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

[cromag]

Originally Posted by cromag

...
After that, I went back to Poul Anderson's Polesotechnic stories, as collected by Baen. I read David Falkayn: Star Trader, the second in the series, and really liked them. The stories do show their age, but that's more good than bad.

I'll cast around for a few more short stories -- maybe even from the basement -- and then the next big book will probably be Rise of the Terran Empire, the third in the collection.

I finished Rise of the Terran Empire. It's anchored by two short novels, Mirkheim and People of the Wind. These aren't "happy" books. The endings are probably as happy as the author's parameters allow, but they chronicle dark times for interstellar civilizations.

The short stories are a mixed bag. There are a couple that I would classify as Young Adult (one was originally published in Boys Life magazine), and some older stories that cover hard transitions for humans and their allies.

I've got some Flandry stories waiting, but I need a break. Poul Anderson was a great writer, but his writing can be on the "heavy" side. That's not a criticism, but I need something different.

Next up, I'll probably read some short stories to catch my breath, then back to some longer works.

[drjd]

I finished Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke yesterday. The first one third of the novel reminded me with the most similar situations and descriptions as in The Unearthing by Steve Karmazenuk, which I have read in February. However, the story turned more interestingly later on, and I particularly liked the mental indecisiveness of Commander Norton and his companion Lieutenant Rodrigo, while taking a crucial decision to deactivate the bomb launched to destroy Rama, by the Hermians of Mercury. The end of the novel was fascinating, with the sentence - 'The Ramans do everything in threes.'

Next I was planning to go for The Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson, which is this month's selection in MR book club also, but due to budget constraints, I may not buy it now. So next up from my TBR - good old Erle Stanley Gardner with his cozy mystery You Can Die Laughing.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Hide My Eyes", by Margery Allingham, the 16th book in the "Campion" series. Campion barely appears in this one, which is a an excellent story about the tracking down of a serial killer in 1950s London. Campion is now "a man in his 50s", compared to the young man in his 20s he was at the start of the series. Recommended.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Hide My Eyes", by Margery Allingham, the 16th book in the "Campion" series. Campion barely appears in this one, which is a an excellent story about the tracking down of a serial killer in 1950s London. Campion is now "a man in his 50s", compared to the young man in his 20s he was at the start of the series. Recommended.

The later Campion novels focused more on the criminals than on Campion -- Allingham created some memorable sociopaths, and explored their thoughts and actions -- esp. creepy was "The Tiger in the Smoke".

[orlok]

Unusually for me, I'm actively reading four books at the same time:

The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade by Piers Morgan
The Pure in Heart (Simon Serrailler #2) by Susan Hill (audiobook)
List of the Lost by Morrissey
The Nation's Favourite Poems by Griff Rhys Jones

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

The later Campion novels focused more on the criminals than on Campion -- Allingham created some memorable sociopaths, and explored their thoughts and actions -- esp. creepy was "The Tiger in the Smoke".

I agree; "The Tiger in the Smoke" is my favourite in the series so far, and introduced Chief Inspector Charles Luke, who also (now a Superintendent) appears in "Hide My Eyes". Both are "inverted detective stories" (think "Columbo"), where the reader knows from the start who the criminal is, and the book describes the detective's search for the truth.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Next is another self-published book, Invasion by Platt and Truant.

This one should have been titled Pre-Invasion. The authors spent 280 pages recounting the cross-country road trip of a family while alien objects approach Earth. Everyone has five days to prepare. Panic ensues. Conveniently, the main character has a fully-stocked underground bunker available for such events. The first in a series of unknown number. Authors are unsure where this story is headed. They develop on the fly. Rated D+ [1 star].

Next is another self-published freebie, The Tube Riders: Underground (The Tube Riders Trilogy #1) by Chris Ward.

[Cinisajoy]

Let me know if Tube Riders is good.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by cromag

...
I've got some Flandry stories waiting, but I need a break. Poul Anderson was a great writer, but his writing can be on the "heavy" side. That's not a criticism, but I need something different.

Next up, I'll probably read some short stories to catch my breath, then back to some longer works.

"And now for something different!"

I was going through my TBR backlog and happened upon Enter the Janitor, by Josh Vogt. Basically, the Janitors are part of an organization that cleanses the world of corruption -- they kill supernatural monsters. I've only just started, but it looks like fun.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

I finished Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke yesterday. The first one third of the novel reminded me with the most similar situations and descriptions as in The Unearthing by Steve Karmazenuk, which I have read in February. However, the story turned more interestingly later on, and I particularly liked the mental indecisiveness of Commander Norton and his companion Lieutenant Rodrigo, while taking a crucial decision to deactivate the bomb launched to destroy Rama, by the Hermians of Mercury. The end of the novel was fascinating, with the sentence - 'The Ramans do everything in threes.'

Next I was planning to go for The Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson, which is this month's selection in MR book club also, but due to budget constraints, I may not buy it now. So next up from my TBR - good old Erle Stanley Gardner with his cozy mystery You Can Die Laughing.

Finished You Can Die Laughing. Detective Donald Lam clashes with a lying client, with whom he has a written contract to locate a certain woman.

Spoiler:

When Donald notifies the client that he has located her, the client drives all the way from Los Angeles to Banning, California, in record time, hoping to speak to the woman. When the client shows up, Donald rips a blanket off the nude, dead, and hideously bloated form of the woman - murdered by her husband and secreted in a dry well. After the client has finished vomiting, Donald tells the man to "come in tomorrow and settle up on your contract". The client ends up paying in full.

Next up : The Time Machine by HG Wells. A re-read after around 35 years.

PS: Can anyone please suggest me a publisher where I could buy the Doug Selby - The DA series by Erle Stanley Gardner, 9 books' set, at a reasonable price?

[HarryT]

Just finished "Grimmer than Hell", by David Drake. An excellent military SF short story collection which I bought from Baen in 2003. The book starts with six related stories about a special operation unit fighting a war again aliens, then there are a number of standalone stories, and finally a group of three stories about a policeman in a society in which everyone is under constant and total surveillance. An excellent collection. Very highly recommended.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next Up: The Drowning World by Alan Dean Foster. Set in the Pip & Flynx Humanx Commonwealth universe, but not featuring them.

Nice to see the Humanx Commonwealth from a different viewpoint. Some interesting characters. And species.

Next up: Lightspeed Magazine #70 edited by John Joseph Adams. This is the March issue. I'm trying to catch up before the May issue comes out!

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by cromag

"And now for something different!"

I was going through my TBR backlog and happened upon Enter the Janitor, by Josh Vogt. Basically, the Janitors are part of an organization that cleanses the world of corruption -- they kill supernatural monsters. I've only just started, but it looks like fun.

It's in my pile. Do let me know if it's any good.

I've just finished Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. Not sure what direction I will go next.

[Rumpelteazer]

I've just finished A Conspiracy of Faith by Jussi Adler-Olsen, the third in the Department Q series. I really liked the first two in the series, though they were slow reads for me. This book I loved and for some reason I was able to read it a lot faster than the other two.

[DrNefario]

I finished Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie a couple of days ago. It was OK, not a particular favourite, but perfectly readable. More importantly, it was the last in a run of 9 or 10 consecutive Poirots, in my chronological Christie read-through, so I get a bit of a change of pace for the next two. I'm aiming to do about one a month, at the moment.

Last night I started Chains of Command by Marko Kloos, the brand-new 4th book in the Frontlines military SF series. Not really much to say about it, yet, but it seems fine.