roydo
in memoriam - 1965-2024
Portishead author publishes book on maritime disaster
A Portishead writer has seen the work of his seventh book come to fruition.
@Old Blue 2 Thought you might be interested in this.
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The GOT Book Club
- Thread starter chicoazul
- Start date
@Old Blue 2 Thought you might be interested in this.
The auri book is an ok read but doesn't fill the gap of the 3rd book.
I may go to a Sanderson series once I'm done with these.
Terrarian
Player Valuation: £50m
I've just seen that Sanderson has completed The Wheel of time for Williams, interesting.
Old Blue 2
Player Valuation: £35m
Good to see that a little known event is being brought to the attention of the public.Portishead author publishes book on maritime disaster
A Portishead writer has seen the work of his seventh book come to fruition.www.northsomersettimes.co.uk
@Old Blue 2 Thought you might be interested in this.
I've just got to the first book he wrote in the series and he's done a very good job imo.
He was definitely a fan before taking over and understands the characters. A huge undertaking to take over someone else's epic 11 books into the series.
Terrarian
Player Valuation: £50m
Yeah must have been. He's risked his own reputation as well. Glad to hear its good.
Do you recommend wheel of time for future reading for me?
random
Player Valuation: £15m
Into The Stars by James Rosone
Blurb
A deep space reconnaissance probe discovers a new Earth-like planet twelve light-years from Earth’s sun. The probe also finds something unusual, something…unnerving. A new mission is created, a space fleet is formed, and humanity embarks on unraveling the greatest mystery of all—the origins of life itself.
Can the factions of Earth remain united, or will old rivalries and animosities destroy the fragile peace in the face of this terrifying existential threat?
Gets a very good score on Goodreads, not so much on Amazon. The first in an anticipated series of five books. Starts off a little slow, jumps around a few characters and at times I was trying to figure out who the main protagonist was. Nothing wrong with the storytelling, once the characters and the scenario are developed enough, the story takes off in a slightly different direction to what I expected.
Some characters are introduced and then you don't read about them until the end of the book, so my guess is that there is a plan to get them more involved in the remaining books in the series.
I felt that the last 20% of this book was very rushed and could have done with some fleshing out, which would have improved things a lot, instead, the timeline of the story jumps quite a lot very quickly, missing an opportunity in my opinion.
I read some of the reviews to prepare this post and having given the other reviews some thought, I would downgrade the book from the excellent score I originally wanted to give it and instead score it just above average.
If you do get the book and enjoy it, then don't read any reviews, just get your hands on the next one in the series
Reviews
1. The fact that certain things are needed to set up the premise is handled fairly well, and the enemies are at home and elsewhere as we move forwards.
The characters aren't cardboard cut-outs, and there is growth and the impact of people's experience, lack of experience, and prejudices or ambition do start to impact the activities, and that's as it should be. We'd be a lot further along, or a lot more dead, if people weren't people!
The pacing works well, and, being a trilogy, we're left wanting more. But they don't fall into the trap of the first book having nothing big happening, just preparation and promises, the pay off starts in the last third, but there's room for lots more interesting and exciting adventures and discoveries in books 2 and 3
2. Overall I enjoyed this book enough to read the next in series. The plot is a fairly standard first contact yarn, and oh no the aliens are mean and technologically advanced... My main concern with the book is structure and pacing; the first several chapters jump forward in time, with little apparent value to the plot. Later on time does not flow well, the next chapter could be set 2 seconds, 2 months or 2 years from the end of the current one and it’s not always clear how long has passed.
3. I almost didn't finish this book, but first, let me say how impressed I was with the believability of the military scenes, and of the cooperation between the various officers who took command of the situation and devised solutions to the problems as they arose in coping with the two races they discovered in the star system they were sent to explore. There was just enough personal information offered about each of the main characters that give you a sense of the type of person filling that role in the book to make you cheer the actions they take in the story.
4. I enjoyed the book and will read the next in the series when it becomes available. It was not a difficult plot to follow. The combatants fall into the us, humans, the good guys who are making first attempts to go beyond the Sol system; them, the aliens, the bad guys who have a huge galactic empire. There are few political subtlities, especially when the discovery of intelligent, militaristic aliens is made public.
I was very selective in putting those reviews up, as some other reviews point out flaws in the book that I hadn't really thought about until they were highlighted.
Price
Free on Kindle unlimited, £14 for the paperback.
Very good value for free, not worth the £14
Despite other reviews adjusting my thoughts on this book I will still be giving number two in the series a go.
Blurb
A deep space reconnaissance probe discovers a new Earth-like planet twelve light-years from Earth’s sun. The probe also finds something unusual, something…unnerving. A new mission is created, a space fleet is formed, and humanity embarks on unraveling the greatest mystery of all—the origins of life itself.
Can the factions of Earth remain united, or will old rivalries and animosities destroy the fragile peace in the face of this terrifying existential threat?
Gets a very good score on Goodreads, not so much on Amazon. The first in an anticipated series of five books. Starts off a little slow, jumps around a few characters and at times I was trying to figure out who the main protagonist was. Nothing wrong with the storytelling, once the characters and the scenario are developed enough, the story takes off in a slightly different direction to what I expected.
Some characters are introduced and then you don't read about them until the end of the book, so my guess is that there is a plan to get them more involved in the remaining books in the series.
I felt that the last 20% of this book was very rushed and could have done with some fleshing out, which would have improved things a lot, instead, the timeline of the story jumps quite a lot very quickly, missing an opportunity in my opinion.
I read some of the reviews to prepare this post and having given the other reviews some thought, I would downgrade the book from the excellent score I originally wanted to give it and instead score it just above average.
If you do get the book and enjoy it, then don't read any reviews, just get your hands on the next one in the series
Reviews
1. The fact that certain things are needed to set up the premise is handled fairly well, and the enemies are at home and elsewhere as we move forwards.
The characters aren't cardboard cut-outs, and there is growth and the impact of people's experience, lack of experience, and prejudices or ambition do start to impact the activities, and that's as it should be. We'd be a lot further along, or a lot more dead, if people weren't people!
The pacing works well, and, being a trilogy, we're left wanting more. But they don't fall into the trap of the first book having nothing big happening, just preparation and promises, the pay off starts in the last third, but there's room for lots more interesting and exciting adventures and discoveries in books 2 and 3
2. Overall I enjoyed this book enough to read the next in series. The plot is a fairly standard first contact yarn, and oh no the aliens are mean and technologically advanced... My main concern with the book is structure and pacing; the first several chapters jump forward in time, with little apparent value to the plot. Later on time does not flow well, the next chapter could be set 2 seconds, 2 months or 2 years from the end of the current one and it’s not always clear how long has passed.
3. I almost didn't finish this book, but first, let me say how impressed I was with the believability of the military scenes, and of the cooperation between the various officers who took command of the situation and devised solutions to the problems as they arose in coping with the two races they discovered in the star system they were sent to explore. There was just enough personal information offered about each of the main characters that give you a sense of the type of person filling that role in the book to make you cheer the actions they take in the story.
4. I enjoyed the book and will read the next in the series when it becomes available. It was not a difficult plot to follow. The combatants fall into the us, humans, the good guys who are making first attempts to go beyond the Sol system; them, the aliens, the bad guys who have a huge galactic empire. There are few political subtlities, especially when the discovery of intelligent, militaristic aliens is made public.
I was very selective in putting those reviews up, as some other reviews point out flaws in the book that I hadn't really thought about until they were highlighted.
Price
Free on Kindle unlimited, £14 for the paperback.
Very good value for free, not worth the £14
Despite other reviews adjusting my thoughts on this book I will still be giving number two in the series a go.
One of the best war books I’ve read - With the Old Breed ( E.B. Sledge )
The memoirs of an American marine during the Pacific campaign against the Japanese.
The difference with this book and many like it, is it’s not ghost written. The author ( Sledge ) was at university and dropped out to join the marines as a private, rather than as an officer and is obviously a bright fella, as well as a very tough one too.
HBO dramatised this book with the series - the Pacific.
Very well written and tells it as it was, which is pretty horrific.
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Nice one. I’m going to check this out. My grandfather was a Marine who saw action in the Pacific
random
Player Valuation: £15m
Rare Earth by Kurt Allen
Blurb
A lost mining crew, 400 million miles from Earth. A retired miner journeys to find out why.
“There’s something out there…”
Waldo Packwood has had a rough time of things lately. He’s lost his job, his friends, and finally his family. At 50 years old, he’s living alone in a small apartment wondering what’s happened to his life. He’s unexpectedly asked to travel to Hector 1, a lone asteroid in the Jupiter Trojans, to investigate the missing crew.
“That’s just it, Waldo,” sighed the director, “we don’t know what happened.”
Decent scores on Goodreads and Amazon. Blurb made this one look quite interesting to make me want to try it out. Reasonable enough writing style and fairly interesting characters. One thing that did stick out was the seriousness of spacewalking, whereas other books sort of gloss over going outside, this one did actually make a big deal out of it. Fairly average for the first 30% of the book, not that engrossing but not bad enough to give up on it. At the 50% stage, it got very good and continued all the way up to the 90% mark, when the 'big reveal' happened. Although feasible it didn't really do anything for me and just highlighted some plot holes.
However, that said it was still an enjoyable read and on my personal rating score this would firmly be in the middle, not terrible but not a re-read either.
Reviews
1. This one turned out to be better than I expected. When I started it, I thought, "Oh great, yet another asteroid mining adventure...", but it turned out to be much more. I won't say more about that as I don't want to spoil anything. I enjoyed the narrative style the author used when the protagonist explained the way things worked. It was like I have sitting in a bar having a beer with the guy.
2. I had almost given up on finding a good science fiction read when I stumbled on this. Very imaginative, but the details are what make this work shine. Like the construction of space suit zippers. How asteroid mining works. That stuff. My only complaint is that the ending seems weak, but on further reflection, perhaps it is just the springboard into the sequel, for which I’ll be keeping an eye out.
3. Rare Earth, for being a debut novel, is surprisingly good, even more so considering that it is a near-future sci-fi book - normally more difficult to handle than far-future stories. The writing is quite solid, not showing any of the typical juvenile flaws of debut books; there’s some good science in it, plus it offers quite an original setting and world-building in support to its plot, with enough details to make it very plausible.
Actually, this is also the flip-side of the book, which at times loses itself in excruciatingly lengthy and detailed descriptions of some marginal actions; or in some personal reflections about life; or in various anecdotes about asteroids mining; or in extensive descriptions of technical aspects of spacecraft and their accessories.
4. It starts slowly, and I was well into the book (chapters 28-29) before developing a desire to see it through to the end. In the beginning there is too much exposition of science tech, and space travel issues. Very wordy, providing background, and not all that interesting, actually.
Probably review number 3. matches my thoughts the most
Price
Free on kindle unlimited, £3 to buy the ebook, which in my opinion is decent for some sci-fi to pass a little bit of your time.
Blurb
A lost mining crew, 400 million miles from Earth. A retired miner journeys to find out why.
“There’s something out there…”
Waldo Packwood has had a rough time of things lately. He’s lost his job, his friends, and finally his family. At 50 years old, he’s living alone in a small apartment wondering what’s happened to his life. He’s unexpectedly asked to travel to Hector 1, a lone asteroid in the Jupiter Trojans, to investigate the missing crew.
“That’s just it, Waldo,” sighed the director, “we don’t know what happened.”
Decent scores on Goodreads and Amazon. Blurb made this one look quite interesting to make me want to try it out. Reasonable enough writing style and fairly interesting characters. One thing that did stick out was the seriousness of spacewalking, whereas other books sort of gloss over going outside, this one did actually make a big deal out of it. Fairly average for the first 30% of the book, not that engrossing but not bad enough to give up on it. At the 50% stage, it got very good and continued all the way up to the 90% mark, when the 'big reveal' happened. Although feasible it didn't really do anything for me and just highlighted some plot holes.
However, that said it was still an enjoyable read and on my personal rating score this would firmly be in the middle, not terrible but not a re-read either.
Reviews
1. This one turned out to be better than I expected. When I started it, I thought, "Oh great, yet another asteroid mining adventure...", but it turned out to be much more. I won't say more about that as I don't want to spoil anything. I enjoyed the narrative style the author used when the protagonist explained the way things worked. It was like I have sitting in a bar having a beer with the guy.
2. I had almost given up on finding a good science fiction read when I stumbled on this. Very imaginative, but the details are what make this work shine. Like the construction of space suit zippers. How asteroid mining works. That stuff. My only complaint is that the ending seems weak, but on further reflection, perhaps it is just the springboard into the sequel, for which I’ll be keeping an eye out.
3. Rare Earth, for being a debut novel, is surprisingly good, even more so considering that it is a near-future sci-fi book - normally more difficult to handle than far-future stories. The writing is quite solid, not showing any of the typical juvenile flaws of debut books; there’s some good science in it, plus it offers quite an original setting and world-building in support to its plot, with enough details to make it very plausible.
Actually, this is also the flip-side of the book, which at times loses itself in excruciatingly lengthy and detailed descriptions of some marginal actions; or in some personal reflections about life; or in various anecdotes about asteroids mining; or in extensive descriptions of technical aspects of spacecraft and their accessories.
4. It starts slowly, and I was well into the book (chapters 28-29) before developing a desire to see it through to the end. In the beginning there is too much exposition of science tech, and space travel issues. Very wordy, providing background, and not all that interesting, actually.
Probably review number 3. matches my thoughts the most
Price
Free on kindle unlimited, £3 to buy the ebook, which in my opinion is decent for some sci-fi to pass a little bit of your time.
Just rereading Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
Two survivors of a stricken spaceship settle on a new planet. Generations later, their inbred descendants are reverting to hunter-gatherer tribes as the legends about their forefathers and Earth become more and more corrupted.
Two more books in the trilogy (connected but each set later in time). Well worth a look (was mentioned back in 2017 in this thread but thought it deserved a bump). Hardly sci-fi, apart from the setting. Lots of thought-provoking stuff about society and how we create our own myths through all the books.
Two survivors of a stricken spaceship settle on a new planet. Generations later, their inbred descendants are reverting to hunter-gatherer tribes as the legends about their forefathers and Earth become more and more corrupted.
Two more books in the trilogy (connected but each set later in time). Well worth a look (was mentioned back in 2017 in this thread but thought it deserved a bump). Hardly sci-fi, apart from the setting. Lots of thought-provoking stuff about society and how we create our own myths through all the books.
Brownie
Player Valuation: £70m
Stormlight Archive is ace. Some of his best characters IMO.
I'm looking for a historical series (like medieval or earlier) if anyone has any recommendations.
Anything by Bernard Cornwell, if you haven't read them before. (Warlord Chronicles trilogy or the Last Kingdom books set in Alfred's time.) Or maybe Conn Iggulden's Genghis Khan series?
Slowly going through the Robert Fabbri Vespasian books, which are quite readable (if nothing stunning) if you are into the Romans.
Walter Ego
Player Valuation: £30m
I’m half way through the brothers karamazov by Dostoyevsky. Possibly the most boring book I’ve ever read.