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Grand unified books thread

Started by Syt, March 16, 2009, 01:52:42 AM

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garbon

Off to a book signing by Anne Rice! :w00t:
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

CountDeMoney

Bringing your dogeared, yellow-highlighter copy of Exit to Eden with you?  :P

garbon

I'm too innocent for that. I'm just having her sign her brand new book. I think this makes her 27th book that I'll have read. :blush:
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

11B4V

Time to tackle Powell's Chickamauga tome.
"there's a long tradition of insulting people we disagree with here, and I'll be damned if I listen to your entreaties otherwise."-OVB

"Obviously not a Berkut-commanded armored column.  They're not all brewing."- CdM

"We've reached one of our phase lines after the firefight and it smells bad—meaning it's a little bit suspicious... Could be an amb—".

Ed Anger

spoiler:Union loses that battle
Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

11B4V

"there's a long tradition of insulting people we disagree with here, and I'll be damned if I listen to your entreaties otherwise."-OVB

"Obviously not a Berkut-commanded armored column.  They're not all brewing."- CdM

"We've reached one of our phase lines after the firefight and it smells bad—meaning it's a little bit suspicious... Could be an amb—".

Josephus

The Idiot by some Russian dude.

I read this back when I was 16 in 1983. I remember I was in Grade 11, and my history teacher, seeing it on my desk, remarked sarcastically: 'Your autobiography?"

I found it in my parents' bookshelf and decided to re-read it over the hols. Although it's always been the least powerful of Dostoevsky's big four, I was quite surprised with how quickly I swallowed it up. A great read. Like many of his books, the characters and plot are either unfinished or inconsistent, as it was being published as he was writing it, but it still packs a message. And ode to old Russia and yet a criticism of the ruling class.
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

mongers

Another year, yet another book to read.  :smarty:
"We have it in our power to begin the world over again"

Syt

Guess it fits better here than in the Rogue One thread.

Finished the Tarkin audio book. Written by Luceno, like Catalyst (the Rogue One prequel), I thought it was much better than the newer book. I hear that Catalyst required major rewriting after the Rogue One changes, so that may have caused some of the "by the number" feel of Catalyst.

This book has Tarkin and Vader look into a series of seditious incidents and uncovering a conspiracy. It's still early years for the Empire - they're still mostly using the V-Wing instead of the TIE-Fighter, and some of the organizational structure still has to gel. Flashbacks show how Tarkin was raised, how he became so ruthless, and how he first met Palpatine.

The interactions between Vader, Tarkin, and Palpatine are pretty good, and Tarkin's analytical ways give him occasionally a bit of a Sherlock air (which would be fitting, considering that Cushing played the detective in movies).

The book was one of the first of the new canon, and it brings back a host of familiar names from the Expanded Universe, though mostly just name dropping them. Armand Isard (father of Ysanne Isard of the X-Wing books), Screed (the Imperial from the Droids cartoon and Star Wars Rebellion game), the planets of Jomark and Obroa-Skai from the Thrawn trilogy, Interdictor Cruisers, Victory Class Star Destroyers, CC-7700 frigates (also from Star Wars Rebellion), Carrack Cruisers, TaggeCo, and plenty more. :nerd:
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Caliga

Finished 'The Forge of God' by Greg Bear yesterday.  Pretty good.
0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

11B4V

Quote from: 11B4V on January 01, 2017, 11:37:07 PM
Time to tackle Powell's Chickamauga tome.

Good, detailed book so far, but WOULD SOMEBODY ATTACK ALREADY. WHAT A COMEDY SHIT SHOW.
:lol:
"there's a long tradition of insulting people we disagree with here, and I'll be damned if I listen to your entreaties otherwise."-OVB

"Obviously not a Berkut-commanded armored column.  They're not all brewing."- CdM

"We've reached one of our phase lines after the firefight and it smells bad—meaning it's a little bit suspicious... Could be an amb—".

celedhring

Reading the Ancillary Justice / Sword / Mercy trilogy. They are good, but not "win every major scifi award" good. I was slightly disappointed.

Ed Anger

Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

Valmy

Quote from: 11B4V on January 05, 2017, 01:00:45 AM
Quote from: 11B4V on January 01, 2017, 11:37:07 PM
Time to tackle Powell's Chickamauga tome.

Good, detailed book so far, but WOULD SOMEBODY ATTACK ALREADY. WHAT A COMEDY SHIT SHOW.
:lol:

Rosecrans was a genius :angry:

At least until he had that mental breakdown. Maybe he was bipolar.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Ed Anger

Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive