So which book(s) are you reading at the moment?

[Geoffrey(aka Jasper)]

Finished 'Crash Deluxe.' It started out "not bad" and finished the same way.

Currently reading "Set Piece" by Kate Orman. It's a Doctor Who novel, one of the Virgin New Adventures, written back in 1995 when the idea of Doctor Who coming back to the telly was a little bit of dream. It's reading like a "big fan fiction" and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Still quite readable though.

[Liz W]

Hi all

I am now on the 3rd book of the Inheritance Cycle, Brisinger and I'm still enjoying them immensely. I will buy the fourth (and final) book, when I can afford it!

I'm still also reading the Star Trek Titan series; I have read the second book, The Red King.
Although it is written by the same author as the first book, I do have to say I didn't enjoy The Red King quite as much as Taking Wing.
It was by no means a bad book, it was good; I just didn't enjoyed it quite as much.
I am now on the third book, Orion’s Hounds; unfortunately, I am not that far in that book yet. So I can't really make a judgement at this point.

I am still also re-working my way through Northern Lights!

Hugs

Liz

[Geoffrey(aka Jasper)]

I’ve finished "Set Piece." Hmmm . . . not bad, but it jumped around a lot, and overall I found the plot unsatisfying, also the prose style seemed a little self-consciously cute on occasions. And, this is an observation and not a complaint; the book felt it was part of a fanfic universe with its own continuity and its own versions of the Doctor and his companions.

Oh, and another observation, talking of companions I did come across Professor Bernice (Benny) Summerfield for the first, some people consider her to be the inspiration for River Song. Benny seems an interesting character.

Okay just started another two, one non-fiction "Leningrad" by Anna Reid. Am account of the siege of Leningrad; it's early days, but so far it seems well researched and well written.

The other one is fiction: "Kill Ratio" by Janet Morris and David Drake. Sci-fi thriller set on near-future lunar habitat. I've heard "low" reports of this one, so we'll see how it goes.

[Liz W]

Hi all

I am still working my way through both Brisinger and Northern Lights.

However, I have now finished Star Trek Titan: Orions Hounds.
I have to say I really enjoyed this one, in fact there were times where I had trouble putting it down!

The main story centres around creatures that were featured all the way back to Encounter at Farpoint!

You find out more about Titan's crew and, surprisingly as this is only the 3rd book in the series; the departure of one of them!

Overall definatly on par with the first book and better than the second!

Hugs

Liz

[David A Harvey]

I'm reading "A Game of Thrones" by George RR Martin - and all those people who told me over the years that it was really good and that I'd enjoy it, and because it was fantasy I made excuses, can join together in a chorus of "I told you so".

[Liz W]

Hi all

Well I have, finally, finished Brisinger and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have brought the 4th one (Inheritance) and have just started reading it.

I am still re-working my way through Northern Lights.

I am part way through the next Star Trek Titan book, Sword of Damocles.
At first this book seems very centred on one particular member of the crew; but, fortunately, as the story moves on the rest of the crew are weaved back in. Once that happens the book gets a lot more enjoyable and interesting.
Also, this book has a set of plans for the Titan; which is kinda cool!!

Hugs

Liz

[Geoffrey(aka Jasper)]

Finished 'Kill Ratio' which did live down to its "low" reports. -sigh- Okay there were some nice touches e.g. the difficulty of drinking a glass of water on the moon, where the water's inertia is countered by only 1/6 g, but there is an awfully lot of rambling prose and some very odd turns of phrase.

On the non-fiction front I still reading 'Leningrad' it's not exactly a cheerful read; the siege of Leningrad was, even by the standards of the Second World War, pretty damn grim.

On a more cheerful note, I am (re-)reading 'Nightside City' by Lawrence Watt-Evans, it was a rather neat Sci-fi detective novel.

[David A Harvey]

Thanks to Ros, who spotted and seized all six in the series second hand, I've been reading and thoroughly enjoying Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series.

quoting from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Fleet The Lost Fleet

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndicate Worlds for a century, neither side able to gain an edge over the other. The Alliance, however, has gained access to a Syndic "hypernet key", allowing them to directly attack the Syndic homeworld. This turns out to be a trap and the remnants of the Alliance fleet find themselves trapped in enemy territory.

Before the battle the fleet had come across the hibernation escape pod of Captain John Geary. Known as "Black Jack" in the present, his legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild and he is revered for his heroic last stand in the early days of the war. The posthumously promoted survivor still sees himself in the light of a regular and all-too fallible naval officer, one who could not possibly live up to his flawlessly heroic legend. After an act of treachery during peace negotiations, Geary is left as the de facto fleet commander and with great reluctance takes it upon himself to lead the fleet to the safety of Alliance space.

I'm finding it to be compelling, well written, military sf with believable characters and a story that is unfolding in good order.

I'm also thoroughly impressed with the description of the space battles which has the wargamer in me twitching with anticipation. Its not often that I read a space battle that manages to get across that this is a 3D environment and the effects on tactics when your combatants are spread across several light minutes/hours without it being so being so complicated that I have to fight the desire to skip to the edited highlights.

Gosh this cries out to be turned into a SF miniseries.

[Geoffrey(aka Jasper)]

I too have read the The Lost Fleet and i found them to be good solid military SF, and well worth a read. The books shave a mixture of standard SF "science" e.g. FTL trravel, but the battles are fought using hard science, and I do agree with David that a very well described.

Currently I reading Shades of Grey by former Armadacon guest Jasper fforde. I'm not a 100% sure about it. I'm feeling that Jff has edged over from being clever to being clever-clever, but having said that I am enjoying it and I'm interested in the story.

[Geoffrey(aka Jasper)]

Just finished The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper fforde, and IMHO it's a good 'un.

It's clever without being clever-clever, and silly while still being internally consistent, and it works perfectly well as a thriller on it's own terms.