Karlstar's (Jim's) Reading for 2020 Part 3

Fall 2020 is here and time for a new thread!

Here's what I'm reading in 2020.
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Core by Peter V. Brett
Indomitable by Terry Brooks
Misspent Youth by Peter F. Hamilton
Empire Games by Charles Stross
The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan
The Fall of Shannara: The Black Elfstone by Terry Brooks
The Pioneers by David McCullough
Jimmy the Hand, by Raymond E. Feist and S.M. Stirling

March Reading plans
I think it is time to re-read the Galactic Milieu trilogy while I am waiting for To Kill a Mockingbird to arrive from ABE.
Jack the Bodiless by Julian May
Armageddon Rag by George R. R. Martin (Valentine's Day gift)
Darkwalker on Moonshae by Doug Niles
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Diamond Mask, by Julian May
Magnificat by Julian May
Black Tide Rising by John Ringo and Gary Poole (short story collection)

April Reading plans
Armageddon Rag (started but not finished in March)
Port of Shadows by Glen Cook
The Traders War by Charles Stross (started, set down)
Sundiver by David Brin (re-read)
King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist

May Reading plans
Legend by David Gemmell (re-re-read)
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia McKillip

June Reading plans
The Traders' War by Charles Stross, finally finished
Blackwing by Ed McDonald
Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher

July Reading
Line of Polity by Neal Asher
Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein
Cursor's Fury, Codex Alera book 3, by Jim Butcher
Me 'n God in the Coffee Shop by Rene Donovan
The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough

August Reading
Insurrection by David Weber and Steve White
Crusade by David Weber and Steve White - abandoned, not reading
The Bell At Sealy Head by Patricia McKillip
The Legend of Drizzt: Homeland graphic novel
Warship by Joshua Dalzelle
20,000 Leagues under the Sea(s) by Jules Verne
Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams
Prador Moon by Neal Asher

September Reading
Prador Moon by Neal Asher
The Demon Awakens by R. A. Salvatore
The Demon Spirit by R.A. Salvatore
The Demon Apostle by R.A. Salvatore
Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

October Reading
Mirror Dance by Lois Bujold
Mercury's Bane by Nick Webb
Moonsinger by Andre Norton
Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (still working my way through it)
The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber
The Stand by Stephen King (started)

November reading
Washington: A Life (continued from October)
Besieged by Kevin Hearne (kind of sort of Iron Druid book 9, but not really)
Scourged by Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid actual book 9)
Moonsinger's Quest by Andre Norton
Space 2069 (Early Reviewers)
Berserkers Planet by Fred Saberhagen
The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
The First Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen

December Reading
The Second Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen
The Third Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen
Crossroads by Barbara Hambly
Grant by Ron Chernow

I use a 1 to 10 rating system because I started rating books on the internet long before LT and because I like the additional granularity. Here's my rating scale explained. Checking my LT books, the 8 ratings stop right around book 500, so I'm consistent there, but I only have about 70 books rated 9 stars or higher, so either I'm being too tough or there just aren't that many 9 or 10 star books. I would guess my most common rating is 6, I like most of what I read.

1 - So bad, I couldn't finish it. DO NOT READ!!!
2 - Could have finished, but didn't. Do not read. This one means I made a conscious choice not to finish, usually about halfway through the book. Something is seriously wrong here.
3 - Finished it, but had to force myself. Not recommended, if you're a complete-ist and read it, you'll regret it.
4 - Finished it, but really didn't like it. Not recommended unless you have to read everything.
5 - Decent book, recommended if you have spare time and need something to read.
6 - Good book, I enjoyed it, and would recommend it.
7 - Good book, recommended for everyone. I may have read it more than once, and would consider buying the hardcover edition.
8 - Great book, I would put it in the Top 500 of all time. Read more than once, I probably have the hardcover.
9 - Great book, top 100 all time. Read more than once, if I don't have the hardcover edition, I want one!
10 - All-time great book, top 50 material. Read more than twice, I probably have more than one copy/edition.

My ratings also include the Slogging Through the Mud (STTM) rating/index. This goes back to one of Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion books where she spends WAY too much time actually describing how the army spent days slogging through the mud. If there is a lot of travel in the book and too much time describing the traveling, the STTM rating will be high.

I'm a little behind on reviews again.

The Demon Awakens by R. A. Salvatore
Rating: 6 out of 10
STTM: 3 - only a little necessary travel

These books first came out in the late 1990's. While unpacking my books for this latest move, they caught my eye and I decided to read them again, to give my budget a break from buying new books and give myself a break from reading space opera.

I remember when these books first came out, I was excited to read a new series by Salvatore that was not constrained to the shared game world of his Drizzt books. While the Drizzt books are great, I was looking forward to a change.

This book throws you right into the action immediately, then pauses a bit to set things up. Avelyn Desbris is a new monk at a great abbey of the Abellican Church, a church he will find is more corrupt on the inside than it appears on the outside, one that cares very little for the followers, just for the church itself. Not terribly original. Out in the wilderness of the Timberlands, Elbryan Wyndon and Jillesponie Ault are 13 year old teens, anxious to take on adult roles and just about to move from friends to more than friends. Their lives are changed when an army of goblins, powries/red caps (his form of dwarves) and giants destroys their village, separating them and setting them both on the path to be warriors, in very different ways.

Besides creating his own world of Corona to set the book, Salvatore also created his own magic system. Since this was printed in 1997, I've read quite a few novels with similar systems, where are particular item, plus skill with manipulating the item, produces a specific result. In this case, the items are specially prepared semi-precious and precious stones that fall from the sky every 170 years. These specially prepared stones each produce a small range of specific effects - lightning from graphite (from the old AD&D rules), fire from rubies, levitation from malachite, etc. The stones are very rare and guarded jealously by the Abellican church.

The rest of the book is standard sword and sorcery adventure, as the title creature, a demon, has returned to organize the monsters to attack the humans of the Timberlands and the country of Honce-the-Bear. There are a few more fey creatures, humans both ally and enemy and a few more heroes involved, but mostly this revolves around Elbryan and Jillesponie/Pony.

Since this series is so tightly connected, I thought I'd save time and review the next two books together.

The Demon Spirit and The Demon Apostle by R. A. Salvatore, books 2 and 3 in the DemonWars trilogy.
STTM: 2 - no journeys here, though some repeated travelling
Rating: 5 out of 10

The story picks up here immediately after the end of book one. Without giving away the events of book one too much, the battles against the goblins, powries and giants continues in the Timberlands. The demon that is the driving force behind the invasion is still causing problems for the heroes. A subtle point in the first book becomes more obvious in these two books - the demon is not just a force of evil on its own, but a manifestation of the growing evil in humans, particularly that in the Abellican Church, more specifically in the monastery of St. Mere Abelle.

Where the main plot of book one was was the heroes vs. the monsters, these two are more heroes vs. the corrupt church. Elbryan, the ranger and Jillesponie, the fighter and wielder of the stone magic, have to fight both monsters and the church forces.

Not bad, but re-reading this, I found myself frustrated by the fact that most of the plot relies on the fact that people are stupid. They believe what they are told without asking too many questions. Kind of appropriate to what is going on today, I guess, but given the current political climate, it made me want to read this book less than I did 20 years ago.

I do not plan at this time to read the rest of the DemonWars books, I remember how it turns out. Sort of.

On to Captain's Fury and Washington: A Life

How's that Doris Kearns Goodwin book going? (I greatly admire her.)

>5 clamairy: No Ordinary Time was excellent! The amount of detail was amazing. For me, maybe the best part were the pre-WW II years, where it was all about their relationship and running the country. It is long though, no detail was spared. :)

I have that and Team of Rivals on Mount TBR. (I think I actually bought the Audible version of Team of Rivals with one of my credits, even though I have a signed copy sitting here.)

>7 clamairy: Team of Rivals was great too. Once I get done with Washington and Grant, it will likely be time for another Goodwin history.

An update on the Nook experience, from my previous thread. I've already finished Captain's Fury on the Nook. I thought the reading experience was fantastic, better than a Kindle. The Nook Glowlight 3 is small, light and easy to use. It has page forward/page backwards buttons on both sides of the screen. The screen font is excellent and the contrast is also good. The brightness can be controlled via a slider and it has a night setting for a more orange light.

At first I thought the small size was an issue, with the font size I have set a book page is about 3 pages on this screen. It turned out to be a non-issue. I really enjoyed the reading experience and I thought it was faster than on the Kindle. I found myself using the page forward button rather than swiping.

There are a few iffy things with the screens and controls. At least once on the Settings screen, I found myself on a screen with no visible way of leaving the screen. Since this device is less reliant on swiping vs. a phone or Kindle, it may just be that I don't know when I'm supposed to swipe and when I'm supposed to hit the back arrow, if there is one. It also starts a little slowly and everything on the screen blinks when you select something, but these are minor issues. The black and white covers are sometimes hard to read.

As I mentioned, there are page forward/page backwards buttons on both sides of the screen, I guess for folks who are left handed? When I read books, I turn the page with my left hand, but I was clicking the buttons with my right.

Net: really good experience, I'll be buying more books for this e-reader. I keep looking at Washington: A Life, which is 817 pages of text, not counting notes, index and bibliography and I'm wondering why I bought this giant book in trade paperback format, not hardcover or e-book! I wish I had it for the Nook now!

>9 Karlstar: Congrats. I'm glad you're enjoying your Nook. Should be plenty of borrowing resources available as it reads epub files, yes?

>10 clamairy: True, I can get ebooks from the library for it!

>9 Karlstar: Very interesting, I’m glad the Nook is working out so well, thanks for reporting back on it!

On the Kindle, you have to shell out the big bucks for the Oasis to get the page turn buttons. I prefer the buttons, maybe because that’s what I got used to with the early Kindles, so I do have an Oasis. Its buttons are only on one side, but the screen rotates so you can still have the buttons under either hand -- just only one hand at a time. I catch myself flipping it fairly often based on whatever feels most comfortable for my current and frequently changing reading position.

>12 YouKneeK: The screen rotating on my Kindle drives me nuts, it always rotates the wrong way, whichever way I pick it up. Sure, it eventually fixes itself or I turn the thing until it does, but it is annoying.

>13 Karlstar: Which model kindle do you have? My paperwhite stays in one orientation until I manually change it, (which I never do ;). The kindle app on my phone will auto-orient but that can be turned off by tapping the lower right corner to enable/disable the padlock icon. Other kindle devices that auto-orient probably have a setting to turn off the feature, (likely buried somewhere in the menu system).

>13 Karlstar:, >14 ScoLgo: My Kindle Oasis doesn’t have a setting to turn it off. It’s possible I’ve missed it, but I tend to go methodically through all the settings every now and then to see if anything new has been added. I don’t have any issues with the rotation, though. It is sometimes briefly upside down the first time I pick it up, but usually it flips right away.

I did have problems the first time I started using the Kindle app on other devices (my phone and tablet), before I found the setting ScoLgo mentions to turn off the auto-flipping. I was so annoyed that the flipping thing wouldn't stop flipping every time I slightly jostled the flipping device, and finally turned off the whole device's auto-rotation which was also flipping annoying because I wanted other apps to rotate so I had to keep turning it back on. :) I don't think I lived with it like that very long though, I would have either finally noticed the padlock or Googled for a solution -- I can't remember which. But it was so flipping annoying that I still remember those brief moments of annoyance. ;)

>9 Karlstar: I'm still loving my kindle oasis, that is for sure. Glad the gl3 is working out so well for you. I switch hands frequently and appreciate buttons. I've always had devices with buttons though (started on a sony prs 505) and the thought of swiping a screen makes me shudder. I tend to eat while reading so to use my other hand, covered in whatever I'm eating, to TOUCH the screen? Ugh.

I've heard lots of good things about the orange'y light. You obviously like it but is it noticeably absent? If that makes sense? And if you ever are on a page without apparent touch controls, press the horseshoe button on the bottom of the device to take you home.

>14 ScoLgo: I have a Kindle Fire 10". I'll check for the anti-flipping setting, thanks!

>16 BookstoogeLT: I really did like the buttons, I haven't been swiping on the Nook at all, except the 1 weird swipe that is required to 'unlock' it when it starts up - despite there being no password. I really only had one experience so far with the 'night' light setting, I turned it on when I was almost done with Captain's Fury. It was good, it let me read with no light on just fine.

I did forget to mention that I noticed that with the screen on daylight setting, about 60% brightness, it worked great as a flashlight. It really lit up the room.

>17 Karlstar: Okay, that makes sense, I have a Fire, but I don't use it for reading books at all. Okay, maybe once, but that was because I had to read something for a book group that was only available to borrow as an epub. So I used the Nook app. I'm glad you like your Nook, but I don't think it's fair to compare it with the Fire. The Fire isn't e-ink and the Nook is. There is a enormous difference between the look of a page on my Fire and Paperwhite. As I'm assuming there is with the Oasis. E-ink is sooooo wonderful.

>18 clamairy: Same here on the Fire. I have a Fire but I never read books on it because the e-reader text is so much nicer, plus it’s way more comfortable to hold and operate.

The only time I have an e-book open on my Fire is if I’m reading something with annotations. Like right now I have the main text for The Canterbury Tales open on my Kindle Oasis, and the corresponding annotation pages open on my Fire. This allows me to have them side by side so I can quickly glance over to see the annotations, which exist for maybe 75% of the lines in my edition. I find it way faster than having to touch the link in the text to navigate to the corresponding annotation. Even though they load pretty fast, my eyes can flick left and right a lot faster.

>18 clamairy: >19 YouKneeK: I read the first of the Fury series by Butcher on my Kindle, plus a short history book on US Presidents, it was ok, not great, but I can now definitely say the Nook was much, much better.

I'm enjoying Washington: A Life, but the book is so darned big I need a break once in a while, so I started Mirror Dance. This one has been on my list for years as it is a Hugo winner I've not read yet, my daughter picked it up for me recently from my wish list.

>19 YouKneeK: Yes, I think I did the same while looking at a bunch of color illustrations in an paleontology book. I'm afraid I don't recall which one... Possibly The Ends of the World.

>20 Karlstar: Eink's non-reflective screen and lighter weight are huge pluses for dedicated ereaders. There's a new Kobe out and I was reading a very glowing review of that this morning. Not that I am in the market or anything. LOL I'll be holding out for the colored eink screens to be perfected I think. Enjoy your Nook! My sister has been using hers for years.

If you ever have questions, you can always ask in the Nook sub-forum at Mobileread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=209

>22 BookstoogeLT: Thanks!

Done with Mirror Dance by Bujold, I'll have to pick up the next one.

Can't decide if the new TV series of The Stand is too soon or just the right time? Either way, this is big news!

https://www.tor.com/2020/10/09/the-stand-cbs-all-access-full-trailer-watch/?fbcl...

>25 Karlstar: Oh boy.....
I think it is too soon. And yet people seem to get sick, perverse satisfaction out of seeing others experiencing what they're experiencing, but worse. So maybe it will be a huge hit?

>26 BookstoogeLT: I am not sure the satisfaction is always of the sick kind. I think sometimes it is of a "if it is possible to survive THAT, then my own troubles, which feel insurmountable, maybe are bearable too".

Sometimes it's Schadenfreude, but sometimes it can be seeking inspiration.

Personally, I wouldn't want to watch, but I think it might be helpful for some people.

>27 -pilgrim-: I haven't decided yet. Did you see any of the previous attempts?

>27 -pilgrim-: That's a very upbeat, optimistic outlook ;-)
Not an outlook I subscribe too at all, hahahaa.

>28 Karlstar:
It is not the sort of thing that I would watch anyway, regardless of relevance to current works situation. I am most definitely NOT a fan of Stephen King, or the horror genre in general (although I have been known to make exceptions).

But I think a lot of what cinema does is reflect back the preoccupations of the society that surrounds it - and then portray characters surviving those fears.

Even when the story did not have "a happy ending", the tragedy is played out within the environment of living family or friends, or the knowledge that the character's suffering had ultimate meaning, or that they were posthumously vindicated. The genuine tragedy of the anonymous millions who suffer alone, as individuals, will never be made into a drama, because it does not have enough "story".

We need light amongst the shade in our TV/film dramas. And I think it because their ultimate purpose is to reassure. Despite all the horror, scares, suffering etc., there is always the positive factor (the heroism, or the mutual support, or the survival against the odds, of the ultimate vindication).

I do not watch much TV. Am currently watching Season 1 of "The X-Files" (see what I mean about not excluding ALL horror!) But have been mainly watching some Russian TV dramas. The preoccupations are very different, but the theme/message send to be the same.

>30 -pilgrim-: I don't believe The Stand falls into the horror genre. I believe it if was released today, it would just be considered dark fantasy, or possibly dark urban fantasy. After writing that, I decided to look it up, and wikipedia classifies it as "post-apocalyptic dark fantasy". The post-apocalyptic part is quite obvious, but since the point isn't really rebuilding civilization or humans vs. zombies or that sort of thing, I tend not to put it in that category.

What is it about King that you don't care for? I'm not a huge fan, though I did give The Stand 4.5 stars. I don't read a lot of mainstream fiction, but since I've read at least 5 or 6 King novels, maybe I'm a Stephen King fan and didn't know it. My LT collection is missing a few I haven't added yet and definitely a few that I read, but do not own.

Turns out, my cover of The Stand says it is 'Ultimate Horror', at least that's how it was marketed when it came out.

In the meantime, since finishing Mirror Dance, I moved on to Mercury's Bane, another space opera, finished that and started Moonsinger. I think one of the things I like about Norton's writing is the archaic style, which fits the scifi/fantasy blend of the book.

I'm still working on Washington: A Life also, we're now into the mid-1760's, post French and Indian War and moving into the pre-Revolution period.

>32 Karlstar: Is it just me or has the layout and color scheme around here completely changed?

>33 BookstoogeLT: It's not you. Click the 'Why does this page look different?' link at the top of any Talk page for more info.

>34 ScoLgo: Thanks.

>33 BookstoogeLT: Not just changed a lot, but I think some of the touchstones aren't working.

What's really sad is now I know how few participants are in this thread, it is staring me right in the face at the top. Was that always there?

>36 Karlstar: I quickly skimmed through the Talk pages for this site revision and gleaned that it is still very much a work in progress. Expect any functions that are not currently working to clear up as they massage things into shape.

>37 Karlstar: I'm pretty sure that is the count of people that have posted to your thread. Likely there are plenty more that lurk but don't post, (I'm guilty of that often enough). No idea if it's always been there - not something I ever noticed before.

Lurking behind the curtains.

>37 Karlstar: I don't think ANY of that stuff at the top was there before. I didn't even notice it was there until you mentioned it and I scrolled up to look.

If it makes you feel any better I have exactly the same number.

>38 ScoLgo: >39 pgmcc: >40 BookstoogeLT: We're a very lurky bunch here, which really means we like reading and don't say anything if we don't have anything to add, which is refreshing. I read a lot of threads where I don't post too.

>41 Karlstar: Either that, or we are spies.

>42 pgmcc: I think I prefer to be a lurker.

>43 BrokenTune: You can be both. :-)

Just delurking to increase your stats and let you know that I do read your thread!

>41 Karlstar: I find it really difficult to comment on reviews about books I haven’t read. It can be difficult even when I have read the book, if I don’t remember enough about it. I also often pass up commenting when I’m really busy, especially if I feel like I’ll either be saying the same thing everybody else is, or if I have a different viewpoint that I think might potentially start up controversy that I don’t have time to participate in.

So I’m really terrible about commenting, but I read all the threads. If I have the time and/or if I want to say something badly enough, then you might get a wall of text from me to make up for all the other times of silence. :)

What >46 YouKneeK: said. Also, I tend to go from the group page and hit the number for unread posts, which takes me directly to the first unread, so I rarely ever see the top of a thread, unless it is new.

Same as >46 YouKneeK:, I read but unless I have something to contribute, I don't comment much. Especially when I haven't read the book or it feels like I'd be barging in on a conversation.

I love reading about what books everyone is discovering, tho, even if it is in genres that I am not usually seeking out.

>46 YouKneeK:, >47 MrsLee:, >48 BrokenTune: I agree with all of you!

We're all readers, here, after all. I wonder if there is a group for talkers? Not that I need one!

Don't feel bad about the participation numbers. Go back and look at some of your previous threads. This one only has 50 posts so far. When the thread gets longer you'll see a lot more participants.

I've just been quite on LT generally... life.

Way back at the top >9 Karlstar: or so. I'm on a Kobo swipy-ereader after my button-push-to-turn Sony gave up the battery. The Kobo is more stable in that I don't have to reboot it as often (neither was actually a problem). I'm still years later wishing for page turn buttons they just feel more natural than swiping, I'm not sure why swipe is so bad as it should be very similar to turning a page. But it isn't. I don't think the nook is available in the uk though :-(

>24 Karlstar: Mirror Dance is about half-way through the series. So you've got plenty more to enjoy! They're all fun.

>52 reading_fox: I've read more of that series than I have listed here in LT, but it was so long ago that I need to go both back and forward in that series! At least it looks like the series may be finished now?

>51 clamairy: Good point.

>53 Karlstar: I hope not, if you are talking about Mirror Dance. The author still lives as far as I know. Love that series.

>55 MrsLee: Lois McMaster Bujold is indeed still alive and still writing, but she is semi-retired and mainly writes novellas. One of the recent ones (The Flowers of Vashnoi) was in the Vorkosiverse, but most have been in the World of the Five Gods, featuring Penric and his demon, Desdemona.

>56 tardis: Thank you. I haven't read that one yet, nor have I begun on Penric, but I intend to!

>55 MrsLee: >56 tardis: Sounds like another series for me to start. I finished Moonsinger, which while a 'classic' still stood the test of time, in my opinion. Compared to modern scifi/fantasy it was probably lacking in some detail and hard sciency stuff, but it was still good.

>58 Karlstar: Are you going to continue on to Moonsinger's Quest?

I was interested in the occasional references to the Forerunners etc. I had the impression that they play a larger role elsewhere in the Andre Norton canon. Is this correct?

>59 -pilgrim-: I am! I really enjoyed reading it.

I had exactly the same question and I was going to ask you! The constant references to 'The Old Ones' and the Forerunners really seemed like similar references from some of her other books, particularly The Crystal Gryphon.

In the Kindle vs. Nook vs. paper book wars, none are winning. Moonsinger was a hardcover version, purchased through ABE used. Then I was preparing for a short trip and wanted something to read and ran into the B&N IT fiasco, so I could not get the next Codex Alera book for the Nook. I ended up accidentally purchasing book 6 for the Kindle, by the time I finished Moonsinger the B&N site was fully functional again, so I bought Princeps Fury for the Nook, which I'm almost done with.

I'm also way behind on reviews, I'll try to get to that this weekend.

Finished Princeps Fury, now about 2/3 of the way through First Lord's Fury. Obviously I'm enjoying these and not giving enough time to Mr. Washington, plus it is way easier to read these on the Nook and Kindle.

>62 Karlstar: Excellent. Glad to hear the series should end on a strong note for you. You can always buy from amazon and convert to epub and read it on your nook, if it's a big enough of an issue for you.

>63 BookstoogeLT: Ah, just buyer's remorse, I should have known the moment I picked up a 900 page trade paperback that it was a bad idea. I don't regret it enough to buy it twice though.

I am way behind on reviews, so in no particular order, here's one.

Mercury's Bane by Nick Webb
STTM: 0 - not even in space
Rating: 4 out of 10

The book jumps right into the action. In the mountains of Colorado, humans are hiding from the alien Telestines. The summary says that by 2040, the Telestines had eliminated all human governments. The book starts in 2061 and the humans are ready to fight back!

Unfortunately, that's about all the information we get about Telestines. Why did they come to Earth? Do they have FTL drives? What do they look like? About all we find out is that they have at least two factions and a higher level of network technology and spaceship technology than we do - but not by much. Apparently the author thought putting machine guns on space ships was a good idea and one that would work against aliens.

There's personal fighting and ship to ship fighting in this one, this probably came up on Amazon as a recommendation because I was looking at other space opera novels. It wasn't terrible and the writing was more error-free than usual, but I'm not sure I'll read the next one. The characters were decent and at least interesting and it had a gritty, realistic feel. Maybe I need to know what happens, I'm not sure.

I originally started with a rating of 6 for this one, then dropped to 4, as I really wouldn't recommend it to others unless they wanted to read something like Battlefield Earth or maybe something like The Expanse.

The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber
STTM: 2 - a little bit of trans-dimensional space travel and some sailing
Rating: 5 out of 10

This is another of the books that I believe I got from a friend of mine when he just handed me several boxes of his books. From time to time, they pop up and get my attention and I realize I still haven't read them. So, I picked this one up and decided to give it a try. Luckily, I'd forgotten how much I disliked the Starfire series and this is nothing like it.

Humans have been fighting against the Kangas for centuries and are finally winning. The Kangas feel that no other intelligent species should exist but their own and can't be convinced otherwise. Both sides use a dimension-hopping drive that the humans got from the Kangas when they attacked Earth around 2090.

While returning to base, a human fleet spots a Kanga fleet heading off in an unusual direction - towards Earth. There's a really complicated pseudo-science explanation of how their FTL drives work by dimension hopping to dimensions with 'smaller' dimensions and there's some correspondence with the more hops you make the smaller it gets, but the harder it gets... The explanation made no sense to me, but they have weapons that rely on it and there's a space battle while they are still in this multi-dimensional space.

One way or another, Kangas and humans arrive at Earth and the real action starts. At that point, it gets a little Terminator-ish, as the 'troll' is there to destroy the human race before they meet the Kangas at all.

This was published in 1999 but takes place in 2007, so while the military terminology and equipment is somewhat contemporary, Weber made some really off predictions of what would happen in the next 10 years, which was kind of amusing.

This is Weber's forte, military scifi with a very heavy emphasis on military and since this takes place in 2007, it is more like an action thriller than scifi, but again, there's that Terminator aspect. Not bad, better than I expected actually and it is not part of a series.

It's nice to see your STTM ratings again. Even though I haven't been around to read your reviews for the last couple of years, every time I read a book that has characters travelling, I mentally give it a STTM rating. You've had a lasting influence on me!

>67 SylviaC: Me too! Even when you are absent here, Karlstar, you have left your mark!

>67 SylviaC: >68 Sakerfalcon: Thanks folks, glad to know I've enhanced your reading experience! Now that we're settled and the books are finally unpacked, I have more time for reading. Except that it is now football season.

>69 Karlstar: I had a friend that read during the commercial breaks. They add up!

>70 clamairy: Depending on who is on, I read during the game.

Another review to catch up on.

Moonsinger by Andre Norton
STTM: 4 - several slow mo horse cart rides, which is strange for a scifi novel
Rating: 7 out of 10

This may be old school scifi, but I really enjoyed it. There are two main characters - Krip Vorlund, the Free Trader spacer and low level mentalist; and Maelen, the Thassa animal trainer and very high level mentalist/Moon Singer. The Thassa are nomads who roam Yiktor, in Maelen's case she puts on a show with her animal companions. Krip and Maelen meet at the annual trade fair on Yiktor and fate throws them together when they rescue an abused animal - the Yiktor version of a wolf, I think.
They get caught up in a political mess and have to flee, which is where the slow 'horse' travel comes in. No land speeders here! Because this is a scifi novel and they are traveling at the speed of a horse drawn wagon or even on foot, at times the travel seems a bit slog-ish.
The characters are great, the writing is excellent and the plot is decent. I think most people could have predicted where this was going from the start, but that doesn't mean the trip wasn't fun. Some of the things that appealed to me were Norton's archaic writing style and the seeming tie-ins to some of her fantasy novels, with the mountain landscape and references to the 'Old Ones'.

This mainly covers the plot of book one. This omnibus edition also includes Exiles of the Stars. Without giving too much away from book one, it concerns the same characters, but this time they are no longer on Yiktor. Mental powers and space pirates, oh my!

I'll be ordering the next one in the series.

>72 Karlstar: I've been curious about the Moonsinger books since -pilgrim- wrote her review on Flight in Yiktor back in September, and I've been looking out for your reviews in the meantime. Between your review and - pilgrim-'s, I rather like the sounds of the series. I'm staying tuned for your next review.

>73 Majel-Susan: I'm working on ordering the next one from ABE, but it appears that the omnibus edition was only printed in trade paperback size, at least here in the USA.

I decided to stop editing the reading list at the top of the thread, I didn't realize it was messing up the 'jump to first unread' link. Here's October's reading:

October Reading
Mirror Dance by Lois Bujold
Mercury's Bane by Nick Webb
Moonsinger by Andre Norton
Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (still working my way through it)
The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber
The Stand by Stephen King (started)

Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher
STTM: 4 - a long voyage made short
Rating: 6 out of 10

This is Book Five in the Codex Alera series. Unfortunately, the very titles of these books are spoilers. If you read Furies of Calderon then look at the titles of the other books, it is clear that Tavi is moving up the ranks of nobility and that he of course has survived this far.

The STTM rating is a little high for this one, there really isn't a lot of time in the book spent traveling, but Butcher again takes the opportunity to point out that Tavi suffers from seasickness, probably more than is necessary. They also get to try out some rather unpleasant giant oxen/lizards as mounts. Otherwise, there's no travel that isn't absolutely necessary and it isn't drawn out.

The plot of this one is no surprise. Tavi honors his promise to the Canim, but it doesn't turn out the way the Canim hoped. In Alera, things go from bad to worse.

This was good, but it felt derivative to me. Romans in a fantasy world? Harry Turtledove did that. There's also echoes of Alan Dean Foster, which I rather enjoyed, but put those two together and it started to feel like he was borrowing too much. I still enjoyed the characters, magic system and plot. They are quick, fun reads.

>75 Karlstar: Do you find the same problem with my thread? I too have been maintaining a "read" list at the top on my thread.

>78 Karlstar: I'm starting to think this was just a browser blip or something that happened while they were updating the design. It works just fine now.

First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
STTM: 1 - all travel is quick and painless
Rating: 7 out of 10

A fitting and well done end to the series. Butcher definitely saved the big fireworks for last. Again, I can't say anything about the plot without giving away what happens in the previous 5 books. By this point in the series, I really like all of the characters, though I still can't keep all of the High Lords and Ladies straight. At least there's fewer of them now.

This series was a fun read, with some inventive magic, good characters and decent plot. As I mentioned before, at times it felt like he borrowed a little, but I know that in today's fantasy world, it is really, really difficult to write something that doesn't remind some readers of some other book. There's no dwarves, elves or dragons, so at least he has that going for him.

Thanks for recommending this series, bookstoogelt!

My reading plans took a turn back to a series I'd hadn't finished yet, the Iron Druid Chronicles. My wife is listening to them and I thought she was almost caught up, so I figured I'd read the last book. Unfortunately, I looked at the list of books in the cover and thought Besieged was necessary, even though LT says it is not. LT is right, Besieged is a short story collection, stories that happened in between previous books or novellas. Still mostly fun and still packed with pop culture references, though two on one page is a bit much.

>78 Karlstar: Thanks, that's a relief. I was comfortable with the way I have been doing things and didn't particularly want to change.

>79 Karlstar: Given that I didn't bond well with Harry Dresden, is this a series that you would recommend to me?

>79 Karlstar: You are welcome. Glad this recommendation worked ;-)
As for the Iron druid, ughh. You are more than welcome to that.

>81 -pilgrim-: Butcher is almost a different writer, imo, with this Alera series. I hated Dresden, still do, and will loudly proclaim so whenever I get the chance ;-) But Alera is what made me a Butcher fan.

>81 -pilgrim-: I'm not a big Dresden Files fan either. This series is quite different. I think you would appreciate the characters.

>83 Karlstar: Uhu. I'll keep that in mind: I didn't dislike his writing style, it's just that I found Harry Dresden in equal parts ridiculous and uninteresting. I might explore this series, at some time.

I finished Besieged and I'm 90% done with Scourged, so I'll finally be done with the Iron Druid chronicles. There are a couple of novellas not included in the main chronicles and since they feature Oberon, we'll likely pick those up. Moonsinger's Quest arrived, a brand-new paperback edition for 50% off and free shipping from ABE. That's likely to be next and I'll keep picking away at Washington: A Life.

>85 Karlstar: I think I stalled at book 6. Did they improve much?

>86 Narilka: Unfortunately, no. I thought they started to go downhill in book 5, wasn't a big fan of books 6 or 7, 8 was a little better and I was disappointed with the last two. On the other hand, there's two novellas that appear to be a complete side plot, featuring Atticus and Oberon that sound like they may be decent. We'll see.

Besieged by Kevin Hearne (book 8.5 of the Iron Druid Chronicles)
STTM - 0 not much travel, not much character growth
Rating: 4 out of 10

The title of this should be Bamboozled. I picked up the last book of the Iron Druid series, Scourged and was puzzled by a fairly big narrative gap, even though LT says that Scourged followed Staked. Looking at the inside cover of the paperback edition I was reading, it said Besieged was next, so I paused long enough to pick it up.
Unfortunately, Besieged is a short story collection. Some are stories Atticus tells about his past around a campfire, others feature Owen or Granuaile. The Atticus stories are more of the same Atticus stuff - Atticus fools or foils some deity or other power, gets in trouble, maybe gets something out of it. Two of them, strangely, feature Atticus versus demons. Unfortunately, the Atticus stories and the vampire stories tend to be excessively gory and even for Hearne's universe, unbelievable. They don't add anything to the narrative, a couple of them are also excessively vulgar, for me. I read this last week and while I remember bits and pieces, none of them formed enough of an impression that I can really recall the plot without flipping through them quickly. Not good.

>87 Karlstar: It might be time for me to officially dump the series. I admit I'm mildly curious how it all wraps up though I don't expect it to be satisfying. I am looking forward to what you think of Oberon's novellas. He was the best part of the books.

>89 Narilka: It almost feels like somewhere around book 5, that despite the Iron Druid title, what he'd actually written was just a sword and sorcery fantasy series set in a modern setting. He then veered off into actual druid concerns, but his plot was too far along to actually accomplish that well.

Scourged book 9 of the Iron Druid Chronicles
STTM - 0, they use bound trees to go everywhere
Rating - 5 out of 10

Unfortunately, this is not a great ending to the series. All of Atticus' sins have come to roost, so to speak, it is now time to pay for everything he's done. Since he's annoyed multiple major pantheons, payback is epic. This one again features Atticus, Owen and Granuaile, all pretty much in different plots. This continues the pattern of the last two books and it isn't a good one. I never did like Owen's character, for one thing he swears too much, for another he feels way too modern and seems to be more Druid than Atticus. That actually may be Hearne's point, that Atticus has strayed too far from Druid precepts, but since this whole series is about Atticus, it seems a bit strange to chastise him now for acting the way he was created.

There's also not enough Oberon in this one, just like the last two, which means most of the comedy relief element is gone. I can't really say I anticipated the ending, I didn't, which means there was a reason to read the book, but I really didn't enjoy the final journey that much.

>91 Karlstar: Well, sounds like I made the right choice to stop when I did. Sorry to hear it didn't end on a better note for you :-(

>91 Karlstar: >92 BookstoogeLT: Yeah, I think I'm going to formally abandon the series now. I'll go look up an internet spoiler to see how it ends and keep an eye out for how you like Oberon's short stories.

>92 BookstoogeLT: If you stopped before I did, you probably made the right choice. It wasn't a terrible book, but disappointing. Not a Peter V. Brett level of disappointment but close.

>93 Narilka: I'll try to get to them soon, otherwise it just won't happen. I do have a bit of a backlog now, still working on Washington and now I have 2 LT ER books to read plus Moonsinger's Quest arrived. If I can get the novellas for the Nook, that will help.

Just noticed this on the group zeitgeist page, which I don't think I've ever looked at before. Under 'characteristic works', #7.

The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams (263)
Same series: Stone of Farewell (206), Storm: To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 (133) (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn)

This surprised me, as I don't see many references to Tad here, even with his new series out.

Finally finished Washington: A Life! That took way too long. I did read a little of Moonsinger's Quest, but just the first couple of chapters. I think next will be The Black Prism as it was just purchased for me on Nook.

>96 Karlstar: I can’t wait to find out what you think of The Black Prism!

>96 Karlstar: I hope you enjoy Black Prism :-D

>97 YouKneeK: >97 YouKneeK: So far so good, I'm quite enjoying it. A couple of the descriptions of the magic that's been produced are a little fuzzy to me, I think the author isn't quite doing a great job of translating what's in his head to paper, but that's a quibble, not really a problem.

>99 Karlstar: Oh good, I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far. I agree, I thought the magic was pretty fuzzy at first. It does get a lot more clear as things go on. I think it was a lot more clear by the end of the first book, and it continued to get more clear as the series went on. There’s also probably a section at the end of your book that explains the colors and their properties in more detail.

>100 YouKneeK: When I get to that point, is it going to feel more or less like Sanderson's color based magic system in Warbreaker?

Thanks to several of you who took the time to post this.

I was inspired to complete the challenge posted by multiple people here. Here are my results:

1. Name any book you read at any time that was published in the year you turned 18:
Harpist in the Wind by Patricia McKillip

2. Name a book you have on in your TBR pile that is over 500 pages long:
Grant by Ron Chernow (1104 pages!)

3. What is the last book you read with a mostly blue cover?
The Core by Peter V. Brett (just edges out The Bell at Sealey Head)

4. What is the last book you didn’t finish (and why didn’t you finish it?)
Crusade by David Weber and Steve White. Terrible disregard for casualties and basic economics of interstellar war.

5. What is the last book that scared the bejeebers out of you?
Pet Sematary. I stopped reading horror after that.

6. Name the book that you read either this year or last year that takes place geographically closest to where you live?
1776 by David McCullough, takes place in Boston, NYC and the Hudson Valley.

7.What were the topics of the last two nonfiction books you read?
George Washington (Washington: A Life) and construction (The Path Between the Seas)

8. Name a recent book you read which could be considered a popular book?
To Kill a Mockingbird.

9. What was the last book you gave a rating of 5-stars to? And when did you read it?
The Two Towers. Re-re-re-read 2019.

10. Name a book you read that led you to specifically to read another book (and what was the other book, and what was the connection)
The Return of the King, which lead to The Fall of Gondolin.

11. Name the author you have most recently become infatuated with.
J. R. R. Tolkien.

12. What is the setting of the first novel you read this year?
Fantasy Middle-East, The Kingdom of Copper.

13. What is the last book you read, fiction or nonfiction, that featured a war in some way (and what war was it)?
Washington: A Life, French and Indian War; Revolutionary War

14. What was the last book you acquired or borrowed based on an LTer’s review or casual recommendation? And who was the LTer, if you care to say.
The Black Prism, Youkneek and BookstoogeLT and others

15. What the last book you read that involved the future in some way?
Mirror Dance, by Lois McMaster Bujold

16. Name the last book you read that featured a body of water, river, marsh, or significant rainfall?
The Bell at Sealey Head, by Patricia McKillip

17. What is last book you read by an author from the Southern Hemisphere?
I have no idea, but looking at my list, nearly all are from the Northern Hemisphere.

18. What is the last book you read that you thought had a terrible cover?
Moonsinger by Andre Norton

19. Who was the most recent dead author you read? And what year did they die?
Harper Lee. 2016.

20. What was the last children’s book (not YA) you read?
Goodnight Moon.

21. What was the name of the detective or crime-solver in the most recent crime novel you read?
Chris Shane in Head On.

22. What was the shortest book of any kind you’ve read so far this year?
Indomitable by Terry Brooks (graphic novel)

23. Name the last book that you struggled with (and what do you think was behind the struggle?)
The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein. It did not age well.

24. What is the most recent book you added to your library here on LT?
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

25. Name a book you read this year that had a visual component (i.e. illustrations, photos, art, comics)
Washington: A Life. Maps and portraits.

BONUS QUESTION!
26. What is the title and year of the oldest book in your physical library that you have reviewed on LT?
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I have a 1918 hardcover edition. 102 years old!

>102 Karlstar: I enjoyed seeing this.

>101 Karlstar: I don’t know, I’ve never read Warbreaker. It looks like BookstoogeLT has read both though, so maybe he can answer.

>102 Karlstar: I enjoyed reading your answers! #17 was really hard for me. I don’t pay any attention to where the authors I read are from, I just read. I scrolled down my recently read list for a while, going to all the author pages I wasn't sure about (which was most of them) to try to find one, but that lost its entertainment value very fast.

>104 YouKneeK: And another victim of the LibraryThing Tag! Whoever started it is going to make some threads explode :-)

As for Warbreaker and the Prism books. I don't remember much about the Warbreaker book to be honest. I read them within a year or so of each other back in '09 & '10 and don't remember thinking of them being similar at all.

>102 Karlstar: I like your answer for that bonus question! Any chance of getting a pix of it up here on LT?

>102 Karlstar: Another great list :)

>103 Jim53: >106 Narilka: Thanks! I enjoy reading others, so I figured I should return the favor.

>104 YouKneeK: That's basically what I did, with no success.

>105 BookstoogeLT: Warbreaker was the one where the magic system was based on 'breath' and everyone had a limited amount but somehow, color was involved also, or at least the ability to see and manipulate color. Any resemblance is mostly superficial, I think, but I won't know for sure until I've read the explanation.

>107 Karlstar: Yeah, from what you said and looking back at my old review of Warbreaker, (where I didn't even mention color), I don't think they'll be similar at all.
However, shocking as it may seem, I have on occasion been wrong in remembering books I read many years ago. So don't take the above statement as a guarantee! ;-)

>102 Karlstar: Great list! Thanks for sharing!

>104 YouKneeK: I usually read quite a lot of Australian and NZ authors, but this year I seem to have read more from the northern hemisphere. Typical!

Jimbo! I'm pretty sure you're the person who talked about Darkwalker on Moonshae, right? I'm thinking of having a go at it, but wanted to make sure I had the right book, as I can't find references to it easily here on LT.

>110 BookstoogeLT: Here you go. :) Post #98 here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/315197#7105814

>111 YouKneeK: Nice jorb! How did you go about searching his various threads for it?

>112 BookstoogeLT: The LT search feature is very handy, you can search any part of the site, not just books. It took probably literally less than a minute. :)

I typed “Darkwalker on Moonshae” in the search bar in the top-right corner. Then I clicked “Talk” on the menu along the left. Then I looked at Karlstar’s threads in the results.

>113 YouKneeK: Adding on to that, there’s also the “Mentions” link in the top-right corner of the work page, but that only lists posts where the work was touchstoned, and in this case a touchstone wasn’t used.

>113 YouKneeK: & >114 YouKneeK: And that is how you tell a full time LT'er from a part time LT'er
hahahahaaa.

Outside of you and Jim and a couple of others, I don't interact much here. And no offense to any of you, but the people I've clicked with here just aren't every/other day posters. The people in the GD who do post a lot I simply don't get along with or care about what they're talking about. And as you know, Groups simply do not work for me. So I have no incentive to poke around and learn stuff.

>110 BookstoogeLT: I hope you enjoy it! I don't think the D&D stuff will get in the way, it is just old fashioned adventure fantasy. I like the setting and the characters.

>111 YouKneeK: Thanks for sharing your expertise.

>116 Karlstar: Weeeeeelllllll, let's just say I won't be giving it as high a rating as you would have :)

>117 BookstoogeLT: Uh oh, my rating is 4 stars. I'll hope for at least 3 from you, that's not terrible.

>102 Karlstar:
I am glad you agree regarding the Moonsinger cover. It is not awful because the illustrator hasn't read the book. It's awful because they have - and decided that it needed "sexing up a bit"!

Pet Sematary, a it happens, was also where I, aged around 19, stopped reading books sold as "horror". I did not find it creepy, just gross. I realised that the "seeking to be shocked" urge is lacking in me; the author seemed to use "revolting" as a substitute for creative thinking.

>118 Karlstar: Well, lets just say what I'm reading is on about the same playing field as every other FR book I've read :-)

I've been poking around and it appears this trilogy was the first official FR trilogy written? That would place around 2nd Edition I believe. It also explains the whole "new gods" thing. That really threw me at first.

>119 -pilgrim-: Exactly! Completely unnecessary and to make it worse, the cover is neither interesting nor illustrates part of the story. I also think you described my attitude towards horror. I just don't need it.

>120 BookstoogeLT: I put it above most FR books, there's more effort put into setting and characters and turning game concepts into novel concepts. You are right about that, it was when they started the transition to 2nd ed and one of the many upheavals/revisions to the Realms, I guess to explain why some things were suddenly different.

Done with Black Prism, now moving onto Space 2069, an ER book.

The review backlog is starting to pile up, I'll get to it! Done with Space 2069, which was really more past than future. Not sure what's next, it might be Berserkers Planet.
'

Did you enjoy Black Prism?

>124 Narilka: I did! Twisty with good characters and action, decent magic system.

Review time!

Space 2069 After Apollo: Back to the Moon, To Mars and Beyond by David Whitehouse
STTM: 0, though sometimes it felt like it
Rating: 5 out of 10

The author sets out to tell us what the next 50 years of space exploration will be like, though I think the title is a little misleading. I received this book from the ER program, which I was quite happy about.

From my LT review:
The author claims to be setting out to tell us what our expectations should be for space exploration between now and 1969. However, most of the book is spent on a review of what has happened so far. The vast majority of the book is spent on the Moon, where the author feels it is likely that there will be settlements by 2069. He goes into the case for settling the South Lunar Pole because of the presence of water ice and near year round sunlight. He then takes us on a tour of every planet, except Pluto, detailing the various probes and rovers that have visited and going over the features that make each planet or Moon most interesting. He also goes over the challenges of spaceflight outside the Earth-Moon system. I thought this was good, but a little too focused on the past and not enough on the future.

More comments. If you ever wanted to read a book about every lunar or planetary probe, this is it! He also goes into a lot of lunar geography, which apparently he fondly remembers from the 60's because everyone had a map of the Moon on the wall. I'm a space fan but that's a little much for me!

Aside from basically stating that NASA will go ahead with the Artemis program (not guaranteed) and the Chinese will continue with their program, that's about all the predicting he does. He doesn't really say what a Lunar settlement will be like. He seems to be more concerned about the affects of spaceflight on the human body, but then doesn't say a word about how Lunar or Mars gravity may, or may not, mitigate those effects. He almost completely dismisses the chances of a Mars settlement. Considering that Elon Musk says he'll be launching for Mars in 2026 or maybe 2024, I think we'll see someone try a Mars settlement, even if it doesn't succeed. Interestingly, to support his view Whitehouse points out that Jeff Bezos has said that he views a space or Lunar settlement as unlikely. So what's Mr. Bezos' plan then? Why does he have a space launch company that is competing for the Lunar lander contract? Just to make more money? This is the kind of thing I would have liked to have seen Whitehouse do a little more speculation and not just dismiss it because he prefers robotic spacecraft.

On the other hand, given how little we've accomplished in space the last 50 years, not getting much done in the next 50 years is depressingly likely. I hope to live to see SpaceX land people on Mars, sometime in the next 10 to 15 years.

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
STTM: 3 - roads were muddy back then but he spends very little time on travel
Rating: 5 stars

Yes, that's right, I gave this one 5 stars. I may have mentioned before that this is a long one, at over 800 pages of text. This should impress no one here at the Green Dragon, since we've all encountered massive fantasy tomes even longer. I thought it was kind of funny reading reviews that complained it was too long. It is a bit long for a history book about one subject, but I wouldn't remove a thing.

This covers Washington's life from beginning to end. There is a tremendous amount of documentation on Washington, though very few of the personal letters to his wife survived. Washington was particular about saving his military and political correspondence, to the extent of having special trunks built to store it for travel at the end of his military career. He knew that what he wrote was going to be of historical value, so there's a lot of it.

I thought this was well written, engaging and a pleasure to read. It had all of the information I was looking for and was not too opinionated, either positively or negatively. Chernow did not shy away from any topics.

>128 BookstoogeLT: True, probably too close, I'll remove it.

>129 Karlstar: Thanks.

>127 Karlstar: This one sounds great, but that page count is daunting.

>131 clamairy: It really was excellent, but it read well, not like a textbook. It did take me a while to get through, but I read several other books while working through it.

Berserker's Planet by Fred Saberhagen
STTM: 0 - no mud, no rain, basically no travel, little introspection
Rating: 7 out of 10

This is my 2nd or 3rd re-read and even knowing what was going to happen, I still enjoyed it. Bored, rich humans get word of a old style tournament to the death on Hunger's world, a world so remote no one will notice that Oscar Shoenenberg has snuck off to take in some illegal big game hunting, but more importantly, to watch the world-wide tournament.
After the defeat of the Berserkers at Hunter's world, it sunk into medieval level technology. The world-wide church of Thorun has declared a winner take all fighting tournament to the death, losers go to Valhalla to live in honor, the winner becomes a new demi-god in the pantheon along with Thorun and Mjollnir.
Some of the galactics wonder about the ethics of both big game hunting and the tournament, but they aren't paying the bills. The book covers the tournament and what happens after.

This is short, simple and well done. A bit dated now but I still enjoyed it. Reading it, I had to put The First Book of Swords on my re-re-read list, just because.

>133 Karlstar: I enjoyed the Sword books enough to buy them when the SFBC put out a 4 volume omnibus collection of the entire series. I don't think I've read them as many times as you though :-D

>134 BookstoogeLT: Hmm, I have the Lost Swords triad in SFBC format, but I'm not sure I have the first series. I need to fix that. For years I kept trying to fit those swords into something I could manage in my D&D campaign, but other than Stonecutter, I just couldn't make it work, they are too powerful. I just made my own versions.

I think the sfbc omnibus editions were titled thusly:
Complete Book of Swords
Book of Lost Swords the First Triad
Book of Lost Swords the Second Triad
Book of Lost Swords: Endgame

I actually still own them :-D

They are REALLY powerful. It seems like they'd fit into a game like Magic the Gathering easier than into D&D

>136 BookstoogeLT: LT says I don't have The Complete Book of Swords, but I do have the other 3. I'm not totally positive LT is correct, I won't know for sure until I reorganize everything, since I unpacked in only roughly alphabetical order.

>137 Karlstar: So you use LT for actual book keeping purposes. How's that work out for you, in general?

>138 BookstoogeLT: I won't really know until the reorganization, which will likely happen between Christmas and New Year's. I continually find books that LT says I haven't entered into LT, despite me being relatively sure I have. I really don't know if they disappear from LT or I'm just more disorganized than I think I am. We shall see!

However, in general, I love it. I really, really like LT for the ability to find what's in my collection, plus use the information in LT to find out what's missing.

>139 Karlstar: , >138 BookstoogeLT: I have a lot of books still packed in crates since my last move, since current location is only temporary (hopefully). Whilst on the plus side, I have recently retrieved don't books that were in storage for many years.

LT may only have the boss that I have acquired, or read, since joining, but it provides a lot of help in keeping track of what I have, and what I have read.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
STTM: 1 - magic shortens what should be long journeys, which is possibly a weakness
Rating: 6 out of 10

I enjoyed this one, the first in the 5 book Lightbringer series. I've actually read the Night Angel series also, so this isn't my first Weeks series. I bought this in ebook format for my Nook, so it was a quick read.

I thought the characters and world were good. I'd call this a Sanderson-type magic system, where some people have a hereditary ability to see and manipulate 'color' to produce magic results, where the color influences what can be done - red is fire/heat, green is growth/chaos, blue is force/control, etc. Gavin Guile is The Prism, the person who can see and manipulate all colors, which is extremely rare. Most wielders of magic can only manipulate one color, a smaller number can do two, an even smaller number, 3, etc. Frequent use of magic actually shortens the life of a person, to the point where it drives some insane and they become 'color wights'. To make things even more complicated, there is also gunpowder technology.

Gavin is technically the Emperor, head of the magic school and the foremost wielder of magic in the world. Of course, it isn't that simple, as there is a lot of politics going on. Several other characters are introduced, including Kariss, his bodyguard/ex-girlfriend, Livia, a young magic student and Kip, a young man growing up out in the country.

When a rebel general and king shows up with an army of renegade magic wielders, Gavin and his allies get tangled up with Kip and Livia as they attempt to handle the situation. There's a lot going on and the plot is convoluted, but it is always interesting.

I enjoyed this and the next book is on my wishlist.

>139 Karlstar: One of the benefits of living in a small condo is that we never collected more than one room full of books. Makes it easier to keep track of our physical books. For me, LT is about tracking my reading and reviews than my actual library.

>140 -pilgrim-: For me, the program calibre is what I now use to keep track. While I'm currently working on getting my wordpress site into shape, a website is not an ideal way to keep track of what you've read. And I can use calibre to keep track of my tbr too.

>141 Karlstar: Glad it was a decent read for you.

>139 Karlstar: I swear there are a few LT books I entered that slipped through the cracks. I delete books that I have donated without having read them (often gifts, but sometimes library sale purchases) and suspect that in the process I have deleted a few others accidentally over the years. I love having access to my library, especially when I'm in a book store, but it was especially handy at library used books sales I used to haunt and often work at. Staff got first dibs!

>141 Karlstar: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have this one on my Kindle.

>141 Karlstar: I’m glad you liked The Black Prism pretty well, and I hope you enjoy the second when you get to it!

>142 BookstoogeLT: I have heard of Calibre. But not having a computer at present means that a website is a better approach for me, at the moment.

But I appreciate the option, in the unfortunate case of LT going further down its revamp route.

>142 BookstoogeLT: >144 YouKneeK: Thanks for your thoughts and reviews on The Black Prism, it was nice to find a fun read with more to come!

>143 clamairy: If you haven't read it yet, it was worth it.

I also use the Book Collector software to keep track of my books, but lately, I use LT more than Book Collector. At least with Book Collector I have no one but me to blame if a book disappears from the database. I also am relatively sure that books I've entered here into LT have disappeared later, I do believe someone mentioned the possibility that when I looked it up, likely by title+author and not ISBN, I ended up picking up a version that was either later deleted from LT due to data issues or merged with another. I guess that's possible, but it seems to happen too often.

My former house actually had a library room with shelves that held about 70% of my books, in order by author, so it was relatively organized. That's probably true of this room also, but they aren't organized yet.

LT doesn't remove user data because of data issues. User data is sacrosanct and is never purposely altered or deleted.

And when books in user accounts are combined they form a work but the books are not changed and remain in each user's catalog.

>147 jjwilson61: the keyword being "purposely"....

>148 BookstoogeLT: Yes, but Karlstar was suggesting that Tim would remove books from a member's library because of a data issue with it and that just would not happen.

>149 jjwilson61: After seeing how Tim has let Collectorator run amok and destroy people's data and stalk and insult them with no repercussions, nothing would surprise me.

>149 jjwilson61: Thanks for the clarification, so that's not an explanation for what I see happening. I really don't have a way to prove that this happens, it just seems likely to me that from time to time, a book I had entered is no longer found in my library. I'll be able to determine that better after I organize.

I might have to take some screen shots of my collection by author.

I often find that when I manually enter a book, it is automatically merged with others on LT. Often that is because the heavily abridged version is being automatically merged with the original, or a book is merged with the better-known film that it inspired. But occasionally there seems to reason at all for it, such as when a novel by an author is combined other works by them (and this is not a case of variant titles, more often it is the meeting of a novella with an anthology that contains it).

I assume that this occurs because some one else has erroneously combined the ISBN of my book with a different one (although that does not fully clarify why this happens when I am entering a book that does not have an ISBN number).

Then, when I separate out my book from the false merger, I often find that my "ownership" data has started with the work it was merged with.

But if that combination were to take place AFTER I entered the book, would I notice it?

So, if it were someone else resolving a faulty combination, I presume that my "ownership" would be left with the more popular work (because the other editor would not be aware that this was incorrect).

And zero copy works do seem to get removed in a spam clearing process.

>151 Karlstar: Contact kristilabrie with the names of the books that are missing. She should be able to trace what happened to them.

>150 BookstoogeLT: There's a difference between the books in your library which should be safe and work data which can be changed by anyone.

>153 jjwilson61: Thanks! Until I have screen shots to show evidence that I'm sure they once existed, I won't have proof enough for me. I'd ask the same of my customers at work if they claimed we were deleting data!

>155 Karlstar: Deleted books aren't actually deleted in the database right away; they're just marked as deleted. So I think it would be worthwhile contacting Kristi sooner rather than later to investigate.

>156 jjwilson61: Thanks again! My wife says I am fundamentally opposed to confrontation, so...

A review!

The First Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen
STTM: 4 - some travel that is required and there is mud
Rating: 8 out of 10

I am going to stick with my LT rating for this one, even though it probably is only a 7, though I do have both the paperback and hardcover compilation version and if there is a hardcover standalone, I probably do need it.

This is standard fantasy in a post-post-apocalyptic setting. About 2000 years ago (detailed in Empire of the East) there was a nuclear confrontation that sent the world back to plowshare and swords technology. It also apparently caused some sort of rift in the time-space continuum and magic works again and the 'gods' are back. There are also a couple of unique gods mentioned, Ardneh and Draffut.

The book opens with the god Vulcan finding a forge site on the side of a volcano, conscripting some human workers and fashioning some magic swords. Jump ahead 13 years and the 12 Swords are part of the gods' game. What the purpose of the game is, we don't know, though the pawns are humans and the Swords are the chaos agent.

Jord the Miller is the only human survivor of the forging and he still owns the sword that Vulcan gave him. We soon find out that that Sword is Townsaver - if your home or people are threatened, it becomes the ultimate weapon, though Townsaver's job is to protect everyone else, not the user. The rest of the book follows Jord's son Mark and some people he meets - Nestor the dragonslayer with Dragonslicer and his companions Ben and Barbara. Along the way some more swords make an appearance.

The Swords are in play now and the game is on! I really enjoyed this one, partly for the people and the plot and setting, partly because as a D&D game-master, the idea of these 12 super powerful swords was inspiring. Draffut is also one of my favorite fictional characters and yes, he'll kick butt on your favorite fictional character, except he'll do it in the kindest way possible.

The Second Book of Swords
STTM: 3 - a couple of journeys that are not too extensive
Rating: 7 out of 10

Even my own review of this book says it is not quite as good as the first, though I still gave it 4 stars. After a re-read, I'm not sure that's true, I think this one holds up fairly well.

While this book mainly features Ben and Mark, they have split up after the events of the first book. The game of Swords is full on, which means war. Saberhagen's geography is completely vague, there's no indication of where the conflict is taking place or how big the area is, but several city states are now at war over the Swords. Mark is still trying to aid Kind Sir Andrew, while Ben is trying to just make a living as a soldier of the Blue Temple. Enter two new characters, Baron Doon and Ariane and a new Sword, Wayfinder. With Wayfinder, which apparently points the way towards whatever it is the owner desires, Baron Doon is trying to find a way to rob Blue Temple of their greatest treasure, which leads him to first Mark and then Ben, with Dragonslicer.

This one is more of a classic fantasy adventure. First Baron Doon accumulates the fighters and wizards he needs with Wayfinder's direction, then Mark, Ben and Ariane. More encounters with dragons, the mysterious Emperor, and more Swords ensue. This one doesn't advance the plot as much, but we are introduced to Wayfinder, Stonecutter, Shieldbreaker and Stonecutter.

Being a huge fan of the History channel show Forged in Fire, I find it a little amusing how often Saberhagen refers to the Swords Damascus forging as if it were mysterious and magical. I do think he did a great job adding sound and visual effects to the Swords though. I also like how the swords have multiple names.

The Third Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen
STTM: 6 - several long journeys where we meet more Swords
Rating: 6 out of 10

I enjoyed this one nearly as much as book one and book two. The book mostly follows the same cast of characters - Ben, Barbara and Mark, but mostly Ben and Mark. There's also two new characters, Denis the Quick and Kristin. Ben and Barbara have settled down in a large city, Tashigang and have taken new names, but the Blue Temple has not forgotten the robbery. One of their workers, Denis, is let in on their secrets and is asked to take one of the swords, Woundhealer, to Kind Sir Andrew, now reduced to not much more than an annoying guerilla commander.

Mark is still trying to help Sir Andrew, but now he has Sightblinder again. with Sightblinder disguising him, he wanders right into the Dark King's army. The Dark King has the Mindsword, which seems to make everyone, even gods, bend to the Dark King's will.

In this one we start to discover the limitations of the swords and also run into a couple of new ones, including the Mindsword and Doomgiver. The gods have discovered that the Sword game is not as much fun as they thought, but there's not much they can do about it now.

Still entertaining and unique and I still want to keep reading, into the 'Lost Swords' books.

I just discovered there's a 'new' book in this series that takes place between Empire of the East and the First Book of Swords!

I think I've run out of time for posting until after Christmas, so Merry Christmas everyone!

>159 Karlstar: What is the new book?

And a Merry Christmas to you!

Merry Christmas Karlstar!

>162 Narilka: Thank you, I hope yours was as good as it can be.

Crossroad by Barbara Hambly (Star Trek, Book 71)
STTM - 0 - even for a Star Trek novel, there's no travel
Rating - 7 out of 10

I thought this was excellent. I'm not a huge fan of Star Trek novels, according to LT, I have 5 of them, including this one. One of the problems of Star Trek novels, like many shared world novels, is the limits on what the author can do. They can't change what's been presented in the TV show or movies or later (or earlier) novels, so they are very restricted.

Normally, for me, that produces a very boring book, usually along the lines of Kirk and Spock visit new planet X and meet some new alien challenge while Klingons or Romulans try to get in the way and fail, the end.

Somehow, while still sort of fitting into the Star Trek formula, Hambly produced a good novel. Sure, the characters are the same, though she introduces a few new ones and Christine Chapel gets a major part. The plot may be very similar to other Star Trek shows and/or movies, but there's not much that can be done that's new in that universe.

While visiting the Crossroad Nebula, home of something called a Turtledove Anomaly, which is a quirky part of space where things go wrong, they find a nearly wrecked Starfleet ship, just about to fail from all sorts of damage, but it is a Starfleet Constellation-class ship that isn't in the databanks! Off we go on a fairly wild ride which reminded me of a couple of other episodes from the TV show, but not quite. I really enjoyed the quality writing, good characters and the way the whole thing was presented. Somehow some Lovecraftian critters are even thrown into the mix.

Someone here tipped me to the fact that Hambly had written a Star Trek novel and I'm glad they did.

Now on to Grant by Ron Chernow, which is somehow even longer than the book about Washington, but at least this one I'm reading on my Kindle.

>163 Karlstar: Barbara Hambly also wrote another Star Trek novel, Ishmael, focussed on Spock. I quite enjoyed that, but had had no idea that she had written another.

>164 -pilgrim-: I'll have to pick that one up too, I really enjoyed Crossroad.

>165 Karlstar: And I will probably go looking for Crossroad. (I have just spent the afternoon entering some of my Barbara Hambly reads into LT.)

Question for you lovers of all things printed - what font would you choose to best replicate a 'medieval' appearance in a document?

>167 Karlstar: Depends on period. Which century do you have in mind?

>168 -pilgrim-: The older, the better, no specific century, this is for my gaming world.

>169 Karlstar: Uncial is a good match for handwriting up to about 900AD, longer in the Celtic monasteries.

Cloister Black is nice for early mediaeval.

>170 -pilgrim-: Agreed. There's Blackletter Gothic, but Uncial fonts are more readable. There are lots of fonts free for personal use on sites like fontsquirrel.com and dafont.com.

>169 Karlstar: Court Hand is good for medieval "handwritten" documents. In this day and age the real thing is almost unreadable without a lot of training and practice, but there is at least one TrueType font of that name that is legible and looks credible.

>170 -pilgrim-: >171 Marissa_Doyle: >172 hfglen: Thanks! Been trying different options using Google Docs.

Still working on Grant on my Kindle. The book is excellent, but it is over 1000 pages.

Happy New Year everyone! I'll start a new thread later.

Happy New Year!