Recent Reading

Recommended:



The Return of Santiago, by Mike Resnick. I don't know why Resnick isn't bigger. Every story of his that I've ever read since Birthright: The Book of Man has been fresh and worthwhile. This book is admittedly better if you've read Birthright and the original Santiago, but is worthwhile even without.



Advance & Retreat, by Harry Turtledove is a mirror of our own Civil War's western theater (Think Georgia and Tennessee, as opposed to Virginia and Pennsylvania). Third in a series, but stands on its own as worthwhile reading. He makes a very good point with regard to our own Civil War, though.



Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. If I had ever thought in Math 103B that coding theory and it's history could be the heart of this good a story, set against both WWII and modern day...



Mixed:



1633 by David Weber and Eric Flint is a sequel to 1632, and a pretty decent story in it's own right, but ended up going a little too far in the populist direction for my taste.



The Apocalyse Troll by David Weber is a different take on basically the same story told by SM Stirling in Drakon, but still worthwhile. At least one too many convenient coincidences, though.



The Med Series by Murray Leinster: basically good stories that are just too jingoistic for me. They also haven't aged as well as some of their contemporaries (the original copyrights are 1959 to 1961).



Hell's Faire by John Ringo is the fourth in the series. Don't get me wrong, as a loyal Sluggy Freelance reader I love the idea of an uber-tank named after Bun-Bun. But there have gotten to be too much deus ex machina in the storyline. I get the impression the author's heart isn't in it anymore.



No Phule like an Old Phule by Robert Asprin and Peter J. Heck. Some good moments but overall I just couldn't see the point. I've seen Mr. Asprin do much better - if I didn't already like some of the characters from previous books I'd likely not have finished. This series is offically on probation.



Otherland Volume 4 by Tad Williams: Based upon the recommendation of a friend who likes Williams, I gave him one more try and spend nearly 5000 pages slogging through the four books in the series. Lots of cute thought experiments to fill it up, and much angst, but there's not enough plot for a book a tenth of the size. The fact that I couldn't get myself to actually care about any of the characters didn't help either. I'm sorry Mr. Williams, but I gave you one last, very extended chance and now I don't think I can bring myself to read any more of your stories. Pity, because I see potential there.



More in a few days.