December '11 Book List
OK, lets finally get to the December list. Which is nearly entirely David Weber through the majority of the month. But before that we've got a few other books, including some more cheap random deals for the ol' Kindle. Starting with Jennifer Gardiner's Slim to None about a New York film critic and her relationship with food, family and abandonment. Pretty good book actually, if a few sub-plots do strain my credibility a bit...
Then Shannon Hale's Austenland. Where one woman's obsession with Jane Austen causes problems with her ability to find romance. And so a wealthy relative leaves her a vacation at a Austen fantasy camp as an inheritance. Another fun if silly book...
After that I tried out newcomer Bobby Cole's rookie noir/pulp the Dummy Line. Some clunkiness to it. And Cole could definitely learn to pare down his cast (especially when the viewpoint moves between characters). But an excellent starting work...
Also got the new Stephenie Plum, Explosive Eighteen, book from Evanovich at the start of the month. Sadly I think the romantic triangle aspect of the series is starting to strain a little at the seams. Series is still enjoyable junk food lit despite that...
Then borrowed the Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon from the roommate. Sequel to 61 Nails a British modern fae story. Here the lead has to deal with both the mysterious disappearance of his part-Fae daughter as well as a group of missing girls from a coastal town...
Then its mostly Weber, which we'll get back to. Broken up by trying out an early Steven Brust book, To Rule in Hell. Which is a reinterpretation of the War in Heaven and the Fall. Interesting but didn't really click with me...
And around Christmas was the annual reading of Pratchett's Hogfather. Except for that year I watched the movie. The bit with the Matchstick Girl is still one of the best Death moments...
Ok, now Weber. Nearly all Honor-verse books. Except for Off Armageddon Reef. Which is about humanity's Last Colony. In that at some point in the future humans run into the alien Gbaba who systematically wipe us out on world after world in a decades long war. So we set up a colony in great secrecy. One where the adminstrator's in charge of it rewrite all the colonist's brains and create a totalitarian theocracy to keep humanity at a pre-industrial level. And thus safe from the awareness of the Gbaba. Excellent series, though at times I wonder if the whole concept is just Weber trying to one-up his friends Eric Flint and S.M. Stirling...
And then I burned through eleven of the Honor-verse books. The shared world anthologies, the Service of the Sword, Changer of Worlds, Worlds of Honor and More than Honor. The sidestory books Shadow of Saganami, Storm From the Shadows, Crown of Slaves and Torch of Freedom. The last two co-written with Eric Flint. And the core series books At All Costs and Mission of Honor. What can I say, me and Weber really hit it off...
I also tried out another alt history series by Eric Flint. 1812: the Rivers of War has one minor starting change, Sam Housten isn't laid up by a wound in an early battle leading to escalating changes during the War of 1812 and in the actions of several prominent Cherokee and Creek leaders at the time...
After that was a predominately good urban fantasy anthology Down These Strange Streets edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozios. Which, if nothing else, has Glen Cook "Garrett Files" short story...
Then we've got William Dietz finishing up his "Legion of the Damned" series with a Fighting Chance. Which does feel a bit rushed right towards the end but otherwise is a fine finale for this future military fiction series...
Skipped the last book for Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" trilogy to go straight to Alloy of Law. Which is set several generations past those books and is a bit of fantasy/Western mash-up. I actually think I liked it more than the original trilogy...
And finished up the month with another "Vampire Earth" book by E.E. Knight, March in Country. This time around Valentine is attempting to repopulate plague ravaged Kentucky with friendly non-humans. While dealing with his increasingly isolationist and defensive home government...
Total books: 23
And I'll try to get to a end of the year wrap-up tomorrow...
Then Shannon Hale's Austenland. Where one woman's obsession with Jane Austen causes problems with her ability to find romance. And so a wealthy relative leaves her a vacation at a Austen fantasy camp as an inheritance. Another fun if silly book...
After that I tried out newcomer Bobby Cole's rookie noir/pulp the Dummy Line. Some clunkiness to it. And Cole could definitely learn to pare down his cast (especially when the viewpoint moves between characters). But an excellent starting work...
Also got the new Stephenie Plum, Explosive Eighteen, book from Evanovich at the start of the month. Sadly I think the romantic triangle aspect of the series is starting to strain a little at the seams. Series is still enjoyable junk food lit despite that...
Then borrowed the Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon from the roommate. Sequel to 61 Nails a British modern fae story. Here the lead has to deal with both the mysterious disappearance of his part-Fae daughter as well as a group of missing girls from a coastal town...
Then its mostly Weber, which we'll get back to. Broken up by trying out an early Steven Brust book, To Rule in Hell. Which is a reinterpretation of the War in Heaven and the Fall. Interesting but didn't really click with me...
And around Christmas was the annual reading of Pratchett's Hogfather. Except for that year I watched the movie. The bit with the Matchstick Girl is still one of the best Death moments...
Ok, now Weber. Nearly all Honor-verse books. Except for Off Armageddon Reef. Which is about humanity's Last Colony. In that at some point in the future humans run into the alien Gbaba who systematically wipe us out on world after world in a decades long war. So we set up a colony in great secrecy. One where the adminstrator's in charge of it rewrite all the colonist's brains and create a totalitarian theocracy to keep humanity at a pre-industrial level. And thus safe from the awareness of the Gbaba. Excellent series, though at times I wonder if the whole concept is just Weber trying to one-up his friends Eric Flint and S.M. Stirling...
And then I burned through eleven of the Honor-verse books. The shared world anthologies, the Service of the Sword, Changer of Worlds, Worlds of Honor and More than Honor. The sidestory books Shadow of Saganami, Storm From the Shadows, Crown of Slaves and Torch of Freedom. The last two co-written with Eric Flint. And the core series books At All Costs and Mission of Honor. What can I say, me and Weber really hit it off...
I also tried out another alt history series by Eric Flint. 1812: the Rivers of War has one minor starting change, Sam Housten isn't laid up by a wound in an early battle leading to escalating changes during the War of 1812 and in the actions of several prominent Cherokee and Creek leaders at the time...
After that was a predominately good urban fantasy anthology Down These Strange Streets edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozios. Which, if nothing else, has Glen Cook "Garrett Files" short story...
Then we've got William Dietz finishing up his "Legion of the Damned" series with a Fighting Chance. Which does feel a bit rushed right towards the end but otherwise is a fine finale for this future military fiction series...
Skipped the last book for Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" trilogy to go straight to Alloy of Law. Which is set several generations past those books and is a bit of fantasy/Western mash-up. I actually think I liked it more than the original trilogy...
And finished up the month with another "Vampire Earth" book by E.E. Knight, March in Country. This time around Valentine is attempting to repopulate plague ravaged Kentucky with friendly non-humans. While dealing with his increasingly isolationist and defensive home government...
Total books: 23
And I'll try to get to a end of the year wrap-up tomorrow...