Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you READING?

The Wake: a ten issue Vertigo by Snyder and Murphy.

Three issues in it appears a standard horror sci-fi, Ten Little Indians told in three parts; far past, present, future.

Pacing has been good, with the occasional bland filler splash probably to make sure the cliffhangers happen in the right spots. Each issue has been fairly full. It's based upon an alternate hypothesis for evolution and where that might lead. The theory may or may not be real, I'm no expert. I thought they approached it logically but I wouldn't know if the "facts" are real or made up so that the theory would seem logical. The setting is aquatic. I have personal experience with the science and I can say it is realistic and well depicted.

The past and the future quickly get lost so the part in the past may only be to set up the alternate theory of evolution and the future may only be the last issue cliffhanger foretold or the goal may be to actually get to that part of the story. By issue 3, we're not there yet.

The setting, the alternate theory are all fun. The science is fun. The story telling so far both cliche and loathsomely done; get all the best together then make them do dumb things to move the story along. The personalities I find both cliche and bland.

The pay-off will be the end-story. At a $30 for ten issues price tag, it's hard to recommend a mystery novel until after the entire read. Since I find so much cliche, before buying it, I'd recommend waiting to see if anyone tells you that the end was "fantastic," "the characters grew on me" and "all the clues were there you have to go back and look for them," then buy. If not but you like the setting, borrow someone's issues, you won't re-read this ever.

Recently read Neil Gaiman's "Ocean at the End of the Lane". Quick read, but packs a good punch. Really quite unsettling at points when touching on parental relationships and children's preceptions.

Also read the YA book the "Savage" by David Almond and illustrated by Dave McKean. Really good story about grief and rage and how they can impact children.

Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier prose novels. I've finished the first four, which were really one long novel serialized in four novellas, and have started on the fifth, "Martyr."

The series is set during the same era as "Star Trek: TNG," but with different characters (although a few of them did appear on the TNG show in minor roles.)

So far, it's been great. I'm only a casual Trek fan, but I love Peter David. When he's giving it his all, no one can touch him. Captain Mackenzie Calhoun of the Starship Excalibur is a total badass who makes Captain James T. Kirk look like a boy scout. There's plenty of well-done action to carry the talky bits. And PAD excels at his patented mixture of soap opera, sitcom, and adventure.

Ever since I started commuting on the train again, I've been reading like crazy. I fly through my monthly National Geographic and usually am doing a full length book or novel every 2-3 weeks. My tastes for some time have veered towards non-fiction with an intellectual / historical / sociological bent. When elements of true crime, Government and cover-ups / conspiracies / secret histories are added, it makes it all the more appealing.

Recently, I've been on a big "hard realistic conspiracy" binge (re: conspiracies that are not quite so far-fetched and can be supported with real data), so I reread the terrifying and incredible plausible Programmed to Kill: the Politics of Serial Murder which addresses a litany of things kept out of the press about serial killers, the foremost being they usually are never acting alone and often have ties to prostitution, child porn and human trafficking rings.

From there, I read the famous and incredible The Ultimate Evil, which was investigative journalist Maury Terry's highly praised expose on the Son of Sam which reveals what NY law enforcement officials and the Queens District Attorneys office have said for decades, that David Berkowitcz certainly did not act alone, and was part of a cult of killers. This was excellent, and I read the second edition rereleased in 1989, with added chapters that confirmed many theories the first time around as suspects and related parties ended up dead in between the editions.

Going for a lighter tone, I then spent many weeks reading from start to finish the masterful and seminal The People's History of the United States of America by Howard Zinn, which I agree should be required reading for every school kid. Though I've read pieces of it before in Grad School and other places, I've never read it start to finish. It was, as expected, nothing short of brilliant, on the level of the best of Chomsky and other incredibly insightful and intelligent writers. Zinn does not pull any punches, but everything he says is backed up entirely by facts, figures and an honest understanding of the history of my home country.

I also just read the biography on Steve Jobs, which my boss kept recommending I read. I went in with zero expectations and ended up loving every page of it. It gives a very accurate and non-biased look at Steve Jobs (and unflinchingly shows him when he was at his worst, which was often). It was one of the most fascinating biographies I've ever read, which is helped by Jobs leading one of the most interesting and exciting lives ever, all the more highlighted by many of Apple's later accomplishments happening in the recent past in my lifetime.

From here, I plan on reading Understanding the F-Word, a book by one of my favorites, David McGowan, which analyzes the connections between American business and European Fascism prior to WWII, and the subsequent recruitment of many Nazis and fascist-supporters by the USA (and allies) via the CIA, science & technologies and other ways. Ultimately, McGowan will show how the American Government has adopted many of the methods and tools used by Hitler's Germany and other fascist states (such as in South American, where the dictators were installed by none other than the CIA). Everything I've ever read by McGowan has been among the best stuff I've *ever* read.

^^^^

I think I'm going to go to a corner and curl up into a ball.

If it helps, know that I read strictly comic books in the evenings while my wife watches TV.

I'll give this one a go. Thanks, Cobie.

Just started 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Involving Time travel and the JFK assassination. Also in the middle of Mercury, about Freddie. Both really good so far.

Storm Surge: the 8th book in the Destroyermen series, I've posted a couple reviews previously.

Taylor Anderson's writing continues to grow. To review: storms have tossed a US Destroyer and a Japanese Battleship into an alternate world and from there we meet the inhabitants of an Earth in which different species came to dominate.

Previous books have been marked with the "Americans" having distinct technological advantage and the antagonists marked superiority in numbers and in reproducing. But this is a naval story. Technology is going to win that every time except Anderson balances the books by continually having the Captain of the American Destroyer make stupid decision after stupid decision. He completely dumbs down his hero.

This is a theme for 7 books. Why read? The supporting characters of which there are a million I think, are interesting. Much like in the real war, there is a massive "arms" build-up requiring the different components of the ships' compliment to use and develop their skills in advanced ways. Anderson knows his naval logistics and weapons development so this part is all credible. He is not as clear as he should be in describing battle staging and development but again, the characters are heroic and at risk. There are so many characters of distinct personality that any reader will find two or three of any species on either side of the war, whose eye they will see through and others that they will adore and fear for. There are some the reader will absolutely attend their deaths, maybe even reread those paragraphs for the sheer joy of it. Other characters arrive through storms, perhaps from different eras, maybe even different realities, adding new dimensions to world politics as each book is released.

Andersons' major accomplishment in book 8, is to have the captain acknowledge set-backs due to his own personality and stupidity. His ability to do that legitimizes his leadership and makes credible that half a world would come to follow him as they attempt to defeat the raging hoards that keep coming.

Book 8 looks like it will wrap up one storyline but so many have been started. He might have made this ride a bit tiresome for new readers to even consider. Those that do not need an "end" will enjoy his alternative reality I think.

Rereading The Collected Stories and Poems of Dorothy Parker right now.

It's only her wit/sarcasm and attention to detail that makes so many of her totally thoughtless and/or utterly creepy characters bearable. "Little Curtis" and "Mr. Durant," for instance, feature some of the worst role models to come down the plank in the last century. It's not hard to imagine them graduating "off-screen" to serial killing and the like. She was a great, and highly underrated storyteller.

Fanfie, just want to let you know that I purchased this via iBooks and somehow got a rough copy or something that had a lot of font / spacing errors. It wasn't actually distracting and the book was fantastic, but for some reason that happened. It was the first time I bought a book with my iPad online. Weird.

A great read though, nonetheless.

Thanks for the heads up, Cobie.

Finished the second graphic novel for "Fairest." Pretty book. Haven't decided yet if it was a great story or standard fair. Of course standard fair for the Fables line is great so what am I confused about?

1984 and Pension Heist

One is a scary story about an evil, dystopic society. The other is by George Orwell.

I've not long finished Friendly Fire. It illustrated the ever shifting alliances of key nations in the run up to WWII. If nothing else, it reminds the reader that things aren't to be accepted at face value. Not only does every side have an agenda, but the means to achieving the goals of that agenda are more fluid than linear black and white histories would suggest.

http://www.amazon.com/Friendly-Fire-Secret-Between-Allies/dp/1840189967

Still slowly pushing through my reread of Song of Ice and Fire, also reading a ton of older comics lately and most importantly, reading the books for my second class engineering exams. After I've read them all, I'll start studying which one one seemseasiest for my first exam

Just finished Terry Pratchett's Truth, picked up form a 2nd hand bookstore. A quick read for the train this week.

Read five books in four days this weekend (they were relatively short and I had two long plane rides):

Graveyard Book (Gaiman)
Fortunately, the Milk (Gaiman)
Mind MGMT Vol. 1 (Kindt)
Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut)
Junky (William S. Burroughs)

Groovy.

Sounds like a really relaxing weekend. I'm pretty much stuck reading on trains at the moment

I picked up "Lucifer's Hammer" a few weeks ago, and have been reading it.

Been on a King kick recently... after finishing "Under the Dome", I wanted to read "The Shining" and the new sequel "Doctor Sleep" back-to-back, but "The Shining" was signed out... My trusty town librarian Ginny brought me "Needful Things" and "Duma Key" to fill my reading time until she gets the other book back. Good call.

"Needful Things" was good; not my favorite by King-- that would be "11/22/63"-- but creepy and fun. I'm thoroughly engrossed in "Duma Key" right now-- at just over 600 pages, it's probably the shortest King book I've read, and I'm halfway through it after a couple late nights reading. It's either ironic or serendipitous that I started it after watching an episode of Ingenious minds on Discovery Science about Jon Sorkin, a chiropractor-turned-artist after having part of his brain removed. His frenetic need to create art echoed in the story King is telling... the protagonist becomes an accomplished artist after suffering a near-fatal accident in which he loses an arm and has a traumatic brain injury. The coincidence is eerie... Very good read, as well, for all that. I think the Dark Tower books slipped another notch on my list of King faves.

I'm reading a book on Kim Philby. Oddly, I had seen a programme the night before on Philby, needed a new book in a hurry that morning, and that one was the first in the pile. I don't even remember buying it.

On King, I often found there was such a drop of quality between the build up and the endings, so I've not read any for quite some time. The Stand and It come to mind on that count. Needful Things was a bit better in that department though.

Trying to get through "Filth" by Irvine Welsh, but it's tough going. It's about an evil, racist cop trying to fish for his promotion without doing any real work on a seemingly racially motivated murder and playing vicious mind games with everyone around him. It's like Bad Lieutenant on crack. I've enjoyed other Welsh books, so I'm trying to wait for a payoff, but the book makes me feel like my soul needs a shower the deeper you get into this guy's head.

Nothing new lately. I'm running out of authors I like having new releases. We may never see another by Terry Pratchett. Green seems to have finished up both Nightside and the Droods, although I think there's one more there. Correia hasn't released Nemesis yet. Hearne doesn't seem to have anything on the horizon, and Butcher seems to want Skins Game to take forever.

I gotta find some new authors.

I'm currently reading Arianna's Honor by Michelle Sodaro, who happens to be one of my teaching colleagues. In this fantasy, a young woman discovers a spoiled and pampered prince lost in a forest and ends up protecting him and teaching him what life is like outside of his castle.

Some scenes go on too long and some relationships are not wholly believable (in particular, the characters have modern names even though the setting swords and kings setting suggests a different era), but, fifteen chapters in, I've found myself being engaged with the characters and wanting to see how their adventure turns out. The story is tightly plotted with several unexpected but wholly logical twists and turns.