So what are you reading? Part VI

[Steve Roby]

I may need both of those. I keep forgetting to get The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, though I've been meaning to read it.

In the meantime I'm reading First Born by James Goss. It's a Torchwood novel featuring Gwen and Rhys set between Children of Earth and Miracle Day, the first of three novels being marketed as prequels to the latter. Pretty good so far, but the other two sound more intriguing.

 

[Greg Cox]

Ah, only just out in hardback - since I have neither the cash nor, more importantly, the shelf-space for hardbacks, I shall have to wait for the paperback. Damn.

I borrowed it from our local library. Maybe yours got in a copy?

 

[JRoss]

I'm reading the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfield.

 

[sulfur]

Being Klingon, I've found Krad to be the penultimate Klingon scribe. Not to take anything away from any other authors that have penned Klingon Literature, to me he is now the measuring stick.

(Since you're Klingon I won't harp too much, but "penultimate" means "the one just before the end", not "the end". :P)

Obviously the original language material is the ultimate...

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Currently reading:

-Diamonds are Forever by Ian Fleming...

Previously read: Moonraker and Live and Let Die by the same author....

 

[Lonemagpie]

Ah, only just out in hardback - since I have neither the cash nor, more importantly, the shelf-space for hardbacks, I shall have to wait for the paperback. Damn.

I borrowed it from our local library. Maybe yours got in a copy?

Ours is quite small, but I'll have a look tomorrow

 

[bok2384]

Just finished reading A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido and I must confess to be a little disappointed with it. Too many different things going on in the novel with nothing getting the focus it should have deserved. Making this a duology like the others would have been better, one novel dealing with the Enterprise's inspection and the embassy siege and the other dealing with the hunt for Kahless and the election. A shame, but still a great novel in parts.

Now on to James Swallow's Cast No Shadow.

 

[ronny]

Recently finished Halting State by Charles Stross. Very fun book. I'm planning on starting in on the sequel, Rule 34, when I see Stross on the 6th at Borderlands.

I'm about half way through Buying Time by Joe Haldeman. It started out with an interesting set up but I've kind of lost the thread of what's going on. I'm not sure it's one of Haldemans better efforts so far.

I'm also most of the way through To Be Continued: The Collected stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 1. It's not his better stuff and he reminds of that in just about every intro to the stores. This book covers the late 50's when he's just starting out as a writer. I picked this up because Subterranean Press is offering some of their titles for $5 for Kindle and thought I would give it a try. I'm assuming the later books get better so I'll be moving on to volume 2 when I'm done with this one. Oh, and the title is misleading as it's obviously not "the collected stories" in that it's a greatest hits, not all of his stories by a long shot. Not having everything is fine considering the volume of his output but the title is misleading.

 

[Christopher]

Just finished reading A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido and I must confess to be a little disappointed with it. Too many different things going on in the novel with nothing getting the focus it should have deserved. Making this a duology like the others would have been better, one novel dealing with the Enterprise's inspection and the embassy siege and the other dealing with the hunt for Kahless and the election.

IIRC, it originally was going to be a duology, but the political stuff took on a life of its own and got split off into Articles of the Federation.

And I really don't see the inspection and siege subplots warranting a full novel. That would really have been dragging them out, especially the inspection.

 

[bok2384]

Just finished reading A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido and I must confess to be a little disappointed with it. Too many different things going on in the novel with nothing getting the focus it should have deserved. Making this a duology like the others would have been better, one novel dealing with the Enterprise's inspection and the embassy siege and the other dealing with the hunt for Kahless and the election.

IIRC, it originally was going to be a duology, but the political stuff took on a life of its own and got split off into Articles of the Federation.

And I really don't see the inspection and siege subplots warranting a full novel. That would really have been dragging them out, especially the inspection.

Well, I'm sure it could have been beefed up a bit of it did go to the duology. But you may be right, knowing that it was going to a single volume I would have cut out the political stuff and focus on the embassy siege and then the Enterprise's inspection taking place during the search for Kahless.

Not that I didn't really enjoy learning about Nan Bacco and all the goings on, but I felt that the Enterprise crew were short-changed in their "last" adventure together.

Still, never mind.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Finishing up Bob Delaney's Covert, the story of his time spent investigating the Mafia on New Jersey's coast. Next I'll read...Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell. I really need to find DTI. I was 1/3 of the way through it when it disappeared from sight. Maybe it was just kicked forward in time and will reappear any moment now..

 

[RandyS]

I'm still plowing through Martin Caidin's Exit Earth, but have moved on to Legacy of the Force No. 7: Fury.

Thankfully this is going a hell of alot faster than the NJO. Personally, I don't understand the hatred Legacy gets. It's not great, but it's also not the mess that NJO was.

 

[Steve Roby]

I'm also most of the way through To Be Continued: The Collected stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 1. ... Oh, and the title is misleading as it's obviously not "the collected stories" in that it's a greatest hits, not all of his stories by a long shot. Not having everything is fine considering the volume of his output but the title is misleading.

It's volume 1 of his collected stories because he wrote too much to fit into one book. What's misleading about that? If it didn't have the "volume 1" part then, yeah, "complete stories" would be problematic.

But, yeah, Silverberg was known for really churning stuff out up until the late 1960s or early '70s, when he really upped his game and became an important SF writer, not just a prolific one.

 

[ronny]

It's volume 1 of his collected stories because he wrote too much to fit into one book. What's misleading about that? If it didn't have the "volume 1" part then, yeah, "complete stories" would be problematic.

But, yeah, Silverberg was known for really churning stuff out up until the late 1960s or early '70s, when he really upped his game and became an important SF writer, not just a prolific one.

Even if you take into account there are multiple volumes in the series, it's still not going to include everything by a long shot. Volume 1 covers 1953 to 1958. Volume 2 covers 1962 to 1969 and so on. He published a ton of stuff in the 50's that's not going to be included in this series. Silverbergs semi official web site has him publishing stories in the years not covered by the series and over 200 stories in the years covered by volume 1 that won't be reprinted even if you throw in In the Beginning, his pulp collection.

http://www.majipoor.com/bibliography.php?order=chrono&form=short&style=comb

Considering the volume and quality of the stories in the 50's, I'm not complaining it's not all going to be re-printed. I'm sure we're getting a good flavor of what he was publishing at the time and I don't think I need to read more than what's here. I'm just saying, normally when I see a title that says "The Collected Stories of..." I assume I'm getting everything, not a best of collection. The later volumes might collect everything for the years they are covering but the early volumes do not.

 

[Christopher]

I'm just saying, normally when I see a title that says "The Collected Stories of..." I assume I'm getting everything, not a best of collection.

Hmm. It would not have occurred to me to assume that. I read "Collected Stories" as simply meaning stories that are brought together in a single volume. "The Complete Stories" would mean everything's included.

 

[timothy]

currnetlly reading Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's The mote in Gods eye.
I am having problems understanding the hole gravity situation on that works. is it sopposed to be like babylon 5?

 

[Steve Roby]

I thought I'd read that this was going to be a complete collection, as I believe the Sturgeon series was. Live and learn.

 

[JD]

I've kinda been on a comic book binge this weekend. I've read the individual issue making up Batman: Year One, Fables: Legends in Exile, and (3/5 or maybe 3/6 since the last issue is extra long) of Superman: Last Son. I really enjoyed all of them, and plan on continuing on with these three series. I do digital comics through comixology, so I have no choice but to get the individual issue.

 

[label]

Finished : The Red King (Book 2 of Titan series) - review below
Reading : Obsessed (Dekker)

Red King Review

The Red King was a solid story that continues the Titan's journey and finishes out the 2 part story that introduces us to the new ship and her crew. The "nemesis" in this book was certainly an interesting and fairly unique one that set this book apart from other Trek tales, but it also contained plenty of traditional "Trek" action and dialog. Overall the new Titan series holds a lot promise and potential and I look forward to reading more in the series at some point.

The only complaint I had was how ridiculously over the top the authors felt like they needed to hit me over the head with the diversity issue. It's one thing to write about a crew that is diverse and accepts it, but it's quite another to preach through the characters in the book's dialog to the point where I'm pulled out of the story. Hopefully they'll scale way back on the preaching and ramp up on the other aspects because when I wasn't being preached at, I enjoyed the series pretty well.

 

[Greg Cox]

Finished reading "The Astounding, the Amazing, and The Unknown" this morning. Much fun.

Now I think I need to read his novel about Jack London.

(Wonder if he'll mention that Houdini allegedly had an affair with London's widow?)