Grand unified books thread

[jimmy olsen]

Can anyone recommend his books? I've read literally zero of them, but they are in a genre which I enjoy and need more decent authors.

Depends what you like about the genre. I think his world building is great. His magic systems are intricate and have hard rules to what they can do and what they can't do. He's great at foreshadowing.

There's a lot of buildup in his novels, and sometimes it seems like they're not going anywhere and then BAM, the last 25% is an avalanche of action and plot resolution that you didn't realize had been set up until it happens.

I would start straight with his best work. Read The Way of Kings and see if you like his style. If so, then read his other stuff. If not, don't.

[The Brain]

Finished The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871, by Wawro. A readable telling of the story, and the description of the background to the war is helpful for readers who don't know European 19th century stuff by heart. At the end of the book though, when the author is analyzing the effects of the war on Germany and the events leading up to WW1, things get... not completely thought through. Lazily drawing a straight line from Bismarck to Wilhelm II to automatic German defeat in WW1 is par for the course in this kind of book. What especially irks me though in the discussion of the causes of WW1 is the myopic complete disregard of Eastern European realities and actors, and the implicit assumption that Franco-German relations was the sole deciding factor. The author seems to think that barbarous Eastern Europe cannot possibly have had an impact on events in the sophisticated West. I find this parochialism off-putting, and it suggests to me that the author may have problems grasping complete pictures.

[Maladict]

What would you recommend on the 1870 war? Or the 1866 one, for that matter.

[The Brain]

What would you recommend on the 1870 war? Or the 1866 one, for that matter.

I've only recently started reading on this stuff, so I'm not an expert on the era and take everything with a grain of salt. I think the Wawro book is a perfectly OK introduction/overview. The only other book I've read specifically on this is Barry's The Franco-Prussian War 1870-71 in two volumes (The Campaign of Sedan: Helmuth von Moltke and the Overthrow of the Second Empire and After Sedan: Helmut von Moltke and the Defeat of the Government of National Defence), which I found interesting and which is a lot more detailed when it comes to military matters. Barry is not a professional historian, but I didn't find that to be a problem.

In my to-read pile is The Franco-Prussian War by Howard. An older book (1961) but supposedly a classic... I haven't read anything specific on the 1866 war. Barry has also written on that one, The Road to Königgrätz: Helmuth von Moltke and the Austro-Prussian War 1866, which I'm thinking of picking up.

What I haven't seen, and I'd like to see, is a book going into more detail on logistics and economics, especially how France managed to put new (poor) armies in the field so quickly after the losses of Sedan and Metz.

For anyone interested in uniforms of course there's the usual Ospreys and so forth, but I have to mention Verlag Militaria's Franco-Prussian War 1870/71: Uniforms and Equipment of the German and French Armies, a two volume set. While I don't have this one I have other books by Verlag Militaria, and they are very nice with high quality photos etc. Not cheap, but not unreasonably priced.

[Maladict]

Thanks! 

[Sheilbh]

It's not a military focused history but Alastair Horne's The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune, 1870–1871 is pretty good.

Edit: Obviously it is also very focused on Paris not the rest of the country.

[KRonn]

I read several military history magazines. World War II, Military History and a Military History Quarterly magazine. I've been getting World War II the longest, for quite a few years. Lots of great stories from all sides, mostly Allied side. In reader's letters section there are items from WW2 vets or family members with some great personal stories of all kinds, of battle or other experiences. The other magazines are similar but cover all nations since ancient times. Lots of good articles and insights.

[Threviel]

I used to subscribe to MHQ, damn good magazine.

[KRonn]

I used to subscribe to MHQ, damn good magazine.

Yes, a great magazine. 

[Savonarola]

I've been reading through an anthology of English language poetry and came across this fine heroic couplet:

Had Cain been Scot, God would have changed his doom
Not forced him to wander but confined him home! 
     
                           -John Cleveland - The Rebel Scot

[Eddie Teach]

What kind of crazy accent rhymes doom with home?

[Sheilbh]

What kind of crazy accent rhymes doom with home?

There is a shift in the 18th century. The classic which comes up all the time is love and proof rhyme until the mid-late 18th century.

I have no idea which way it went. I don't know if we used to pronounce proof "pruv" or if we used to pronounce love "loov" (I hope it's the latter). But I guess this is the same here - I feel like this strengthens my hope and we also used to pronounce home as "hoom".

[Savonarola]

What kind of crazy accent rhymes doom with home?

There is a shift in the 18th century. The classic which comes up all the time is love and proof rhyme until the mid-late 18th century.

I have no idea which way it went. I don't know if we used to pronounce proof "pruv" or if we used to pronounce love "loov" (I hope it's the latter). But I guess this is the same here - I feel like this strengthens my hope and we also used to pronounce home as "hoom".

I think it's the other way (although I'm no expert in 17th century English); as "Doom" is sometimes written as Dome or Dom in middle English.  Also in the case that I quoted "Doom" means judgement; its original meaning in old English, rather than inevitable ruin.

[Syt]

Sometimes, a book description can cause your brain to do that overused record scratch sound you hear in the trailers for comedy trailers.

Deep Wheel Orcadia is a remote and failing space station that is struggling for survival as the pace of change threatens to leave the community behind. It is here that Astrid and Darling first meet – Astrid on her way home from art school on Mars and searching for inspiration, and Darling, fleeing a life that never fit, searching for somewhere to hide . . .

The strikingly unusual sci-fi setting is mirrored in the unique form of this verse novel, which is written in the dialect of the Orkney islands, with a parallel English translation. Magical and compellingly readable, Deep Wheel Orcadia is an outstanding literary creation by Orcadian poet and performer Harry Josephine Giles.

 

[Grey Fox]

On the Sanderson topic. I am one of his rabid fan.

I have not read enough American sci-fi authors to compare him to any of the more popular one.
I liked Robert Jordan & like Michael J. Sullivan. Hard rules magic system with intricate verbose world building.