Which book are you reading now? Volume XIV

[Paul in Saudi]

That new history of Lincoln's Second Inaugural, Every Drop of Blood. The author takes a short snappy story and makes in long with too many excursions.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Just started Blood of Victory by Alan Furst (2002). I've read several of Furst's novels, and they all have such generic titles that I can't ever remember which ones I've read (Dark Voyage; Kingdom of Shadows; Night Soldiers - they all sound like they came out of an espionage-thriller name generator ). Pretty sure I haven't read this one yet, though, the first couple-dozen pages don't seem familiar.

 

[Ajidica]

Read an omnibus collection of two David Weber and John Ringo novels, March Upcountry and March to the Sea. The first novel, March Upcountry, did a good job setting up convincing strengths and limitations for space marines operating without support -apart from a handful of alien natives- in a barbaric and savage jungle world. For example, the overpowering strength of their power armor and plasma guns was balanced out by the intense humidity, temperature, and unique types of fungus on the planet ate away at the power conductors on the armor and guns, limited the number of times they could be used. One part I found quite funny was when the main character said he had never been interested in archaic warfare and tactics - a nice change of pace from other military sci-fi where the authors use their main character to expound for pages and pages on Alexander the Great and Roman Legions.
Unfortunately, the second book decides all the setup in the previous book about the aliens unique physiology to the jungle world -including mucus covered skin which was a severe impediment to wearing armor- was getting in the way so the aliens ended up living like Renaissance Europeans with green skin and no problems wearing armor, and it devolved into fairly mediocre military sci-fi, with a handful of space marines using their superior technology to lead primitive allies against frankly ridiculous number of enemies (this was a problem in the first book but it wasn't as bad as the space marines had more of their advanced weaponry and it lead to a fun battle) and giving them all new military technology without the slightest concern of how the local societies will be affected. The second book also started going into way too much detail in political plots carried out by the aliens -we all know the problems will be resolved without much fuss because the authors gave the friendly aliens problems they have to unify against or be slaughtered- and too much focus on the alien characters, which made them less alien and made them feel like green humans.
(I will say I got some enjoyment out of the aliens in the first book, 10+ ft tall green skinned aliens with four arms and tusks living as savage yet noble barbarians with names such Radj Hoomas? Sounds like like both authors had a passing familiarity with the Green Martians from the John Carter of Mars series!)

First book was fun, but given how quickly the second went downhill I can't recommend it the series (admittedly the last half of the first book started going downhill, but not as fast). Jerry Pournelle's King David's Spaceship did a far better job with this style of military sci-fi in a few hundred pages and not over a thousand pages.
No list of human characters and their military structure was a big problem in keeping track of characters. The later half of the first book and the entirety of the second book also got rid of what was one of the best parts of the book so far, a strong ensemble cast of the supporting space marine grunts who were surprisingly well written. Instead of looking at those characters -which included my favorite, a vulgar gay Korean plasma gunner- those characters dropped off the map and were replaced by a rather dull collection of Serious Yet Caring Officers and Unconventional Soldier Kept For His Technical Skill with an obligatory Tough Girl Soldier Who Falls For Main Character.

I'd rate it 2/5. It kept me entertained and there was no terrible sex scenes or awkward accidental racism, and author soapboxing was kept to a minimum, but not particularly good.

Any recommendations for good military sci-fi, preferably with a focus on battles involving big starships?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

@Ajidica
I like the Ark Royal trilogy. Looking it up now, it seems that he wrote more books in the same universe but I've only read the trilogy.

https://www.amazon.com/Ark-Royal-Mr-Christopher-Nuttall/dp/1502885689

 

[EnglishEdward]

Yesterday I finished reading:

Earth, Air, Fire and Custard

by

Tom Holt

which is a

brilliantly funny

according to the Mail on Sunday.

 

[IglooDame]

Any recommendations for good military sci-fi, preferably with a focus on battles involving big starships?

It's one of my favorite realms.

So, David Weber's much more well-known Honor Harrington series?

Also Jack Campbell (Lost Fleet, starts with "Dauntless"), and Joshua Dalzelle (Black Fleet, starts with "Warship").

 

[PhroX]

Military sci-fi is something I enjoy when I can find good examples, but have a lot of trouble doing so. You're basically reduced to either trawling through hundreds of self published things on Amazon, where the average quality is about what you'd expect, or going to Baen books, which has a few gems, but some really questionable stuff as well (yeah, Watch on the Rhine is a thing....). So I'll second IglooDude's recommendations there, all worth reading, particularly Weber's Honorverse series (with the caveat that the most recent books have gone very downhill from the standards of his earlier stuff) but I don't have more than a couple of others to suggest. The Praxis (and the series which follows) by Walter Jon WIlliams was pretty good. There's a web serial I follow called Last Angel which I'd also recommend. The second "book", Ascension, in particular has some epic space battles.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

New Testament of the Bible, New Living Translation. The NLT takes a dynamic-equivalence approach, aiming for clarity of thought over literal translation. This includes the use of modern units of measurement, English poetic forms, simplified vocabulary, gender-inclusive language, and footnotes that explain the original text. Along with Psalms and Proverbs, th edition I read had a small glossary, topic index, and maps of Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Gospels tell the story of Jesus, followed by Acts of the Apostles and letters (mostly from Paul) that tell the early history and doctrine of the Christian Church. Revelation is the odd one out, a vision of the end times that is written very differently, e.g. focusing on the Chosen People over Gentile acceptance. Overall, the New Testament is an important text for understanding Christianity that can be repetitive and tolerates things like slavery. Good Lord, like how many times did it need to be said that slaves should obey their masters?

 

[EgonSpengler]

Any recommendations for good military sci-fi, preferably with a focus on battles involving big starships?

Also Jack Campbell (Lost Fleet, starts with "Dauntless")

The Praxis (and the series which follows) by Walter Jon WIlliams was pretty good.

+1 to both of these. I also liked Into the Black by Evan Currie (2012), which is the beginning of a 7-book series, so if it fires your engines you'll have a lot to read. For military sci-fi that's more about the infantry than the sailors, I recommend John Scalzi's Old Man's War and Marko Kloos' Terms of Enlistment.

 

[Ajidica]

Thanks for reminding me of Scalzi, I've heard good things about him. I'll have to check out the other guys.

As far as the Honor Harrington books, unfortunately I was sort-of friends with a guy in college who was so into them it put me off the books!

 

[Birdjaguar]

I recommend ...Marko Kloos' Terms of Enlistment.

His books were pretty good and there are several IIRC.

 

[abradley]

IMO this story deserves two youtubes.

https://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Love-German-Unlikely-Romance/dp/B07CNDDWT8

 

[EgonSpengler]

His books were pretty good and there are several IIRC.

Yes, Scalzi's "Old Man's War" series is 5 books and Kloos' "Frontlines" series is 6 books. I also liked Kloos' Aftershocks (2019), which is the start of a new series. Two of the classics - Heinlein's Starships Troopers (1959) and Haldeman's The Forever War (1974) - both hold up today, imo, if anyone hasn't read them yet.

 

[IglooDame]

Thanks for reminding me of Scalzi, I've heard good things about him. I'll have to check out the other guys.

As far as the Honor Harrington books, unfortunately I was sort-of friends with a guy in college who was so into them it put me off the books!

There's a lot of them to be into, it's a bit like Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

For a similar HoratioHornblower-esque series, try Thomas DePrima's 'Galaxy Unknown' run of twelve-plus books. Every once in a while it strays into less 'mature' and more 'adult' areas, too, which you may or may not appreciate (and might not even notice).

There's also the Star Force series by Aer-Ki Jyr that I'm reading via Amazon Kindle Unlimited (I note that because apparently it's a few bucks a book for a lot of relatively short books otherwise). It's got a fair amount of 'spaceship battles' in it, but there's a lot of worldbuilding at first.

Personally I like the really prolific authors, especially if they stay within a single literary universe.

 

[Paul in Saudi]

I have delayed until now starting my 2020 reading list. Here you go:



2020


1

Trump's Brain: An FBI Profile of Donald Trump: Predicting Trump's Actions and Presidency

I regret buying it.

2

Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

A fine story poorly told

3

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

Marvelous and thought provoking

4

The Downfall of Money: Germany's Hyperinflation and the Destruction of the Middle Class

Very important to understanding the interwar years.

5

Rachel Maddow: A Biography

I suppose it will have to do until a real biography comes along.

6

An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin's Master Agent

Wonderful. It reads like a novel.

7

The Infernal Library: On Dictators, the Books They Wrote, and Other Catastrophes of Literacy

Well-researched and thoughtful

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

With libraries closed I have undertaken to read Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea on Wikisource (1911 edition by Charles Horner). It's basically a travel adventure novel with the submarine Nautilus and its enigmatic skipper Captain Nemo. The main sci-fi advance is an electric submarine, really dating the novel to its 1870s publication date considering that wireless communication is nonexistent. The advanced submarine allows the viewpoint character Professor Aronnax to see mostly accurate depictions of undersea vistas and creatures. The writing emphasizes exposition and action over character development, as is the way with classic science fiction. There are inaccuracies such as a supposed underwater connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and the South Pole not being far from the Southern Ocean. Despite all that, it rightfully deserves its reputation as the quintessential underwater literary tale.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I just saw that Neil Gaiman is writing a sequel to Neverwhere, titled The Seven Sisters, due out in September. Hunh. Maybe I should re-read Neverwhere. I could re-read King Rat too, make it a double-feature. (China Mieville's King Rat, not James Clavell's King Rat.)

 

[Takhisis]

I've started rereading the Harry Potter books (1 to 7, obvs) this time in the correct instead of inverted order.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I have just finished reading:

The Medusa Chronicles

by

Stephen Baxter & Alastair Reynolds

arguably the best living English and Welsh science fiction authors.

 

[Synobun]

I finished A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab and Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey.

AGoS: A cliffhanger ending. I don't like those. Schwab, also, writes very weak beginnings. I forget this every time I read her work and it took me a long, long time to finally get to the good part. Once I did, I finished the book quickly. Even with that redemption, the ending sucked.

BA: After the last book, this one was rather disappointing. The final half was good, but the lead-up was boring. I'm noticing that the quality of the writing is getting a little sloppier with each passing book. I can only assume it's because of release schedule pressure.

I'm now reading a friend's debut novel that is set to release in two weeks.