Another Saturday Pile of Books
Posted on March 23, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 81 Comments
Upcoming and/or just out:
Tell me if you see anything in there you’re interested in.
Posted on March 23, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 81 Comments
Upcoming and/or just out:
Tell me if you see anything in there you’re interested in.
Category: Uncategorized
Taunting the tauntable since 1998
John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, editor – AMS
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River of Stars has me salivating…
Ooh. New Necroscope!
I also am looking forward to River of Stars.
Already read the eARC of “Shadow of Freedon”. I can recommend it. I love Baen for the eARCs and they were against DRM before that position was cool ;-).
I need River of Stars, although it’s good for my workload this week that it won’t be out until next week. Not much interested in any of the rest. Bujold is the only Baen author I’ve ever really liked.
I didn’t love Adam Christpher’s “Seven Wonders,” but am intrigued by “Empire State” and “Age Atomic.”
Another person saying “Waaant” for River of Stars. GGK is so good. Luckily it’s not that far from the official release date of the book. Still. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaant
Well River of Stars caught my eye first but I haven’t read David Weber or Sara Hoyt. I’m always looking for new stories, thanks for the ideas.
“How to greet strangers” has an interesting ring to it…
Holy crap another Necroscope novel? How much longer is Lumley going to keep cramming stuff into his timeline or has he retconned the ending of Necroscope:Avengers?
Reblogged this on Words Engineer and commented:
may be private little war….take a test and tell me what you like or not..
River of Stars!
Age Atomic!
Woot!!
Top one and bottom one would be what I would pick.
A Private Little War for me. Jason Sheehan is a very, VERY good food writer and I’m curious to see how his first novel turns out.
Gasp! River of Stars! I want that so bad!
Taunting Scalzi taunts us!
Road of Danger & Shadow of Freedom are both on my To Get list.
Hard to go wrong with Andre Norton.
Eighth vote for River of Stars here…
River of Stars looks interesting. I know the author’s name but not his work. I think my wife has read some. The picture on the spine puts me in mind of River of the Gods by Ian McDowel, which was a good time
I say it to anyone who will listen to me (which ain’t very many people). The spine is a seriously underrated design element.
First place: “River of Stars”
Second place: “The Age Atomic” (though I don’t really care for the title)
Third place: none
(The picture would be a lot better from a ‘bookshelf view’, than the ‘stack view’.)
Good thing you read faster than a speeding bullet ….
Yeah, I like the Lumley book.
Ooooh. New David Weber. Yay!
“Good thing you read faster than a speeding bullet ….”
Wait …. John is going to read all of those today???
No one reads THAT fast.
I recently read Forerunner Factor and the ordered a bunch of the other books in the loosely connected series. Andre Norton has always been good for a fun, easy read.
Ooooh…new David Drake!
I just finished Empire State (one of the few books I bought on my Wifes Kindle) and am very interested in seeing where he goes in The Age Atomic.
Since a lot of folks are commenting about Necroscope I might be checking that series out sometime soon as well.
@Mr. Scalzi: How long does it take you to read a stack like this?
Very pleased that they are re-releasing the Forerunner books.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/03/08/because-people-ask-book-acquisition-details/
Those “refer back to later” posts really come in handy I take it.
@ Milo Baines
The earlier Necroscope books are the best. Volumes 1-4 (skip 5), The Lost Years Duology, and the 3 Necroscope: Vampire World books. Oh, and Harry and the Pirates. From a Sci-fi/Fantasy POV Volume 3 of the first series and the three Vampire World books are the ones I’d truly recommend.
Most of the series is pretty enjoyable though, except Necroscope: (E-Branch) Avengers. I’d really, really, really recommend skipping that book.
I have a soft spot for Sarah Hoyt. Darkship Thieves was fun.
I find David Drake very therapeutic. And everyone who mentioned Andre Norton, I agree.
Already bought and read A Few Good Men – she has a great voice!
Intrigued by The Beautiful Land.
And I agree: spine art is vastly underdone. Will bear that in mind when creating covers.
Necroscope sound interesting.
Been a while since I read any Andre Norton. Would be nice to catch up…
Oooo, is that the new Honor Harrington, ‘Shadow of Freedom’? Me want.
I’m reading Empire State right now (took a break just before coming here to visit), so I am certainly intrigued by The Age Atomic.
River of Stars, absolutely. The Norton sounds like a nice bonus, and I have positive associations with Hoyt although I don’t recall why.
Meanwhile, publishers, thank you for making the text on most of these spines easy to read. I don’t think it’s just the close-up.
Ooooh, new Honorverse! Gimme! anyway, I love Guy Gavriel Kay, too. I’ve read most of the earlier Necroscope books from the 1980s; had no idea Lumley was still writing those!
River of Stars. I don’t think I’ve tried any of the other authors so would love to read any of them.
River of Stars. Can’t wait. So jealous. Also Shadow of Freedom.
Forerunner Factor!
Tease. Easier to give the short list of things that don’t look interesting. It’s an empty list.
One of the first books I remember reading is Star Man’s Son, by Andre Norton. Ever since I have loved her books, especially the Witch World series. So I’d like that top book, please.
The Age Atomic sounds awesome.
Oh… River of Stars! Kay is always a must-buy.
+1 for Andrew Norton and River of Stars. I’ll be looking for the ebooks …
Andre Norton, of course. I keep doing that because Andrew is my own name.
River of Stars and Shadow of Freedom. Two of my favorite authors.
Andre Norton’s been dead for years. I was going to say, I’m glad that hasn’t slowed her down. Apparently, though, Forerunner Factor is just a republication of two of her old Forerunner books in one volume.
I’m going to try ‘Fire with Fire’ after reading a great review from elitist book reviews.
Sounds like a good book
Peter Cibulskis @12.57 pm
With the possible exception of Harriet Klausner. That pile would be a morning’s work for her!
I’m reading Shadow of Freedom right now – I will definitely be buying it when it comes out in paperback. Is Road of Danger (David Drake) a new RCN novel? Got to put that on reserve! I’ve got the Forerunner books. Maybe I’ll reread them this week (Just started spring break, yay!).
John, just finished all of OMW series, and I think you’ll enjoy Chuck Gannon’s Fire with Fire. I as lucky enough to read an ARC, and found it full of old-school SF goodness.
Andre Norton?! Wow, that takes me back. Isn’t he dead by now? I mean, I remember reading him like 30 years ago. Well, colour me surprised. A quick google search and Andre is a SHE! Used a few pen names it seems, just to get published in the SciFi world. She did die in 2005. And the book is a reprint of the previous Forerunner collection, which I have not read.
River of Starrrrrrrrrrrrs! *grabbyhands* I don’t know if I’ll put myself on the library’s hold list as soon as they acquire it, or just take the plunge and buy it outright on release day, but either way, my husband and I will (politely) fight over who gets to read it first.
Reading Shadow of Freedom right now. B&N had a deal to get an autographed copy for the same price, so I had it on release day. ;) I love the Honorverse even though I can’t figure out why Weber overuses the ellipsis so much.
Fire With Fire. Getting great reviews from readers I trust and I have my copy ordered. Really looking forward to it.
Oh boy, what a pile! I already have all the Baen books in electronic form, and much as I would like to have them in paper, I am holding out, because I just don’t have any shelf space to spare. I am eagerly awaiting my own copy of River of Stars, which has been on pre-order at Amazon since last June. (GGK always gets shelf space!)
I’m guessing “A Private Little War” isn’t a novelization of the classic Trek episode…
Er, group that as “(classic Trek) episode”, not “classic (Trek episode)”. I would not exactly categorize that particular ep as “classic”.
Fire With Fire: I was also lucky enough to read an advance copy, and it’s everything a great science fiction novel should be. I especially enjoyed the intricate plotting and intrigue.
Love all the comments about Andre Norton. My reaction to your pile was “Andre Norton? Is she, like L Ron Hubbard, still writing?
I think the first think I ever read of hers was Time Trader. And then all the Witch World. She was absolutely amazing. A gem.
River of Stars! <3 Hooray!
Andre Norton. Her books are always fun to re-read.
bonelady said March 23, 2013 at 7:11 pm: Is Road of Danger (David Drake) a new RCN novel?
It isn’t, it the paperback version of the latest one which first came out it 2012.
Wikipedia says the next one is “10 The Sea Without a Shore TBA”
I am really looking forward to River of Stars by Guy Kay.
Another grasping pair of hands toward “Shadow of Freedom” here.
Which Drake universe? If it’s not Leary, I’m curious.
How To Greet Strangers seems like a great title.
River of Stars.
It is the Leary/RCN universe.
River of Stars. The Andre Norton is a reprint of a couple I have on the shelf here at home–I just might have to go reread them!
@ NW Frame of Mind
If you decide to give Weber a whirl, absolutely start at the beginning with On Basilisk Station. The Honor Harrington series is pretty solid through Echoes of Honor and Ashes of Victory starts out pretty well. It’s all downhill after that with the exception of Crown of Slaves and The Shadow of Saganami, both of which are decent starts to spin-off series that peter out by their respective sequels. Somewhere along the line, Weber’s editor must’ve signed an unconditional surrender, because War of Honor was more painful than a neural whip, and I love a good high-seas swashbuckler.
treecats…treecats…treecats
A Private Little War looks like something worth taking a closer look at, although the political aspects might be a little heavy handed, perhaps. The Kay, obviously – in fact, I’ve just gone and put a hold on it at my local library.
River of stars, definitely, i was really missing a new Kay :)
I cannot wait for River of Stars!! I always eagerly await the newest Kay book!
A Private Little War, or The Beautiful Land look interesting. You never know how seriously a new writer takes his craft when they had success doing something else first. Hopefully it is more than just a vanity project.
Tell me how you like Alan Averill’s The Beautiful Land, I’m representing him now. I thought it was a fun book, looking forward to reading his next one soon.
Also, the agency represent the Andre Norton estate too. She passed away in 2005, but her work lives on. Baen is doing a score of reprint omnibus editions of her most well known works. For those interested, we’re currently clearing a bunch of rights, and pursuing digital re-prints with Premier Digital Publishing, who handles Piers Anthony’s digital backlist. There’s a bunch of stuff available now that hasn’t been out in years. They’re currently running a promotion on Andre’s books for Women’s History Month: http://www.premierdigitalpublishing.com/celebrate-womens-history-month-with-the-grand-dame-of-sci-fi-and-fantasy/ Free giveaways of an Andre Norton e-book every day, and 50% off all others until April 18th.
Just finished Sara Hoyt’s “A Few Good Men” (ARC version). Very good read. Bring on the revolution!