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

[gmw]

I just finished The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. As I see others have noted, this book feels more Baxter than Pratchett. It has always seemed to me that Baxter, whatever he is writing, loves to show off: "look how big this idea is!" - and that appears to be the object of The Long Earth. I'm a big Pratchett fan, but I'm afraid this book didn't reveal much of his voice, and where it did show I'm not sure it fit all that well.

There were several beginnings of good stories in here, and many good characters, but they never really came to anything much. The two main climaxes seemed predictable and cut short.

In all: If you come to this as just another Sci-Fi then it's not a bad read: competently written and an interesting premise. I suspect my problem was that I came to it with very high expectations, and so I came away disappointed. I'll probably read the next one, at least, in the hope that maybe Baxter will have gotten some of his extravagances out of his system and might finally let a story be told. (Well, I can hope.)

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I've borrowed Assassins Don't Die in Bed (Ed Noon #17) by Michael Avallone as my November selection from the Amazon lending library.

I completed Assassins Don't Die in Bed, it was quite different than the previous 16 books, but was still very entertaining. Next is Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling).

[HarryT]

Just finished "The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume 1" by David Drake, the first of three Baen volumes which collect together all the "Hammer's Slammers" stories, novellas, and novels written by Drake. I bought this when it first came out in 2009, and I'm reading it in place of one of its constituent parts that I originally bought in 2002. I'm sure that most people will be aware of what this series is, and either love it or not; it's a grimly realistic portrayal of future armoured warfare, based on Drake's experience of tank warfare in Viet Nam. Recommended if you like good military SF.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Mission of Gravity" by Hal Clement, which is in an omnibus called "Heavy Planet", containing Clement's collected "Mesklin" books and stories.

This is an SF classic. Mesklin is a planet with a hydrogen atmosphere and methane oceans on which the surface gravity at the poles is 700 times that of Earth, and is, therefore, inaccessible to humans. When a scientific spacecraft sent to the planet to conduct gravity research that can't be done elsewhere fails to take off again, the scientists seek the aid of one of the local inhabitants, a centipede-like being who is a sea-captain in a civilisation with a mediaeval level of technology. Excellent "hard SF". I think I've read this before, but it was many years (more likely decades) ago. Highly recommended.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Just finished "Mission of Gravity" by Hal Clement, which is in an omnibus called "Heavy Planet", containing Clement's collected "Mesklin" books and stories.

I was looking at these this past week, thinking I wanted to re-read the series. I do like Hal Clement.

[Latinandgreek]

I used to reread favourite books, many, many times over. I've gotten out of the habit of doing that these past few years, but I have a hankering for Robertson Davies, so I'm going to start a reread of the magnificent The Rebel Angels tonight.

[Dngrsone]

Finished The Devious Dr. Jekyll by Viola Carr.

A good book; I could be mean and call it "a very steampunk romance", but I shant-- plenty of monsters and murder in this book, and the madness--well, it's enough to tug away at my own somewhat tenuous grasp of sanity, which is why it took so long for me to read--I had to take occasional breaks and read some non-fic to ground myself again.

Anyway, two thirds of the way through Master Li and Number Ten Ox, halfway through Solder Smoke, and I'll take a day soon to read Seraphina and the Black Cloak in dead-tree format.

[MickeyC]

Just finished The Crossing by Michael Connelly and it was a typically good Harry Bosche/Mickey Haller police procedural.

One odd thing, at one point in the book they discuss the Lincoln Lawyer movie and even mention Matt McConaughey. Don't think I've ever seen that in a book.

[poohbear_nc]

Tired of seeing all the too-early Xmas stuff in the stores - so I decided to get into the proper holiday spirit by reading Nancy Mitford Christmas Pudding - if you can survive a holiday visit at Lady Bobbin's country estate, you deserve to have a Merry Christmas ...

An early, fun Mitford romp amongst the privileged classes ...

[WT Sharpe]

Finished two books today, although one was a book of cartoons easily read on one sitting.

Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore was hilarious, a most worthy successor to A Dirty Job. The worst part of reading a book by Moore are the strange looks Norton gives me when I break out in laughter for what must appear to him to be no apparent reason. A solid 4 out of 5 stars.

The Non Sequitur Guide to "The System" by Wiley Miller wasn't as good as I'd hoped. I gave it three stars overall. Some of the material seemed a bit redundant, but the humor improved as the book progressed. His more modern material seems funnier in my opinion, and the second half of the book reflected that.

[HarryT]

Just finished "Cold Steel", by Keith Laumer, the 6th book in Baen's collection of Laumer's "Bolo" stories and novels. This book consists of a novella and a full-length novel, both set on a valuable mining colony on which the human colonists are being attacked by stone-age natives who are being armed with modern weapons by an unknown outside source which has persuaded the natives that it is a god, and the humans devils who must be exterminated.

Excellent military SF, but a lot more than military SF, too. Engaging characters and an excellent plot. Highly recommended, and there's no requirement to have read any of the other "Bolo" books first.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: A Matter of Taste by Fred Saberhagen. Another in his Dracula series.

I liked it. A bit of Dracula's early history too.

Then I read Lightspeed Magazine #66 edited by John Joseph Adams, which was much too much towards the 'literary' end of things for me. 2/5

Followed up with The Lantern of God by John Dalmas. A 'stranded spacefarers make a colony' setting, but apart from an unnecessary preamble, this plays little part in the story. A slow start, but OK.

And then Dead Man's Ransom by Ellis Peters. Another Brother Cadfael book. A bit too obvious, and with an unsatisactory (IMO) ending. But still a quick, fun read.

Now reading: The New Hugo Winners-Volume IV a 2007 purchase, and covering years in the 1990s. I'm pretty sure I've read this before, but so far all the stories are so good I'm enjoying reading them again.

[melmac]

Originally Posted by MickeyC

Just finished The Crossing by Michael Connelly and it was a typically good Harry Bosche/Mickey Haller police procedural.

One odd thing, at one point in the book they discuss the Lincoln Lawyer movie and even mention Matt McConaughey. Don't think I've ever seen that in a book.

Over the past year or 2 I've been making my way through all of the Bosch and Haller novels. I've enjoyed them immensely currently up to The Crossing multiple mentions have been made of Matthew McConaughey and the Lincoln lawyer through out and I always find it amusing.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I completed Assassins Don't Die in Bed, it was quite different than the previous 16 books, but was still very entertaining. Next is Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling).

I finished up reading Career of Evil yesterday. Each new book that Rowling releases as Robert Galbraith seems to be a bit better than the preceding one. Also this book was very entertaing despite its graphically evil subject matter. Next I'm trying The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished Star Fall, and enjoyed it quite a bit. These aren't 5 star books, but they're certainly 4 star within the genre, and I like the interplay between the characters beyond just their police role. Next up, a rather different kettle of fish, Grave Peril, the third book in the Harry Dresden series from Jim Butcher.

This one is really, really not working for me. I suspect I'm going to abandon it, and with it the rest of the Harry Dresden series. Meanwhile, I stopped long enough to switch to an actual library pbook, since it was the only way I could get it. Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise. I'm quite enjoying it. But I may just pop over to Harry's Bolo universe and read a couple of Keith Laumer's books. I enjoy MilSF when it's well done (and not overly and overtly political), and these really are classics of the genre.