What are you reading?

[MadDrB]

Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester

A broad but interesting bio of the Greatest Sea on the planet, starting with the geological and ranging from the ecological to the mythological.  It has been out since 2010 (reviewed here: http://www.powells.com/blog/review-a-day/simon-winchesters-well-navigated-atlantic-by-review-a-day/ ), but I checked out an audiobook version from my local library last week and I'm enjoying the experience.

[Ruckdog]

Sounds pretty interesting. I myself am reading Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. It is a pretty fascinating look at the rise of the IJN leading up to WWII!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=0870211927

[MadDrB]

That's the book I've been looking to read!  I've been interested in how fast the Japanese navy developed at the end of the 20th century, noting references in books about the British navy and how the Japanese built a navy from scratch largely based on British conventions along with some warships built in British shipyards.  Everything I've read, however, focused mostly on the years immediately prior to WWII and then the War in the Pacific.  Thanks for the link!

[Ruckdog]

No problem! This work is a pretty impressively researched and sourced one, I think you will enjoy it. Quite simply, there is nothing else like it in the English language (that is, this is the first major work to address the subject matter it is discussing). I was first exposed to it through excerpts during a Professional Military Education class I took last  year, and now I am circling around to read the whole book. It is a little difficult to track down a copy to purchase, though it might be in the local library system.

[Landlubber]

Not currently reading anything military history-related (for a change).

I'm about 3/4 through Sky Walking:  An Astronaut's Memoir, by Tom Jones, who flew as a science mission specialist on 4 space shuttle missions (twice on Endeavour, once on Columbia, once on Discovery).  I've had the book for a few years, but was moved to read it by Discovery's arrival at the Udvar Hazy center a couple of weeks ago.

Pretty good read, talks about the nuts and bolts of astronaut training and what it's like to live/work on the space shuttle for 2 weeks.  I'd recommend it if you're interested in human spaceflight.

[Camthalion]

Just started reading The Coast Watchers by Patrick Lindsay.  The small band that stayed on the islands after the Japanese invaded and reported on air and naval movements.

[Landlubber]

Camthalion, that sounds interesting.  Haven't looked the book up...whose coast are they watching?

I'm currently reading the third book in the "Temeraire" series, by Naomi Novik.  Historical, Napoleanic-era fiction....with dragons.  Seriously.  Definitely recommend the books (so far), they're pretty interesting.  And different.

A few months ago, I read "Crimea" by Trevor Royle, about the Crimean War.  I couldn't help but think about DW while I was reading, as the main players were the Russians, British, French, and Ottomans.  I'd recommend it if you're looking for a good introduction to that conflict.

[Camthalion]

Camthalion, that sounds interesting.  Haven't looked the book up...whose coast are they watching?

They were stationed on many of the island groups that the Japanese had invaded, all around the New Guinea area, quite a few at Guadalcanal. 
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/patrick-lindsay/the-coast-watchers-the-men-behind-enemy-lines-who-saved-the-pacific-9781742753126.aspx

[Landlubber]

Ah, ok.  I thought that topic sounded familiar.  Looks pretty interesting.  I'll have to add it to my never-ending reading list.

I've been fascinated with the Pacific theatre of WW2 since I was a kid.  Read "30 Seconds over Tokyo" when I was 9-- two years before I delved into Lord of the Rings.  Most kids at that age were staying up late with a flashlight reading comic books; I was too, except I was reading about the carrier war in the Pacific.

I read Costello's "The Pacific War" last year; good, but exhaustive, book on that theatre.  Written back in the 80s, I think.

[MadDrB]

I'm currently reading the third book in the "Temeraire" series, by Naomi Novik.  Historical, Napoleanic-era fiction....with dragons.  Seriously.  Definitely recommend the books (so far), they're pretty interesting.  And different.

A few months ago, I read "Crimea" by Trevor Royle, about the Crimean War.  I couldn't help but think about DW while I was reading, as the main players were the Russians, British, French, and Ottomans.  I'd recommend it if you're looking for a good introduction to that conflict.

I enjoyed the Temeraire books as well; it definitely fired up my passion for playing Uncharted Seas featuring both sailing ships with black powder cannon broadsides AND flying dragons.  It's too bad you're leaving the area, Landlubber, because I'm beginning to realize we share more in common when it comes to reading and gaming than just Dystopian Wars.  And I had wanted to play a game of Empire of the Sun against you at some point.  Also, Ruckdog is returning!

"Crimea" was a good history; more recently I read Trevor Royle's book on the English Civil War; lots of good detail, but both very long books. 

But as for books on proper naval topics, I finally picked up "Six Frigates" by Ian W. Toll.  I'm enjoying a renewed interest in late 18th century North American history, in part because I have been neglecting my model ships to paint 1/72 scale figures for games of Muskets & Tomahawks.  But a book about the genesis of the American navy sort of fits into the era....

[Landlubber]

Well, I'm not quite gone yet--we may yet be able to get in a game. 

I've been a military history buff most of my life, but I'm pretty all-over-the map with my subjects.  It does seem, however, that here recently I've been leaning more towards late 19th century/early 20th century warfare.  Read G.J. Meyer's "A World Undone" last year, about WW1--GREAT book if you're interested in the topic.

Glad to hear Ruckdog's coming back!  I promise you guys I'll carry the Man Battlestations and DW flags out to Colorado with me...hopefully I'll find some cool people to play with out there.  Will spread the word about the forum once I get there, and I'll still keep up with it--when I'm not out hiking in the Rockies, that is!

[MadDrB]

Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
 
I picked this up on CD (audiobook) on sale for something like five bucks, and I ended up enjoying it.  The novel starts with an advanced human galactic empire on the brink of extinction in the face of an ominous spacefaring race on a universal mission of ultimate genocide.  The final human escape plan involves sending a secret colony fleet to a planet where advanced technology is banned, the colonist's minds are reprogrammed to believe in a god prohibiting technology, and humanity begins to flourish on a new planet in a quasi-medieval level of technology (apparently it was the radiation caused by advanced tech which attracted the genocidal aliens).  So, a good part of the novel actually features epic naval battles between sailing galleon fleets.  A little sci-fi and a little traditional nautical fiction all together in one book.

[Ruckdog]

Sounds interesting! I haven't read much of Weber outside the HH series.

[Landlubber]

Just started re-reading Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding.  Read it for the first time last year.  Great steampunk-ish story.  Hard to describe it exactly--but it has airships!  Some similarities to Firefly.  Good action, decent character development, and a healthy dose of (British) humor.  There are three books that follow this story arc, and they're all fairly stand-alone, but if you read them I recommend reading in the order they were published.  In order, they are Retribution Falls, The Black Lung Captain, and The Iron Jackal.  Forthcoming in 2013/2014 is The Ace of Skulls, which will be the last in this arc.  Unfortunately only the first two are available in the U.S., but the third should be available soon.

Here's the link to the first one:  http://www.amazon.com/Retribution-Falls-Chris-Wooding/dp/0345522516/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354500236&sr=1-1&keywords=retribution+falls

I'd recommend them--they're a good read.

[Landlubber]

Good grief, with all the readers on this forum. I can't believe this thread has gone over two years without an update. Shame on all of us! 

My recent foray into Firestorm Armada has got me thinking about good spaceship combat books, which made me realize that I need to re-read the first Honor Harrington book so I can jump into that series. It's been recommended to me by many people.

It also got me thinking about a book I read last year that this group might enjoy. It's called Templar One, and it is set in the EVE Online universe.

Now I know what you're thinking: no, you don't have to be familiar with EVE to understand or enjoy this book. I played EVE once upon a time, so I'm familiar with the various nations and ships mentioned, but it's not necessary to have that knowledge for this book. The author does a great job of explaining things enough that you get a sense of what everything is, but you don't get overwhelmed.

The book centers around the Templar project: basically, highly-skilled ground troops that have clones, so they can jump right back into battle if killed. This technology is, of course, already available to the Capsuleers, the augmented humans who pilot the starships in the EVE universe. The book mostly concerns a soldier code-named Templar One, and his training and deployment on the battlefield by the Amarr Empire (the Amarr are one of the main factions in EVE). But on a broader level, it involves the political and military efforts of the Caldari State, the Minmatar Republic, the Gallente Federation (the other main factions in EVE), the CONCORD police force, and one of the main pirate factions in EVE to stop the Amarr from fielding this technology, or to steal it for themselves. There is political intrigue, espionage, ground combat, and of course some great space battles, especially at the book's climax.

This book was written in conjunction with the development/release of DUST 514, the ground combat game set in the EVE universe. The game is playable solely on the Playstation, but it connects with the EVE computer game, and players can affect things in both games simultaneously (for instance, you can call down orbital strikes in DUST 514 from ships in orbit, piloted by players who are currently online playing EVE).

Books based on video games can be hit-or-miss, but this one is definitely a hit. Even if you are not a fan of EVE, or if you've never played, this is a darn good book.