What are we reading?

Started by Martok, March 05, 2012, 01:13:59 PM

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Shelldrake

Quote from: Bison on February 10, 2013, 02:26:42 AM
Finished The Forever War.  It was ok.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but whatever it was I'm pretty sure I didn't get it.  Overall I felt pretty meh about it.

Have you read Old Man's War by John Scalzi? You might like it more than The Forever War.
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

Bison

Looks interesting.  I've put it on the Amazon list for a future Kindle purchase.

Gusington

^Sounds like you felt the same way about The Forever War as I did about Neuromancer.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Staggerwing

Quote from: Shelldrake on February 10, 2013, 10:05:38 AM
Quote from: Bison on February 10, 2013, 02:26:42 AM
Finished The Forever War.  It was ok.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but whatever it was I'm pretty sure I didn't get it.  Overall I felt pretty meh about it.

Have you read Old Man's War by John Scalzi? You might like it more than The Forever War.

^ +1 on Old Man's War. It was heavily influenced by Forever War but I think Shell is right in that it might be a little more up your alley as it was also influenced by Starship Troopers. The author makes no bones about this either, a point in his favor. Also, if you like it there are sequels- another plus.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Martok

Am now a fair ways into Poul Anderson's Boat of a Million Years.  It's proven to be a surprisingly good read so far (not that I was expecting rubbish, but it's still better than I was anticipating). 
"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

Staggerwing

Boat of a Million Years is a terrific book. It stuck with me for a long time. Poul Anderson has written a number of great books involving a mix of Scifi, History, and Myth. The Shield of Time series is a connected collection of historical What ifs. They involve a kind of temporal Interpol that had to keep policing the historical time-line after time travel gets into the hands of terrorists and profiteers. Three of the best novellas in that collection are Delenda Est, Star of the Sea, and The Sorrows of Odin the Goth. AFAIK you can get them all in various compilations.

Anderson has also written historical retellings of some of the Viking Sagas as well as mythological fantasies such as The King of Ys (a mix of Celtic myths and early Christianity) and War of the Gods which superimposes the Aesir-Vanir War over the tale of King Hadding (Hadingus) of Denmark
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Toonces

I'm kind of in a reading slump right now.

I'm struggling with the third book in the Fire and Sword trilogy called Pan Michael.  It is really dragging.  From what I understand it picks up about halfway through, but when you're talking about a 1000 page book that's a lot of buy-in before the payoff.  At any rate, I just feel compelled to finish this series. 

I'm also reading Mr. Lincoln's Army by Bruce Catton having just finished his Civil War trilogy.  I like the way he writes, but McClellan really annoys me and I'm boring of reading about him in a big way.  Also, this book retreads a lot of ground the trilogy covered.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

Shelldrake

Quote from: Martok on February 10, 2013, 11:49:38 AM
Am now a fair ways into Poul Anderson's Boat of a Million Years.  It's proven to be a surprisingly good read so far (not that I was expecting rubbish, but it's still better than I was anticipating).

Poul Anderson has always been a favorite of mine since I first read The Broken Sword as a teenager. The High Crusade, also by Anderson, is a fun romp even if it isn't very deep.
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

Greybriar

I just finished Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. I will start reading NYPD Red by James Patterson next.
Regardless of how good a PC game may be it will always have its detractors and no matter how bad a PC game may be it will always have its fans.

OJsDad

Has anyone read the Age of..  books by James Lovegrove.  I don't think they are series, but individual books written along the same lines. 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/age-of-ra-james-lovegrove/1101073863?ean=9781844167470
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

Martok

Quote from: Staggerwing on February 10, 2013, 02:09:52 PM
Boat of a Million Years is a terrific book. It stuck with me for a long time. Poul Anderson has written a number of great books involving a mix of Scifi, History, and Myth. The Shield of Time series is a connected collection of historical What ifs. They involve a kind of temporal Interpol that had to keep policing the historical time-line after time travel gets into the hands of terrorists and profiteers. Three of the best novellas in that collection are Delenda Est, Star of the Sea, and The Sorrows of Odin the Goth. AFAIK you can get them all in various compilations.

Anderson has also written historical retellings of some of the Viking Sagas as well as mythological fantasies such as The King of Ys (a mix of Celtic myths and early Christianity) and War of the Gods which superimposes the Aesir-Vanir War over the tale of King Hadding (Hadingus) of Denmark
Quote from: Shelldrake on February 11, 2013, 07:53:27 AM
Poul Anderson has always been a favorite of mine since I first read The Broken Sword as a teenager. The High Crusade, also by Anderson, is a fun romp even if it isn't very deep.
Thanks for the recommendations, gents.  One of my friends owns most of Anderson's books (including the copy of Boat I'm currently reading), so I'll see about borrowing those other stories from her as well. 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

Shelldrake

Quote from: OJsDad on February 11, 2013, 12:52:11 PM
Has anyone read the Age of..  books by James Lovegrove.  I don't think they are series, but individual books written along the same lines. 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/age-of-ra-james-lovegrove/1101073863?ean=9781844167470

I recently read The Age of Odin. A bit slow at the start but once it got going I couldn't put it down!
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

Arctic Blast

Quote from: OJsDad on February 11, 2013, 12:52:11 PM
Has anyone read the Age of..  books by James Lovegrove.  I don't think they are series, but individual books written along the same lines. 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/age-of-ra-james-lovegrove/1101073863?ean=9781844167470

I read Age of Ra last year and quite liked it. Chapters alternated from the point of view of the humans involved and the Egyptian pantheon (who in this one had defeated the other gods). The various Egyptian Gods have their own nations of followers who are declaring wars and such based on the wills of their masters, but the Gods themselves are constantly squabbling with each other, too. His way of writing the dialogue of the Gods as being very profane and flawed and not as 'ethereal' as a lot of others usually do was something I really liked about it.

I've got Age of Zeus sitting on my 'to read' stack.

OJsDad

Quote from: Arctic Blast on February 11, 2013, 04:02:46 PM
Quote from: OJsDad on February 11, 2013, 12:52:11 PM
Has anyone read the Age of..  books by James Lovegrove.  I don't think they are series, but individual books written along the same lines. 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/age-of-ra-james-lovegrove/1101073863?ean=9781844167470

I read Age of Ra last year and quite liked it. Chapters alternated from the point of view of the humans involved and the Egyptian pantheon (who in this one had defeated the other gods). The various Egyptian Gods have their own nations of followers who are declaring wars and such based on the wills of their masters, but the Gods themselves are constantly squabbling with each other, too. His way of writing the dialogue of the Gods as being very profane and flawed and not as 'ethereal' as a lot of others usually do was something I really liked about it.

I've got Age of Zeus sitting on my 'to read' stack.

So, am I correct that these are all stand alone books.
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

Bison

Well I'm returning to ancient Rome and the adventures of Gordianus the Finder in Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series.  Good quick reading mystery novels.  Well A Gladiator Dies Only Once is a collection of short stories but they help flesh out the characters.