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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 15, 2019 18:52:29 GMT -5
I’m reading the 2013 Hugo Prize winner, John Scalzi’s Redshirts and honestly haven’t laughed that hard readin a book since Connie Willis’s To say nothing of the dog. I went in with moderate expectations, supposing Redshirts would simply be a Star Trek spoof told from the point of view of the eponymous sacrificial lambs who always manage to get killed in the pre-title opening scenes... but it’s turning out to be far funnier and clever that I had first given it credit for! The way some characters observe that some things make no sense but work anyway (like talking technobabbly gibberish to the science officer) and decide to play along, the way they have discovered the rule according to which once a redshirt is killed in the presence of the captain then the others are safe for the rest of the mission, is absolutely priceless... especially since they all seem to take it in stride, even if they think the whole thing is absurd. This is the third Scalzi novel I got my hands on, and he has yet to disappoint! I liked it a lot. But I'm also a big fan of meta-commentary on various media. That was the first book by Scalzi I read. I've since read the first two in the Old Man's War and enjoyed them both.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 16, 2019 17:18:46 GMT -5
I’m reading the 2013 Hugo Prize winner, John Scalzi’s Redshirts and honestly haven’t laughed that hard readin a book since Connie Willis’s To say nothing of the dog. I went in with moderate expectations, supposing Redshirts would simply be a Star Trek spoof told from the point of view of the eponymous sacrificial lambs who always manage to get killed in the pre-title opening scenes... but it’s turning out to be far funnier and clever that I had first given it credit for! The way some characters observe that some things make no sense but work anyway (like talking technobabbly gibberish to the science officer) and decide to play along, the way they have discovered the rule according to which once a redshirt is killed in the presence of the captain then the others are safe for the rest of the mission, is absolutely priceless... especially since they all seem to take it in stride, even if they think the whole thing is absurd. This is the third Scalzi novel I got my hands on, and he has yet to disappoint! I LOVED Redshirts... Scalzi is definitely always good.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 17, 2019 3:57:20 GMT -5
(...) I've since read the first two in the Old Man's War and enjoyed them both. A few years ago I found a copy of Old Man's War in a library's gift box. After reading it, I got hooked and had to get the rest of the series, which I basically inhaled over the course of about 3 weeks. Those are really well-crafted, engaging books, with tight plots and very believable characterization and dialogue. Looking back on it, there are a few points I'd criticize, but they're mostly minor (the main one involves some inconsistency in the use one of the primary scientific/technological advances that underlie the entire story). Keep meaning to get to Red Shirts, by the way.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2019 4:07:12 GMT -5
The only Scalzi I have read is the Collapsing Empire, based on a recommendation in Warren Ellis' newsletter, and I really liked the book. I haven't gotten to the second volume yet (Consuming Fire; 3rd is not due until 2020 so I have time). At some point I need to get to Red Shirts and Old Man's War, but haven't yet.
-M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 20, 2019 12:25:12 GMT -5
Old Man's War was good too... I don't think I read every one of the books, but the ones I did were worth reading for sure.
Today's book:
The Royal Succession Maurice Druon
Just when one thinks there are no more intrigues to happen... when surely every bit of skullduggery has been shown, Druon comes up with new depths for the various players to sink to. Countess Mahaut is clearly the best evil queen ever.. she should be in the annals of history as such for sure.
We did get a bit of Robert doing his thing this book... someone needs to come up with a faux historical fiction RPG or something when he can be King of France and face off against Henry VIII.
Poor Guccio! I suspected it before, but it's clear now he's playing the 'Forest Gump' role in the drama, popping up (and having some hand) in all the major events of the time. I can only hope things end well for him an Marie... it's looking grim so far.
The Conclave was one of my favorite scenes of political intrigue ever... I may just have to give Umberto Eco a 2nd chance at some point.
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Post by brutalis on Jul 22, 2019 13:58:18 GMT -5
The Warlord Trilogy is a series of three novels about Arthurian Britain written by Bernard Cornwell.
The Winter King (1995)
Enemy of God (1996)
Excalibur (1997)
I have spent the last 3 weeks reading and enjoying this series which function's under the premise that Arthur and the myths surrounding him are cloaked in historical truth. Written during the Dark Ages and based upon Welsh legends the books are filled with the culture, warfare, attitudes and characterization of the times. Arthur is never truly "King" as he is "Warlord" protecting and uniting Britain as best he can. At his side as friend and council while telling the story is Derfel Cadarn, a Saxon raised as a Briton by Merlin and who is transcribing the life of Arthur for future generations (based on part of Saint Derfel) so the truth can be told.
Guinevere is a headstrong, defiant woman seeking power through Arthur and wanting him to be King. She cannot get Arthur to do as she wants. Arthur has sworn to prepare his half brother Mordred, who is still a child, for the throne. So she turns to Lancelot in hopes of doing just that but Lancelot is not the virtuous knight of myth. He instead is a self centered and arrogant coward who finds glory through devious ways and seeks power and kingship for himself. Galahad is Lancelot's bastard half brother who is the religious and powerful knight and friend to Derfel. Merlin is a cranky and devious high Druid who does as he wishes, helping Arthur only in the hopes of stopping the advancing Christianity.
There is "magic" to be found within the pages if you read with an open mind and don't accept mythology as the truth of the matters. Arthur is a man who does what is necessary, all the while longing to simply be a common man with a patch of land to work and live upon but with his skills is doomed to never find such a simple joy. Derfel raises from slavery to knighthood and finds he is truly a son of a King himself and is ever at Arthur's bidding and side when called.
The book is a mix of political intrigues, magnificent warfare and fights, conflicts of paganism and the rise of Christianity along with turning mythology into reality. Yet with all of it's historical and myth making it is more a fantasy story than anything as it explores the uniting of the Britons with the infighting, petty squabbles between kingdoms. It is epic in nature and complexity while drawing you in with strong and emotionally deep characterization. You will be deeply satisfied with reading this trilogy...
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 22, 2019 19:02:42 GMT -5
Flashman and the Angel of the Lord by George MacDonald Fraser. Flashy is back and he's working to start the American Civil War. Well, not purposefully. But a chance run-in with John Charity Spring finds Flashman again shanghaied to the United States where he is wanted under a few different alias'. And Spring makes sure that the authorities know he's there. Ultimately he ends up with John Brown and is tasked with both aiding him in his raid on Harper's Ferry and with stopping it. While this may not be my least favorite Flashman novel it's really close. Partly it's the fault of the book. It's one of the least action packed in the series and has long stretches of the literary equivalent of talking heads. Flashman also isn't particularly cowardly or cad-like in this one. Not that he's a hero in any way. But he's really not terribly despicable. Partly my apathy toward the book is probably partly on me as well. I generally prefer my Flashman to be in a historical setting I'm not particularly familiar with. My least favorite of the novels have all been largely set in the U.S., almost certainly because I'm already very familiar with the historical background. Still it's a decent read and I'm glad I didn't skip over it. But weak Flashy nonetheless.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 23, 2019 11:37:51 GMT -5
A couple of notes about books I've recently read. (Sorry, no s-f or fantasy)
The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols
Nichols gets right to the point, and though his politics can be a bit too right-of-center for me at times, his clarity and logic are undeniable. His thesis is that college as presently organized, the accessibility of the Internet as a resource, the many pseudo-journalistic media available for quick and easy consumption, and our long and disgraceful tradition of anti-intellectualism have made everyone an expert and thus negated the power of those who actually do have expertise in particular fields.
Nichols never idolizes the experts and is not shy about cataloguing their mistakes; instead, he is more interested in the notion that Americans have become used to being entitled to their own facts (the anti-vaxxers are one of his notable targets), and that the sloppiness with which we do our research is a danger to society.
You've read some, maybe much of this argument elsewhere, but Nichols does a good job of gathering it together.
I wish that that he had written more than he compiled evidence, but he does a good job illuminating his points. And I still enjoyed what he had to say when he commented. Though an academic by trade, Nichols does not write in an abstruse scholarly style.
A helpful tonic at this time in our history, but I doubt those who would most benefit form it will read it.
Hampton Sides is an author I have come to enjoy as a fine storyteller of narrative history and excellent researcher. His books are always a treat, and a surprise, because he never stays in the same time period twice. I have read and recommend Ghost Soldiers, about the Bataan Death March and the 1945 raid by American forces to free the survivors. (It opens with as frightening a sequence as I can remember in a work of non-fiction.)
In the Kingdom of Ice, the story of a three-year voyage to the polar regions by the USS Jeanette that captures the spirit of America in the early Gilded Age and chronicles the grueling results of this voyage gone wrong under absolutely unbearable conditions.
Hellhound on His Trail follows the paths of James Earl Ray and Martin Luther King, Jr. toward their inevitable, tragic intersection in Memphis and Ray’s eventual capture. Ray is a perfect example of the banality of evil. And even though we know how all this will end, the suspense is till palpable.
I most recently read On Desperate Ground, about the battle of the Chosin Reservoir in Korea and the “retreat” that followed. Like the others, it is a vivid portrait of unbelievable gallantry, sacrifice and bravery, but it is never sappy or worshipful. MacArthur, for instance, comes off as a monster of vanity, and the Chinese soldiers who opposed the marines and soldiers at the Chosin emerge as human beings, not as statistics. Excellent account of a forgotten episode in a shamefully forgotten war.
I‘ve only read a few chapters thus far of Blood and Thunder, about Kit Carson and the Navajos, but it is as compelling as the others.
The Shakespeare Requirement by Julie Schumacher is a nasty little satire of academic life that eviscerates higher education, exposing its greed, loss of principles, eagerness to reward mediocrity on both sides of the classroom, and the notion that schools should be run on a “business model.” Laugh-out-loud funny at times for anyone in any field that is plagued by hypocrites, bureaucracy, too many administrators and venality at its core.
Which is all of them.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 25, 2019 10:59:59 GMT -5
Big Trouble by J. Anthony LukasOh man this is a hard book to review. Buried deep within this quite lengthy tome is a great book about the assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg and the ensuing "Trial of the Century" of Big Bill Haywood. The problem is that within the book are a couple dozen good long articles on other subjects some of which are related to the main story and arguably useful and some of which are so tangentially related that they made for page skipping material. And therein lies the problem. Lukas' research, as best I can tell, was impeccable. And his writing is clear and strong and readable. Unfortunately he never met a digression he didn't feel it was necessary to delve into at length...great length. And I'm aware that some of the digressions clearly added to the story. Clarence Darrow represented Haywood and a significant look into his life was warranted. Governor Steunenberg's actions during the Coeur d'Alene strikes were clearly necessary background. What wasn't necessary background was a long history of African-American soldiers in the American West and a history of the Spanish-American War due to the stationing of the black 24th Infantry Regiment in North Idaho during the 1899 labor confrontation. And just because Ethel Barrymore attended a day of the Haywood trial doesn't mean we need long look at her life, loves, friendships, etc. Likewise I didn't need long articles on Gifford Pinchot and the history of forestry in the U.S., the history of the Social Gospel in the U.S., Jewish immigration into the U.S., the history of and the growth of the Elk's Lodge, etc., etc. I'll cut some slack on town baseball in Idaho and Walter Johnson because it's interesting...but it really was far from necessary. And therein lies the problem. A book about a compelling subject, with good research and written by an author with a good voice, constantly bogs down in digressions and minutiae. This was particularly disappointing for me. I grew up in Idaho. And while I never lived in Caldwell, my Grandparents did. I also lived for a number of years in Boise and I know a lot of the places described by Lukas. Add to that that I'm a defense attorney and that Clarence Darrow is a bit of a hero of mine and this book should have been something I couldn't put down. And the really sad part is that it easily could have been if somebody had been able to convince Lukas to edit out at least a third of the book (I think it could have been up to half). As it stands I view it as a successful failure.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 26, 2019 23:06:54 GMT -5
I've found that sort of thing often is an issue with baseball books, too. Sometimes the author tries too hard to set the scene of the time. Or maybe it's just they come upon a good story/article in their research and can't part with it even when it doesn't contribute to the narrative.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 27, 2019 22:38:37 GMT -5
The Moonstone Wilkie Collins
I'm not sure I agree that this is 'the first mystery novel'... sure the 1st half of the book is a mystery, and most certainly hits many of the notes all good British mysteries hit, but I'd agrue it's more of a romance than anything.
I greatly enjoyed Betteridge, and was quite sad when he gave up narration duties. I can definitely see alot of similarities to Watson in him.
After that, though, we get Miss Clack, who (I hope) is a parody, and a good one, but the mystery takes a back seat for quite some time. It definitely when on FAR too long.
The 'twist' of the story was also pretty silly, and definitely felt more at home as the resolution of a lover's tiff than a mystery.
I'm glad I read it, but I can't say I'd exactly recommend it.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 30, 2019 14:30:06 GMT -5
Dinero Del Mar by Garnett Elliott. Jack Laramie, the Drifter Detective, is back in what is really a pair of interrelated stories. First Jack gets involved in a Miss Grapefruit Texas beauty pageant when his client thinks it may not be on the up-and-up. Unfortunately his client may well be a large part of the problem. Later after a short stint in the Corpus drunk tank on a vagrancy charge, Laramie is hired to try to protect the interests of an aged wealthy Texas matron from her hangers-on and from herself. The whole thing leads to murder and mayhem and ultimately back to one of the contestants in the Miss Grapefruit pageant. Overall a good entry in the adventures of Jack Laramie. It clearly shows that Laramie's business model is not working well for him and it inevitably leads him into making bad decisions in order to get clients and make a few bucks. Probably the hardest old-school noir feel of the series thus far.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 6, 2019 13:06:09 GMT -5
Hour of the Dragon (published in the lancer edition as 'Conan the Conqueror) by Robert E Howard
It's funny to think how this story of Conan losing and regaining his kingdom is so much better than the one.. just goes to show what writers can do with they don't have years of tropes and conventions binding their thinking.
Some of the old time writers I've read struggled with novel length stories, being more at home in the more common at the time short story or serial novella... this one is the exception.
It's almost a retrospective of Conan's career, while at the same time telling a great story.. it has every element that ever graced a Conan page, all woven into a single epic adventure... and yet it was all done in a book that fits in your pocket... no need for 3000 pages of world building exposition...we didn't need charts and diagrams of how the heart of Ahriman works.. it just does, and it's fine.
It'll be interesting to see if writing styles ever swing back this way again.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 9, 2019 13:31:27 GMT -5
The Moonstone Wilkie Collins I'm not sure I agree that this is 'the first mystery novel'... sure the 1st half of the book is a mystery, and most certainly hits many of the notes all good British mysteries hit, but I'd agrue it's more of a romance than anything. I greatly enjoyed Betteridge, and was quite sad when he gave up narration duties. I can definitely see alot of similarities to Watson in him. After that, though, we get Miss Clack, who (I hope) is a parody, and a good one, but the mystery takes a back seat for quite some time. It definitely when on FAR too long. The 'twist' of the story was also pretty silly, and definitely felt more at home as the resolution of a lover's tiff than a mystery. I'm glad I read it, but I can't say I'd exactly recommend it. I loved that book. In fact, I've read it twice, as well as The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I love my Victorian novels!
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 9, 2019 13:34:48 GMT -5
I've just read my first Doc Savage novel - He Could Stop the World by Kenneth Robeson. I thought it was an enjoyable read. Action and suspense and basically comic book type science. Pretty cool, though. Also, this book was written in 1937, and Doc Savage has a "Fortress of Solitude" in the Arctic Circle! This is well before Superman's. I wonder if they got the idea from the Doc Savage novels.
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