I've just started Brent Weeks' The Way of Shadows, the first book in his Night Angels trilogy. Not far in but it's looking good.
So what are you reading now? Part 2
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Hey man, just wanted to interject my two cents. The McCoy book of that series "Provenance of Shadows" is quite possibly one of the best "Trek" books ever written. You are in for a major treat!
I finished Ringword’s Throne. After a slow start it picked up, but never really reached a conclusion - although who’s in charge was decided, the invaders are yet to be dealt with.
The final part will have to wait until I’ve read Captain’s Peril. This appeared on many people’s lists of “worst Trek novels” recently and thus I couldn’t resist.
So far: Skydiving. Skydiving for three chapters. And the promise of more skydiving to come...
They’re trying to cram Enterprise references in from early character bios: Apparently a baby Dr Piper once bounced on Jack Archer’s knee (the name was changed when someone noticed Stargate starred a guy called Jack). I wonder if they’ll get a reference to “Charlie” Tucker (nickname: “Spike”) in somewhere?
More techno-nonsense from J+G R-S: They’re claiming the transporters as seen in TOS and later is actually a totally different technology to the fastest, safest and easiest-to-use ever transporter from Star Trek: Enterprise. Supposedly the TOS (and after) system is really called the “Materializer” and although based on different principles, the generic term “transporter” is still used…partly because the engineers never changed the sign over the door when they swapped-out the system on the Enterprise. Uh-huh. Why bother?
The final part will have to wait until I’ve read Captain’s Peril. This appeared on many people’s lists of “worst Trek novels” recently and thus I couldn’t resist.
So far: Skydiving. Skydiving for three chapters. And the promise of more skydiving to come...
They’re trying to cram Enterprise references in from early character bios: Apparently a baby Dr Piper once bounced on Jack Archer’s knee (the name was changed when someone noticed Stargate starred a guy called Jack). I wonder if they’ll get a reference to “Charlie” Tucker (nickname: “Spike”) in somewhere?
More techno-nonsense from J+G R-S: They’re claiming the transporters as seen in TOS and later is actually a totally different technology to the fastest, safest and easiest-to-use ever transporter from Star Trek: Enterprise. Supposedly the TOS (and after) system is really called the “Materializer” and although based on different principles, the generic term “transporter” is still used…partly because the engineers never changed the sign over the door when they swapped-out the system on the Enterprise. Uh-huh. Why bother?
That can't possibly be the reason; there are plenty of TV leads named Jack, including Jack Bauer (24), Jack McCoy (Law & Order), Jack Shephard (Lost), and Jack Malone (Without a Trace). In fact, Eureka's lead character is Sheriff Jack Carter, who shares names with two SG-1 team members. Besides, the character's name was originally going to be Jackson Archer, not just Jack.
More likely, the Paramount legal department found that there was a real person named Jackson Archer, either the only person with that name or one who was in a similar profession. That's usually the reason why TV character names are changed in the development process.
EDIT: Ah, yes, Memory Alpha confirms it:
And for what it's worth, "Jack" can be a nickname for Jonathan. So if the book only referred to him as Jack Archer rather than Jackson, it squeaks by as valid.
Forgive me for not checking Memory Alpha before I dare to pass comment on anything.
That reminds me: I wonder what Nathan Archer thinks of sharing his pseudonym with the first captian of the Enterprise?
Are you seriously saying Chris that there are real bonafied Starship Captains out there?
Also, wasn't he meant to be called Jeffrey Archer and then the suits at Paramount heard of a certain disgraced Conservative Pire and thought it best to change his name.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Archer's first name was going to be Jeffrey back in the early days but this was changed to Jackson because a British politician with the same name had been convicted of perjury.
Usually when a Jonathan is shortened to Jack, the person's middle name is Patrick. John/Jonathan Patrick is shortened to Jack, an old Irish thing IIRC, but though this is rarely in effect, John/Jonathan is still shortened to Jack.
Usually when a Jonathan is shortened to Jack, the person's middle name is Patrick. John/Jonathan Patrick is shortened to Jack, an old Irish thing IIRC, but though this is rarely in effect, John/Jonathan is still shortened to Jack.
There are real bona fide naval and maritime captains, pilots, astronauts, and other professions that could be considered similar enough to the profession of starship captain to be legally tricky in the event of a common name.
In this case, however, that wasn't an issue. Research turned up only one Jackson Archer, making it a unique name and therefore unusable for a fictional character. The idea is, you don't want to run the risk that your fictional character might draw the ire (in the form of lawsuits) of a real individual if they feel your character defames them in some way. So you want a character name that can't be linked uniquely to a specific individual, either by being a name only one person has or a combination of name and profession that only one person has.
I know that a corporation's lawyers like to err on the side of caution, but what kind of defamation could the real Jackson Archer have claimed?
"Those green women made a fool of Jackson Archer on TV, and now my business is failing!"
^ Doesn't really matter if there's actual defamation or not. Hollywood has lots of money, and people will come up with a bullshit reason to sue, and even if Hollywood wins, the lawsuit still costs them money to fight off. So the idea is to take away any chance of anything being plausible enough to ever seem like a legitimate claim.
I think I'm setting out on another read-through of Patrick O'Brian's Aubreyad. I'm on the second book, Post Captain which entertained without really being a favourite. We'll see how far I get in the series.
I also picked up a short story collection by Ken Scholes called Long Walks, Last Flights, and Other Strange Journeys. Has anyone heard of/read him?
I also picked up a short story collection by Ken Scholes called Long Walks, Last Flights, and Other Strange Journeys. Has anyone heard of/read him?
On the advice of Greg Cox, I'm reading The Hammer and the Cross by Harry Harrison and Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey. (Based on the prose, I think this may be more of the latter and less of the former.) It's an alternate history, set during the Viking invasions of Britain in the ninth century -- what if the Norse religions put up more of a fight against Christianity?
Routledge has Lacy's translation of the Lancelot-Grail available for pre-order at $110 a volume.
And there's to be a paperback edition next spring:
The contents of volume 7 are already readily available in two volumes from Penguin Books in different translations, but I know me, and I'd want a complete, matching set.
i'm continuing my reading of the TNG books in chronological order. Just started Federation
Ay caramba. But I suppose if you consider the value (a complete English translation in hardcover) it isn't an unreasonable price. At least there'll be a paperback set, despite my favouring of hardcover over softcover. I'd be able to get it in some fashion or another if I really, really needed it (I believe the Vancouver library has the set in stock...Oh, only two volumes).
I have finished The Soul Key and The Never Ending Sacrifice. Love both of them. LOVED them. Am now reading Jumper by Steven Gould, very much enjoying this too. These last three books have been a real breath of fresh air in providing great entertainment.
In my last post here though I said The Calling by David Mack was up next, but I ended up moving to Jumper instead, in part because I figured it'd be a quicker read than The Calling so I'd be done in time for Unworthy (which is up next now). After that though, it'll be a toss-up between The Calling and Reflex by Steven Gould (a Jumper sequel).
In my last post here though I said The Calling by David Mack was up next, but I ended up moving to Jumper instead, in part because I figured it'd be a quicker read than The Calling so I'd be done in time for Unworthy (which is up next now). After that though, it'll be a toss-up between The Calling and Reflex by Steven Gould (a Jumper sequel).
Did eventually give up on The Nine Tailors while away for a couple of days - may return to it now that I'm back.
I'n the meantime I read Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, which was better than I expected (on account of the dire sample chapter that was posted online before its release) but still frequently annoying. It's remarkable for a book written in 14 days, but you'd think he could have taken a whole month and made it *really* right...
I'n the meantime I read Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, which was better than I expected (on account of the dire sample chapter that was posted online before its release) but still frequently annoying. It's remarkable for a book written in 14 days, but you'd think he could have taken a whole month and made it *really* right...
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