What are we Reading Now: Conan the Librarian

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I don't think that I can offer a thorough analysis of the book without violating forum rules, but I will note that most of the advice in the book is boilerplate self-help guru stuff. In general, it's a really good idea to be wary of people who are offering to sell you the secrets of financial success.

[Kidd]

Anyone can recommend any good military novel series?
I've finally run through all of Sharpe, Hornblower and Harrington.

I don't think that Rich Dad, Poor Dad was that fictional. 
(snip)
And that would be "your house does not belong in the asset column, it belongs in the liability column" Maybe if that were heeded, less people would have gotten neck deep into houses they couldn't afford because at the time they were told and they fooled themselves into "well its an asset, and assets are good"

Except that Robert Kiyosaki strongly advocated investing in the property market, and claimed rental returns could cover mortgage instalments, taxes and maintenance. To be brief: it's not that simple. Plus the 'fictional' part comes in because some property investments he claimed to have made were proven not to have been.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

When questioned over who the "Rich Dad" was, he also said something to the affect of him being a "parable like Harry Potter."  So the rich guy that the book is allegedly about is not a real person.

The most telling thing I've seen about him was (paraphrased): some people make money, then write a book.  Kiyosaki wrote a book, then made money.  In other words, he wasn't someone who had been successfully investing prior to writing Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which casts a big question over just how useful any of the advice it gives is.

Anyone can recommend any good military novel series?
I've finally run through all of Sharpe, Hornblower and Harrington.

Have you tried Glynn Stewart?  His Castle Federation series (currently Space Carrier Avalon, Stellar Fox, Battle Group Avalon, and Q-Ship Chameleon, with a fifth book coming out) is decent.  Maybe not quite as good as the better Harrington novels but they're still decent.  Also free on Kindle Unlimited, if you're a subscriber to that.

[Kidd]

Have you tried Glynn Stewart?  His Castle Federation series (currently Space Carrier Avalon, Stellar Fox, Battle Group Avalon, and Q-Ship Chameleon, with a fifth book coming out) is decent.  Maybe not quite as good as the better Harrington novels but they're still decent.  Also free on Kindle Unlimited, if you're a subscriber to that.

Read synopsis of Book 1, sounds promising!
I'll hunt for it in my local scifi bookstore

[HobbesHurlbut]

Thrawn by Zhan.

[worktroll]

Anyone can recommend any good military novel series?
I've finally run through all of Sharpe, Hornblower and Harrington.

Ian Douglas, pseudonym for William Keith Jr, has some good three-book series connected over time. The Heritage Trilogy, Legacy Trilogy, and Inheritance Trilogy map Humanity's progress from fighting in the Solar System to fighting across the Galaxy.

Keith's Warstrider series - an attempt to start a giant robot franchise which he owned, not FASA - are interesting, but go a little wierd towards the end.

For fantasy, I cannot recommend Glen Cook's "Black Company" series strongly enough. Get the first three, and then decide if you want more. His "Dread Empire" books are also good.

[Baldur Mekorig]

Giving a good reading to Bushido: The Soul of Japan, by Inazo Nitobe. Dont know why the spanish translation changed the subtitle to "Precepts of the Samurai`s Honor".

[HobbesHurlbut]

Giving a good reading to Bushido: The Soul of Japan, by Inazo Nitobe. Dont know why the spanish translation changed the subtitle to "Precepts of the Samurai`s Honor".

Well, both subtitles are accurate.

[elf25s]

for life of me i cannot remember the book and my memory is pretty solid when it comes to those things...
i read this over 27 years back and did not think of it till recently when my buddy and i started talking about wormholes and doctor who( yah been a nerd and always will be )
story goes something like this
in near future earth get anew small moon in shape of an asteroid that pretty much appeared out of no where. expedition is sent and it is found empty but for a human city inside...to make things more fun the asteroid seems to be a doorway to a tunnel that seems to have no end
i recall there being at least two books of the series

any help ?

[Matti]

Anyone can recommend any good military novel series?
I've finally run through all of Sharpe, Hornblower and Harrington.

The Complete Hammer's Slammers is about armored tank regiment with 170 ton hover tanks that can shoot up to satellite orbit. Written by veteran of Vietnam War, and it shows. A lot.

Antares Dawn and sequels are space warfare written by NASA engineer, and it shows. A lot.

Starship Troopers by legendary Robert A. Heinlein. It is about Battle Armor infantry whose arsenal goes all the way up to nukes. Over here bugs have guns and starships.

[worktroll]

in near future earth get anew small moon in shape of an asteroid that pretty much appeared out of no where. expedition is sent and it is found empty but for a human city inside...to make things more fun the asteroid seems to be a doorway to a tunnel that seems to have no end
i recall there being at least two books of the series

any help ?

"Eon", by Greg Bear. Bear writes flawed masterpieces, but "Eon", and the completely unrelated "Forge of God", are his 100% perfect books IMHO.

The sequel, "Eternity", expands on "Eon", but only hits the 80% mark (again IMHO), and has a weak ending.

The prequel, "Legacy", is a pile of steaming ****, and I highly recommend avoiding it.

But grab "Eon", and "Forge of God" if you see it.

W.

[elf25s]

"Eon", by Greg Bear. Bear writes flawed masterpieces, but "Eon", and the completely unrelated "Forge of God", are his 100% perfect books IMHO.

The sequel, "Eternity", expands on "Eon", but only hits the 80% mark (again IMHO), and has a weak ending.

The prequel, "Legacy", is a pile of steaming ****, and I highly recommend avoiding it.

But grab "Eon", and "Forge of God" if you see it.

W.

THANKS! i just could not remember for life of me

i read some of his stuff on and off but he never made an impression on me that would last
i prefer niven alot more

[worktroll]

I'm an old Niven junky. Shame he's too old, and seemingly infirm, to still be writing. (In the back of "Burning Tower", Jerry Pournelle talks about visiting the Grand Canyon with Larry, and having to get Larry's wheelchair down the canyon.)

Try Alastair Reynold's "Revelation Space". If you like that, then the rest of that arc, and all of Reynold's other books.

Ken MacLeod's "Engines of Light" trilogy, for some more euro-centric stuff.

"Permutation City" and "Diaspora" by Greg Egan, for hard-tech mind-stretching.

[elf25s]

I'm an old Niven junky. Shame he's too old, and seemingly infirm, to still be writing. (In the back of "Burning Tower", Jerry Pournelle talks about visiting the Grand Canyon with Larry, and having to get Larry's wheelchair down the canyon.)

Try Alastair Reynold's "Revelation Space". If you like that, then the rest of that arc, and all of Reynold's other books.

Ken MacLeod's "Engines of Light" trilogy, for some more euro-centric stuff.

"Permutation City" and "Diaspora" by Greg Egan, for hard-tech mind-stretching.

never cared for his ring series much...
but i did enjoy protector and mote a lot

[HobbesHurlbut]

Celtic Visions

[Reldn]

Currently working my way through "The Doomed City" by Boris & Arkady Strugatsky.

[Kidd]

^ thanks guys

took a break from the scifi and finally finished I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan. Going to get into The Sandman: Book of Dreams by Neil Gaiman, still wondering if his Norse Mythology is worth the dollars.

[HobbesHurlbut]

still wondering if his Norse Mythology is worth the dollars.

It's simply a retelling but with a more coherent narrative and easier reading.

[mdauben]

Anyone can recommend any good military novel series?
I've finally run through all of Sharpe, Hornblower and Harrington.

I've read quite a few other military scifi books:

• The Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake (a series of novels and short stories about a mercenary armored company)
• The Valor Confederation series by Tanya Huff (a series of novels about a marine officer and her troops).
• The Forever War series by Joe Haldeman (a series about infantrymen in an war against an alien species and the results of trying to return to civilian life after experiencing relativistic interstellar travel)
• The Old Man's War series by John Scalzi (a series were old recruits are transferred into younger bodies to fight an interstellar war).
• The Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepherd (a series that follows the career of a space navy recruit from a well to do family).

Finally, while it isn't a series any discussion of military scifi has to address Heinlein's Starship Troopers.  If your only exposure to this story was the movie of the same name, be aware that the made  gigantic changes from the book.

[Matti]

Finally, while it isn't a series any discussion of military scifi has to address Heinlein's Starship Troopers.  If your only exposure to this story was the movie of the same name, be aware that the made  gigantic changes from the book.

Originally movie didn't suppose to have any relation to the novel. Then someone noted manuscript has similarities to the novel, license was bought, and script was modified to match the novel better.

[Meow Liao]

At lunch I started Storm Front, book one of the Dresden Files.  Nice smooth writing.  I got through about twice what I normally read at lunch.  I'll get through more tonight.  For the first time in a long time, I'll make time for some non-lunch reading.

Meow Liao

[Kidd]

Yes, I've read Starship Troopers. I'm hoping for a more novel-accurate film adaptation sometime in the future... but the political overtones of the novel might kill or significantly distort such a project. Its too thinky to be a blockbuster. Hell, as it is, it seems most people have difficulty understanding the satire inherent in the 3 very dumbed-down ST movies.

[elf25s]

Yes, I've read Starship Troopers. I'm hoping for a more novel-accurate film adaptation sometime in the future... but the political overtones of the novel might kill or significantly distort such a project. Its too thinky to be a blockbuster. Hell, as it is, it seems most people have difficulty understanding the satire inherent in the 3 very dumbed-down ST movies.

ok good news is there is some serious talk to make another ST movie that is totally unrelated to the franchise but is closer to the book...
last i hears they were talking directors and budget

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Yes, I've read Starship Troopers. I'm hoping for a more novel-accurate film adaptation sometime in the future... but the political overtones of the novel might kill or significantly distort such a project. Its too thinky to be a blockbuster.

Honestly, the political tones of the original novel are at this point so archaic that I think it would be hard for much of the public to identify with them.

[worktroll]

StarShip Troopers - post Korean war sci-fi military novel
The Forever War - post Vietnam war sci-fi military novel

So what's the post-Gulf War sci-fi military novel? Kratman's "The Liberator"? (hopefully not) Scalzi's "Old Man's War"? not John Ringo's "Ghost" series  #P. Comments?

[Ruger]

StarShip Troopers - post Korean war sci-fi military novel
The Forever War - post Vietnam war sci-fi military novel

So what's the post-Gulf War sci-fi military novel? Kratman's "The Liberator"? (hopefully not) Scalzi's "Old Man's War"? not John Ringo's "Ghost" series  #P. Comments?

Where does Steakley's Armor fit into this?

Ruger

[worktroll]

Only read the first few, but it's pretty stock space opera, to my recollection.

Hammer's Slammers (and Dagger Point) are clearly reactions to the Vietnam war, IMHO. In different directions.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

StarShip Troopers - post Korean war sci-fi military novel
The Forever War - post Vietnam war sci-fi military novel

So what's the post-Gulf War sci-fi military novel? Kratman's "The Liberator"? (hopefully not) Scalzi's "Old Man's War"? not John Ringo's "Ghost" series  #P. Comments?

I'm not sure if the Gulf War ever really had the lasting effect on the civilian consciousness that the Korean and Vietnam Wars did.  I think we might have to wait for the post Afghanistan War sci-fi military novel.

[Matti]

Hammer's Slammers (and Dagger Point) are clearly reactions to the Vietnam war, IMHO. In different directions.

Hammer's Slammers is based on author's (David Drake) experiences in Vietnam War. He describes writing the series as therapy. He also gives some details about what are the common points in the stories to his personal experiences and where he deviated from. For example, Night March has number of common points with one time in Vietnam, but he didn't experience a battle at that night.

[edit]
Author's narrative is written at least in The Complete Hammer's Slammers which I have read.

[Daryk]

Williamson's "A Long Time Until Now" could be seen as post-Afghan military science fiction, but it's certainly not in the vein of the Slammers.