Recent Recreational Reading
Been a long time since I reviewed any recreational reading, so here's what books I've read for fun the last few months. It can take a while after release before I get to something (there are nearly 30 waiting to be read right now), so some of these might be out of print or remaindered by now. I know in some cases the sequels are out because I've got them.
Recommended:
Firestar by Michael Flynn tells two parallel but connected stories, of a public school being taken over by a corporation, and of the return to manned space flight - specifically, single stage to orbit. If you ever had the dream of going into space, or if you're young enough and still have it, you will love this book. The private companies in space part is starting to happen - If I weren't forty-something, fat and with health problems, I'd be looking for stuff I could do that might take me up.
Days of Infamy by Harry Turtledove is not what I hoped, the next book in his series that started with the South holding off the North in the Civil War, but a new series that starts basically in our own timeline, with the difference that the Japanese landed two divisions on Oahu in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor and took the Hawaiin Islands. He doesn't flinch from the realities of war or from how the Japanese treated their subject populations or prisoners of war. He also seems to have a good grasp of the parts played by luck, planning, and skill in battle. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Field of Dishonor and Honor Among Enemies are a couple of books in the story of Honor Harrington, modeled upon Horatio Hornblower (who was, in turn, modeled after Admiral Nelson of Trafalgar fame). I resisted this series initially, because it seemed likely to be a ripoff of the Hornblower series, but when the first in the series was re-issued I decided I should give it a try, and am glad I did. I'm now picking them up as I see them. They are quite enjoyable action/adventure stuff.
Over the Wine-Dark Sea and The Sacred Land are historical fiction by Harry Turtledove writing as H.N. Turtletaub. They are respectively, the first and third in a series about a couple of Greek traders from Rhodes, late in the fourth century BC. Not for the easily offended, because he shows the culture of the Hellenistic world as it existed at that time. The books tell of successive yearly trading voyages, the first in 310 B.C. to Greater Hellas (what is now southern Italy), the second (The Gryphon's Skull) in 309 BC to various poleis on the Aegean, and the third in 308 BC to Phoenicia. They are set against the canvas of the documented events of those times and places - for instance, the Carthaginian siege of Syracuse in 310 BC. Many actual historical figures make appearances. It also gives one an appreciation for modern law enforcement and rule of law.
Conventions of War by Walter Jon Williams is the third in a series of a far future where humanity has long been subordinate to the Praxis, an empire founded by the Shaa, whose technology was so far in advance of anything that there was never any serious challenge - until the last Shaa dies and there is civil war among the inheritors of the empire. It was fascinating to watch the evolution of the military from ceremonial to war footing. This tells of the end of the civil war, and perhaps Mr. Williams was getting a little bored, because it wasn't as good as the first two, but still very worth reading.
Curious Notions by Harry Turtledove is the second in a series of Alternate Reality stories he has written. In this case, America is under the German heel from a not quite World War I analog. It is not a sequel to the first, but a separate work tied together only by the thread of the same basic civilization travelling the alternate realities. Quite well thought out and believable, it tells the story of a young man who grew up in San Francisco of a reality of the future not too unlike ours, who assumes the identity of a stereo salesman in another San Francisco, which events have not treated kindly. Quite enjoyable.
Mixed:
Polaris by Jack McDeavitt is a science fiction mystery. Sixty years ago the Polaris was found, her crew mysteriously vanished. The story deals with the resolution of that mystery. Fairly absorbing, but there were times I was wanting him to get one with what was going to happen, and the resolution seems forced, as well as somewhat unlikely.
Legacies and Scepters by L E Modesitt Jr. These are the first and third in telling the story of a vaguely nineteenth century analog society facing an external technological threat. Modesitt being Modesitt, the main protagonist has special powers. I liked the first (and the second) more than I did the third.
Emerald Sea by John Ringo is not an easy book to describe the setting of. It is the sequel to another book, There Will Be Dragons. Good action/adventure yarn, and yet there was one action taken by the protagonists that turns out to be a little too much in the way of a magic bullet. I do intend to read future books in the series.
Luna Marine and Europa Strike by Ian Douglas. Military science fiction, plain and simple. Second and third in the series that began with Semper Mars. Alien technology is discovered in various caches throughout the solar system, and tells the story of the political and military manouevering that results. I do intend to continue reading his stuff.
Crown of Slaves by David Weber and Eric Flint tries to do too much with one book - it should have been at least two. A little too much tell and not enough show for my taste, as well. I'll keep reading the Honor Harrington stuff, but probably not any sequels to this, which is set in the same universe.
Noise by Hal Clement. As I said about Poul Anderson a year ago, there is something profoundly sad about one of the great masters of hard science fiction being reduced to this sort of book for his last work. There are flashes of his old brilliance, but that is all. Read Mission of Gravity or Iceworld or any of a dozen wonderful books he gave us. I found myself pushing just to get through it, not caring about the story, the characters, or anything else about it. If you picked up this book and did not like it, do not judge him by it.
Categories
Science Fiction and Fantasyblog advertising
--Blogads--
blog advertising --Blogads--
My Links
-
Heavy Lifters
- Instapundit
- Michelle Malkin
- Scrappleface
- Volokh Conspiracy
- Captain's Quarters
- Wizbang
- Victor Davis Hanson
- Eject! Eject! Eject!
- Michael Barone
- The Victory Caucus
- The Truth Laid Bear Places I get to as often as I can
- The Command Post
- Good News Central
- Icerocket
- Life Liberty Property
- MEMRI
- Raging RINO Community
- Technorati
- Transparency International
- Wide Awakes
- The Anchoress
- Argghhh! R
- Armies of Liberation R
- Asymmetrical Information
- Austin Bay
- Belmont Club
- Big Lizards
- Tim Blair
- Cox and Forkum
- Dr. Sanity
- Kevin Drum
- Gateway Pundit
- Hugh Hewitt
- Iraq the Model
- Jeff Jarvis
- Jihad Watch
- John Leo
- Lileks Screed
- Little Green Footballs
- Josh Marshall
- Mudville Gazette
- Neo-neocon
- WSJ OpinionJournal
- Politburo Diktat R
- Powerline
- Powerline News
- Protein Wisdom
- Q and O L
- Real Clear Politics
- Mark Steyn
- Stop the ACLU
- Strategy Page
- Don Surber R
- Vodkapundit
- Watching America
- Matthew Yglesias
- Michael Yon Personal Finance, Economics and Business Sites
- Bloodhound Blog
- Consumerism Commentary
- Eidelblog L
- The Entrepreneurial Mind
- Finance Blog
- Financial Rounds
- Free Money Financea>
- In Cash Flow We Trust
- I Will Teach You To Be Rich
- Mortgage Fraud Blog
- No Credit Needed
- Old Niu's Blog
- Pacesetter Mortgage Blog
- Personal Finance Advice
- pfblogs.org
- Social Security Choice
- Students for Saving Social Security Other sites I've linked and visit
- Accuracy In Media
- Ace of Spades
- The Agitator
- All Things Jennifer R
- Ann Althouse
- American Citizen Soldier
- The Anarchangel L
- Angry in the Great White North L
- Antigravitas L
- The Anti Idiotarian Rottweiler
- Art of the Blog R
- Atlas Shrugs
- aTypical Joe R
- Professor Bainbridge R
- Baldilocks
- Barcepundit
- Beldar
- Belgravia Dispatch
- Below The Beltway L
- Blackfive
- The Buck Stops Here
- Catallarchy L
- Chapomatic
- Chequer-Board of Nights & Days
- Clarity and Resolve
- Classical Values R
- Combs Spouts Off L
- Common Sense and Wonder
- The Counterterrorism Blog
- Countertop Chronicles R
- Coyote Blog
- Daily Howler
- Daily Pundit R
- David's Medienkritic
- Dean's World R
- Decision '08 R
- De Doc L
- Brad DeLong
- Democratic Peace
- Different River
- Digger's Realm R
- Done With Mirrors R
- Drink This
- Drudge Report
- DUmmie FUnnies
- enrevanche R
- Eschaton
- Evolution R
- Fearless Philosophy L
- Forward Biased L
- Generation Why?"
- Happycrow's Eyeball Factory L
- Hold The Mayo L
- Huffington Post
- The Idiom
- IMAO
- INCITE L
- INDC Journal R
- Inside Larry's Head R
- Inoperable Terran
- Iowahawk
- It Comes In Pints?"
- The Jawa Report R
- Just One Minute
- Justus for All R
- Kausfiles
- Ezra Klein
- Daily Kos
- La Shawn Barber
- Liberals Against Terrorism
- Libercontrarian RL
- Libertarian Leanings R
- Liberty Papers
- Carol Platt Liebau
- Llama Butchers R
- Mensa Barbie
- The Moderate Voice
- Mossback Culture R
- Mover Mike L
- Mr. Completely L
- National Review Online
- No Angst Zone L
- Normblog
- Brendan Nyhan
- Ogre's Politics & Views L
- One Fine Jay R
- Owlish Mutterings L
- Patterico's Pontifications
- Peter Porcupine L
- Bradford Plumer
- Pole Dancing In The Dark L
- Political Calculations
- POV R
- Publius Pundit
- Radio Equalizer
- Reasoned Audacity
- Respectful Insolence R
- Rhymes with Right L
- Riehl World View
- Right Place
- Right Reason
- Right Thoughts R
- Right Wing Death Beast
- Right Wing Nut House
- ROFASix
- Samizdata
- Say Uncle RL
- Debbie Schlussel
- SCOTUS Blog
- Roger L. Simon
- The Strata-Sphere R
- TacJammer
- TalkLeft
- TAPPED
- Target Centermass L
- Technography R"
- Tempus Fugit
- Texas Best Grok L
- Tigerhawk
- Link Text
- Tinkerty-Tonk R
- Tom Rants RL
- Unalienable Right
- Uncommon Insanity L
- Unrepentant Individual L
- Villainous Company
- Oliver Willis
- Willisms
- The World According to Nick R
- World Wide Rant R Link Exchanges, etcetera
- But That's Just My Opinion
- Condo Buzz NYC
- Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns
- DANEgerus R
- A Dollop of Sour Cream
- Dust My Broom L
- Generic Confusion R
- Grim's Hall
- Heartless Libertarian L
- individ L
- Kesher Talk R
- Leaning Toward The Dark Side R
- Libertopia L
- Liberty Corner L
- Medary L
- Mondo QT L
- Nose On Your Face R
- Pererro R
- Pratie Place
- Random Fate R
- Ravings of John C. A. Bambanek L
- Signifying Nothing R
- The Skwib L
- Tel-Chai Nation
- TF Sterns Rantings L
- DC Thornton R
- Wake Me Up On Judgement Day R
- Windypundit L Consumer and Research Sites
- Better Business Bureau
- Consumer Reports
- NASD Home
- California Department of Real Estate
- California Licensee Lookup
- California Department of Insurance
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
- Do Not Call Homepage
- IRS Charities Search
- Internet Fraud Complaint Center
- SEC Home Page
- Stop Mortgage Fraud
- Report Mortgage Fraud Debunking Many so-called Real Estate Gurus
- John T. Reed Other research
- FactCheck.org
- Babel Fish Translation
- Snopes Worthwhile Web Comics
- Sluggy Freelance
- Day by Day
- User Friendly
- Kevin and Kell It is site policy to list the main page of every site I reference. Sometimes the real world intervenes and I haven't gotten to it yet, or one falls through the cracks on a long post with multiple references. It is also site policy to list the main page of every site that lists this one on their equivalent roll, as well as the main page of all sites that are members of any of the same groups this site is a member of. Please send me an email with a link to the main page of your site if I've overlooked you (dm at the domain name). For the clue-challenged, note that it is a requirement for your link to appear on every page of your site, just like mine does, and I will not link to spam sites. Honor Roll of Sites Banned by Paranoid Repressive Governments: (be the first on your block to submit a link!)
Requests for reprint rights, contact dm (at) searchlightcrusade (dot) net! Subscribe to Searchlight Crusade
C'mon! I need to pay for this website! If you want to buy or sell Real Estate in San Diego County, or get a loan anywhere in California, contact me! I cover San Diego County in person and all of California via internet, phone, fax, and overnight mail.
**********
Contact me! dm (at) searchlight crusade (dot) net (Eliminate the spaces and change parentheticals to the symbols, of course)
Leave a comment