OT: What's a good .iso 'fake cd drive' program?

[Leternel]

Daemon tools is really powerful, and has never provoked any trouble on my computer

[StarShadow]

I've also been using Daemon Tools for several years now and have yet to encounter problems of any kind with it.

[Randallw]

I have a hard wooden chair that makes sitting in front of the computer for too long hurt my back. That and I can't get into reading from a screen for long periods.

I picked up the latest book which has what I look for in a good book ie. 900 pages. Hopefully it will give me something to read at least for more than a few hours. I started by reading the appendices to get info and started off bad by mistaking who was good or bad.

[Randallw]

Can't say I am getting sold on the book. I still get confused about who is who. It's hard following 2 human empires, much better when you know for a fact one is human and the other alien. I have a sneaky suspicion I shouldn't be supporting the bad guys. also a third way through and there have only been 2 brief battles. The rest is uninteresting stuff about her dozen relatives or her relationship, as if I care.

but anyway, I post because there was an ad for a honorverse game. I just looked at the brief trailer which looks interesting. Seems like a 4X game. I might try it. You have the option to concentrate on the battles and economy and ignore the other boring stuff.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I asked about that on the Baen forums.

[douglas]

Randallw said:
Can't say I am getting sold on the book. I still get confused about who is who. It's hard following 2 human empires, much better when you know for a fact one is human and the other alien. I have a sneaky suspicion I shouldn't be supporting the bad guys. also a third way through and there have only been 2 brief battles. The rest is uninteresting stuff about her dozen relatives or her relationship, as if I care.

There's a reason I recommend starting at the beginning with On Basilisk Station. The later books assume an increasing amount of background knowledge that you just don't have. It may not be as long as you say you want but it's a heck of a lot better for a reader new to the series, and if it's over before you want to stop you can just pick up the next book in the series.

Also, most of the really big battles generally happen near the end of the book as part of the climax.

[Randallw]

yeah true enough. As it is I feel nothing for the heroine and would actually welcome her being knocked down a peg. The problem is I have no attachment to either side. I can't see any reason why the good guys should be supported any more than the bad guys, and what's with the Eridani thing against endangering civilians? When, in the first battle, the captain sends his enemy a message saying

"uhum, I am about to blow up your space stations could you please evacuate them" or " please evacuate your freighters so I can destroy them"

I sort of thought

"you have got to be kidding "

the whole thing about war is destroying the enemy. If you stop before each blow to say "I'm terribly sorry, this is going to hurt" you're not fighting a war you're just taking turns to score points. Might as well play tennis.

lack of background knowledge aside I don't feel it's my sort of book. I was expecting something like the Starfire books I have with mostly battles and the occasional 2-3 pages as an admiral has a liason with her boyfriend. This is the exact opposite with mostly stuff about her family, her boyfriend, the respective leadership talking, interspersed with interesting stuff, although the battles give me good ideas for my se5 games. I'm not trying to convince people it's bad, it's just not my sort of story telling.

but enough said.

[douglas]

Randallw said:
yeah true enough. As it is I feel nothing for the heroine and would actually welcome her being knocked down a peg. The problem is I have no attachment to either side. I can't see any reason why the good guys should be supported any more than the bad guys, and what's with the Eridani thing against endangering civilians? When, in the first battle, the captain sends his enemy a message saying

"uhum, I am about to blow up your space stations could you please evacuate them" or " please evacuate your freighters so I can destroy them"

I sort of thought

"you have got to be kidding "

the whole thing about war is destroying the enemy. If you stop before each blow to say "I'm terribly sorry, this is going to hurt" you're not fighting a war you're just taking turns to score points. Might as well play tennis.

Ever heard of the Geneva Convention? It's the same sort of thing. Plus, by the time the latest book comes around neither side actually wants to be fighting the war any more, they just can't get negotiations to work (the reasons for this are clear and plausible if you read the whole story, btw). The People's Republic of Haven has far fewer compunctions about that sort of thing earlier in the series.

Randallw said:lack of background knowledge aside I don't feel it's my sort of book. I was expecting something like the Starfire books I have with mostly battles and the occasional 2-3 pages as an admiral has a liason with her boyfriend. This is the exact opposite with mostly stuff about her family, her boyfriend, the respective leadership talking, interspersed with interesting stuff, although the battles give me good ideas for my se5 games. I'm not trying to convince people it's bad, it's just not my sort of story telling.

but enough said.

Try the earlier books. The family, boyfriend, and political leadership all come relatively late in the series so you might find the earlier books more to your liking, and once you know the characters you might find those storylines more interesting.