Ave,
I'm currently re-reading a series written by S.M. Stirling and David Drake named "The General".
Book 1: The Forge - Baen Books - 1991 & 1995 (ISBN 0-671-72037-6)
Book 2: The Hammer - Baen Books - 1992 & 1995 (ISBN 0-671-72105-4)
Book 3: The Anvil - Baen Books - 1993 & 1996 (ISBN 0-671-72171-2)
Book 4: The Steel - Baen Books - 1993 & 1995 (ISBN 0-671-72189-5)
Book 5: The Sword - Baen Books - 1995 (ISBN 0-671-87647-3)
If you really like the series it "sort of" continues in
Book 6: The Chosen - Baen Books - 1996 - (ISBN 0-671-87724-0)
Book 7: The Reformer - Baen Books - 2000 - (ISBN 0-671-57860-X)
I found the first three in a second hand bookshop in London during the 90's and just HAD to find the others through the internet.
The first paragraph of the blurb on the back cover of Book 1 is as follows:
"Raj Whitehall was a young noble of the Civil Government, the last remnant of galactic civilization on the planet Bellevue. Possessed of an unparalled strategic genius , Raj dreamed of leading his people's armies to victory against the barbarians who threatened to engulf them".
I can't recommend these books more highly, they are absolutely superb.
I'm sure you can find them through abebooks.com, that's why I given you so much info at the top.
I won't say any more, read them and give me your comments.
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
PS. Count Belisarius!!
What books do you like to read?
Moderator: Slitherine Core
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duncan
- Sergeant First Class - Elite Panzer IIIL
- Posts: 436
- Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2005 4:08 am
- Location: Otxandio
I'm into History books right now. I'm reading a lot about Byzantine Empire. I first read Norwich and OStrogorsky, then moved to Gibbon and then to the primal sources: Psello, Ana Comnena...Fascinating reading.
I always loved Raymond Chandler and William Faulkner. The latest's trilogy (The Town, The City and The Mansion, I think, I read them in spanish) is a milestone in literature. Raymond Chandler's Marlowe is one of those characters you love. I also favoured Dickens and Tolstoi ("War And Peace" is one of my favourite novels). Some spanish writers too (Torrente Ballester).
Whenever I want to read 100 pages or so without doing too much thinking, I turn to medieval fantasy books. Lord Of The Rings is great and I'm currently into George R.R. Martin's "Song Of Fire And Ice " (or was it the opposite?)
I always loved Raymond Chandler and William Faulkner. The latest's trilogy (The Town, The City and The Mansion, I think, I read them in spanish) is a milestone in literature. Raymond Chandler's Marlowe is one of those characters you love. I also favoured Dickens and Tolstoi ("War And Peace" is one of my favourite novels). Some spanish writers too (Torrente Ballester).
Whenever I want to read 100 pages or so without doing too much thinking, I turn to medieval fantasy books. Lord Of The Rings is great and I'm currently into George R.R. Martin's "Song Of Fire And Ice " (or was it the opposite?)
"The Art Of War: Fantasy" supporter!
The best medieval fantasy is and by an amazing margin: The wheel of time of Robert Jordan. Look it up i m sure you can download it it's unbeliavalby good and the further you get in the stry the better the books get (It's up to 11 now , the story is not finished and that's discarding the prequel...)
Apart from that Sun Tzus Art of war makes for interesting reading but don't ake too long reading it. Adopt the main ideas and think them through it's much mor useful than anything else.
In another domain a rapid cruising through Huntington's "clash of civilisations" and Fukuyama's "End of History" tickl your mind and stimulates your brain.
Apart from that Sun Tzus Art of war makes for interesting reading but don't ake too long reading it. Adopt the main ideas and think them through it's much mor useful than anything else.
In another domain a rapid cruising through Huntington's "clash of civilisations" and Fukuyama's "End of History" tickl your mind and stimulates your brain.
Persoanlly, I disllike robert jordan. His plots get more andmore complicated and convuluted, the charactars tend to be narrow, and react veyr oddly to some things, and he managed to incorporate power-creep into his books. Power creep!
I mean, we get told that Nynavae is absurdly powerful. Okay. Then somebody else appears who is even more powerful. And then there are dozens of uber-source wielders on each side, all flinging balefire like there's no tommorow. On top of that, since there are currently about 30 or so main charactars, split into groups of 3, and he tells each ones individual history, the story moves most BETWEEN books. You know, the stuff that has happened "since last we met". I mean, the series was great up through maybe book 5. Then it was okay, until 8-9. Now, I beleive that book 10 covered about 2 weeks. In 1200 pages. Note the frustaration.
Martin and Drake are both excellent authours. And although Martin does have someof the complication issues that Jordan has, they arent as severe.
Pratchett is pretty good for most times.
I mean, we get told that Nynavae is absurdly powerful. Okay. Then somebody else appears who is even more powerful. And then there are dozens of uber-source wielders on each side, all flinging balefire like there's no tommorow. On top of that, since there are currently about 30 or so main charactars, split into groups of 3, and he tells each ones individual history, the story moves most BETWEEN books. You know, the stuff that has happened "since last we met". I mean, the series was great up through maybe book 5. Then it was okay, until 8-9. Now, I beleive that book 10 covered about 2 weeks. In 1200 pages. Note the frustaration.
Martin and Drake are both excellent authours. And although Martin does have someof the complication issues that Jordan has, they arent as severe.
Pratchett is pretty good for most times.
Usual gaming hours: 11PM-4AM GMT
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fatetriarrii
- Administrative Corporal - SdKfz 232 8Rad
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- Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:37 pm
The thing that stopped me from reading it was, well SPOILER for those who haven't gotten this far yet:
R/a/n/d/ /s/p/e/n/d/s/ /t/h/e/ /e/n/t/i/r/e/ /p/o/r/t/i/o/n/ /o/f/ /o/n/e/ /b/o/o/k/ /c/l/e/a/n/s/i/n/g/ /t/h/e/ /s/o/u/r/c/e/ /a/n/d/ /i/t/ /i/s/ /b/a/r/e/l/y/ /m/e/n/t/i/o/n/e/d/,/ /e/v/e/n/ /w/h/e/n/ /h/e/ /s/t/a/r/t/s/ /t/a/l/k/i/n/g/ /a/b/o/u/t/ /t/h/e/ /b/l/a/c/k/ /t/o/w/e/r/./
I got SOO anoyyed, and gave up entirely.
Ps, I am currently mostly reading Asimov.
R/a/n/d/ /s/p/e/n/d/s/ /t/h/e/ /e/n/t/i/r/e/ /p/o/r/t/i/o/n/ /o/f/ /o/n/e/ /b/o/o/k/ /c/l/e/a/n/s/i/n/g/ /t/h/e/ /s/o/u/r/c/e/ /a/n/d/ /i/t/ /i/s/ /b/a/r/e/l/y/ /m/e/n/t/i/o/n/e/d/,/ /e/v/e/n/ /w/h/e/n/ /h/e/ /s/t/a/r/t/s/ /t/a/l/k/i/n/g/ /a/b/o/u/t/ /t/h/e/ /b/l/a/c/k/ /t/o/w/e/r/./
I got SOO anoyyed, and gave up entirely.
Ps, I am currently mostly reading Asimov.
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ste
- Sergeant First Class - Panzer IIIL
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- Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 4:56 pm
- Location: Warrington, Cheshire
- Contact:
Im currently reading "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown (before that I finished "Da Vinci Code", it was rather addictive to say the least). On my list of stuff to read, I have:
+ Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
+ Deception Point - Dan Brown
+ The Potato Factory - Bryce Courtenay
+ 1984 - George Orwell
These are mostly as you can see fictional peices that I read for entertainment, in addition to these I currently have quite a vast array of more technical books, which probrably won't interest anyone so I won't post them
+ Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
+ Deception Point - Dan Brown
+ The Potato Factory - Bryce Courtenay
+ 1984 - George Orwell
These are mostly as you can see fictional peices that I read for entertainment, in addition to these I currently have quite a vast array of more technical books, which probrably won't interest anyone so I won't post them
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Redpossum
- Brigadier-General - 8.8 cm Pak 43/41
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- Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Contact:
Agreed, The General series was fantastic.
Almost anything by S.M. Stirling, particularly the Draka series (Marching Through Georgia, Under the Yoke, Dogs of War)
Almost anything by David Drake. The only things of his I have ever failed to enjoy were a couple anthologies he edited, and that perhaps simply because I have no love for short stories.
Jordan is a wuss, in my opinion. All his stuff is too namby-pamby and sugar-coated for me, and horribly cliche as well. I read the first three books, because my then-fiancee insisted, but I just couldn't stomach any more.
No, if you want a fantasy series with real balls, check out the Black Company series, by Glen Cook.
His older Dread Empire series, that ended with An Ill Fate Marshalling, was equally superb, but has long since gone out of print, and become rather hard to find.
An Ill Fate Marshalling is not just a great fantasy novel, it is also a fascinating view of a feudal nation state, divided among 3 major ethnic groups, attempting to transition to a more modern constitutional monarchy, and then fragmenting into civil war due to external pressures. Utterly absorbing background for those who, like me, have a deep interest in the mechanics of government and society.
And YES! I emphatically agree that this double-wide format is a pain in the ass. I hate having to scroll back and forth to read a simple post; it sucks!
Almost anything by S.M. Stirling, particularly the Draka series (Marching Through Georgia, Under the Yoke, Dogs of War)
Almost anything by David Drake. The only things of his I have ever failed to enjoy were a couple anthologies he edited, and that perhaps simply because I have no love for short stories.
Jordan is a wuss, in my opinion. All his stuff is too namby-pamby and sugar-coated for me, and horribly cliche as well. I read the first three books, because my then-fiancee insisted, but I just couldn't stomach any more.
No, if you want a fantasy series with real balls, check out the Black Company series, by Glen Cook.
His older Dread Empire series, that ended with An Ill Fate Marshalling, was equally superb, but has long since gone out of print, and become rather hard to find.
An Ill Fate Marshalling is not just a great fantasy novel, it is also a fascinating view of a feudal nation state, divided among 3 major ethnic groups, attempting to transition to a more modern constitutional monarchy, and then fragmenting into civil war due to external pressures. Utterly absorbing background for those who, like me, have a deep interest in the mechanics of government and society.
And YES! I emphatically agree that this double-wide format is a pain in the ass. I hate having to scroll back and forth to read a simple post; it sucks!
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kyle
- Sergeant - 7.5 cm FK 16 nA
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My Favorites
Have any of you heard of the "Red Wall" series. That series is to die for.
I love the Dragonlance Series.
These books I have read or are reading currently I have lost track.
1. The Histories: Herodotus
2. Gates Of Fire By Steven Pressfield
3. The Ten Thousand
4. Hadrians Wall by William Dietrich
5. The Bastard King: Book One of the Scepter of Mercy by Dan Chernenko
6. Eagle In The Snow : A Novel of General Maximus and Rome's Last Stand By Wallace Breem
7. The Dragonlance Series
I love war novels basically.
I plan to read these books in coming months.
1. Centurion: A Novel of Ancient Rome: By Peter W. Mitsopoulos
2. The Sword of Attila : A Novel of the Last Years of Rome By Michael Curtis Ford
3. Gods and Legions : A Novel of The Roman Empire By Michael Curtis Ford
4. Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome By Stephen Dando-Collins
5. The Virtues of War : A Novel of Alexander the Great By Steven Pressfield
6. Eagles Command By William Scarrow
7. Emperor: The Gods of War By Conn Iggulden
8. Nero's Killing Machine : The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion By Stephen Dando-Collins
9. Caesar: By Christian Meier
10. WINTER QUARTERS (FICTION): By Alfred Duggan
11. SPQR IX: The Princess and the Pirates (Spqr) : By John Maddox Roberts
12. Tides of War : By Steven Pressfield
13. Under the Eagle: A Tale of Military Adventure and Reckless Heroism with the Roman Legions by Simon Scarrow
14. When the Eagle Hunts (Hardcover) By Simon Scarrow
15. The Eagle and the Wolves by Simon Scarrow
I love the Dragonlance Series.
These books I have read or are reading currently I have lost track.
1. The Histories: Herodotus
2. Gates Of Fire By Steven Pressfield
3. The Ten Thousand
4. Hadrians Wall by William Dietrich
5. The Bastard King: Book One of the Scepter of Mercy by Dan Chernenko
6. Eagle In The Snow : A Novel of General Maximus and Rome's Last Stand By Wallace Breem
7. The Dragonlance Series
I love war novels basically.
I plan to read these books in coming months.
1. Centurion: A Novel of Ancient Rome: By Peter W. Mitsopoulos
2. The Sword of Attila : A Novel of the Last Years of Rome By Michael Curtis Ford
3. Gods and Legions : A Novel of The Roman Empire By Michael Curtis Ford
4. Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome By Stephen Dando-Collins
5. The Virtues of War : A Novel of Alexander the Great By Steven Pressfield
6. Eagles Command By William Scarrow
7. Emperor: The Gods of War By Conn Iggulden
8. Nero's Killing Machine : The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion By Stephen Dando-Collins
9. Caesar: By Christian Meier
10. WINTER QUARTERS (FICTION): By Alfred Duggan
11. SPQR IX: The Princess and the Pirates (Spqr) : By John Maddox Roberts
12. Tides of War : By Steven Pressfield
13. Under the Eagle: A Tale of Military Adventure and Reckless Heroism with the Roman Legions by Simon Scarrow
14. When the Eagle Hunts (Hardcover) By Simon Scarrow
15. The Eagle and the Wolves by Simon Scarrow
Last edited by kyle on Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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spedius01
- Sergeant First Class - Panzer IIIL
- Posts: 354
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 3:50 pm
- Location: St Albans, Herts, U.K.
Ave guys,
Some great books, most that I would love to own, sit down and have a good read, thank you all for that.
For those of you who live on the UK/European side of the pond I'd like to bring another author/genre into the thread.
Have any of you heard of an American author called Dewey Lambdin? He mainly writes about Napoleonic Naval fiction and his books centre around a lovable scallywag named Alan Lewrie. The back cover of the first book in the series reads:-
"1780: Seventeen-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of navy discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding - rather unexpectedly - that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles of the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise..."
So far the series consists of:-
01. The King's Coat - Ballantine Books - 1998 - ISBN 0-449-00360-4 - MMP (Mass Market Paperback) (1780)
02. The French Admiral - McBooks Press - 2002 - ISBN 1-59013-021-9 - TP (Trade Paperback) (1781)
03. The King's Commission - Ballantine Books - 1996 - ISBN 0-449-22452-X - MMP (1782)
04. The King's Privateer - Ballantine Books - 1996 - ISBN 0-449-22451-1 - MMP (1783)
05. The Gun Ketch - Ballantine Books - 1996 - ISBN 0-449-22450-3 - MMP (1788)
06. H.M.S. Cockerel - Ballantine Books - 1997 - ISBN 0-449-22448-1 - MMP (1793)
07. A King's Commander - Ballantine Books - 1998 - ISBN 0-449-00022-2 - MMP (1794)
08. King's Captain - Thomas Dunne Books - 2002 - ISBN 0-312-30508-7 - TP (1795)
09. Jester's Fortune - McBooks Press - 2002 - ISBN 1-59013-034-0 - TP (1796)
10. Sea Of Grey - Thomas Dunne Books - 2003 - ISBN 0-312-32016-7 - TP (1797)
11. Havoc's Sword - Thomas Dunne Books - 2004 - ISBN 0-312-31548-1 - TP (1798)
12. The Captain's Vengeance - ? I've not got this one yet?
This highly entertaining series is well written, researched and very re-readable. If you've read or heard of Alexander Kent, Patrick O'Brien, Dudley Pope et al. you must read Dewey Lambdin.
Copies can be obtained from www.used.addall.com check there first. A search on dewey lambdin brought back 537 titles.
Enjoy!!
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
Some great books, most that I would love to own, sit down and have a good read, thank you all for that.
For those of you who live on the UK/European side of the pond I'd like to bring another author/genre into the thread.
Have any of you heard of an American author called Dewey Lambdin? He mainly writes about Napoleonic Naval fiction and his books centre around a lovable scallywag named Alan Lewrie. The back cover of the first book in the series reads:-
"1780: Seventeen-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of navy discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding - rather unexpectedly - that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles of the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise..."
So far the series consists of:-
01. The King's Coat - Ballantine Books - 1998 - ISBN 0-449-00360-4 - MMP (Mass Market Paperback) (1780)
02. The French Admiral - McBooks Press - 2002 - ISBN 1-59013-021-9 - TP (Trade Paperback) (1781)
03. The King's Commission - Ballantine Books - 1996 - ISBN 0-449-22452-X - MMP (1782)
04. The King's Privateer - Ballantine Books - 1996 - ISBN 0-449-22451-1 - MMP (1783)
05. The Gun Ketch - Ballantine Books - 1996 - ISBN 0-449-22450-3 - MMP (1788)
06. H.M.S. Cockerel - Ballantine Books - 1997 - ISBN 0-449-22448-1 - MMP (1793)
07. A King's Commander - Ballantine Books - 1998 - ISBN 0-449-00022-2 - MMP (1794)
08. King's Captain - Thomas Dunne Books - 2002 - ISBN 0-312-30508-7 - TP (1795)
09. Jester's Fortune - McBooks Press - 2002 - ISBN 1-59013-034-0 - TP (1796)
10. Sea Of Grey - Thomas Dunne Books - 2003 - ISBN 0-312-32016-7 - TP (1797)
11. Havoc's Sword - Thomas Dunne Books - 2004 - ISBN 0-312-31548-1 - TP (1798)
12. The Captain's Vengeance - ? I've not got this one yet?
This highly entertaining series is well written, researched and very re-readable. If you've read or heard of Alexander Kent, Patrick O'Brien, Dudley Pope et al. you must read Dewey Lambdin.
Copies can be obtained from www.used.addall.com check there first. A search on dewey lambdin brought back 537 titles.
Enjoy!!
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo