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Reading The Sea of Trolls trilogy by Nancy Farmer. Never read anything by this author, and it's a nice semi-lighthearted but still complex and interesting take on life at the start of the Viking Age, but with fantasy elements mixed in.

 kronk wrote:
I'm about 1/3rd of the way into The Warded Man, book 1 of the demon cycle.

It's decent.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Warded-Man-Demon-Cycle/dp/0345518705

I'd say stop at the end of the first one. I really enjoyed that book and thought the ending worked in sort of an open way, but the next books in the series get worse and a bit too rapey for my tastes.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
A certain thread got me in the mood for some Star Trek, so I read Ex Machina, which is some great continuity porn, and have started Disavowed, which is satisfying my itch for the story to advance.

I have been reading a lot lately so here is a summary:

Surviving the Evacuation, books 0.5 to 9 by Frank Tayell. (Horror)
A British zombie apocalypse story that follows a number of survivors whose lives overlap and interlink during the saga. The action takes place over about a year from the start of the crisis to the point where some kind of hope genuinely emerges from the disaster.
It's not great literature but the story rattles along pretty well and there are some good characters.

Final Days and The Thousand Emperors by Gary Gibson. (SF)
These are stand-alone novels though the second one takes place 200 years after the events in the first one so it's worth reading them both in order.
In Final Days explorers of an alien wormhole network unwittingly bring disaster upon Earth. The key characters are caught up in trying to avert and survive the crisis. Lots of action and some interesting concepts on relativity.

In 1,000 Emperors, humanity is split into two factions, the Tian Di and the Coalition (ex-westerners) who rule the colony worlds linked by wormhole technology. A crisis approaches as the Coalition and Tian Di prepare to relink their wormhole networks that have been separated for 200 years.
The protagonist is a sort of intelligence agent for the Tian Di who gets caught up in the intrigues of the oligarchic rulers of his faction and tries to enable the Reunion to be brought about successfully.

Space Captain Smith: books 1 to 5 by Tom Frost. (SF)
Comedy SF action adventure featuring Isambard Smith, captain in the East Galaxy Company's space forces, who becomes an intelligence operative with a supporting cast of aliens, androids and assorted weirdoes, fighting a galactic war between the British Space Empire and the Ghast ant-men, Yull lemming-men and religious zealot human New Edenites.
Loads of jokes, puns and innuendo riffing off popular SF like Star Wars, Dune, Terminator, and other sources including childrens' TV shows and real history. Very much in the spirit of Hitchhikers Guide and Red Dwarf.

Right now, on 9/16/15, I'm reading Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Pretty good.

Reading a sci-fi novel recommended by my coworker, it's called Pennsylvania. By, Michael Bunker

Or, as I had to explain it to my wife...AMISH IN SPACE!

I just started it but the idea of what the Amish would have to deal with in order to settle on a new world entertains me. So I am interested in seeing where the author takes this.

 ProtoClone wrote:
Reading a sci-fi novel recommended by my coworker, it's called Pennsylvania. By, Michael Bunker

Or, as I had to explain it to my wife...AMISH IN SPACE!

I just started it but the idea of what the Amish would have to deal with in order to settle on a new world entertains me. So I am interested in seeing where the author takes this.

There'll be a thrilling final section complete with horse drawn carriage travel and a barn-raising

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 ProtoClone wrote:
Reading a sci-fi novel recommended by my coworker, it's called Pennsylvania. By, Michael Bunker

Or, as I had to explain it to my wife...AMISH IN SPACE!

I just started it but the idea of what the Amish would have to deal with in order to settle on a new world entertains me. So I am interested in seeing where the author takes this.

There'll be a thrilling final section complete with horse drawn carriage travel and a barn-raising

Don't know if you're trolling or spoiling.

 ProtoClone wrote:

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 ProtoClone wrote:
Reading a sci-fi novel recommended by my coworker, it's called Pennsylvania. By, Michael Bunker

Or, as I had to explain it to my wife...AMISH IN SPACE!

I just started it but the idea of what the Amish would have to deal with in order to settle on a new world entertains me. So I am interested in seeing where the author takes this.

There'll be a thrilling final section complete with horse drawn carriage travel and a barn-raising

Don't know if you're trolling or spoiling.

You'll have to keep reading to find out which

Finished The Wastelands but I'm having a hard time getting a physical copy of the Wizard and the Glass so I bought myself a copy of Dune to re read in the meantime

Finishing reading Road to Blitzkrieg - a history of German armored forces up until invasion of Poland.

Finished reading Iceni Queen: A Pirate Yarn (Romance of the Evernight Book 1). Pirates vs. corporations in space. Very rocketpunk. Also, the author was extensively used Atomic Rockets site for info about space combat and space travel.

Started reading Rolling Into Action - memoirs of a WWI tanker.

Started reading
The Occidental Bride by Benjanun Sriduangkaew. A lesbian sci-fi romance with Asian gaze.

Tried reading Ghost in the Shell 2 - Man-Machine Interface. Turned out to be bizzarre soft porno manga with page after a page of panty shots, accentuated breats and suggestive poses.
Stopped reading at 1/4, feeling thoroughly violated D: .
I completely didn't expect it after GitS 1 and 1.5 D: .

I finished Guerilla, now I just have to wait for the next book in that series to come out in paperback. Now I'm reading Natural Selection, by Dave Freedman. It's about a group of scientists tracking a previously unknown species that suddenly seems to start adapting new abilities. And yes, the creatures are predatory (not a spoiler, read the cover of the book and you will know).

Change of plan. Never got into it just on television series. Reading now

The Ten Thousand Day War -Vietnam: 1945-1975

Dune: Messiah. First time - so excited! Loved Dune ever since I was a kid, so...

SBG wrote:
Dune: Messiah. First time - so excited! Loved Dune ever since I was a kid, so...

The original series was a bit erratic IMHO. The first book was excellent, the second not bad, the middle two I didn’t care for, and then the last two got better, but not up to the quality of the original. Worth reading overall as a series IMHO, but was a little “meh” in places.

The extended stuff cranked out by his son was even more sporadic. Helpful for filling in bits of the history and tying up loose ends, but nothing groundbreaking. I stopped picking it up after a while (but did read eight or nine of them, I’d have to check the shelf.)

Between mountains of school related gak, I just started The Martian, in anticipation of the movie.

Black Salamander by Marilyn Todd

Ancient Roman murder Mystery - book 5 - enjoying it

The Fallen Blade by one of my favourite authors Jon Courtenay Grimwood.

Vampire vs Werewolf in the politics of medieval Venice. Easy to read but not as good as his earlier stuff.

I'm rereading The Egyptian by Mika Waltari. It's one of the only books I reread, probably every third year or so. IMO, it's the best work of historical fiction ever written. Highly recommended to any fan of the genre.

Tried and failed to finish Elias Cannetti's "Crowds and Power" over the class break, but no dice.

Its one of the most fascinating, insightful, and downright scary books I've ever read. If you've ever tried to make sense of the insanity that comes with people in large crowds, it will blow your mind. Esp if you had ANYTHING to do with the Occupy idiocy a few years ago or have ever been in the middle of a riot. I'd put it on my "must read" list with The Prince and Ender's Game.


FULL BOOK FREE
http://asounder.org/resources/canetti_crowdsandpower.pdf

 Nevelon wrote:

SBG wrote:
Dune: Messiah. First time - so excited! Loved Dune ever since I was a kid, so...

The original series was a bit erratic IMHO. The first book was excellent, the second not bad, the middle two I didn’t care for, and then the last two got better, but not up to the quality of the original. Worth reading overall as a series IMHO, but was a little “meh” in places.

The extended stuff cranked out by his son was even more sporadic. Helpful for filling in bits of the history and tying up loose ends, but nothing groundbreaking. I stopped picking it up after a while (but did read eight or nine of them, I’d have to check the shelf.)

Thanks for the input, I was unsure about buying the whole lot right away. Will feel it out one at a time cheers.

I just finished Natural Selection, and it was a great read (but not as much as Michael Crichton's stories, in spite of what the reviewers said). I am now reading The Icarus Hunt, by Timothy Zahn. This is the first book by that author that I have read that isn't Star Wars related.

Currently reading Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill. Its a horror novel about an aging former rockstar that collects macabre items. His latest item came with something unknowingly connected to a tragic event in his past and its pissed.

Before this, I read The Terror, by Dan Simmons, a horror novel about a monster stalking the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror on their failed quest to sail through the Northwest passage.

Both would make great movies, although The Terror is a bit long for Hollywood to do all of it justice. Unless Peter Jackson makes a trilogy out of it!

On a horror genre streak at the moment.

Horus Heresy: Legion is next on the row.

SBG wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:

SBG wrote:
Dune: Messiah. First time - so excited! Loved Dune ever since I was a kid, so...

The original series was a bit erratic IMHO. The first book was excellent, the second not bad, the middle two I didn’t care for, and then the last two got better, but not up to the quality of the original. Worth reading overall as a series IMHO, but was a little “meh” in places.

The extended stuff cranked out by his son was even more sporadic. Helpful for filling in bits of the history and tying up loose ends, but nothing groundbreaking. I stopped picking it up after a while (but did read eight or nine of them, I’d have to check the shelf.)

Thanks for the input, I was unsure about buying the whole lot right away. Will feel it out one at a time cheers.

Personally, I love the whole Dune series (the 6 books, not the bobbins his son wrote). Whilst none of follow-ups are as good as Dune itself, they are still great, great sci-fi - epic scope, nearly epic execution, tons of great characters. Though I love the film and more recent mini-series too, and certainly not everyone shares those opinions

I'm currently re-reading The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham, though the last time I read it was probably 35 years ago. Brilliant so far, very reserved and understated even when dealing with concepts that must have been completely mind-boggling back back in the '50s.

The novelization of Voyager's episode: Equinox...and I'm really thinking about changing my avatar to a certain female...you've got one guess about her name.

Read the spoiler for a hint.

Lately I've been reading a few of Don Pendleton's Stony Man books. Although they are a bit formulaic (some might say once you've read one, you've read them all), and there really isn't a lot of depth to the stories, they are still fun reading. Who needs story depth when you've got high body count action and very detailed descriptions of what gunshot wounds do to the bad guys? Lol JK of course , but the books are still very fun!

Monster Hunter: Nemesis. Freaking awesome.

From the Helmand to the Himalayas.

Just finished Kushiels Avatar

Great finish to the trilogy and a most unusual herorine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushiel's_Legacy

Highly recomend for someone looking for something different to the usual fantasy fare

Brandon Sanderson's The Alloy of Law since it's been a few years before I read the new one that came out. It's a follow-up trilogy to the Mistborn Trilogy.