Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 1366

pilotbob · 08-20-2014, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "The Rising" by James Doohan and S.M. Stirling (although I suspect that Mr Doohan didn't do very much, if any, of the writing!). Bought a long time ago (2000-ish) from Baen.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this. One doesn't really expect much from books supposedly "written" by TV stars (Doohan was, of couse, "Scotty" in the original "Star Trek" series), but this is actually very good indeed. In fact, it's excellent.

I look forward to reading the other two books in the trilogy.

Why do you think Dohan didn't write any of it? Wasn't he involved in several of the Trek scripts? I thought I recall reading that about him.

Fbone · 08-20-2014, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next is another library loan Earth Strike by Ian Douglas. This is a hard sci-fi which I generally don't care for. I prefer events occurring in real time and not having everyone wait 40 minutes for light to catch up.

Abandoned. This book had several elements I dislike and their total sum caused me to leave off. Delays waiting for light, apostrophed names, politics, multiples names for the same entity. Just too "hard" sci-fi for me.

My library added several John Dickson Carr titles so I chose The Problem of the Green Capsule as my next read. Published in 1939 and contains poisoned chocolates.

HarryT · 08-20-2014, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Why do you think Dohan didn't write any of it? Wasn't he involved in several of the Trek scripts? I thought I recall reading that about him.

Perhaps I'm just being cynical, but it's very well written, and Mr Doohan was not a novelist. I would imagine - and this just a guess - that he and Mr Stirling devised the plot together, and then Stirling wrote it (it is supposedly loosely based on Doohan's own military career). Whoever wrote it, though, it's written very well. An excellent story.

bfisher · 08-20-2014, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfisher

Currently reading the Oresteia by Aeschylus. The translation I'm reading is by Robert Fagles. Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers were excellent; just starting The Eumenides. ...

Finished The Eumenides. Much tougher than Agamemmon and The Libation Bearers - hard to get past the misogyny.

On to something somewhat different - WEB Griffin's new Clandestine Operations series novel "Top Secret"; the beginnings of the Cold War and the CIA. There's some overlap with the Honor Bound series. I'm in 100 pages and things are moving along. Some things I don't like about Griffin's views and repeated plot elements, but he's so damm good at 1940's mil-fic.

alansplace · 08-20-2014, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

Sigh! I'm sure getting flaky with what I'm reading. I just saw a netflix movie called Under the Skin and just had to read the book it was based on, also called Under the Skin by Michel Faber. I've read the first chapter thus far and it's quite intriguing (as was the film).

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

I've gotten up to one third of the way through Part Three, On the Road so far, but I only needed to have finished Part One, Inverness, 1945 before seeing this STARZ debut. Oh, and now I understand Charlie's BDSM comment.

Last evening my wife and I viewed Outlander's debut episode, called Sassenach (the episode's title). It followed the Epigraph and Part One, Inverness, 1945 (the first 5 chapters) of the novel quite closely. It captured my wife's interest as she's currently looking forward enthusiastically to the next episode. Oh, so am I.

Neither my wife nor myself are fans of HBO's Game of Thrones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

More flakiness on my part rears its ugly head again!

I was watching the end credits on a cable movie called Next and noticed that The Golden Man (novelette) by Phillip K. Dick was credited as the story on which the movie was based. So I searched it out and read it (a very quick read). Enjoyed it a lot. Now back to the rest of my in-process reads!

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

I finally got around to starting The Spitting Image So far I've only just read the first chapter. I was drawn right in and am looking forward to the rest of it and then the rest of the series.

But for right now back to the titles I've currently been reading quite diligently!

Since I'd pretty much burnt out on them I just put two books, Outlander and Under the Skin onto my MFRL (maybe finish reading later) pile leaving The Spitting Image, The Paper Magician and Mr. Mercedes as well as adding Ready Player One (at 8% read) to my 'currently reading' list! Then I finished reading The Spitting Image and I loved reading it as much as I had enjoyed reading the first one in the 'Ed Noon' series!

I believe that I'll concentrate on Ready Player One and leave the other two for nexties!

CRussel · 08-20-2014, 04:07 PM

FWIW, I found Outlander and its successors, to be perfect books for long trips in the car as Audible books. They're well read, and they're HUGE.

Luffy · 08-20-2014, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synamon

Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, A Dying Fall.

I had a stab at the first book, but ditched it hastily.

alansplace · 08-20-2014, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

FWIW, I found Outlander and its successors, to be perfect books for long trips in the car as Audible books. They're well read, and they're HUGE.

I found Outlander to have way to much in the way of explicit sexual descriptions for my taste. Much like what I'd expect from an explicit romance novel. This made me lose interest. I suspect that I'll also quickly lose interest in the TV show as well.

CRussel · 08-20-2014, 04:29 PM

It does have more than I'd prefer of explicit sexual content. But I just glaze over when it gets to a section I don't want to listen to. (And I did warn you that there were issues with the books.) I'm hoping the TV series is less overtly sexual.

alansplace · 08-20-2014, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

It does have more than I'd prefer of explicit sexual content. But I just glaze over when it gets to a section I don't want to listen to. (And I did warn you that there were issues with the books.) I'm hoping the TV series is less overtly sexual.

Yes you did! The BDSM is about to rear it's ugly head (the nail in the ear has briefly appeared in ads) in this coming Saturday's episode. I see a company putting out a product to attempt to capture the interest of the current Game of Thrones audience. I'll keep you informed if you'd like.

CRussel · 08-20-2014, 04:44 PM

Oh, please do. We're running weeks behind the US for this series, so I haven't seen it yet. Will be interesting to see if it passes the DW test. She is interested so far, but I suspect will find it a bit much.

Luffy · 08-20-2014, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

I found Outlander to have way to much in the way of explicit sexual descriptions for my taste. Much like what I'd expect from an explicit romance novel. This made me lose interest. I suspect that I'll also quickly lose interest in the TV show as well.

How bad is it, please? I thought it was a romance and chick lit book. This comes as a surprise.

alansplace · 08-20-2014, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luffy

How bad is it, please? I thought it was a romance and chick lit book. This comes as a surprise.

I have no idea how to answer that beyond what I've already said. Try this and decide for yourself.

WT Sharpe · 08-20-2014, 05:48 PM

I had a some problems with The Outlander, but all in all I thought it was a fairly good tale. I didn't think it was overly graphic in its depiction of the sex or that sex played too large a role, although a few of the things Claire did made me wonder if she had more than a bit of a kinky streak (was she a masochist?) and I did wonder at her obvious lack of any guilt over the fact that she was bonking someone not her husband who she loved and to whom earlier in the book she could not picture herself as ever being unfaithful, but it didn't really ruin the story for me. What may have helped the book for me is that, not being a student of the history of the era and locality, I didn't pick up on all the historical inaccuracies that so many other MobileReaders have complained about.

Luffy · 08-21-2014, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alansplace

I have no idea how to answer that beyond what I've already said. Try this and decide for yourself.

These quotes aren't so bad. But I'll still stay away from Outlander until the ending has been resolved. I want it to have a definite end. I won't be suckered into reading a series up to well past its peak.

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08-20-2014, 04:07 PM	#20481
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	FWIW, I found Outlander and its successors, to be perfect books for long trips in the car as Audible books. They're well read, and they're HUGE.

08-20-2014, 04:29 PM	#20484
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	It does have more than I'd prefer of explicit sexual content. But I just glaze over when it gets to a section I don't want to listen to. (And I did warn you that there were issues with the books.) I'm hoping the TV series is less overtly sexual.

08-20-2014, 04:44 PM	#20486
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	Oh, please do. We're running weeks behind the US for this series, so I haven't seen it yet. Will be interesting to see if it passes the DW test. She is interested so far, but I suspect will find it a bit much.

08-20-2014, 05:48 PM	#20489
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	I had a some problems with The Outlander, but all in all I thought it was a fairly good tale. I didn't think it was overly graphic in its depiction of the sex or that sex played too large a role, although a few of the things Claire did made me wonder if she had more than a bit of a kinky streak (was she a masochist?) and I did wonder at her obvious lack of any guilt over the fact that she was bonking someone not her husband who she loved and to whom earlier in the book she could not picture herself as ever being unfaithful, but it didn't really ruin the story for me. What may have helped the book for me is that, not being a student of the history of the era and locality, I didn't pick up on all the historical inaccuracies that so many other MobileReaders have complained about.