What are you reading?

[Landlubber]

I read Ready Player One last week by Ernest Cline. Good read. Recommended for anyone who likes 80s pop culture or has ever been involved in an MMORPG.

[Dakkar]

I read Ready Player One last week by Ernest Cline. Good read. Recommended for anyone who likes 80s pop culture or has ever been involved in an MMORPG.

I can't wait to see what Spielberg does with it. And loved that I got 95% of references. (God I'm old...)

[Landlubber]

I got most of the references. I spent about half of that decade outside of the country, so some of it I'd never heard of.

I really liked the gamer aspect of it. I've dabbled a bit in MMO games (EVE Online), so that part of it was cool. Made me want to get back into it. But alas, no time.

Plus, Joust is one of my favorite games of all time. I have it on my iPad. 

[Ruckdog]

Just finished The Aeronaught's Windlass by Jim Butcher. Really enjoyed it! This is the first of 6-9 books set in the same world, and it seems like a very interesting one at that. In the book, humanity is confined in two mile high "spires" that were built long ago by a lost group called the Builders. The surface of the planet is shrouded in mist and infested with dangerous, magical creatures, forcing humanity to travel through the sky in air ships. There was some great naval combat sequences in the book, though that was more of a side-show to the main action of the story. Recommended!

[Dakkar]

There was some great naval combat sequences in the book,

It really kinda screamed for a wargame! :-)

And a Spire-based foot-trooper skirmish game, including stats for cats. ;-)

[Ruckdog]

That would be pretty neat! The ship combat would be challenging to do justice to in a minis game, given some of the acrobatics the book describes! Could be done with some of the neat stuff Corsec makes for their Omnistand system, though...

[Landlubber]

That would be pretty neat! The ship combat would be challenging to do justice to in a minis game, given some of the acrobatics the book describes! Could be done with some of the neat stuff Corsec makes for their Omnistand system, though...

Only if every player developed a specific scream when their airships go into a dive...

I enjoyed it as well. Can't wait to see where the series goes.

[Dakkar]

Only if every player developed a specific scream when their airships go into a dive...

Mine sounds like Godzilla :-)

Dive mechanics could be one of the coolest parts of the game. And yeah, it would HAVE to have an Omnistand method for true 3D. But if you limited to 3-5 ships per side, and light plastic minis, that becomes more feasible.

[Landlubber]

Finished Salvation's Reach a couple weeks ago, latest installment in the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett.

I'm still enjoying the series, although this one seemed a little lopsided. Salvation's Reach is basically a space hulk, and was the location for the Ghosts' latest mission, but they didn't get there until about the last 70 pages of the book. Now, they were conducting a raiding action, not an all-out assault-and-hold operation, so maybe the amount of time spent on that part of story was justified.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book--and one that provided some moments of humor--is that the Tanith First gets a little help from the Adeptus Astartes for this mission. Due to a request by Gaunt (whose actions at Balhaut apparently got the attention of the Salamanders' chapter master), three of the Astartes join the Ghosts for their mission to Salvation's Reach. Their interactions with the "mere humans" are entertaining and shed a little light on the relationship between the forces of the Imperial Guard and the Adeptus Astartes. The way the Guard soldiers react to the Astartes is also revealing...many are just plain frightened of them. Understandable, given what they are.

Anyway. The next book, The Warmaster, is still apparently a couple years away from being published, unfortunately. Salvation's Reach was not, in my opinion, the best book in the series, but it's a solid entry that at least provides a different battlefield and background than the usual slogging-through-the-mud of a WW1-esque theater of operations.

I'm now halfway through the second book in the Honor Harrington series, and wondering why it took me so long to start reading these books! 

[Dakkar]

I'm now halfway through the second book in the Honor Harrington series, and wondering why it took me so long to start reading these books! 

Oh, you're in for a wild ride that doesn't slow down for many books...

I'm convinced its only the CGI expense of doing Nimitz properly that's kept HH from being a good cable series by now.

A ways back, D6G interviewed folks working on bringing HH to the big or small screen. Obviously a lot of excitement back then, but it all seems to be paper tigers so far...

[Dakkar]

My non-Audible time is so cramped lately, the only thing paper I'm reading now is a Star Trek-Green Lantern cross-over trade paperback. Seems like it could be neat.

I *really* need it to be November soon, when BABYLON'S ASHES (Expanse Book 6) comes out.

[Landlubber]

I'm now halfway through the second book in the Honor Harrington series, and wondering why it took me so long to start reading these books! 

Oh, you're in for a wild ride that doesn't slow down for many books...

I'm convinced its only the CGI expense of doing Nimitz properly that's kept HH from being a good cable series by now.

A ways back, D6G interviewed folks working on bringing HH to the big or small screen. Obviously a lot of excitement back then, but it all seems to be paper tigers so far...

Nimitz doesn't move around a whole lot (at least, not that I've read thus far), so I'm sure they could do him justice at this point. Not sure if HH would do better as a TV series or as movies. The events of the first book would, I think, make a pretty good movie, but there would have to be a decent amount of explanation up front to make people care about the characters.

[Ruckdog]

The HH movie is officially off, after the studio working on it went under a couple of years ago. I think you can still find some test animations the studio did for Nimitz on YouTube. There are on again, off again rumors of a TV show, though.

EDIT: This might be a minor spoiler, but now that you are on the second book, [spoiler]let's just say you will soon have reason to re-evaluate the observation that "Nimitz does not move around a lot." [/spoiler]

[Dakkar]

Sooner or later, space-ship movies will make a comeback. And the HH property will be waiting on someone's resale block.
Sadly, I don't think the new Trek will do anything for hard sci-fi. Only THE EXPANSE is doing the heavy lifting now.

[Landlubber]

Finished The Honor of the Queen yesterday. I enjoyed it as much as the first book, if not a little more. The tactical work Harrington and her squadron have to do in dealing with the enemy ships was pretty interesting. I especially like the idea of the "holo tank" that they have in CIC to show what's going on in their sensor radius. Very cool stuff. We have the technology now to make that work on the big or small screen, I'm certain.

Next up for me is Ghost War, the first book in the Mech Warrior: Dark Age series. I never did get into the Battle Tech game, but I really do like the concept and the fiction behind the game (what little I've read). Picked up Ghost War and the second book in the series, A Call to Arms, in a used book pile at Adepticon for $4 each.

Other thoughts the Honor Harrington book, hidden so as not to give anything away for those who haven't read the books yet:

[spoiler]Not that I don't like a good space naval engagement, but is every book going to end with Honor getting her command nearly shot out from under her??

Also, Ruckdog, you were right, Nimitz is pretty mobile.

And I was glad that McKeon survived. When Troubadour was destroyed, I thought that might be the end for him. [/spoiler]