Nerds! What are you reading?

I finished the fourth book, Black Ops from Craig Alanson's Expeditionary Force: this series is sooooo damn good and funny. Skippy has his own FB page https://www.facebook.com/skippythemagnificent/
I finished all of the David VanDyke's Stellar Conquest series which is a continuation of the Plague Wars, I really liked this series as well.
I guess that most of the books that I actually finish, I will say that I really like them. I tend to stop reading something that I really don’t like or cannot get into.
I also finished both Rebellion book 4 of part two of the Frontiers Saga by Ryk Brown Balance book 5. Another great series.
I finished Strange Dogs which is another novella set in the Expanse universe of James S A Corey and it was strange but that is to be expected. I liked it, and I am anticipating more to come from this series.
Someone suggested I read the Silo series by Hugh Howey. Just Damn! This is a great series, I just finished the first two omnibus Wool and shift and I am ½ way through Dust. Very suspenseful and a real nail biter. Not at all what I expected and I highly recommend the series. I think there is a movie or TV series in the works.
I actually went to an author panel at DragonCon and got introduced to several new books and series. Currently starting the Hayden War Cycle by Evan Currie and the Chronicles of An Imperial Legionary Officer (Stiger) by Marc Alan Edelheit. Both of these authors were really cool to talk to and gave me some signed copies of their books.
And that is what I am reading now.

I've embarked on a re-read of the Dark Tower series from Stephen King, and am currently about halfway through Book 4, Wizard & Glass. I remember disliking this book because of the hard left it seemed to take in the middle of what I felt was the more interesting narrative dealing with Roland's curious ka-tet drawn from different times of our world, but it's not too bad. I think that reading it as they came out was detrimental in that regard because I had waited so long for this installment only to see it... well, stall out, it seemed.

While at work, I'm also listening to the audio book of John Scalzi's latest, the Collapsing Empire, narrated by Wil Wheaton. Wil does a lot of narration of audio books, and has read most, if not all, of Scalzi's audio adaptations... he's always been a serviceable enough narrator, but on this one, he really seems to have upped his game, doing different, distinct voices for the characters, and seeming to have more fun with it. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm enjoying it a lot.

firesprite said:

I've embarked on a re-read of the Dark Tower series from Stephen King, and am currently about halfway through Book 4, Wizard & Glass. I remember disliking this book because of the hard left it seemed to take in the middle of what I felt was the more interesting narrative dealing with Roland's curious ka-tet drawn from different times of our world, but it's not too bad. I think that reading it as they came out was detrimental in that regard because I had waited so long for this installment only to see it... well, stall out, it seemed.

While at work, I'm also listening to the audio book of John Scalzi's latest, the Collapsing Empire, narrated by Wil Wheaton. Wil does a lot of narration of audio books, and has read most, if not all, of Scalzi's audio adaptations... he's always been a serviceable enough narrator, but on this one, he really seems to have upped his game, doing different, distinct voices for the characters, and seeming to have more fun with it. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm enjoying it a lot.

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Bah, I've grown to hate Wil Wheaton as a human being, which is kind of a shame because I knew him back in his TNG days and actually stood up for the guy, but he's turned into a complete *********. I can hardly get through an episode of Tabletop these days because I have such an utter disdain for him as a person.

have a subsriction on a magazine wich prints WW2 secret documents wich become free to public now. interesting stuff got invented back than. documents about militairy operations from back than are quite good to read too.

other subscription to a magazine wich has WW2 events and/or interesting pictures. they search the story behind them and recreate the photo at the same spot the original was taken.

and i have loads of books about WW2 technology and weaponry

Talk about books for nerds, I'm reading Ready Player One.

Don't know how I've missed it until now, Its for the complete anorak.

It had me at Robotron

Dont tell me the end though, not quite finished.

spacebob said:

Talk about books for nerds, I'm reading Ready Player One.

Don't know how I've missed it until now, Its for the complete anorak.

It had me at Robotron

Dont tell me the end though, not quite finished.

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LOL. The end isn't terribly difficult to predict; it doesn't really break any new ground, it just frames the familiar in a pretty entertaining way.

Shakugan no Shana volume 1-2 (the only ones stupidly available in English thus far)

Berserk volume 28. The epic continues.

I was recently going through some old comics and found my first prints of the original Marvel's Secret Wars and DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. I had not read these since the 80s and although I seemed to remember neither of them was anything super great, I decided to give them a go.

I did remember that at that time DC was a little more dark and gritty so I figured I would read that one first. Bad mistake. Crisis is one big giant convoluted cluster**** of a mess!! Keep in mind, I am just reading the series itself, not the 28 bazillion cross over issues that go with it. As a series unto itself, it is basically unreadable. There are never more than 3 or 4 panels of any single given character and their story before it just skips over to the next piece of the story. Again, which is only 3 or 4 panels, then jumps over again and again and again. It's like these tiny tidbits are nothing more than an advertisement saying "Check out this person's monthly mag for what is going on!"........Waste of time....After about 6 issues I gave up on it.

Marvel's Secret Wars, while no great literary masterpiece in itself, is at least a coherent story that is readable without having to reference every other Marvel book that was put out that month.

Just finished book 1 of The Expanse "Leviathan Wakes", and the next one is on the way. Now I'm a little over half way through with Neuromancer and will be reading A Clash of Kings after that

Firesprite, I also listened to The Collapsing Empire. I like Wil Wheaton’s narration, he did a great job with this one and he was amazing with Ready player One. As for The Collapsing Empire, I liked it and it really makes me mad that Scalzi is such an amazing Science Fiction Writer but such a real D!@K on his web site and on twitter. I really wish he would leave the politics to politicians and stick to pontificating about his cats and books. That said, I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.

Cephus, I have never met him in person and there is a real love hate feeling about him with many of the legacy DragonCon crowd. However, I do like him reading the audiobooks I have listened to.

Jarroth, love me some WWII. I loved in Germany for three years back in the late 80s and WWII is still ever where. You can be walking through some woods on a day hike and out of nowhere, there is a bunker or a monument or something.

Spacebob, RPO is one of my favorite and most unexpected books I have read in 2017. Considering that is was published in 2011 and that it took me until 2017 to read it, don’t feel bad about missing it until now. Enjoy the read, its just damn good…

AssCred, I have not read Shakugan no Shana; however, I just finished watching season one of Shidonia no Kishi (Knights of Sidonia) on Netflix and I am now on Season 2. I like the series but I am not completely into it. At least nowhere near how into Attack on Titan I am.

Laspector, I was going through some old stuff in my basement and came across a few of my comic books. Luckily, I had them all bagged and protected. Some real cool stuff in there, nothing like an Amazing Fantasy #15, but some real eclectic stuff like my Robotech Macross collection, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx, Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen’s Lobo, and Alan Moore’s Watchmen. I should probably make some sort of display of these comics to remind me where my first real nerdish passions developed from.

Harrisonp, I really liked the Expanse Series and The Song of Ice and Fire Series is amazing. I am currently in a GOT binge watching marathon Last Saturday I got through 8 episodes from season one before I had to get off the couch and do something physical before I melted into the furniture. HBO really did a great job with GOT, although there is so much that is not there but is in the books, I really enjoy both. Likewise, I enjoy both The Walking Dead graphic novels and the TV series. The Expanse is a little different for me, I like both the books and the TV series but I am really not happy with all the stuff that has been left out of the TV series, and let’s face it, The Expanse is a bit hard to understand at times so every little detail and/or background information about the characters and events are critical in my opinion.

OK so I have finished Dust and as I previously said. Holy Crap this was a great Trilogy.
So I started Evan Curries The Hayden War Cycle series and after the first book (On Silver Wings), I plowed through books 2-6. I am waiting for book 7 to his audible. This series just kept getting better and better. I really liked it and if anyone has read the Frontlines series by Marko Kloos and wants something similar but with a Female lead character, The Hayden War Cycle is for you.

So until book 7 hits audible, I have started another series from Evan Currie called Odyssey One. I am 90% though book one (Into the Black) and I really like it as well. There are currently 6 books in this series and if you liked The Frontiers Saga by Ryk Brown, you will like this series.

Lastly, I noticed that BV Larson has done a novella set in The Imperium series and I cannot wait for it to hit audible. The Imperium series is like nothing else BV Larson has written. Very Very suspenseful, violent and downright horrifying. Also he has another Undying Mercenaries book (Blood World) coming out this November, so it’s almost time for me to get my James McGill on.

As always thanks for the interest and keep reading, listening, whatever…

IIRC, the last thing I completed was a book about the Antikythera Mechanism, which is fascinating from a historical POV and a modern one.

Before that, read a couple Kennedy assassination books:

End of Days and Five Days in November. As an aside, I highly recommend anything Swanson has written.

Before that, I think it was a book about the historical inspiration for the Greek myths of the Amazons, which was excellent. I can again highly recommend anything by that author; everything of hers I've read I enjoyed.

And before that, I think I read "Dead Wake," about the sinking of the Lusitania, by Erik Larsen. Larsen I find totally meticulous and engaging. Allegedly, Devil in the White City was going to be made into a movie by DiCaprio, but I haven't heard anything about it in a while.

In between all the serious stuff, I read occasional short horror fiction by Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Arthur Machen, Robert W. Chambers, Dunsany, etc.

I've been rereading the Dark Tower series and I've come to realize that all these years, I've been giving the fourth book a bad rap. I think this is a situation where reading the books as they came out was a downside. Book three ended on a huge cliffhanger, which then made me wait for six years to find out what happened next, only to have the main narrative sidelined in favor of an extended flashback. To say I was displeased would be putting it mildly... and that prevented me from actually enjoying the story.

Currently re-reading Mark Twain's "Letters From The Earth".

NECROTHREAD

I’m on book 3 of The Dark Tower series, and I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced such high highs and low lows in opinion about a series. Sometimes I’m struck by how gripping the story can be, and other times it’s borderline tedium.

That aside, does anyone have recommendations for something akin to a Mad Max, Waterworld, kind of series? Something where the world is gone and people have rebuilt society in wacky feudal/medieval ways but with old derelict technology? I’ve read the first two Mortal Engines books and while I haven’t been compelled to move to the third that world came about as close as I’ve seen to what I’m looking for.

firesprite said:

I've been rereading the Dark Tower series and I've come to realize that all these years, I've been giving the fourth book a bad rap. I think this is a situation where reading the books as they came out was a downside. Book three ended on a huge cliffhanger, which then made me wait for six years to find out what happened next, only to have the main narrative sidelined in favor of an extended flashback. To say I was displeased would be putting it mildly... and that prevented me from actually enjoying the story.

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Wizard and Glass is probably my favorite of the series. I think mostly to do with what I was going through personally at the time, but I absolutely fell in love with that book. I got into the series when The Wastelands first came out, so I definitely share your frustration.

I bought a set of H G Wells books that I plan on making my way through here sometime.

I'm working on a re-read of the Expanse series, now that we have to wait for season 6. The books and the series are definitely different experiences, but each of them is amazing in its own right. I do recommend them highly. Upon my first read of the series, I had NO idea it was two people working together, the writing is so consistent and seamless.

I’ve never read any of The Expanse beyond book 6, it just felt like the perfect ending to me

I recently finished Weapon's Free Book 1 of the Battlegroup Z series by Daniel Gibbs, the second book gets released next week. It's about as close to a "popcorn film" as you can get. It was a lot of fun, if a bit light.

Now I'm reading Asimov's Foundation and Empire. I have been going back to my younger days to revisit my favorite reads. I used to devour Heinlein, Asimov, AE Van Vogt, Bradbury, Laumer, and similar titans of SciFi, and want to get back into them.

Not reading anything currently, but I pre-ordered Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir's new book. Can't wait to dig into that!