across rather preachy sometimes, which I suppose was one of the reasons that he wrote this book, but I thought he added some instances that went a little over the top. For example, when a food shortage is predicted in the Northeast, the children of this area are loaded onto a train and shipped South to Alabama, where there is a surplus of food. When the train passes into Georgia, it is turned back because of fears that the children might streach the food stocks to dangerously low levels. Now maybe I am naive, but I think most people would do what they could to help children survive.

I did enjoy the book, however. It is well constructed and informative. The information is not too "out there" as to be irrelevant.

Rating
6.5/10 mushroom clouds for this gloomy volume.

My next review should be the second Guardians of the Flame book. I can't remember the title just now, but it's off to a pretty good start!

[GoldenEagle]

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I loved the book. That is all. :)

[Franklinnoble]

Man, I thought I was a one-of-a-kind dork for reading the Guardians of the Flame series when I was younger. Now, I realize I have dorky brethren. I need a hug.

*** SPOILER ALERT!!!!!***


Seriously, I've read all but the most recent two, (I think). Rosenberg lost steam when he killed off a major character in the series, and "Not Exactly The Three Musketeers" just didn't have the same feel to it... basically no "otherworld" major characters in the story anymore.

Keepers of the Hidden Ways (I think that's what the series was called) was pretty decent, but the premise was too similar to not seem like a total ripoff. Still, I enjoyed them... I think he did a few other books in a separate fantasy series, but the titles were too bizarre for me to recall at the moment.

Anyhow, at one time, he was my favorite author, and is probably still my favorite fantasy author, just because of the nostalgia I have when I think of those books. Like I said, I'm happily stunned to see that there are others here who have read them.

[BlueMage]

I just finished up the last book of the Tawny Man series by Robin Hobb. This is 3rd book of this series, but it's really the 6th book of another series, and you really ought to read the Mad Ships series in between to get everything going. They are excellent, and I couldn't put them down. I've been reading Tad Williams in the mean time but can't get into it very well yet.

[daedalus]

The Guardians of the Flame is a series of fantasy books written back in 1985. The premise of the story is that a group of college aged role players is transported to their gameworld by their dungeonmaster/professor. It doesn't sound like much of a premise, but the story takes some interesting turns.Whoa! I read this a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago and enjoyed it. Couldn't remember for the life of me the name of the book or the author so I could read the rest. This rocks! Thanks, sachmo!I especially liked Michael, who was crippled in our world, but a powerful warrior in the game. He becomes the defacto leader of the group, and has to come to terms with dealing with both the other "game characters" and his fellow players.I couldn't stand him. Heh. I can kind of understood where he was coming from with his attitude. Maybe. But I still thought he was a little shit. He did seemed to have evolved into a more decent/less annoying person later on. I'd like to see how he progresses in later books.Overall, I really enjoyed the story, maybe more than I thought I would. I look forward to reading the rest of the volume, which is books 2 and 3.Same here. Thanks for bringing up the name so I can now look it up! Yay!

[Wolfpack]

Heh. I read WarDay back in high school. Thought it an interesting read at the time. Having grown a bit, I now recognize a lot of the politicization that went into that novel, not to mention finding out Strieber is a near-nutjob (alien abductions and superstorms and such).

[Calis]

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I loved the book. That is all. :)

Ughh, horrid memories..has to be my most hated "classic" book of all time. How I loathed reading it.

Carry on.. :)

[Lokugh]

Man, I thought I was a one-of-a-kind dork for reading the Guardians of the Flame series when I was younger. Now, I realize I have dorky brethren. I need a hug.

*** SPOILER ALERT!!!!!***


Seriously, I've read all but the most recent two, (I think). Rosenberg lost steam when he killed off a major character in the series, and "Not Exactly The Three Musketeers" just didn't have the same feel to it... basically no "otherworld" major characters in the story anymore.



This would be when I quit reading the series. Between the death of...a certain character in (confirmed in Warrior Lives) and the fact that it took him two or three years to get to the next book, I just completely lost interest.

The first trilogy is quite good, though. And remember, it could be worse...they could have named her Andrea Doria (joke from the book). Ya know, I have always wondered if he named his characters what he did with that joke in mind or if it was just a happy coincidence :p

I will say this for Rosenberg. He is the only author I have read who actually took a serious look at what would happen in that scenario. It is one just about anyone who has ever played an RPG has thought of. Most authors who do this sort of story either go the humor route or the Narnia route (as in the transportees are fulfilling some great destiny or prophecy). In these books, the transportees are just folks who got screwed over and are trying to make their way the best they can in a world that really doesn't care much...well, until they make it care :D

Lokugh

[Franklinnoble]

This would be when I quit reading the series. Between the death of...a certain character in (confirmed in Warrior Lives) and the fact that it took him two or three years to get to the next book, I just completely lost interest.

The first trilogy is quite good, though. And remember, it could be worse...they could have named her Andrea Doria (joke from the book). Ya know, I have always wondered if he named his characters what he did with that joke in mind or if it was just a happy coincidence :p

I will say this for Rosenberg. He is the only author I have read who actually took a serious look at what would happen in that scenario. It is one just about anyone who has ever played an RPG has thought of. Most authors who do this sort of story either go the humor route or the Narnia route (as in the transportees are fulfilling some great destiny or prophecy). In these books, the transportees are just folks who got screwed over and are trying to make their way the best they can in a world that really doesn't care much...well, until they make it care :D

Lokugh
I always thought it would be interesting for Rosenberg to re-juvinate the series with the professor sending another group over to the other world... it could be another bunch of hapless suckers, or perhaps this time a bunch of volunteers... the premise of having a group of characters with modern, real-world knowledge in a D&D world still has interesting scenario possiblities, in my opinion.

[Franklinnoble]

Dola... I just found Rosenberg's homepage...

http://www.ellegon.com/

Surreal is the only word I have for it...

[Franklinnoble]

double-dola... Here's a good fan page...

http://www.slovotskys-laws.com/

[Franklinnoble]

Triple-dola...

I don't know if I'd ever have guessed that this guy was a gun rights advocate. Somebody get Cam in here, quick!

[Franklinnoble]

Quadruple-dola...

Check out the guy's weblog... http://www.livejournal.com/users/joelrosenberg/

Seriously... Cam should have this guy on his show...

[CamEdwards]

Franklin,

What an odd coincedence. We've already had Joel on the show, but I had no idea he was an author!

Weird.

BTW, Sachmo, I read Warday back in the 1980's and thought it was awesome.

[Franklinnoble]

Franklin,

What an odd coincedence. We've already had Joel on the show, but I had no idea he was an author!

Weird.

BTW, Sachmo, I read Warday back in the 1980's and thought it was awesome. That's bizarre... you had no idea he was an author, and we had no idea he was a gun nut... (***disclaimer... I can call him that, because I'm a gun nut... well, not a 'nut'... but a card-carrying lifetime member of the NRA... )

:D

[sachmo71]

i stand shoulder to shoulder with my dorky brethern. I'm really getting into book two of Guardians of the Flame. I'll probably go on and finish the third book, and move onto the new series by Raymond Feist, or Micheal Curtis Ford, or any of the other hundred books I have in my queue.

Daedalus: I can't quite explain why I like Michael. Most of the characters have some flaw to them, and maybe that's why I like this series so much. But Michael's position is probably the easiest for me to understand. I think if I were in his position, I would try to forget the real world two. He's a very interesting character, who could easily have turned into Tannis Half-Elf, which would have ruined the whole thing for me.

Bluemage: Thanks for the recommendation!

Cam: Last night I realized that Whitley and Jim wrote another post-apocolyptic book, which I had on my shelf. For some reason, I thought it was a sequel to Warday, but it's not. It's called Nature's End, where air pollution is the killer. I doubt I'll be reading this one, as the left slant of the book is so severe that it causes all of the other books on the shelf to slide off and fall on the floor. :)

[Bubba Wheels]

For anybody who would like to know the real mind of the terrorists working against us today, read 'Tea With Terrorists." Clancy-like fictional novel, the central chapter is a real discussion that occurred in an Arab tea-house between terrorists and a journalist that then wrote this book (Pen name probably). *spoiler* There is NOTHING we can do that will appease these terrorists. They want all or nothing. All is a Muslim-dominated world headed by clerics where Sharia is administered, nothing is where all infidels are put to death and if a Muslim dies in the process, well he just goes on to Paradise with his virgins. Very sobering, insightfull. Good story, too.

[CamEdwards]

Hey Franklin, did you hear Joel call in to the show this afternoon? He's going to be our honorary Minnesota correspondent. :)

[Franklinnoble]

Hey Franklin, did you hear Joel call in to the show this afternoon? He's going to be our honorary Minnesota correspondent. :)
No, I missed it! Frickin' staff meetings... grumble, grumble...

Is there an archive of it online? Did you tell him to come visit his dorky brotherhood of fanboys here at FOFC? :D

[Franklinnoble]

Dola... I'm trying to tune in (with my IE browser), and in the left hand side of the page I have a little window that says "gathering data, please wait." It never goes away. I know I'm on a fat connection to the Internet, so I'm wondering if I have firewall issues?

[Alf]

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I loved the book. That is all. :)
This book was one of the "recommend by US guys" for a non-US guy.

Included was
- The Great Gasby (or however it should be written)
- Catcher in the Rye
- Last exit to Brooklyn <= I highly recommend this one, pretty hard to read for me at first, but once you're in and with Selby Jr recent death...

[daedalus]

Daedalus: I can't quite explain why I like Michael. Most of the characters have some flaw to them, and maybe that's why I like this series so much. But Michael's position is probably the easiest for me to understand. I think if I were in his position, I would try to forget the real world two. He's a very interesting character, who could easily have turned into Tannis Half-Elf, which would have ruined the whole thing for me.Oh, I don't have a problem at all with him considering giving up the "real world". Heck, as you said, in his position, I would as well. I just didn't like the "woe is me"/"the world against me" attitude he had at the beginning. I definitely liked the fact that he took charge once he was capable (post-transport).

[Lokugh]

That's bizarre... you had no idea he was an author, and we had no idea he was a gun nut... (***disclaimer... I can call him that, because I'm a gun nut... well, not a 'nut'... but a card-carrying lifetime member of the NRA... )

:D


::SPOILER::

You didn't realize he was a gun nut? What was the first thing his characters invented? In a land where people could throw fireballs and lightning bolts and magic missiles, not only him but the other organizations opposing his characters all started a gun war< g >. The Colt .45 was a nice touch I thought.

If he'd been a pacifist or anti-gun his characters would have had a lot more trouble with their guns, if they had even thought to make them (or he'd have made the old "gunpowder won't work in this world" cop out).

Lokugh

[Airhog]

I have to plug my favorite series of books in the whole world. The stuff written by terry pratchet is absolutely wonderful. Especially for anyone that enjoys fantasy books. Personally I enjoy any of the books that involve the City watch. I just got done reading "The Fifth Elephant" "Carpe Jugulum" and re-reading "Interesting Times"

They say his books are political satire directed at england. While I do find a bit of the stuff in his books relatable to english culture it really is a good read. The only way i can explain his writing style, is to just imagine earth as a fantasy land. And you are all set.

[sachmo71]

Airhog,

I read my first Pratchett book a month ago. Very funny stuff! I already have the next one in queue.

[Nyarlahotep]

The Colour of Magic is still my favorite Pratchett book. Guess I have a soft spot for the one that started it all.

[Lokugh]

The Colour of Magic is still my favorite Pratchett book. Guess I have a soft spot for the one that started it all.


Color of Magic is good. I think my favorite Pratchett, however, is the entire City Watch sub-series. I think Jingo is my favorite (because of the PDA), but Night Watch is the best of them, if you understand the distinction I am making.

My least favorite are the Witches novels (Equal Rites being the weakest, IMHO) but even those are pretty good.

Lokugh

[sachmo71]

Just finished The Sword and the Chain (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451453514/qid=1084063769/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5373336-5119922?v=glance&s=books), the second book in the Guardians of the Flame series.

****************************************SPOILERS!!!!*********************

I'm still enjoying the storyline, but for some reason I didn't get into this book as much as I did the first one.

This book is basically the start of Karl's "mission" to take down the slave trade and liberate all of the slaves as he promised the Healing Hand he would do. It mainly focuses on Karl and Ahira, two characters whos interactions I enjoyed in the first book.

The Good: Lots of action again. The story never really slows down, and progresses nicely.
The characters stayed true to the story, for the most part. Ahira didn't become any more annoying, and I enjoyed getting to know Karl more. I missed some of the other characters, but I'll talk about that a bit more.

The Bad Well, to start with, the story was more predictible than I would have liked. There were a few twists, but not enough to impress me. I know, this is fantasy, and it's all been done before, right? I don't know about that. The first book seemed to break new ground for me, but this one sort of ran along like a movie. I guess I was expecting more.

I was also disappointed with the character interaction. As I mentioned before, I was looking forward to some sparks to fly between Ahira and Karl, but they sort of settled things early and cooperated for most of the journey. I think Rosenberg could have taken more of a chance with these two, instead of giving Karl all of the momentum. He's still emotional, and prone to act before he thinks, but I think Ahira would have resented Karl taking the spotlight more than he did, instead of taking a supporting role. Maybe they'll flesh this out a bit more in the third book.

Also, the foil was a bit weak. The son of the villian is out seeking revenge? Bah. I was really looking forward to an accidential enemy in this one...maybe a master trader who was only interested in getting Karl out of the way instead of having a personal vendetta. Rosenberg handled this well in the first book, and this seemed sort of lazy to me.

Then the supporting characters. We knew the kid was going to die. We knew one of the young lovers was going to die. They were pretty wooden to me, and I would have liked to get to know them a little more. Especially Aeia. She seems like an interesting character, and she's been though hell. I would think she would want to stay with her people, but she's so striken by something that happens to someone that she has known for a relatively short period of time, she turns her back on them and goes back with Karl. I just didn't really understand why.

This wasn't a bad book by any means. I just didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first one. Maybe my expectations were too high?

I give this book:

4.5 out of 10 Cougars.

Hopefully book 3 will get me back into it. It's the next book I'm reading.


The Silver Crown (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451159837/qid=1084065193/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-5373336-5119922?v=glance&s=books)

[sachmo71]

Ok, The Silver Crown (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451159837/qid=1084065193/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-5373336-5119922?v=glance&s=books) is done. Book 3 in the Guardians of the Flame series.







*********************SPOILERS*************************************



The good:
Rosenberg is good at keeping his characters consistant. So often in fantasy we have a hero adopt a new persona almost instantly, leaving behind any shread of their past selves when they discover their true purpose. Rosenberg allows the characters to keep their faults through their lives, even if he is hard on their innocence.
The action in this book is fast and furious. Fans of battle scenes will not be disappointed!

The bad: I was really losing interest in this series rather early in this book. The characters were still wooden to me. The second and third books read like an action novel rather than serious fantasy. Maybe that's the author's intention, or maybe my expectations were too high after reading all of the praise heaped on him.
The plot was cumbersome to me. I didn't understand why things were happening the way they were. Nor will I ever understand the motivations of Karl. I just can't get into his character beyond the primitive rifle and the sword. Not enough upstairs, I suppose. :)
The ending was disappointing, also. Why would these people just allow this man to become their king? Because he saved them in a war? I guess, but it seemed weak to me. Why would Walter even think Karl would be any sort of decent king? Well, maybe Conan inspired him, but Ahira would have been a much better choice, I believe.

I really wanted to like this series, but after the first book, I found it to be a big letdown. Thankfully my friend whom I exchanged books with LOVED the George RR Martin works!

I'll give this book...

3 out of 10 Cougars. :(

Next book...


The Light Fantastic (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0061020702/qid=1085452993/sr=8-2/ref=pd_ka_2/002-1818025-3656009?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Terry Pratchett!

[Thomkal]

I read the first couple at least of Rosenberg's books because I'm a sucker for "modern day people being transported to a fantasy world" books. Perhaps my favorite of such books is Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy where five Canadians get transported to a very epic, Tolkien kind of feel world. The series is my Top 5 or 10 of all time favorite books, so I can't recommend them enough. The first book in the series is The Summer Tree

[sachmo71]

Thanks, Thomkal. I'll check it out.

[Lokugh]

Sachmo, if you like things a little lighter, but in the same vein, you might also look up the Spellsinger novels by Alan Dean Foster, if you've not already read them. About a failing musician who gets transported to a somewhat Narniaesque (well, in the sense of talking animals and humans mixed in) world. He finds that he can work magic by singing. Starts with "Spellsinger" and continues with "The Hour of the Gate".

[sachmo71]

Thanks, Lokugh. Sound interesting. I've seen them on the shelves, but I always have something else to buy...

[sachmo71]

And now for something completely different...

The Light Fantastic (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0061020702/qid=1085452993/sr=8-) by Terry Pretchett!





******************************SPOILERS*********************************













Ok, not completely different, but a bit.
This is book 2 in the famous Discworld series. Very, very funny stuff but you must have a pretty dry sense of humor to appreciate it, I think. Thankfully, I do!

In this book, Rincewind the inept wizard and Twoflower the tourist are saved from certain death by the the most powerful spells in the world so that Rincewind can fulfill his purpose in the world and save it from certain doom.
I know this sounds like a cheesy fantasy novel, but it's damn funny stuff.
Anyway, Rincewind and Twoflower and the Luggage run into wizards, barbarians and trolls on the way, and even meet Death himself. Eventually they come to the final showdown, where the humor is at it's best.

The Good
Well, as I said before, it's damn funny. Here is one little section that made me laugh out loud:

To the upper cellars!" he cried, and bounded up the stone stairs. Slipper flapping and nightshirts billowing the other wizards followed him, falling over one another in their eagerness to be last.

Eagerness to be last. Genius!
Pratchett is like that, he sometimes comes out of nowhere and hits you with a joke where you are least expecting it, until you find yourself waiting to be entertained in every sentence. I happly found that I was.
Pratchett has also created a very imaginative world. Discworld is a world that is mounted on top of four huge elephants, which are in turn riding on the back of a huge, celestial turtle, and it get's stranger from there, but the strangeness is usually very imaginative and also often very funny.

The Bad

Too short. The book is 241 page. Books are expensive these days! Give me MORE!!!


Overall, this was an excellent book, and I'm really looking forward to reading the 20-odd books remaining.

I give this book 9 Cougars out of 10! Please, read this book. You won't be sorry!

Next....I have no idea! Let's call it a surprise! :)

[Lokugh]

Well, in Pratchett's defense, books weren't quite so expensive when he wrote it. And if you think that is short, wait until you read "Eric" (which is, I think, the next Rincewind novel). Short and in big type. I think it was originally meant as a juvie.

Er, one thing, book three is, I think, Equal Rites. Personally, I found this to be the weakest of the whole series (it is the first in the "Witches" sub-series). Don't get turned off. If you need to, just skip it. It is skipable. Still pretty good, but I know a lot of people don't particularly like the Witches novels to begin with, and this is definitely the weakest of the lot. Probably because it does not have the three witches in it, just Granny Weatherwax (with a cameo by Nanny Ogg).

I do envy you though...you still have so much goodness to look forward to< g >.

Lokugh

PS: Er, the reason the Equal Rites novel is skipable, btw, is that Eskarina, the main character, never once appears in the later novels...she just disappears completely from the Discworld saga...rather unusually for Pratchett. Granny and the "witch" community are better introduced later as well. The only thing from this novel that really reappears later that you might miss is Granny's landlady in Ankh Morpork, and that is only minor.

[sachmo71]

Lokugh,

Thanks for the input. I'll consider skipping Equal Rights, but that is something my ordered brain may not let me do. If I cannot skip it, at least I know now that the pace will pick back up with the next book.

I really enjoy his stuff. It was hard for me not to pick up the next one when I was out a lunch today.

[Lokugh]

Oh, Equal Rites is not a bad book. Some few people really like it. From the reviews I've seen though, most of those people were not nearly so enamored of Rincewind, so...

Nice thing about Pratchett, even his bad books are really good, and he has something for everyone.

[SirFozzie]

What Foz is reading Lately:

The Deathstalker Series by Simon Green

Space Opera on a grand scale.. Awesome Awesome bookks

[sachmo71]

Sounds good, Foz. What is a rough estimate of the tech level?

Also, I decided to go ahead and buy the next two Pratchett books. Life is too short to miss out on the good stuff, no? :D

[Godzilla Blitz]

I read Equal Rites a few months ago. I enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed the first two. So far, I just haven't locked onto any of the Discworld books yet, but I've enjoyed them enough to always pick up the next one, and eventually get around to reading it.

Mort is sitting in my pile of books to read. I've had a couple of people tell me that this one is their favorite.

[Katon]

The first three Discworld books are far, far worse than the rest of the series. Pratchett was still learning back then, and those three in particular are much weaker than the stuff he's writing now. Mort is the first book where he's starting to get things straightened out.

[sachmo71]

The first three Discworld books are far, far worse than the rest of the series. Pratchett was still learning back then, and those three in particular are much weaker than the stuff he's writing now. Mort is the first book where he's starting to get things straightened out.

I guess I really have something to look forward too!

[sachmo71]

Finally finished!

Reviewing Equal Rights (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0061020699/qid=1087520781/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-7582709-3308928?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Terry Pratchett


This is another Discworld book, a series of very humorous books by Terry Pratchett. Think Douglas Adams, Robert Asprin, and Monty Python all rolled into one. Great stuff.

************************************SPOILERS***************************************



The Bad: Lokugh nailed it. I liked this book the least of all that I have read so far. It seemed to me that Pratchett started writing a story, and sort of forgot to add the humor. Early in the book, it didn't even appear that he was trying to be funny. Tell a story? Yes, but the humor was almost noexistant. It definatly picked up toward the end, and the interaction of Cutangle and Granny was just great. But the slow start was a big change.

The Good: Once the humor came back, I was rolling. While some of the jokes were a bit simple, I appreciated them, and they seemed to fit with the characters. I like Granny a lot, and look forward to seeing her again, and of course, the Librarian of the Unseen University. Ook, ook. :)

Overall, I'll give this volume of Pratchett"

5 out of 10 Cougars!!

So go ahead and read this book. It's not Pratchett's best, but if you stick with it, I think you'll enjoy it.

Next up...NONFICTION! And it's not a military history book! :)

[Lokugh]

Sachmo,

Yep, that pretty well sums up the way I felt about Equal Rites too. Katon is right...they all get better from here.

I've not seen Sir Fozzie post in reply to the Deathstalker tech level question, so I'll answer this way: The tech level is so high they've gone back to using swords for personal combat, if you see what I mean. Basically, when the tech level gets high enough, projectile and beam weapons are near to useless on anything but a grand scale (ship to ship or planetary bombardment) because of personal defenses. Designer drugs giving superhuman abilities, AI's, clones, genetic engineering on a grand scale. Star travel is a given, the ability to destroy entire star CLUSTERS exists. Psi powers are well developed. That is the tech level. Picture late Imperial Rome with Ultra-tech and weirder uniforms with a dash of medieval Italian politics thrown in for good measure. They are pretty good.

[sachmo71]

Lokugh,

That sounds like something I would enjoy. I'm going to check the Deathstalker series out! Well, I will one of these days. :)

[sachmo71]

Just finished a book I've been wanting to read for quite some time now.

The book is The Unauthorized History of Dallas (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0890158339/ref=wl_it_dp/103-9814743-4747853?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=I1Y7X3D1SNGJ2Y&colid=RRQ34GGW81IJ) by Rose-Mary Rumbley.

I've searched high and low for books on the history of Dallas, but they are few and far between. I've found exactly three books on the subject today that are still in print, but whenever I'm out I've either forgotten to look for them or just passed them by for something else. However, last week my friends and I were at Half-Price Books and just killing time. I decided to check out the local history section and I saw on of the three sitting on the shelf. I picked it up and saw that it was $4.98! How could I pass this up? I snapped it up and bought it. While thumbing through it, I noticed that it was an autographed copy! Whoot!! So, I took a break from the book I was reading and devoured this book.

The Good: What a eye opener! I love history in all forms, but to me there is something special about finding out the history of my local area. For me, walking on the same ground as my forebearers has special meaning. I love trying to find out the history of old buildings and historical sites, but for me a plaque is usually not enough.
For example, I used to wait tables at Planet Hollywood in downtown Dallas. The resturant was adjacent to a mall in area of town known as the West End. The buildings down there are old, but I really knew nothing about their history. One day I was doing a favor for the managers and working the front door. Pretty boring job, until this older gentleman come up to me and starts asking me about the resturant. We get to talking and about an hour later, I found out that the resturant used to be a candy factory, and a whole lot of other facts about the area. This is the sort of thing that I love learning about, and that's what this book is. Rumbley has done a lot of research, but she also has a lot of personal stories and opinions about Dallas history. It isn't a straight-forward history book. It's organized into sections about places, people, businesses, stories, and even her hopes for the future of Dallas.
Rumbley doesn't seem to worry if her opinions on local legends are the actual outcome or not, she just presents her opinions and let's the reader decide. I really like that. She does a great job of taking the reader on a guided tour of Dallas, and even comparing today's landscape to what used to be. Very enjoyable.

The Bad: Sometimes she would go off on tangents, and insert a memory where it didn't really seem to fit. I had to muddle though it in a few spots, but it wasn't too bad. Also, because many of the stories were clipped from a newpaper column that she wrote, they didn't always flow well. Again, not a big deal, just a little something I noticed.

I know most of you probably have no interest in this book, but if you have any interest in history, I'd like to encourage you to go out and read a book about the history of your local area. You may not find it as interesting as I do, but it will probably help you see your city/town/village in a different way.

My rating:

6 out of 10 Reunion Towers!

Thanks for listening, and happy reading!

[MacroGuru]

i stand shoulder to shoulder with my dorky brethern. I'm really getting into book two of Guardians of the Flame. I'll probably go on and finish the third book, and move onto the new series by Raymond Feist, or Micheal Curtis Ford, or any of the other hundred books I have in my queue.


Are you talking about the Conclave of Shadows Series by Raymond Feist? If so, it's a good read. Takes place quite a few years after the Serpentwar Saga.

In my opinion though, you can never go wrong with Feist.

[sachmo71]

Are you talking about the Conclave of Shadows Series by Raymond Feist? If so, it's a good read. Takes place quite a few years after the Serpentwar Saga.

In my opinion though, you can never go wrong with Feist.

Yes, I am. I have yet to read it, but I've heard good things. I very much enjoy Feist.

[MacroGuru]

He has just release Prince of Blood in the Author's Preferred Edition, where he has added a bunch of stuff into the book, that he feels will explain a lot of the story better.

[sachmo71]

I saw that book today, Indoor. It looks good!

I bought some bargin books today at Barnes and Noble. Battlefield Earth, which I have never read, for $2, One More River, a book about the Allied forces crossing the Rhine for $3, and a book about a woman who performed surgery on herself at the South Pole for $3. My wife was really interested in that last book a couple of years ago when it came out, so hopefully she's excited about it!

[Lokugh]

Just saw this. Feist finally released the author's edition of PotB? That story always was weak. Perhaps I'll have to get the new one to see if it has improved. Thanks Indoor (and thanks Sachmo for the dynasty, without which I'd not have seen this :) )

[sachmo71]

Has anyone read anything by Ian Douglas? Specifically Semper Mars (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380788284/qid=1090350031/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5323675-5256902?v=glance&s=books)

[sachmo71]

Next discworld book finished: Mort (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061020680/qid=1090695412/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-3916687-0215366) by Terry Pratchett

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This books follows Death and his apprentice Mort through Discworld. And beyond. The plot boils down to Mort falling in love with someone who is going to die. Problem is, he has the power to save her, but there is a price.

the good: He's back, folks. This book is one of the funniest I've read so far. Pratchett seems to be exploring his skills more with this book, but the humor is non-stop. It had me rolling.

The bad: It ended? Not much to complain about.

Great book! 9 stars out of 10! Highly recommended!

Now back to my previous book. I just couldn't wait any longer. :)

[Lokugh]

MORT is definitely one of the top five Discworld novels, in my book. If you are a Lackey fan, watch for a tribute to Mort in her "The Fairy Godmother" :) This assumes you can make it that far into the novel...not exactly my cup of tea, but I'll read most anything she writes on general principles.

BTW, you mentioned the Deathstalker novels by Simon Green. If you liked them, and are a fan of dark fantasy, be sure to check out his new series about "The Nightside" (begins with "Something from the Nightside"). It's about a dark side to London where everything you ever imagined is available, and a lot of things you can't...

[sachmo71]

BTW, you mentioned the Deathstalker novels by Simon Green. If you liked them, and are a fan of dark fantasy, be sure to check out his new series about "The Nightside" (begins with "Something from the Nightside"). It's about a dark side to London where everything you ever imagined is available, and a lot of things you can't...

Haven't gotten to Deathstalker yet, but it's in my queue. Is the Nightside at all like Gaiman's stuff?

[Lokugh]

I hate to admit this, but I am only slightly familiar with Gaiman. However, from what I do know, it is similar, but a bit lighter in tone. Only slightly lighter, you understand :)

The main character is John Taylor, a private eye working the mean streets of the Nightside. He was born in the Nightside of London. His father was human, but his mother turned out to be not quite so, and his father drank himself to death to try to forget that part. Everyone is afraid of John Taylor, but he has never been sure why. People have been trying to kill him since he was a boy, because he is the son of his mother. The problem is, no one seems to know what she was...including him. His main talent is the ability to find things. Anything. Literally anything, even things that don't really exist. Things ranging from a missing girl to the method to kill God Himself (not that God would ever wander down to the Nightside...just in case he met John Taylor there...)

[sachmo71]

A friend of mine handed me a book and said "This is my favorite book, and I thought you might enjoy it."

What a wonderful treat! I think it's wonderful when someone shares a book with me, especially one that means something to them. It's a chance to see a little deeper into that person's life and learn a little something about them while also getting a chance to read a good book.

A little bit about my friend...he's about as regular as a guy can be. He likes history and could be considered what some easily intimidated "intellectuals" would call a "jackass", or in other words is an amateur historian. He loves sports, especially baseball, and is a pretty funny guy.

However, just reading the title of the book showed me more a lot about him. The book he handed me is called Remembering American: A Voice from the Sixties (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316320242/qid=1091996106/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-2633035-6747914?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Richard N. Goodwin. If you know who Goodwin is, then you know what the book is probably about.

If not, then I'll fill you in. Richard Goodwin was a young Harvard graduate who served in the administrations of John Kennedy and Lydon Johnson, and advised the Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy campaigns also. The book is sort of an autobiography of Goodwin, but it mostly concentrates on his experiences in the 60's, and about how the decade unfolded from his point of view.

***************************************************************

The Good: Someone that close to all of the major political figures of the 60's is bound to have some interesting stories, and Goodwin doesn't disappoint. From his beginnings at Harvard, to his tour in the army, to LBJ's cabinet, he saw a lot of things. The book really put the political ride of the 60's on display for me, in a way that I had not seen it presented before. I feel like I learned from this book, and that's a good sign for me.
For the most part, I feel like Goodwin was being truthful. He doesn't gloss over mistakes he feels that he made, and he shares his thought process, pointing out his flaws and short comings. He's not trying to protray himself as a hero in this book, and I respect that.

The bad: Well. Goodwin is a liberal, so if you don't have any interest in that side of the political world, you won't find much to like about this book. His view of Vietnam and the Great Society may have some pulling their hair out in bunches. On this front, Goodwin came across to me as one-sided. Understandable, maybe, but from the truthfulness he was displaying, I guess I was expecting a little more. Maybe not portraying Mcnamarra and the other hawks as only looking out for themselves, and giving them the benefit of the doubt?
Also, while Goodwin won't hesitate to point out his flaws, he can be idealistic at time, even in the present day. I realize that since his political life pretty much ended when Bobby Kennedy was killed he's had time to mull things over, but I got the feeling that under Goodwin's honesty there was a HUGE axe waiting to be ground. Perhaps he should write another book?


It was a pleasure to read this book. It was a bit liberal for my tastes, but it gave me a view of a period and theme of history that I have never spent much time on. The source is knowledgable, and credible (as far as the points that I've referenced), and I always respect honesty. For anyone who is interested in politics in the 60's, or just in reading about that decade from another point of view, I would recommend this book.

6 out of 10 stars!

And thanks to my buddy for letting me learn just a little more about him. :)

[sachmo71]

Next up is The Ten Thousand (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312980329/ref=ed_oe_p/104-9678760-0422328?v=glance&s=books&st=*) by Michael Curtis Ford.

Book description: In 401 B.C., a thundering army of mercenaries, camp followers, dreamers, and glory seekers set off to help a rebellious foreign general named Cyrus. In the months that followed, ten thousand men--trained and hardened in three decades of war in Greece--would engage in pitched battles, witness untold horrors, and begin a desperate march across he desert, over raging rivers, and into the jaws of hell itself. By the time it was over, some would be alive, others dead, and one among them would emerge and the greatest hero of all...

In a novel of high adventure and riveting historical drama, Michael Curtis Ford brings to life an amazing true story from Greek antiquity--Xenophon's march of the ten Thousand. A tale of war and peace, of loyalties and betrayals, and of a soldier's love for a mysterious and dangerous woman, The Ten Thousand captures the eternal spirit of courage--in the face of impossible odds.

****************************************************************

The Good: The book was a page turner! The back story, the march across Persia, the climactic battle close to Babylon...just great stuff! The story read like an adventure novel, but with gobs of history baked in the middle. I couldn't put the book down!
Ford presented the book from the point of view of Themistogenes (Theo), squire of Xenophon of Athens. He was true to this point of view, not giving him access to things that he would have no way of knowing. I enjoyed reading the story from the squires point of view. It allowed him to observe the events with a critical eye, and not get as wrapped up in the emotions that the generals would, or even his friend and master, Xenophon.
Ford did a good job with keeping characters true to the ways of their people. The Spartans were rigid and dangerous, the Atheneans more introspective but still deadly, and the allies were plentiful.

The bad: It seemed like Ford was in a hurry to finish the book. As the army came closer and closer to "salvation" (but still a long way from home), the story jumped forward in huge chunks. Finally, still far from home, the book ended. Not when I expected it to, and not in a good way. I needed more, but it wasn't there. That left me pretty cold.

While I liked Ford's writing style overall, there were times when the writing was tedious. Mostly this was regarding the love story between Theo and Asteria, but also when Theo would have an introspective moment. The adventure would be rolling along and suddenly I would have to avoid a pool of sentimental drivel that threatened to suck me down. Ugh! Give me some warning, man!

Also, while the book is packed with history, some of the situations seemed thrown in so that Ford could get all of the big Greek wonders into the book. I know that this book is based on the actual accounts of the life of Xenophon, but it felt forced.

Conclusion:
Had he written a longer book and added more to the ending, this would have been a much better read, but as it stands it was average. A good read, but I wouldn't knock myself out to check it out, and for that we'll give it the most average of scores:

5 out of 10 stars.

If you are bored, and really interested in this period of time, check it out. Otherwise, keep on marching.

[sachmo71]

Went to Half Price Books today...man, I love that store.

Carl Sagan: The Demon Haunted World
William Gibson: Neuromancer
William Gibson: Count Zero
Michael Curtis Ford: Gods and Legions
Neil Gaiman (w/Terry Pratchett): Good Omens

Cost? $19.62!

[sachmo71]

Just finished Burning Chrome (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060539828/qid=1093182816/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-9678760-0422328?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by William Gibson.

*******************************************************************

I just realized that I had this book sitting on my bookshelf for over ten years. I really wish I had read it earlier.

Burning Chrome is a collection of short stories written by Gibson, some in collaboration with others.

This is the first book I've read by Gibson. My only previous impression of his workwas what others have said about him. He conjured up images of the matrix, Shadowrun, Blade Runner, and so on.

But that doesn't do him justice. He is a much broader writer than I gave him credit for being.

Some of the stories in this collection fit my impressions, but the others were just excellent pieces of sci-fi. Here is a breakdown of the stories included:

Johnny Mnemonic- you've probably heard of this before, if only because of that shitty movie with Keanu Reeves. The short story is much better, about a guy who stores data in his head for people, and has been set up to take a fall. One thing that I found interesting about this story is that the setting and some of the characters make a reappearance in Neuromancer.

The Gernsback Continuum- This is about a photographer who begins to see "ghosts" of an alternate, future world where everything from bad 50's sci-fi is a reality. Very interesting story, and was really a surprise to me when I read it. I was waiting for the cyberpunk to appear, but it never did. Just a very interesting tale about a man convinced he's losing his mind.

Fragments of a Hologram Rose- A tale of a playback junkie. This story plays out as a Gibson dark look at the future, and what effect some of his technologies could have on society. After I finished this story I began to realize that I shouldn't expect too many happy endings from Gibson. I wondered if this story was an influence for the movie Strange Days.

The Belonging Kind- a man who lived his life as an outsider finds his niche. I was really impressed with this story also, I really had no idea where it was going, but I didn't really care. It was a great ride. I never once felt sorry for the main character, and I think that's what Gibson intended. After reading this story I realized just how easily I was being transported into the worlds Gibson was creating for me.

Hinterlands- the price of discovery would be the best way to describe this sci-fi story. I'd read it before in some anthology, but came away with a whole new persepective on it. Spooky story, but in my mind, a totally rational story, if a discovery like this were ever made. Gibson again doesn't show a lot of faith in humanity as a whole, but he seems to trust the individual.

Red Star, Winter Orbit- as the space program crumbles, life on a space station becomes chaotic. After reading this story, I thought back on what I had read so far, and was impressed with all of the alternate futures that Gibson created for these stories. I found myself very intereted in reading about the prehistory of these stories. This one implied that the Soviet Union was the dominant power on the earth. There may have been a war, or maybe an alternate ending to WWII? Facinating. Anyway, this story has a "happy" ending, sort of, but the main character is doomed anyway, so that takes some of the wind out of it's sails.

New Rose Hotel- A dark story about the underworld, zaibatus, and love. Pretty depressing, actually, but enjoyable. Oh, if you are in a Gibson story, don't cross the big corporations. It's bad.

The Winter Market- If this story had a lesson, I didn't get it. I did enjoy it, but not as much as the others. It's about a girl who turns her pain into mental art, that turn into a hit with the jacker crowd. More corruption, bad people, and sadness. I did feel for Lise, but the main character made me mad.

Dogfight- Another surprising story. A drifting con artist tries to gain make money playing a simulator in a small town. Aside from muttering "oooos" of how cool this game would be, I was really drawn to the human side of the story. Very interesting interaction between the main character, his girlfriend, and the locals. Sort of a reverse of the usual underdog story.

Burning Chrome- good cyberpunk action, with a love triangle thrown in for good measure. After reading this story, I was impressed with how easily Gibson can take a flawed, dark character, and make them into a hero and a villan at the same time.

I guess what impressed me the most about Gibson was how much of my opinion of him was wrong. I never expected to find pure sci-fi in this book, but there it was. I expected to find the same Neo..., errr, hero in each story, fighting the Japanese corps and drug fiends in a dark future. The dark part is right, but there is so much more here to discover.

On the downside, I can see how his writing style could turn people off. Even though I found his stories imaginative, I think it takes a rather active imagination to get the most out of these stories, and that's not something a lot of people seem to have patience for. Also, some of his discripitve writing can lose the reader; I found myself rereading a line or two a few times, but for me it helped things fall into place. For some, it might be frusterating.
The technical terms and slag can be a little confusing, but again, I think anyone with a little imagination and more than a passing interest in sci-fi/cyberpunk will have no problem getting past this.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars!

[sachmo71]

I've fleshed out my Gibson review some more...that'll learn me to write something while watching the kids...alone! :)

[Qwikshot]

I heartily recommend for those interested in a cyberpunk universe try reading Richard K. Morgan's "Altered Carbon" and the sequel "Broken Angels". Very good, fun reads.

[Lokugh]

Harold Coyle (probably best known as the author of Team Yankee) retold the Xenophon story in a modern setting in one of his novels, strangely enough also entitled "The Ten Thousand". If you like military fiction, his whole series (beginning with Swordpoint) is worth a read. In the process of the series you get to see war with the Iran/Soviets, war with Libya/Soviets, war with Mexico, war with a united Germany and war with Columbian rebels (mechanized infantry fighting the drug war...probably works better than what we are doing now).

[sachmo71]

I've read The Ten Thousand by Coyle. I didn't make the connection until now.

I can't count the number of times I read Team Yankee. Greatness.

[3ric]

Gibson's one of my favorite authors of all time. It's fascinating to read his works in chronological order (since they all share the same evolving background story, it's also the only possible order) and notice how he's evolving as an author to become more than "just" a sci-fi writer...

[Lokugh]

Just noticed on the SFBC site: Going Postal, the newest Discworld novel, is due to be released in hardcover on 9/28. Just FYI...

[sachmo71]

3ric, I'm very much enjoying Neuromancer, and am looking forward to Count Zero. So the backstory is ongoing? I was wondering about that, and when I saw the Differential Engine (might not be the title) I couldn't see how that fit into the Neuromancer world.

Lokugh, good to hear. I'm itching to go back to discworld. :)

[3ric]

"The Difference Engine" is a stand-alone work, and a joint effort with Bruce Sterling, I think. Nice story, but not up to par with his other books.

The back story - the three books "Neuromancer", "Count Zero" and "Mona Lisa Overdrive" is also called the "Cyberpunk trilogy" as they loosely tie together in a very neat way. However, with "Virtual Light", "Idoru" and "All tomorrow's parties" I believe Gibson moved on to a different story line, but still in the same world, possibly another timeline. It's hard to say for sure.

[sachmo71]

"The Difference Engine" is a stand-alone work, and a joint effort with Bruce Sterling, I think. Nice story, but not up to par with his other books.

The back story - the three books "Neuromancer", "Count Zero" and "Mona Lisa Overdrive" is also called the "Cyberpunk trilogy" as they loosely tie together in a very neat way. However, with "Virtual Light", "Idoru" and "All tomorrow's parties" I believe Gibson moved on to a different story line, but still in the same world, possibly another timeline. It's hard to say for sure.

Good to know, thanks 3ric. I was actually looking at Difference Engine next, as it sounded really cool, but I'll probably wait then.

[sachmo71]

I just finished Neuromancer (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441569587/qid=1094567045/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl14/104-0128982-7819137?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by William Gibson.
*****************************************************************************


This is Gibson's first novel, about a runner named Case who is hired by parties unknown to crack an ICE. The problem is that Case was maimed by someone he double-crossed and unable to interface with the matrix. However, the party that hires him is willing to pay to have him repaired. Of course, Case accepts the job, but finds that it is much bigger then he originally anticipated. Traveling all over the world (and even above it) Case fights a dirty war to stay alive and complete the job.


The Good: As noted in my review of Burning Chrome, while sci-fi is now innundated with the Matrix and artifical intelligence, it wasn't when this book was written. When I made a conscious effort to chase what I knew about dark sci-fi from my mind and get into the story, it was great. This book was a major influence for everything that came after it.

Also, Gibson again leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for the reader to follow through the story, but leaves a lot to the imagination, rather than putting a fence along the path. Particularly in the Villa Straylight, where he describes a scene, he left it in a state where my mind could build it's own picture, rather than the picture that he may have intended. I find that writing like this is a rare find, and I very much enjoy it.

A few of the characters have appeared before in other stories, such as Molly from Johnny Memnonic. She even makes reference to him in the story. This allowed me to build on the world that I had imagined in that story, and keep my mental picture of her more or less intact, although she'd been through a lot between the stories.

Overall, Gibson's portrait of the Matrix was the same that I had built from a number of sources, but this read like the foundation of everything. Shadowrun oozed from the pages. The Matrix seemed like the next logical step. When Case was riding the Chinese virus through the depths of the T-A computer system, I conjured up images of every damn 'net game I've ever played, especially Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis. Sweet!

What I wasn't expecting, but I liked, was the depth of consiparacy in the story. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it was a sci-fi story, mixed with a detective story, and a study in human behavior wrapped around if for good measure. It's a bit complicated, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but let's just say that I wasn't able to guess what would happen next. :)

The Bad: Gibson drops you right into the world and says, "Good luck." I can easily see how that would confuse the hell out of a reader. Since I've been exposed to this sort of story before, it wasn't too hard to wrap my mind around the terminology, but I don't think it would be a given that someone reading this book would have that sort of exposure.

Also, Gibson's loose descriptions might make a reader uncomfortable also. There are definate advantages to having the scene painted out in detail for you. It can make a story feel more comfortable. This book doesn't do that, and I found that I would have to go back at time and try to figure out what just happened in a particular instance.

While I very much liked the characters, every single on of them was flawed in some way. I'm glad I could still identify and root for the main characters, but it can be a little depressing sometimes.

Conclusion: Just an excellent book overall, if a bit loose. I'd have to say that I can understand some of the criticism that this book has been subjected to, but I can also justify the heaps of praise. I would recommend this book to anyone.

8 out of 10 stars!

[samifan24]

I had to read Neuromancer for my Philosophy & Human Nature class my sophomore year. The professor specializes and is most interested in the philosophy of modern technology and its impact on humanity, and therefore it comes as no surprise that the original Matrix is among his favorite movies. All that aside, I enjoyed the book and especially the insuing class discussions on the book. As you mentioned, it is very easy to see The Matrix and other more modern dark sci-fi deriving from Neuromancer and for good reason: it's a great story.

[3ric]

Glad you liked Neuromancer, but Gibson really did take his baby steps with that book, groundbreaking as it was. As a storyteller, he started to come into his own with the next two books as they becomes progressively better... (!)

[sachmo71]

I have Count Zero in my bookshelf...waiting. I'm looking forward to reading it.

[mattwakeman]

Glad you liked Neuromancer, but Gibson really did take his baby steps with that book, groundbreaking as it was. As a storyteller, he started to come into his own with the next two books as they becomes progressively better... (!)

Second this. They make a great (but maybe a little strange) trilogy. I seem to recall Gibson taking great pride in writing them all on an old-fashioned proper typewriter and not using a word processor at all.

Keep up with the Pratchett books as they are all good (although I think he is at last beginning to fade with the last couple) but 'Small Gods' is one of the funniest takes on religion that I have ever read.

And if I could offer one suggestion of an author to read then it is Iain M. Banks. The 'M' is important as it is the difference between his SF books (which are simply stunning) and his more contemporary fiction (which I like a lot less). His first SF book 'Consider Phlebas' is ok but the two books that follow that 'Player of Games' and 'Use of Weapons' are two of the greatest books that I have ever read.

Apologies for the threadjack though mate, its just nice to see such a cultural (ahem for the sad M. Banks in-joke) dynasty! :)

[sachmo71]

Just finished Good Omens (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441003257/qid=1096339950/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4718941-9203866?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

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Good Omens is a comedy about, among other things, Judgement Day and the events leading up to it. In typical Pratchett style, things get pretty silly as the Four Bikers of the Apocolypse ride forth while being opposed by and angel, a demon, a prophetess and a prostitute, among others. I don't want to spoil the end for you, but I will say that Gaiman has his fingerprints all over this book.

The Good: Well, the book is pretty damn funny. I will warn you ahead of time that if you aren't a fan of either author, then this isn't the book for you. That may seem obvious to you, but you never really know.
Pratchett is himself, which is a big plus. The way the man can crack me up with a simple comment from a character such as "..." or "Urg", or from a description of a bank of computers can have me rolling is amazing. I really look forward to reading his books, as he never fails to amuse me.
As for Gaiman, I only have experience with him from Neverwhere, which I enjoyed, but I could see his flavor coming through the characters. It was a little strange, seeing his introspections mixed with Pratchett's crazy humor, but most of the time I enjoyed the mix. I can say that this book wouldn't have probably been as good if either were not part of it.

The Bad: Maybe it was just me, but I was expecting a little more laugh out loud moments. This may not be fair, as the book was published over 14 years ago, and as mentioned before I love Pratchett, so it's possible that I am overcritical, but that's the beauty of book reviews. This takes it down a few notches.
Also, some of the purely English jokes lost me, which isn't really a knock, it's just a note.

Conclusion: I enjoyed this book, but as I noted above I was probably expecting more then is fair. The book probably wouldn't have been as fun if not for the collaboration, though. Each author has his influence on the book, and it can clearly be seen. If you are a fan of silly things, and/or either of these authors, I would recommend this book.

6.5 out of 10 stars!

[sachmo71]

Trip to Half-Price today netted me:

How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and How to Listen So Your Kids Will Talk, by Adele Faber

Earth Abides by George Stewart.

[Calis]

Very interested to hear what you think about Earth Abides...that's a book I've been meaning to get for quite a while now. I'm a sucker for Post Apocalyptic stuff, but oddly enough I really haven't read any books on it.

Day of the Triffids is one Post-Ap book I'd really liked to read, anyone familiar with it?

I'd be curious if you read the new Feist series as well. I loved Feist's old stuff, but I really didn't get into his latest series near as much. I think I was mostly a sucker for it though because Betrayal at Krondor ranks up there as probably my favorite RPG evah. ;)

[sachmo71]

I've bought Talon of the Silver Hawk, but have yet to read it. The queue grows longer every day! :D

[sachmo71]

Finished The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345409469/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/002-0295361-5793665?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) a few weeks ago. My review from Amazon:
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I never really wanted to be a skeptic. There are times in my life where I wish I could have faith in something I can't explain. I love the idea of ghosts walking beside me. I am facinated by dreams of an advanced race of beings coming to earth and sharing their cosmic wisdom with us, helping to put an end to our bloody wars. So when I saw this book, I thought that it might help me decide once and for all where I stood. Am I a dreamer or a doubter? Take your best shot, Sagan.

Well, it wasn't what I expected. Sagan didn't come at me with each controversial theory and rip it apart with his scientific mind. He did do this on a limited basis, but that wasn't really the focus of the book. This isn't Penn and Teller. It really boils down Sagan trying to educate people on the power of thinking.

Did I agree with everything Sagan has to say on this subject? Of course not. Did Sagan help me decide which side of the fence I would live on? Nope. But this book did teach me about how to search for answers to things that I may accept without thinking, which seems the logical thing to do when people WANT to believe in something strongly enough. I also learned that searching for answers doesn't make you a cynic, just someone who likes to look before they leap.

If you decide to pick this book up, which I would recommend you do if the subject matter intests you, understanding what this book is and is not might help you in the long run. It's not a book debunking myths. It's more an illustration of Sagan's belief that those who think will achieve.

[Peregrine]

Neat idea for a "dynasty" sachmo. I should do something similar, I've been reading a lot lately. Most of my reading is SF/fantasy and military history.

[sachmo71]

Neat idea for a "dynasty" sachmo. I should do something similar, I've been reading a lot lately. Most of my reading is SF/fantasy and military history.

Feel free to chime in here if you wish! I started the dynasty, but I wouldn't mind it at all if it became a universal book review thread. That way, I won't have to search out the 20-odd topics where book recommendations are made!

[Peregrine]

Feel free to chime in here if you wish!

I may have made this recommendation somewhere else already, but I can always add it here since this is a damn fine book IMO.

I will highly recommend The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. I read it two weeks ago, but I still find myself thinking about it often and the kinds of questions it raises about how we live our lives and what should be considered a "normal" life.

I initially heard about it after it won the 2003 Nebula Award, but it is barely science fiction at all in my opinion, the only sci-fi touches, if you can call them that, is that it's set in the near/mid future and there are a couple references to how society is different then, but really this is just a book about a person, Lou Arrendale, and how he lives his life as a high-functioning autistic. The author's son is autistic, so I'm sure that prodded her to explore this topic, but she really does an amazing job of presenting how Lou sees the world, and it is very different from "normal" people. Yet he has to face the same kinds of decisions everyone does, about his hobbies, friends, relationships, and most especially when he is presented with the possible opportunity to be cured of his "illness" and become normal. How he struggles with that was extremely moving to me, and extremely well written.

My only complaint was that the ending is a bit abrupt, but I understand why the author set the book up this way, so I won't ding her much for that.

[sachmo71]

I may have made this recommendation somewhere else already, but I can always add it here since this is a damn fine book IMO.

I will highly recommend The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. I read it two weeks ago, but I still find myself thinking about it often and the kinds of questions it raises about how we live our lives and what should be considered a "normal" life.

I initially heard about it after it won the 2003 Nebula Award, but it is barely science fiction at all in my opinion, the only sci-fi touches, if you can call them that, is that it's set in the near/mid future and there are a couple references to how society is different then, but really this is just a book about a person, Lou Arrendale, and how he lives his life as a high-functioning autistic. The author's son is autistic, so I'm sure that prodded her to explore this topic, but she really does an amazing job of presenting how Lou sees the world, and it is very different from "normal" people. Yet he has to face the same kinds of decisions everyone does, about his hobbies, friends, relationships, and most especially when he is presented with the possible opportunity to be cured of his "illness" and become normal. How he struggles with that was extremely moving to me, and extremely well written.

My only complaint was that the ending is a bit abrupt, but I understand why the author set the book up this way, so I won't ding her much for that.

That sounds like something I would be very interested in. My brother is autistic, and anything that can help me understand him better would be high on my list! Thanks very much!

[sachmo71]

Just finished Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006103004X/qid=1099886447/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/002-0295361-5793665).


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Blind Man's Bluff seems to have two themes. In one, it is a superficial history of American cold war submarine espionage. The other is a more detailed look at some of the stories, missions, and personalities that made this history.

When my friend recommended this book to me, his comments left me with the impression that it was going to delve more into the history side of these operations, but the reality is that the history is presented more as a wrapper for the stories within. The individual stories make up the bulk of the book, but I feel like I came away with a better understanding of the overall progress of the struggle thanks to the author's added notes.

I've been an enthusiast of all things military for most of my life, but I have to admit I didn't know much of anything about the world of submarine esponage. Of course I'd read Clancy, and other sources about attack boats stalking one another and "boomers" sneaking away to a dark, deep spot in the sea for months at a time, but I no idea of all of the different missions the sub force had undertaken. From recovering fragments of missile parts, to physically tapping undersea cables, I was pretty impressed. The author did a fine job of presenting the sailors as flesh and blood people, and not bit parts in the bigger historical picture. Since the book is mainly about the stories themselves, this may seem obvious, but in the past I have not always found this to be the case. Sontag and Drew did a good job of being true to the spirit of the book and letting the story tell itself. I could really feel like what was written down on the page was passed onto them directly from the people who were actually there.

Like others, I was surprised that much of this information was avaliable to the authors at all. Some of these missions seem like the type of thing the get recorded and locked away forever in some vault. I applaude the authors for the groundwork they must have done to gather all of this information and succeed in presenting it in a well thought out format.

I found myself wishing there were a few more stories from the later year, maybe the 80's and 90's, but I'm sure that is probably still locked away somewhere. I would be interested in reading about how the sub espionage business is conducted in today's post 9-11 world, but I guess if someone where to tell me about it, they'd have to kill me. Or maybe I should go hang out at the Horse and Cow. :)

[Peregrine]

I listened to Blind Man's Bluff as an audio book a while back Sachmo, it was pretty interesting. It did seem a little fragmented and it would have been nice to have a bit more completeness, but I could understand that access to de-classified records was pretty limited. Still pretty good though.

[Bad-example]

I heartily recommend for those interested in a cyberpunk universe try reading Richard K. Morgan's "Altered Carbon" and the sequel "Broken Angels". Very good, fun reads.

I recently read Altered Carbon and really liked it. I have the sequel on request from the library.

I highly recommend checking out some of Rudy Rucker's fiction. I finished Frek and the Elixir a couple weeks ago and loved it. The Hacker and the Ants, Software and its sequels and especially The Master of Space and Time are all excellent reads. The Master of Space and Time is set to become a movie from Dreamworks starring Jack Black.

[sachmo71]

Thanks, bad-example!

So it Master of Space and time going to be a comedy?

[Bad-example]

Yes indeed...it is a sci-fi comedy in the same mold as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe. Unfortunately, it has been out of print for a while now, but you might find it at a used book store or the library. That was the first Rudy Rucker book I read and I still curse the name of the bastage I loaned it to and never returned it.

[sachmo71]

Just finished The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart and the Daily show writers. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446532681/qid=1100532195/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/102-1475645-0980128)


************************************************************************

Since I don't want to spoil the laugh out loud factor of this book, I'm not going to share my favorite jokes from the book in this review. I REALLY wanted to, but I won't.

I believe it would be best to say that said laugh out loud factor is very, very high. We're talking coke out of your nostrils moments. If you like sarcastic humor, this book has it. Immature humor fan? Check. How about silly? Yup. This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. My wife made me stop reading it before bed because my laughter would keep her up.

Since humor is so subjective, I can't guarantee that you'll like this book, and it is crude in parts. If you are easily offended, I would avoid it, but otherwise, give it a chance. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did.

[Swaggs]

I just finished "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. If you read/enjoyed "The Stand" by Stephen King, this is the same type of disaster-survival epic. I really liked it.

[MikeVic]

I read Jennifer Government by Max Barry (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400030927/qid=1100708827/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-3178092-7743364?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) a few months ago, and I thought I'd recommend it here.
****************************************************************************************

If anyone has played NationStates, this was the book that the game was promoting. I've never written a book review, so I don't quite know what to put here, except that I really enjoyed the book. At the end of each chapter, I wanted to continue reading onto the next.

I am a slow reader, and finished the book in a couple of days of fairly heavy reading (for me at least).

So if you want to read about a possible future scenario of the world when capitalism rears its ugly head, I highly recommend this book.

[sachmo71]

I read Jennifer Government by Max Barry (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400030927/qid=1100708827/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-3178092-7743364?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) a few months ago, and I thought I'd recommend it here.
****************************************************************************************

If anyone has played NationStates, this was the book that the game was promoting. I've never written a book review, so I don't quite know what to put here, except that I really enjoyed the book. At the end of each chapter, I wanted to continue reading onto the next.

I am a slow reader, and finished the book in a couple of days of fairly heavy reading (for me at least).

So if you want to read about a possible future scenario of the world when capitalism rears its ugly head, I highly recommend this book.

Great job! :D

[KWhit]

You guys who enjoy apocolyptic fiction should read:

Lucifer's Hammer (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0449208133/qid=1100729352/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-4305329-8423853)

or

The Last Ship (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345359828/qid=1100729460/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-4305329-8423853)

Both are fun reads. I think The Last Ship may be the better of the two - it makes you think a bit more, IMO.

[sachmo71]

Just finished Insurrection (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671720244/qid=1101274945/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/103-6071129-0911012) by David Weber and Steve White.

Well, this was my first space opera, and I have to admit I enjoyed it. The book doesn't take long to get rolling, and there is plenty of action for the fan of space combat.

First, a quick word about the universe. This book is set in the universe of the tactical space wargame Starfire. I've never played the game, in fact, I'd not heard of it until I saw it mentioned on the cover of this book and did a little research. There seems to be an entire history behind this game, and I'm thinking that a fan of the game might have been able to get a little more out of this book than I did. The authors don't really go into this backstory very deeply, and the reader might have a hard time following along. A quick search for Starfire on the internet took me to a few sites where I was able to get a little information, but I still felt like this book was written for someone who knew a little more about the universe. Maybe this won't bother some people. It's just something I noticed.

The writing started out a bit weak. It seemed like the author was trying too hard to be writer, if that makes sense. Once the action began to roll, the writing seemed to come together, or else I was caught up in the story enough not to notice the feeling that I'd had earlier.

I've seen reviews of this book where they come down on the authors for tying the storyline too closely to the American Revolutionary War. The similarities are obvious, but I didn't really have a problem with it. In a universe where the enemies of humanity are stereotypical enemies ripped right from the pages of other sci-fi works, borrowing a historical event and moving it into the future seemed like it would make for a fun story, which it did.

To sum up, if you are looking for a fun space opera with action galore, this book is for you. If you are looking for great prose, deep plot, or interesting characters, you might want to keep going, but I think if you have even a slight interest in space operas, you'll find this book hard to put down.

[sachmo71]

Just finished The Corps Book 3: Counterattack by W.E.B. Griffin (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0515104175/qid=1101702897/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-6071129-0911012?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)



I read the first eight books of this series about ten years ago (more or less), but recently I picked up the final two books. So, instead of trying to remember who everyone was in the series, I decided to start over.

W.E.B Griffin tells a wonderful story. He can take his fictional characters and seemlessly insert them into real historical events, and have them carry on involved relationships with real historical figures. Where his skill shines through is that he is able to present the historical figures in his books as they would have behaved in real life, with all of their strenght and weaknesses.

The same cannot be said for his fictional characters. While I admire Griffin's skill with description, his main characters tend to be supermen. Obviously, this makes for a good story, but it can be a little annoying after a while with them narrowly escaping death time after time so that they can get back to the loving arms of their beautiful, lusty women.

Overall, I've really enjoyed rereading this series so far. If you can suspend disbelief for a while, and root for the main characters instead of wondering how they can be THAT LUCKY, you are in for a good time. If you want real human drama, where the main characters are as vulnerable as everyone around them, keep looking.

[sachmo71]

Just finished Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0449213013/qid=1102530519/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-7945416-6704151?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

A horrible disease sweeps the planet in days, killing just about everyone. Isherwood Williams is for some reason spared from this plague, and finds himself a survivor in a barren society. The book follows the course of his life, and that of other survivors, as they live out their days in a new world.

My opinions ran wild with this book. For reason I will explain further along in the review, I started out very much enjoying the book, then my interest waned, and finally something clicked into place in my pea-sized brain, allowing me to finish the book on a strong note.

I found it very easy to step into the mind of Ish. He reacted in a way to his situation that I felt was very natural, while learning how to cope with life alone. I don't want to give much of the plot away, but roughly the first third of the book deals with Ish's life alone. Ish starts out as something of a loner and a worrier, and seems to adjust to the world...for a while. Soon, he becomes desperate for a purpose, and with that notion, sets out to find out "what happened".

Later, Ish struggles with his own weaknesses while trying to decide how to save the future. Through it all, Stewart keeps the characters consistant. I found it refreshing that he didn't try to thrust someone into the heroic role. For whatever reason, this earned him a good amount of credibility with me.

A note on the writing style; I believe this book was written in 1949, so the flow of the book seemed a little odd to me. Some of the conversations just didn't flow well, and I chalked that up to the age of the book. On the other hand, Stewart's timeline fit right in with the world we live in today, and did not really date the book. Except maybe for spraying DDT around like it was air freshener.

Around the middle of the book, I started to lose interest. I guess for me the story sort of bogged down with Ish trying, and consistantly failing, to get his people to try to focus on the finer things in life. As I said earlier, when things finally "clicked" for me, I found myself appreciating this part of the book more, as it fit in very well with who Ish was and what his purpose was.

The ending was just magnificant. I very much felt what Ish was feeling, and clearly saw that he had finally accepted that things were going to work out for his decendants, even if things didn't turn out exactly as he had planned. I can't stress enough how good of a job Stewart did with the ending.

This is not an action novel, and at points did become a bit too philosophical for it's own good. For me, it all came together at the end, but it might turn some people off. Also, as mentioned above, the writing style can seem a little strange, but overall this book shot far up my favorites list. This book easily get's five stars from me.

[KWhit]

I've been wanting to read Earth Abides for a while now. Glad to see that you liked it. I'll have to pick it up from Amazon.

[sachmo71]

I've been wanting to read Earth Abides for a while now. Glad to see that you liked it. I'll have to pick it up from Amazon.


I hope you enjoy it, and I'm interested to see how you like the middle of the book. I was bogging down there for a while. Glad I stuck it out, though.

[Swaggs]

I enjoyed Earth Abides, as well. I found it on Amazon when searching for apocolyptic fiction and flew through it. I though Ish's role of being a geographer and acting more analytical/observational, rather than horrified, about the situation was interesting.

A little dated, but a must-read if you enjoy this type of story.

[sachmo71]

I enjoyed Earth Abides, as well. I found it on Amazon when searching for apocolyptic fiction and flew through it. I though Ish's role of being a geographer and acting more analytical/observational, rather than horrified, about the situation was interesting.

A little dated, but a must-read if you enjoy this type of story.


I agree. At first I was thinking "Come on! This guy isn't very upset!" but as I got to know him in the story, the more I saw that it wasn't in his nature to dwell on the loss of his loved ones. He missed them, for sure, but didn't cry for them.

[sachmo71]

Just finished Talon of the Silver Hawk (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380803240/qid=1104558192/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-3147635-6685543?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Raymond E. Feist.
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This is the beginning of another trilogy based in the world of Midkemia, but with a new set of characters. The book follows the adventures of the young man Talon of the Silver Hawk, who is the last survivor of a race of people slaughtered by a power seeking nobleman. He is saved by a group of people opposed to this nobleman, and they train him to become a weapon for the cause of good.


The Good: The book never really slows down, and Feist keep the reader interested in the core story. He creates some interesting characters, and I like what he was attempting to do with this tale. Unfortunately...

The Bad: This remined me more of a movie script than anything resembling his older work. From the start of every chapter, this book reads like Feist is picturing a camera on his heroes...or maybe a computer game? Anyway, this really wore on me after a while. I've never felt so beaten over the head with the feeling of a book being written for a purpose other then just telling a story. The whole thing smacked of commercialism.
The characters, while interesting, came across as wooden to me. In past Feist books, I was drawn deeply into the characters, and they were the strength of the story. In this book, I got the feeling that the plot was the main focus, and while the story is about the life of Talon, I never really saw his deeper self, and couldn't really like his character.
The plot itself was imaginative for the genre, but the story itself was predictable. While it was obvious Feist telegraphed his motivations (maybe to make the cutscenes work better or limit the character choices on a dialog screen?), I wasn't very surprised at how the book flowed. Think James Bond in Midkemia, and you can probably guess how the story will end.


I wasn't terribly impressed with this book. I know he can do better, because I've read better. There was a time when I thought Feist was one of the best in the genre. This book wasn't the type of work I expected from him. I may read the second and third book, but only if I see them on a bargin rack.

Overall, 3 put of 10 stars.

[sachmo71]

The Mapmakers (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375708502/ref=lpr_g_1/002-4229776-7848037?v=glance&s=books) by John Noble Wilford

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I love giving people books as gifts. Last year, I gave this book to my father for Christmas. He seemed to really enjoy it, and this year he gave it back to me to read. Lucky me!

As you can tell from the title, this book is a general history of mapmaking. The subject matter didn't exactly jump off of the page and slap me in the face when I sat down to read it, but Wilford has a very even writing style that kept me very interested in the subject matter.

As I read, I discovered that although I am very much a lover of history, I really had no idea how mapmaking progressed through history. I always took for granted the maps that were presented to me, never really understanding what was involved in the creation of them.

It's a facinating story, and learning it has deepened my understanding of history. Wilford's account of the story kept me engrossed, and all the while he was feeding me names of people and places that I really should have known more about prior to reading this book. For example, I had no idea who John Harrison was before opening this book, but now realize just how important his invention of an accurate marine clock was to the history of the world. There are gems of knowledge throughout this book, and thankfully they are presented in an entertaining way.

The only time I can say that I became a bit lost was when Wilford was discussing some of the mathematical points of mapmaking, but luckly for me he kept this discussion to a minimum. Wilford did an excellent job of presenting the history of something he seems to care very much about to the layperson. I believe that anyone who has even a passing interest in history to give this book a try. It may open your eyes to a world that you knew existed, but had no idea how it was made.

[finkenst]

Just finished Talon of the Silver Hawk (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380803240/qid=1104558192/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-3147635-6685543?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Raymond E. Feist.
************************************************************************

This book wasn't the type of work I expected from him. I may read the second and third book, but only if I see them on a bargin rack.

Overall, 3 put of 10 stars.
alright so i'm commenting 6 weeks off.

I agree TotSH was a bit lacking after his superb other work. The second book, i thought was much better.

[sachmo71]

Song of Ice and Fire (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553573403/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/104-9349950-0019920?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) by George RR Martin


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Actually, I just finished rereading this book, but I have to sing it's praises again for those that have not had the pleasure.

In my opinion, this is one of the best fantasy books ever written.

The plot is fresh, the characters are interesting, and the writing is superb.

Just read the book, ok?

[3ric]

Agreed wholeheartedly. But did you re-read only "Game of Thrones", or all the three published books in the "Ice and Fire" series?

[sachmo71]

Agreed wholeheartedly. But did you re-read only "Game of Thrones", or all the three published books in the "Ice and Fire" series?


I'm now exactly 40 pages into "A Storm of Swords". And I'm enjoying every minute of it. :D

[bossfan2000]

Sachmo, if you like things a little lighter, but in the same vein, you might also look up the Spellsinger novels by Alan Dean Foster, if you've not already read them. About a failing musician who gets transported to a somewhat Narniaesque (well, in the sense of talking animals and humans mixed in) world. He finds that he can work magic by singing. Starts with "Spellsinger" and continues with "The Hour of the Gate".


The Spellsinger books are currently being rereleased...the first 3 have been published again in paperback by iPress. I picked up all 3..not sure yet when/if the rest of them are coming out...

[bossfan2000]

I'm now exactly 40 pages into "A Storm of Swords". And I'm enjoying every minute of it. :D


Have you read all 3 books, or are you reading the 3rd book for the 1st time?

I have all 3 in hardback from SFBC, but havent read them yet. I usually wait until all the books in a series are out, cuz I dont like cliffhangers. Since this series is awhile yet in the making...i might try reading it before its finished. However, I do want want to start reading it if book 3 ends in the middle of something important..

any input from those who have read it?

btw...I am currently reading The Grand Crusade, the 3rd (4th, if you count the prequel) in the DragonCrown War Cycle...I would definitely recommend this series, too.

[3ric]

I'd say that book 3 has a BIG surprise at the end, but I don't think it qualifies as a cliffhanger. That revelation does have huge implications on the power play in Westeros, though.

[sachmo71]

I'd say that book 3 has a BIG surprise at the end, but I don't think it qualifies as a cliffhanger. That revelation does have huge implications on the power play in Westeros, though.


Well said! Although the end has left me hungry for a new book...for 4 years!

[digamma]

I've just finished a couple of books some on the board might find interesting...


The Perfect Mile (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0618562095/qid=1116274552/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-4866240-9172627?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Neil Bascomb.

The Perfect Mile follows the quest to break the four minute mile by Roger Bannister, John Landy (an Australian) and Wes Santee (an American). The story picks up from the 1952 Helsinki Olympics where all three runners have disappointing performances and traces their races and performances over the next several years. Most know that Bannister broke the four minute mile in 1954, but the back story here is intriguing. It was a real page turner for me, despite Bascomb's tendency to venture into side stories and tangents. I recommend it.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609607081/qid=1116275009/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-4866240-9172627)by Warren St. John.

Warren St. John chronicles joining the Alabama RV corps for the 1999 football season. College football is my favorite sport, so I may be a bit biased, but I thought this was a great little read. St. John begins by hitching a ride with strangers to the first Alabama game of the season, and by mid-season he's bought his own RV and is traveling to games on his own. The characters among the Alabama RV corps are fascinating. I also enjoyed St. John's writing style and his attempts to offer answers to questions about what makes us fans--or fanatical.

[MacroGuru]

Just finished Black Wind by Clive Cussler

I don't know if I can totally recommend this book, this was my first ever book by Cussler. The attempt at humour in the conversation throughout the book made me think I was watching another Die Hard or James Bond movie.

The story line was decent, and based upon some of the current world political climates, you could see something of the sort happening. I don't know how much of it was based upon truth and how much is made up.

If you want a mind numbing read, this is it. If you want something to entrap you, and pull you in, honestly, find something else.

[sachmo71]

Just finished Black Wind by Clive Cussler

I don't know if I can totally recommend this book, this was my first ever book by Cussler. The attempt at humour in the conversation throughout the book made me think I was watching another Die Hard or James Bond movie.

The story line was decent, and based upon some of the current world political climates, you could see something of the sort happening. I don't know how much of it was based upon truth and how much is made up.

If you want a mind numbing read, this is it. If you want something to entrap you, and pull you in, honestly, find something else.


....like A Clash of Kings (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553579908/qid=1116354456/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-3910106-8828936) by George RR Martin! This is the second book in the Song of Ice and Fire trilogy, and it is phenominal. This is a reread, in preparation for the forthcoming (!) 4th book, but I have to say I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.

Nothing to complain about here. As I said for the first book, this is one of the best series of books I have ever read. If you enjoy fantasy, read this series.

[sachmo71]

Crusade (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671721119/qid=1122339976/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by David Weber and Steve White


With the coming of the second season of BSG, I was overwhelmed by the urge to read a book about space battles. If you want space battles, Weber is a great place to start. Crusade takes place centuries before the events in Insurrection, the "first" book in the Starfire series. The basic premise is that the Terran Federation and the Orions have made peace after three bloody wars. Just as they are settling down to enjoy the peace benefit, a terran fleet comes out of a deadly warp point. The terran fleet isn't all that it seems to be. So what happens next?
You guessed it, another war breaks out.

As I said before, if you are looking for space battles, this is your book. Nothing fancy here. Even for Weber, the characters are thin and stereotypical. But who cares? The battles are wonderful, the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. Hi-tech gadgets abound, and new theories on old problems pop into our heroes heads like thunderbolts from the gods.

Enjoy this book as desert after something more substantial!

3 out of 5 stars, with two of those stars being for fun! WhooT!

[Swaggs]

Has anyone read The Historian (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316011770/qid=1122342161/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_sbs_1/104-6591163-7067154?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)?

I started it a few days ago and, though I'm enjoying it, have had trouble reading more than 25-30 pages per sitting. Was wondering if anyone else found this book worthwhile?

[Eaglesfan27]

Song of Ice and Fire (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553573403/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/104-9349950-0019920?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) by George RR Martin


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Actually, I just finished rereading this book, but I have to sing it's praises again for those that have not had the pleasure.

In my opinion, this is one of the best fantasy books ever written.

The plot is fresh, the characters are interesting, and the writing is superb.

Just read the book, ok?

I just finished all of the books on my early summer list. As a result, I just went to the book store and spent about 150 dollars buying some more books to read. Thanks to you, I bought the first three books in this series :)

[sachmo71]

I actually finished this a couple of weeks ago, but have been trying to decide how I felt about this book. So, here goes:

A Hymn Before Battle (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671318411/qid=1125117649/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by John Ringo



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


After recently getting back into sci-fi, I was perusing Amazon and found a description of A Hymn Before Battle. It sounded a lot like something I might be interested in, but I sort of put it off. Then a coworker told me about it, and said that it was really good. This is the same coworker who told me that Chris Bunch was a good author, so I took it with a grain of salt. :P

Anyway, I wasn't going in with high expectations, and for that I'm happy, because this is basically a comic book without the pretty pictures. Ringo takes sensational to a whole new level, but if you can put that aside, it's a fun read

The premise of A Hymn Before Battle, as well as the next five or six books in the series, is that in the year 2000, a Federation of alien races contact Earth and tell them that we are not alone, and that not all of our neighbors are peaceful. Basically, the evil Posleen have been fighting the federation and swallowing up worlds by the mouthful for hundreds of years. The big problem for the Earthlings is that good ol' mother Earth is on the menu.

So Earth gears up to fight the Posleen, and gears up in a big way. Think WWII, but we're all on the same side. Also, in typical human fashion, we aren't going to wait for them to come to us, so we load up and ride out to the sound of guns.

I believe this is Ringo's first book. It reads like a first book. Ringo seems to know his stuff as far as the military goes, at least as far as I can tell. Nothing bugs me more than an author who writes military fiction but consistantly mis-identifies hardware (Ian Slater), but I had no problems with Ringo. I believe he was in the Army, but I'd have to look that up.

The characters are bigger than life, but that fits in with Ringo's writing style. Think of a cartoon of WEB Griffin, and you are halfway there. This isn't much of a problem though, because the story itself is sensational. Ringo borrows from other sources, in fact I thought I saw Goose from Top Gun in one of the chapters, but he dies quickly. Well, pretty much everyone dies quickly, but I digress.

There is action o' plenty in A Hymn Before Battle. There is also a Hymn, which brings me to my next points...Ringo is one of those authors who likes to tell you his political views through his story. I guess lots of authors do that, but Ringo seems particulary adept at beating you over the head with it. It get's a bit tiresome, but it wasn't too bad.

I didn't really like the ending of the story, and I can't really go into why without a spoiler, so let's just say that it was very bloody and heroic, horribly unbelievable (yes, I realize it's sci fi) and good fun. That's the best part...the book is fun.

So, if you like sci-fi, and dead aliens, and politics, hop on down and pick this book up. Leave your literary criticism at the door and hang on, because it's a fast and fun read.

[WSUCougar]

I'd say that book 3 has a BIG surprise at the end, but I don't think it qualifies as a cliffhanger. That revelation does have huge implications on the power play in Westeros, though.
I'm currently reading Storm of Swords, and gobbling it up in giant, burning-the-midnight-oil chunks. I really love this series...it's everything that Robert Jordan's W.O.T. monstrosity isn't. Don't take that the wrong way about W.O.T. - I loved that, too - but when it takes Jordan 1000 pages to cover three days of story, you know he's got commitment issues.

Anyway, I just came to the part when...

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

...the wedding slaughter at The Twins occurred. Damn it, I was pissed. I was so pissed I had to put the book down and walk it off. The dude has no qualms about offing major characters, that's for sure. :mad:

[Peregrine]

I've been listening to Freakonomics on audio-book. Very fascinating read/listen for almost anyone, about how economics can be applied to everyday issues.

[sachmo71]

I'm currently reading Storm of Swords, and gobbling it up in giant, burning-the-midnight-oil chunks. I really love this series...it's everything that Robert Jordan's W.O.T. monstrosity isn't. Don't take that the wrong way about W.O.T. - I loved that, too - but when it takes Jordan 1000 pages to cover three days of story, you know he's got commitment issues.

Anyway, I just came to the part when...

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

====SPOILER ALERT!==========SPOILER ALERT!=========

...the wedding slaughter at The Twins occurred. Damn it, I was pissed. I was so pissed I had to put the book down and walk it off. The dude has no qualms about offing major characters, that's for sure. :mad:


Awesome, isn't it? Having just reread it, the shock doesn't go away. He is a very brave author.

[3ric]

Ah, the Red Wedding. One of the most shocking events in fantasy literature, for sure...

[sachmo71]

Recently finished Gust Front (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743435257/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/104-1132492-9322308?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) by John Ringo.



This is the second book in the Human-Posleen war series.

A brief synopsis:

As the humans learn the true nature of the war they will be fighting, the home front is being readied for the approaching invasion. With at least a year to go until the alien landing, construction is begun on the defenses of the planet, but the Posleen throw the humans a little surprise, in the form of a scouting force. Watch out, world, because the horses are here!

Ringo has polished his writing skills a bit better book 1 and 2, and it shows. The basic descriptive sentances don't seem as if they were just pulled out of a "How To Write Sci-Fi" book, and the story is not in the same confusing chronological order as the first one. But the same warning for this book holds true...basic story structure is not what Ringo does best. He writes about battles, and he does it well. His knowledge is in small unit tactics, and that's what he writes about.

Thankfully, in this book the Posleen seem to be less mindless than in the first, setting the future up as a struggle to the ends, instead of a "human technology dominates mindless aliens" story. I think this is important, because it will give him more storylines to work with, and he'll be able to change directions often to keep things interesting.

As far as gripes, I have a coupld. First, I find the characters of Cali to be completely unbelieveable. She's 8 and she's a killing machine. something about that bothers me, aside from it just being silly.

Also, while I generally like the Mike Oneal character, and expect him to be a prototypical hero, Ringo's vision of him when he's in combat is just odd. For instance, a officer in charge of a company of infantry shouting "Nyah! Nyah! You can't hit me!" was just too zany for words. He's a tactical genius, thinks quickly on his feet, cool under fire, et all, but this is how he responds? yeek.

Overall, it's still a fun story, even if predictable. Definately fun, but I sort of wish I cared more about the characters.

[sachmo71]

Oh, I also read Sten by Chris Bunch.

Easy review...don't read it. It sucks.

Thank you!

[sachmo71]

Gods and Legions (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312989407/qid=1127442571/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&s=books) by Michael Curtis Ford

____________________________________________________________________________________


This is a fictionalized account of the life of emperor Julian of Rome, as told from the point of view of Caesarius, his friend and personal physician. Telling you much about his life might spoil the story for you, but suffice to say he's a very interesting character.


I picked this book to read because I was looking for some good reading of ancient battles, and the book began with a bang in this regard. I settled in for a Roman-esq version of The Ten Thousand, with constant combat and hardships. The more I read, the more I realized that this book was less combat intensive, and more focused on the characters, which made it a much better read for me.

Ford mentions in the postscript that there is a wealth of information avaliable on the life of Julian, and I think he was able to use that to his advantage. This book is very much focused on his and Caesarius' lives, and how the interact with one another. The main conflict in the book, aside from Julian against the world, is the old world (paganism) against the new world (christanity). The struggle is just covert enough to make up for the lack of legions marching into battle. Ford does an excellent job building up the characters to the inevitable conflict between the two worlds, and I have to say that I was surprised by how that conflict played out.

The battles and the world were painted very well. In my opinion, Ford did a much better job in this book of putting the reader in the world than in The Ten Thousand.

I highly recommend this book.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Gods and Legions (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312989407/qid=1127442571/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&s=books) by Michael Curtis Ford

____________________________________________________________________________________


This is a fictionalized account of the life of emperor Julian of Rome, as told from the point of view of Caesarius, his friend and personal physician. Telling you much about his life might spoil the story for you, but suffice to say he's a very interesting character.


I picked this book to read because I was looking for some good reading of ancient battles, and the book began with a bang in this regard. I settled in for a Roman-esq version of The Ten Thousand, with constant combat and hardships. The more I read, the more I realized that this book was less combat intensive, and more focused on the characters, which made it a much better read for me.

Ford mentions in the postscript that there is a wealth of information avaliable on the life of Julian, and I think he was able to use that to his advantage. This book is very much focused on his and Caesarius' lives, and how the interact with one another. The main conflict in the book, aside from Julian against the world, is the old world (paganism) against the new world (christanity). The struggle is just covert enough to make up for the lack of legions marching into battle. Ford does an excellent job building up the characters to the inevitable conflict between the two worlds, and I have to say that I was surprised by how that conflict played out.

The battles and the world were painted very well. In my opinion, Ford did a much better job in this book of putting the reader in the world than in The Ten Thousand.

I highly recommend this book.
Have you read Gates of Fire? Great Historical Novel ablout the Spartans at Thermopylae.

[sachmo71]

Have you read Gates of Fire? Great Historical Novel ablout the Spartans at Thermopylae.


Not yet. It's on the list. :)

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I wouldn't be surprised if Gates of Fire gets turned into a blockbuster movie. Ive heard that I believe Paramount bought the rights 3 -4 years ago but their sitting on it for now.

[QuikSand]

I've been listening to Freakonomics on audio-book. Very fascinating read/listen for almost anyone, about how economics can be applied to everyday issues.

I spent time this summer with several of the trendy nonfiction titles, including Freakonomics. I enjoyed it a bit, but felt like there wasn't much mroe to it than I could have gotten out of it from, say, an article in the New Yorker (if I recall correctly, where the whole thing started), or from any of the various radio or TV interviews pushing the book.

For my money, the best of this lot from the recent past was Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. He has a real gift for presentation of ideas, and I thiought his idea had a lot more examples and issues to raise than did Freaknomocs, which I think was basically about six interesting topics stretched out into a full book.

[WSUCougar]

Have you read Gates of Fire? Great Historical Novel about the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Agreed, and outstanding book. I struggled through Pressfield's book Tides of War about Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War, but am still eager to read Virtues of War (from the era of Alexander the Great).

The movie for Gates of Fire was actually in the works awhile back (see this link (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808404115)) but it may have died. Do you have any current news, CHEM?

[Godzilla Blitz]

Has anyone read The Historian (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316011770/qid=1122342161/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_sbs_1/104-6591163-7067154?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)?

I started it a few days ago and, though I'm enjoying it, have had trouble reading more than 25-30 pages per sitting. Was wondering if anyone else found this book worthwhile? Funny you mention that. I just finished the book a couple of weeks ago. Took me about a month to read it, where I usually finish books fairly quickly. I too read it in small chunks.

I think it's a worthy read. The book is excellently written, the subject (Dracula) is compelling, and the plot is intricate and well developed.

Having said that, there is a vague ambivalence that sits with me after having read the book. I get a sense that it's caused by two things. One, the book is in essence a suspense story, and for a book of that genre to be so well written almost feels like a mismatch. Given the genre, I simply wanted the story to move faster, and the deliberate, detailed, methodical style of the author doesn't fit with such a story. The end result is that I felt like I was watching a great action movie in slow motion. There are also sections of the book where things really bog down, and it was a bit of work to get through them.

The second difficulty I have with the book is the premise that historical scholars could take the lead in hunting down Dracula. At times, I felt the same sense of disbelief when I see movies where kids become heroes and lead the fight against evil, defeating all kinds of baddies in the process.

Overall, I'm glad I read it though. The story and writing make up for the book's faults.

[sachmo71]

Just finished 1776 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743226712/qid=1129438473/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by David McCullough

______________________________________________________________________________


I like to think of myself as a student of history, and I have to admit that the American Revolution is not a period I know much about. I can't really explain why I haven't read more about this period; part of it may be that much of the language of the period gives me tired head. Either way, I'd heard so many good things about this book, I thought I would enjoy it, and learn a little something about a neglected period of history.

I have to say, for such a short book (almost 300 pages), 1776 had a lot to offer. McCullough writes in a very personal style, and present the facts almost like he is writing a novel. He seems to have a knack for judging the modern American attention span; a bit of background story on the main players, some interesting facts, and then the meat of the subject he is dealing with. Very much to the point, and it keeps things moving along at a brisk pace while communicating the most important facts and remaining entertaining to boot.

Since I wasn't wasn't very familiar with the events taking place, I may have been a bit more engrossed than a student of the period may be, but I think the writing style and the wealth of information presented in the book will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. I really was surprised and shocked to find out how the fortunes of this country turned in such a remarkable short period of time. Thankfully, McCullough shows the human side of all of the historical figures, allowing the reader to determine their greatness or infamy for themselves.

The book has a number of pictures throughout to help add some color to the story, and there are copious endnotes on the research done in creating the book.

I highly recommend this book for just about anyone. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and stump for this to be added to the dreaded required reading list for Americans. :)

[the_meanstrosity]

I'll throw a recommendation out for those who enjoy fantasy novels. Robin Hobb's "Assassin's Apprentice". Robin Hobb actually has three trilogies; The Farseer Trilogy which Assassin's Apprentice is the first of, The LiveShip Traders trilogy, and the Tawny Man trilogy. They are all excellent reads. Just so you can get a feel of the type of authors I enjoy, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan's earlier WOT novels, Terry Goodkind's earlier novels, Melanie Rawn, Glen Cook, L.E. Modesitt, and others. Robin Hobb is easily one of my favorites.

[sachmo71]

I'll throw a recommendation out for those who enjoy fantasy novels. Robin Hobb's "Assassin's Apprentice". Robin Hobb actually has three trilogies; The Farseer Trilogy which Assassin's Apprentice is the first of, The LiveShip Traders trilogy, and the Tawny Man trilogy. They are all excellent reads. Just so you can get a feel of the type of authors I enjoy, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan's earlier WOT novels, Terry Goodkind's earlier novels, Melanie Rawn, Glen Cook, L.E. Modesitt, and others. Robin Hobb is easily one of my favorites.


I own the first Assassin book. It's in the queue. It may even have been at your earlier suggestion! :)

[the_meanstrosity]

I own the first Assassin book. It's in the queue. It may even have been at your earlier suggestion! :)

Glad to hear you already have it in your collection. The three trilogies are all connected so it's essentially a 9 book series, but books 4-6 (LiveShip Traders trilogy) move away from the central character entirely yet still build on the storyline. I don't know if you will enjoy it more than George R.R. Martin like I did. Martin's a heck of a writer in his own right and one of my favorites as well.

I'll try to add a few book reviews of my own to this thread. Right now I'm re-reading Melanie Rawn's "The Ruins of Ambrai" series which I enjoyed the first time through.

[Peregrine]

Interesting book I'm reading is Made in America by Bill Bryson, it's basically the story of how the English language evolved in America and how our language came to be so different from the original English. Lots of interesting stories about our history and it's written in a very engaging style with lots of side notes.

[sachmo71]

Interesting book I'm reading is Made in America by Bill Bryson, it's basically the story of how the English language evolved in America and how our language came to be so different from the original English. Lots of interesting stories about our history and it's written in a very engaging style with lots of side notes.


Added to Amazon.com wishlist! WHOOT!

[Godzilla Blitz]

For my money, the best of this lot from the recent past was Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. He has a real gift for presentation of ideas, and I thiought his idea had a lot more examples and issues to raise than did Freaknomocs, which I think was basically about six interesting topics stretched out into a full book.
Thanks for the tip on this one. I just finished it last night. Although I was a bit disappointed in his overall message, I greatly enjoyed the individual chapters. Lots of useful, interesting stuff, and on the whole quite well presented.

Picked up his other book, The Tipping Point, yesterday.

[QuikSand]

Thanks for the tip on this one. I just finished it last night. Although I was a bit disappointed in his overall message, I greatly enjoyed the individual chapters. Lots of useful, interesting stuff, and on the whole quite well presented.

Picked up his other book, The Tipping Point, yesterday.

Glad you enjoyed it -- and I basically agree. I think he overdid it with the Diallo case (thinking that he really had uncovered something there, when I felt it was just conjecture) but overall I found the book rather compelling.

[sachmo71]

Next up is Wildcards (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0743475208/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/002-7409852-4123262?%5Fencoding=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=283155) edited by George RR Martin.

_______________________________________________________________________________

I originally read this book when it first came out, so that would have made me...sixteen when I read it. At the time, I was deep into comic books, and was very much looking forward to reading a book about superheroes.
I remember coming away disappointed. This book was pretty short on action. Supervillans? Sort of, but not the sort I was used to. In short, it was boring to me.

Fast forward to today, and I'm thirty-four. In my heart, I'm still looking for superheroes. I'm looking for a chance to indulge my fantasies of being large than life. Would I be bored again?

Wildcards is a collection of short stories in a universe created by George RR Martin in which an alien virus transforms ordinary humans into altered beings by changing their genetic code. Most who catch the virus die, those who survive are mostly mutated into horrible forms known as jokers, and a few lucky ones get dealt an ace, turning them into real superheroes.
An observation on the universe; the beauty is in the simplicity. No spoilers here, but the explination of why the virus comes to earth is perfectly simple in my mind. Keeping that side of the story simple so as not to distract the readers from the meat of the story, but also open-ended enough to take a plotline or two into. Since I haven't read any more of the book in the series yet, I don't know if this has been done or not, but the opportunity is there.

Each story follows a brief moment in the life of one of those affected by the virus, although many of the stories are tied together by the characters and events of others. Reading these stories again, I enjoyed them much more as an adult. There was action there when I read it as a kid; I was just too immature to recognize it. Suffice to say, the characters are real people, and none are perfect. I admire that.
Something else I enjoyed about the stories is how they wind the Wildcards universe around our own, changing the events to be more in line with the political and social situation in the book.
For example, the "riots" at the Democratic National Convention in 1968 was changed from anti-war protests to Joker's rights protests. There are many examples of this in the book, so it might appeal to the alternate history fans. I know it did for me!
Overall the writing was excellent. As I noted before, many of the stories have mentions or influnce on the others, but you could definately get a feel for the focus of the individual authors and their writing styles. I think Witness by John Walter Williams may have been my personal favorite, but I can't think of one that I didn't enjoy.

I am certainly glad I went back and reread this book. I've already purchased the next two books in the series, and we'll see if the momentum is sustained. I highly recommend this book for any sci-fi\superhero fan.

[the_meanstrosity]

Sachmo, good call on Wild Cards. Like yourself, I read that book in my teens and I've been wanting to re-read it again. I just need to find a copy, but no luck thus far at the used book shops around here.

[sachmo71]

Sachmo, good call on Wild Cards. Like yourself, I read that book in my teens and I've been wanting to re-read it again. I just need to find a copy, but no luck thus far at the used book shops around here.


I'll send you mine if you want. PM me your info and I'll ship it out.

[Peregrine]

Haven't they been reprinting the Wild Card books? I thought I heard that somewhere. You may be able to find the reprints on Amazon or a regular bookstore.

[sachmo71]

Haven't they been reprinting the Wild Card books? I thought I heard that somewhere. You may be able to find the reprints on Amazon or a regular bookstore.


Yes, they have. I put my Amazon review under the new version...looked like it was published this year.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Glad you enjoyed it -- and I basically agree. I think he overdid it with the Diallo case (thinking that he really had uncovered something there, when I felt it was just conjecture) but overall I found the book rather compelling.
I finished The Tipping Point over the weekend. I liked it as much as I did blink. In much the same way, I enjoyed his clear analyses of the studies he examines, but felt he stands on some speculative ground with some of his overall conclusions (the smoking chapter in particular stands out). Also, as in blink, I felt the presentation of his overall case (the study of social epidemics) tends to fragment in the back half of the book.

Still, I've found both books greatly worthwhile. Lots of well written, thought-provoking material.

[CraigSca]

Sachmo, saw in your signature you recently read 1776 and I'm glad you found it interesting as I recently bought it from Amazon (just waiting for the next business trip to crack it open).

A couple months ago I decided that it's about I time I learned more of American history and decided to begin with David McCullough's Truman. The reason? Oddly enough Mike and the Mad Dog of sports radio WFAN in New York were talking about books one day and they both mentioned that Truman is one of their favorite reads of all time (and won the Pulitzer Prize in '92, I think). It's a little daunting at almost 1000 pages, but is a book that you will find hard to put down. The first chapter describing how the early settlers came from Kentucky into Missouri was a little tedious, but when Harry is born it transforms into an incredible page turner. One reviewer said it best (and I echo his sentiments) - you will not want the book to end, and it's a biography that will sadden you if you never had a chance to meet the man. Harry Truman was a no nonsense, do-what's-right kind of guy who happened to fall into the presidency, WW2 and the nuclear age. It's an incredible story.

Because of Truman, I'm a huge fan of McCullough's and can't wait to read the rest, particularly his bio of John Adams.

[sachmo71]

Next up is Aces High (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743423917/qid=1130990222/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) edited by George R.R. Martin.

This is the second book in the Wildcards series. This book focuses on the lives of many of the aces of the wildcards universe, with the main unifying plot of the stories being the threat of an alien invasion.

Aces High is a more focused book, dealing with a smaller group of aces and returning to them more often rather than the sampler that the first book was. Many of the favorites return; Fortunato, Dr. Tachyon, The Great and Powerful Turtle, but there are some really nasty villians that appear in this book, as well. The villians are not nice people, so be warned, but they are interesting characters. The leader is pretty much evil to the core, but his hirelings are much more human, each with their own motivations which are explained pretty well in the book. They aren't all evil; many are just looking to get ahead and backing the team that they think will win. Well, and perhaps are a bit more accepting of the "win at any cost" mentality.

I can't think of a story I didn't enjoy in this book, either. All were well written, and were tied together well. I think my favorite story may have been the exploits of Modular Man, but Captain Tripps is a very interesting character as well. I hope to see more of them in future books.

So far, it seems that these books should be read in order, so if you skip Wildcards 1 and start here, you may be lost. Just a word of warning, since I know the books can be hard to find.
I recommend this book to all Wildcards fans and any superhero fan that has not read this series yet is doing themselves a disservice.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I've finished Jefferson's War and, am currently reading Patton: A genius for war.
Jefferson's War chronicles The Barbary Wars and, America's decision to fight the war against state sponsored piracy. It was a pretty easy read, written in prose style, might I add that te book also tweaked my curiosity on the almost unknown Tripolitan War and, America's road to becoming a world power.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Agreed, and outstanding book. I struggled through Pressfield's book Tides of War about Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War, but am still eager to read Virtues of War (from the era of Alexander the Great).

The movie for Gates of Fire was actually in the works awhile back (see this link (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808404115)) but it may have died. Do you have any current news, CHEM?
All I've heard is that: the studio has just been sitting on it and, nothing else. If anything we will probably see it in 3 years, But I heard there is an adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 (comic book adaptation of Thermopylae). that is being filmed in Nova Scotia currently and, is due for a summer/fall 06 release.

[sachmo71]

Last night I finished reading Joker's Wild (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743434897/qid=1131938237/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), the third installment in the Wildcards series.

Joker's Wild reads a bit differently than the first two books of the series, in that instead of a collection of related short stories, this book reads like a regular novel. At the end of the book they have credits stating who wrote and invented what character, and each chapter is divided up into sections, so I'm guessing that each author wrote a "section" pertaining to one of their characters. It may be my untrained eye, or the fact that I was so into the subject matter, but I had a hard time telling the authors apart in this book. As I said, it read like a novel, but it was also quite a page turner, so I was swept up in the story most of the time, and perhaps not paying enough attention to the techniques of each particular section.

The plot centers around the Wild Card Day celebrations in New York City in 1986. I can't really get much deeper into it than that, because I don't want to add spoilers, but I really enjoyed the story. It spans a little more than 24 hours, but there is a ton of action and intrugue in that twenty-four hour span. As I said, I found myself swept up in the story many times, and can't really think of a part that I didn't enjoy.

All of the best known aces appear in this book, but we learn more about some of the jokers as well. I found myself watching the line between joker and ace blur in this book; for example, the character of Spector (aka Demise) is a big part of this book, but at times I could see how his power would be considered an ace power, but to others it would definately be seen as a joker. A deadly one, but still unwanted. Incedentally, I really like the character of Spector. He's very interesting and well written.

At times I found the focus on sex a bit much. Yes, I understand that Fortunato's tantric power relies on sexual energy, but we also have sexual murderers, sexual ice sculptures, old aces wanting to have sex with young aces, etc. I'm not a prude, but it was a bit much at times.

Other than that, this was a very satisfying addition to the Wildcards series. Now if I can just get my hands on the next book....

[sachmo71]

Just wanted to wite up a quick review for Art of A Song of Ice and Fire (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589942183/103-0767715-3047814?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance)


I bought this when ordering A Feast of Crows off of Amazon, and I actually got this book first. Simply put, the artwork is wonderful. All of the major characters are represented, as well as places and events, most with a bit of prose from the book as flavor text.
It appears that most of the pictures are taken from the wonderful artwork from the collectable card game, which is nice for those of us who don't have the time or money to try to keep up with it but want to see the artwork.
There are a couple of comics added at the end of the book, which are amusing, but the artwork is the key here.
The book is nicely printed and bound well, which I was a little worried about since it was from an independant publisher.

[sachmo71]

I finished The Postman (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553278746/002-7409852-4123262?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) by David Brin yesterday.



First, don't let the horrible movie spoil this book for you; they are very different bodies of work. In fact, if I were Brin, I'm not sure how I would have let that movie hit the screens, but that's not really relevant to this review.

This is a post-apocolyptic tale of a survivor who runs across the remains of a US postal worker, and dons his uniform to stay alive. Soon he discovers that the uniform gives him an instant authority with people which allows him access to places he might otherwise be shut out of. He discovers that this authority comes with a price, and he finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of the people he's met and trying to defend against the attacks of an army of ruthless survivalist armies.

Brin only briefly describes how the world ended in this book, and that is only over time. Since the reasons for the apocolypse are not very important to the story, it probably would have seemed out of place to have added them. I wanted to point that out because at times fans of post-apocolypse works tend to be looking for a new and imaginative way for humanity to destroy themselves, so be warned you won't find it here.

Brin doesn't go very deep into his character development. Other than Gordon, we don't learn very much about the supporting cast, even though a few of them have very prominant roles in the book.

The story itself was entertaining for me, and I found it to be a quick read. It was interesting to watch Gordon get himself deeper and deeper into his charade, and to see the desperation of many of the survivors to find something to believe in. I think Brin really captured what life may be like for the early survivors of a world-ending war who remember the past but may not have totally lost hope that the old world would rise again.
Also, as Gordon got back into touch with more survivors, he began to morph back from the survivor to "the idealist", which often put his life in danger, which was the opposite of how he would have acted before he found the postman's uniform.

Mr. Brin does not seem to be a big fan of the survivalist movement, and one of the heroes of the story is femenisim; so if these things bother you, you might want to avoid this book. I was worried that Brin was going to end the book laying this on a little too thick, but in the end it was well put together.

I've seen reviews stating that this isn't Brin's best work, but I thought he did rather well. It was concise; perhaps a bit spare on the character development, and I thought the whole plot was imaginative, so I'm looking forward to reading more books by him.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

[sachmo71]

Finally finished A Feast for Crows (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553801503/ref=pd_cmp_rvi_1_i/002-7409852-4123262?n=283155) by George RR Martin.


I was a little nervous about the book after reading some of the reviews of the book...mostly because I was afraid to see Martin head down the Jordan path, but things were jumping out at me like "too many characters"; "not enough plot progression"; "boring"...but I had to find out for myself.

While I did find a few things a little disappointing, overall I very much enjoyed the book. (BTW...I can't stop calling the book A Feast OF Crows. I just realized the actual title when I was typing it on this page. Sheesh.)

While I can see an argument being made that some of the chapters were not essential to carrying the plot forward, most of the book helped to build the world up more for me. This is something I have been craving for in this series; characters that are so beloved or hated in an interesting world that I really didn't know much about. This book, while slower in action, fleshed out some of the areas of Westeros that did not get as much attention in the first three books. I particularly enjoyed following Brienne's quest, trying to bring honor to her world even as those around her flee from it. Jamie is always fun to follow, as he is such an interesting character. Arya and Sansa are starting to make their way as the shock of their new lives wears off. I never much worried for Arya, but it's nice to see Sansa begin to grow up. I think she's going to be quite a dangerous woman as the years progress. I enjoyed the politics in King's Landing for the most part, although watching Cersi melt down was a bit of a letdown. In the proceeding books she seemed smart as well as strong, but in this one she makes mistake after mistake for the sake of advancing her own cause...even taking into account her grief from her recent losses, I thought Martin owed her better. I know he won't end it here for her, but I just felt like her actions in this book were less than she was capable of.
Another thing that struck me in this book was that there seemed to be talk of sex in this book, and I wasn't really sure if much of it was necessary. I'm not a prude, but I think sex in the fantasy genre should be woven into the story, and can easily be overdone. I never thought I'd say that about Martin, but I think it was overdone a bit.

So, for Martin fans, all I can say is I think the book is good enough to recommend to everyone so that you can judge for yourself. It appears that people are falling all over the spectrum on this book, which is the next best thing to the book being universally hailed I suppose. Aside from the few drawbacks that I found, and they were minor, I was very happy with the book and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the series.

[3ric]

It's hard to imagine what GRRM could have done in Feast to top book 3, Storm of Swords. I think the letdown was unavoidable after such a brilliant chapter of the series. The story probably needed to take a step back and rebuild until the second climax. Think of it as the Two Towers being slower and building up the tension again after a brilliant Fellowship and leading into Return of the King.

[sachmo71]

Each year to commemorate out mother's birthday, my siblings and I buy a book. this year, thanks to a sale and $15 gift card, I was able to get 4.

Illium by Dan Simmons
Blood Bowl (I forget the author)
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (FOFC recommendation)
Serenity (I forget the author)

The good news is that my WANTED book list is down to 34 books. The bad news is that my active to read queue is right at about twenty books right now. I should cancel Tivo to catch up.

[sachmo71]

I finished In Death Ground (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671877798/ref=pd_po_rvi_2/002-9965186-6093620?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) a few weeks ago, but I had some free time at work to write the review!


David Weber is a master of space combat writing. His descrptions convey the brutality of war in his universe. The behavior of the forces in conflict is consistant. Thankfully, the book is filled with battle, from the first chapter to the last. This is a good thing, because outside of war, Weber isn't much an author.

I find his characters to be very thin and unimaginative, his politics are transparent, and some of his interactions silly, but I don't read Weber for this. All of the character exist to prop up the real meat of the story...an intergalactic war of epic proportions.

If you enjoy sweeping space combat and lots and lots of exploding ships, this is a series for you. Avoid it if you are looking for anything else.

[QuikSand]

My latest read was Birds from the Baby Einstein collection. Highly recommended, quite a twist at the end.

[KWhit]

But it's no "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go."

[SirFozzie]

I've read Blood Bowl and the sequel Dead Ball (by Matt Forbeck), funny stuff, although as a soccer fan, all the soccer references in the 2nd book started to grate a bit

[sachmo71]

I finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380789035/ref=cm_rv_thx_view/002-7409852-4123262?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) a few days ago.


This was my third Gaiman book, with Good Omens and Neverwhere being the others. (I think I reviewed them both here...not sure) I really love his stuff, and I think this is his best book yet.

The plot summary is that a man named Shadow is just getting out of prison after serving three years for assault. Just before his release, he finds out his wife has died. Not knowing what else to do, he heads home. On the plane, he meets Mr. Wednesday, who offers him a job and a glimpse into the world of living mythology.

Gaiman is a wonderful author. His writing style is engrossing and funny and very addictive. I found myself losing hours with this book. The characters are well constructed with very little cheese or cliche propping them up. The way he constructs the gods leads one to believe that it's not such a great thing to be immortal, especially if no one remembers you.

The plot was interesting, and kept me guessing. I can't think of an instance where I was able to guess what happened next, and expected the book to end differently than it did. I was a bit disappointed with the final "battle"...it was sort and I almost missed the resolution. That was really my only knock on the book. There was a continuation that I did not expect and wrapped things up nicely. Still, I would have liked to have seen more of the old vs new conflict.

Overall, this is just a great book. If you like Gaiman or fantasy books in general, I would recommend it to you.

[biological warrior]

Im currently reading Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August. Its about the first few weeks of WWI, and how failures in communication caused the start to the massacre.

[sachmo71]

Im currently reading Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August. Its about the first few weeks of WWI, and how failures in communication caused the start to the massacre.


Excellent book! I read it for a history class once and really enjoyed it.

[Wolfpack]

Just finished 1776 and thoroughly enjoyed it. After it's finished, you truly do feel as if American independence was indeed a "miracle".

Have now moved on to Governor Reagan by Lou Cannon, and I spent a returned book card at Barnes and Noble picking up the entire Shelby Foote Civil War trilogy as all the books were marked down to $15 apiece. Considering the paperbacks are still going for $25 each and there were only a few of the hardbacks left, I decided to get them rather than risk not getting them because it was a one-time-only deal. I'm a slow reader, so I'm pretty well stocked until sometime later this year. :)

[Butter]

I finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0380789035/ref=cm_rv_thx_view/002-7409852-4123262?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) a few days ago...
This was an excellent book.

Also wanted to recommend Singularity by Bill DeSmedt... an apparently obscure but recent book that mixes a spy story with science fiction and KGB-era Russia very effectively. I really enjoyed it, and don't recommend many books but this one was a very good read.

[sachmo71]

I may have made this recommendation somewhere else already, but I can always add it here since this is a damn fine book IMO.

I will highly recommend The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. I read it two weeks ago, but I still find myself thinking about it often and the kinds of questions it raises about how we live our lives and what should be considered a "normal" life.

I initially heard about it after it won the 2003 Nebula Award, but it is barely science fiction at all in my opinion, the only sci-fi touches, if you can call them that, is that it's set in the near/mid future and there are a couple references to how society is different then, but really this is just a book about a person, Lou Arrendale, and how he lives his life as a high-functioning autistic. The author's son is autistic, so I'm sure that prodded her to explore this topic, but she really does an amazing job of presenting how Lou sees the world, and it is very different from "normal" people. Yet he has to face the same kinds of decisions everyone does, about his hobbies, friends, relationships, and most especially when he is presented with the possible opportunity to be cured of his "illness" and become normal. How he struggles with that was extremely moving to me, and extremely well written.

My only complaint was that the ending is a bit abrupt, but I understand why the author set the book up this way, so I won't ding her much for that.


finished Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345481399/ref=pd_kar_gw_2/104-0041093-8515171?n=283155)


Ever since I read this recommendation I've been itching to read this book. Why? Well for starters, I have a brother who is high-functioning autistic. The oppouritunity to understand the way he works was something hard to pass up.

Moon understands the autistic world very well. I found myself running down a mental checklist as the story went on, and I think I checked off most of the things I was looking for. Lou is a very interesting character, and reading about him is quite a journey. I'm really not sure how much research she did, but she definately has it down.

The story itself is enjoyable, though I found myself jumping to conclusions about where the book was going, and often those conclusions were wrong. It's nice that there are authors out there who are writing books for the sake of the story, and not trying to sneak something past you.

This is really an enjoyable book. For anyone who is interested in reading a book from a very unique angle, I highly recommend it. And thanks for the rec, Peregrin. :)

[biological warrior]

Pk guys I've just read The War to End all Wars by Coffman (for us mil hist) and am very impressed. The book is about how Gen Pershing delegated tasks of organization to his staff officers to coordinate planning and logistics of the AEF. The book also delved into the American and Allied joint offensives from spring of 198-the end of the war.

My critique regarding the bookare:
a. For a book about organization it was pretty disorganzed, there are only 14 chapters and he bounces back and forth between different topics and goes off into tangents. I would have prefered the offensives and their goals seperated into chapters instead of meshed into 3 chapters, and a seperate chapters on US troops under British command.

b. Lack of an order of battle list for both sides and for each offensive: Again, it was pretty confusing trying to keep track of which unit was fighting which and where in coordination to other units etc.

c. Lack of tactical (brigade level) maps and objectives.

Its a great book on US experience during the war but lacks organization.

[biological warrior]

Dola: The book I mentioned above also needs a new cover and new font and preface. The 1997 edition looked like the 1968 edition, this time re issued on paperback. Hopefully an update (if any will settle this issue).

[WSUCougar]

Just finished Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara. This of course is the son of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara, who authored Killer Angels. Jeff did both a prequel and sequel to Killer Angels, and I wasn't especially impressed with his writing. As a result I was skeptical going into Rise to Rebellion, driven to read it only because of the topic kind of hitting the spot for me right at the moment.

Well, let me say that I soaked it up like a sponge. I am a pretty fast reader anyway, but this was a true page-turner for me and I devoured it. Like the other books I mentioned above, Rise uses several main characters' perspectives as chapters, covering events from different angles as time progresses along. In this instance, it is the period leading up to the American Revolution, from 1770 to August 1776. Characters include John Adams, Ben Frankin, George Washington, and British General Gage, among others. It is a period of history which I know quite well, but this fictional book provided a great, fresh look at the key events, and I really got a good sense of what those individuals were facing. Fascinating stuff and a big thumbs up.

Now I move on to the second volume, which picks up in August 1776 and follows through to the end of the war.

[sachmo71]

Wow, more books to add to my queue. :)

[sachmo71]

A couple of weeks ago, I finished Wildcards 4: Aces Abroad (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743452410/sr=8-1/qid=1146908096/ref=sr_1_1/002-7409852-4123262?%5Fencoding=UTF8)

A number of high profile aces and jokes set off on a fact finding mission across the globe. High drama follows as they encounter not-so-friendly governments across the world, along with some not-so-friendly aces as well.

I liked most of the stories in this book, but the writing seemed below average. It's a shame, and hopefully some of these plotlines will be revisited in future books...seems like most of them were left very open ended.

I expected better from this team, but it just wasn't up to par for them. My biggest problem may have been that the stories didn't seem to fit with one another, and too many details were left out. I can see the promise of resolving them in future books, but there are limits. Give me something to work with, rather than "you'll see in a few books"!

With that in mind, I don't think it would be a good idea for a wildcards fan to skip this book. Lots and lots of things happen that will be important to continuity. Who knows...maybe you will get more out of it than I did.

[Neuqua]

To keep me busy this summer, I'm going to try to complete a book every week.

Today, I finished Velocity by Dean Koontz.

I thought the premise of the book was interesting in the what would I do in the lead character's position sort of way and it's the reason I selected the book.

Overall, I give it about a 6/10. As I said, the general storyline seemed interesting enough for me to give it a look but I noticed that half way through I was more forcing myself to finish it just so I can get it done and over with and I can begin on my next story for summer.

I certainly was not a big fan of the ending, and I won't spoil it for anyone who is going to end up reading it.

Not sure what is next up on the list but this thread (among others here at FOFC) will be a good place to find some material.

[finkenst]

just finished "Final Jeopardy", "Entombed", and "Likely to Die" all by linda fairstein and working on "Death Dance".

Also on the docket is Raymond Feist's latest trip to Midkemia "Flight of the Nighthawks".

[sachmo71]

Also on the docket is Raymond Feist's latest trip to Midkemia "Flight of the Nighthawks".
let me know how this turns out...specifically if it reads like a script. that was quite a beatdown in Talon of the Silverhawk.

[finkenst]

let me know how this turns out...specifically if it reads like a script. that was quite a beatdown in Talon of the Silverhawk.

i have it on a 7-day checkout from the PPL.

[MacroGuru]

let me know how this turns out...specifically if it reads like a script. that was quite a beatdown in Talon of the Silverhawk.

The book is Excellent, I read it on my plane flight from Utah to Fayetteville.....If you haven't read the Conclave series through the end, this may confuse you a bit

[finkenst]

The book is Excellent, I read it on my plane flight from Utah to Fayetteville.....If you haven't read the Conclave series through the end, this may confuse you a bit

frankly, i thought return of the exile wasn't very good....

but that's just me.

[MacroGuru]

frankly, i thought return of the exile wasn't very good....

but that's just me.

You could tell he rushed it a bit, but his deadline was crazy...I am on his mailing list and he talks a lot with the people there.

I wasn't to thrilled with Exile either, but he is one of my favorite authors, just based off of the stuff he has done with Midkemia....

[sachmo71]

I actually finished When the devil dances (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743436024/ref=cm_rv_thx_view/103-0469852-0384603?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) by John Ringo a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't had time to do a write up.


Out of all of the books in the human-posleen war series, this has been my favorite by a long shot. This volume jumps ahead five years, and most of the earth is under posleen control...or on the dinnerplate, so to speak. Except for the good ol' US of A (and a few other spots), where the slaughter continues. That is, until the Posleen change tactics....

I think I really liked this book because he didn't feature much of the antics of Mike O'Neal. This guy takes military sci-fi to a new level, and that's saying a lot. he actually followed a number of actual humans in this story, who even have some depth. By some depth, I mean very little, but again, what do you expect?

All in all, you get what you pay for. It's an adventure rag, but this one is better than the preceeding entries into the series. If you are a Ringo fan, pick it up!

[KWhit]

Wild Cards sounds very interesting. I'll have to try to find a copy of that.

[SirFozzie]

BTW, I've read the Paladin of Shadows series. Definitely not vanilla, the main character is a ex-SEAL(the Rogue Warrior type), with a very dark side.. (book does not shy from D/s issues and a BDSM lifestyle).. but he hunts the real sickos.

Book definitely has a political viewpont, but if you've read Ringo's books, that's an ongoing thing with him, and it won't be such a slap in the face as new folks who may not agree with him would be.

[bosshogg23]

Ive been on a big non-fiction kick recently. I just finished reading Masters of Doom (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0812972155&itm=1) by David Kushner
which is about the guys who created the game Doom(and 100 other games). Anyone who has interest in computer games will enjoy the book. I dont like Doom or shooters but I found the book to be great. The book even prompted me to Google the 2 main characters and read their blogs to find out what they have been up to since the end of the book.

The book im currently reading is Between You and Me: A Memoir (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1401300294&itm=1) by Mike Wallace. I'll post if it turns out to be any good.

[sachmo71]

The book im currently reading is Between You and Me: A Memoir (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1401300294&itm=1) by Mike Wallace. I'll post if it turns out to be any good.


Got that for my dad for father's day!

[bosshogg23]

I finished reading Between You and Me: A Memoir by Mike Wallace (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1401300294&itm=1). It was uneven at best. It doesnt recap his life(or anything personal) and it doesnt sum up his experiences as a reporter or even as a 60 Minutes reporter.

Wallace spends considerable time discussing the Middle East from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. Yet almost nothing in the 5 years before this period and the 5 years after.

Mostly Wallace spends time discussing who and what he wants and hell its his memoirs so I guess he can ;) It certainly is not as entertaining as another great reporters memoirs Reporter's Life by Walter Cronkite (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0394578791&itm=1)

I picked up a book from the library that im looking forward to, Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad by Mike Greenberg. (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1400064384&itm=1)

[terpkristin]

I finished reading Between You and Me: A Memoir by Mike Wallace (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1401300294&itm=1). It was uneven at best. It doesnt recap his life(or anything personal) and it doesnt sum up his experiences as a reporter or even as a 60 Minutes reporter.

Wallace spends considerable time discussing the Middle East from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. Yet almost nothing in the 5 years before this period and the 5 years after.

Mostly Wallace spends time discussing who and what he wants and hell its his memoirs so I guess he can ;) It certainly is not as entertaining as another great reporters memoirs Reporter's Life by Walter Cronkite (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0394578791&itm=1)

I picked up a book from the library that im looking forward to, Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad by Mike Greenberg. (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1400064384&itm=1)

I've been tempted to check out Greenie's book, just because he seems like such a tool on Mike & Mike, I have to know how much it's true.

I'd be interested in your opinions of it.
/tk

[Peregrine]

I'm currently reading Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson. He put years of research into this and it really shows, I think this is going to become the definitive book on John Wilkes Booth's plot, and more specifically his escape and capture/death. The book is loaded with details that make it very interesting reading even if, like me, you already know a lot about the Lincoln assassination. I've heard it's already set to be made into a movie, also.

[bosshogg23]

I've been tempted to check out Greenie's book, just because he seems like such a tool on Mike & Mike, I have to know how much it's true.

I'd be interested in your opinions of it.
/tk

The book was entertaining, not great but worth reading if you enjoy Greeny's schtick on the radio. He has a dozen or so stories that make you laugh out loud and they all follow the same formula. Greeny has too much to drink, Greeny does something stupid, Greeny writes in his journal how it was the worst day of his life.

He spends the first 100 pages describing life with his newly pregnant wife and thats the best part of the book. Anyone who is married can relate to some of the marriage stories that are detailed.

The second half of the book takes places immediately after his 1st born child and immediately after his 2nd born child. This part is definitely less interesting than the 1st half or so of the book. He spends alot of time describing how he wants to be alone for a few minutes and cant get any peace, or he isnt getting the total satisfaction he expected to get from being a dad. Then the following day in the book he will write that "I cant believe I wrote that" I dont feel that way at all.

I should mention that there is absolutely nothing that relates to ESPN in the book. Mike Golic isnt mentioned by name until the Acknoledgements and no other ESPN personality is in the book. That isnt necessairly a bad thing, I was surprised though.

Its worth reading......especially if you pick it up from the Library or deeply discounted book rack :)

[sachmo71]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to review audiobooks or not, but since I received my ipod for father's day, they have become a big part of my commute. So, here goes...

Audio Book Review: Sea of Glory : The Story of the US Exploring Expedition 1838-1842 by Nathan Philbrick (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142800236/ref=cm_rv_thx_view/104-4180186-7300720?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155)


I didn't even know this expedition existed before I bought this CD. As it turns out, this is something that should probably get some more attention in history class, since it can be argued that it helped launch the scientific effort of the United States.

The story is about an ad-hoc, last minute expedition of discovery that launches from New York, heads to around the world and down to Antarctica, back around the world to the west coast, then once again around the world back to new york. Along the way, the expedition encounters natual obsticals, inexperienced officers, natives, and all manner of challenges. The story is wonderful, especially when you put yourself on the decks of these wooden ships, trying to imagine the situations these people found themselves in. The legacy of the expedition includes the creation of the Smithsonian Institute, charts that were used as last as WWII, and countless samples of plant and animal life. Further, in the following years, fifteen more expeditions were launched, amounting to an effort that consumed up to 1/3 of the annual United States budget if the narrative is to be believed.

On the negative side, the narrator was a bit dry, and some of the nautical terms left me behind. However, the historical content more than offset the negatives, and I recommend this to anyone with an interest in the subject of exploration and\or US history in general.

[Barkeep49]

I think Philbrick is one of finest writers of nautical events around. I've really enjoyed the two books I've read by him.

[Wolfpack]

I got Sea of Glory the day before my first daughter was born and thoroughly enjoyed it (even spent part of the night that night reading it to my wife as a way of taking her mind off the beginnings of the induction process). It's rather astonishing that there are all these places and objects tied to this expedition, yet hardly anyone would know that it ever happened.

We checked out his new book on Plymouth Colony from the library, but I haven't had a chance to read it. I'm too busy finally catching myself up on the Harry Turtledove alt-history that started with How Few Remain. I had previously gotten as far as the first book of the Great War series, but stopped for a long while before starting up again a few weeks ago. I'm now up to the inter-war years with Blood & Iron. It's a great bit of escapism, though I'm beginning to pick up on Turtledove's idiosyncracies in his writings and some of them are starting to annoy me a bit. Still a good way to kill a summer.

[sachmo71]

Yes, Turtledove is best digested in small bites.

[Peregrine]

I listened to Sea of Glory a while back on audio and really liked it, it's one of those bits of history that were huge for their time but were later almost forgotten.

[mooreadamc]

I thought that this might be the best spot to ask for a recommendation:

I am looking to do more reading and wanted to ask about some recommendations. I am looking for a series of 3 or more books that have the same characters/story line. Typically I am into suspense, mystery, and action novels.

Anyways let me know of any ideas.

Thanks.

[sachmo71]

I thought that this might be the best spot to ask for a recommendation:

I am looking to do more reading and wanted to ask about some recommendations. I am looking for a series of 3 or more books that have the same characters/story line. Typically I am into suspense, mystery, and action novels.

Anyways let me know of any ideas.

Thanks.


Mystery...how about Sue Grafton? I think she uses the same characters.
And for action...you can't go wrong with Clancy. If you want sci-fi or fantasy, there are a ton of series i can recommend.

[Peregrine]

I thought that this might be the best spot to ask for a recommendation:

I am looking to do more reading and wanted to ask about some recommendations. I am looking for a series of 3 or more books that have the same characters/story line. Typically I am into suspense, mystery, and action novels.

Anyways let me know of any ideas.

Thanks.

Well, that's a pretty broad set of requirements, so there's a lot of choices. For an excellent series of action books, that aren't just blind blood and guts, you can't go wrong with Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. Reacher is a former military MP who is now basically a drifter, and always has a knack for running into trouble and people who need to be saved. They are extremely well written and there are a lot of them, check Amazon for the full title list, the ones I know offhand are Die Trying, Killing Floor, and Tripwire.


Another series I can recommend to everyone is the Repairman Jack books by F. Paul Wilson. Just a great series, it's got action, suspense, a bit of sci-fi, and plenty more. Jack is a fixer, basically he's a guy you can turn to in NYC when the police can't help and you've got nowhere else to turn, he'll find the information you need, lean on the bad people, or whatever else, he's a great character and it's a great universe, because there's definite aspects of the supernatural in most of his cases. Read some of them, you won't be disappointed. The Tomb is the first one, but there are several others. As a side note, if anyone has read the old book The Keep, that had a bad movie made of it back in the early 80s, with Nazis in a sort of monster castle, it's the same guy who wrote this series, and they are in the same universe, there's basically a tie-in with Repairman Jack in some small ways. www.repairmanjack.com

[Wolfpack]

The Keep, that had a bad movie made of it back in the early 80s, with Nazis in a sort of monster castle....

Isn't that "Castle Wolfenstein", basically?

[Peregrine]

Isn't that "Castle Wolfenstein", basically?

Well, not really, this is more about some less than organized Nazis being eaten by a monster, and a Van Helsing type guy trying to contain it.

[sachmo71]

Oh, and W.E.B Griffin's works are very good action books. I prefer the Corps, but his Brotherhood of War series is very good as well.

[mooreadamc]

Well, that's a pretty broad set of requirements, so there's a lot of choices. For an excellent series of action books, that aren't just blind blood and guts, you can't go wrong with Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. Reacher is a former military MP who is now basically a drifter, and always has a knack for running into trouble and people who need to be saved. They are extremely well written and there are a lot of them, check Amazon for the full title list, the ones I know offhand are Die Trying, Killing Floor, and Tripwire.


Another series I can recommend to everyone is the Repairman Jack books by F. Paul Wilson. Just a great series, it's got action, suspense, a bit of sci-fi, and plenty more. Jack is a fixer, basically he's a guy you can turn to in NYC when the police can't help and you've got nowhere else to turn, he'll find the information you need, lean on the bad people, or whatever else, he's a great character and it's a great universe, because there's definite aspects of the supernatural in most of his cases. Read some of them, you won't be disappointed. The Tomb is the first one, but there are several others. As a side note, if anyone has read the old book The Keep, that had a bad movie made of it back in the early 80s, with Nazis in a sort of monster castle, it's the same guy who wrote this series, and they are in the same universe, there's basically a tie-in with Repairman Jack in some small ways. www.repairmanjack.com

Thanks, I am going to look for the Tomb tonight.

[Peregrine]

It might be out of print, but you may be able to find it somewhere. I didn't start with The Tomb but was able to pick it up later at a used bookstore.

[finketr]

The book is Excellent, I read it on my plane flight from Utah to Fayetteville.....If you haven't read the Conclave series through the end, this may confuse you a bit

referring to "Flight of the Nighthawks":

It felt like a much better book than did the entire Conclave series.

I read it over a period of 2 days or so during my vacation at the beginning of july.

[biological warrior]

Is anyone reading any Foreign Policy history books? Im very interested in US Foreign policy during the 1890-1920 period.

[Groundhog]

Finished The Lost Kingdom (http://www.amazon.com/Last-Kingdom-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0060887184/sr=8-7/qid=1157950772/ref=pd_bbs_7/104-2622537-8485502?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Bernard Cornwell last week, and picked up the sequel, The Pale Horseman (http://www.amazon.com/Pale-Horseman-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0060787120/sr=8-2/qid=1157950772/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2622537-8485502?ie=UTF8&s=books), today and flew through 50-odd pages during my lunch break. Real good stuff. I hadn't heard of Cornwell and his historical fiction until my girlfriend lent me Last Kingdom and it's proved very tough to put down.

It's set in the time of Alfred the Great and the Danes/Vikings invasion of England during the 9th century, from the point of view of a young warrior born in the kingdom of Northumbria, raised by Vikings, and then fighting for the Saxons.

As soon as I'm done with book two (book three is due out by the end of the year I believe), I intend on reading his medieval trilogy as well as his American Civil War series.

[finketr]

so, just reread "Adventures of Conrad Stargard" books 1-3, 5-6. I've lost book 4 somewhere or it was in such disrepair that it got tossed in the trash.

Re-reading Bridge in the Menagerie series.

Anyone got some good recommendations?

My likes: Sci-fi/fantasy, mystery, Grisham, Clancy novels.

thanks,

tim

[FrogMan]

Anyone got some good recommendations?

My likes: Sci-fi/fantasy, mystery, Grisham, Clancy novels.


Tim, if you like Grisham, I'd recommend something by Joseph Finder. I'm currently reading Company Man (http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?Nsl=%2D74322&Ix=1&R=0312319169B&Rt=6) and find it to be a good page turner with good characters and good writing in general. He is also the author of High Crimes (http://www.amazon.com/High-Crimes-Joseph-Finder/dp/038072880X/sr=8-3/qid=1158000250/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-1625438-6944656?ie=UTF8&s=books) that later was made into the movie of the same name with Ashley Judd, James Caviezel and Morgan Freeman. I plan on getting his previous book, Paranoia (http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?Nsl=%2D74322&Ix=5&R=0312319142B&Rt=6) whenever I order some more books from bookcloseouts.com (http://www.bookcloseouts.com/). It has received some very good reviews.

FM

[ntndeacon]

Finished The Lost Kingdom (http://www.amazon.com/Last-Kingdom-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0060887184/sr=8-7/qid=1157950772/ref=pd_bbs_7/104-2622537-8485502?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Bernard Cornwell last week, and picked up the sequel, The Pale Horseman (http://www.amazon.com/Pale-Horseman-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0060787120/sr=8-2/qid=1157950772/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2622537-8485502?ie=UTF8&s=books), today and flew through 50-odd pages during my lunch break. Real good stuff. I hadn't heard of Cornwell and his historical fiction until my girlfriend lent me Last Kingdom and it's proved very tough to put down.

It's set in the time of Alfred the Great and the Danes/Vikings invasion of England during the 9th century, from the point of view of a young warrior born in the kingdom of Northumbria, raised by Vikings, and then fighting for the Saxons.

As soon as I'm done with book two (book three is due out by the end of the year I believe), I intend on reading his medieval trilogy as well as his American Civil War series.

If you like Historical Fiction I just finished reading Iain Pairs An Instance at the Fingerpost. It was great. Basically a mystery based in post Civil War England. It is told from 4 different vantage points. Also A couple of others worth reading by Margaret George, Mary, called Magdelene and Mary, Queen of Scots. Both of those were good books as well.

[Wolfpack]

Finished up my Summer reading the rest of the American Empire series by Turtledove, Weapons of Choice by John Birmingham, and Prayers for the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno. Be feeling in quite an "alternate history/dark future" mood, obviously.

All were pretty good, though I'm going to hold off on Turtledove's alt-WWII books in the Southern Victory timeline until he finishes the series next year.

[sachmo71]

Quite some time ago, I finished The Shiva Option (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product//074347144X/ref=cm_rv_thx_view/102-9477560-6677764?ie=UTF8) by David Weber.

If you love space combat, you love Weber. This book is a wrapup of the war against the bugs, and thankfully, the book has an ending. That sounds like something you would expect, but about halfway through, you may begin to wonder if the book will ever end.

I get that Weber wants the reader to know that this war was a kill or be killed struggle. A war of extermination. Only one can survive. I just think he could have wrapped it up a little quicker, or if that weren't possible, he could have shifted the focus around a bit. Tell me a story about something that brought some more life to the story. As it was, there was a lot of hardship and pain, and then it ended. I felt it was a bit hollow on the storytelling and more like an account of trench warfare in space. If too much space combat were possible, this book would be the shining example.

Still, Weber continues to be the master of the space opera. In this case, I think it went on too long.

[the_meanstrosity]

I love Frankowski's Stargard series. The later books aren't nearly as good as the early novels simply because they move away from Conrad to other characters. Still a fun read.

so, just reread "Adventures of Conrad Stargard" books 1-3, 5-6. I've lost book 4 somewhere or it was in such disrepair that it got tossed in the trash.
tim

[sachmo71]

Next up is Ancient Shores by Jack McDevitt (http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Shores-Jack-McDevitt/dp/0061054267/sr=8-1/qid=1161179790/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5022909-8140711?ie=UTF8)

On a farm in North Dakota, a man and his son dig up a perfectly preserved boat they find out on their land. When word of their find gets out, humans come to grips with the fact that they are not alone...

Reading this book was a pleasure. McDevitt is an entertaining author, and I quickly entered can't-put-it-down mode. He is skilled at focusing on his characters and the main plot, then pulling back to reveal the effects of the story on the world at large; in this he reminded me a bit of Stephen King. The story itself was sort of a sci-fi first contact\mystery\suspense hybrid and came off very well. The main characters were all very human, which was good because he let them create much of the situation that they found themselves in, although he let humans act as they are likely to when presented with something that scares them.
He presented the science in a very simple way, so I don't think anyone would have a hard time following along.

I'm glad I found McDevitt. This is an author that I very much look forward to reading more from.

[sachmo71]

I've been remiss, so it's time to play catch up>

************************************************************

Eternity Road (http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Road-Jack-McDevitt/dp/0061054275/sr=1-1/qid=1167447257/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-1023834-3849565?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Jack McDevitt

In the future, a group of people seek out a mythical sanctuary known as Haven, which is a site that supposedly holds the secrets of the Roadmakers, a vanished race of people who created great highways and buildings and all manner of strange devices but who disappeared for reasons unknown.

This was a wonderful book. As I've stated before, I was an instant McDevitt fan, but adding in the post apocolyptic element really sealed the deal for me. He was able to mix in enough mystery of teh everyday and present it to the user in the way it would look to Chaka and her people, helping to add mystery to the story.

The characters came alive for me, which is something I think McDevitt does very well in his stories. I was gratified to discover that my attempts to think ahead about how the characters would react were thwarted a number of times.

The conclusion was a little bit of a let down; I found myself hoping that things would turn out a bit more sunny, but that isn't really his style. Either way, it was a great time and helped me fall even more into McDevitt fandom.



*****************************************************************

Polaris (http://www.amazon.com/Polaris-Jack-McDevitt/dp/0441012531/sr=1-2/qid=1167447865/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-1023834-3849565?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Jack McDevitt


Sixty years in the past, a crew of scientists were on hand to witness two stars colliding and taking a solar system with it. On the way home, something goes awry and the entire crew disappears. Polaris is recovered empty, sparking a galaxy wide mystery that puts the ship up with the Titanic in legendary status. Collector\Antiquities Dealer Alex Benedict is offered a chance to own some of the collection from Polaris, but mysterious things begin to happen to him as he tries to uncover what happened to the crew.

This book was a bit different from the other McDevitt books I've read as it is basically a mystery. Think hard sci-fi mystery and you'll get it. Normally, I'm not really into mystery novels, but it's the writing that kept me interested. The main characters, of whom Alex is apparently a return character, are as interesting as any in McDevitt novels. The story is well crafted, with me again guessing wrong on a number of occasions as to where the story was going. In the end, I had a general idea about what happened, but I didn't really catch on until the last few chapters.

Fans of sci-fi should not pass this book up. It's a wonderful read.


*********************************************************************
Those Who Walk In Darkness (http://www.amazon.com/Those-Walk-Darkness-John-Ridley/dp/0446612022/sr=1-2/qid=1167448406/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-1023834-3849565?ie=UTF8&s=books) by John Ridley


Soledad O'Roark is an MTAC cop in LA. MTAC is the anti-mutant squad who's main job is to take down super-powered citizens of the United States, where it is a crime to exist with superpowers.

You may recognize the name of the author...I found out that he was writer of the movie U-Turn. Not quite what you might expect, but this is a really great read. Once you get past Soledad's sociopathic view of the world, and the surprisingly complicated reasons for he hatred of superpowers, she is a pretty interesting character.

While the main plot is not exactly original, it is still tense and gripping. Everything leads up to the final confrontation between O'Roark and the ultimate baddy, and the confrontation is a page turner.

This book paints a very fast, brutal picture of one of the age old questions in superheroic universes...how does the average joe deal with superheroes. Ridley spins it to the dark side, and it's a very good ride.

*******************************************************************

What Fire Cannot Burn (http://www.amazon.com/What-Fire-Cannot-Burn-Ridley/dp/0446612030/sr=1-1/qid=1167449014/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-1023834-3849565?ie=UTF8&s=books) by John Ridley.

This is a sequel to Those Who Walk in Darkness. O'Roark and Eddi Aoki are partners in MTAC, and they have to find out who is killing supers in LA.

The sequel doesn't read as well as the first book...it feels like Ridley lost a bit of the edginess that he had in the first book. The focus is more on the relationship between Soledad and her partners, while the plot line sort of just appears in the middle of this dynamic. It feels a little forced, which was disappointing.

There is a huge plot twist in the book, which was very surprising, but it doesn't really save the book from a jumbled story and a pedestrian conclusion. I would recommend reading this one of you liked Those Who Walk in Darkness, but expect a bit of a letdown.


*****************************************************************

Fitzpatrick's War (http://www.amazon.com/Fitzpatricks-War-Daw-Science-Fiction/dp/0756402719/ref=ed_oe_p/104-1023834-3849565) by Theodore Judson


In the 26th century, a man conquered the world. He was known as Fitzpatrick the Younger, and the book is an account of his life and death by one of his trusted advisers, Robert Mayfair Bruce.

I was really looking forward to reading this book for quite some time. It sounded like an intriguing universe, with interesting technology and of course, battles.

This book was something quite different. It was wordy, the universe was silly, and the plot creaked along with plenty of bumps and stutters.

First, the universe. That's the selling point for post-apocalyptic fiction. This one was just dumb. Basically, a stalwart collection of farms becomes the Yukon Confederacy. As the United States begins to fall, the Yukons figure out how to create a weapon that neutralizes all electronic and electric devices. Eventually, plague and sin bring the US down, and the Yukons move in and become the dominant power in the world. This had some promise, but the rise of these Yukons is just sort of shoved in there. How did they get so technologically advanced? Why did the US fall under the sway of gangs and a brutal dictator without doing anything about it? All questions that should have answers in fiction like this, yet we are treated to this backstory in a few pages with a cheap plot device...while in school, Robert Bruce is given an oral history exam. In it, he recounts these events, and how the Yukons rose to power. Also, for some odd reason, most of the world is divided up with 17th century geographical references. All it did was cause me to scratch my head and consider putting the book down.

So, the universe isn't perfect. Unfortunately, neither is the subject of the book...Fitzpatrick the Younger. He wants to conquer the world, and he wants to be famous. His main goal is to create a unified world. He fancies himself a new Alexander, and is constantly comparing himself to him. It just sort of seems goofy in the book. A man running the most powerful society in the world, a society that is based on a representative-feudal system of government, would be allowed to run off and declare war on the rest of the world seems quite simplistic to me.

The war itself was less than spectacular. The enemies of the Yukon stand around and make every mistake in the book and allow themselves to be slaughtered wholesale. Apparently, no one in either "the Chinese Empire" or the "Turkish Empire" was capable of adapting to a changing situation, so they lost and lost quickly. For example, in the main fighting with the Chinese, 20 MILLION soldiers are killed...in 29 days. This was so beyond belief, I had to check and make sure I wasn't reading a Survivalist novel.

I could go on, but I'll spare the space. This was not a very good book at all and I can't think of a reason someone should read this.

[Peregrine]

For some reason I just can't get into McDevitt's books, I tried to read a couple of them and his writing style just rubs me the wrong way.

[biological warrior]

I just finished Nathaniel Fick's ''One Bullet Away.'' Its the memoir of a Marine Corps Infantry Officer during his deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fick gives important lessons on leadership and criticism of weak and incompetent company grade officers within his battalion. His book also shows the disillusionment of idealism of youth involved in the global war on terror. Overall, a pretty good and fast paced read.

[sachmo71]

For some reason I just can't get into McDevitt's books, I tried to read a couple of them and his writing style just rubs me the wrong way.

That's interesting. Which book did you try? I found Polaris to be almost a totally different experience than Eternity Road.

[sachmo71]

Aftermath by Charles Sheffield (http://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Charles-Sheffield/dp/0553577387/ref=cm_cr-mr-title/002-0054673-8415221)

This was an interesting book following a few groups of people in the wake of Alpha Centuari going supernova. The year is 2026, and the supernova causes mass chaos on the earth. The added heat of the star causes the weather patterns of the earth to change, which causes havoc all over, especially in the southern hemisphere. When the ion storm hits the earth, all microchip based technology is wiped out, reducing the most powerful countries on the earth to early 20th century levels.

The main groups in the book are three cancer patients who suddenly find themselves without treatment, the president of the us and his entourage, and a group of astronauts on the way back to earth from Mars.

The story moves along well, with the most interesting group being the cancer patients, who find that their only salvation is from the hands of a convict. Everything else blends in well. The science is believable, even if it is a bit of a perfect storm scenario.

My biggest gripe about the book is that the ending is very sudden. Things are moving along very well, and then it just ends. Everything is resolved in a page or two. Left me wanting.

Overall, it's a fun read. Give it a whirl.

[Peregrine]

My review of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. Excellent read or listen.

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?p=1397161#post1397161

[MacroGuru]

I had to bring this thread back from the dead.

I just finished Across The Nightingale Floor by Lian Hern (http://www.amazon.com/Across-Nightingale-Floor-Tales-Otori/dp/1573223328/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216827879&sr=8-4)

I normally am a pure fantasy nut but every once in a while I stray to something else (Clancy, Card, Barker, etc) but I am a member of SFBC and based upon members reviews I grabbed books 1 - 3.

I could not put the book down, it was a great Japanese Warlord type story with a Crouching Tiger flair.

The second book in the series is just as good as I am already half way through there.

I give it an 8 out 10

[Buccaneer]

I read so many books that it would be hard for me keep up a list. But I feel compelled to list a couple of books from two of my very favorite authors:

Amazon.com: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir: Bill Bryson: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Thunderbolt-Kid-Memoir/dp/0767919378/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219535897&sr=1-1)

I really love Bill Bryson and his sometimes exaggerated descriptions of growing up in the 50s and early 60s in Des Moines are perhaps the funniest things I have ever read. Every page is a laugh out loud moment, which is saying a lot for me.

Amazon.com: A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World: Tony Horwitz: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Long-Strange-Rediscovering-World/dp/0805076034/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219536086&sr=1-1)

Tony Horwitz is perhaps my favorite writer, being a historian and a travel writer, my top 2 favorite subjects. He's the one that did Confederates in the Attic and he takes a similar style in following the histories and paths of the early North American explorers (from the Vikings to Plymouth).

WSUCougar mentioned my favorite historical novelist, Jeff Shaara, and I agree completely with his views on Rise to Rebellion (plsu his sequel The Glorious Cause). I picked up his two WW2 novels written in the same vain The Steel Wave and The Rising Tide and will be getting to those soon.

[sachmo71]

hey I remember this!

[sachmo71]

if anyone is interested in free scifi\fantasy ebooks, they have a good listing almost every day at SF Signal (http://www.sfsignal.com/).