Books that I have read recently

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

I have not been in the mood to play games so much lately. I recently went away on a short vacation to the US of A. I took the opportunity to do some reading. I used to be an avid reader of science fiction. The first book I read by choice was Robert Heinlein's Space Family Stone. I ended up reading many of his books, my favourite was Stranger in a Strange Land.

 

I moved onto other authors such as E E Doc Smith, Frank Herbert, Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, H G Wells and Jules Verne (to name but a few).

 

After that I was hooked on Ian Flemings James Bond books, I read them all.

 

Then I read the Tom Clancy novels starting with The Hunt for the Red October. Its almost sad to say but Rainbow Six was a very influential book for me because it got me into FPS gaming. I stopped at Red Rabbit which was his last Jack Ryan novel. But this type of book turned me onto Clive Cussler, he is a prolific writer and I am pretty sure I have read all of his Dirk Pitt books.

 

Books with military overtones brought Flight of the (A6) Intruder by Stephen Coonts (former A6 pilot) to my attention. I enjoyed it, so ended up reading many of his books. Similarly I fell upon Flight of the Old Dog (B52) by Dale Brown (former B52 and FB111 Bomber Navigator). Same deal with him. Along the way I found Michael Crichton (the first book I read in one sitting was one of his), Frederick Forsyth, Nelson DeMille, Jack Higgins, and many others.

 

I am not so interested in historical books but I have read The Cruel Sea (Nicholas Monserrat) , Who Dares Wins, Looking for Trouble (General Peter dela Billiere), Bravo Two Zero (Andy Mcnab), The One That Got Away (Chris Ryan) and a few others.

 

Given my age my reading has not been prolific, but lately I have read a few more books.

 

 

World War Z by Max Brooks. I read this because I had seen the film and read many reviews that criticized it relative to the

book. In effect the book is a collection of anecdotes (its correct title is World War Z, An Oral History of the Zombie War), I understand the criticism, but its the usual film problem of time constraint and adaptation.

 

Light by M John Harrison. This Science Fiction book has had great reviews and yet I really struggled to get through it. Its a story of three people in two points of time. It just seemed like a long read where the punchline was not worth the wait.

 

After this I needed a dose of something I knew I would like, So back to Clive Cusslers The Dragon. Even though I have read this book before I only vaguely remembered it and it was such a good read.

 

Then onto Inferno by Dan Brown. I do enjoy Dan Browns books, especially Angels and Demons which I read in two days. But Inferno's twists just seem too contrived, can't say I didnt enjoy the read though.

 

I recently saw a trailer for a film called Divergent, I discovered its based on a book by Veronica Roth and thats what I am reading at the moment. So far so good.

 

I have spoken to some of you to get recommendations for authors (especially for more recent science fiction) and I will be catching up on those, but after Divergent I want to read Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. I havent seen the film so I thought it would be good to get to the book first.

[custard~SPARTA~]

Enders Game is a great book I wouldn't bother with any of Card's other work as I think it is all awful. If you like Elves and Goblin type stuff I recommend Raymond E Feist's books starting with Magician I think it is better then Tolkien. Andy Mcnab has written some great fiction as well as B20 I have read them all.

[Luggage~SPARTA~]

I think we discussed these before, but as there is now a cracking thread to drive discussion

 

Peter_F._Hamilton

 

Stephen Baxter

 

Neal Asher

 

Alastair Reynolds

 

 

On a completely different note if you want a bit of enjoyable British set nonsense then you may enjoy

 

Jasper Fforde

[KalXen~SPARTA~]

While I was younger I had little interest in reading. That changed when I married an avid book-lover and we began to stockpile enough book kindling for the movie "The Day After Tomorrow".

 

I've spent a good amount of time reading fantasy and sci-fi novels from a few authors. I seem to pick one author, read everything they have ever had printed, and then move on to another. I'm also much more of a slow reader, so while that previous sentence may seem to insinuate a long list of conquered novels, it is not true.

 

I enjoyed reading all of Terry Pratchett's books. His dry humor, his crazy characters, and silly world to me add levity to a fantasy setting. He has also used this to deal with some very interesting dark concepts, such as racism and slavery through the treatment of goblins, etc.

 

I have been running a pen/paper RPG (using Champion rules) for the last year based off some concepts I stole from Larry Niven's books. I enjoy the RingWorld setting, and the use of some actual science around space travel/physics that he tends to align himself with. The way he includes new races into the book settings and describes how these races deal with each other is intriguing.

 

Recently I picked up the 5 books of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (Yes, 5 book trilogy) to explore Douglas Adams. I enjoyed the movie with Martin Freeman and crew, and wanted to experience it in print along with its following books. I think reading the book has been enhanced with the imaginary visuals of Trillian played by Zooey Deschanel.. because.. well. Zooey Deschanel is nice to imagine.

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

Custard, I read a couple of McNabs fiction books, but I recall being disillusioned with him following some of Chris Ryans comments in his book. I might reread them to see if I can get back into his work. I will see how Enders Game goes before deciding about any others.

 

Luggs, all of your guys have been noted for future reading.

 

I have read Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers plus a collaborative work called Lucifers Hammer. Like you, Kal, I often find an author and read all his books, but sometimes I end up just reading a couple or even one. Catch 22 was such an example, magnificent book but I never bothered to find out about the author,

[custard~SPARTA~]

I heard about Chris Ryans comments and from what some commentators in our media said about him I decided not to buy his book. I thought Mcnab was quite self critical myself.

[Samurai~SPARTA~]

If you like Nivan and Pournelle try Footfall and The Mote in Gods Eye

 

Iain M Banks has written some great books...Player of Games, all the Culture Novels, especially Excession

 

You might also want to look at Reamde by Neal Stephenson

 

The Nights Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton is excellent as are his other works The Commonwealth Saga and the Void Trilogy

 

Old Man's War by John Scalzi was very good too...

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

I've always been a big fan of historical fiction. My all-time favorite series is the Camulod Cronicles by Jack Whyte. He's a Scotsman who had a good fantasy-less way of presenting the Arthurian tales that could also shed light on Roman Britain. The first book is The Skystone. It's his characters that have always interested me. I started reading them when I was about 16, and somehow the values of the main characters stayed with me till today. I highly, highly recommend the series.

 

Another series I've been reading now is called Marius' Mules. The author is small-time and just wanted to find an interesting way to teach history. He doesn't really care much about money (sells his books pretty cheap) just wants to create a good story that is historically accurate. Lots of misspellings and such, and the first book is slightly slow, but it's easy to get engrossed and before I knew it, I was hooked, lol.

 

If you like Bronze Age historical fiction, of which there isn't much, I found a good series about King David called Day of War. Pretty good. I met the author once, who has a military background, and wanted to tell the story of David from that kind of perspective. Pretty good. He's also trying to get a movie made based on the books.

[KalXen~SPARTA~]

Thanks for the feedback and ideas. Never read anything from Pournelle before, will give him a try. I purchased Lucifer's Hammer and The Mote in God's Eye on Amazon for something to read over the Christmas break.

[MH6~SPARTA~]

I second Ender's Game. Great book. Rest of the series is good as well, but diverts quite a bit from the original and becomes more philosophical/scientific. The Ender's Shadow series (which parallels the Ender's Game series from the POV of another character) stays more true to the militaristic aspects.

 

I still consider Michael Crichton to be one of my more favored authors. If you haven't read any of his books, you are missing out. They all focus on vastly different criteria so there's a lot to chose from--though most could probably be described as "techno-thrillers". What I like about his writing is that he is fairly technical and researches his topics thoroughly. Some of the more technical stuff may be a tad dated now (but still holds up well).

 

Jurassic Park / Lost World

Both classics, especially having seen the movie as a child. Still one of my favorite movies/books.

 

Timeline

Group time travels to the medieval era and tries to survive. Amazing book, crappy movie.

 

Prey

A swarm of nanobots escapes a remote research facility. Similar to Jurassic Park, it centers around the scientists trying to contain the outbreak and destroy the swarm.

 

The Andromeda Strain

A fallen satellite outside a small desert town contains a mysterious microorganism that proves fatal to those that come in contact with it.

 

Eaters of the Dead

Great book. Follows a Muslim and his journey with the Vikings to their settlement. Based partly on Ahmad ibn Fadlan's actual accounts of his journey north and partly on Beowulf.

 

Pirate Latitudes

Published posthumously, still a great book if you are at all interested in pirates or that general era.

 

Sphere

Yet another novel of his that was turned into a movie. Spaceship is discovered on the bottom of the ocean and the government sends in a group to investigate. Decent book.

 

Next

Another novel centered on the attempt to survive in a world dominated by genetic research and corporate greed. Set in present times, sort of a "what if" scenario.

 

Airframe

Quality Assurance VP investigates an aircraft in-flight accident that leaves three dead and fifty-six injured. Haven't read this one in a long time, so memory is a bit hazy. Will need to reread it soon. Think of it as an industrial espionage-style novel

 

The Great Train Robbery

Haven't read it yet, heard it's excellent. Been meaning to pick it up. Involves a train heist in Victorian-era England.

 

 

 

I'll have to try out The Skystone, Durka. Sounds interesting. I've noticed as time goes on I'm getting more and more fond of historical fiction (and history in general)

[Cylawyer~SPARTA~]

Sam, I loved Footfall epic book!

[Samurai~SPARTA~]

Sam, I loved Footfall epic book!

 

Yeah, one of their best....Would make a great movie I think..."elephants flying hang gliders and wearing platform shoes" awesome quote...

 

I also like Dragons of Heorot (Niven, Barnes and Pournelle)

 

The inclusion of Barnes lends an excellent biological perspective and adds another level of accuracy to the knowedge base of Niven and Pournelle

 

I actually enjoyed Speaker for the Dead (and the rest of the series) as an excellent sequal to Enders Game, and thought the movie did not do the book justice at all...

[EBE]

you guys are readers indeeed

 

i read on and off if i find the time ..

 

@ the moment i am reading 3 books :

 

biography (the untold story ; Bob Marley )

 

and

 

EYKIW ; Lloyd Pye

 

The twelfth planet ; Sitchin zecharia

 

greetz

 

 

damn u guys are readers

[custard~SPARTA~]

I have read a few bios non of which were that great except this one.

 

Ranulph Fiennes, Mad bad and dangerous to know.

 

The man has led an incredible life the expression about mad dogs, Englishmen and the noon day sun has to have stemmed from a relative of his, the man is nuts.

[Cent~SPARTA~]

Just finished R Jordans Wheel of Time series.

 

Raymon E Fiest's Magician saga is also a good read

 

Peter Hamilton's Comonwealth and Void series is also a good bit of scifi

 

Anne Macafery's Pern Series is also very good

Edited December 7, 2013 by Cent~SPARTA~

[Watchman~SPARTA~]

I can second the McCaffery suggestion, also Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series.

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

A little update.

 

I have finished reading Divergent, Insurgent (its sequel) and Enders Game. All of them are good reads, not great though.

 

I have started The Mote in Gods Eye, its intriguing so looking forward to reading more.

[Samurai~SPARTA~]

I love Mote, one of Niven & Pournelle's best

 

The sequel isn't any where near as good...

[Zeno~SPARTA~]

I finished reading The Mote in Gods Eye, it was good science fiction. Although I didnt remember the story I must have read the book as there are two parts that I remember. They are very distinct so I cannot be mixing it up with something else and I do not believe this was made into a film.

 

I have just finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy and I have to admit the films so far seem quite close to the books and I can picture the principal characters as those from the film, especially Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Effe, Cinna and Plutarch Heavensby. It will be interesting to see how they portray the last book in the two upcoming films. Although the later books lacked the punch of Hunger Games I still couldnt put it down.

 

Shame about Phillip Seymour Hoffman overdosing.

 

Not sure what to read next.

[Skaz~SPARTA~]

This gun be really gay, but A Thousand Splendid Suns was crazy good read