What are you reading?
- Thread starter Nastycrow
- Start date
A.G. Riddle - Labyrinth
I love his work, especially The Long Winter Trilogy. His last one before Labyrinth was Antarctica Station and I hated it... Well the first 2/3 of the book were great but after that it's like he just didn't care anymore and rush the ending.
Labyrinth is great so far. Deals with super VR, IA, Mind control, etc....
Eranys said:
IDK why Red Storm Rising gets forgotten so often, probably cuz it never had a reoccurring character?
I can agree with Clear and Present Danger at the end. I just think that up until that last part, it's awesome.
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Yeah, ti's basically a one off WW3 thing. fun though.
Clear and Present Danger where they are training and it's the mexican kid sniper is great.
I will say, one thing I will NEVER forgive Clancy for is being one of the pioneers (at least that I noticed) of that co-author s---. Where his name would be on half the cover and then very small print beneath it 'and Slapdick McGee.' And, invariably, you can tell within five pages it's a completely different author and the book is f---in terrible. Ugh.
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Yeah i hated that s---. Got burned on that once (the rainbow 6 series? not the first book) and never again. Total bulls---.
Although as a kid I was reading Mack Bolan novels (yeah go ahead, judge me) and they clearly did that about a 20 books in. Even though that didn't stop me. (cuz one I was a kid and two WTH, who doesn't like Mack Bolan)
LoneCowboy said:
Yeah, ti's basically a one off WW3 thing. fun though.
Clear and Present Danger where they are training and it's the mexican kid sniper is great.
Yeah i hated that s---. Got burned on that once (the rainbow 6 series? not the first book) and never again. Total bulls---.
Although as a kid I was reading Mack Bolan novels (yeah go ahead, judge me) and they clearly did that about a 20 books in. Even though that didn't stop me. (cuz one I was a kid and two WTH, who doesn't like Mack Bolan)
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Yes!!! And Able Team and Phoenix teams.
The Elite: The Story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service
Barbara Cole
Yep, still in Africa. Obviously the complete story of the Rhodesian SAS. Started as part of the British SAS, then separate, then after they shut down when Rhodesia was betrayed. Errr I mean Zimbabwe came into being. In fact their regimental silver is held in England. A 3rd party account from the very beginning in WW2 all the way up to 1980. Operation by operation, with the people called out in each one. It's a little dry (because it's 3rd party and not someone who was there) but it's very detailed and has nice maps. Despite my extensive reading on Rhodesia I still learned about quite a few operations that weren't talked about or kinda went under the radar. It doesn't talk much about their actual training regimen, which is covered in other 1st party SAS memoirs.
Since the Rhodesian armed forces were so small you tend to see the same names pop up which makes it pretty interesting
They did some CRAZY and ballsy stuff. Too bad they were sold out by the upper intelligence works (the head of their intelligence service was working for the Brits) and Cole alludes to that many times. Even after the fall, they snuck out their 25 ton memorial plinth to the fallen to South Africa since they knew Mugabe would destroy it.
500 pages, pretty detailed, some pictures (not many) but extensive accounts.
LoneCowboy said:
The Elite: The Story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service
Barbara Cole
Yep, still in Africa. Obviously the complete story of the Rhodesian SAS. Started as part of the British SAS, then separate, then after they shut down when Rhodesia was betrayed. Errr I mean Zimbabwe came into being. In fact their regimental silver is held in England. A 3rd party account from the very beginning in WW2 all the way up to 1980. Operation by operation, with the people called out in each one. It's a little dry (because it's 3rd party and not someone who was there) but it's very detailed and has nice maps. Despite my extensive reading on Rhodesia I still learned about quite a few operations that weren't talked about or kinda went under the radar. It doesn't talk much about their actual training regimen, which is covered in other 1st party SAS memoirs.
Since the Rhodesian armed forces were so small you tend to see the same names pop up which makes it pretty interesting
They did some CRAZY and ballsy stuff. Too bad they were sold out by the upper intelligence works (the head of their intelligence service was working for the Brits) and Cole alludes to that many times. Even after the fall, they snuck out their 25 ton memorial plinth to the fallen to South Africa since they knew Mugabe would destroy it.
500 pages, pretty detailed, some pictures (not many) but extensive accounts.
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You really are into military history books. I wish I had the time to read a few but my "must read list" of novels is growing and growing with no end in sight. And of course, I often go back to books I read in the past to read them again. I must have read Stephen King's The Stand at least 20 times.
Right now I'm reading A.G. Riddle's The Long Winter trilogy for the 3rd time.
Nastycrow said:
You really are into military history books. I wish I had the time to read a few but my "must read list" of novels is growing and growing with no end in sight. And of course, I often go back to books I read in the past to read them again. I must have read Stephen King's The Stand at least 20 times.
Right now I'm reading A.G. Riddle's The Long Winter trilogy for the 3rd time.
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you know sometimes, an area just tickles your fancy and you have to go scratch that itch and it then one leads to another and down the rabbit hole you go
It will burn itself out after a while, I'll feel that "ok i know enough about this area, I can move on to something different"
I got some fiction lined up in the queue too, just haven't gotten there yet.
LoneCowboy said:
you know sometimes, an area just tickles your fancy and you have to go scratch that itch and it then one leads to another and down the rabbit hole you go
It will burn itself out after a while, I'll feel that "ok i know enough about this area, I can move on to something different"
I got some fiction lined up in the queue too, just haven't gotten there yet.
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I see you refrain from making any comments about the ME, is it cause of lack of interest or not wanting to get into that mess
a-mart said:
I see you refrain from making any comments about the ME, is it cause of lack of interest or not wanting to get into that mess
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Currently my interest (autism) is in post colonial Africa, before that it was Vietnam (French and American wars) and before that some of the Napoleonic Wars (Trafalgar, Waterloo, Thomas Cochrane mostly, not all), before that World War 1, before that World War 2 (which still comes up in everything, obviously), before that Russian history, esp the Russian Revolution (well first 2, not so much the 90's one, although I did do some research last year on the fall of the Warsaw Pact which was a fill in, I'm so old that's not history, it happened while I was "there" (in college in anyway, not there in Russia).
I guess, really at this point, it's I don't care.
Time of the Twins
, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This book kicks off the second of the two original Dragonlance trilogies, which I had read as a kid in the 80s, but remember having enjoyed the more ambitious scope of the second series (Legends) compared to the rather straightforward kill-the-evil-tyrant-and-save-the-world approach of the first trilogy (Chronicles). So far, so good, it's about as I remembered it, dealing with the dim warrior Caramon and his increasingly powerful and evil twin brother Raistlin, moving beyond the mundane world into subjects such as time travel, alternative planes, and godhood. I'll finish the other two at some point. I seem to be suddenly part-way through a bunch of novel series, I really need to focus on finishing some of these up before I start up another one like I did here, lol. I'll focus on finishing up John Dies, Dragonlance Legends, and Old Man's War I think before I kick off anything else.
History of the World, Map by Map
. No author listed, this is part of "Map by Map" series of books that I saw in Smithsonian magazine and was interested in, but they are listed at $50/per and I'm really not looking to add more stuff (especially books) to my life right now. I decided to see if the library had it, sure enough it did. This is a really cool book; oversized pages in a coffee-table-style format, 400 pages long with each 2-page spread a large, full-color, detailed and annotated map each dealing with a different aspect of world history in chronological order. Starting with pre-history and the spread of mankind, advancing through various empires such as Roman, Ottoman, and Mongolian, then on through the renaissance and enlightenment period, western exploration and colonization, up to the modern times. Quite interesting; this would have been a cool one to have around the house as a kid right next to the encyclopedia set.
Dyspeptic Alaskan said:
Just getting into:
Holy s---. I understand why this book has the reputation it does; this is top shelf sci-fi. Such a great feeling to have such a long and enjoyable series ahead.
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Dude! That series is EPIC... My 2n favorite book (all 4 in the series) of all time....
Nastycrow said:
Dude! That series is EPIC... My 2n favorite book (all 4 in the series) of all time....
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I got a little bored in the beginning when they were introducing all of the pilgrims, but once it got into Father Dure's story.....holy s---. What a world Simmons constructed. And the conclusion of that particular anecdote.....that was one of the most horrific things I've ever read.
Dyspeptic Alaskan said:
Just getting into:
Holy s---. I understand why this book has the reputation it does; this is top shelf sci-fi. Such a great feeling to have such a long and enjoyable series ahead.
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As I recall, this was like Canterbury Tales meets Sci Fi?
Brick said:
As I recall, this was like Canterbury Tales meets Sci Fi?
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I've never actually read the Canterbury Tales, but from what I know of the themes, that certainly seems to be the case.
Should I read The Canterbury Tales? Worth the time?
Dyspeptic Alaskan said:
I've never actually read the Canterbury Tales, but from what I know of the themes, that certainly seems to be the case.
Should I read The Canterbury Tales? Worth the time?
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You should read Dan Simmons Carrion Comfort when you're done with Hyperion. Sci-fi but not in space. It will blow your mind.
Sadly, after those 2 series, the quality of his books took a nosedive.
Dyspeptic Alaskan said:
I've never actually read the Canterbury Tales, but from what I know of the themes, that certainly seems to be the case.
Should I read The Canterbury Tales? Worth the time?
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You can give it a try. 14th century writing can get a bit thick.