What Are You Reading - 2012

[Luke Jaconetti]

The old thread timed out once again, so here's a new one.

I just finished reading Hereticus by Dan Abnett, the final volume of
the Eisenhorn trilogy (and the Eisenhorn Omnibus) last night. This
was an amazing series of books which I wholly recommend to anyone who
will listen.

Next on the queue: How The West Was Won by Louis L'amour.

[Race]

Ah good. Here's the excuse I needed to post about the book I've been
reading.

I've been reading 'low cost' sci fi novels on the Kindle app on my
iPad. The nice thing about this stuff is that if it ends up being
'meh', you're generally out only 0.99 cents.

The latest has been Andrew Mayne's Chronological Man series. If you
enjoy Dr. Who stuff (sorry Serv!), then you may enjoy these novels.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Mist-Chronological-Man-ebook/dp/B0056A295I/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328622877&sr=1-3

One fairly large caveat: The main character is A LOT like Dr. Who. So
much so that it was on the verge of bothering me. There is a
companion. He goes by the name Smith (not Mr. Smith, just Smith).
There is a heavy helping of Sherlock Holmes with a small dollop of
steampunk thrown in. I can see this bothering some people, but it
sounded intriguing to me. I'm enjoying it enough to feel I've gotten
my 0.99 cents worth.

[Van]

Amen. Preach it, brother Luke.
And the Ravenor books are even better.

I was on something of a WH40K kick, myself, the last couple of
months. I've been reading the "Horus Heresy" novels, which are sort
of prequels to the "contemporary" (or main timeline) novels. Some of
them are quite good. I particularly enjoyed LEGION by Dan Abnett.

I also just finished one of the last few Parker books I hadn't read,
by Richard Stark (Donald E Westlake). This one was called DEADLY
EDGE, and involves Parker helping to rob a concert auditorium during a
show, and then dealing with two killers who begin knocking off his
team, one by one, to take the stolen cash from them. That whole
series is soooo goooood.

I'm also reading the library's copy of SWING YOUR SWORD, which is
(former Texas Tech football coach) Mike Leach's book. It's pretty fun
reading. He's an interesting guy with some unique perspectives.

Luke, I think you might like the book I'm just finishing up writing
currently. I need to get a copy to you when it's out.

--Van

[Luke Jaconetti]

Van, I was thinking of your recommendation of the Ravenor books when
he shows up in the third book. When we first meet the character in
the second book, I was thinking "how the heck can this guy start in
his own stories?" but when he shows up again in the third one, all was
made clear. I am definitely going to pick that Omnibus up. I also
have the Grey Knights Omnibus to read, which ties into the Inquisition
as well (militant arm).

About the only thing which chaffs me after finishing Eisenhorn is that
it is now very difficult to play an Inquisition force like we see in
the books (I am thinking the end of book one). The previous edition
rules allowed you to play a "Daemonhunters" or "Witchhunters" army
where you had an Inquisitor and their crew, and then you could fill it
out with Stormtroopers (like the Kasrkin from the second book) and
conscripted Imperial Guardsmen (think the Gudrunite 50th Rifles from
the first book). Now, the "Daemonhunters" have become straight Grey
Knights so you can't do that anymore. :(

On an unrelated note I am really enjoying How The West Was Won.
L'amour has such an easy style to read, and his knack for description
is great.

> > Next on the queue: How The West Was Won by Louis L'amour.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[sh...@onceuponageek.com]

Great thread!  I never got around to posting some of my reads from 2011, so I'm gonna address both.

On my list to read in 2012:

* Empire State by Adam Christopher - A 1930s Noir Crime Superhero tale.  I'm reading it right now and really digging it!  It's Adam Christopher's first novel and it's got quotes endorsing it by Cory Doctorow, Paul Cornell, Kurt Busiek, Michael Stackpole and Tony Lee.  All writers that impress me!

* The Galactic Milieu Trilogy by Julian May - My dad's an old school sci-fi fan and swears by these books.  Gonna give them a try. 

* The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

* Into the Storm by Taylor Anderson (Destroyermen series about 1940s battleship transported to another world)

* The New Dead edited by Christopher Golden - A Zombie Anthology (includes a Max Brooks story)

* Foundation by Isaac Asimov

* And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer (Book Six of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

* "Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go By" by Dan Abnett (the same Dan Abnett discussed earlier in this thread by Luke).

* Star Trek Department of Temporal Investigations: Watching the Clock - It's Star Trek and time travel. I gotta try it. :)

 

Here are some of my 2011 reads and some quick thoughts:

* The Walls of the Universe by Paul Melko - An alternate-universe-hopping story (some elements similar to Sliders).  This was a fun, fast-paced read.  Recommended!

* Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - Interesting Steampunk meets Zombie adventure.  I took me a while to get through it, but very enjoyable.  Strongly considering reading the sequel.  Recommended!

* Polaris by Jack McDevitt - Another Alex Benedict adventure (far future antiquities dealer).  I really enjoyed another novel in this series called "Seeker", so I tried "Polaris" from earlier in the series.  It was equally enjoyable.  I really dig the Alex Benedict series and will read more!  Recommended!

* Storm Front by Jim Butcher (first Harry Dresden book) - The only kind of fantasy books I can stomach are modern-day urban fantasy such as this.  I really enjoyed this and will likely read more Dresden books.  Recommended!

* Forever War by Joe Haldeman - Overall, this was a really good book.  Some similarities to Starship Troopers, just without the crazy alien enemies.  It was game-changing for sci-fi back in the mid-70s, but now doesn't feel as revolutionary as compared to books that followed.  Also gets a little preachy at the end.  Still very worthwhile and important to science fiction.

* How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu - This book was highly praised for it's originality.  There were certainly good moments, but overall I wouldn't waste your time.

Again, great thread!  And Bob's fake Doctor Who books sounds really interesting!

The Irredeemable Shag
http://firestormfan.com
http://onceuponageek.com
http://twitter.com/firestormfan

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [The Unique Geek] What Are You Reading - 2012
From: Luke Jaconetti <lja...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, February 07, 2012 8:51 am
To: The Unique Geek <theuni...@googlegroups.com>

The old thread timed out once again, so here's a new one.

I just finished reading Hereticus by Dan Abnett, the final volume of
the Eisenhorn trilogy (and the Eisenhorn Omnibus) last night. This
was an amazing series of books which I wholly recommend to anyone who
will listen.

Next on the queue: How The West Was Won by Louis L'amour.

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[Van]

Shag-- back in high school, some friends and I all read Julian May's
four-part series that ties into that trilogy you mentioned. It's
called the "Saga of Pliocene Exile," and includes "The Many-Colored
Land," "The Golden Torc," "The Nonborn King," and "The Adversary." It
was a very fun read, as I recall. But I never read the trilogy you
mention, which either comes before or after those and includes some of
the same characters and background. Curious to see what you think.

--Van

[Luke Jaconetti]

During my business trip to Rhode Island, I have read the novelizations
of both Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

Iron Man is handled by Peter David, and is a very, very cool
novelization. David fleshes out the characters using information from
the comics and the whole thing reads very organically. (Happy Hogan,
for instance, has little more than an extended cameo in the movie but
is given some nice moments in the novel.) The action is well written
and the characters all have a good "voice."

Iron Man 2 is adapated by Alexander Irvin, and is somewhat rougher
going. A lot of the action scenes are more sumarized than described,
which makes it harder to appreciate what is happening. There are also
some editorial wonkiness. For instance: the scene where Natalie beats
up Happy Hogan is referred to several times, but is never actually
depicted as happening! So while it was alright it's not as good as
the first one.

Since I picked the pair up for a buck total, I definitely got my
money's worth.

Now I am about 90% through Doctor Who And The Tenth Planet (thanks,
Shag!), and adaptiuon of the last First Doctor serial, The Tenth
Planet.

[James Peluso]

I'm glad to see you enjoyed two great books visiting the greatest place on earth...

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blog
"Keep moving Forward"

[Dug B.]

Just read Guy Gavriel Kay's Ysabel. I have yet to be disappointed with any of his books.

On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 3:38 PM, Luke Jaconetti <lja...@gmail.com> wrote:

[James Peluso]

I recently finished reading The Lost Empire by Clive Cussler and enjoyed it, I may pick up another book by him.

[Luke Jaconetti]

I read Tigana in around the start of 2011, and I thought that book was
amazing! "Like a blade in my soul!"

On Mar 15, 4:01 pm, "Dug B." <clock...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just read Guy Gavriel Kay's *Ysabel*. I have yet to be disappointed with

> - Hide quoted text -
>

> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Luke Jaconetti]

Well, I have been working more than anything else up here. I have not
had a day off in Rhode Island yet. So while the state has been more
than welcoming, I have not seen much of it. I did take a car ride
down to Judith Point a few weeks ago to see the lighthouse, though.

> blog <http://jimpeluso.wordpress.com>
> "Keep moving Forward"- Hide quoted text -

[James Peluso]

If you get time go down to Newport to see the sites it's beautiful and historic. Even just a car road down ocean drive.

"Keep moving Forward"

[rave...@aol.com]

In the last months, I have read:

Dodsworth - Sinclair Lewis (a 1929 novel about an American businessman trying to find himself on a trip to Europe!)

Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett (1929) - a detective gets an entire town to murder itself

Books 1 - 4 of the Game of Thrones (Song of Fire and Ice) series! Still in the middle of 4. What a series! Compelling! Porny! Glorious!

Caw!

[Luke Jaconetti]

Hahaha. "Porny," I like that adjective.

Anyway, I finished Doctor Who and The Tenth Planet last night. Very
cool story. This may be how I catch up on "classic" Who, because
reading is a lot more convenient than buying DVDs to watch.

Started the next book: Persuasion by Jane Austen.

On Mar 15, 5:31 pm, ravenf...@aol.com wrote:
> In the last months, I have read:
>
> Dodsworth - Sinclair Lewis (a 1929 novel about an American businessman trying to find himself on a trip to Europe!)
> Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett (1929) - a detective gets an entire town to murder itself
> Books 1 - 4 of the Game of Thrones (Song of Fire and Ice) series! Still in the middle of 4. What a series! Compelling! Porny! Glorious!
>
> Caw!
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Peluso <james.pel...@gmail.com>
> To: theuniquegeek <theuni...@googlegroups.com>
> Sent: Thu, Mar 15, 2012 1:54 pm
> Subject: Re: [The Unique Geek] Re: What Are You Reading - 2012
>
> If you get time go down to Newport to see the sites it's beautiful and historic. Even just a car road down ocean drive.
>

> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek?hl=en.

>
> --
> Jim
>
> blog
> "Keep moving Forward"
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group.
> To post to this group, send email to theuni...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to theuniquegee...@googlegroups.com.

> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek?hl=en.- Hide quoted text -

[Van]

Just finished Aaron Dembski-Bowden's THE LAST HERETIC, another of the
Horus Heresy novels, this past weekend. ADB has been called "The new
Dan Abnett," and I can sort of see why. He's pretty good--and
certainly better than most of the other Black Library writers--but not
quite in Abnett's category.

I really find two distinct ways in which Abnett is superior to the
rest of their stable. One is simply his mastery of the skills of
laying out a story and writing in a compelling fashion. In other
words, his stuff is better-constructed and is more fun to read. The
other way is that he's very skilled at approaching stories from
unexpected angles and using secondary and tertiary characters to
provide interesting perspectives on the major characters.

For example, in HORUS RISING, he could have made Horus Lupercal
himself the main character. Alternatively, he could have gone with
Torgaddon or Aximand or one of the other Mournival members. Instead,
our POV guy is Garviel Loken, an Astartes whom no one had ever heard
of before, and who rises through the ranks very quickly to provide us
with a sort of "looking up at them" view of Horus and company as he
gets to know them personally and begins to work (and fight) alongside
them. That may sound pretty basic, and it is-- but it's wildly
radical compared to the more pedestrian writing you get from a lot of
those guys.

I'm starting now on KNOW NO FEAR, the newest Abnett 40K book and
essentially a sequel to THE LAST HERETIC, where we see what happens
when the renegade Word Bearers decide to seek revenge on the
Ultramarines for their affront in that previous book. Should be fun,
particularly in Abnett's hands.

And I also just saw that Graham McNeill's A THOUSAND SONS is now on
unabridged audio. I may have to get it for the drive down to Memphis
next week for MidSouthCon 30. It was the first 40K book to hit the
New York Times Bestsellers list, a while back.

--Van

[Luke Jaconetti]

Just finished Star Wars: Tales From Jabba's Palace, as editted by Kevin J. Anderson.  All in all I liked this book because the majority of the short stories were well-written.  A few of them were subpar, but not enough to bring the whole book down.  The fact that the stars of the stories are the wild and weird aliens from my favorite Star Wars movies helps in this regard. 

 

Some standouts include Anderson's tale of the Rancor Keeper; Deborah Wheeler writes about Ree Yees; Kenneth C. Flint has a hard boiled tale starring Ephant Mon; and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens score with a tale about EV-9D9.  The story of the Max Rebo Band also had me grinning pretty much the entire way.

 

An interesting aspect is that most of the stories take place at the same time, so they all have some sort of connective tissue to other stories.  So when we see a character run into another in one story, that meeting will at least be mentioned in the other character's story.  This can get a little redundant but the different POVs help.

 

Main complaint is the inclusion of a story with Dannik Jeriko, who as far as I can remember doesn't actually appear in Jabba's Palace but instead is from the Cantina in Mos Eisley.  Similarly, Timothy Zahn writes a story with Mara Jade (big shock), but she is never seen on screen in Jabba's Palace.  Why couldn't we have gotten a story about Yak Face or one of the Nikto instead of these two?

 

Overall I enjoyed the book.  But it's a book about Jabba's Palace so this is not really a surprise. 

[Edward Crosby]

Finished Stephen King's 11/22/63. AMAZING book. Very exciting and intriguing. I highly recommend. Basically, it's about a man who discovers a bubble/portal to 1958 and uses it to make some changes in history including the assassination of JFK. King writes some interesting twist to the resulting timeline after some of the historical changes. Anyone who is a fan of time travel would find this book a good read, even if you are not a fan of King.

And, just finished King's Insomnia. Another good book by King. I'm a huge fan of King's The Dark Tower series (probably my all time favorite) and some of the crossover in Insomnia from The Dark Tower was pretty cool. Also, it was very fitting to reading Insomnia since I have been suffering the illness lately due to my recent surgery. Needless to say, I've done a lot of reading lately due to the lack of sleep.

Just started reading Song of Susannah from The Dark Tower series again. I had been listening to the audio books of the series and had just finished listening to Wolves of the Calla before my surgery. Since I haven't been able to drive, and probably will not be driving for a while, I decided to pick up the book to start reading because I couldn't wait until I started driving again to resume listening.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

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[Patrick Pence]

Ed-

I'm in the middle of 11/22/63 right now.  Can't. Put. It. Down.  I haven't been this voracious of a reader for any book in a long time.  

King has an exceptional talent for Time Travel lore.  He really nailed this one. 

I await the counter-arguments from the 'King is a Hack' crowd.  :-P

P

______________________________

patric...@hotmail.com

"You can be the captain,

  and I will draw the chart..."

---

Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 11:03:08 -0400

Subject: Re: [The Unique Geek] Re: What Are You Reading - 2012

From: ecr...@gmail.com
To: theuni...@googlegroups.com

[Jennifer Walker]

I don't think he's a hack, by any means, but as to the Dark Tower series in particular, I was not all that thrilled about how it ultimately ended. I believe my exact reaction was 'Wait, what? Oh, you've got to be kidding me!' I get it, but I don't have to like it, lol. And by that I mean the end of Book 7, haven't picked up the 8th-but-really-4.5th book.

I was enjoying the Dark Tower graphic novels, at least the first few--need to figure out where I left off and pick it back up--as it filled in some of the backstory that was started in flashbacks but never fully fleshed out.

--
Jennifer "Scraps" Walker

The Helper Monkey Network
http://www.jenniferwalkeronline.com

[Edward Crosby]

Yeah. It's difficult for me to say I was disappointed with the ending as I don't really think I was. I was like, "awwww...okay...hmmmm.....". 

I don't think I will bother with The Wind Through the Keyhole. Even though I absolutely love The Dark Tower series, this book just doesn't sound interesting to me. As I understand it, it is just a book with some short stories about the early years of Roland.

I read Peter David's graphic novel The Gunslinger Born. It was okay. Peter David seemed to grasp the whole King language from the High Speech pretty well and the story was pretty good but overall it seemed to be a little bit of a let down. Maybe because I had just finished The Dark Tower series and had such high expectations and made a mistake in comparing it to King's writing.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Edward Crosby]

By the way, those that are a fan of The Dark Tower series may find this site informative.

http://www.stephenking.com/darktower/

There is even a list of his other books that crossover into The Dark Tower series and vice versa.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Jennifer Walker]

I can see that. I devoured book 7 as soon as it was available, and haven't touched the series since (comics excluded), so it might be easier for someone with that distance to get back into the world through Wind Through the Keyhole.

On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 11:53 AM, Edward Crosby <ecr...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Shag]

Glad to hear it!  I've been strongly considering picking up 11/22/63, even though I'm not really a King reader.

Shag

On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 11:05 AM, Patrick Pence <patric...@hotmail.com> wrote:

[Shag]

If you dug "Tales from Jabba's Palace", give the other similar anthologies a try. There is a "Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina", "Tales from the Bounty Hunters", "Tales from the Empire" and "Tales from the New Republic". I prefer the latter two (Empire and New Republic), but that's probably because I like reading about the completely original fringe characters in the Star Wars universe.

Shag

On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 10:40 AM, Luke Jaconetti <lja...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[Van]

Re: Jabba's Palace: Isn't that book really old? I'm almost certain I had a copy back in college or just after, and I'm really old. ;-)

Re: the Dark Tower ending: *sigh* See this, by me: http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=3355

Re: 11/22/63: Great, great book. Read it in like a week--couldn't put it down. And read it on Kindle, which was the first really long book I read there. Good experience. Possibly my favorite King since Dark Tower. I don't generally like his standard horror, but I love his more Twilight Zonish SF. Under the Dome was great. Duma Key was great. Cell was dull dull dull.

Re: What I'm reading now: I want to be reading the new PRIMARCHS anthology from Black Library (Horus Heresy), but I can't allow myself to, because reading any Warhammer 40K right now just makes me want to write military/gothic SF, and I'm about 2/3 finished writing vol 7 of the Sentinels series, so I don't want to get derailed from that.

Anybody here read any of the Sentinels books? (Aside from Shag, who was awesome enough to review one of them.)

So instead I'm reading some nonfiction and about to start Joe Haldeman's "bound" series with MARSBOUND. I find Haldeman is never flashy but he's never let me down.

--Van

[Edward Crosby]

Great article, say true. I enjoyed it big-big.

Long days and pleasant nights to you.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

--Van

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[Luke Jaconetti]

Shag, I have the Mos Eisley Cantina and Bounty Hunters books as well.  I have seen Tales from the New Republic at my (legendary on this board) local used book store but have not picked it up yet.  It does look pretty sweet.  I like original characters alright but I really like the fleshing out of background characters.  For some reason I just dig knowing more about Salacious Crumb or Max Rebo or Ree Yees.

 

And Van, yeah, the book came out in the mid-90s, but I never got a copy until last year. 

 

(Speaking of Warhammer 40k, can you believe there is ANOTHER new edition of the rules coming out?!  Yeesh!)

To unsubscribe from this group, send email to theuniquegeek+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Shag]

I gotta recommend a book I just finished by Dan Abnett, "Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go By".  I've read a few hundred Doctor Who books (no exaggeration) and this is one of the best.  It features the current TARDIS crew, the Matt Smith Doctor, Amy, and Rory.  It also features the classic Doctor Who aliens, the Ice Warriors.

More than any other Doctor Who book I've read, this one really captured the spirit of the show and characters.  The "voices" were perfectly captured by the writer; I could hear the actors saying these lines in my head.  The story, action, and humor were exactly what you'd expect in an episode of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who.

Highly recommended for fans of the new Doctor Who series.  Recommended even higher for fans of both the classic and new Doctor Who series (Ice Warriors FTW)!
http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-The-Silent-Stars/dp/1849902437


Shag

[Van]

Not surprised, Shag. Abnett is extremely talented.
Imagine how happy you'd be if you enjoyed the Warhammer 40,000 universe and discovered he's already written around 20 novels in it. :-)
--Van

[Luke Jaconetti]

I just a few days ago finished reading "James Bond And Moonraker" by Christopher Woods.  This is the novelization of Woods' screenplay for Moonraker, which is vastly different from Fleming's Moonraker (hence the novelization).  I really enjoyed this one.  The novel lacks all of the slapstick humor which ended up in the movie, and, ultimately, mars the viewing experience.  There is also an extra action setpiece which I will describe in two words:

 

Bond EVA.

 

Your enjoyment will depend entirely on how much you can accept the story for the movie version of Moonraker, whichi involves a nerve gas being rained on the Earth from a space station.  I dug it.

 

I have now started reading Mercadian Masques by Francis LeBaron.  It is a Magic: The Gathering novel, the first in the (evidently loosely connected) Masques trilogy.  So far I am enjoying the story, mostly for the setting -- Mercadia is a plane based on commerce and trade, and like the expansion this novel is based on, there is a lot of wheeling and dealing and bargainig and such going on.  So far so good.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2012 8:51:30 AM UTC-5, Luke Jaconetti wrote:

The old thread timed out once again, so here's a new one.

I just finished reading Hereticus by Dan Abnett, the final volume of
the Eisenhorn trilogy (and the Eisenhorn Omnibus) last night.  This
was an amazing series of books which I wholly recommend to anyone who
will listen.

Next on the queue: How The West Was Won by Louis L'amour.

[Luke Jaconetti]

Finished up Mercadian Masques. It was alright. The first half of the
book is really good, as we get to know both the mercantile Mercadians
(and their behind the scenes goblin noble masters), their Cateran
mercenaries, the pastoral Cho-Arrim, the seafaring Rishadans, and the
merfolk race from Saprazzo. The second half though gets bogged down
as the villain of the piece is revealed.

Two things work against the book: the first is that even though this
is "book one" of the block it is also continued from the previous
Weatherlight saga books. So I feel as if I am coming in late as far
as who the characters are. Some of them get fleshed out quite nicely
(Orim), others, not so much (Gerard, Sisay). This would have been
easier reading had the characters been introduced better.

Secondly, the second half of the book feels really rushed in certain
respects because it has to tie back to the earlier Weatherlight
stuff. One of the major mechanics and narrative aspects of the
Mercadian Masques card set is the Ramosian rebellion. Essentially,
all throughout the provinces and kingdoms of Mercadia there is a myth
of the "Uniter," Ramos, and there is an insurgency which believes in
the prophecy of his return. A LOT of White cards in MM were based
around the Rebel mechanic. But the rebellion itself never is fleshed
out as well as it should be, and instead is sort of just background
noise in the second half. This was very disappointing to me,
especially when one considers that there is a character in the story
who could have been the perfect main character of the story, and
focused more on the rebellion. So that was a bit of a letdown.

I'll probably read the other two books in the cycle (Nemesis and
Prophecy), but they form a cycle in name only, and are not realted
beyond the time in which they occur.

Up next is Doctor Who And The Cybermen, which is the adapation of the
second Cybermen serial, The Moonbase. 6 chapters in and really
enjoying it; I can really picture this as an early (Patrick Troughton)
episode of the show. The Cybermen are very adept at sneaking around.

> > Next on the queue: How The West Was Won by Louis L'amour.- Hide quoted text -

[Luke Jaconetti]

To add something I forgot to mention: I would really like to see
Wizards revist the plane of Mercadia. The next block of cards is
returning to the very popular plane of Ravnica (the first set is
creatively titled... Return To Ravnica) and they previously have
revisited the plane of Mirrodan. I think that Mercadia is ripe for
another look. I really, really liked the setting of this book, and
after the end of the story events are set in motion which would push
it still other interesting directions. So I for one want to see it
again. But alas I don't think it will happen as the Masques block is
pretty unpopular (due primarily to a lack of powerful cards).

Another oddity: the compliment to the Rebel mechanic in the cards is
the Mercenary mechanic, which works similarly (not exactly the same
but close) and is found in Black. The mercenaries get a pretty big
spotlight in the first half of the story, but the rebels do not. So
odd.

On Sep 4, 8:54 am, Luke Jaconetti <ljac...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Finished up Mercadian Masques.  It was alright.  The first half of the
> book is really good, as we get to know both the mercantile Mercadians
> (and their behind the scenes goblin noble masters), their Cateran
> mercenaries, the pastoral Cho-Arrim, the seafaring Rishadans, and the
> merfolk race from Saprazzo.  The second half though gets bogged down
> as the villain of the piece is revealed.
>
> Two things work against the book: the first is that even though this
> is "book one" of the block it is also continued from the previous
> Weatherlight saga books.  So I feel as if I am coming in late as far
> as who the characters are.  Some of them get fleshed out quite nicely
> (Orim), others, not so much (Gerard, Sisay).  This would have been

> easierreadinghad the characters been introduced better.

>
> Secondly, the second half of the book feels really rushed in certain
> respects because it has to tie back to the earlier Weatherlight
> stuff.  One of the major mechanics and narrative aspects of the
> Mercadian Masques card set is the Ramosian rebellion.  Essentially,
> all throughout the provinces and kingdoms of Mercadia there is a myth
> of the "Uniter," Ramos, and there is an insurgency which believes in
> the prophecy of his return.  A LOT of White cards in MM were based
> around the Rebel mechanic.  But the rebellion itself never is fleshed
> out as well as it should be, and instead is sort of just background
> noise in the second half. This was very disappointing to me,
> especially when one considers that there is a character in the story
> who could have been the perfect main character of the story, and
> focused more on the rebellion.  So that was a bit of a letdown.
>
> I'll probably read the other two books in the cycle (Nemesis and
> Prophecy), but they form a cycle in name only, and are not realted
> beyond the time in which they occur.
>
> Up next is Doctor Who And The Cybermen, which is the adapation of the
> second Cybermen serial, The Moonbase.  6 chapters in and really
> enjoying it; I can really picture this as an early (Patrick Troughton)
> episode of the show.  The Cybermen are very adept at sneaking around.
>
> On Jul 25, 10:24 am, Luke Jaconetti <ljac...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>

> > I just a few days ago finishedreading"James Bond And Moonraker" by

> > Christopher Woods.  This is the novelization of Woods' screenplay for
> > Moonraker, which is vastly different from Fleming's Moonraker (hence the
> > novelization).  I really enjoyed this one.  The novel lacks all of the
> > slapstick humor which ended up in the movie, and, ultimately, mars the
> > viewing experience.  There is also an extra action setpiece which I will
> > describe in two words:
>
> > Bond EVA.
>
> > Your enjoyment will depend entirely on how much you can accept the story
> > for the movie version of Moonraker, whichi involves a nerve gas being
> > rained on the Earth from a space station.  I dug it.
>

> > I have now startedreadingMercadian Masques by Francis LeBaron.  It is a

> > Magic: The Gathering novel, the first in the (evidently loosely connected)
> > Masques trilogy.  So far I am enjoying the story, mostly for the setting --
> > Mercadia is a plane based on commerce and trade, and like the expansion
> > this novel is based on, there is a lot of wheeling and dealing and
> > bargainig and such going on.  So far so good.
>
> > On Tuesday, February 7, 2012 8:51:30 AM UTC-5, Luke Jaconetti wrote:
> > > The old thread timed out once again, so here's a new one.
>

> > > I just finishedreadingHereticus by Dan Abnett, the final volume of

> > > the Eisenhorn trilogy (and the Eisenhorn Omnibus) last night.  This
> > > was an amazing series of books which I wholly recommend to anyone who
> > > will listen.
>
> > > Next on the queue: How The West Was Won by Louis L'amour.- Hide quoted text -
>

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Luke Jaconetti]

Decided to update the Subject line and bring the thread back.

 

Just finished reading The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey.  Lackey is my wife's favorite author, and she has most all of her books at this point.  This is the first Lackey I have read, and I chose it based on my appreciation of griffons/gryphons as fantastical beasts.

 

The book was actually quite nice.  It takes place during a war but focues on life in the camp of one side.  It's all about personalities and relationships -- personal, professional, parental, romantic, and fraternal -- with a few scenes of frantic action.  The titular Black Gryphon is an arrogant but loveable egotist named Skandranon, and he and his friens drive the story.

 

I will probably read the other two books in the series -- The White Gryphon and The Silver Gryphon -- at a later time. 

 

Up next is going to be a collection of the Lando Calrissian trilogy! 

[Dug B.]

I just re-read Christopher Golden's "Strangewood". Perhaps a bad choice while my son was in the hospital; but it is a fantastic book. It's the story of a children's book author who has lost his childlike innocence...so he has lost his link with Strangewood (the subject of his books). The characters don't like this; everything in the magical world starts corrupting and the characters come out into this world to abduct the author's son and force him to return to their world.

Worth tracking down and reading.

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[Edward Crosby]

Just finished Catching Fire and Mockingjay now on my comic book kick reading old comic books from the last 90's. I've been missing Kyle Rayner so much I've gone back and started buying all the TPB and back issues not in those TPB starting at issue #57 where Emerald Twilight/New Dawn TPB left off. And in between reading all the JLA TPBs of the comics that started in the late 90's by Grant Morrison and Mark Waid.

Once I finish with those I plan on reading Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Stephen King's Carrie before the movies are released this year.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Luke Jaconetti]

Ed, if you are interested in the 90s Green Lantern comics, can I recommend a podcast?

 

Just One Of The Guys is a podcast by Shawn Engel which focuses on Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner, and he is right now in the post Zero Hour era.  A really fun show!

 

justoneoftheguys.libsyn.com

[Edward Crosby]

Okay. I'll check it out.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Irredeemable Shag]

Listening to JUST ONE OF THE GUYS myself to get my Kyle Rayner & Giy Gardner fix. 

Enders Game is great. Just read it for the first time last year. 

Been reading old comics. Micronauts (surprisingly good) and 1970s JSA from All-Star Comics (moderately good for Bronze Age). Have Scott Snyders recent Batman on my "next" pile (Black Mirror, Court of Owls). 

Shag

Sent from my iPhone

[Edward Crosby]

That Scott Snyder stuff is really good. I enjoyed Court of Owls and Night of Owls stuff. I've never been much of a fan of crossovers but those worked really well crossing over to the other Batman family titles. What I found that really worked even better was the Death of the Family story with the crossovers.

It's funny that I've been kind of living through Devon, my 13 yr old, lately when it comes to novels. He read The Hunger Games books first and told me how good it was so I decided to check it out. Same for Ender's Game. He now wants to read a book called Fair Coin (http://amzn.com/1616146095) and I'll probably read that after him after I've read the other two novels on my wait list.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

[Luke Jaconetti]

Well, I had my copy of the Lando Calrissian trilogy, but cannot find it.  So I read volume 2 of Slam Dunk instead, and now will be starting The Last Command, finally finishing the series that I started reading several years ago because of discussions on THIS very usegroup!

[Shag]

Well... if you were underwhelmed with Heir to the Empire, I think Last Command will get the same vote.  Now if you tell me the Lando Calrissian books are better than Zahn/Thrawn trilogy then I know you are seriously broken.  

Try the X-Wing books next by Michael Stackpole.

Shag

[Dug B.]

Shag has also recommended the book "Vanderken's Children" by Christopher Bulis to me. Can't wait to red that one!

[Shag]

Oh hell no I didn't recommend "Vanderken's Children" by Christopher Bulis!!!  I realize you are just yanking my chain, but I don't joke when it comes to Bulis.  I wasted too many hours on his books!!!!!

Shag

[Luke Jaconetti]

I warmed up to Heir To The Empire as I read it, and Dark Force Rising was pretty good too.  I think I may just be a littl too removed from the zeitgeist of these novels at this late date, especially with the "real" Episodes 7-9 on the way now.

 

With the rate at which I read it's going to take me a while to finish it, but still, will be nice to finish the trilogy.

[Luke Jaconetti]

Sweet Christmas, I finally finished The Last Command.

 

Overall it was pretty good.  But Zahn's obsession with his smuggler characters nearly killed this book, and is one of the reasons it took me so long to finish it.

 

I mean, it's clear that Zahn loves his creations more than the film characters.  Thrawn alone is evidence of that.  Even Karde, despite being incredibly boring and ridiculously named, is a useful character and serves a purpose.  But the rest of the smugglers -- the dozens of interchangable, nearly anonymous smugglers who all have these detailed interpersonal relationships -- are a bridge too far.  I think Zahn wanted them to pique the reader's interest ala the Bounty Hunters from Empire or (to a lesser extent) Jabba's retinue from Jedi.  Those groups inspired kids and adults alike because we knew very little about them, so there was an air of mystery and wonder.  Instead here it's just page after page after page of boring back and forth dialogue between characters no one cares about.  They don't even end up playing a crucial role in the end; they help in the final space battle, but not in any way that is unique or special. 

 

The main story with the cloning and C'Baoth and Luke and Mara was good.  I really liked that aspect of it.  And overall the trilogy was good.  But this book needed about 100 pages culled from it.  Still, it was worth reading and I am glad that I took Shag's advice to pick these books up and check them out.

 

Not sure what's next; probably volume 3 of Slam Dunk as a pallete cleanser.

[Edward Crosby]

I finally finished Ender's Game last night. That book took me forever to read even though it's not a very big book. The problem was that it could not keep my attention. It was an okay book, nothing spectacular. I was also reading other stuff at the same time is another reason why it took me so long.

My fiction reading will probably come to a halt for a few months while I study and prepare for the VCP5-DCV certification exam, to become a VMware Certified Professional 5 in Datacenter Virtualization.

----------------------------------------
Have a Better One,
Edward Crosby
http://about.me/edwardcrosby

Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek.

[Luke Jaconetti]

Dude!  Good luck with the certification exam!  I know how hard it is to study a big test as an "adult," but I suspect you'll knock it out of the park!

 

Ender's Game is one I need to track down... maybe with the movie coming out I can get a cheap-o copy from the used book store.

[Jennifer Walker]

I finally started the oft-recommended Disc World series this weekend. The first book is feeling a bit sloggy, but I'll give it a bit more time to pick up.

--
Jennifer "Scraps" Walker

The Helper Monkey Network
http://www.jenniferwalkeronline.com

[Dug B.]

Recently knocked off the Hunger Games trilogy. Also Howl's Moving Castle and the other 2 books in  that world.

Currently am reading The Orphan's Tales books from Catherynne M. Valente. The first book (in the Night Garden) was amazing and dizzying, the type book I just don't want to stop reading. The 2nd book (In the Cities of Coin and Spice) is also amazing and  can't put it down, but it's much darker and more along the lines of can't stop looking even though it's creepifying as hell.

[Shag]

Luke - Sorry that Zahn's Last Command was a bit of a slog.  I enjoyed it, but I have no taste nor literary judgement.  :)

Most of my reading time has been taken up with research for upcoming podcasts.  I tried starting one of Peter David's Star Trek New Frontier recent books, but can't seem to get into it.  I was spellbound by the first 10 or so books in this series.  The later ones have been yawnsville.  

Shag

[Luke Jaconetti]

Shag -- no one will accuse me of having taste, so no sweat. 

 

Finished reading volume 3 of Slam Dunk; this volume contains one of my favorite scenes from the series, where Haruko teaches Sakuragi how to do a layup.  This comes back to be a very big moment in the upcoming scrimmage game against Ryonan, a moment which is a huge turning point for Sakuragi.

 

Started reading The White Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon.  Was going to read it on my wife's Kindle, or maybe my Touchpad, but the new job has strict electronic device restrictions, so paperback it is!

[Luke Jaconetti]

I finished The White Gryphon last week.  Overall, it was very different in tone from The Black Gryphon, as this book is set ten years after the first one, and during peacetime instead of a war.  The characters all sound good and the book is interesting and fast-reading, but there is a lack of urgency to this one that the first one had.  Still, I liked it enough to put the third chapter, The Silver Gryphon, on my reading list.

 

Before that, though: Force Down, a "Executioner" novel about Mack Bolan fighting a South American guerilla army.  I have read many men's adventure books before -- namely Murphy and Sapir's The Destroyer plus of course the complete James Bond series by Fleming -- but this is my first Bolan book.  50 pages in, and it's fun, gun-totting, popcorny goodness.

[Luke Jaconetti]

I finished reading both Force Down and Arctic Blast -- two Executioner novels.  Force Down was better by a good margin, but both of them were a lot of fun in a very straight forward manner.  Lots of gunplay and action.

 

Up next is Here Comes... Daredevil, a "Mighty Marvel Collector's Album."  It's a paperback book reprinting 4 classic issues of Daredevil (#16, 17, 20, 21) along with his origin from the first issue.  I have never read much DD but have been interested in him lately so this was a timely find at the used book store.  The art is by John Romita and Gene Colan, with Bill Everett doing the origin.  I am intrigued!

[Shag]

Just finished the first book in the Star Trek Vanguard series.  A new spin-off taking place during the TOS era.  It wasn't bad, but wasn't amazing either.  Might pick up another volume some day, but not rushing to read it.

About to start my massive Legion of Super-Heroes reading project.  40+ issues from the early 1980s!  I'm finding my comic book joy!

Shag

[Luke Jaconetti]

Started reading Marvel Illustrated Books Star Wars #1, which reprints 4 stories which were originally published in the Marvel UK Star Wars series!  Very timely as these "Wild Space" issues are being covered currently on Star Wars Monthly Monday over at Two True Freaks.

[Luke Jaconetti]

Read Battlestar Galactica by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston. This is the novelization of "Saga of a Star World," the original pilot/movie. The story is slightly different in parts, indicative of the "on the fly" nature of the film, being written as it was being shot in some cases.  One of the major departures is the alien nature of the Cylons -- they are specifically described as cyborgs, with the Cylon society being stratified by the number of brains one has -- Imperious Leader having three brains.  The characters all sound close to how they would sound in the film, although Apollo is a bit harder edged in spots, and Athena a bit more emotional.  The ending is different as well -- again not surprising as the ending went through several iterations during filming.

 

Overall I rather enjoyed this.  I like novelizations, and this one does a good job of expanding on what we see on the screen to give us more information.  There is a lot of insight into the thought process of the Imperious Leader as well as the organization of the Cylon forces, which was never touched on in the original series.  Made me really want to watch the movie again, but that's for another thread...

[Shag]

Reading "Time Travelers Never Die" by Jack McDevitt.  Really enjoying it!  I normally read his Alexander Benedict series, but this is a one-off.  In 2018, Shel's father goes missing.  Shel discovers that his father has built a time machine. Shel gains a copy of the machine himself and starts to track down his father. About 100 pages in and really enjoyable! 

On Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 7:57 AM, Luke Jaconetti <lja...@gmail.com> wrote:

Read Battlestar Galactica by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston. This is the novelization of "Saga of a Star World," the original pilot/movie. The story is slightly different in parts, indicative of the "on the fly" nature of the film, being written as it was being shot in some cases.  One of the major departures is the alien nature of the Cylons -- they are specifically described as cyborgs, with the Cylon society being stratified by the number of brains one has -- Imperious Leader having three brains.  The characters all sound close to how they would sound in the film, although Apollo is a bit harder edged in spots, and Athena a bit more emotional.  The ending is different as well -- again not surprising as the ending went through several iterations during filming.

 

Overall I rather enjoyed this.  I like novelizations, and this one does a good job of expanding on what we see on the screen to give us more information.  There is a lot of insight into the thought process of the Imperious Leader as well as the organization of the Cylon forces, which was never touched on in the original series.  Made me really want to watch the movie again, but that's for another thread...

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[Luke Jaconetti]

Finished reading volume 1 of Dave Sim's Cerebus The Aardvark, entitled simply Cerebus.

Hot damn.  These early Cerebus stories begin as a send up of sword and sorcery comics, but about halfway through this collection, things start to take on a more sweeping, epic scale.  Sim's cartooning is uniformly beautiful, mixing the grimy fantasy world with it's funny animal star.  Not much in the way of political commentary at this point, but it starts to seep in as we go.  I am very excited to continue reading the saga -- I have volume 2 (High Society), which is another 500+ pages, but after that I will need to pick up volumes 3 and 4 (Church & State I and II).  After that I have volume 5 through I think 14!

But before I read High Society, though, up next is a Christmas gift from my wife -- Steve Ditko's Monsters Volume 1: Gorgo, a very handsome hardcover collecting all of Steve Ditko's Charlton Gorgo work.  Gorgo, of course, was King Features daikaiju effort from 1961 which features a baby monster being put on display in London... and then his gigantic Mama crushing her way to Battersea Park to rescue him.  Classic Ditko monster stuff, from right around the time he was creating Spider-Man and Doc Strange for Marvel! 

[Luke Jaconetti]

The Steve Ditko Gorgo book was excellent.  Ditko's art is of the same style as his ASM and Doc Strange stuff, only with a pair of giant monsters in the mix as well. The stories run the gamut from straight monster on the loose to anti-Red patriotism to bizarre romance adventure.  Really a nice collection in a very handsome package.

If you are interested in checking out Ditko's Gorgo stuff online, you can find the entire run of the series in the public domain!  I like comicbookplus.com just look under Charlton and you will see Gorgo (along with the other monster book he did for Charlton, Konga).  

Up next -- Essential Power Man & Iron Fist v.1!  I have read a lot of the issues in this collection, but PM&IF is one of the best Bronze Age books I have ever read, so I am eager to sink my teeth into these fast paced, fun adventures.