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

[DiapDealer]

Moving on to Wes Chu's The Rebirths of Tao after finishing The Deaths of Tao--which succeeded in raising the bar from the first book (already quite fun/good).

A word of warning to those who may read these:

I purchased all three of these books as epubs from Kobo (exported epubs; NOT kepubs) and this third book had a formatting issue that forced me to abandon it in favor of the Kindle version. I'm not one to be overly fussy about ebook formatting (I quietly fix the rare problems that interrupt me if possible), but this one was impossible for me to overlook (or easily fix).

There's internalized dialogue that relied on italics in the first two books that makes it very easy and intuitive for the reader keep straight "who's talking." Those italics were missing from the third Kobo epub and made it nearly impossible for me to follow the conversations and/or flow of the narrative (and there was no easy css fix to correct it). The Kindle edition didn't suffer from the same problem.

So if you make it to book three, make sure you check out a sample before purchasing if at all possible.

[HarryT]

Completed two books in the last week:

"Mutineers' Moon", by David Weber. The first third of the "Empire from the Ashes" omnibus, bought from Baen in 2003. NASA astronaut Colin MacIntyre discovers that the Moon is really an ancient spacecraft called "Dahak" whose purpose is to guard against periodic invasions from a ferocious alien race, the Achuultani. Now the Achuultani are returning, but Dahak is powerless to take action because his crew mutinied 50,000 years ago, and the mutineers still secretly control Earth's governments and military forces. (Not a spoiler - all this is in the first few pages of the book!). The Earth will be destroyed unless the mutineers can be defeated! Excellent military SF. This is the third time I've read this book, and I've enjoyed it enormously every time. Highly recommended.

"Cargo of Eagles", by Margery Allingham. The 19th book in the "Campion" series, and the final one to be written by Allingham herself. Campion is brought in to help uncover the secret behind mysterious goings-on in a remote English seaside community. Very good mystery.

[MickeyC]

Just finished The Big Picture by Sean Carroll. This was non fiction physics and he did a very good job reviewing Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Core Theory and so on. But then he went into Naturalism vs Theism and, although I didn't disagree with his opinions, I didn't find it that interesting.

Next up The Singularity is Near by Ray Kursweil which so far looks very interesting. Non-fiction science on how human minds and computers are approaching a singularity.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Completed two books in the last week:

"Mutineers' Moon", by David Weber. The first third of the "Empire from the Ashes" omnibus, bought from Baen in 2003. NASA astronaut Colin MacIntyre discovers that the Moon is really an ancient spacecraft called "Dahak" whose purpose is to guard against periodic invasions from a ferocious alien race, the Achuultani. Now the Achuultani are returning, but Dahak is powerless to take action because his crew mutinied 50,000 years ago, and the mutineers still secretly control Earth's governments and military forces. (Not a spoiler - all this is in the first few pages of the book!). The Earth will be destroyed unless the mutineers can be defeated! Excellent military SF. This is the third time I've read this book, and I've enjoyed it enormously every time. Highly recommended.

I have also enjoyed this one enough to read it multiple times.
Apache

[Dngrsone]

Finally finished The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. While the overall book was okay, it took a lot of work for me to get through it. I don't think it is something I'd read again.

Not decided on the next book yet. This last one has kinda put me off reading; but I am sure I will find something to get me back in the mood.

Meanwhile, I have to put together a five-minute lesson for a job interview this week. If I am stoked enough tomorrow, I will even make a slide presentation just in case I have access to a projector (that can make a big difference, I think).

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I'm reading the first of Lindsey Davis's Flavia Albia novels.

Which was enjoyable, although some of the Roman info was rather obviously inserted. I like it enough to buy the second which is on special offer at Amazon UK this month.

Next up: Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams. It hasn't grabbed me yet. More me than the book, I think. Techno-dystopia just isn't something I enjoy.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Another excellent adventure. I do like the afterwords, explaining which bits are fictional and which are real history.

I just finished Sharpe's Havoc, which was my favorite so far. A rollicking (and gruesome) adventure. That said, the books are already getting to be a wee bit formulaic and since there's generally no doubt about the outcome (there are a lot of these books, after all), I think I need to let Sharpe lie fallow for a bit.

I've also opted for internal chronology (which I never do!) and I think it's the right choice, although each approach has the obvious drawbacks. Ultimately, I enjoy them more when presented with the grand sweep of the Napoleonic Wars as events unfolded, even if Sharpe's backstory gets retconned a bit.

[HarryT]

Finished "The Armageddon Inheritance", by David Weber. This is the middle third of the Baen "Empire from the Ashes" omnibus that I bought in 2003, and continues the story of "Mutineer's Moon" directly. The rebels from Dahak's crew have been defeated, but there's now the small matter of defeating 3 million Achuultani starships who are due to arrived in the Solar System in two years' time, intent on destroying the Earth. Even better than the already excellent first book in the series. Highly recommended military SF.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I just finished Sharpe's Havoc, which was my favorite so far. A rollicking (and gruesome) adventure. That said, the books are already getting to be a wee bit formulaic and since there's generally no doubt about the outcome (there are a lot of these books, after all), I think I need to let Sharpe lie fallow for a bit.

I've also opted for internal chronology (which I never do!) and I think it's the right choice, although each approach has the obvious drawbacks. Ultimately, I enjoy them more when presented with the grand sweep of the Napoleonic Wars as events unfolded, even if Sharpe's backstory gets retconned a bit.

On this one, I opted to go with the internal chronology as opposed to published chronology. It just makes more sense when you're talking about something centred around an external history. And I don't binge read them, so I miss 95% of the changes to the back story. (One advantage of old age. )

Originally Posted by HarryT

Finished "The Armageddon Inheritance", by David Weber. This is the middle third of the Baen "Empire from the Ashes" omnibus that I bought in 2003, and continues the story of "Mutineer's Moon" directly. The rebels from Dahak's crew have been defeated, but there's now the small matter of defeating 3 million Achuultani starships who are due to arrived in the Solar System in two years' time, intent on destroying the Earth. Even better than the already excellent first book in the series. Highly recommended military SF.

Based on your recommendation, I popped for the omnibus last night. at $3/book, why not? I was actually surprised to discover I didn't already have it.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Based on your recommendation, I popped for the omnibus last night. at $3/book, why not? I was actually surprised to discover I didn't already have it.

The Empire From the Ashes series is free at Baen.

[CRussel]

Yes. I know. I have it on CD. I decided to pay. Strange, but there it is. The price was reasonable and the author deserves to belatedly collect a small pittance for it.

Seriously, I thought about it, and then decided that a couple of people whose tastes I know were listing it as re-readable, so just went ahead and did it. (Besides, I was on the road and didn't remember which CD it was on!)

[Strether]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Yes. I know. I have it on CD. I decided to pay. Strange, but there it is. The price was reasonable and the author deserves to belated collect a small pittance for it.

Seriously, I thought about it, and then decided that a couple of people whose tastes I know were listing it as re-readable, so just went ahead and did it. (Besides, I was on the road and didn't remember which CD it was on!)

Money well spent, Charlie. I've read the trilogy several times, myself. On Weber's forum, there are many posters who'd like a fourth book and I'd agree.

Jim

[Dngrsone]

Okay, read A Girl Corrupted by the Internet is the Summoned Hero?! which was cute and entertaining (and quick: only 66 pages on my reader).

I think I am going to go next to Odd Apocalypse, then maybe a memoir by Carly Simon

[CRussel]

I read Boys in the Trees, Carly Simon's memoir, and quite enjoyed it. Not 5 stars, but a good solid 3.5-4. (On my scale, that's a "glad I read it, won't ever want to re-read it, but don't regret it either.")

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I read Boys in the Trees, Carly Simon's memoir, and quite enjoyed it. Not 5 stars, but a good solid 3.5-4. (On my scale, that's a "glad I read it, won't ever want to re-read it, but don't regret it either.")

Cool; I look forward to it, then. I've been reading quite a few of these, and I am gaining some new perspectives in terms of music (particularly punk) and what it was like to grow up in the 60's and 70's.