Moon Called

Moon Called, Mercy Thompson Book 1 by Patricia Briggs

It is kind of refreshing to have the main character not be a vampire or werewolf. I think I picked this book up on sale as I normally am not a big fan stories with a lot of were in them, but the world itself made up for things and I would definitely give it another whirl.

Magic is out of the bag in this world. Some parts of the magical world are out in the open (even to the point that the US Government, in a case of not learning from the past, has created reservations for them) while most of the supernatural world is still in the closet. Mercy is one of the closeted ones, sitting in almost her own category, a "Walker" who is able to turn into a coyote. Her history of being adopted by a werewolf pack due in part to the similarity of her ability makes her an expert on werewolves, but still an outsider.

Mercy runs an auto repair shop in Washington state. With clients who include a vampire, former bosses who are gremlins and the Alpha of a werewolf clan living right next to her. While raised in a werewolf pack, she has nothing to do with them until events drag her deep into pack business. All because of the act of kindness of taking in a young, newly turned and unaffiliated werewolf boy who she meets through her shop. 

Well scripted actions scenes, a very well thought out world and interesting characters made this a fortuitous accidental buy.

Zombie Fallout: Zombie Fallout, Book 1

I love me some zombies. And I always appreciate the hangman's humor in any "The End of the World as we know it" type of story as I am pretty sure that is how I would handle it.

I really do like the narrative voice of the main character, Michael Talbot. As a military guy I can relate, and the really funny bit is that Mike is a zombie fan in the novel. So unlike some stories where apparently all the characters are dumbfounded that zombies exist, with no knowledge of the lore and stories that surround them (no modern novel should have character that are too shocked by zombies, they are too prevalent in US pop culture). Mike even experiences the moment of giddy, "It's real! It is really happening" before the reality hits him and it becomes "It's real?!? It is really happening.......  crap. We are screwed."

Overall the story flows pretty well, from the initial outbreak (damn flu shots....) to the desperate battle to protect his family. It does introduce some likable or interesting characters, but given this is a zombie story do not get too attached to any of them. The author does decide to bring in a mystical capability on both one of the characters and on at least a few of the zombies that made some of the story a stretch, but overall it didn't hurt the story too much (though it made for a some convenient outs for the near terminal situations that author painted the characters into).

Fun read, and also funny. Given the title it sounds like there may be some more story left from the remaining characters so I would be interested to see where this may go.

Rising Tides: Destroyermen, Book 5

Rising Tides: Destroyermen, Book 5 by Taylor Anderson is a solid book. But it feels like you are treading water, because overall the story is taking its sweet time in developing. I still have high hopes and at this point I am quite invested in the characters in series and am curious how things will progress.

This really felt like a development book, setting up the next couple of books for some bang up, drag out fights. Not to say that the book is totally devoid of action, but the biggest danger in this book really came from nature (rouge waves, volcano's) and not from the Grik or to a lesser degree the New Dominion.

The fun (but sometimes dragging part) of this story is that there are number of diverse story lines all running concurrently. CPT Reddy and the Walker visiting New Britain, Sandra and the Princess still shipwrecked, the recovery of the ship full of P-40E's, the attempts to recover S-19, and the ongoing campaign against the Grik. Add in the nature of slow travel and sheer size of the Pacific and things are going to slow down.

That said, I will buying the next novel shortly. Great writing style and even when it is slow it is still a great read with engaging characters and societies.

Distant Thunders

Distant Thunder, Book 4 of the Destroyermen Series by Taylor Anderson

Taylor Anderson continues to deliver in the Destroymen series.The concept of the obsolete Pacific fleet destroyer that were basically target practice in WWII being such a huge force for good in this parallel world that it gets sucked into is quite interesting. With the world there much more hostile than the world we are from, with the Grik on one side, a world that seems intent on eating you (the pirannah-like fish and the larger mountain fish) and only one real ally, the Lemurians you would think that the prospects for the Americans to be pretty grim.

But Captain Reddy and his crew continue to persevere. Even in the face of interaction with the New Britain Imperial Navy and the increasing threat of the Grik don't seem to keep them down. The action is pretty non-stop, with a lot of story lines going on at the same time. The main focus is on the developing relationship and exploration of the New Britain (and the associated "Company" (Far East India Trading Company basically) which is the power that is manipulating the throne) given that they have the Princess Rebecca in their protection. While CPT Reddy is away an agent of the Company kidnaps Rebecca, her protector Dennis Silva as well as Reddy's fiance are kidnapped.

A lot of this book was build-up. Exploring the development of additional technologies and critical repairs that  hopefully will pay off in the future novels. In addition to the Grik menace, the less than friendly Imperials there is also hints of another set of humans located in the America's that may present another threat in the future. Lots of space for these threads to continue to develop. I already picked up the next book in the series because I am excited to see how it develops.

It's all about the content

In recent years (and moreso lately) the so called "serious" readers have shown themselves to be extremely shallow. While I as a lowly SF and Fantasy reader have always been looked down with on disdain (because of course SF&F cannot be real or serious...), there is now 2 categories of readers that now rate lower than the hard copy SF&F (and all the other categories that the literati choose not to label real books) readers, digital and audio consumers of fictional media (as opposed to the hard copy consumers of fictional media).

Digital reading is the effective future of all significant reading in the country. The explosion of e-readers and tablets in the past 3 years has caused a radical shift in how readers now consume their fiction. But the die hard's argue that reading is not just about reading, but the feel and texture of flipping a page and smelling the book. To that I say BS. I have been reading electronically for over a decade (all the way back to using my palm pilot to read books from my favorite publisher, Baen) and all it has done is make reading more convenient. In my pocket or bag instead of having a handful (or less) of books I can have them all in one convenient package. One in which I can place bookmarks, share passages and easily conduct searches for particular items. But making reading easier doesn't seem to be a factor to those who fetishize the physical consumption of media via an anachronistic manner, and who choose to mock and revile those who choose to embrace the new system (in part driven by fear as they see a system that has been around for all of recorded history).

And then there is the lowest of the low. Audiobook listeners (or readers IMNSHO). While I do agree that there is one concept in audiobooks that needs to be destroyed, the evil abridged book. This is quite an acceptable means for a reader to consume (which of course is completely not different than reading) a story. Let's face it, we all have seem people reading in places where it was really against their interests to do so (walking, in dangerous environments), and this is the completely acceptable medium to reclaim that time while remaining situationally aware (I run all the time listening to audio books, but I never have it too loud and I always retain my most important sense, sight because of the audiobook). But apparently books must be relegated every sense to the serious book person, and somehow having the words delivered to your ears lessen the message. We will just pat them on the head and enjoy the boon of technology.

Sorry physical media consumers (aka "serious" readers). You have, as we say in the government world, become OBE (Obsolete By Events). Enjoy your rapidly diminishing world as the rest of us continue to get our horizons broadened. How you get the content in the end is irrelevant, all that matters is that you are getting the content.

Invincible: The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, Book 2

I love military SF. The series of books by Jack Campbell that detail the adventures of now Admiral Jack Geary are like crack to me. Well written and carefully planned out, they show the breadth and depth of military operations as well as the human side of the force. The author doesn't cheat to make sure that battles are too easy, and every victory comes with a price.

After defeating the Syndicate in the first series, John and his fleet are sent out to explore and obtain more information about the Enigma race that was driving the actions of the Syndicate. And in the events of the first book of this new series he learns more about the Enigma's and is driven to encounter even more alien races.

The fun part of this series is that John Geary is never left in a comfortable place. After being frozen a hundred years the society that he returned to was quite alien to him, and just as he was becoming comfortable he is now forced to contend with the truly alien aliens. I cannot wait until the next book!

Vampire Academy

Vampires go to school?  Who knew?

The story begins with the characters, Lissa - a Moroi (living vampire) princess - and Rose - Lissa's Dhampir (half-human, half-vampire) protector already on the run. Shortly thereafter they are captured and returned to St. Vladimir's, a school where the young Moroi and Dhampir are trained.

In a twist from traditional mythology there are 2 types of vampires, the Moroi who live lives like humans (except for the requirement to take in blood as well as food and sensitivity to light) and the more traditional Strigoi (the dead). Richelle Mead builds up a very engaging world for her characters to inhabit, having to spend a moderate amount of time actually expanding this world during the story.

Most of the action (in true YA style) is built around the interactions between the main characters and the other students at the Academy. Both of reintegration and the invariable clique building (imagine if your High School had both commoners and various nobles attending it. It makes the jocks vs nerds stuff look tame, in particular since everyone there either knows magic or is insanely strong/fast). There is an overarching storyline that keeps the plot moving.

Much darker than most books of this genre, with more action and topics that you don't normally see (talk of suicide, drinking, sex).

Looking forward to the next book in this series.

The King of Plagues

The third of the Joe Ledger books by Jonathan Mayberry. This has been one of my favorite series that I have encountered lately, tightly written and completely engrossing. A delightful blend of SF, horror and action with a bit of detective work mixed in, it is sometimes hard to figure out where this book will lead you.

Joe is both the luckiest and unluckiest Department of Military Sciences employees. Lucky to be alive, but cursed with some of the worst events to occur during his watch. He has encountered zombies, genetic super-monsters, and had his girlfriend die in his arms. And this has all happened in less than a year. The novel picks up several months after the events of the Dragon Factory (there is a short story out there that details him working with his new furry partner Ghost taking down the man who killed Grace). It begins with the destruction of the London (gigantic London Hospital) in a massive terrorist event and it only gets worse.

The new villains of the series (looking to see more) appear to the be the un-before mentioned Seven Kings, which now includes a familiar villain as well. And their plot is devious.

Later in the novel Joe links up with Echo team, his psychologist buddy and a new female character on this wild ride. I cannot wait to crack open the next book!

Zombies: The Recent Dead

I like Zombies. I like Short Stories. Zombie short stories? Sure, why not? Yeah, I picked this book up because I love zombie/post apocalyptic novels and feel that sometimes all you need is a short concise story. I wanted to like it, but......

This book lurked in my list for a long time. I would read a story (I really only found one I tolerated) and then put it off to the side, coming back every so often to bite a small chunk off, get bored and then put it aside again. So I would say I slogged through this book. And this is short story compilation, it shouldn't be like this, where every bite was just not satisfying, but it was. But I rarely give up (from determination or hope, but I rarely quit anything once I started it, be it real life or reading) so I finally finished it (3 months later!).

I will say that the last story was one of the best, so it didn't finish on a truly sour note. But the best thing about this book? That I don't feel compelled to read it any more.

Way Station

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak. This was a throwback novel. Classic SF of the style that I haven't read in almost 20 years (I trend more toward military SF and urban fantasy). It definitely required a context switch but it is interesting to stretch my normal bound.

Enoch Wallace is a Civil War veteran who is living in the contemporary times(circa 1963 for the novel) and has finally attracted the attention of the government due to his lack of aging. Shortly after the the war he is offered the chance to become a station master in an chain of FTL transfer stations for travelers. He effectively is a hermit who has little interaction with society but talks with all the travelers who comes through.

Enoch only ages when he leaves his house, so he is aging at less than 1/24 normal, which is what finally draws the governments attention. There are a couple of threads that combine for a burst of activity toward the end and are fairly well wrapped up by the action. The writing has aged fairly well, and there is even concepts that are quite familiar as SF to modern readers (VR shooting range, aliens not so perfect). It does have some of the common threads of SF of the time (humans bad and immature, aliens superior) that does leave it feeling dated though.

I never read this author before and I found it quite entertaining to be exposed to him, definitely a good insightful book. I can definitely see why it won the Hugo for Best Novel in 1964. And I really cannot help but include this classic cover....

Soon I Will Be Invincible

Superhero's and Evil Scientists? Yes please!
This book provides the inner monologue of Doctor Impossible (DI for short), the villian, and Fatale, a rookie hero, during the latest of DI evil schemes to, what else could it be, take over the world!

There is a lot of the back story of both characters, which provides the overall background of this super-powered world (with Aliens, Faery, magic and evil scientists) providing both their origin story and the story of most of the characters as well as some of the Super organizations. Fatale, for example, is asked to joined the re-formed Champions organization which has its "Superman" powered character at the core, Corefire. And of course the impetus of  reforming the Champions is that Corefire has gone missing and Doctor Horrible, his arch-nemisis, is suspected even though he is residing in prison.

Briskly placed with appropriate background, this is a great read for fans of the superhero genre.

Iron Sunrise

So I am trying a new trend. I like to read (and yes, listen... I lurve me some audiobooks. I find it recovers a lot of "lost" time and allows a certain level of safety. It pretty much is the main reason I don't mind running (and anything that makes exercise more enjoyable is a good thing)). And I think that there is value in writing about what I have read. So my goal now is to do at least a mini-book report on the latest item on the pile.

Iron Sunrise is the latest on my read list. Charles Stross is a relatively recent find for me, but after reading his truly awesome Laundry series I made it a point to go back and explore some of his other works. Iron Sunrise is actually a sequel (though the author has said that there will be no more books in this universe) to Singularity Sky. It brings back the two main characters from that story, Rachel and her now husband, and introduces a who new spread of characters (slowly weaving the seemingly unrelated plots together). The world of these novels is quite interesting, as it is affected by the post-Singularity intelligence Eschaton, which upon reaching consciousness immediately flung 90% of the Earths inhabitants onto planets up to thousands of light years (and correspondingly that far back in time).

Humans being humans, we don't quite get along with each other, and the story begins with the planet of Moscow dying due to the sun exploding, and the retaliatory fleet (which can take decades to arrive) is launched at their competitor New Dresden. Of course the story isn't simply the mission to hunt down the Moscow Ambassadors who can recall the retaliation fleet, in a race against time as the Ambassadors are slowly being murdered, because as you would expect that is just the first layer of a multi-level plot that will keep you entertained through out the book.

Overall this is a great book. Enhanced if you read Singularity Sky but with enough exposition to allow you to jump in if you have not.

Dirty Secret

For a guy whose blog name is "Media Addict" I have a dirty secret...  While I watch a lot of shows that are "critically acclaimed"/shows that people who say they "don't watch tv and yet they still watch these so called good shows..

I
Love
Bad
Sitcoms.......
Yes, I am that guy who watches Whitney, Two Broke Girls and Rules of Engagement (even Two and Half Men). And I like them! I really do laugh at a lot of the jokes, I like simple humor at times.  Maybe it is a nostalgia thing for the shows I watched when I was younger. Because as my fiance can attest, I can call the plot of these shows a mile away (even for other shows she has accused me of pre-watching them I am so good at calling the plot points) but there is just something comforting about them.

So while I know some reviews cannot understand who is watching these shows, there are people like myself (who loves the smarter shows as well (Arrested Development, Modern Family)) that are bumping up the numbers....

Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

Anytime when you find yourself already providing excuses you know you are not going to set a PR....
While I had been building up the mileage in the past 6 weeks, I was still woefully under the recommended mileage (my longest run, 9 days prior, was 5.75 miles). And the past week was a total rest week as my back killed my training runs in the middle of the week from Monday on (as a side note, getting older sucks). 

But I finished in a respectable time (104 minutes, right around 10:24 pace) aided by the fact that the weather was fantastic and from that I always do better in a crowd. I was under 10 minute miles for the first 6 miles, but then switched to a run .4, walk .1 (worse in the last mile  (basically .2run, .1walk)as my knee was giving me issues).

The finishers medal is pretty cool and the technical t-shirt I upgraded to is really neat.

Now for some more training to get me ready for the GW Parkway 10 Miler, where I plan to do a bit better.

Mismatch

I have been back in the States for the last 3 weeks and I really am loving it. My fiance. Friends and family that are right around the corner, not thousands of miles and hours away. Internet that works and is cheap. Cell phones and reliable connectivity. Choices when it comes to TV, and none of those annoying AFN commercials.

After being home for a little while I can see how so many service members returning from a war zone often feel so detached (I think it affects me far less as my deployment, which was at main FOB, it was at a major FOB, that never got attacked. So other than the distant explosions and gunfire, helicopters coming in and out at all times, the occasional desperate plea for blood donor's as a serious casualty came in, and the daily update of SIGACTS (SIGnificant ACTionS) in our AOR (Area of Responsibility) the war wasn't as real as it could be compared to the Joe in the truly remote FOB's. Heck I only wore my body armor 5-6 times the entire time I was there and only put my magazine in my weapon 3 times.). Every day in a war zone there is a sense of impending danger and there is never any question that there is a war going on (any significant thing I did was predicated in making sure that the Soldiers out there were not impacted or hindered in any way by things we did, and we would expend all efforts to make sure that they always had secure communications available).

But you get home and suddenly you are back in the minutia of everyday civilian life (this is sharper for those of in the Guard and Reserve, since they make it a point to transition us out as quickly as possible. The Active Duty guys are still in that regimented military environment that eases the transition). Most of the people around you have no understanding of the what it means to be in a war zone, and most seem blissfully ignorant of the events that happen in Afghanistan (maybe they are vaguely aware of significant events like large attacks and maybe vaguely aware of the current number of casualties). Because of the way that I get my news I hear most of the major events but I cannot imagine that everyone's news-feeds are tailored like mine are. And luckily I am not a person who finds danger exciting (I find it more of something to be endured, and to be removed ASAP).

While it is barely a twinge for me (easily assuaged by all the conveniences at the top of the post. It really helps that I am a homebody who really loves being at home.) I can really see why a lot of my fellow vet's (wow, first time I have referred to myself as a vet) have trouble readjusting.

Home

I got back on the 7th!  After a brief visit to demob down in MS (it was only 3-4 days, quite impressive).  The real question is, who looks happier in this picture, me or my fiance?

6 months, 15,000 miles.  I went from 4 ribbons to 9 (added an ARCOM (Army Commendation) and NATO Medal, as well as an Afghan Campaign Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, and an Army Reserve Medal).  Plus I am officially no longer a "slick sleeve" (term for anyone without a SSI-FWTS (Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, Former War Time Service) on your right shoulder).

My unit deployed with 175 people and we came back with 175 people with no injuries.  We ran operations in Zabul, with one American Battalion, 2 Romanian Battalions, an ADT (Agricultural Development Team) and a PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team).

Back to work in another 2 weeks.  Figured I would take a full 4 weeks off.

Red Moon

One of the few advantages of being out here in the boonies of Afghanistan is that it is near ideal for looking at the sky. My base operates in a blackout mode in the evenings, so there is minimal light pollution. When the Moon is not there the majesty of the night sky are impressive ("My God, the sky, it's full of stars!"). As a night shift worker I am pretty in touch with the moon (I often walk around 3 weeks of 4 without any light, operating by the light of the moon, at least when it is there) so last night when I walked outside I immediately wondered where the heck my night light was.  Then I remember we were schedules for a Lunar Eclipse and found the moon.

It actually turned red!!!

So cool.

Gotta find the cool moments in even the less than ideal conditions...

Fair disclosure, I picked these pictures off my unit's PAO drive.  The pics are often aggregated there.

Crawling

It is amazing how in the real world that time seems to fly by.  I know that normally I find myself turning around and being amazed that yet again it was a drill weekend (a good way to mark the month since that used to my definition of a busy week... doing my normal job, heading off to packed drill weekends and then heading into work on Monday.  That was all before I encountered the 12 hours, 7 days a week schedule). 

We are scheduled to return from our deployment early.  We kind of lucked out, in that the Army decided to replace us early (now I know what a placeholder feels like).  We are already deep into planning for the RIP (Relief In Place), pretty much we have almost been doing that preparation since we conducted out TOA (Transfer Of Authority) and took this place over.  I know that lots of us already have the visions of our reunions dancing around in heads, it serves as a wonderful motivator. 

We all have a countdown somewhere in proximity to us (most of us use a computer program, some clever people even have a drawing with a number of Lobsters (we have it every Fiday), one each for the remaining weeks).  I am already planning my downtime after deployment (I envision taking 2-3 weeks off).  Or as a I have described it, #OccupyMyCouch. 

Again I will not go into specifics, as it is possible for the bad guys to utilize that information to time their attacks to take advantage of of the inevitable turbulance that occurs when one group replaces another.

I can already visualize finally seeing my fiance, family and friends again (and maybe drinking that celebratory beer).

Thankful

Even over here, in the poor embattled dump that is this corner of Asia, I am am still a thankful man.  I am thankful that thus far no one in my unit has been killed or injured.  That I will be heading home soon. That my fiance, family and friends are so supportive of me while I am here.

I definitely am thankful for technology.  I know that life would be far more stressful for me if it wasn't for email, VOIP (thanks Google for the free phone calls!!) and Skype (thanks to you for the free video calls!!).  Being this far away from everything (and pretty much everyone) would have been far more depressing.

I am definitely thankful for Sandy, the local feral cat who has made my lonely night shift far more tolerable.  She often wanders in, nudges my leg and falls asleep near me.

I have been lucky enough to be born in the best country in the world, have awesome parents, siblings and a beautiful Fiance.  I really like my job (yep, even the Army one on occasion) and get paid well to do it.  I truly am a lucky and thankful guy. 

Veteran's Day

I think this will be the first Veteran's Day where I finally deserve the label.  I joined 6.5 years ago and only now that I am on this deployment do I feel right applying that label to myself. And even then I know that my service is different.  My battlefield is sitting at my desk, making sure that the Soldiers get the best possible support that they can get.  There isn't the sleep deprivation, crappy conditions that other, more front-line military personnel encounter.  I have same day laundry service, a warm 2 person bedroom, Internet access and (surprisingly) good food.

Though unlike y'all back in the States, Veteran's is just another day for those of us over here. We are doing a 11.11 mile team relay (which I am not doing, couldn't get a team together and I am not running another 10+ miles around this base) but that is about all.  The pace of operations doesn't slack and unless it is a scheduled downtime there is no time off to mark the holiday.  No special meal deals for Veterans over here, just the same old chow.  I know next year it will maybe mean a bit more than just another day off, but this time around it is just another day to endure before we head home.