Not the best Tom Clancy book out there, but it was enjoyable. Ding and Clark are central characters in this one.

Now I need to reread Clear and Present Danger lol. The movie was good, I especially liked the sniper training session where he's shooting from 10 feet away from the people searching for him.

I'm now about to commence my umpteenth re-read of A Song of Ice and Fire. Not for the HBO series based on the work. No, this is far more fundamental.

The long-awaited fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, is finally, irrevocably, done.

That's right. Dance is done. Kong is dead. July cometh.

Just thought all ye Martin fans out there should know. Me, I'm packing up and heading back off to Westeros.

I have always had a fascination for that time period too. My mother started it, she had a library of period authors. (Austen included).

I've been reading a book in the Vampire Earth series by E.E. Knight. It's very entertaining and violent series. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Earth

Finished The Class by Erich Segal. If you don't have it, I STRONGLY suggest you rent/buy/steal/rob it. Seriously.

I picked up A Game of Thrones as a result of your enthusiasm. How in the hell have I gone without this series? Thank you, thank you, Captain Hammer.

Mostly, I blame Stephanie Meyer. Hard to find the true gems when there's too much dung accumulating on the shelves.


Don't thank me just yet. Did you know that there's an HBO series airing based on the first book right now? And that they've already renewed the show (after 2 episodes managed to each dominate the ratings) for the next book?

I think I just destroyed all your free time.

That said, be warned, after Dance comes out, you'll be waiting with the rest of us. Also, a quote from my buddy that majored in English and Creative Writing:

"The problem with reading George R.R. Martin is that he ruins fantasy. Not because his work is so bad. But rather, it's so good that there's nothing else out there of the same high caliber, unless you want to read a parody series like Discworld."

As much as I love G.R.R. Martin, I have to disagree there. Guy Gavriel Kay? Gene Wolfe? Neil Gaiman? Tim Powers? Lois McMaster Bujold? China Miéville? James Morrow? Connie Willis? Neal Stephenson? Charles Stross? Ian McDonald?

There's a huge amount of top quality fantasy being written now, probably the best period for nigh on twenty years or more. They just aren't as well known sadly... To claim that after reading him there's no point in reading any other authors working in the genre though, as they don't match up? No, don't agree. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are better, I'm simply saying they are also excellent writers, and equally valid - as I'm sure are several others who I simply haven't thought of.

But G.R.R. is a terrific author though

I am currently engrossed in The Land Painted Caves, by, you guessed it, Jean Auel.

From the cover text, I know so far that this book will be the end of the series (which is good, considering how long it took to write). This means that Auel has, in fact, achieved her goal of a six-title series, and so I am not disappointed that we are ending here. Rather, I am excited to see exactly what note the series will close on. I have been a reader since I was assigned to read the first half of Clan of the Cave Bear in High School (and I understood why only half was assigned very soon).

Unfortunately the fourth and fifth books were, to me, somewhat padded when it came to the length. Plains of Passage had way to much botany mumbo-jumbo and seemed like it was half novel, half botanic dissertation in Nature magazine, and those two don't really mix well. Shelters of Stone, on the other hand, was a bit cheesy when it came to the plot points, especially with the soap-opera conflicts that occurred throughout the book. And of course, there were way too many racy sex scenes than was necessary. Will Land Painted Caves repent for the rocky ground the series has trodden over the past two books? Time will tell.

I've been reading the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The books are a lot of fun. It is a book about magic and detective work set in modern day Chicago. These books are quick fun reads that just get better as they go.

Taken from wikipedia:

"The Dresden Files is a series of fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher. He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher's original proposed title for the first novel was "Semiautomagic", which sums up the series' balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction."

Yes- I have been reading those for a while on the Kindle. They combine 2 genres I love- fantasy and first-person detective fiction. I like that Harry is not all-powerful- he is mostly determined and driven.

By the way, the TV series is available from Netflix- no idea if it is any good....

Someone I know said that they were good as long as you can forgive that it isn't Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.

Butcher's awesome, and in addition to Dresden, I suggest reading the now finished Codex Alera.

Jim started that project as a high-fantasy series, but with two premises to govern the mechanics and backstory. I won't say what they are, but if you want PM me and I'll give you the scoop. Suffice it to say, he takes two bad ideas and turns it into six great books.

The only Codex Alera book I haven't read is the last one. I really need to get my hands on that one.

And now I have finished The Land of Painted Caves (Jean Auel), and it is time for me to express my thoughts. Is this the way I expected the series to end? No. I actually expected a lot more out of the book when I picked it up.

Firstly, I am glad Auel toned down on the sex scenes in this one, but at the same time, I am very unhappy with what they were replaced with. Unfortunately, Auel committed the cardinal sin of storywriting by having the first two acts be completely and totally meaningless to the plot we have come to know. We are reading about a bunch of French caves that some cavemen happened to draw in, whoopie. That's what I felt about the first two acts. Too many caves, not enough integration. More than once, I found myself wondering just how long those parts would drag on and when we would get to a point in the story that was actually interesting. Only at the very end of the first two acts did anything interesting happen (earthquake and hoodlums, respectively). In the end, after I finished the whole book, I was unable to discern why exactly the first two-thirds of it even needed to be there. Once the third act began, the painted caves that were visited are never mentioned again, they did nothing for either the characters or the plot, they brought about no changes, no interest, and no purpose.

Essentially, the first two-thirds of the book was needless, and you would miss nothing by skipping them over entirely.

Things don't really pick up until the third act, when Ayla actually does see something that DOES have implementations and repercussions. However, I expected more out of the end other than some soap-opera drama that we got (it was the cliche cheating husband scenario, I need not say more). What I wanted to see was, for instance, Whinney being killed by a carnivore out hunting and Ayla having to deal with the loss of her beloved mare. THAT would pull at some heartstrings.

Basically, Auel took no risks with the final act, did nothing she had not done before, the conclusion to the scenarios involving Brukeval and Madroman were weak, and the climax was nothing more than a retread of something that already happened before in The Mammoth Hunters.

In a way, I am glad the series is over now, because it has become rather clear to me that Auel's heart no longer dwells in it. Still, the ride was fun while it lasted.

I read the first three Jean Auel books years ago, and couldn't bring myself to continue the series after the third book. It was becoming repetitive, and the sex scenes were doing nothing for the plot. I'm no prude when it comes to slash scenes, but I want them to move the plot forward or contribute to character development (as they did in the first two books).

Right now I'm not reading sci fi or fantasy. What I'm reading is a historical novel in the flavor of James Michener. It's called "West of Here," and is about the inhabitants of the Elwha River in Washington State. It is now part of Olympic National Park, and I picked up the book because it is about an area I've actually visited. While I wasn't in the actual Elwha Valley, I had heard about the dam that was decommissioned a few years prior and the ongoing restoration efforts. The book covers both the beginning and the end of the dam, and is quite interesting. One thing that bothered me a bit though is the amount of head-hopping that is going on. While I always knew whose head I was currently in, it just made for a lot of characters to keep straight. I'll reserve my judgment until I finish.

Before that, I read Michael Moorcock's Gloriana. I had read his Elric stories years ago, and thought his level of description was pretty rich. I was blown away not only by the level of descriptive detail in this book, but also how he created such strong and distinctive characters and developed the level of byzantine intrigue that moves the plot forward. My only complaint is that it took him nearly half the book to present me with the main conflict that drives the plot, but once I reached that point, I was very satisfied with how he moved forward from there. It was vital, in hindsight, that he take so much time to set the stage for the conflict. It's hard to believe that story is almost 50 years old!

I am about to finish Chapterhouse: Dune, so I'm very excited to see the end of Frank Herbert's science fiction epic. All of his books are pretty slow reads, but the characters are great, and the philosophy and worldbuilding in it is awesomely deep. This also means I can finally peruse the Dune wiki without fear of spoilers.

Before that, I read the Chronicles of the Black Company, another awesome book. Again, the characters and world are unforgettable, and the plot is wonderfully creative. The best part, however, is how it really delves into questions of morality. Everything is shades of gray; there is no absolute evil or absolute good. A refreshing break from Wheel of Time style fantasy.

This summer has been so busy that I've had so little time to read much of anything, BUT......I'm going to start reading some Agatha Christie novels, as I haven't read any since high school. If you like mystery, they are an excellent read.

They take place in 1920s-1930s England, or thereabouts, back when most of them were written, but they are far from outdated! Agatha Christie was a genius at weaving suspenseful and intriguing stories, and she managed to place so many surprising twists within her tales.

Currently, I'm Waltzing with Wyverns.

No, wait, that's wrong. I'm Salsa-ing with Serpents.

Nope, sorry, that's wrong too.

I am, in fact, engaged in (Drumroll please):

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS!

Such a long wait, and yet I know that I'll finish before the weekend is out, and have to wait ANOTHER FEW YEARS before Winds of Winter.

Oh George, you giveth, and you with-holdeth, and we hang upon thine every word.

I can't do any serious reading when I'm in 'writing mode', as I found out writing Memories when all of a sudden it's like a bad Terry Pratchett added a chapter..

So that's what happened!Currently I'm reading two books - Prophecy, a historical thriller set in Elizabethan England, and Hero of the Pacific, a nonfiction about Marine Sgt. John Basilone, who got the Medal of Honor on Guadacanal and was KIA on Iwo Jima. One's a heavy duty hardcover book, the other's on my iPad.

Well, now, I have that second book, myself! (softcover)

AND I also own the HBO Miniseries The Pacific, which based a great deal of its footage of John Basilone on that very book.

Do let me know what you think of it!

Anyways, I also find myself reading a WWII memoir now, too. In this case, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge (which also got featured in The Pacific.

Peleliu is one of the most under-appreciated battles in the entire war. More people were killed there than on Tarawa, and the entire campaign for the island was (and still is) a subject of controversy.

TK, I agree that Peleliu is much, much overlooked, both for the carnage and for the purpose of that particular campaign.

I have owned Saturn cars since 1994, and started off naming each of them after a moon of Saturn (of course). The problem I had was that most of the moons were named for handmaidens and catamites in the court of the lusty god - none really were known for being anything other than sexual objects. The first car (which my mother still drives) was Calypso, the second Telesto, the third Ganymede. After that, I decided to change up my naming system, but couldn't decide what to go with. When my Dad said my fourth Saturn was a "good Navy color," I realized Oh My God, Battleship Grey! Then it occurred to me to name it Tarawa. After that, it was a done deal. Then came Iwo Jima, and my current Saturn (and the last one I'll ever own :-() is Tripoli. All well-known Marine battles. I have the Battle History of the Marine Corps and use that all the time for reference.

I will let you know how I like Hero of the Pacific. I already am somewhat familiar with John Basilone, since I also have (and read) Flags of our Fathers, about the six men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Yes, Basilone was one of them. I have the book for the HBO series The Pacific on my wish list at my library, also.

good book


also a really good book


John Basilone died near the airstrip on Feb. 19th, 1945, as a result of Japanese mortar assault. The first flag wasn't raised until Feb. 23rd 1945 by

First Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier
Platoon Sergeant Ernest I. Thomas Jr.,
Sergeant Henry O. "Hank" Hansen,
Corporal Charles W. Lindberg,
Private Gene Marshall
Private First Class James Michels, and photographed by
Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery for leatherneck magazine. But this flag was too small to be seen by the troops on the beach.

Second flag raising and 'offical' photo was taking in the early afternoon. Of the six men in the picture for Time Magazine;
Sergeant Michael Strank,
Corporal Harlon H. Block
Private First Class Ira H. Hayes
Private First Class Franklin R. Sousley,
Private First Class Rene A. Gagnon
and Navy Pharmacist's Mate Second Class -corpsman- John H. Bradley,

Strank, Block, Sousley died later during the Battle on Iwa Jima.


Jarheads get spoon-fed marine history in the mornings while we field strip tanks..

At present I am reading the Ancient Greece series by Steven Pressfield -

"Last of the Amazons"
"Gates of Fire"
"Tides of War"
and
"Alexander: the Virtues of War"

Hey Andy - Steven's a former Jarhead, and "Gates of Fire" is required reading at the Marine Corps Academy!!!

At present I'm reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. I really like it this far. Loads of characters with loads of depth. It gets confusing sometimes with all the names, but luckily the author added an appendix in the end with all the names and details about the houses. I'd really recommend it if you like fantasy.

I shall be reading this very soon! I watched the television series and I loved it and I usually tend to like reading better than watching T.V so I have ordered the first and second book.

I have finished Hero of the Pacific about Marine Sgt. John Basilone of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima fame. The book was written by a fellow Marine who served during the Korean conflict (at the same time as my uncle/godfather who has been such a mysteriously big influence on me). He basically takes apart the standard Basilone legends that have been put down by Basilone's sister and nephew, as well as a couple of pressmen who tended towards hyperbole. It was interesting as he pitted the legends against the Marine records and what he knew about Marine training methods.

No one really knows for sure how he died. Did he die by small arms fire (as is stated in the official Marine records), or did he die from shrapnel from a mortar shell (as stated by several eyewitnesses). Did he really die instantly (official version) or did he linger for several hours afterwards, chatting with the medics and bumming cigs (the sister's version).

It's very interesting to see how the fog of war works - no one witness told exactly the same story. When you're busy ducking bullets (or arrows, or slingshots, depending on the war), the last thing on your mind is getting the story straight about the events going on around you.

Right now I'm reading the second Harry Dresden book - Full Moon. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series, but so far I'm enjoying the mixture of Sam Spade and Merlin the wizard.

In my opinion, the books get better as the series continues. If you are enjoying the early ones, then I'm sure you will enjoy the later ones as well.

Have finished A Dance with Dragons.

Now reading the newest installment of The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher's Ghost Story.

Nothing much that can be said about this one without revealing some major spoilers for those who have yet get far along with Harry Dresden. All I can say is for those still working through Jim's bibliography: "Keep at it."

I just finished Watchers by Dean Koontz.

It's definitely a good book for dog lovers to read.

Basically there was a company that was working on DNA experimentation. Two of the creatures escaped. One was supposed to be like a living war machine simply known as The Outsider, as it "didn't belong." The other was a golden retriever. Both were genetically modified to be just as smart, or maybe smarter, than humans.

Both also escaped into Orange County.

While the dog doesn't speak, its interactions with the man who finds him is hilarious. It's one of the few books that had me laughing at one part and sobbing the next.

I just finished Under the Skin a few days ago. It wasn't bad, it was a little wierd, but not bad. The ending wasn't what I expected.

Now though, I've just started reading George R.R Martin's A Storm of Swords part one.
I'm liking it so far (understatement). It seems to get a little more predictable the further I go in. Though I suppose that means I'm getting to know the characters rather well.

I just took a look at some of Martin's art that goes along with the novels, looks pretty good. Not surprisingly the art is reminiscent of LOTR and The Hobbit but even more interesting is how similar Martin's appearance is to Tolkien, just put a beard on Tolkien and see for yourself....just thought that was a bit funny. Happy reading Brume!!!!

Just finished the 'Malus Darkblade Omnibus Part One'. I have to say it, if you ever want to read a novel where the protagonist is an cunning, self centered, malicious, murdering evil person then you sjould definately check out the 'Darkblade' series. Written by Mike Lee and Dan Abnett

Warhammer 40 000 - Titanicus by Dan Abnett...Sheer brilliance...Big, noisy and epic...Much fun!!... ...

Sometimes that exactly what I like in a book.

I'm rereading The Choice of the Cat by E. E. Knight. I need to buy some of his other books because the Vampire Earth series is fantastic.

I'm re-reading a favourite fantasy series by Trudi Canavan. I'm on the final part of the trilogy, "The High Lord".

He does kind of look like Tolkien doesn't he?
Illigitimite son maybe?

Though I'm almost disappointed by part two of Storm of Swords. The story is good, but how many characters is he going to kill off and why are they all my favourites?

Elder Scrolls - The Infernal City by Greg Keyes... ...

Been on a Steven Pressfield kick lately (thanks, Foxee!). Read Last of the Amazons and Tides of War. I really liked Amazons (anything about independent women is good in my book!). I'm currently reading Gates of Fire, about Thermopylae ("If you want them, come and get them!" ranks up there next to the unbowderlized version of "Nuts!" as the perfect response to an invitation to surrender). Virtues of War and the Afghan Campaign are next.

Oh, and I just got Steve Jobs's biography today. Have already started reading it as well.

And then there's Marketing Management, 13th ed.

Guess I'll be busy.

Order In Chaos - Jack Whyte...Final part of a Templar trilogy...Loves me Templars...Could you guess?... ...

Been reading Warhammer - Knights of Bretonnia by Anthony Reynolds for a bit now...

So excellent...*Applauds*...

About 7/8 of the way through the Saga of Beowulf. It's good, but it seems to finish the climax about three quarters of the way through, and it seems that the rest of it is just the secondary characters pootling around now that Beowulf (spoiler alert!) has copped it. The saga's a piece of bada$$ goodness up until there, and now it just seems to be them going through his last will and testament. Most odd...

I've got the last fifth of Inheritance by Christopher Paolini to read yet. I've really enjoyed the book and the whole series (it's the fourth) of books.

If you like dragons, it's worth checking out.

Tell Me Your Dreams by Sydney Sheldon. It got me going "WTFROFLMAOBBQ" several times. DEFINITELY a good read for those who want to be suprised. I'm now nearing the end so yeah. BABAYUU!

Abouts halfway through The Darkness Series by Harry Turtledove.

Truly impressed with his level of detail, world-building, and broad focus on elements other than the battles.

The series comprises six novels detailing what is essentially "World War II in a fantasy setting." Planes are dragons (great, stupid, angry, stupid, ferocious, stupid, small minded stupid beasts that are commanded by getting repeatedly hit with a goad), tanks are behemoths (rhinos wearing chainmail armor), mages of a theoretical bend replace scientists and mages of a practical bend replace engineers, etc, etc.

The nationalities, cultures and languages of the major and minor participants are all nicely scrambled so that your personal attachments to any particular side (U.S.A! U.S.A!) are stripped away, while the important historical trends and movements are kept nicely together.

All in all, it's one of the best takes I've ever read on World War II. Now I just have to wait for the Manhattan Project-equivalent to wrap up so I can see what Nuclear Yield Magic Bombs look like.

Tad Williams The Dragonbone Chair, part one of a trilogy that I accidentally started on book 3 years ago. Finally got around to getting books one and two.

Johannes Cabal Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard. Wonderful book about a man that tries to win his soul back from Satan.

Robert has bought comics!!! YAY!!!!...

I is reading an Avengers Assemble one, which is a UK news-stand reprint of an Avengers story and DC Universe Presents, which seems to be a DCs Greatest Hits comic also aimed at UK news-stands...Top comics, pretty (but not dirt-) cheap...

I have missed comics...I used to be very much into them, but then both the top companies started messing around with their universes and I got sooooo bored...So I stopped and discovered exactly how much money I was spending per month!!... ...

Taking a break from Grail Knights, decapitations and Norsecans...(Warhammer)...

And reading Billy Connolly's Route 66 travelogue...So much more pleasant...Y'know?... ...