[Oct 2016] What Are You Reading?

TarionzCousin · Oct 4, 2016

Blue said:
Also reading "A Bridge of Birds", but I misplaced the book. (Heresy!) Enjoying Number Ten Ox.

I really enjoyed that book.

I'm currently over halfway through the third book in the Powder Mage trilogy, The Autumn Republic. It's a pretty good series, especially for a new author.

Flexor the Mighty! · Oct 5, 2016

Since I was running the OotA campaign I decided to try Archmage by RAS. So far so meh. You can tell this is a novel in a series of novels since I have little idea what is going on with some of the storyline.

Eltab · Oct 10, 2016

IRL stuff: I just finished "Making It In America", about manufacturing jobs. The author runs a furniture factory in NC so he has personal experience.

I'm thinking about getting into Turtledove's "XYZing the Darkness" series (World War Two placed in a D&D-like fantasy setting) and comparing the characters to his "XYZing the Balance" (World War Two plus space aliens using Desert Storm technology) series.
There ought to be one book titled "Cursing the Darkness"

trappedslider · Oct 10, 2016

Eltab said:
comparing the characters to his "XYZing the Balance" (World War Two plus space aliens using Desert Storm technology) series.

We (fans) refer to it as "Worldwar" and it's a tetralogy...anyway i'm reading The Third World War by Sir John Hackett

Jhaelen · Oct 10, 2016

I've finished 'Thunderbird' by Jack McDevitt, and I have to admit I was a bit annoyed by the ending, especially because it's quite obviously 'inspired' by Arthur C. Clarke's novel 'Childhood's End' written in 1953. It would have been nice if the author had at least acknowledged that.

Next up was 'Penric's Demon', a novella by Lois MacMaster Bujold, set in her 'World of the Five Gods'. It's set between the events of 'The Hallowed Hunt' and the two Chalion books. Now I started with the followup novella 'Penric and the Shaman'. I'm normally not too hot on reading novellas and would have much prefered an actual new novel set in this world, but I'm not sure, it's going to happen anytime soon...
Anyway, it was a fun read so far, but, alas, much too short to tell much of a story. It's more like a few introductory chapters.

Ralif Redhammer · Oct 10, 2016

Reading Tchaikovsky's Spiderlight. So far it's interesting, but I'm not sure how much of it is going to end up as satire or as straight homage to the classic Dark Lord/Tolkien tropes.

Richards · Oct 10, 2016

I'm reading Crimson Shore, the latest in the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child that began some dozen or so books ago with Relic. I'm only about 50 pages in, but it's as good as the rest of the series.

Johnathan

Umbran · Oct 11, 2016

I'm a bit into John Ford's ST:TOS novel, How Much for Just the Planet?

It reads like Mr. Ford decided he really liked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and decided to try to replicate some of the tone in a Star Trek novel. So far it is the most absurd, and perhaps the least canon, Star Trek novel I've ever come across. Neither of these are negatives, in my mind, but might matter to someone who doesn't like silly Star Trek, or has an issue with an author deviating significantly from the original source material.

Eltab · Oct 11, 2016

Umbran said:
I'm a bit into John Ford's ST:TOS novel, How Much for Just the Planet?

I read that a while ago, and it gave me a headache. I like Trek novels where you - along with Kirk / Spock / &c - are able to figure out what's going on. "How Much..." - like the Saavik-centric novel "Unspoken Truths" - hides a lot of critical information until after everybody escapes the planet.

Eltab · Oct 11, 2016

trappedslider said:
anyway i'm reading The Third World War by Sir John Hackett

I read that when it first came out (1980?). There is a sequel, whose title I forget.
The books were written during the late 1970s to point out how the Cold War could turn hot - from that base point. Much like the Twilight:2000 background, the books went obsolete immediately after the USSR ceased to exist.
(I still haven't figured out the explanation for why Sweden's activities was completely ignored in the first book.)