Reading in December 2011

**Seak** · December 7th, 2011, 04:19 PM

Started reading This Immortal by Zelazny and actually having a bit of a hard time getting into it. I loved his Amber series, but I just need to forge ahead on this one. Anyone else have this problem?

**chitman13** · December 8th, 2011, 10:32 AM

Just finished Ashes of Victory by David Weber. Argh! What a completely frustrating ending to the book! Two pretty massive cliffhangers with huge implications for the future of the Honorverse. I am unbelievably thankful that I've got further books in the setting to read and not having to wait for them to be published. I am loving this series.

**suciul** · December 8th, 2011, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by chitman13

Just finished Ashes of Victory by David Weber. Argh! What a completely frustrating ending to the book! Two pretty massive cliffhangers with huge implications for the future of the Honorverse. I am unbelievably thankful that I've got further books in the setting to read and not having to wait for them to be published. I am loving this series.

I would not really call the ending cliffhanger as the main points are kind of finalized though I agree the ending is a little abrupt and none is spelled out in detail but WoH will deal with all:

AOV ending spoilers:

Spoiler:

on Haven the navy overthrows CPS and Thomas Theisman personally shoots Saint Just rather than dragging Haven through another show trial, while on Manticore the High Ridge government accepted an armistice with Haven so the war is ended at least for now

The more frustrating part for me was the "nightfall" thingy which is just mentioned despite its extreme importance
AOV spoiler

Spoiler:

the showdown between CPS and Esther McQueen that ended with Pierre dead, the Octagon vaporized and Saint Just in quite unwilling command of CPS and hence of the PRH regime and who soon made his final mistake of appointing Thomas Theisman as the navy commander

Luckily that was soon expanded in the superb novella Nightfall in the 3rd anthology.

Edit: and as an edit, you cannot say that the last phrase of AoV is not a memorable one; I still think that the last phrase of Mission of Honor and especially of At All Costs are even more memorable and of course there is the last phrase of Storm from the Shadows that ranks there though in a different way as you will discover, but DW got this knack of ending the last Honorverse novels on memorable notes at the price of spelling things in detail which is left for the next book; even the seemingly quieter ending of War of Honor with an "I go to bed" is great too and I see the next book with another possibility of an awesome last phrase...

Last lines with occasional spoilers that i edited a little so they are not really major beyond the one for AoV.

Spoiler:

AOV: "Good-bye, Citizen Chairman."

WoH: "You might want to think about that," she told them as her chair floated towards the door. "But for now, I'm going to bed."

AAC: "I'll guard the Phoenix for you, I promise. Goodbye. I love you"

StfS: "And in about five weeks, the Manties are going to get a late Christmas present they'll never forget."

MoH: "She extended her hand across the table. **** took it"

**chitman13** · December 8th, 2011, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by suciul

I would not really call the ending cliffhanger as the main points are kind of finalized though I agree the ending is a little abrupt and none is spelled out in detail but WoH will deal with all

Spoiler:

I think it was more the fact that after 9 books of build up and action in the war it just, well, ended. Lots of things put in place, but I've no idea where they're going. I'll definitely be reading Nightfall along with the others you recommended, can't get enough of the Honorverse at the moment

**Colonel Worf** · December 8th, 2011, 08:08 PM

I'm almost done with The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. It's alright.

**suciul** · December 8th, 2011, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by chitman13

Spoiler:

I think it was more the fact that after 9 books of build up and action in the war it just, well, ended. Lots of things put in place, but I've no idea where they're going. I'll definitely be reading Nightfall along with the others you recommended, can't get enough of the Honorverse at the moment

for now and that is not a real spoiler as the title of the next book (War of Honor) makes it quite clear...

Edit: to elaborate a little on Nightfall - at the time when AoV was published almost everyone that comments of the Bar criticized him a lot for not including the story in the novel as it would have been much more powerful were we not to know how it ends which of course is only what we are told in AoV; DW answered that as he thought the point of AoV were operations Buttercup and Hassan and their consequences, he thought Nightfall would sidetrack the flow but as AoV was essentially the first big picture space opera novel he wrote, it was a learning experience for him too and in retrospect he regretted not including Nightfall in the body of the novel.

And for example in At All Costs there is an operation called Rat Poison that is narratively somewhat like Nightfall though of course it is different in place, actors, what happens etc and this time sure enough DW wrote it in the novel interrupting a little the main flow, but worth it nonetheless...

**Westsiyeed** · December 8th, 2011, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by Colonel Worf

I'm almost done with The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. It's alright.

I thought the same. After Spin though, I've found that most of his other novels aren't up to the same standard. I did really like Bios though, and his short story collection The Perseids was also very good.

**Rob B** · December 9th, 2011, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Westsiyeed

Originally Posted by Colonel Worf

I'm almost done with The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. It's alright.

I thought the same. After Spin though, I've found that most of his other novels aren't up to the same standard. I did really like Bios though, and his short story collection The Perseids was also very good.

Have either of you read Julian Comstock? Incredible novel, one of my favorites the year it was published. Different than his usual Hard SF fare and shows he can handle character and softer sciences very well.

**chitman13** · December 9th, 2011, 09:26 AM

Decided that I'm going to just admit defeat about trying to read any 2011 releases before the end of the year. The Honorverse has me hooked. As per Suciul's suggestions I'm going to go on to some short stories before the next Honor book, and will start with From the Highlands then Nightfall, both from Changer of Worlds. Looking forward to read some shorter stuff from the Honorverse

**suciul** · December 9th, 2011, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by Rob B

Have either of you read Julian Comstock? Incredible novel, one of my favorites the year it was published. Different than his usual Hard SF fare and shows he can handle character and softer sciences very well.

Loved Julian too and I would also strongly recommend Vortex the conclusion to the Spin trilogy; Axis was a middle volume and it showed though it was good enough, but Vortex is just a great ending to the trilogy and I am not sure why it fell off the radar

For a different RCW, try his Perseids collection which is just wonderful while Blind lake is another favorite of mine

**Westsiyeed** · December 9th, 2011, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Rob B

Have either of you read Julian Comstock? Incredible novel, one of my favorites the year it was published. Different than his usual Hard SF fare and shows he can handle character and softer sciences very well.

Yeah I did like Julian Comstock as well, probably next favourite after the ones mentioned. It was quite different from his usual novels, but this was a good thing.

I guess for me Spin was the first RCW book I read, so expectations were high for his other novels. I've also found some of his ideas tend to repeat themselves in his earlier novels.

That said, I'm looking forward to his next novel Burning Paradise, apparently "it takes place in an alternative present day in which the 20th century was a peaceful, prosperous and benevolent time for the world . . . for all the wrong reasons."

**Colonel Worf** · December 9th, 2011, 08:05 PM

Okay, I'm going into a massive spoiler heavy rant on The Chronoliths, so... if anyone is interested in reading the novel, turn away know. I'm about to ruin what little plot this novel has.

A mysterious structure appears in Thailand. A computer programmer and his family are living there, and our computer nerd Scott just happens to be near this giant obelisk when it lands. He and a buddy are arrested for getting to close to. The government is suspicious of them. Meanwhile, his daughter gets a serious ear infection and has to go to the hospital. His wife can't get in touch with him. SHE LEAVES THE COUNTRY AND DIVORCES HIM. What???? The mysterious artifacts are found to be coming from the future and are monuments of battles won by a faction or a man called Kuin. This never amounts to anything.

Poorly plotted, uninteresting and underdeveloped characters, unneccessary violence towards women, and an unsatisfying ending. An interesting premise is squandered. The first 30 pages are great, but Wilson quickly has no idea where he's going.

Originally Posted by Rob B

Have either of you read Julian Comstock? Incredible novel, one of my favorites the year it was published. Different than his usual Hard SF fare and shows he can handle character and softer sciences very well.

No, but It's on my shortlist along with Spin, Axis, Vortex, and Blind Lake. I read Darwinia about 10 years ago and liked it ok as well. I keep wanting to read something by him that is outstanding, so I'm going to keep trying. It's like he has some great ideas but doesn't really get them to translate into novels very well.

**algernoninc** · December 10th, 2011, 06:12 AM

just finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Definitely one of my favorites this year. The whole virtual reality game setting had me half of the time ready to jump around and boast : I have played this ! I've seen this movie 5 times! I have all the albums of this band! . The other half I got really worried : I can't possibly know all these references! I need to stop sitting in front of a computer and get out in the sunshine! And meet "real" people!

great story for a debut author. reminded me of the impact of the first cyber punk novels by Gibson I read back in the early 90's.

**odo** · December 10th, 2011, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by algernoninc

just finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Definitely one of my favorites this year. The whole virtual reality game setting had me half of the time ready to jump around and boast : I have played this ! I've seen this movie 5 times! I have all the albums of this band! . The other half I got really worried : I can't possibly know all these references! I need to stop sitting in front of a computer and get out in the sunshine! And meet "real" people!

great story for a debut author. reminded me of the impact of the first cyber punk novels by Gibson I read back in the early 90's.

I also finished Ready Player One today. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun reading a book.

**chitman13** · December 12th, 2011, 02:42 AM

Turns out I didn't put any of the Honorverse collections on my kindle so I started reading Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey last night. Very good first few chapters and it's certainly got me interested in it. I get the impression from the first chapter that there may be a horror element to the novel, but not got far enough to say for sure yet.