OT: Books, Books, Books.

[Randallw]

Since this thread started out about David Weber. I am currently reading the "Shiva Option". I swear it reads like a game of SE4 (or another space empires game). You have fleets with say 68 Battlecruisers, 40 Monitors, 40 Carriers, 100 cruisers and 2000 fighters taking each other on. First they enter through a warp point destroy all the mines and warp point defenses including bases, then move into the system and fight other fleets sometimes chasing them to other warp points in the system or attacking planets. It is just fleet engagement after fleet engagement with almost no coverage outside battles, except a few pages every once in a while about the empires planning their war on the enemy. The Writers even thank a fellow wargamer who created one of the empires. Its like they played a game and one of them wrote a book about what happened each turn. I think the "Bahgs" would be an interesting empire to play, but of course they have absolutely no opportunity for roleplaying. I tried reading honour harrington books once but didn't like the first one i tried after a few pages.

[Randallw]

Just realised what i said of the plot was a bit misleading. There is a bit more than combat, but mostly just admirals remembering what happened to such and such planet or fleet that got killed by the enemy. The "Bahgs" of course have no personality at all.

edit: These were my first Posts and I only noticed the edit function now (so sorry for 2 Posts in a row). Rereading this thread i noticed a mention of the shiva option already (sorry, missed it) and a reference to the starfire series, and starfire mini-games. So am i right, the book is just the narrative for a game?.

[ January 03, 2004, 12:41: Message edited by: Randallw ]

[oleg]

It surely reads like one

I don't really like "Shiva Option". It was damn obviuos from the beginning that humans will win. But "In death ground" makes my hair rise.

[Cipher7071]

What Narratio says four Posts down is essentially true. But rather rather than reading 'everything I can get my hands on' I tend to delve into whatever it is that's caught my interest. One year it was Mycology. Another it was any wild edible plants (related, eh?). And, of course, I've since spent five or six years getting a couple of baccalaureate degrees.

I guess I say I'm a dinosaur (when it comes to this thread) because I haven't really read any sci-fi lately. So, I didn't know there were more "Foundation" books beyond the trilogy.

So many things to read and learn, so little time...I've drifted away from fiction.

[se5a]

Originally posted by Randallw:
I tried reading honour harrington books once but didn't like the first one i tried after a few pages.

you cant decide on wether a book is good or not only after a few pages. you have to read the whole thing.

Originally posted by Atrocities:

Ya know I hate to admit this, but I have not read any of these books.

I tried once to read Dune, got a nose bleed and shelved it. I tried to read a Tom Clancy book, the one about Clark, and same thing.

I don't have the interest to read overtly stuffy, long worded, drawn out, boring material. I would rather wait for the movie.

Sorry guys.

try some of Heinlein's Young Adult stuff, they are all light to read, not long drawn out stuff like Asimov's stuff tends to be. Have Space Suit will travel for example. I have read that something like five times
his (Heinlein's) adult stuff tends to be a little bit more drawn out and a little harder to read.

[Randallw]

Well the one i was reading was something about this Honour Harrington having been captured and her friends being worried about it. There was also something about some alien pet, a cat i think, and I just thought after 10 or 15 pages "so what". I will admit its probably more for people who have already read the previous books, so know about and care about the characters already. I once read a book by my favourite author and got half way through before i decided it was his worst and stopped. I also read nearly all the way to the end of a trilogy with maybe 20 pages left when i came to the conclusion that i frankly didn't care about the ending, in fact wished the good guys were defeated, so much i stopped reading. I still have the book on the shelf and have no desire to finish it (I did read the sequels though, don't ask me why, and was glad to see the good guys from the first books were made to look like the arrogant deluded idiots they were).

[Cipher7071]

There are thousands of science fiction anthologies out there. Some of the stories are only a couple of pages, some are novellas. It's an easy way to find out which authors you like best.