Recreational Literary Endeavors
- Thread starter Luthorne
- Start date
Are we reading the same series? I didn't go past the third book simply because I just don't like the man's writing style but there seems to be a pretty wide range of intelligence and behavior.
Animorphs. Not out of enjoyment anymore, by now I'm old enough to see the flaws in them. I'm reading them because I'm fairly sure a basic question was never answered in the series. Where the hell did the Time Matrix come from?
Animorphs. Not out of enjoyment anymore, by now I'm old enough to see the flaws in them. I'm reading them because I'm fairly sure a basic question was never answered in the series. Where the hell did the Time Matrix come from?
Just finished reading all available titles in the "Bounty Hunter's Revenge". They are all pretty good, but annoyingly short.
Also re-read Starship Troopers recently, and was annoyed to realize that I wasn't mature enough to understand it when I first read it 14 years ago.
Anyone found any good "power armor" stories recently?
Also re-read Starship Troopers recently, and was annoyed to realize that I wasn't mature enough to understand it when I first read it 14 years ago.
Anyone found any good "power armor" stories recently?
You might want to be a bit more specific.
Did you like the Halo books or are you now looking for books with authors that
aren't like "travesty Traviss"?
How hard do you want your sfi fi?
If you wan't books on the same level as the Halo books then look at the other big sfi fi games like Old republic and Mass effect both have tie in novels.
Did you like the Halo books or are you now looking for books with authors that
aren't like "travesty Traviss"?
How hard do you want your sfi fi?
If you wan't books on the same level as the Halo books then look at the other big sfi fi games like Old republic and Mass effect both have tie in novels.
David Weber has a series that starts with 'March Upcountry' and has 4 books so far. Its more survivors on a death-planet, but the last book has some space combat. Its really well written and deals a lot with character development.
The 'Gaunts Ghosts' series of Warhammer 40K novels by Dan Abnett are also really good, regardless of how you feel about the universe in general.
There are individual novels here and there, but I'm having a hard time remembering specific titles.
The 'Gaunts Ghosts' series of Warhammer 40K novels by Dan Abnett are also really good, regardless of how you feel about the universe in general.
There are individual novels here and there, but I'm having a hard time remembering specific titles.
March Upcountry (Empire of Man series) will probably never be finished. The authors have about said as much.
However, David Webber's most popular work Honor Harrington is on-going. He has also written some lesser known novels based on a table top game. They are very dense because each book is basically trying to cover an entire military campaign, so you may or may not like it, but look up Crusade and see if you do.
David Drake's RCN is similar to Honor Harrington and in fact inspired from a short story Drake wrote in Honorverse. I personally tend to consider Drake the pre-eminent active MilSF author, although RCN is a bit lighter than his usual stuff and channels Aubrey/Maturin perhaps a bit too hard in use of language and <s>world</s> galaxy building. Drake is better known for his tank based MilSF series Hammer's Slammers about a mercenary battalion including tank officers. It can get pretty dark. Not in the GRRM "I'm going to revel in perversity and rub it in your face" kind of way, but more like in the "I'm writing these books as my own personal therapy after having served as an intelligence operative in Vietnam."
A new book in the Vorkosigan saga also just came out. If you don't know about that series yet, I'd suggest making it top priority. Probably the best space opera series being published today.
However, David Webber's most popular work Honor Harrington is on-going. He has also written some lesser known novels based on a table top game. They are very dense because each book is basically trying to cover an entire military campaign, so you may or may not like it, but look up Crusade and see if you do.
David Drake's RCN is similar to Honor Harrington and in fact inspired from a short story Drake wrote in Honorverse. I personally tend to consider Drake the pre-eminent active MilSF author, although RCN is a bit lighter than his usual stuff and channels Aubrey/Maturin perhaps a bit too hard in use of language and <s>world</s> galaxy building. Drake is better known for his tank based MilSF series Hammer's Slammers about a mercenary battalion including tank officers. It can get pretty dark. Not in the GRRM "I'm going to revel in perversity and rub it in your face" kind of way, but more like in the "I'm writing these books as my own personal therapy after having served as an intelligence operative in Vietnam."
A new book in the Vorkosigan saga also just came out. If you don't know about that series yet, I'd suggest making it top priority. Probably the best space opera series being published today.
Laundry Files, The Apocalypse Codex.
It starts out well. People moving up, getting organizations prepared for the hell that they're pretty sure is coming in a few years time
But, sad to say, this feels like the least professional of them (in universe that is). I can't figure out why Howard doesn't make contact with superiors when it's incredibly clear that he can. His conversation with Pete feels forced (in fact Pete feels forced) and could have been handled in many different (safer) ways. When they know they have an imminent disaster they don't do the smart thing and call for the OPG (Official People with Guns? ) ASAP.
A minor Lovecraft note, it's weird that people seem to be so freaked out about Nyarlathotep. Lovecraft and his successors depicted the thing as something that was already awake and walking about as the ultimate Lovecraftian troll. I could understand being freaked out about some of the others, but why did Stross insist on this one being the nightmare scenario?
And from the outside, no Mormon is exactly going to appreciate being called not really Christian. Persephone feels uncomfortably close to being a Sue. If more of the story were devoted to her I think she would cross that line. And I really have to note that Stross seems to go out of his way to make the Chamber and its Americans evil. Mind giving an explanation for how the Laundry and its associates ended up so squeaky clean for the setting while the American counterpart makes the Abyss look into them and go Jesus, Mr. Stross?
It varies. And sometimes the stupidity is justified.
The series in general has a serious problem though. It's clear that the two big, world shaking things are going to be Dany and her dragons and the Walkers. Unfortunately it's written so that the majority of attention is given to the civil war and so the audience doesn't care as much about Dany or the Walkers. What we've got is the interesting story that has far less importance ultimately and two less interesting stories that are going to be important but for now really are just people standing around, saying things and occasionally getting killed.
It starts out well. People moving up, getting organizations prepared for the hell that they're pretty sure is coming in a few years time
But, sad to say, this feels like the least professional of them (in universe that is). I can't figure out why Howard doesn't make contact with superiors when it's incredibly clear that he can. His conversation with Pete feels forced (in fact Pete feels forced) and could have been handled in many different (safer) ways. When they know they have an imminent disaster they don't do the smart thing and call for the OPG (Official People with Guns? ) ASAP.
A minor Lovecraft note, it's weird that people seem to be so freaked out about Nyarlathotep. Lovecraft and his successors depicted the thing as something that was already awake and walking about as the ultimate Lovecraftian troll. I could understand being freaked out about some of the others, but why did Stross insist on this one being the nightmare scenario?
And from the outside, no Mormon is exactly going to appreciate being called not really Christian. Persephone feels uncomfortably close to being a Sue. If more of the story were devoted to her I think she would cross that line. And I really have to note that Stross seems to go out of his way to make the Chamber and its Americans evil. Mind giving an explanation for how the Laundry and its associates ended up so squeaky clean for the setting while the American counterpart makes the Abyss look into them and go Jesus, Mr. Stross?
It varies. And sometimes the stupidity is justified.
The series in general has a serious problem though. It's clear that the two big, world shaking things are going to be Dany and her dragons and the Walkers. Unfortunately it's written so that the majority of attention is given to the civil war and so the audience doesn't care as much about Dany or the Walkers. What we've got is the interesting story that has far less importance ultimately and two less interesting stories that are going to be important but for now really are just people standing around, saying things and occasionally getting killed.
I'll second this endorsement of Vorkosigan Saga, it's well written and good fun. Little known fact, it started out as Star Trek Fanfic with the Barrayarans and Beta Colony replacing the Klingons and Federation respectively. It's long since outgrown those roots though and is just plain good reading I find.
Have to agree with that for the most part. Didn't like some parts of the earlier books but the later ones just got boring.
Reread my old Dragonlance (pre-Summer Flame) books. The parts where the gods were supposed to be so wise and great felt like the weakest part when I was a kid and looking at them now I can say this: Paladine and his lot are a bunch of unsympathetic, idiotic, self righteous bastards and the story can't even come up with a consistent* (let alone intelligent) reason why they decided to torch the continent and then abandon the people on it. And Weiss, where the hell do you get the idea that we're supposed to see the Kingpriest's problem was that he was too 'good'? I'd say it's more like 'crazy' or 'lawful evil'.
*The various books have 'it was the Kingpriest's fault' 'the world needed to be prepared for Takhisis' and 'there isn't any known answer'. Considering that the people in the time of Vimas and Huma didn't need cities blown up to fight Takhisis I'd say Paladine was just angry that his wife said 'not tonight, I have a headache'.
Reread my old Dragonlance (pre-Summer Flame) books. The parts where the gods were supposed to be so wise and great felt like the weakest part when I was a kid and looking at them now I can say this: Paladine and his lot are a bunch of unsympathetic, idiotic, self righteous bastards and the story can't even come up with a consistent* (let alone intelligent) reason why they decided to torch the continent and then abandon the people on it. And Weiss, where the hell do you get the idea that we're supposed to see the Kingpriest's problem was that he was too 'good'? I'd say it's more like 'crazy' or 'lawful evil'.
*The various books have 'it was the Kingpriest's fault' 'the world needed to be prepared for Takhisis' and 'there isn't any known answer'. Considering that the people in the time of Vimas and Huma didn't need cities blown up to fight Takhisis I'd say Paladine was just angry that his wife said 'not tonight, I have a headache'.