Man Battlestations Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: MadDrB on April 12, 2012, 06:16:51 pm
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Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester
A broad but interesting bio of the Greatest Sea on the planet, starting with the geological and ranging from the ecological to the mythological. It has been out since 2010 (reviewed here: http://www.powells.com/blog/review-a-day/simon-winchesters-well-navigated-atlantic-by-review-a-day/ (http://www.powells.com/blog/review-a-day/simon-winchesters-well-navigated-atlantic-by-review-a-day/) ), but I checked out an audiobook version from my local library last week and I'm enjoying the experience.
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Sounds pretty interesting. I myself am reading Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. It is a pretty fascinating look at the rise of the IJN leading up to WWII!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=0870211927
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That's the book I've been looking to read! I've been interested in how fast the Japanese navy developed at the end of the 20th century, noting references in books about the British navy and how the Japanese built a navy from scratch largely based on British conventions along with some warships built in British shipyards. Everything I've read, however, focused mostly on the years immediately prior to WWII and then the War in the Pacific. Thanks for the link!
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No problem! This work is a pretty impressively researched and sourced one, I think you will enjoy it. Quite simply, there is nothing else like it in the English language (that is, this is the first major work to address the subject matter it is discussing). I was first exposed to it through excerpts during a Professional Military Education class I took last year, and now I am circling around to read the whole book. It is a little difficult to track down a copy to purchase, though it might be in the local library system.
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Not currently reading anything military history-related (for a change).
I'm about 3/4 through Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir, by Tom Jones, who flew as a science mission specialist on 4 space shuttle missions (twice on Endeavour, once on Columbia, once on Discovery). I've had the book for a few years, but was moved to read it by Discovery's arrival at the Udvar Hazy center a couple of weeks ago.
Pretty good read, talks about the nuts and bolts of astronaut training and what it's like to live/work on the space shuttle for 2 weeks. I'd recommend it if you're interested in human spaceflight.
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Just started reading The Coast Watchers by Patrick Lindsay. The small band that stayed on the islands after the Japanese invaded and reported on air and naval movements.
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Camthalion, that sounds interesting. Haven't looked the book up...whose coast are they watching?
I'm currently reading the third book in the "Temeraire" series, by Naomi Novik. Historical, Napoleanic-era fiction....with dragons. Seriously. Definitely recommend the books (so far), they're pretty interesting. And different.
A few months ago, I read "Crimea" by Trevor Royle, about the Crimean War. I couldn't help but think about DW while I was reading, as the main players were the Russians, British, French, and Ottomans. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a good introduction to that conflict.
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Camthalion, that sounds interesting. Haven't looked the book up...whose coast are they watching?
They were stationed on many of the island groups that the Japanese had invaded, all around the New Guinea area, quite a few at Guadalcanal.
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/patrick-lindsay/the-coast-watchers-the-men-behind-enemy-lines-who-saved-the-pacific-9781742753126.aspx (http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/patrick-lindsay/the-coast-watchers-the-men-behind-enemy-lines-who-saved-the-pacific-9781742753126.aspx)
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Ah, ok. I thought that topic sounded familiar. Looks pretty interesting. I'll have to add it to my never-ending reading list.
I've been fascinated with the Pacific theatre of WW2 since I was a kid. Read "30 Seconds over Tokyo" when I was 9-- two years before I delved into Lord of the Rings. Most kids at that age were staying up late with a flashlight reading comic books; I was too, except I was reading about the carrier war in the Pacific.
I read Costello's "The Pacific War" last year; good, but exhaustive, book on that theatre. Written back in the 80s, I think.
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I'm currently reading the third book in the "Temeraire" series, by Naomi Novik. Historical, Napoleanic-era fiction....with dragons. Seriously. Definitely recommend the books (so far), they're pretty interesting. And different.
A few months ago, I read "Crimea" by Trevor Royle, about the Crimean War. I couldn't help but think about DW while I was reading, as the main players were the Russians, British, French, and Ottomans. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a good introduction to that conflict.
I enjoyed the Temeraire books as well; it definitely fired up my passion for playing Uncharted Seas featuring both sailing ships with black powder cannon broadsides AND flying dragons. It's too bad you're leaving the area, Landlubber, because I'm beginning to realize we share more in common when it comes to reading and gaming than just Dystopian Wars. And I had wanted to play a game of Empire of the Sun against you at some point. Also, Ruckdog is returning!
"Crimea" was a good history; more recently I read Trevor Royle's book on the English Civil War; lots of good detail, but both very long books.
But as for books on proper naval topics, I finally picked up "Six Frigates" by Ian W. Toll. I'm enjoying a renewed interest in late 18th century North American history, in part because I have been neglecting my model ships to paint 1/72 scale figures for games of Muskets & Tomahawks. But a book about the genesis of the American navy sort of fits into the era....
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Well, I'm not quite gone yet--we may yet be able to get in a game.
I've been a military history buff most of my life, but I'm pretty all-over-the map with my subjects. It does seem, however, that here recently I've been leaning more towards late 19th century/early 20th century warfare. Read G.J. Meyer's "A World Undone" last year, about WW1--GREAT book if you're interested in the topic.
Glad to hear Ruckdog's coming back! I promise you guys I'll carry the Man Battlestations and DW flags out to Colorado with me...hopefully I'll find some cool people to play with out there. Will spread the word about the forum once I get there, and I'll still keep up with it--when I'm not out hiking in the Rockies, that is!
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Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
I picked this up on CD (audiobook) on sale for something like five bucks, and I ended up enjoying it. The novel starts with an advanced human galactic empire on the brink of extinction in the face of an ominous spacefaring race on a universal mission of ultimate genocide. The final human escape plan involves sending a secret colony fleet to a planet where advanced technology is banned, the colonist's minds are reprogrammed to believe in a god prohibiting technology, and humanity begins to flourish on a new planet in a quasi-medieval level of technology (apparently it was the radiation caused by advanced tech which attracted the genocidal aliens). So, a good part of the novel actually features epic naval battles between sailing galleon fleets. A little sci-fi and a little traditional nautical fiction all together in one book.
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Sounds interesting! I haven't read much of Weber outside the HH series.
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Just started re-reading Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding. Read it for the first time last year. Great steampunk-ish story. Hard to describe it exactly--but it has airships! Some similarities to Firefly. Good action, decent character development, and a healthy dose of (British) humor. There are three books that follow this story arc, and they're all fairly stand-alone, but if you read them I recommend reading in the order they were published. In order, they are Retribution Falls, The Black Lung Captain, and The Iron Jackal. Forthcoming in 2013/2014 is The Ace of Skulls, which will be the last in this arc. Unfortunately only the first two are available in the U.S., but the third should be available soon.
Here's the link to the first one: http://www.amazon.com/Retribution-Falls-Chris-Wooding/dp/0345522516/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354500236&sr=1-1&keywords=retribution+falls
I'd recommend them--they're a good read.
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Good grief, with all the readers on this forum. I can't believe this thread has gone over two years without an update. Shame on all of us! :D
My recent foray into Firestorm Armada has got me thinking about good spaceship combat books, which made me realize that I need to re-read the first Honor Harrington book so I can jump into that series. It's been recommended to me by many people.
It also got me thinking about a book I read last year that this group might enjoy. It's called Templar One (http://www.amazon.com/EVE-Templar-One-Tony-Gonzales/dp/0765326191/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420394910&sr=1-1&keywords=templar+one), and it is set in the EVE Online universe.
Now I know what you're thinking: no, you don't have to be familiar with EVE to understand or enjoy this book. I played EVE once upon a time, so I'm familiar with the various nations and ships mentioned, but it's not necessary to have that knowledge for this book. The author does a great job of explaining things enough that you get a sense of what everything is, but you don't get overwhelmed.
The book centers around the Templar project: basically, highly-skilled ground troops that have clones, so they can jump right back into battle if killed. This technology is, of course, already available to the Capsuleers, the augmented humans who pilot the starships in the EVE universe. The book mostly concerns a soldier code-named Templar One, and his training and deployment on the battlefield by the Amarr Empire (the Amarr are one of the main factions in EVE). But on a broader level, it involves the political and military efforts of the Caldari State, the Minmatar Republic, the Gallente Federation (the other main factions in EVE), the CONCORD police force, and one of the main pirate factions in EVE to stop the Amarr from fielding this technology, or to steal it for themselves. There is political intrigue, espionage, ground combat, and of course some great space battles, especially at the book's climax.
This book was written in conjunction with the development/release of DUST 514, the ground combat game set in the EVE universe. The game is playable solely on the Playstation, but it connects with the EVE computer game, and players can affect things in both games simultaneously (for instance, you can call down orbital strikes in DUST 514 from ships in orbit, piloted by players who are currently online playing EVE).
Books based on video games can be hit-or-miss, but this one is definitely a hit. Even if you are not a fan of EVE, or if you've never played, this is a darn good book.
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Hee hee, I guess I've been ignoring this thread too.
Let's see...I just finished "Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson (http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Yell-Violence-Redemption-Stonewall-ebook/dp/B00DPM7Z4Y)" by S.C. Gwynne, an awesome biographical piece about the ACW general's life and military career.
I've also recently read the first two books of the Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss. I'm not much of a Fantasy guy, but I found those two books pretty interesting.
I also got a couple of new Osprey books for Christmas (US Dreadnoughts 1914-1945, and British Dreadnoughts 1914-1918) that I'm going to be digging into shortly!
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Reading Empires at War Series by Doug Danridge. Its a great series, and a bit different then the Galaxy Unknown Series. Galaxy Unknown was a better version of Honor Herrington for me, though I may now be shot and quartered while still suffering from a bullet in the gut by legions of loyal fans for Honor Harrington folks.
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I'm "listening" mostly right now since finding Audible. Works a lot better on the commute. I'm on book 3 of the Ark Royal series. I don't think it qualifies as fine prose, but I'm enjoying the story arc.
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Arcroyal by Christopher Nutall?
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yep.
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Reading Empires at War Series by Doug Danridge. Its a great series, and a bit different then the Galaxy Unknown Series. Galaxy Unknown was a better version of Honor Herrington for me, though I may now be shot and quartered while still suffering from a bullet in the gut by legions of loyal fans for Honor Harrington folks.
Hardly! As big of an HH fan as I am, even I am willing to admit there are some weaknesses with it, and there is no denying that the series has lost momentum in the last few books. I'm going to have to look into both of them, they sound interesting!
I'm "listening" mostly right now since finding Audible. Works a lot better on the commute. I'm on book 3 of the Ark Royal series. I don't think it qualifies as fine prose, but I'm enjoying the story arc.
I'm still mostly "reading" via audible as well. I've started in on the Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson. It's a pretty neat alternate-history story of a WWII destroyer that gets transported to a parallel world where the Dinosaurs never died out!
http://www.taylorandersonauthor.com/
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Thanks for sharing those, Stephan and Ulric, I'll have to check them out. Ruckdog, one of the guys I game with at Gamer's Haven is a big fan of the Destroyermen series. Will be interested to hear your opinion of them.
I'm about a hundred pages into Blood Pact (http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Gaunts-Ghosts-Novels-Market/dp/1844168239/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421726733&sr=8-2&keywords=Blood+Pact), the twelfth book in the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett. Big fan of that series. For 40k fluff, I've always preferred stories about the Imperial Guard--maybe because I was in the Army myself. Space Marines are cool, but there's just too much chainsword-swinging-on-top-of-mountains-of-dead-orks-while-praising-the-Emperor in Space Marine stories. I like that the Guard are more vulnerable, and more...well, human.
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Let me know how it is Stephan.
As for 40K stuff I have read Blood Pact and it was better then the last 4 books for me. A little bit of Humanization for Gaunt. Also for Space Marines I enjoy the Space Wolf stuff. Much less 'PRaise the Emperor" and more "I am a bad ass Viking."
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I'm getting deeper into ARK ROYAL now, and its pretty entertaining for straightforward, no frills, military sci-fi. Very BSG vibe. Just got into the first real battle scene, and then today I read this:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/02/05/us-navys-new-star-wars-style-railgun-hits-mach-6/?intcmp=features
Some days, I wish I'd gone Navy instead of Air Force.
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I'm getting deeper into ARK ROYAL now, and its pretty entertaining for straightforward, no frills, military sci-fi. Very BSG vibe. Just got into the first real battle scene, and then today I read this:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/02/05/us-navys-new-star-wars-style-railgun-hits-mach-6/?intcmp=features
Some days, I wish I'd gone Navy instead of Air Force.
Yeah, I saw that story the other day as well. We live in an age when we are seeing things come to life that we have only known in video/computer games or science fiction.
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ARK ROYAL is actively annoying me now. The author's descriptions of battle scenes, the way he relays hits, pseudo ship positions, etc seems entirely plot driven rather than suspending disbelief.
For example:
-- In one sequence, the grav 'tramlines' they use to jump between systems are minutes apart in a system; in the next they're hours apart. Even in the same runing battle, it seems liike the distance to the tramline changes based on getting the ship away or not. In another chase, they're about to be overtaken "less than halfway there", but after blowing up two enemy ships, the main pursuing battlecruiser (said to be fastest of the enemy) can't even make main-weapons range in time. Its like the author though blowing up two ships would somehow slow a 3rd ship down?
-- One fleet is being chased by another. Despite all evidence indicating the primary mass drivers fire forward, and that there's no turrets, somehow they're firing at the pursuers the whole way.
-- One side's fighters will overwhelm a frigate, then are described as backing off then swarming the next frigate, but somehow the enemy covering fighters are 'too far away' to respond.
-- Similarly, the author describes a line of enemy ships as closing fast, they take a few hits, then they're described as "backing off" out of range, as if they suddenly hit perfect reverse like a person backpedaling.
-- Plasma weapons of one side are described as firing "at the speed of light" in one chapter. Not long later, a fighter is described as "flying right into a plasma bolt, not having time to realize his mistake". If they shoot at the speed of light, there's no "mistake" - you're hit or you're not!
-- Giant enemy ships are described as evading mass driver shots, and enemy fighters are described as intercepting mass-driver shots. Unless those are the slowest Mass-drivers ever made, such reaction times shoudln't be possible. Point-defense barrages could work as sometimes described, but not delibarate dodging or counter-fire!
This may all seem quibbly, but the collective effect is one of constant annoyance and confusion.
When I'm reading Weber's Honor Harrington books, I feel like there's a map of the action in my head, and I know exactly what is happening and why. In ARK ROYAL, its all a confusing mish mash like he keeps changing ship positions willy-nilly, and keeps changing his "rules" as suits the story. It's gotten incredibly frustrating, and I'm only continuing because of some intruiging mysteries surrounding the aliens.
It doesn't help either that the audiobook reader has only about 3 male voices to rotate through, making characters blend into one another. And his only female voice he uses seems permanently set on "simpering idiot". Or maybe thats just the writing too...
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Sorry you're not enjoying it. I've moved on to Greg's recommendation of His Majesty's Dragon, which so far seems like a blend of listening to one of Weber's Safehold novels and The Guns of August. I'm enjoying the story however.
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I may double back and do the last Honorverse "spy" novel, or just hope the next Jim Butcher isn't too far away :-)
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Dale, I agree with some of your parts. However I am sure with the mass driver shooting captial ships, you forget dale.In space I can accelerate in one direction and then pitch over, head over heels to speak, firing at the enemy approaching me from the rear.
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Just finished The Dardanelles Disaster by Dan Van der Vat. Since it's a World War I book, I will post a review in the book thread in the WWI section.
Am currently about 200 pages into the first Honor Harrington novel, On Basilisk Station. I read this book several years ago and enjoyed it, but I'm re-reading it so I can be better accepted by the Denver gaming group here (I've mentioned before that I can't truly gain acceptance until I read all the HH novels and watch Babylon 5 in its entirety). Forgot what a good read it is! And, I'm a big fan of the Horatio Hornblower books, so I can certainly see C. S. Forester's influence in Weber's writing.
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Finished On Basilisk Station. I forgot about the nail-biter ending. Have moved on to an ancient history book, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into the next Harrington novel!
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Ah, wish I could go back and read the Harrington books for the first time!
FYI - there's a whole comic book series out there from IMAGE titled TALES OF HONOR. Somehow I missed the first series, so I need to get the trades or back-order.
I started on THE SCIENCE OF INTERSTELLAR by Kip Thorne. Fantastic so far! And good regardless of how you liked the movie. AICN has an article series that makes a good companion too - and you get a glimpse of the "Less-Nolan , more hard-sci-fi" movie that might have been. And if you don't know who kip Thorne is, you need to find out.
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I just finished Empire of Ivory (damn you Greg for introducing me to that series!) and am reading the White Scars book for Horus Heresy right now.
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HMS Dragon is a good read, thought you wouldn't like it so I never mentioned it to you before stephan. Been reading that series since the late 2009 I believe.
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It's great for listening to on my commutes or while running. I'm just waiting for my next Audible credit to continue the series.
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New stuff release dates:
-- SEVENSES from Neal Stephenson on May 19th !!!
-- Next EXPANSE novel (NEMESIS GAMES) on June 2nd.
-- AERONAUT'S WINDLASS, Steampunk from Jim Butcher! Not til Sept 29th
-- Absolutely nothing yet on Weber's next Honor book... booo!
With so little new sci-fi this summer, I'm going to have to break down and finally read Cauldron of Ghosts...
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New stuff release dates:
-- SEVENSES from Neal Stephenson on May 19th !!!
-- Next EXPANSE novel (NEMESIS GAMES) on June 2nd.
-- AERONAUT'S WINDLASS, Steampunk from Jim Butcher! Not til Sept 29th
-- Absolutely nothing yet on Weber's next Honor book... booo!
With so little new sci-fi this summer, I'm going to have to break down and finally read Cauldron of Ghosts...
Just looked at that steampunk Jim Butcher book.
Can't. Wait.
I'll plug this here again: if you like steampunk fiction, I highly recommend the Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding. It's four books, and the series is complete. Good stuff.
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Cool! I can't wait for the next Expanse book!
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Anyone read the Frontier Saga by Brown, Ryk?
13 books or Epds out and I like how its going.
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Anyone read the Frontier Saga by Brown, Ryk?
13 books or Epds out and I like how its going.
I just took a look at this on Amazon, but the descriptions were fairly bland. Can you give us an idea what it's about, without giving away spoilers?
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I have just gotten myself caught up on the Destroyermen series (definitely recommend it!), and now I'm plunging into the Legend of the Seeker books series by Terry Goodkind. This is sort of out of my usual genre, as its fantasy. However, I got lots of the books for free from a friend!
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Sure....can do landlubber.
The story is about a earth some thousand of years from now, time table is around 3400 ad or so. In 2400 after humanity had been spreading amongst the stars they had a plague that spread via cyborgnic and biological systems, meaning you could get sick from the virus spreading over your implants or by normal flu like way. You could not stop it as 99% of the population had implants. Thus caused a insteller plague, billions dying, more fleeing in every direction away from the core worlds.
This meant that the Tech level on most places dropped in the feudal ages or even lower. On earth they had to start all over again. Then about 3300 or so on earth they discovered an ark that was sealed before the virus could containate the computer database, this database had all the Tech that was lost. So the Earth begins to rebuild.
As they built ships they found out that an empire of humans known as the Jung had beaten them to outerspace and taken over 99% of the core worlds leaving earth surrounded. Now in this world FTL is used, meaning its not warpspeed and it takes a while to travel between systems. 6 months for a trip to the nearest star.
Now introduce the Aurora and her crew of fresh from the academy junior officers and Grizzled senior officers. They are a new ship who go on a secret mission to test a new drive system. During the test they find themselves ambushed by 3 Jung Gunships. An explosion of antimatter occurs after they destory a jung ship and find themselves propelled to 1000 light years away in unknown space, fighting another battle against another human empire......
When can they get home if ever. Its only a matter of time before the jung take over earth.
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Ulric, thanks for that run down. Looks like something I might want to check out at some point.
I'm currently about 150 pages into "Empire of Ivory", the fourth book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series. It's been about three years since I read the last one, and I forgot how much I enjoy this series. The last book of the series is due out later this year or early next year, so I need to catch up!
Also, I saw the first preview for the movie "The Martian" today. Been meaning to read the book (it came out last year); the movie looks like it's going to be great, so I need to get that knocked out before it's in theaters. Geeez, so many books to read, so little time...
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Just finished "The Martian" by Andy Weir.
Holy cow. It was a 370-page book, and I read it in three days. Two of those were work days. I started it Sunday, and finished it today.
Highly recommended.
Plus, they've made a movie out of it and it's coming out in October, so I wanted to read it before the movie is out.
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Just finished book 2 Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness.
Great read. Recommend the book series to anyone, its by raymond Weil.
The first book is The Slaver War:Moon Wreck, which is about a group of astronaunts revisiting the moon after a long absence to find a crashed ship on the moon. Inside the ship they discover that Humanity is not as alone in the galaxy, nor is the future safe. The war long forgotten is dropped in Humanities lap once more.
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I'm thinking about starting up the Lost Fleet series in Audible! I've got a few credits built up and a long drive ahead for the move.
As for me, I've been reading an old (1990) book called "The Art of Wargaming" by Peter Perla. This book has some fascinating history of how wargaming developed, and also how wargaming was used at the Naval War College. There is a new edition out as well, but I have a copy of the first. As such, some of it is dated, but the history portions from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries are still pretty good!
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Picked up Jim Butcher's new steampunk novel on Tuesday when it came out. "The Aeronaut's Windlass", first book in the "Cinder Spires" series. I'm about 20 pages in, it's interesting so far. Pretty hefty book as well...over 600 pages. I'm more used to his Dresden books, under 400 pages (at least the ones I've read are under 400). Will post more thoughts on it as I get farther into it.
On a side note, for those of you in Colorado, Jim Butcher will be at the Barnes and Noble on Colorado Boulevard on 6 October (I think) for a book signing. If you get the new book at that store, they'll give you information on the event.
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Jim Butcher will be at the Barnes and Noble on Colorado Boulevard on 6 October (I think) for a book signing. If you get the new book at that store, they'll give you information on the event.
But...but...Tuesday is Malifaux night... :-(
I don't know what I'd have him sign anyways, all his books I have are audio or ebooks :-)
I need to decide between his new Steampunk or the new Drizzt ARCHMAGE book for my next audible buy. Hmmmm....
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I too have started in on the Lost Fleet series! I just finished book 5.
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And I just finished "The Aeronaut's Windlass" (in analog form, not audiobook ;D).
Overall, not too bad. It's a little over 600 pages, but I found that it read pretty quickly--I just was pretty busy with work when I picked it up, so I didn't have a lot of time to read it. There are elements of steampunk, but it's not set (as far as I know) on our world. Some interesting ideas and possibilities raised, and I will pick up the next book in the series, whenever it comes out.
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And I just finished "The Aeronaut's Windlass" (in analog form, not audiobook ;D).
I'm like 20 min from the end on Audio. LOVING IT!
Spartan needs more airships.
Now I need a new book, and sadly the next EXPANSE book isn't til June, and the new Brimstone Angels book isn't til January.
BTW - Expanse Vial marketing is going nuts on FB
http://tychomanufacturing.com/
http://starhelixsecurity.com/
http://outerplanetsalliance.com/
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I can loan you my copy of Retribution Falls, if you'd like...but it is a physical book, not audio book. I really think you'd like it.
http://www.amazon.com/Retribution-Falls-Chris-Wooding/dp/0345522516/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447813820&sr=8-1&keywords=retribution+falls
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Just finished Edward Paice's book World War I, the African Front: An Imperial War on the African Continent. Review can be found here (scroll to the bottom of the thread):
http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=569.0
Pretty good read!
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Seveneves' ending feel rushed
The Martian (book) was entertaining
Currently reading the Crimson worlds series by jay allan
Very entertaining
http://www.crimsonworlds.com
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how many books are out for the lost fleet series? Whats the link Ruck?
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Seveneves' ending feel rushed
The Martian (book) was entertaining
Currently reading the Crimson worlds series by jay allan
Very entertaining
http://www.crimsonworlds.com
I read The Martian in three days flat, and two of those were work days. Couldn't hardly put it down. Movie was OK, book was better (almost always the case, I know).
After finishing the book about WW1 in Africa, I've moved on to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This one has been on my list to read for some time now. I'm a chapter in and it's already pretty entertaining.
Fracas, yeah, I think you've mentioned the Crimson Worlds series before. Looks like good pulp military sci-fi. I have the first one on my reading list.
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how many books are out for the lost fleet series? Whats the link Ruck?
There are 6 books in the first story arc, and 5 books in the second arc. These 11 books all center on a core group of main characters. There are two other book series that take place in the same universe, one being set in the same timeframe as the other 11 but looking at events from the perspective of a different faction, and the other taking place 100+ years before the events in the other 3 series. Here is the link to the author page for the main series:
http://www.jack-campbell.com/_series/lost_fleet/lost_fleet_intro.htm
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how many books are out for the lost fleet series? Whats the link Ruck?
There are 6 books in the first story arc, and 5 books in the second arc. These 11 books all center on a core group of main characters. There are two other book series that take place in the same universe, one being set in the same timeframe as the other 11 but looking at events from the perspective of a different faction, and the other taking place 100+ years before the events in the other 3 series. Here is the link to the author page for the main series:
http://www.jack-campbell.com/_series/lost_fleet/lost_fleet_intro.htm
Thanks Ruck. I am looking at a different series called the Lost fleet series, though the first part of the series is called the Slaver War.
Basically a group of humans is attacked by a race that is just slightly ahead of them in techonolgy, and this race is just a puppet of a SkyNet in space. Humans get overwhelmed and well... The second book in the series is called Moon Wreck( A slight teaser)... I think some people here would enjoy that book series as well.
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Just finished reading "Earth Awakens", which I enjoyed as much as any other book set in the "Ender's Game" setting. Parts of this and the previous book confused me from a narrative standpoint, but I should have realized they were setting things up for another trilogy on the Second Formic War. I don't know if you needed several chapters to do this though...
I also sometimes wonder, when reading any of these books, if anyone is really as smart as some of the characters, forming brilliant, complex plans essentially on the fly. Too bad the need to communicate this to readers and characters often seems to consume too much time; talking isn't a free action, especially during a firefight.
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Well thinking out these plans is a Free action if I process infomation at the quantum level and speed!
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I read Ready Player One last week by Ernest Cline. Good read. Recommended for anyone who likes 80s pop culture or has ever been involved in an MMORPG.
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I read Ready Player One last week by Ernest Cline. Good read. Recommended for anyone who likes 80s pop culture or has ever been involved in an MMORPG.
I can't wait to see what Spielberg does with it. And loved that I got 95% of references. (God I'm old...)
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I got most of the references. I spent about half of that decade outside of the country, so some of it I'd never heard of.
I really liked the gamer aspect of it. I've dabbled a bit in MMO games (EVE Online), so that part of it was cool. Made me want to get back into it. But alas, no time.
Plus, Joust is one of my favorite games of all time. I have it on my iPad. :D
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Just finished The Aeronaught's Windlass by Jim Butcher. Really enjoyed it! This is the first of 6-9 books set in the same world, and it seems like a very interesting one at that. In the book, humanity is confined in two mile high "spires" that were built long ago by a lost group called the Builders. The surface of the planet is shrouded in mist and infested with dangerous, magical creatures, forcing humanity to travel through the sky in air ships. There was some great naval combat sequences in the book, though that was more of a side-show to the main action of the story. Recommended!
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There was some great naval combat sequences in the book,
It really kinda screamed for a wargame! :-)
And a Spire-based foot-trooper skirmish game, including stats for cats. ;-)
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That would be pretty neat! The ship combat would be challenging to do justice to in a minis game, given some of the acrobatics the book describes! Could be done with some of the neat stuff Corsec makes for their Omnistand system, though...
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That would be pretty neat! The ship combat would be challenging to do justice to in a minis game, given some of the acrobatics the book describes! Could be done with some of the neat stuff Corsec makes for their Omnistand system, though...
Only if every player developed a specific scream when their airships go into a dive...
I enjoyed it as well. Can't wait to see where the series goes.
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Only if every player developed a specific scream when their airships go into a dive...
Mine sounds like Godzilla :-)
Dive mechanics could be one of the coolest parts of the game. And yeah, it would HAVE to have an Omnistand method for true 3D. But if you limited to 3-5 ships per side, and light plastic minis, that becomes more feasible.
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Finished Salvation's Reach a couple weeks ago, latest installment in the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett.
I'm still enjoying the series, although this one seemed a little lopsided. Salvation's Reach is basically a space hulk, and was the location for the Ghosts' latest mission, but they didn't get there until about the last 70 pages of the book. Now, they were conducting a raiding action, not an all-out assault-and-hold operation, so maybe the amount of time spent on that part of story was justified.
One of the most interesting aspects of the book--and one that provided some moments of humor--is that the Tanith First gets a little help from the Adeptus Astartes for this mission. Due to a request by Gaunt (whose actions at Balhaut apparently got the attention of the Salamanders' chapter master), three of the Astartes join the Ghosts for their mission to Salvation's Reach. Their interactions with the "mere humans" are entertaining and shed a little light on the relationship between the forces of the Imperial Guard and the Adeptus Astartes. The way the Guard soldiers react to the Astartes is also revealing...many are just plain frightened of them. Understandable, given what they are.
Anyway. The next book, The Warmaster, is still apparently a couple years away from being published, unfortunately. Salvation's Reach was not, in my opinion, the best book in the series, but it's a solid entry that at least provides a different battlefield and background than the usual slogging-through-the-mud of a WW1-esque theater of operations.
I'm now halfway through the second book in the Honor Harrington series, and wondering why it took me so long to start reading these books! :D
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I'm now halfway through the second book in the Honor Harrington series, and wondering why it took me so long to start reading these books! :D
Oh, you're in for a wild ride that doesn't slow down for many books...
I'm convinced its only the CGI expense of doing Nimitz properly that's kept HH from being a good cable series by now.
A ways back, D6G interviewed folks working on bringing HH to the big or small screen. Obviously a lot of excitement back then, but it all seems to be paper tigers so far...
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My non-Audible time is so cramped lately, the only thing paper I'm reading now is a Star Trek-Green Lantern cross-over trade paperback. Seems like it could be neat.
I *really* need it to be November soon, when BABYLON'S ASHES (Expanse Book 6) comes out.
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I'm now halfway through the second book in the Honor Harrington series, and wondering why it took me so long to start reading these books! :D
Oh, you're in for a wild ride that doesn't slow down for many books...
I'm convinced its only the CGI expense of doing Nimitz properly that's kept HH from being a good cable series by now.
A ways back, D6G interviewed folks working on bringing HH to the big or small screen. Obviously a lot of excitement back then, but it all seems to be paper tigers so far...
Nimitz doesn't move around a whole lot (at least, not that I've read thus far), so I'm sure they could do him justice at this point. Not sure if HH would do better as a TV series or as movies. The events of the first book would, I think, make a pretty good movie, but there would have to be a decent amount of explanation up front to make people care about the characters.
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The HH movie is officially off, after the studio working on it went under a couple of years ago. I think you can still find some test animations the studio did for Nimitz on YouTube. There are on again, off again rumors of a TV show, though.
EDIT: This might be a minor spoiler, but now that you are on the second book, [spoiler]let's just say you will soon have reason to re-evaluate the observation that "Nimitz does not move around a lot." [/spoiler];)
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Sooner or later, space-ship movies will make a comeback. And the HH property will be waiting on someone's resale block.
Sadly, I don't think the new Trek will do anything for hard sci-fi. Only THE EXPANSE is doing the heavy lifting now.
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Finished The Honor of the Queen yesterday. I enjoyed it as much as the first book, if not a little more. The tactical work Harrington and her squadron have to do in dealing with the enemy ships was pretty interesting. I especially like the idea of the "holo tank" that they have in CIC to show what's going on in their sensor radius. Very cool stuff. We have the technology now to make that work on the big or small screen, I'm certain.
Next up for me is Ghost War, the first book in the Mech Warrior: Dark Age series. I never did get into the Battle Tech game, but I really do like the concept and the fiction behind the game (what little I've read). Picked up Ghost War and the second book in the series, A Call to Arms, in a used book pile at Adepticon for $4 each.
Other thoughts the Honor Harrington book, hidden so as not to give anything away for those who haven't read the books yet:
[spoiler]Not that I don't like a good space naval engagement, but is every book going to end with Honor getting her command nearly shot out from under her??
Also, Ruckdog, you were right, Nimitz is pretty mobile. :)
And I was glad that McKeon survived. When Troubadour was destroyed, I thought that might be the end for him. [/spoiler]
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but is every book going to end with ...
Yes ;-)
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Well, that's good to know.
I know there are a lot of books in this series, but I was thinking today, it would be interesting to see Honor's early years in the Manticoran navy. Weber based the character on Horatio Hornblower and that series of novels by C.S. Forester; the first book in that series (of 11 books) starts with Hornblower as a midshipman, and in the final book he's a commodore. With Harrington, the books seem to start in about the middle of her career--she's the captain of her own ship in On Basilisk Station. I know we get some glimpses back into her past here and there, but watching her "grow up" in the navy would have been cool too.
But this is a small thing. I enjoyed the first book, really enjoyed the second book, and am looking forward to the rest of the series!
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but is every book going to end with ...
Yes ;-)
Well, up until they don't! Greg, I don't want to deter you from reading the whole series, because it is really quite good and I love it. However, around Book 11 there is a pretty major shift in the tone and pacing of the main Honor Harrington books. As you already saw the start of in Book 2, Honor gradually takes on more and more military and political leadership responsibilities, and as such she ultimately gets somewhat removed from the front lines in later books. Also, the last few HH books have been trying to keep up with about half a dozen different plot threads, only one of which Honor herself is directly involved in. As a result, the last few books have had shockingly little "screen time" for Honor (reminiscent of the last coupe of Tom Clancy Jack Ryan novels).
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For the new Honor books, I'm really hoping that
A) Less time on people arguing in boardrooms, or bad guys maniacally laughing in boardrooms.
B) More Honor, being Honor
C) He starts some hand-off to the "next-gen" as it were. And finds some new Naval inspiration to change up battle stories.
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I just finished off "Attack on Pearl Harobor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions" by Alan Zimm. WOW! Probably the most interesting book I've read on the Pacific War since Shattered Sword. This book investigates some aspects of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that have been overlooked by other historians, and it overturns a lot of the conventional wisdom surrounding the attack. Highly recommended!
https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Pearl-Harbor-Strategy-Deceptions/dp/1612001971
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I just finished off "Attack on Pearl Harobor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions" by Alan Zimm. WOW! Probably the most interesting book I've read on the Pacific War since Shattered Sword. This book investigates some aspects of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that have been overlooked by other historians, and it overturns a lot of the conventional wisdom surrounding the attack. Highly recommended!
https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Pearl-Harbor-Strategy-Deceptions/dp/1612001971
Ruck, that sounds interesting, may have to check it out.
To be honest, even though I really enjoy reading about the Pacific Theater, I've tended to stay away from books about Pearl Harbor. It seems to me sometimes that there have been more books written about that one event than about the entire rest of the war in the Pacific, and it seems to be the fodder for a LOT of conspiracy theories--both in print and on television. I guess that's kind of turned me off to learning more about it. I know the basics, I've visited the site several times, and that's always been good enough for me. Does this one stay clear of that stuff?
As for me...I just finished Leviathan Wakes, first book in The Expanse...REALLY enjoyed it. Will probably go out and get the next book tomorrow. It was as good as everyone said it was. I watched the TV series when it came out in December/January, and I"m going back through it now. They changed the story a little, but it's still really good.
Also just recently read Sharpe's Triumph, the second book in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. Historical fiction. If you like early 19th century infantry combat in India, it's a good (and quick) read.
https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466300530&sr=8-1&keywords=leviathan+wakes
https://www.amazon.com/Sharpes-Triumph-Richard-September-Adventure/dp/0060951974/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466300590&sr=8-1&keywords=sharpe%27s+triumph
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To be honest, even though I really enjoy reading about the Pacific Theater, I've tended to stay away from books about Pearl Harbor. It seems to me sometimes that there have been more books written about that one event than about the entire rest of the war in the Pacific, and it seems to be the fodder for a LOT of conspiracy theories--both in print and on television. I guess that's kind of turned me off to learning more about it. I know the basics, I've visited the site several times, and that's always been good enough for me. Does this one stay clear of that stuff?
It doesn't so much stay clear of conspiracy theories as it smashes right through them, explaining why so many of them are nonsense. One of the big ones the book spends a fair amount of time debunking is the theory that a midget sub penetrated the harbor and torpedoed battleship row. If you have been turned off by that sort of thing in the past, this book might be just the breath of fresh air you are looking for.
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.I just finished Leviathan Wakes, first book in The Expanse...REALLY enjoyed it.
Welcome to the fold! Many good books ahead of you there, and books with actual PHYSICS!
Don't forget to go back to Honor #3 and onwards too :-)
I just started the new Neal Stephenson SEVENEVES ...cool so far
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BUMP! Been a while since we've talked about the books we have been reading ;).
I just recently finished Book 11 of the Destroyermen series, "Blood in the Water." I have to say, it was awesome! Some big twists in this one (no spoilers), along with some classic Silva shenanigans.
I really appreciate the direction that the author, Taylor Anderson, seems to be taking with this series; like many other long-running novel series, the scope of Destroyermen has steadily expanded. In this book, for example, the first 10 or so chapters were spent jumping around to give us updates on different plot threads! However, the trajectory of the story by the end of Book 11 is that a number of these threads are being re-united and condensed down. Even better, that is being done in a very satisfying way that doesn't feel forced IMO. The series is also still finding ways to get the main characters into the thick of the action, which is something that I've seen other series have difficulty doing. I'm already looking forward to book 12!
Looking forward, though, I think that this series probably only has another trilogy in it, max; I wouldn't be too surprised to see some really major plot lines that started in book 1 getting tied up by the end of the next book, and then book 13 starting the end game for some of the major threads that started later in the series.
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I'm re-reading the aubrey maturin series by patrick o brian for the third or forth time
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I've just started reading the second novel of the Honor Harrington series, after hearing about the series on the podcast.
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I've just started reading the second novel of the Honor Harrington series, after hearing about the series on the podcast.
I envy the great ride you have ahead. Wish I could recapture that sense of awesome when the Honor series stretched before me :-)
Recent books for me include:
SEVENEVES by Neal Stephenson did prove amazing. Think THE MARTIAN times 1000.
SHARP ENDS by Joe Abercrombie. A collection of awesome short stories set in his FIRST LAW world. My favorite "fantasy realism" after Game of Thrones ... maybe moreso if GRRM doesn't improve.
THE THOUSAND NAMES by Django Wexler. Great new series my cousin recommended to me, this is Napoleonic level army conflict, set in an Arabian style corner of a fantasy world very much in the same feel as Abercrombie and GRRM.
If they didn't get shout outs before, everyone needs to reading THE PERIPHERAL, the latest from William Gibson. And Jim Butcher's THE AERONAUT'S WINDLASS needs a gorram game made out of it ASAP.
Lastly, December will bring the next EXPANSE novel, BABYLON'S ASHES ... after the jaw-droppers of that last book, I'm almost afraid to start this one.
Side Literary Note:
Just recently watched IN THE HEART OF THE SEA. Highly recommended for Naval fans. And its got me turning back to reading MOBY DICK, but this time via THE MOBY DICK PROJECT online, which has a different artist reading each chapter.
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Catching up the thread.
I didn't read as much as I wanted to in 2016, due to other hobby pursuits, work, etc. Aiming to change that in 2017.
On the sci-fi front, over the past few months, I've read the following:
Ghost War by Michael Stackpole, the first book in the Mechwarrior: Dark Age series. I picked up a used copy of this book and the second book in the series at Adepticon last year. I've always liked mech combat, and this book was a nice, quick little read.
Star Wars: A New Dawn, by John Jackson Miller. Kind of a prequel story for the Star Wars: Rebels TV show, shows how Hera and Kanan first meet up. Not the best Star Wars story I've ever read, but not the worst. Might have been better if I'd read it more quickly, but I stretched this one out far too long due to some other things I had going on.
Caliban's War, by James S.A. Corey. Good stuff. Really enjoyed it. Won't say anything else here about it, but glad to see Holden and the crew of the Rocinante back in action. I just got the third book in the series for Christmas, can't wait to start it.
Finally, I just finished The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu. This is the first book in the series of the same name. Really an interesting take on the whole "aliens come to earth" trope, and being that it is written by a Chinese author and told from a Chinese perspective, it's a departure from a lot of the other science fiction I usually read. If you're looking for something a little different, I'd recommend giving it a try. It does start a slow, just FYI.
I also read a pretty good WW1 book, but I'll post that in the WW1 thread.
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Caliban's War, by James S.A. Corey. Good stuff. Really enjoyed it. Won't say anything else here about it, but glad to see Holden and the crew of the Rocinante back in action. I just got the third book in the series for Christmas, can't wait to start it.
You have SO much good ahead of you. I've started listening to Book Six, Babylon's Ashes, and I'm actively resenting my shorter commute and work itself for keeping me from more of the book. I don't know what has me more stressed even, work itself or the events in the book...
You *are* watching the show on TV, right? Brace yourself for Bobbi Draper in season 2 !
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Thank you, Ruckdog, for suggesting The Lost Fleet. This is probably the "hardest" science fiction book I've read for space combat. The ships generally have amazing thrust values (Delta V) and the fastest a ship has gone this far in the first two books is .2c (that's 1/5th the speed of light). Much of the combat thus centers on the strategy and tactics for fighting with the relativistic effects these speeds induce... particularly since communication and sensors still travel at light speed.
Interestingly, all the weapons have an analog in Firestorm Armada. If the game's Movement system was substantially altered, it could easily become a Lost Fleet game system.
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Yep, watched the first season, really enjoyed it, looking forward to season 2. I just started Invasion Rabaul (https://www.amazon.com/Invasion-Rabaul-Forgotten-Garrison-January/dp/0760345910/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484012872&sr=8-1&keywords=invasion+rabaul[/url) by Bruce Gamble (Christmas gift). Been wanting to read it for awhile; it's a part of the Pacific Theater with which I'm not very familiar. Will probably start the next Expanse book after I finish that.
@Ryjak, that series is on my list, glad to hear good things about it.
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Finished Invasion Rabaul. Really a good read, if not a bit depressing. Have moved on to The Dark Forest (https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Remembrance-Earths-Past/dp/0765386690/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484593380&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dark+forest[/url), the second book in the Three-Body trilogy. Going to punt Abbadon's Gate a bit further down the road.
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Just finished the Star Wars novel Tarkin (listened to it via Audible) during our road trip to and from Indiana:
https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Tarkin-James-Luceno/dp/0553392905
Great stuff overall! The book felt a little disjointed, due to the shifts back and forth between the "present" and various points in the past. Still, I enjoyed it overall. There were all kinds of neat moments for the Emperor, Tarkin, and Vader, and you really get the sense of the chemistry between this "Dark Triumverate" that allowed them to administer the Empire so effectively. The audio book was also well done, incorporating snippets of music and the sparing use of sound effects at key moments. It wasn't quite a full on audio drama, but it did have a little more immersion than many audio books I've listened too.
A few neat tidbits I picked up (Spoilers):
[spoiler]
-5 years after the end of the Clone Wars, and TIEs were just starting to come online. Most of the Imperial fighter squadrons were running V-wings, ARC-170s, and Vader was cruising around in an ETA-2 (which appears to be the same type of fighter he was flying as Anakin at the beginning of Episode 3).
- Lots of Clone-Wars era ships were in use still, like the Venator-class SD. I REALLY hope we get to see some of these pop up in SW Armada.
-Tarkin's Ship, the Carion Spike, sounds completely bad-ass. Again, I hope we get to see this ship in either SW Armada or X-Wing.
-Also interesting is the cobbled-together capital ship the dissidents were using, which consisted of canabalized parts from a number of Seperatist factions. This ship suggests that there could be some room for a Scum & Villiany faction in Armada.
-Tarkin was much more of a bad-ass than one might have thought from A New Hope; the trials he undertook on his native Eriadu were pretty impressive! I also never realized he was a skilled pilot in his own right.[/spoiler]
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Just finished BABYLON'S ASHES, the 6th book in THE EXPANSE series.
Possibly the best yet. Perhaps its because I was listening on a long drive, but the politics, world situation, and characters were FAR more *real* to me, and a greater source of emotion, than anything actually happening in our world right now.
[spoiler]Also, 2 words - BOBBI F'N DRAPER![/spoiler]
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Must..resist...urge to open spoiler! ;D
I will have to start collecting this series on Audible.
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Me too. Just watched the season 2 premier on SyFy a couple nights ago....good stuff.
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I could not agree more on The Expanse. I like both Dark Matter and Killjoys but for me, The Expanse is my first choice.
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Me too. Just watched the season 2 premier on SyFy a couple nights ago....good stuff.
Just caught up with it myself. Lots of thoughts...
PDC fight was great, and suitably terrifying.
I like that all the clues were in plain sight, and some bad guys featured. How everyone thinks they're doing the right thing.
At the risk of sounding PC, I find the lower frequency of white people in the cast incredibly refreshing. :-)
I *think* they've pre-positioned some vital characters for later as minor figures now, like Fred's #2.
Extra love that they're now letting Avasarala swear. Not quite her book style "sailor level" but it'll do. :-)
Best advice -
1) Don't screw with Amos
2) Even more, don't screw with Fred Johnson
3) Even more than that, don't screw with Bobbie Draper (Cannot *wait* until she is unleashed!)
4) Never EVER screw with Avasarala. You'll see.
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Agreed. Amos is frightening. He conducts violence with a calm expression on his face. The scene with the cheese story was great.
The Rocinante is a beast.
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Amos is frightening. He conducts violence with a calm expression on his face.
The actor very much reminds me of Ivar the Boneless on VIKINGS, which is to say, just be glad he's on the right side ;-)
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I'm just about to start watching the second season of Expanse, is it worth reading the first book on top of watching the show?
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I'm just about to start watching the second season of Expanse, is it worth reading the first book on top of watching the show?
Absolutely, though hard to say which to finish first. The 1st season was about half the first book, with other bits drawn in (for instance, you don't meet Julie Mao's father until Book 3). The second season is finishing the first book, and now has elements from Book 2 (like Bobbie Draper).
Spoilers only for those who haven't seen Season 1:
[spoiler]The Protomolecule is a LOT more horrific in the books. Kills a lot more people, and they go a LOT messier ... the words 'Vomit Zombie' are used. So I'd say get jamming on the book since it can only enhance the current season. But decide whether you want the book or the show to deliver some final spoilers/shocks.[/spoiler]
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Finished reading the first Lost Fleet series (6 books). I enjoyed it, but I'll wait on reading the next series until I read Honor Harrington.
Landlubber, what are you waiting for?
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I just finished reading "The Battleship Book" by Richard Farley:
https://www.amazon.com/Battleship-Book-Robert-M-Farley/dp/1479405566
This was a fun book! It was a quick, interesting read that provides a nice overview of the history of battleships. The book is mostly short profiles on the history of specific ships, 60 in all. There area also longer chapters on three major events: Jutland, the Naval Treaties of the 20's & 30's, and Pearl Harbor. Be warned; this is not exactly a scholarly work, as there are no footnotes and the writing style is not what you might expect of a "serious" history book. In fact, this reads very much like what it is: an edited and expanded collection of blog posts that they author has posted in various locations over the years. Worth a look in my opining, especially for those that are looking for an introduction to the subject!
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My favorite "design/technical" book for WW2 is Richard Worth's "Fleets of World War 2". Not cheap but an amazingly concise yet technical look at virtually every warship of WW2. He has some unvarnished evaluations that separate many of the common myths from reality.
Kindle version https://www.amazon.com/Fleets-World-War-II-revised-ebook/dp/B0127M2FSS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487181645&sr=1-1&keywords=richard+worth
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My favorite "design/technical" book for WW2 is Richard Worth's "Fleets of World War 2". Not cheap but an amazingly concise yet technical look at virtually every warship of WW2. He has some unvarnished evaluations that separate many of the common myths from reality.
Kindle version https://www.amazon.com/Fleets-World-War-II-revised-ebook/dp/B0127M2FSS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487181645&sr=1-1&keywords=richard+worth
Very nice! Thanks for the link, I hadn't heard of this one yet. I'm adding it to my wish list for sure. I think my favorite technical books are probably Norman Friedman's series of design histories for major US warship types. Here is the one on BBs:
https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Battleships-Illustrated-Design-History/dp/1591142474/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487183396&sr=1-3&keywords=norman+friedman
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Finished reading the first Lost Fleet series (6 books). I enjoyed it, but I'll wait on reading the next series until I read Honor Harrington.
Landlubber, what are you waiting for?
It's on the list, Ryjak, it's on the list. Faster to add books to the reading list than it is to read them. Right now I'm in the second book of the Three-Body trilogy (Chinese sci-fi, and pretty dark stuff), and when I finish this book I'm going to read Fortress: Rabaul, the next book in the Rabaul trilogy. I'd like to get these two trilogies knocked out and maybe a few more books in the Expanse and Honor Harrington series before I jump into the Lost Fleet.
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I have really enjoyed the Lost Fleet series and the spin off but I did not like his Stark trilogy, which is not a problem as while they are SF they are ground not space based so can be ignored here.
A few more suggestions:
The Battlecruiser Alamo series by Richard Tongue.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battlecruiser-Alamo-Price-Admiralty-Book-ebook/dp/B00DN8XKIK/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1487852116&sr=1-5&keywords=richard+tongue
Chris Nutall has a couple of series of interest. |You know about the first one (Ark Royal) but the second is more traditional naval SF, more honarian perhaps?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oncoming-Storm-Angel-Whirlwind-Book-ebook/dp/B00UXX5BLM/ref=la_B008L9Q4ES_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487852340&sr=1-25
Are you familiar with the Warship annuals? These are published yearly and are mostly made up of articles with a summary of the years naval news and reviews of important new naval books.
John Roberts excellent Rebuilding the Royal Navy is now incredibly cheap at 99p for the Kindle version in Britain, I don’t know what it is on the other side of the pond but even at full price it is a very good book as were the earlier volumes in the series.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebuilding-Royal-Navy-Warship-Design-x/dp/1848321503/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487853249&sr=1-1&keywords=rebuilding+the+royal+navy
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Battlecruiser Alamo sounds like a good read, I just looked it up on Amazon. Is it only available as an e-book? That's the only format I could find.
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I think so. Really now the only books I buy in print are non-fiction so I wouldn't have noticed. It saves me a lot of shelf space.
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Ive just started "War of Honor" and I wanted to thank you guys for making me aware of the series. It has been brilliant so far, causing large amounts of sleep deprivation, and slightly upsetting my wife.
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Just finished Fortress Rabaul (https://www.amazon.com/Fortress-Rabaul-Southwest-Pacific-1942-April/dp/0760345597), the second book in Bruce Gamble's Rabaul Trilogy. Bit of a slow start, as the first few chapters are a quick review of what occurred in the first book, but after that it really gets going. Gamble is a good writer in that his style is narrative; I would usually forget within just a few minutes that I was reading a historical account of the events described.
Something I really appreciated about this book--and about the first book, Invasion Rabaul--is that he provides detailed accounts from both sides of the conflict. Apparently bomber and fighter pilots on both sides exaggerated their claims of targets destroyed and aircraft shot down (sometimes wildly so); Gamble presents not only what was claimed, but what actually occurred, according to war logs and official documents from both American and Japanese archives.
He also covers the Battle of the Bismarck Sea near the end of Fortress Rabaul, which was more of a one-sided slaughter than it was a battle. This was either the first or one of the earliest times that the B-25 Mitchell and A-20 Havoc were used as gunships, and the effect they had on lightly-armored Japanese ships was fairly gruesome.
I still need to read the final book in the trilogy, Target: Rabaul, but if it's anything like the first two, I'm sure it will be a great read. Highly recommend these books to anyone who wants an introduction to combat in the southwest portion of the Pacific Theater.
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Black fleet trilogy by Joshua Dalzelle
Entertaining
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I just finished the Ark royal series and listing to episode 8 of the podcast. I know it is a year old but I like how the deal with carriers in space. You should check it out.
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It is a very good series with good and frighteningly plausible world building for his future Earth.
It is obvious why space fighters get so much love but I am rather ambivalent about them myself.
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Just finished The Short Victorious War (https://www.amazon.com/Short-Victorious-War-Honor-Harrington/dp/0743435737), the third book in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. Still enjoying it.
Question for all of you who have read the series--so far, I'm reading the books in the order of publication, not the actual chronological order. The Harrington books are based on the Horatio Hornblower novels, which I read in chronological order, not order of publication. Any recommendations on how to read the Harrington books?
Thoughts on this most recent book below...
[spoiler]
Glad Harrington didn't get her ship shot out from under her this time, although Nike got beat up pretty bad. Would like to have seen Young get vaporized, or at least tried for his crimes and executed there at Hancock Station, but I guess he has to stick around as a plot device.
Was kinda strange to see Honor getting a little...shore leave (trying to keep things family friendly). But hey, she's earned it, I suppose.
[/spoiler]
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As I recall (there are something like 20+/-), order of publication will build on each whereas chronological will sometimes miss a bit of the backstory that Weber kind of filled in as he went.
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Any recommendations on how to read the Harrington books?
I thought they were in chrono order? Seemed that way to me through the first dozen plus
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Any recommendations on how to read the Harrington books?
I thought they were in chrono order? Seemed that way to me through the first dozen plus
The core Honor books are that way. There a lot of spin-off series that are set in the Honorverse, including some prequel books about how humans met Treecats for the first time, but I haven't read any of those so I can't really speak to how they fit in to everything.
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I have just finished Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal by James D. Hornfischer. It was an interesting read and he makes plain the human cost but I was not entirely satisfied with it, I think I wanted something a little colder and more analytical whereas this was aimed at a more general audience. With that reservation still worth a read.
For bedtime reading I have Warship 2017, an article or two a night is quite settling. So far interesting enough but nothing earth shattering and dangerously it has book reviews.
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I finished "A Rising Thunder" three hours ago, and I'm just at the point where I can post this without swearing. Please tell me there is some indication of a 14th book at some stage soon?
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No word on the next one that I can find. He's been tending to his other series.
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From what I've been able to figure out looking at various threads in other forums, there seems to be a rough order that Weber is working on his book series in, and the core HH one is toward the bottom in popularity. Honor not dying has really messed up the flow he had in mind for the books!
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I just imagine Weber and GRRM are off enjoying Disneyland, golf, and lunch buffets instead of writing what we're waiting for ... ;-)
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According to my research, Shadow of Victory follows a rising thunder, but it doesn't focus as much on Honor so it hasn't been named as part of her series. I have just got a hold of a copy and I'm reading as much as I can, so I'll let you know.
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I think I've been conflating SHADOW OF VICTORY with SHADOW OF FREEDOM, so I haven't caught up with it after all. The description talks about a showdown with Mesa, which I don't recall - just the set-up for such. So maybe I need to queue that for Audible.
Not killing Honor was a GOOD decision (heck, it'd be like killing Harry Potter before the Battle of Hogworts), but I'm surprised its messed with Weber THAT much. How hard is it to craft a solid ride into the sunset for your heroine?
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I agree, I really want to see an Honor/Detweiler showdown, but from what I've read Weber had the entire series worked out before he started On Basilisk Station. I've generally found that people who plan like that lack a little in flexibility, but it might just be a case that Honor takes a back seat for a couple of books because other things need to happen.
Edit:
Shadow of Victory is parallel to Rising Thunder, or even leads up to it, continuing from Shadow of Freedom. I was so disappointed that Ive stopped part way through and started reading Mr Midshipman Hornblower instead.
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Just finished Shattered Sword. Inspired to buy it after Jonathan Parshall was on episode 20.
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Shadow of Victory is parallel to Rising Thunder, or even leads up to it, continuing from Shadow of Freedom. I was so disappointed that Ive stopped part way through and started reading Mr Midshipman Hornblower instead.
I have to admit, I'll probably just read a wiki-summary unless I'm desperate for an audiobook.
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Just finished Shattered Sword. Inspired to buy it after Jonathan Parshall was on episode 20.
Awesome! How did you like it?
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Just finished Shattered Sword. Inspired to buy it after Jonathan Parshall was on episode 20.
Awesome! How did you like it?
I really liked it. The level of detail was well past any I'd seen on the battle. I had no idea, for example, about CAP rotations going on right up to the point the dive bombers hit.
Reading about the machinations in the Japanese navy, it really makes every think that it was just a matter of time until Kido Butai got punched in the mouth pretty hard.
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Just finished the latest volume in the Destroyermen Series, Devil's Due!
https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Due-Destroyermen-Taylor-Anderson/dp/0451470656
It was a great read. I am definitely liking how the different plot threads in the series are starting to get tied up and consolidated down.
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Just finished Neptune’s Inferno, on Zorper’s recommendation.
https://www.amazon.com/Neptunes-Inferno-U-S-Navy-Guadalcanal/dp/0553385127/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509232952&sr=8-1&keywords=neptunes+inferno+book
Good “read” (I did the Audible version). Covers US Navy operations at Guadalcanal in WW2. Holy cow, there were a LOT of ways to die on a ship in the South Pacific. Some of the engagements with the IJN were at 5000 yards or less (point-blank range for guns on cruisers and battleships!), and all the major engagements were at night. Interesting to see the USN getting used to using new technology (radar), and how some officers trusted it and some didn’t. Recommended if WW2 naval combat is your thing.
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I'm embarrassed to admit I finally started reading the Honor Harrington series this past year. So far, I only finished On Basilisk Station. Rekindles a lot of the excitement I remember when reading the Horatio Hornblower series in high school. It's ironic because I played the Saganami Island Tactical Simulator game about 6-7 years ago!
But I'm about to start reading In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick after I finish his book about George Washington. I've read Melville's novel Moby Dick twice in my life, but I have read a few times about how it's a novel best appreciated by middle-aged readers, so that now I'm officially "middle-aged" I'm preparing to read it again. ;p
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I'm also currently grinding my way though the core HH series, and I'm up to In Enemy Hands. Its a pretty good read, and the universe he worked out is excellent - you can see from some of the setups that he put into effect early on (eg. Paul Tankersley - why introduce him as a bit character - with a full name nonetheless - in the first book unless you were wanting to use the character later on?). In particular, I like the notes he had in the back of A Short Victorious War about how space combat worked. I could see that series of notes being done as a youtube series with full visuals and all that.
Although I am still trying to get my head around some of the mechanics of how a full Newtonian physics battle would work. Call me a grav-well luddite all you like.
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MadDrB, don't worry--I only first picked up the Honor Harrington series a few years ago myself.
Draco, I'm with you...too many years of watching Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica (original and reboot) have caused me to have preconceived notions about how starships would fight in space, and what they would look like. While BSG is probably a little closer to reality than Star Wars (at least in that respect), Rule of Cool still applies, and watching Vipers vector in on a Cylon Raider is just darn cool.
I just finished the audiobook version of Pacific Crucible, by Ian Toll. First book in his Pacific War trilogy. Really a good book--I learned quite a bit about the logistics and intel side of the fight. The book ends with Battle of Midway, and even though I knew how it would end, I still found myself on the edge of my seat while listening. Very well written. Highly recommended, can't wait to listen to the next one (The Conquering Tide).
https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Crucible-War-Sea-1941-1942/dp/0393343413 (https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Crucible-War-Sea-1941-1942/dp/0393343413)
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I heartily concur on the series. The whole trilogy is a good read for anyone interested in the Pacific.
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Oh yes, also got Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War sitting in the wings. My dad and I discovered The Expanse on Netflix, and we're both pretty keen (even if Australian Netflix has both series and NZ Netflix still only has the first...)
But he's read the books, and said its probably not the best to watch the series anymore - the timelines are somewhat different.
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But he's read the books, and said its probably not the best to watch the series anymore - the timelines are somewhat different.
I'd recommend reading the books (audio or text) first to about 2-3 ahead of the show seasons, then watch the show. I love the show (esp for the excellent castings of Naomi, Avisarala, and Bobbie Draper), but like with Game of Thrones, they must condense and reorder things for TV effectiveness.
I'm about to start PERSEPOLIS RISING audiobook finally tomorrow, can't wait! Almost as excited for that as I am for LAST JEDI.
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But he's read the books, and said its probably not the best to watch the series anymore - the timelines are somewhat different.
I'd recommend reading the books (audio or text) first to about 2-3 ahead of the show seasons, then watch the show. I love the show (esp for the excellent castings of Naomi, Avisarala, and Bobbie Draper), but like with Game of Thrones, they must condense and reorder things for TV effectiveness.
I'm about to start PERSEPOLIS RISING audiobook finally tomorrow, can't wait! Almost as excited for that as I am for LAST JEDI.
I second your recomendations on the books! If you haven't touched anythin in The Expanse universe before, I think you definitely want to read the first 3 books before watching the show if you can manage it. It will help make some things in the show make more senese, and you'll also be able to pick up on the places where things were condensed for TV. That being said, i watched the show then started the books, and it wasn't too bad ;D
I'm all caught up to Persepolis Rising, can't wait to start it!
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I'm all caught up to Persepolis Rising, can't wait to start it!
I'm about a half hour into listening (after hours of trying to get iTunes to sync to my iPod - something got patched this weekend).
I'm utterly hooked. I probably was in the very first scene when a POV character says something like
[spoiler]
...30 years later.
[/spoiler]
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Just started Cibola Burn. Looking forward to digging into it over the holidays. Was going to read Titanicus by Dan Abnett (probably my favorite of his books, even though it isn't in the First and Only series), but the next Expanse book was calling to me.
Also, I finished Catalyst recently--the prequel novel to Rogue One. Not a bad book, nice set-up of the relationship between Krennic and Galen Erso. I enjoyed some of the glimpses into "normal life" in the Republic during the Clone Wars and in the period before the Rebellion. Will probably read the Rogue One novelization sometime early next year--I've heard it's good, gives more info into some of the backstory and character motivations than the movie did (although I really, really liked the movie).
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Just started Cibola Burn.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. It's so very different from the first three, especially in scale, but it accurately gives a microcosm of issues for any/all of the burgeoning colonies.
Also, I'd like to know the alchemy that Dan and Ty use to craft their villains. Even in the newest one, I start hating them SO MUCH it actively causes me stress.
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Yep. I’m about halfway thru and enjoying it so far, but it is a different scope from the first three books. And yeah, they do a good job with villains. Although so far, while Murtry is acting like an asshat, I can kinda understand his reasoning.
And tbh, Holden can be a bit of a d$ck sometimes.
Rewatching the first season of the show with a friend of mine. Forgot how cool the scene is when the Tachi shoots her way out of the Donnager.
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Finally getting around to finishing "The Shiva Option" by Weber and White. Interestingly, I restarted this the same week that the Starfire supplement that covers this period of the book, namely ISW4 against the Arachnoids.
I own and like all the Starfire universe books by Weber and White, though I confess i haven't played Starfire itself . . . :/
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I hadn’t heard about these before. Descriptions on Amazon are a bit thin. Looks like pulp military sci-fi...is that an accurate description?
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I hadn’t heard about these before. Descriptions on Amazon are a bit thin. Looks like pulp military sci-fi...is that an accurate description?
Depends on your definition of "pulp" I suppose. If you include authors like Brackett, Hammett and Chandler in the "pulp" category,, with their sophisticated use of language and deep characterization combined with writing skills, then yes, I put these novels into "pulp"; They aren't profound, however they have three dimensional characters, strongly character-driven plot-lines and motivations and complexity of thought behind characters that makes them damn good work from a literature point of view.
And more to the point for this forum, they make the background of space combat within the physics of the story universe seem real and vibrant :)
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Well then, I’ll have to add them to the always-growing reading list. By “pulp”, I guess I meant something down-and-gritty with lots of good sci-if action and not much character development. Something like the Dirigent Mercenary Corps books.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJBAQRA/ref=dp_st_B002BHTEIE
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By “pulp”, I guess I meant something down-and-gritty with lots of good sci-if action and not much character development. Something like the Dirigent Mercenary Corps books.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJBAQRA/ref=dp_st_B002BHTEIE
Now there's synchronicity! I was just today reading a letter to Analog back in the 1970s where Sgt. Shelley himself replied to a reader's critique of a supposedly unscientific medical section of his story "Sylph" ( Short synopsis; Two very different human cultures find themselves colonizing the same planet with clashes both physical and philosophical, though mostly the latter ). The epistle shows him at his best and is both polite and well-referenced while undercutting the reader's objections as being bound by a lack of consideration of the story as a whole - A most erudite debater.
I imagine you could class the Dirigent series as "pulp" true; it's not indicative of the depth Shelley put into other work, though it has recurring themes ( The military lifestyle, ethics in battle, the sciences and their application to warfare and medical nanotechnology ) that turn up repeatedly in his other works. But if you liked them, then I think Weber and White's Starfire novels will appeal as well :)
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Sounds good. I only read through the DMC books once, about 15 years ago, but I did enjoy them.
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Finished Cibola Burn...
[spoiler]
Definitely a different book than the first three--Dakkar, I see now what you mean about how it is a microcosm of the larger issues going on between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. The events at the end with the Miller-bot and Elvi reminded me of something from Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series. I REALLY hope this isn't the last we see of Miller (no spoilers please). I did get a little fatigued towards the end with all the various situations the people on Ilus and the ships in orbit got into (all of which were probably going to kill them); I could have done with about 70-80 pages less of the stuff on the planet. The story got a little bogged down (no pun intended) after the massive storm hit. The stuff in orbit was a little more interesting, and I'm glad that Havelock came over to the "good side" by the end.
The nod towards the "communications gap" was good and fitting. By that, I mean that there was a perception back in Sol system of what happened, but that perception was nowhere near the reality of what the characters lived through. We see this in our own world all the time. The scene towards the end where the captain of the Israel shares the newsfeed clip with Havelock really drove that home.
So, the Rocinante seems to be quite a tough and valuable little ship, and sometimes I feel like the only way Holden and his crew have survived some of the feldercarb they've gotten themselves into is "because Rocinante". But that can't last forever. Will the gang be as effective as wildcards/agents of change if their ship gets shot out from under them?
And now, what is the future of the Martian navy? Avasarala's right...with all those worlds out there that are already habitable, why hold on to Mars? (Although seeing as the first colonized world nearly killed everyone on the planet in three or four different ways, you have to wonder if they wouldn't want to put the brakes on the colonization process). Looking forward to the next book, but I'll probably read one or two other things first.
[/spoiler]
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Looking forward to the next book, but I'll probably read one or two other things first.
Don't wait long. The next three (Nemesis Games, Babylon's Ashes, Persepolis Rising) all form a trilogy of sorts possibly more compelling (and nerve wracking) than the first three!
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I just recently finished Persepolis rising! Without getting into spoiler territory, I think it might be the best book in the entire series so far.
(Greg, DO NOT read these spoilers :))
[spoiler]
So...a 30 year time jump. Wow! On one hand, it seems odd to me that the Rocinante crew is pretty much doing the same things with the same ship after all that time (excepting, of course, Alex's second marriage and divorce), but on the other, it feels right. It's odd to say this about book characters, but the crew of the Ratiocinate really seem to have great chemistry and feels like a family.
Here are some observations:
-This book had some very relateable villains in it. Singh, for example...the guy basically grew up in a cultural bubble, and was thrust into the role of having to make peace with the ever-rebellious belters. As such, it almost feels like he was set up to fail. It was almost tragic how he met his end...his last thoughts before being summarily executed were of his wife and kid, which definitely hit me in the feels :(.
-Speaking of relatable villains, Duarte has some of that going on too. You get the sense that he honestly wants the best for humanity, but he is clearly an "ends justify the means"
kind of SOB. When Singh told Holden that he had "perfect faith" in Duarte, and Holden said that he "didn't need to hear anything more," it was clear what he meant. Duarrte's definitely spent the last three decades cultivating a cult of personality that would put the Il family to shame, meaning that the members of the Laconian Empire will have no objections to executing any order they are given, regardless of the moral implications, as long as it comes from Dear Leader Duarte. This was only re-enforced by the execution of Singh at the end of the book.
-Duarte's vision is definitely pretty grand...it's intriguing that he has no qualms about taking on whatever killed the civilization that invented the Protomolocule tech.
-We now have a sense of scale! All 1300 world in the gate network apparently exist within a sphere roughly 1000 lightyears in diameter. While that is huge on a human scale, it is still small in terms of a whole galaxy. It definitely opens up the possibility that the Protomolecule race, while definitely orders of magnitude more advanced that humanity, might still have only been a "JV" team on the galactic stage. Scary to think about!
-It was an interesting approach not to follow up with some of the major characters from the last couple of books. What happens to Philip? What about minister Anna and her family? How about that group of ruffians that Amos saved from Earth? I suspect (hope) that these stories will get told by novellas at some point!
Dale, I think at some point we might need to do a spoiler-filled episode of Ruckdog's Report about the Expanse :)
[/spoiler]
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Comments below ...
[spoiler]
So...a 30 year time jump. Wow! On one hand, it seems odd to me that the Rocinante crew is pretty much doing the same things with the same ship after all that time (excepting, of course, Alex's second marriage and divorce), but on the other, it feels right. It's odd to say this about book characters, but the crew of the Ratiocinate really seem to have great chemistry and feels like a family.
This blew me away, but still made sense. And here I though the BSG time-jump was bad!
It leaves room for 30 years of sub-adventures. Also weird none of them had kids...or did they?
-This book had some very relateable villains in it. Singh, for example...the guy basically grew up in a cultural bubble, and was thrust into the role of having to make peace with the ever-rebellious belters. As such, it almost feels like he was set up to fail. It was almost tragic how he met his end...his last thoughts before being summarily executed were of his wife and kid, which definitely hit me in the feels :(.
Man, I hated Singh SO much that I practically cheered when Security put him in check. Sad for his family, but a good caution how even good men can become monsters if given "permission" and the right sense of grievance. A very pointed and timely political commentary by the authors.
-Speaking of relatable villains, Duarte has some of that going on too. You get the sense that he honestly wants the best for humanity, but he is clearly an "ends justify the means"
kind of SOB. When Singh told Holden that he had "perfect faith" in Duarte, and Holden said that he "didn't need to hear anything more," it was clear what he meant. Duarrte's definitely spent the last three decades cultivating a cult of personality that would put the Il family to shame, meaning that the members of the Laconian Empire will have no objections to executing any order they are given, regardless of the moral implications, as long as it comes from Dear Leader Duarte. This was only re-enforced by the execution of Singh at the end of the book.
Duarte is fascinating, and unique by virtue of the Immortality card. The fact he's clearly 10+ moves ahead of everyone, and he has the luxury to insist on mercy and forbearance only makes him even more smug and infuriating. But of course, the mere existence of The Pen makes him monstrous, and when you factor in the previous books and that Marco was a patsy/pawn of Duarte's, you realize he's the greatest villain of the human race. In possibly any book I can think of.
Everyone knows what to do when fighting a foe you can beat. What happens when you can't possibly win, but complicity is still abhorrent? I hope none of us ever have to find out in real life. But if it happens, I'll always ask myself, "What would Holden do?"
Or possibly, "What would Bobbi do?" :-)
(I can't understate how much I love her arc as Captain - only thing better would be a reunion between her and Avisarala)
Side note on Laconia. I found this interesting news symmetry:
http://www.wmur.com/article/laconiafest-ends-early-amid-ongoing-issues/5212206
-Duarte's vision is definitely pretty grand...it's intriguing that he has no qualms about taking on whatever killed the civilization that invented the Protomolocule tech.
That Duarte can literally see things we can't might be influencing his view. And maybe the Protomolecule itself is contributing to his overconfidence.
It definitely opens up the possibility that the Protomolecule race, while definitely orders of magnitude more advanced that humanity, might still have only been a "JV" team on the galactic stage. Scary to think about!
If the Shadows or Drakh or Vorlons show up, I'd probably die of joyous laughter.
-It was an interesting approach not to follow up with some of the major characters from the last couple of books. What happens to Philip? What about minister Anna and her family? How about that group of ruffians that Amos saved from Earth? I suspect (hope) that these stories will get told by novellas at some point!
I keep wondering that too. Phillip in particular. Novellas for some, future books for others.
And when do all the people with a debt to Holden and the Rocinante, all their supposed friends, step up and maybe rescue THEM for a change?
Dale, I think at some point we might need to do a spoiler-filled episode of Ruckdog's Report about the Expanse :)
I'm game, especially right before or after the new season premiere, supposedly being planned for sometime after the Olympics.
I'm still processing the events of Marco's attack on Earth. When that happened, it was so shocking and involving, and the book that followed, I think I nearly went though PTSD.
[/spoiler]
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Finished Ian W. Toll's The Conquering Tide a couple weeks ago (listened via Audible); this is the second book in his Pacific War trilogy. Much like Pacific Crucible, it was a great book, really enjoyed it, and learned much more than I thought I could about the middle years of the campaign in the Pacific. Highly recommended.
I'm about to finish Nemesis Games (standard analog book) and Dauntless, the first book in the Lost Fleet series, via Audible. Nemesis Games is my favorite in the Expanse series thus far. I'm a little underwhelmed by Dauntless, and I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series. I still have many, many books left in the Honor Harrington series, so I might just go back to that for my space combat fix. Nothing against Dauntless, it just isn't doing it for me.
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We gotta talk NEMESIS GAMES, next chance. :-)
FYI - for those that missed it, UNCOMPROMISING HONOR (i.e the new Honor Harrington book!) is now on shelves. I'm currently debating between getting the audiobook, or reading the e-book that was gifted to me. If it's a slog like the last one... I just dunno. But I'm excited that maybe the story finally moves forward! (And that Honor might actually star in her own book again).
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I'm about to finish Nemesis Games (standard analog book) and Dauntless, the first book in the Lost Fleet series, via Audible. Nemesis Games is my favorite in the Expanse series thus far. I'm a little underwhelmed by Dauntless, and I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series. I still have many, many books left in the Honor Harrington series, so I might just go back to that for my space combat fix. Nothing against Dauntless, it just isn't doing it for me.
Yeah, I would say the first 4-5 HH books are definitely a bit better than the first couple of Lost Fleet books. However, I think that the Lost Fleet maintains a better overall level of space combat goodness in the long run than the HH series has. Unlike with HH, none of the main characters in the Lost Fleet move on to do something other than being naval officers. And, there are some longer-running plot points in Lost Fleet that take some time to develop.
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Ok. Finished Dauntless, and have moved on to the second book in the series, Fearless. There was enough of a hook at the end of the first book, combined with Ruckdog's comments, to get me into the second one. Plus these books are relatively short on Audible (10-12 hours, compared to some of the 30-hour slogs I've done here recently), so I'll knock it out pretty quick.
I do like the idea of the stories, but sometimes I want to reach through my speakers and slap some of the characters--both for the hero worship and the obtuseness. It's an interesting concept, though, and the space combat is well-written (especially since the author accounts for the time delay for messages due to distance). It's funny...the more I get into "harder" science fiction, the more that I realize how completely fantastical Star Trek and Star Wars are--the science fiction I grew up with. Like Picard talking in real-time through "sub-space" comms with Starfleet HQ, or the concept of "hyperspace". George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry pretty much threw the physics books out the window. Not that either type of science fiction is bad--just opposite ends of the spectrum I guess. And Picard having to wait several hours for comms to go back and forth with Starfleet HQ would have made for pretty boring TV, I suppose.
So, on to my thoughts on Nemesis Games...
[spoiler]
This was by far my favorite book of the series thus far--but what made it that way was reading through all the other first, so that the characters all off on their own adventures really meant something to me. Up to this point, the four crewmembers of the Rocinante have been together since they left the Canterbury to check out the distress signal from the Scopuli.
Observations/impressions:
-do not f*** with Amos. Seriously. Like, EVER.
-the dialogue between Avasarala and Amos. Oh man, that was some needed comic relief.
-it was good to get some backstory on Alex, Amos, and Naomi. There was more character development I think in this book for those characters than in the previous four combined. Good to finally get some answers about Alex's family on Mars, and Amos's life in Baltimore.
-I like that the Roci was in drydock for most of the book. I know that was a plot device that spurred all the characters to go their separate ways, but that ship has been through a lot in the last few books, and it was good to see that they had to strip her all the way down to repair everything. A small thing I know, but as I said before I feel like Holden and his crew have gotten out of a lot of crappy situations "because Rocinante", so it's good to see that they have to fix the ship every now and then.
-the rock-bombing of Earth. Holy crap. I think Earth must be done, and I'm wondering if that's why the next book is called Babylon's Ashes.
-so many other things, but that's the major stuff. Alex Kamal had the best line in the book though, when he and Holden are re-united. He said "Worst leave EVER!" I think, or something similar.
[/spoiler]
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So, on to my thoughts on Nemesis Games...
[spoiler] Good to finally get some answers about ... Amos's life in Baltimore.
You MUST listen to the short story THE CHURN - more about Amos and Baltimore.
There's a Bobby short story too that's pretty good.
-the rock-bombing of Earth. Holy crap. I think Earth must be done, and I'm wondering if that's why the next book is called Babylon's Ashes.
Between this and "Ashes", I felt actively traumatized while reading, like a shadow of the 9-11 feeling. Working in Missile Defense, and being a sci fi fan, I think about mass driver attacks a LOT. So maybe it hits close to my plausible reality a little much. :-)
All I can say for what follows is, "If you think that was bad..." ;)[/spoiler]
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Reading Update!
Just finished Field of Dishonor. Not my favorite...I get that there was a lot of character development and even some world-building (glimpses into fleet garrison life and Manticoran social life), but I think it could have been done in half the pages. Hopefully there will be more starship combat in the next book, which is on its way to my doorstep as I type this (along with Babylon's Ashes, which I couldn't find in any of the local Barnes and Noble stores).
Also just finished The Space Barons by Christian Davenport, about the rise of the commercial space industry--so basically it was about SpaceX and Blue Origin, with some information about Virgin Galactic as well. The subject matter was interesting; I haven't followed the commercial space companies' progress very closely, and this book gave a little context to the occasional press release, news story, tweet, etc from/about these companies. There was also a little insight into Musk and Bezos, which was informative. I read somewhere that Bezos was not happy when SyFy got the rights to the "Expanse" tv show a few years ago, and was reportedly very happy that Amazon was able to secure it when SyFy gave it up. Given the information about Bezos in this book, that makes a lot more sense to me now. My only complaint about the book is that the prose left a LOT to be desired. It seems that the editor was asleep when this one hit his/her desk.
And, also just finished A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White. Race cars and spaceships, and some echoes of Firefly, but with a little magic thrown into the mix. Not a bad read. Second book is coming later this year, will probably pick it up.
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Just finished Babylon's Ashes...
[spoiler]
Not as good as Nemesis Games, but still a good read. I liked how they played the dissension amongst the primary members of the Free Navy.
Inaros was (is?) a grade-A asshat, but I was a little disappointed in how the writers handled his death. He just kind of "blooped" out of existence (much like the island in "Lost" if you ever watched that show...that was my mental impression). I'm thinking that effect that they used against Inaros...whatever it is...will be revisited in later books. I will say that I was surprised, though--up until about the last 60 or 70 pages, I though for sure that Filip was going to kill him, or at least try to.
Not quite sure what's going on with Duarte and the Laconia gate. I think I may have missed something between Nemesis Games and Babylon's Ashes. That situation has just kind of developed in the background while everything else was going on. Maybe the writers meant it to be that way (they've done that with other things in previous books), so I guess time will tell.
The running gunfight between the Pella and Rocinante was really cool, but I'm going to miss Fred Johnson.
[/spoiler]
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[spoiler]
Duarte etc is meant to be background details/foreshadowing ...
I liked that they didn't make any easy outs for Filip
Inaros got off light, IMHO. Given all that he caused, there should have been more pain and disgrace
[/spoiler]
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[spoiler]
Agreed about Inaros getting off light. But...how do you appropriately punish someone who does something like that? Kill him, and he becomes a martyr...imprison him, and he becomes a symbol. That might have been the best outcome for Avasarala and company, to have him just blink out of existence.
Filip...I don't know. I'm sure we'll see him again in a later book. I think it might have been more interesting if he had tried to kill Inaros himself. Maybe not outright--but maybe sabotage to the Pella or something like that.
In any event, I am looking forward to reading Persepolis Rising. After that, I'm going to put the books down for a bit, and in 2019 go back through them again. I'm sure that, much like watching Marvel movies, I'll pick up on little things that I missed the first time around when I read them again.
[/spoiler]
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You won't want to take a break after PERSEPOLIS RISING ;-)
More like "NEED NEXT BOOK NOW!"
I'm about two hours into the new Honor audio book, UNCOMPROMISING HONOR. Surprisingly, I'm not bored silly just yet ;-)
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I'm reading the Honorverse in analog format. :D
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I'm reading the Honorverse in analog format. :D
I probably should switch to my eBook ... there's so many damn characters, and most are just introduced by name and rank and a few shorthand characteristics. It makes it much harder to keep track while just listening.
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Reviving this thread...
Currently listening to World War II at Sea: A Global History, by Craig L. Symonds. At first I was hesitant to pick this book up, as I felt it would mostly be U-boats in the Atlantic and the carrier war in the Pacific. While these two topics do take up a lot of the book, I've also learned WAY more about naval history in WW2 than I thought I would--quite literally, I didn't know what I didn't know! The book covers not only those aformentioned major theaters, but also delves into many, many other facets and issues of the naval side of the war. For example, naval supply issues--the dearth of LSTs that the Allies desperately needed as they conducted simultaneous amphibious assaults in the Mediterranean and Pacific, while trying to pre-position LSTs for Operation Overlord. If you have any interest at all in naval history of this era, I highly recommend this book--you're almost guaranteed to learn something new about the conflict. The Audible narrator is pretty good, but takes some getting used to.
https://www.amazon.com/World-War-II-Sea-History/dp/0190243678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549417224&sr=8-1&keywords=world+war+2+at+sea+craig+symonds (https://www.amazon.com/World-War-II-Sea-History/dp/0190243678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549417224&sr=8-1&keywords=world+war+2+at+sea+craig+symonds)
Also, just finished Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company, by Alexander Freed. This book was published a few years ago when EA released the rebooted Star Wars: Battlefront video game. But don't let that stop you--the book doesn't really tie into the game; I think they were released together to build hype for the game itself (which isn't too bad, although I can't speak for the sequel). Twilight Company reminds me very much of the Gaunt's Ghosts stories by Dan Abnett, but the prose is tighter and it's better-written. This book is set during the Galactic Civil War and takes place shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star. However, it doesn't follow the main characters that we all know so well...as a matter of fact, almost all of those characters appear only as brief mentions in this book and don't really play a part in what is going on. Instead, this book is about the grunts--the soldiers and officers of Twilight Company, as they slog it out against Imperial troopers on one planet after another. No lofty ideals here about liberating the galaxy and pushing back the Dark Side...these soldiers, for the most part, barely look up from the trenches to consider the wider conflict. They fight to survive and to protect their squadmates; after the battle, they declare the planet liberated, hold a recruiting drive, gather up whatever fresh food/supplies they can pack onto their assault transport, and then it's off to the next theater, because that's what the orders are. Definitely a different take on Star Wars, but it's a good reminder that there were billions of other beings living, fighting, and dying in the background of the Skywalker saga.
https://www.amazon.com/Battlefront-Twilight-Company-Star-Wars/dp/1101884762/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549417265&sr=8-1&keywords=battlefront+twilight+company (https://www.amazon.com/Battlefront-Twilight-Company-Star-Wars/dp/1101884762/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549417265&sr=8-1&keywords=battlefront+twilight+company)
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Carthage Must Be Destroyed
Despite the title, this book is actually focused on Carthage and the history of Carthage and not just treating it as yet another antagonist of Rome. Therefore, you learn a lot about the origins of Carthage, their trade network, their strategic need to hold a presence on Sicily, the Greek-Carthage rivalry before Rome, etc.
Overall, I am really impressed so far!
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I have that book on my bookshelf, just haven't gotten to it yet!
I've moved on to Cryptum by Greg Bear--the first book in the Forerunner Trilogy (in the Halo series). Listening via Audible. It's good so far but it's raising a LOT of questions. The book takes place thousands of years prior to the events of the first game in the series.
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Since TIAMAT'S WRATH is still months away on Audible, I'm going to revisit DUNE on audio... I hope it holds up.
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A little past halfway through TIAMAT'S WRATH (Expanse Book 8 ), and already I don't think I have any jaw left to drop. And that was before the most recent chapters.
Yesterday morning, if I'd been reading a physical book instead of listening in the car, I'd have thrown the book at something … preferably a shredder. By this morning, I was cackling with glee. There is no doubt these guys learned their craft from GRRM (except that they'll manage 9 books in ten years)
I *really* hope Amazon can pull together season 4, and keep this going through Season 9+.
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I’m waiting for the softcover to come out, as I have all the others in that format.
Currently rereading Leviathan Wakes. Getting more out of it the second time around...sorta like rewatching Marvel movies...