Monday, February 22, 2016

January "Reads"/Reads

So to humor those who feel that listening to an audio book isn't reading (though it is a big way for me to consume new entertainment).  I have upped my running miles in anticipation of a half marathon in March (I listen to audio books when running, as well as when I am commuting).


Steel World (Undying Mercenaries, #1)
  • "Steel World" - Undying Mercenaries #1 - B.V. Larson
    • Solid SF. Interesting concept with a novel way of killing the main characters. Over and over again. A broad and complex world told from the perspective of a grunt (though he is a "lucky" grunt who seems to always end up in the middle of the actions) with some interesting politics going on in the background. I will definitely give the next book a whirl.
A Call to Arms (Honorverse: Manticore Ascendant, #2)
  • "A Call to Arms" - Honorverse: Manticore Ascendant - David Weber
    • So after a long pause by me from reading any of the Honorverse books, this series continues to drag me in. It offers a unique perspective of the history of the Manticore kingdom from the beginning, before it becomes the super-power that it is in Honor series. Focused mainly on the story started in the first book of Travis Long, this steps several years forward to allow the main character and the supporting cast to move up in rank/responsibility. Covering both the micro (ship to ship fighting) to the macro (big high level political moves) this story has a little bit for everyone, though in particular for those who have grown up reading the other Honor novels.
The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)
  • "The End Has Come" - edited by John Joseph Adams
    • Last of the trilogy, most of the stories here address what comes after the apocalypse. After the apocalypse you say, how can there be a story? Well... Humans are tough and we have a habit of pushing onward even through unspeakable odds (even a virus that kills 99.99% still has some survivors). It was interesting to see how the stories progressed through this set (since most of the stories here had a previous story in the other 2 books (before and during the apocalypse of course)).