The Reading Corner.

[Rusty Edge]

Weaponsmith Chronicles by Mike Crenshaw

This is historical fiction about an English mercenary in The 30 Year's War, presented as a memoir. It speaks to me. The main character is a master blacksmith, and I've studied and practiced the smiting of the black metal myself. It also ties into other books I've read, and for that matter, computer games.

One of the characters advances the theory that since Germany was never subjugated by the Romans, they never learned to appreciate what a central government could build and accomplish the way that France and Spain did. This kept the Germans divided and backwards and weak compared to the other two Empires.

I'll probably re-read this again once I complete it. Whether fictional or historical, military stories tend to have a confusing wealth of characters, and I'm not good with names.

ADDENDUM- I've just completed the 3rd book. I now know that the 3rd book was written first, which explains why it was a worse read- the author lacked experience. It was an omniscient view point featuring lots of characters and few descriptions. It read more like a play or movie script than a novel. It still had a plot and dialogue, but it was more like news than a story.

[Buster's Uncle]

A World out of Time by Larry Niven.

[Buster's Uncle]

The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart.

[Buster's Uncle]

Orbital Resonance by John Barnes.

[Buster's Uncle]

The Armies of Memory by John Barnes.

[Buster's Uncle]

Cities in Flight by James Blish.

[Valka]

Cities in Flight by James Blish.

I read that more years ago than I recall, but I did enjoy it. Maybe it's time for a re-read.

But I'm currently reading Merchanter's Luck, by C.J. Cherryh.

I got an email from LibraryThing awhile back - I won one of the books I requested, so I've been waiting for it to show up. I've no idea which one it is, but the idea is that I get the book for free, in return for posting a review on LibraryThing.

[Lord Avalon]

Blood Bowl: The Omnibus by Matt Forbeck

[Buster's Uncle]

Cities in Flight by James Blish.

We interupt our re-read of this SF classic for first-time reads of The Last Dark by Steven R. Donaldson -which was a bit disappointing- and Star Trek - Seekers 2: Point of Divergence by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore -which isn't all that great so far...

[Lorizael]

Next semester I'm taking a course on the Literature of Science and Technology. The required "textbooks" for the class are as follows:

Tropic of Orange
House of Leaves
Dracula
Lathe of Heaven
Star Maker
Frankenstein
Amnesia Moon

Not quite sure I get the connection to science and technology for all of those, but it should be an interesting semester reading-wise!

[Lord Avalon]

I haven't yet read the last book of The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, but the first two were disappointing. Especially since I really enjoyed the first triology, and the second wasn't so bad.

[Rusty Edge]

Next semester I'm taking a course on the Literature of Science and Technology. The required "textbooks" for the class are as follows:

Tropic of Orange
House of Leaves
Dracula
Lathe of Heaven
Star Maker
Frankenstein
Amnesia Moon

Not quite sure I get the connection to science and technology for all of those, but it should be an interesting semester reading-wise!

Well, the Winchester repeaters they carried on the way to the final showdown in Dracula  were high tech weapons. I'm guessing that blood transfusions were cutting edge medicine, too.

[Buster's Uncle]

Lathe of Heaven

Recommended.

I haven't yet read the last book of The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, but the first two were disappointing. Especially since I really enjoyed the first triology, and the second wasn't so bad.

Donaldson is challenging for more than the obscurantist/archaic vocabulary - and The Last Chronicles lacks a Mhorham or a Pitchwife; the locals aren't nearly so charming, y'know?

[vonbach]

When Angels wept. Eric G. Swedin. A what if story of the Cuban missile crisis.

[Lord Avalon]

The Hydrogen Sonata: A Culture Novel, by Iain M. Banks