What are we reading?

[Greybriar]

I am currently reading The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley. It is the second book in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series.

[Martok]

Still merrily chugging through the X-Wing series.  Just started Book 8, Isard's Revenge.  :) 

I am currently reading The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley. It is the second book in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series.

How many books total, Greybriar?  Is the series finished? 

[Greybriar]

Only two so far, Martok. According to this, the third book in the series is scheduled to be released in January 2016.

[JasonPratt]

Great name for the series, though... unhewn throne.  O0

[Toonces]

As usual I'm trucking through a couple of books.  On the non-fiction front I'm working my way through The Guns at Last Light by Atkinson, and just started High Tide at Gettysburg by Tucker.  I'm not grooving on the Gettysburg book, though, so if it doesn't pick up I'm going to move on.  I have plenty of unread Civil War books to get through.

I also just started reading Unfinished Tales by Tolkien that I found in a used book store Friday.  So far I'm enjoying it.  I was searching for some of the fantasy books you guys mentioned and came across a book called The Seer King by Chris Bunch that sounds good so I just borrowed that and The Children of Hurin by Tokien for my Kindle.

That should all keep me busy for a while!   

[Gusington]

Just finished The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook...absolutely terrible. I skimmed the last 2/3 of it and never, not for one page, did I have the vaguest idea what is going on. The universe was interesting by totally unexplained and undefined. It was like I was just supposed to understand a billion aeons of history for 1000 different cultures, condensed into 300 pages. Meh.

I really hope Marko Kloos' Terms of Enlistment can rekindle my interest in military space sci-fi.

[OJsDad]

Dies he Fire by S. M. Stirling

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

In all your books, the butler did it.

I'm reading
"Is the American Century Over?" Joseph S. Nye Jr.

I spotted it from the link to his talk in another thread. It's either very short or very interesting. I'm half through in no time, Quite a bit is on the Russia situation.

[Gusington]

What does he have to say about the Russia situation?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

What does he have to say about the Russia situation?

A sample paragraph:

  Declining powers like the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires in 1914 can prove highly disruptive in the international system. Putin's Russia lacks a strategy for long-term recovery and reacts opportunistically (and sometimes successfully in the short run) to domestic insecurity, perceived external threats, and the weakness of neighbors. Russia thus becomes a revisionist spoiler of the status quo seeking to become a catalyst for other revisionist powers which chafe at American pre-eminence. But an ideology of anti-liberalism and Russian nationalism is a poor source of soft power. Rather than having a universal appeal beyond Russia's borders, it tends to be self-limiting by creating mistrust. Thus the prospects for Russian plans for a Eurasian Union to compete with the European Union are limited.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

This is the first strategy type book that I think I will finish in 3 or 4 days. Usually I have to cogitate on sections, making the book last a while. This book goes down like milkshake, where you are straining at the straw that governs your intake.

[Gusington]

Interesting...what are some of the other chapters about?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

There are 6 chapters, the 7th is a conclusion. The breakdown is how did we get here, is America in decline [no], new challengers [to regional dominance], the rise of China [reading now], comparison to Rome, power shifts/ global complexity, conclusion. About 150 pages.

I expect anyone going to his talk on the 2nd will get the book in coles notes speech format.

[Airborne Rifles]

Dies he Fire by S. M. Stirling

I've eyeballed this one. What are your thoughts?

[Gusington]

Interested to hear about the Rome comparison, Biggs. And. If the author has a timetable for the next 25, 50, 75 years etc.