What are you reading right now?

[Phantasee]

Finished The Commodore today and began The Hundred Days. It's interesting how O'Brian reduces the level of detail in his battles and even mentions them in passing for most of The Commodore, only involving Jack in one towards the very end, and that one being over before it has begun, narrative wise. Everything gets more abstract for Jack and the reader as he gets promoted.

[Raesene]

Finished The Commodore today and began The Hundred Days. It's interesting how O'Brian reduces the level of detail in his battles and even mentions them in passing for most of The Commodore, only involving Jack in one towards the very end, and that one being over before it has begun, narrative wise. Everything gets more abstract for Jack and the reader as he gets promoted.

The focus during the battle times was also more on Maturin being sick; battle descriptions return in later books.
By the way, you skipped 'The Yellow Admiral'...

[SylasGaunt]

Currently reading "A Wizard of Mars" by Diane Duane. Tripods, whoo hoo!

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Just finished Tony Horwitz' "Confederates in the Attic", about various things Southern, particularly fun to me because of just how far some of the hardcore Confederate re-enactors take it. Authentic diet for a month before the event? Two day approach marches to the event, in authentic kit and camping gear (i.e. lack of?) I thought I had it bad having to help load the van...seriously, as one of the saner members of the living history fraternity points out in the book, there is nowhere left to go for these guys except authentic diseases and live ammo. Completely mad.

That, Said Fazel Akbar's "Come Back to Afghanistan"- a sort-of-journal by the son of a provincial governor in Karzai's government who decided to go "home" to Afghanistan from the States with his father; almost equally uncomfortable reading. And as a reenactor, the truly scary part is how much Britain used to be like that, and how completely we've managed to forget the fact. As little as four hundred years ago, the Border Marches between England and Scotland were as bad or worse.

[Phantasee]

Finished The Commodore today and began The Hundred Days. It's interesting how O'Brian reduces the level of detail in his battles and even mentions them in passing for most of The Commodore, only involving Jack in one towards the very end, and that one being over before it has begun, narrative wise. Everything gets more abstract for Jack and the reader as he gets promoted.

The focus during the battle times was also more on Maturin being sick; battle descriptions return in later books.
By the way, you skipped 'The Yellow Admiral'...

Yeah, I realized a little into it that I had skipped over a book. I keep doing it; the books were rebound recently and there is no volume number on the spine, and I am going based on the order I received them in, assuming it was correct.

[Falkenhayn]

Urban Protest in 17th Century France: The Culture of Retribution by William Beik.

"Absolute Monarchy" is anything but. The 17th Century Urban French loved beating the hell out of tax collectors with co-workers, friends and family members.

[The Spartan]

I just started "Be Expert with Map and Compass" by Bjorn Kjellstrom.

[Iosef Cross]

I decided to start educating myself on the basics of modern Sci-Fi novels, so I started reading all the the Foundation novels.

I have read those:

Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Foundation and Earth
Foundation's Edge

I am reading Foundation and Earth.

My overall evaluation is that the first 3 foundation novels were very good. The last was a bit different, not bad, but not as good as the classic trilogy. They exaggerated a bit on the mentalics and the gaia stuff.

[Shroom Man 777]

Aye, the first three were really totally tits awesome. The later ones, eh. Meh.

I really dig Asimov's very minimalistic prose.

[Phantasee]

Prelude to Foundation was very different and it made Foundation a bit of a let down, although I had actually read Foundation years ago in junior high.

I'm on to Blue at the Mizzen now. Managed to finish the series before school started, which I am impressed with. I haven't read this much in a long time. I'm going to be sad to return the set, it looks so nice on the shelf. I should start looking for the Sharpe's series, or maybe Horatio Hornblower.

[[R_H]]

I just finished Hellforged, the latest Soul Drinker novel. Even more mediocre than the last one. Personally, I think the first half, or even two thirds of the book should have been cut, and the book continued where it ends, with the Imperial Fists capturing the Soul Drinkers.

Is Chaplain Ikintos a Chaos worshipper, because he refers to a "prophet", and the only prophet I can remember from the other books was Abraxes (or whatever that Tzeentchian daemon prince was called)?

[Whiplash]

Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon. Three books are being written to explain what happens in the gap between the MMOPRG Guild Wars: Prophecies and the up coming Guild Wars 2, this is the first of the three. I'm liking it so far, but its not without flaws, the action sequences aren't described too well and its a good thing I already know what the creatures look like, because I would be lost if I were to go by what the author is describing. Other than that, I'm loving the lore and the new characters, I'm looking to finish it by the end of the week.

[Dartzap]

Started American Gods on the bus yesterday, and I'm still itching to get back to it, fantastic book so far. (I've only recently started reading Gaiman's stuff - only previous encounter was Good Omens)

[JME2]

Working my way through the Wicked Cycle again; on "Son of a Witch" now.

[His Divine Shadow]

Listened (audiobook) to the biography of John D Rockefeller. A very interesting man that.

[[R_H]]

Currently listening to Armor by John Steakly. I have three complaints about it, firstly, it's damn annoying that some parts are 4 fucking hours long, while others are under 5 minutes and secondly, it's (incompetent) power armour vs giant insects.

[Broomstick]

Lye Stree by Alan Campbell. It's a prequel novel to the Deepgate Codex Trilogy.

[Phantasee]

Started the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. I'm enjoying it so far, but it's very different from the Aubrey-Maturin series. There's nobody besides Sharpe, so far, the Army is a lot shittier than the Navy apparently, and the books are way shorter. I'm already done one and halfway through the second.

[Broomstick]

Space Wolf by William King. Another WH40K novel. Not sure if I like it better or worse than the first one I read, Nightbringer

[1stPalladin]

I just bought Memoirs of the Second World War by Winston S. Churchill. It is an abridgement of his six volumes of The Second World War. I read the original when I was in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. I admire the pluckiness of the British, Canadians, Australians, Indians, Kiwis, etc.

[Crazedwraith]

Just finished Grave Peril (Book Three of the Dresden Files which I've been told is where the series really starts to get good and by 'get book' it seems to mean takes a hard turn at the corner of grim and dark. To the point where the book seems ridiculously packed with a never ending litany of bad things happening or getting or worse.

In its favour it introduces some cool new characters. (hello, Michael the Paladin) and its unlike the second book didn't have sequences that ape the first book so closely I have to re-read to make sure its not just been copy and pasted.

Still poor Harry needs like to cut him a break, like seriously.

[Phantasee]

There's something about Cornwell's writing that doesn't quite jive with me, but he has done a good job despite that. Spoiler

I was pretty pissed when that shit head managed to jump Sharpe, and I was angry that he managed to get away from his timely end by deserting to the enemy.

One thing that I wonder about, since I've not read anything about Wellington other than the briefest of biographies, but was he really that cold towards his soldiers? Most great generals you hear about are, well, more like Dodd, actually. Julius Caesar was loved by his men because he looked after them. Napoleon was the same way, IIRC. Jack Aubrey was written that way as well. Wellington seems like a really cold dude, and his distaste for the ordinary soldier seems strange to me.

[thejester]

"The French system of conscription brings together a fair sample of all classes; ours is composed of the scum of the earth — the mere scum of the earth. It is only wonderful that we should be able to make so much out of them afterwards."

Probably sums it up in a nutshell. Keep in mind Wellington was very much a member of the upper class in a country whose reaction to the emergence of a large underclass was to try and ship them all off to the other side of the world. On top of that I don't think anyone would claim the Duke was a particularly warm man in general.

[His Divine Shadow]

Keep going even if you don't like it, I am interested to see what others think.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe. It's interesting so far, but twisted. The theology in it is more clearly inspired by Milton and Dante than by the bible.