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I read Jacobs' Dark Age Ahead, which just confirmed my own thinking. Never got go Death & Life of Great American Cities, which is supposed to be a great book.
Keeping with the bad times theme, a fascinating book, Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile. This is the story of the man who basically armed the mujaheddin and drove the Russians out of Afghanistan. Appalling, frightening and revolting as to how government really works but holy crow! one hell of an adventure story. This guy was throwing so much money into Afghanistan that even the CIA freaked over it. What I liked was how well the author presented the thinking of Wilson and his circle, so you could see that they really thought they were doing the best thing for the world. Still, it left me feeling pretty hopeless about any remnants of democracy we may have (in terms of how public money is spent and how temporary alliances are made between various countries).
Joseph Tainter's Collapse of Complex Societies predated Jared Diamond's Collapse by over a decade. (I haven't read Collapse.) Tainter examines numerous societies, both western and eastern, and concludes that societies collapse when they can no longer afford to support their infrastructure. He also gores my ox by claiming that a return to simpler living is no solution, but I appreciate (and accept) his reasoning. Some killer graphs! and a very thoughtful, detailed analysis.
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I just read The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy. A fascinating look at an impoverished Montreal factory-neighborhood family at the outset of World War II. Highly recommended.
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by rtvu2: ok, I am about to go and retry to read Johnthon Strange and Mr Norell.
Wish me luck.
You don't need luck. It's a good book. Just stick with it.
I'm reading Martha Wells's The Gate of Gods, third in her 'Fall of Ile-Rien' trilogy. It's pretty good. Wells is probably the most underrated author in fantasy; this is her seventh good book and she's still pretty much flying under the radar.
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Just finished off Raymond Feist's Honoured Enemy, which was FINALLY released in the States. Good book for Riftwar fans, even if it does end suddenly.
Also read the second City of Heroes novel, The Freedom Phalanx, which was MUCH better than I expected for a shared universe book. Reminded me of the Wild Card stuff, just not as graphic.
A lot of what I've been reading is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace books...kinda heavy on the religion but he makes a lot of sense. So much so that I'm actually excited about paying bills.
Jamie
From: Wood River, IL | Registered: Aug 2005
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The Freedom Phalanx was better than I expected it to be. I really liked the buddy-buddy relationship between Positron and Synapse.
Registered: Aug 2004
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Books I've read since July 31, 2006 (my last post on this topic)
Let's see...
From the Forgotten Realms World The Netheril Trilogy by Clayton Emery 1. Sword Play 2. Dangerous Games 3. Mortal Consequences
A very entertaining trilogy about a Barbarian with a stupid name (Sunbright Steelshanks). Once I got past the name I really enjoyed these books. The premise is that two bored mages bet that Sunbright will either die or survive, then they put him to tests. Everything comes back full circle by the end of the third book and Sunbright actually turns out to be a very likeable Barbarian.
Also from the Forgotten Realms... The Finder's Stone Trilgoy by Kate Novak and her husband Jeff Grubb 1. Azure Bonds 2. The Wyvernspur 3. Song of the Saurials
Again... a very entertaining set of books. The dialogue had me snickering in spots. The authors' perspectives had me admiring thier ability to communicate ideas through their writing. And again... everything is brought full circle at the end. Highly recommended reading if you're into fantasy. I can't tell too much about the characters without giving away plot points... but the main character is a swordswoman named Alias who wakes up in an inn with no memory of the last couple months of her life. Outside her window is a strange lizard man who she promptly names Dragonbait. Throw in a halfling bard, a magician/merchant (who really wants to prove his worth as an adventurer) several nasty entities trying to control everything, a red dragon, and some nobility (who is actually the main character in the middle book) and you've got a really good story.
Also from Forgotten Realms was the book Evermeet: The Island of the Elves by Elaine Cunningham
Evermeet is not a bad book, but at the end of it I felt like I had read a history book. Which is exactly what it is. Everytime I got into the characters, she would end the story and start anew with different charaters. I didn't really connect with the characters like I did in previous books. Having said that, I think the author could have written a very good 10 full length book series based on the tales related in this book.
From the world of Classic Science Fiction I read Slan by AE Van Vogt
Not a bad book, but it was written in the late 1930's so it did seem a little dated. In discussing it with my dad (he recommeneded it in the first place), he assured me that the book was cuting edge fantastic when it first came out. Of this I can agree, but by today's standards it seemed a little trite. Even so the story is engaging just to see how sci fi has evolved over the years. The characterization is a little loose with morality and looking back at it, I was a little disappointed by the female character. She was given half of the ink for the first third of the book, but then she disappears for a good majority of the book only to make a cameo near the end. Honestly, I believe the story would have been better if it had told her story instead of the main male character's. The story itstelf is about the evolution of man and how the new species integrates/mingles with the old species.
The other two books I read were more modern day thrillers.
The one I just finished was Retribution by Jilliane Hoffman
This was a story about a Miami Assistant Prosecutor who's been given a serial killer case to try. The catch you say? What's the catch? Well it just so happens that (and I'm only giving away a minor plot spoiler here) the serial killer on trial is also the man who brutally raped her 12 years previously.
The story is about 414 pages long and is fantastic for about the first 300 to 320 pages. After that it kinda devolves into typical thriller fare with a coincidence that is so unbelievable I was shaking my head and wandering if the same author that started the book was the same auther that finished the book. Even having said that, the protaganist is easy to root for as is the male lead. Overall I'd recommend the book but just barely. Now if I won the lottery, and then by same strange twist of fate my wife won a second lottery 4 years later... then and only then would I believe in the coincidence that drives this book at the end.
And finally... the best for last: Rules of Prey by John Sanford
It's a typical male cop chases serial killer plot, but this one stands out. It plays more like a macabre chess game where you're not sure who is the better human being at the end. The main character, Lucas Davenport (the cop), is written with a little more depth to his character than most other fictional cops. The killer is smart, the cop's girl friend is smart (and kinda nasty too, but with a heart kinda nasty... she's scrumpcious), the surviving victim is smart... and the book had my heart racing at some places. I just couldn't put it down. That's when I know I've got a great book in my hands.
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If you liked The Wyvern's Spur, you might just like the books of P.G. Wodehouse, which were a big, big influence on TWS. Most of Giogi's family, especially including Giogi himself, is straight out of Wodehouse (specifically the Jeeves and Bertie Wooster books). Now, we're talking comedy/romantic comedy with Wodehouse, not fantasy/adventure, so conduct yourself accordingly.
Me? I'm halfway through Steven Brust's Dzur, latest in the Vlad Taltos series.
And I'm gonna have to check out this Freedom Phalanx stuff... (I'm compiling a list of all the superhero novels I haven't read yet).
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Been reading the Green Sky Trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. If you're old enough to remember the old computer game "Below the Root" from the 1980s, this is the series that spawned it.
Registered: Aug 2004
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Been about a month since I've been on here, so here are my recent reads:
T2: Infiltrator T2: Rising Storm T2: The Future War Pawn of Prophecy Cry Wolf Ender's Game
From the Universe of the Terminator movies and written by SM Stirling (an apparent master of alternate universe novels):
T2: Infiltrator I picked this hardcover up for $1.00 at a used book store that was closing. I wasn't expecting much because I didn't know a thing about it or it's author at the time. I just knew that I didn't like some things about the Terminator 3 movie and wanted to see if this book gave any insight into T3.
Having said that... I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It basically picks up a short time after the T2 movie ends. Connors have gone into hiding while still on the look out for possible machine ascension. They are of course wanted terrorists at this point. There is also some interplay with the Dyson family, Cyberdyne and great use of an Arnold look alike character. Naturally there are Terminators and much of the story expands on different models and their interactions both in the present and the future.
As for insights on T3... none were directly given, but it seemed in the T2 movie that both Cyberdyne and it's Skynet research were destroyed in the present thereby usurping the "Machine" future. In the T3 movie the only explanation for Judgement Day was that it was, "inevitable". I can't remember if plausible eveidence for the rise of the machines was given in this book or the second book, but it is presented.
T2: The Rising Storm The second of the trilogy extends the story further. Can't give away too much without spoilers but I was fairly satisfied with this story. Some of the action was hard to follow and I found myself having to re-read certain sequences, but in the end the story is still Sci Fi so I guess the implausible must be accepted... or at least glossed over so you can finish the book (lets face it, the premise of these books are implausible). Some really great irony in this book as well... kinda saw it coming, but was still enthralled to read it when it happened.
The knock on these books you say... What's the knock? Stirling is known for alternate universe stories where he envisions a wonderful, vivid, and excitingly different place and then marches some cardboard stereotype characters through it. I don't know about his other novels, but it seems like he benefits from using characters that are already "familiar" to the reader. I found myself liking these people and snickering at some of their bantering. These first two books were highly enjoyable for me.
T2: The Future War Here's where the Trilogy goes astray in my estimation. More time is spent away from the Connors in this book than the previous two. Which means Stirling is playing with his "own" characters. These characters are important and logical in the Terminator universe but they in no way have even been hinted at in the movies. So here is where I buy into other people's criticisms about Stirling and his characters. They just weren't that interesting to me. And what starts out as great character moments for John and Sara Connor at the beginning of the novel are quickly forgotten as less and less time are spent with them. Some of the major characters from the previous books show up in cameo status in this book. Massive gaps in time also hinder the flow of this book.
Having said that... the book is not a bad read, its just not upto the standards of the first two novels or movies.
As the books relate to the Terminator 3 movie... well they give the reader plausibility that the machines can still rise given what we know about the first two movies. This trilogy of novels flies in the face of the T3 movie though so they are definitely "alternate" to the movie canon. In my honest opinion I think the first book would have made a better T3 movie than the one that was produced.
Pawn of Prophecy is the opening novel to David Eddings (classic) fantasy tale "The Belgariad" and was highly recommended by my sister and the readers at Amazon.com. Its probably unfair to comment on the story without having read the other four books in the tale, but this is the internet and everybody has a right to read what I think. It has potential to get better. Don't get me wrong... I didn't think it was bad, but maybe I'm just spoiled by the fact that my first novels read in the genre were penned by RA Salvatore and I feel like his books are the standard. So far this book didn't live up to my expectations. It could though depending on the next four... I'll just have to wait and see.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is considered to be classic science fiction. Written in the late 1970's and once again... highly recommended by my sister, her two sons, her husband, and the internet crowd... just didn't seem to live up to the hype. It's kind of a cross between Starship Troopers and Lord of the Flies. I found myself not involved with the characters. Ender is supposed to be this genius... once in a generation type genius, but I didn't feel like his tactical brialliance was really fleshed out. Some of the moves in the training scenarios are respectable, but I just felt like the author kept telling us just how smart Ender is, but he never really showed us. Maybe I'm not smart enough to pick up on the nuances of Card's writing. I just felt the big battle at the end was a cop out. My sister of course does not get that I don't get what the fuss is about this book. I'd give it a strong B-.
Cry Wolf by Alan Chronister was the other book that I read. After having read alot of Sci Fi and Fantasy recently, I was looking forward to a good horror novel. Alas this was not it. The book had character issues with just about everyone in it. They were either inconsistent in behavior, too pushy to be liked (lead female protagonist), or doing something that normal people in the same situation wouldn't do. Some of the werewolf rules are silly and the proportional amount of time spent on throw away characters versus the main protagonists is a killer for this book. I felt like I knew the "fodder" better than the leads. Then Chronister throws in a "shocking" ending that had me going... "Ugh" out loud. Just uninspired, unexplained, bad sci fi. It felt desperate to me.
-------------------- Something Filthy!
From: NOVA by way of NOIN | Registered: Jul 2003
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LOL !! Hey Minesurfer, I reviewed Cry Wolf back on August 11th and I had just the opposite reaction. I really enjoyed the story, and in fact said it ought to be made into a made for tv movie. Isn't it funny how opinions vary
I saw this t-shirt in a magazine the other day, and dammit I wish it came in baby elephant sizes so I could get one. It read 'Keep pissing me off and you will become a character in my next novel.' Wouldn't that be great, especially if you really were a writer... lol
At least it's becoming the season of the year when it's fun to slow down and get warm and cozy and drink something hot and read a good book.
From: Utah (non-Mormon!!!) | Registered: Jul 2003
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Minesurfer, I've read The Belgariad and [B] The Mallorean [B] (the sequel) and both are solid reads. The sequel doesn't have quite the excitement as the original, but tackles some more mature concepts. Enjoy them both.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Never got go Death & Life of Great American Cities, which is supposed to be a great book. 
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
It has potential to get better. Don't get me wrong... I didn't think it was bad, but maybe I'm just spoiled by the fact that my first novels read in the genre were penned by RA Salvatore and I feel like his books are the standard. So far this book didn't live up to my expectations. It could though depending on the next four... I'll just have to wait and see.
