What are we reading?

[BanzaiCat]

And for the love of God, PLEASE don't read anything by Harry Turtledove. He has great ideas but develops characters in his stories like cardboard cut-outs in third-grader plays. His books are basically shiny Maaco paint jobs over a thoroughly rusted-through junker POS car - looks awesome at a distance, smells like cat vomit and old people farts close up. Ugh.

[MetalDog]

I'm with you on that, B_C.  The only Turtledove book I ever read was Guns of the South.  Upon finishing, I decided I wouldn't read another of Turtledove's books.  And I haven't.

[avrotim]

I've given up on Turtledove as well.  His series never end, and he keeps killing off characters for no reason.  The only book I liked was "Ruled Britannia", which, while very long, was at least just one book.

[avrotim]

Weber seems to be going the same route with the Honor Harrington series.  The first 3 books were fantastic, the next couple were good, but the rest have just gone steadily downhill. In one of those later books, the main character isnt even in it!

[Staggerwing]

Weber seems to be going the same route with the Honor Harrington series.  The first 3 books were fantastic, the next couple were good, but the rest have just gone steadily downhill. In one of those later books, the main character isnt even in it!

Weber had actually planned to kill off HH a few books back, letting some of the younger characters come to the forefront, but fan pressure made him keep her alive. Instead he spun off several divergent series that run concurrently with the main story line, one set in the Talbott Cluster and one following the emergence of the planet Torch and it's role in the slow breakup of the Solaria League Frontier. Both of them also focus heavily on the Mesan puppet-masters and their centuries-long machinations.

[avrotim]

he spun off several divergent series that run concurrently with the main story line, one set in the Talbott Cluster and one following the emergence of the planet Torch and it's role in the slow breakup of the Solaria League Frontier. Both of them also focus heavily on the Mesan puppet-masters and their centuries-long machinations.

Zzzzzzzzz 

[WallysWorld]

Finished reading Otto Carius' Tigers in the Mud and started Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Wanted to read that novella before I start on King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild.

[Gusington]

King Leopold's Ghost is fantastic! It will make you wince the next time anyone says 'poor little Belgium.'

[Martok]

I've dove into my annual re-reading of Asimov's Foundation series.  I'm always amazed (but pleased) by how easily it reads for me.   

I've given up on Turtledove as well.  His series never end, and he keeps killing off characters for no reason.  The only book I liked was "Ruled Britannia", which, while very long, was at least just one book.

I'm a big fan of Ruled Britannia as well.  I also enjoy In the Presence of Mine Enemies, even if it's not as fun or lighthearted a read (obviously, given the material it's dealing with).  I wonder if Turtledove does better with just standalone novels? 

[BanzaiCat]

One of the first Turtledove books I read was Guns of the South. I admit, I enjoyed it, even though it was hamfisted.

I will never, ever forgive him for wasting my time reading the four Worldwar series. I loved the premise and the first book was decent enough, but nothing really happened. None of the characters developed. I kept waiting for the storyline (very, VERY patiently, I might add) to start amping up but it slowly became apparent that I was reading a book about a painting that did nothing but sit there. None of his characters developed at all, grew, changed, or did anything other than be one-dimensional puppets.

I kept thinking, "there HAS to be something big coming up..." ...but no, nothing. By the end of Book 4 he'd killed off some of the main characters (which didn't matter since he never developed them and you never felt any connection to any of them) and I was in no mood to continue with the next series, Colonization. :(

I tried a few of his other series (starting with How Few Remain, and tried the one where the Japanese invade and conquer Hawaii), but it was just more of the goddamned same! Boring characters. I had these books as a child that I loved where you could punch out buildings that folded together to make 3D representations, like train stations and stuff like that; the punch-out people from those books had more character than Turtledove puts in his books.

If Turtledove does it for any of you...good for you! But me...no. Never again.

Plus his publishers are assh*les, which I know I've mentioned before.

[avrotim]

Yep.  I am still willing to read a stand-alone book of his, but I wont be sucked into another never-ending-series.  In fact I think I will go back and re-read Ruled Britannia.  Using Shakespeare as the main character in a treason plot is clever, and he actually does get to you care about him!

[mirth]

To Hell and Back: Europe, 1914-1949 by Ian Kershaw

[bob48]

Finished reading Otto Carius' Tigers in the Mud and started Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Wanted to read that novella before I start on King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild.

I've been meaning to get 'Tigers in the Mud' for a long time.

[airboy]

One of the first Turtledove books I read was Guns of the South. I admit, I enjoyed it, even though it was hamfisted.

I will never, ever forgive him for wasting my time reading the four Worldwar series. I loved the premise and the first book was decent enough, but nothing really happened. None of the characters developed. I kept waiting for the storyline (very, VERY patiently, I might add) to start amping up but it slowly became apparent that I was reading a book about a painting that did nothing but sit there. None of his characters developed at all, grew, changed, or did anything other than be one-dimensional puppets.

I kept thinking, "there HAS to be something big coming up..." ...but no, nothing. By the end of Book 4 he'd killed off some of the main characters (which didn't matter since he never developed them and you never felt any connection to any of them) and I was in no mood to continue with the next series, Colonization. :(

I tried a few of his other series (starting with How Few Remain, and tried the one where the Japanese invade and conquer Hawaii), but it was just more of the goddamned same! Boring characters. I had these books as a child that I loved where you could punch out buildings that folded together to make 3D representations, like train stations and stuff like that; the punch-out people from those books had more character than Turtledove puts in his books.

If Turtledove does it for any of you...good for you! But me...no. Never again.

Plus his publishers are assh*les, which I know I've mentioned before.

I'm good with Turtledove except the World War/Aliens one.  But I read books like that right before going to bed to help me sleep (no kidding).

Why the hate for Del Ray?

[airboy]

Turns out Larry's also a gamer nerd as well as an author and a gun nut.  Cool! 

http://monsterhunternation.com/

The audio books for the Monster Hunter and Grim Noire series are both better than the Dead Six books.  He has won multiple "audies" for the audio versions in these series.