What Are You Reading Right Now 2.0

[JME2]

I'm presently working on Walter R. Borneman's The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea.

[DarkArk]

Started rereading Fahrenheit 451 nearly a decade after I read it in high school. Ray Bradbury might just be the best author I've read, his command of the English language is impressive. I certainly wasn't able to appreciate it when I was younger. Also didn't pick up on the implications of his wife's suicide attempt, the casual nature with which they treat it, or of his wife's denial of it.

Also it seems to me that what most people take away from it, book burning, is really only one part of the book's overall critique. He's really criticizing the whole society, how people no longer will interact with one another in the future, to the overall detriment of society. The book burning is only a part of that. It also seems eerily prescient with Mildrid's focus on the screens to the detriment of everything else, even her mental health. He even got the social distance caused by headphones right.

I'll see how much more I like it or not when I'm done.

[Flagg]

Derek Sanderson: Crossing The Line

About the former Boston Bruins hockey player I'm named after.

[Ahriman238]

Just finished Mr. Midshipman Easy and trying to decide how to spend the last $12 on an amazon giftcard. Uplift? Hyperion? Known Space? the Discworld? decisions, decisions.

[dragon]

David Eddings The Belgariad and Malloreon series

[Dalton]

I just finished Childhood's End and damn was it depressing.

For all you Kindlephiles out there, keep an eye out for Kindle Matchbook; most books you bought hard copy off Amazon you will be able to get for free or at a steep discount in eBook form. About time.

[Ahriman238]

Was up sick half the night, so I read Storm Front, the first Dresden Files book. Not bad at all, will need to look for others.

[Agent Fisher]

It Never Snows in September

It's an accounting of the german side of Operation Market Garden. Goes into detail of the units present when the Allies began the operation, from the 9th and 10th SS Panzer to the Fallschirmjäger units that were there and all the other units that had escaped out of France.

[Forgothrax]

Was up sick half the night, so I read Storm Front, the first Dresden Files book. Not bad at all, will need to look for others.

Be advised that Storm Front and Fool Moon are both some of the weaker books in the series. Grave Peril starts off a great deal of the overarching plot, and Summer Knight is when Butcher truly starts coming into his own as a writer.

[Ahriman238]

I am so advised, the first three books are what's at hand though.

[Ralin]

Was up sick half the night, so I read Storm Front, the first Dresden Files book. Not bad at all, will need to look for others.

I don't think Storm Front and Fool Moon are really bad, but pretty much everyone agrees that the quality shoots up dramatically with books three and four.

[Eleas]

Also, they say the audiobooks are worth the money.

[Ralin]

Also, they say the audiobooks are worth the money.

They definitely are.

Although the quality is a bit uneven since Marsters did some of them out of order.

[Ahriman238]

Finished Fool's Moon the other night, started on Grave Peril.

And my first thought is "who the hell is this Mike Carpenter guy." Well the book seems to have mostly answered that, but I'm really getting curious as to how they met.

[Crazedwraith]

He's Awesome. That's all you know. And all you need to know.

My part I've just finished 'The Short Victorious Wars' the Third Honor Harrington novel. Which has significantly less Honor Harrington that the previous two books.

[Ahriman238]

I don't know, once he loses his sword he seems to be just pissing and moaning. Granted, he didn't beat the crap out of Harry for trying to wield a holy sword for selfish reasons and losing it.

I like Short Victorious War, if you're going to keep reading the series though, I'd skip the next book, Field of Dishonor.

[The Romulan Republic]

Finished Fool's Moon the other night, started on Grave Peril.

And my first thought is "who the hell is this Mike Carpenter guy." Well the book seems to have mostly answered that, but I'm really getting curious as to how they met.

As far as I know, how Harry met Michael has not been revealed. For that matter, I don't recall very much being revealed about Michael's background except for how he met his wife.

However, he is a very important character, as is Spoiler

his oldest daughter

.

[Ahriman238]

Finished Grave Peril, and thus, all the books in the house. Starting to see what people mean about Butcher improving.

[Crazedwraith]

The next book, Summer Knight is actually one of my favourites of the series. It's well worth continuing to that one.

What's so bad about Field Of Dishonour? I'm loathe to skip books in a series, at least a first go through.

[Forgothrax]

What's so bad about Field Of Dishonour? I'm loathe to skip books in a series, at least a first go through.

It's a lot of info dumps, lots of politicking, lots of angst and drama. It's mostly an excursion from the main plot. It also starts to mark Honor's ascent as a Mary Sue. Flag In Exile covers some of that but returns to the main plot as well.

[Spekio]

I read Dresden until Grave Peril. I never got it, and actually dislike the series now. Maybe you have to be american to like it?

Got invited to a CoC game. Just read the The Shadow over Innsmouth. Any reccomendations on what the best mythos stories?

[Crazedwraith]

I read Dresden until Grave Peril. I never got it, and actually dislike the series now. Maybe you have to be american to like it?

I liked it. At least up until Changes. I'm not american. So I'm guessing its just a 'different people have different tastes irrespective of nationality' kind of thing.

[Spekio]

I liked it. At least up until Changes. I'm not american. So I'm guessing its just a 'different people have different tastes irrespective of nationality' kind of thing.

This is a series that seems popular on american blogs and sites I visit, but that I have yet to find a following in my country. No need to get defensive, it was a honest question.

[Ahriman238]

The next book, Summer Knight is actually one of my favourites of the series. It's well worth continuing to that one.

What's so bad about Field Of Dishonour? I'm loathe to skip books in a series, at least a first go through.

It's more like a treatise on Manticore's messed up politics, with a couple of pistol duels, than the middle of a sci-fi action adventure series. That's not to say you can't enjoy it, or there's something wrong with you if you. But there's a fair bit of "characters discuss X, then pundits discuss limted X, then characters discuss the media."

I'd really just skip it. Here's everything you'd need to know to move on to Flag in Exile (spoilered in case you'd rather read it.)
Spoiler

Pavel Young's daddy gets the Conservative party to threaten to pull out of their political coalition with the Centrists if Young is exectued for his cowardice. This would deprive the Centrists of enough votes for a declaration of war. Complicating matters, the random flag officer generator they use to pick judges pick a couple of very political Admirals, plus Hemphill and White Haven. The tribunal finds a compromise position by slapping Young with a dishonorable discharge for conduct unbecoming an officer. At this pronouncement, the elder Young has a heart attack, making Pavel Young the Earl of North Hollow the same day he gets cashiered.

With the trial over and declaration in the works, Honor returns to Grayson to check in on the new Harrington Steading and Harrington City, learning that between her prize money, her two fiefs and some wise investments she is now independently wealthy. Clinkscales uses the opportunity to assign her a team of armsmen bodyguards, led by Andrew LaFollet. Honor objects strenuously that she doesn't need protecting.

But not all is well! Young uses his new wealth and contacts to hire Denver Summervale (who ran the Medusan drug lab in the first book) to challenge Honor and Paul Tankersly to duels and kill them. Tankersly doesn't make it. But Honor's officers investigate and find the link between Summervale and Young. Honor goes all Terminator, spending every waking moment practicing with the 20th century firearms used in Manticore duels until she can challenge and kill Summervale.

Fearing for his life, Young forts up in the family seat and sends straight-up assassins after Honor, who are easily repelled by LaFollet and his team, convincing Honor to trust him after all. Honor muses on how Young only leaves his fortified manor to attend Parliment meetings before remembering that she's a lord too! She calls him out on the floor.

Young shows up to the duel, but loses his nerve while they're pacing out, spinning and emptying the gun into her back. The subplot with LaFollet comes to an end as he calls a warning and she drops to the ground without hesitation. Honor rolls and kills Young, a fraction of a second before the ref does. The House of Lords are shocked by this *hemhem* most unorthodox killing of one of their own by this nouveau noble. They bar her from Parliment and force the Navy to beach her at half pay. Pavel Young's little brother becomes the Earl of North Hollow and swears Honor hasn't heard the last of the Youngs, etc. Honor leaves Manticore in grief and disgrace to go become a full-time Steadholder on Grayson. Setting up the next book.

Oh yeah, and Manticore declares war with Haven, over the objections of Liberals who say that the Legislaturist regime attacked them and they can come to terms with Pierre. Manticore begins offensive action against Haven.

[Dartzap]

I liked it. At least up until Changes. I'm not american. So I'm guessing its just a 'different people have different tastes irrespective of nationality' kind of thing.

This is a series that seems popular on american blogs and sites I visit, but that I have yet to find a following in my country. No need to get defensive, it was a honest question.

I'd agree with you. I read the first few, but it never clicked, and its a view I've heard from others, both here and abroad. Not sure if its down to how 'American' it is (whatever thats means, anyway...) but down to the characters being similar to the Breaking Bad mob - unlikeable bastards to the extreme.