Books

[SpiceTheCat]

It's not so much that the universe is hostile, more that humanity is a total irrelevance, even to itself. Gibson also gives you worlds which have gone to hell, but the protagonists do manage to establish meaningful relationships in one way or another, in the face of disaster. Watts denies us even this. It's Lovecraft for grown-ups. Humanity is a meaningless accident in an ancient uncaring universe and we will bring about our own downfall without the need for ludicrously--named horrors.

To shift milieus, Gibson to Watts is like The Day of the Triffids vs The Death of Grass. Both are journeys to safety through an apocalyptic England, both reach their goal, but one gives you a glimpse of hope, the other snatches the hope away and says that no, there is nothing left.

[OBollocks]

The Fireman, Joe Hill. When an incendiary fungus begins infecting people, it begins the end of the world. Hill's The Stand, or perhaps Cell.

[whovian223]

I'm currently reading "Storming the Eagle's Nest: Hitler's War in the Alps" by Jim Ring.

It's really an interesting look at every aspect of World War II in regards to the alpine countries.

It focuses a lot on Switzerland, but it also talks about Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia, and southern France, which doesn't always get a lot of play in World War II history books.

I'm about half-way through right now, and it's definitely holding my attention. I just reached the point where Italy surrendered and Hitler sent Rommel and his armies through the alpine passes to make sure German roads to Italy were not blocked.

[Kolbex]

I'm on Parker #3, The Outfit, and showing no signs of slowing down. Been reading Dictionary of the Khazars at bedtime, which is appropriate since it's more like a dream than a traditional novel. Got turned on to it, actually, by Robin D. Laws's blurb for King of Sartar. I am a big fan of non-traditional narratives. One of my favorite books ever is Black Blossom, although that book's structure is positively mundane compared to Dictionary of the Khazars.

[SpiceTheCat]

The Silent Deep, a history of the Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945. Well, it started off interestingly, with chapters on the Perisher course and Cold War intelligence-gathering missions. Since then it has been epically tedious, detailing the achingly dull and yet predictable story of confusion, technological backwardness, inertia, mismanagement, inter- and intra-service fighting, and sucking up to the US, behind the UK Polaris fleet. The authors/editors don't seem to have grasped that including great verbatim chunks of bureaucratic memos does not make this any less dull.

[OBollocks]

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/gart ... ite-bundle - Humble bundle is doing a collection of Garth Ennis' work. If you like WWII comics, his Battlefields series is amazing. The Boys is the best continuation of the actual ethical results of having superheroes since Watchmen. Jennifer Blood is essentially The Punisher: The Housewife Years.

http://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihistory/ - When time travellers go back in time, who's the first person they kill? Please stop doing it.

[Kolbex]

That Hitler thing is a classic.

[SpiceTheCat]

That Hitler thing is a classic.

The comments afterwards are ... special ... too.

It's a neat way of telling a short story. I also like Dave Langford's comp.basilisk.FAQ which compresses a lot of nasty ideas into a business-like FAQ. http://ansible.uk/writing/c-b-faq.html

[OBollocks]

http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2016/0 ... frey-ford/ - Blood Drive (audio).

[NiihamaGhosts]

Hey does anyone mind if I pimp my own novel here?

EDIT: I'm not new to Pocket Tactics, just haven't posted much since the switch to the new forums. Hence, two posts.