Books & Stuff (NS, No 11) - Reading in Jan 2021

Finished Reading

Robert A Heinlein, The Worlds of Robert Heinlein

A small collection of stories by Heinlein that seems to have passed me by in the 40 years that I've been reading him.

Most are pretty indifferent stuff.  The introductory article on sci-fi writers as prophets is interesting enough, as is the final story 'Solution Unsatisfactory' which has an important part to play in Heinlein's 'future history' chronology.

MR James, Collected Ghost Stories

The Master.  What more can one say?  

I really enjoyed this, both old favorites and some that I hadn't come across before.

Currently Reading

Julian Whitehead, Rebellion in the Reign of Charles II

This continues my on-going forray into Restoration history.

The title is something of a misnomer.  On reading it, it turns out that this is actually a study of Charles II intelligence-gathering machine.  Fascinating stuff, and well-written.

It seems to have also appeared with an alternative title, which is why the picture differs from my description.

WH Hodgseon, The Casebook of Carnacki: The Ghost Finder

A little early to comment on this one, as I've only just started it.

Books & Stuff (NS, No 6) - Reading in Sep 2020

 

Robert A Heinlein, Time for the Stars

What can I say?  I love the Heinlein juveniles.  And they're just the right length to read at a (long) sitting (and if you don't have anyone who objects to the light being on until 4am).

Joss Whedon, Brett Matthew, Will Conrad, Serenity: Those Left Behind

Regular readers might have spotted the odd hint that I'm a 'Firefly' fan.  During Lockdown I watched several dvd box-sets.  One of them was the complete 'Firefly' - which, sadly, doesn't take long.  I'm now making up for it and getting some Joss Whedon fix by watching the complete 'Buffy the Vampire Killer' (which is less hokey than I remember).

This comic book (orignally issued in three issues) bridges the gap between the premiture end of the TV series and the film 'Serenity'.

It's nothing spectacular - it would have made a couple of decent episodes.

John Gisby, New Zealand With A Hobbit Botherer

A quite funny account of a holiday to New Zealand the author took with his Orlando Bloom-fancying wife in 2004 - the height of the LOTR tourist boom.

Light but fun.

Currently Reading

Simon Harris, The Other Norfolk Admirals: Myngs, Narbrough and Shovell

Biography of the aforesaid admirals.  Another study of the Restoration navy.

I'm not sure if I actually picked this up during the month. It's a little heavy-going.

James Ellroy, Perfidia

About 20 years ago I read a shit-load of James Ellroy (that's the technical term), but very little since.

Perfidia is the first book in the Second LA Quartet, serving as a prequel to the first Quartet.  This book covers the first fortnight of America's entry into the Second World War and, more specifically how that effects LA's Japanese community and the LAPD.

As you'd expect from James Ellroy it's dark, dense and a little perverted.  

A great read.  It's making me thing that I should re-read the original Quartet: but a little Ellroy goes a long way!

Max Brooks, The Zombie Survival Guide

Because the way this year is going, it's better to be safe isn't it?

I picked this up on a whim and am finding it better than I expected (I didn't rate the film that was made of his other book, World War Z).  It's written in a dead-pan completely in-universe style and makes some interesting games.

If anyone plays any Zombie RPGs (or LARPS!) this would prove invaluable reading.

Books & Stuff (NS, No 5): Reading in August 2020

Robert A Heinlein, Starman Jones

The Heinlein juveniles are dear to my heart, and I occasionally pick one up to re-read.  Starman Jones was the first (and the first Heinlein) that I read, aged about 12 (so around 1980!).   

The plot of the book revolves around the use of log tables, which I'm just old enough to have done at school (probably a year or so after first reading it).  The prompt to pick it up was an exchange in a Discord channel about log tables (in the context of AD&D).

Stanley Ellin, The Speciality of the House

It took me months, but I've finished this great collection of short stories.  I find that if I read too many short stories one after another I loose the effect, so I'm treated it as a book to dip into.  Well worth the effort.

Bayt al Azif: A Magazine for Cthulhu Mythos Roleplaying Games, Issue 2 (Aug 2019)

Number 2 of this magazine, which keeps up the high standard of No 1 (which I read back in June).  I keep thinking I should do a proper review of both issues.





Currently Reading

Simon Harris, The Other Norfolk Admirals: Myngs, Narbrough and Shovell

Biography of the aforesaid admirals.  Another study of the Restoration navy.

I'm only nominally reading this - I don't think I've picked it up for weeks!

Books and Stuff

A regular round-up of my book news.

What I've been reading this week...

I've carried on with Beyond this Horizon and The War on Hospital Ships.

I've also being trying to digest the Pulp Alley and Strange Aeons rulebooks.

 

What I've bought this week...

Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles - £2.50

Books and Stuff

A weekly round-up of my book news.

What I've been reading this week...

The blurb on the cover of Dauntless, the first book in the Lost Fleet series, says that Jack Campbell writes some of the best military science-fiction around.  Perhaps so, but if that's true, it doesn't say much for the sub-genre.

I've read several reviews of the book along the lines that the plot is thin, the main character is one-dimensional and that the other characters are just sketches, yet it pulls you in and gets you to read on.  I got about half-way through and thought 'Yes, they're right.  There's very little to this, but I bear this.'  And then I realised that I was being asked to spend my time and energy - and let's face it, with a long series of books - my money, on  something that was merely tolerable.  Life isn't long enough for that - there are too many decent books out there that I haven't read.

I've got nothing against poor writing as long as it's enjoyable, but this isn't.  I stopped there, put it on the pile for the charity shop, and went in search of something better...


I wrote the above on Tuesday.  

I don't know about the 'search for something better', but I started Robert Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon, a 1942 book of his that I hadn't come across before (though I suppose I've been reading his books for almost 35 years!).

And I carried on with The War on Hospital Ships.

 

What I've bought this week....

Nothing.  Which I know will come as a surprise to regular readers.