military sci fi suggestions - Page 4

ahi · 10-05-2009, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I used to like Mr. Ringo's books a lot, but some of his recent books have pushed too overt a political agenda for me, unfortunately. You are right, though, the "March to ...." series is excellent. I enjoyed the early "Council War" books, but the later ones - again the politics got too intrusive for me. It's obviously a personal thing.

So not all his books are like this?

HarryT · 10-05-2009, 12:50 PM

Thankfully not. I already gave a specific warning about "Ghost" earlier in the thread. I find it a deeply unpleasant and disturbing book; if ever there was a reason for age ratings on books, "Ghost" is it. It is NOT a book you'd want a young teenager to read. Heck, it's not a book I'd want ANYONE to read without knowing what they are letting themselves in for.

"Ghost" is an aberration; Mr. Ringo has written some extremely good military SF. I just wish he'd leave the (real world) politics out of it.

ahi · 10-05-2009, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thankfully not. I already gave a specific warning about "Ghost" earlier in the thread. I find it a deeply unpleasant and disturbing book; if ever there was a reason for age ratings on books, "Ghost" is it. It is NOT a book you'd want a young teenager to read. Heck, it's not a book I'd want ANYONE to read without knowing what they are letting themselves in for.

"Ghost" is an aberration; Mr. Ringo has written some extremely good military SF. I just wish he'd leave the (real world) politics out of it.

Infantile takes on real world politics is my reason for having given up on Larry Niven.

For some reason since (or perhaps even a bit before) he started doing consulting for the Department of Homeland Security, his writing (for me) has gone to the dogs, even if one manages to ignore the simple-minded propaganda aims... Puppeteer Elites being enamoured with ancient Greek culture was quite possibly one of the stupidest thing he has ever written, IMHO.

- Ahi

=X= · 10-05-2009, 06:33 PM

The Halo books where pretty good. They are a light read but the story flows well and the action scenes are exciting.

I'm not a real SF fan and found these books to be enjoyable.

=X=

NormHart · 10-05-2009, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

The Halo books where pretty good. They are a light read but the story flows well and the action scenes are exciting.

I'm not a real SF fan and found these books to be enjoyable.

=X=

I found them to be, very clearly, straight out of the game. First person shooters with little character development. The first book or two were fairly good but the series rapidly became boring IMO.

This may be off topic but who do you all think does the best spaceship to spaceship combat?

I have to nominate C. J. Cherryh for her absolutely amazing fractional light speed combat descriptions. I can not imagine how much time and research went into developing the concepts and extrapolating the impacts they would have on the characters. Amazing stuff.

David Weber's fleet actions are pretty special too.

NormHart · 10-05-2009, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

There's been a very quiet mention of the Bolo stories - let me mention them explicitly.

Originally by Keith Laumer, there are Bolo stories by many authors. Bolos are large 'tanks' with AI controllers partnered with a human commander.

Keith Laumer's original Bolo stories are just about to come out in the November 2009 webcription as The Compleat Bolo - three quarters of the book is currently available in draft form, the full book sometime in the next couple of weeks.

The set of six volumes by various authors, Bolos I through Bolos VI are available, as are the novels by David Weber, Bolo!, and Old Soldiers , three other novels by William H. Keith, Jr.: Bolo Brigade, Bolo Strike and Bolo Rising (this last one due in the December websciption), and even one by John Ringo and Linda Evans, The Road to Damascus which is available in the free library.

http://www.webscription.net/c-32-bol...th-laumer.aspx

All good stuff.

These books demonstrate the difference between master storytellers and authors. Most, if not all, of Kieth Laumer's original stories were masterpieces. Very few of the follow on stories demonstrate anything like his craftsmanship. David Weber's Miles to Go is the only one that comes to mind. William H. Keith's books are just plain odd, some interesting concepts but not really in the Laumer canon IMO.

DMcCunney · 10-05-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NormHart

This may be off topic but who do you all think does the best spaceship to spaceship combat?

I have to nominate C. J. Cherryh for her absolutely amazing fractional light speed combat descriptions. I can not imagine how much time and research went into developing the concepts and extrapolating the impacts they would have on the characters. Amazing stuff.

David Weber's fleet actions are pretty special too.

I second the motion on Cherryh. Too many depictions completely fail to grasp the scale at which the action is taking place, or the speed of the combatants. This is especially annoying in TV and movie scenes which simply transcribe WWII air combat to space. Sorry guys, but they won't be close enough together to see each other, nor will they be traveling slowly enough for your swiveling turret to track them...

Weber is a special case, because he had fun with the physics underlying his space drive to let him have ships of the line drawn up stationery relative to each other and whale away with lasers, grasers, and missiles, in naval tactics out of the Napoleonic Wars.
______
Dennis

WillAdams · 10-06-2009, 07:59 AM

Agree Cherryh is the only author who seems to've considered the immutability of objects traveling at near light speed and the consequences that has in armed conflict --- though I'd love to be wrong and to have someone else to read.

William
(who once wrote up rules for starship combat w/ (sort of) realistic acceleration, but could never get a missile to intersect w/ a target when playing and gave up --- it's _hard_ to do, just ask NASA)

DMcCunney · 10-06-2009, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahi

So not all his books are like this?

No, they aren't. Ghost and followups in that series are techno-thrillers, not SF, with a protagonist who is not a nice guy, and a fairly jaundiced view of current geopolitics.

Ringo is an ex-paratrooper and sometime conservative newspaper columnist, with a special axe to grind for Islamic terrorists.

The books don't bother me, but I understand why others may have different opinions.
______
Dennis

DMcCunney · 10-06-2009, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thankfully not. I already gave a specific warning about "Ghost" earlier in the thread. I find it a deeply unpleasant and disturbing book; if ever there was a reason for age ratings on books, "Ghost" is it. It is NOT a book you'd want a young teenager to read.

I'm curious. What are you afraid might happen if one did?

Quote:

Heck, it's not a book I'd want ANYONE to read without knowing what they are letting themselves in for.

Fair enough. Ringo apparently got disinherited by his mother after she recommended her son's book to her beauty shop customers, not knowing what Ghost was about...

______
Dennis

ahi · 10-06-2009, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Fair enough. Ringo apparently got disinherited by his mother after she recommended her son's book to her beauty shop customers, not knowing what Ghost was about...

______
Dennis

Literally?

- Ahi

wayspooled · 10-06-2009, 09:38 AM

Y'all seem to be edging closer and closer to discussing your own politics. Not there yet.. But if you feel like you're gonna have to offer your own views, would you consider doing it in the Lounge and leave this person's thread to military sci/fi recommendations? A disclaimer has been posted about certain of Ringo's works. It's been pointed out that they're not all that way.
Thanks

DMcCunney · 10-06-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahi

Literally?

- Ahi

Yes.
______
Dennis

acemccloudxx · 10-06-2009, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayspooled

Y'all seem to be edging closer and closer to discussing your own politics. Not there yet.. But if you feel like you're gonna have to offer your own views, would you consider doing it in the Lounge and leave this person's thread to military sci/fi recommendations? A disclaimer has been posted about certain of Ringo's works. It's been pointed out that they're not all that way.
Thanks

Yes, by all means, let's keep this politics free - though appropriate disclaimers about certain books are undoubtedly appropriate.

For example, Ringo's "The Last Centurion" (near future apocalyptic mil-sf) had a plot that I enjoyed very much but it's blatant, flaming anti-liberal ranting was rather annoying. I also find that many of the Honorverse stories contain a rather severe conservative bent (liberals are frequently portrayed as stupid and incompetent).

On another note entirely, I would also like to recommend two series by Elizabeth Moon:

Familias Regnant
Vatta's War

(I haven't tried Planet Pirates yet).

DawnFalcon · 10-06-2009, 10:03 AM

To be fair, acemcloud, if you look at the history the Honourverse is based on, then it's justified, and there are also some evil very conservative characters. And there is a strong and competent Liberal character who's taking a fair amount of prime time now.

It dosn't get jammed in the story (as happens in The Last Centurion, anything Kratman writes and imo from the other side in some of Ken MacLeod's recent works)

Elizabeth Moon's series are good, but...they don't have that much science in them. I'd not recomend them as mil scifi per-se.

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10-05-2009, 12:50 PM	#47
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Thankfully not. I already gave a specific warning about "Ghost" earlier in the thread. I find it a deeply unpleasant and disturbing book; if ever there was a reason for age ratings on books, "Ghost" is it. It is NOT a book you'd want a young teenager to read. Heck, it's not a book I'd want ANYONE to read without knowing what they are letting themselves in for. "Ghost" is an aberration; Mr. Ringo has written some extremely good military SF. I just wish he'd leave the (real world) politics out of it.

10-05-2009, 06:33 PM	#49
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	The Halo books where pretty good. They are a light read but the story flows well and the action scenes are exciting. I'm not a real SF fan and found these books to be enjoyable. =X=

10-06-2009, 07:59 AM	#53
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,234 Karma: 3350652 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	Agree Cherryh is the only author who seems to've considered the immutability of objects traveling at near light speed and the consequences that has in armed conflict --- though I'd love to be wrong and to have someone else to read. William (who once wrote up rules for starship combat w/ (sort of) realistic acceleration, but could never get a missile to intersect w/ a target when playing and gave up --- it's _hard_ to do, just ask NASA)

10-06-2009, 09:38 AM	#57
wayspooled Crab In The Dark Posts: 486 Karma: 2328180 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Tablet PC until a 10" comes out that I like	Y'all seem to be edging closer and closer to discussing your own politics. Not there yet.. But if you feel like you're gonna have to offer your own views, would you consider doing it in the Lounge and leave this person's thread to military sci/fi recommendations? A disclaimer has been posted about certain of Ringo's works. It's been pointed out that they're not all that way. Thanks

10-06-2009, 10:03 AM	#60
DawnFalcon Banned Posts: 2,094 Karma: 2682 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: N/A	To be fair, acemcloud, if you look at the history the Honourverse is based on, then it's justified, and there are also some evil very conservative characters. And there is a strong and competent Liberal character who's taking a fair amount of prime time now. It dosn't get jammed in the story (as happens in The Last Centurion, anything Kratman writes and imo from the other side in some of Ken MacLeod's recent works) Elizabeth Moon's series are good, but...they don't have that much science in them. I'd not recomend them as mil scifi per-se.

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