It no doubt surprises nobody that I am quick to read a new book by David Weber, who is one of my favorite authors of all time. In this case, our local library was quite helpful, because they had Off Armageddon Reef in almost immediately. This book is set in a completely new universe and…
William C. Dietz is primarily an author of military science fiction and he’s outstanding in his portrayal of military action. I’ve previously written a couple of notes on his book For Those Who Fell, and since reading that book I’ve been quite quick to check his books out of the library or find them on…
Considering that Keith Laumer is one of my favorite authors, and that David Weber is on my “read everything he writes” list, it’s not surprising that I found this book fascinating. Laumer was happy to go off in different directions with the bolo series, but those who have taken it up since his death have…
I enjoy the Man-Kzin wars series, but they aren’t on my list of favorites–good, but not exceptional. Thus Destiny’s Forge was an wonderful surprise. Expecting something merely interesting and entertaining, I was presented with something fascinating and challenging yet certainly no less entertaining. To put is simply, this is a great book. The characters are…
When I read the first two books set on Pern by Todd McCaffrey I really was not too impressed. Because they were from Pern, and the stories were OK, I knew I would keep reading them, but I didn’t feel that they had the same charm as Anne McCaffrey’s own work. For the first few…
This little book is the first volume in a series The Twins of Petaybee which continues the story of the planet Petaybee that was told in Powers that Be, Power Play, and Power Lines. Those who really like McCaffrey’s writing will really like these little books. They’re somewhat lighter than the Dragonriders series, but they…
Unfortunately I must say that this is my least favorite Pip and Flinx adventure thus far. But considering how much I like the series as a whole, that’s not too bad. This book develops a little bit more culture, though we get too little of the culture of the planet Flinx winds up on. It…
I like military science fiction, and so it was natural to pick up this book, my first by author William C. Dietz. Let me get a couple of things I didn’t really like out of the way first. This is more in the line of an extended history with several story lines followed at the…
OK, having trashed one Terry Pratchett book, with apologies to all his fans including myself, let me just say that this one is up to standard. I actually found it a little less twisted than the average discworld book, but I found the story equally appealing, incredibly funny, and even a bit more suspenseful. Ankh-Morpork…
This is a young adult book, and I’m not a young adult anymore, but I thought I’d try it. I really, really love Terry Pratchett. I think he’s a brilliant, imaginative, and humorous writer. Who wouldn’t think those things? They’re obvious characteristics of his work. But I’m sorry, I just couldn’t get into this one….
