watervole: (books)
Judith Proctor ([personal profile] watervole) wrote2009-07-06 09:19 am
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John Scalzi

As part of my quest to reduce my pile of unread books (entering them on Library Thing as been showing me just how many there were...), I've just read two of my John Scalzi novels.

'Ghost Brigade' and 'The Last Colony'.  They're both sequels to the excellent 'Old Man's War'. Ghost Brigade is good (4/5) but 'The Last Colony' is excellent.  Although all three books would probably work as stand-alones, I really do recommend reading Old Man's War first.

Scalzi's series reminds me of Heinlein in some ways.  There's that important ability to tell a good story. We've got the future military and space travel and aliens and lots of good stuff, but none of that counts unless the writer can spin a good yarn that holds the reader's attention and makes them care about the characters and what happens next.  Scalzi does that, and I'll happily read more by him, whether it's in the same universe or not.

I think the vertigo is raising my standard required of books - they have to be good enough to hold my interest when I feel wobbly or queasy (but also means that I'm not yet ready to tackle those on my backlog that require serious brain cells).  I started 'Janissaries' by Jerry Pournelle, but gave up after the first chapter.  The idea (a group of stranded American mercenaries being rescued by aliens to fight in other times and places) is great, but the writing is dull and pedestrian and I had no interest in what happened to the characters. There was a time when I might have read it through, but I know that I have better books waiting in my pile.

[identity profile] oreouk.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:47 am (UTC)(link)
I added him to my list of 'should get all books he publishes' recently, after reading a free download version of Old Man's War that he made available earlier this year. Zoe's Tale is also good - it tells enough of a different story from The Last Colony to stand on it's own.
kerravonsen: cover of "Komarr" by LMB: Science Fiction (SF)

[personal profile] kerravonsen 2009-07-06 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yes, I enjoyed "Old Man's War"; and it does make sense to compare the series to Heinlein. I got about half way through "Ghost Brigade" and then I hit a spell when I didn't feel like military SF, so it's sitting there half-read. I should get back to it... at some point.

Right now I'm reading the second volume in the "Chaos Chronicles" by Jeffrey A. Carver. Interesting ideas and worldbuilding, average characters, and a peril-filled plot.

The idea... is great, but the writing is dull and pedestrian and I had no interest in what happened to the characters
Don't read anything by Alan Dean Foster, then.
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[identity profile] thebobby.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 07:52 am (UTC)(link)
Jerry Pournelle I don't like, Alan Dean Foster I do, but I'd be hard pressed to say why the difference. I think ADF's stories manage to engage me despite the writing, not because of it.
kerravonsen: An open book: "All books are either dreams or swords." (books)

[personal profile] kerravonsen 2009-07-07 11:05 am (UTC)(link)
I think I've only read one Jerry Pournelle, "The Mote in God's Eye" and since that was co-written by Larry Niven, it probably isn't representative.

I find ADF frustrating because his writing drags down what would otherwise be good stories. It's like trying to run with a ball-and-chain attached to one's leg: hop-thump-hop-thump.

[identity profile] lil-shepherd.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 04:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I am very fond of this series, though I think that the structural problems with The Last Colony are not solved by the different structural problems of Zoe's Tale and I can't help thinking that the green-skinned soldiers were invented specifically for that joke in the last chapter of The Last Colony.

Yes, they are like the early Heinlein, but what I love about them is the unreliability of the narration and the way the morality switches from a very Campbellian viewpoint to a very different liberal one.

Another author who throughly subverts Heinlein is Ken MacLeod in Learning the World.

[identity profile] rockwell-666.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I seem to remember someone mentioning an online book service like Library Thing that could give recommendations of "other books you might like to read" based on what you put in.

I'm looking for some new authors, so if anyone knows what it is I'd be grateful.
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[identity profile] watervole.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Library Thing does that.

It's top suggestions for me are currently:
# The Honor of the Queen by David Weber
# On Basilisk Station by David Weber
# Mating: A Novel by Norman Rush
# The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
# Heris Serrano by Elizabeth Moon
# SM 101: A Realistic Introduction by Jay Wiseman

Which is telling, because three of those are books I own and haven't yet got around to entering into the database... And I own another book by Wiseman.

I've never heard of Norman Rush - maybe I should try him...

[identity profile] rockwell-666.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, ok, thanks for that, I may give it a try sometime :-)
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[identity profile] thebobby.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 07:53 am (UTC)(link)
This sounds interesting, I'll have to look into trying this service.
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[identity profile] watervole.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 10:42 am (UTC)(link)
It's got lots of good features. It lets you see what books you have in common with your friends. It helps you realise when you're missing a book in a series. It helps you avoid buying duplicates. Just the process of cataloguing is helping me clear out a lot of dead wood that I won't read again.

New features keep appearing. Over a dozen of my LJ friends are also on Library Thing.