CLYDE WISHAM

Very nice SF short story.

This is the classic war memoir of America's most decorated WWII combat vet. War is hell and Audie Murphy was in it all the way. It is amazing that he survived. This book is more introspective than many first person accounts of war. It really takes you down into the dust, mud, fear, anger, endless discomfort, horror, and most of all the terrible danger of being a front-line infantryman during WW2. Also, it brings out the bonding, friendship, and even humor they experienced.
The parts about defending and then trying to break out from Anzio really hit home with me. My father was somewhere nearby; they may have even met.
Still a powerful book 70 years later.

I do love me some Honor Harrington, but this book is a bit of a slog. Some good editing could have condensed this doorstop into a really good story.
It was better on a re-read because I could skip over the boring bits. (3 stars for the first read, 3.5 stars rounded up for the re-read.)

Quite good crime fiction. Hardman is well named as this is a hardboiled tale set on the hard streets of Atlanta.
Hardman is a former police officer who was tossed off the force for ... well, it isn't real clear. He works as an unlicensed PI, taking whatever he can get and sometimes perhaps straying a bit into the far side of the law.
The story starts with him on a job following a white college girl who is hanging out with some tough black guys. But, after some of those black guys give him an attitude adjustment, he decides he has better things to do.
Then she turns up dead – strangled. Hardman is pulled somewhat reluctantly into the investigation. Her boyfriend, who it turns out is a black crime boss, wants him to find the killer. Also, an old friend on the Atlanta police force looks to Hardman for information. He can hardly say no to either.
As Hardman tries to put the pieces together, it becomes obvious that her death was no simple mugging or random act of violence. Soon things get very dangerous and complicated. It is probable that the only thing keeping him from joining the growing body count is his amiable but very tough friend and partner Hump Evans. (The banter between Hardman and Hump is quite fun – reminiscent of Robert B. Parker's Spencer and Hawk.)
The plot gets twisty and the finish is strong with lots of action.
I enjoyed the 1970s vibe – no cell phones, no internet, no satellite surveillance.
Good book. Solid 4 stars.

This is a direct continuation of [b:The Collapsing Empire 30078567 The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency, #1) John Scalzi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464097677l/30078567.SY75.jpg 50498420]. Read it first. The overall story is quite good so far.TCF doesn't end on a cliffhanger as the immediate problems are resolved, but it does set the stage for the final book in the series. (Scalzi says it will be a trilogy, and he tends to do what he says.)Some new characters make their appearance in this book, but many characters from the first book also reappear in this one. These include the Emperox Grayland II (aka, Cardenia Wu), Lord Marce the flow physicist, and (my favorite) the very profane and totally badass Kiva Lagos. The antagonists are mostly related to or allied with the powerful Nohamapetan mercantile family. Things get very tense and some seriously dirty deeds are done (but not dirt cheap (my apologies to the AC/DC rock band)). As the plot twists and turns, we learn a lot about the history of the Interdependencey (quite painlessly, not as a data dump). We get a bit of romance too (quite well done) and some humor (hey, it's Scalzi after all). And finally, as Kiva Lagos puts it, “The Best Party Ever” near the end of the book is not to be missed.(If a lot of the above makes no sense to you ... well, you haven't read the first book yet.)I listened to the audio version. Wil Wheaton's narration is very good.Good book. Scalzi is a skillful writer. Solid four stars.

Even better on a re-read. One of Stirling's best.

I have mixed feelings about this audio compilation. It consists of 36 lectures from various university-level courses cobbled together. Most of the lectures are good, some very good indeed, but a few are just “meh” at best. The lectures are heavy on philosophy, sociology, and religion, and IMHO much too light on science and technology.I bought this from Audible Audio. Unfortunately, they provide very spotty information and don't even give a list of the contents. For that you need to go to The Great Courses site where you can find a list of the lectures with short descriptions of each.The introductions to some of the lectures are sketchy. For those I would really like some in depth discussion of how that particular work “changed the world”.There are some glaring omissions. For example, how could any such compilation not include Newton's [b:The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy 231083 The Principia Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy Isaac Newton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386924124l/231083.SY75.jpg 846336] as it was one of the most important works in the history of the human race? (Admittedly the title isn't “The 36 Most Important Books that Changed the World” but still ...) In spite of my caveats, the lectures were still worth my time (well, most of them anyway).3.5 stars.

A quick and fun fantasy-steampunk read. A little light-weight perhaps and some of the characters require serious suspension of disbelief. But hey, who doesn't like oddball schools, airships, steam-driven robots, werewolves, vampires, conspiracies, and lots of action.
3.2 stars.

Scalzi's riff (sort of) on a classic Asimov story.

Hands down, this is the best literary biography I have ever read. Farah Mendlesohn is a master wordsmith. This book not only gave insight into Heinlein's life, work, and times, it also increased my vocabulary!
Mendlesohn is perhaps a bit obsessed with sex and gender, but so was some of Heinlein's writing especially in his later years. So, OK then.
4.5 stars rounded up.

I guess this is SF. (What else could it be?)
TLE is chock full of incredible ideas (thank you, Stephen) and interesting, sometimes quirky characters (thank you, Sir Terry). I hope the follow on books will be as good.
Michael Fenton-Stevens does a good job of narrating the story.
Solid four stars.

That was a fun, quick read. The Murderbot goes in search of mysteries in its own past. On the way it has to utilize its special security skills and learn to deal with humans. It also gains a friend – well, perhaps more of a big brother.
Solid four stars.

Good story. However, it just stops after setting up a foreboding situation. Hopefully, Marko Kloos will continue the story soon.
If you cannot handle cliffhangers, buy this book and hold it until the next in the series comes out.

Good crime thriller set in a near future USA. The primary characters are Eve Dallas, a New York police lieutenant, and Roarke (just one name), a smooth, mysterious, and very rich fellow with whom Eve becomes involved both professionally and emotionally.
A fast paced whodunit. A fun and fast read. Some well-done sexy bits. There are multiple bad guys, but the primary is really wicked and very smart. Along the way Eve has to deal with the demons of her own past.
3.5 stars. After several days of reflection in which the book refused to get out of my head, I decided to round it up.

One of Silverberg's best short stories. Still good on a re-read many years later.

This is a one-off lecture which provides a pretty good quick overview of the Manhattan Project. Lots of stuff is missed out of course. Look elsewhere if you want a more in-depth treatment.
O'Donnell is pretty evenhanded in dealing with a very polarizing subject.

This is Rob Sheffield's ode to music goddess Stevie Nicks. He obviously really, really likes her and perhaps even has a bit of an obsession. But that is OK, as he still presents her warts and all.
Of course if you tell Stevie Nicks's story, you have to tell a lot of the Fleetwood-Mac story too as they intertwine. Sheffield does it quite well. I had to break out my Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood-Mac CDs partway through.
I got this when it was one of the free Audible Original selections offered a few months back. Glad I did – time well spent.

Another good book in a great series.

OK, it is now settled. I will read (or as in this case, listen to) anything by Dennis E. Taylor. He provides that perfect mix of nerdiness, action, characterization, snark, and world building that appeals to the SF fan in me.
In Outland an eclectic group of university students in Nebraska discover how to create stable inter-dimensional portals. They include a Newton/Einstein level genius, a geologist, an uber engineer, and several with more, um, “practical” skills.
They discover an alternate and almost identical Earth but without any humans. So what do you do in such a case? Why you go panning for gold of course. After all, you need to funds to protect your world-changing discovery from poachers and from takeover by government organizations. Naturally, things don't go exactly according to plan. First, some criminal elements figure out that they are on to something, and then the Yellowstone super-volcano comes to life. From that point, things get very exciting and complicated. Big decisions have to be made. Can this alternate Earth be their key to survival? Read to find out.
Good story. 4+ stars.

I first read Killing Floor back in ‘97 when it was first published. I thought it was a powerfully good story then. Still a damn good read 22 years later.
I reckon Lee Child read a lot of John D. MacDonald and Robert B. Parker before he created Jack Reacher. Not a copy of their work at all as Child's style is different; but still, I can feel the ghosts of Travis McGee and Spencer when I read a Jack Reacher story.
4.5 stars on re-read.

Didn't enjoy this as much as some earlier Neal Stephenson books. Not sure why, but I just couldn't relate to the characters. However, there is plenty of action and there are some good time-travel twists.
Also, the growth of D.O.D.O. as the story progresses provides and excellent example of Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy in action.
The audio version is very well done.
3+ stars, but I cannot quite bump it up to four.

Started this book and couldn't stop. It pulled me out of another book that I was enjoying.
We get lots of spy stuff, gunfights, chases, and covert operations involving old secrets. Enemies can be anywhere and are deadly. The Old Man, however, is no easy target. There are several side trips that don't seem to move the main story line forward but do deepen some of the characters' backgrounds. But, it all starts coming together toward the end.
The ultimate bad guy and some of the other antagonists seem a bit nebulous. However, they don't really need to be developed for the story; they just need to be there and do their thing to push the Old Man into action.
Overall a satisfying read, though the ending seemed a bit rushed to me. Everything is pretty well resolved, but Perry did leave a couple of threads that I reckon he could use to build a sequel should he so decide.
Good suspense-thriller; solid four stars.
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Update upon a second read:
My memory of the story had faded a bit but it seemed like the new TV series of the same name starring Jeff Bridges deviated quite a bit from the book. So, I decided to do a reread and compare. The TV show took a couple of characters and a few ideas (and the two dogs) from the book and then went elsewhere with them – pretty much a different story.
Both are entertaining, however.

The horror of war is fully encapsulated in the half-year battle for Stalingrad.
Good book – well-written and researched. 4.5 stars.

I had a little trouble getting into this book at first. The world-building seemed incomplete. About a quarter of the way in it hit me that I had selected the second book in a series (my bad), and a lot of world-building and character development had already been done. I pushed on though, and it turned into a good SF-thriller. (I recommend reading the glossary at the back of the book before starting it.)
In Dancing With The Dead, We get a deep conspiracy involving terrorists, multiple races, and the dead. “The Dead?”, you say. Yup, they still exist on the other side of “The Veil”, and some of them are interested in the activities of the living. We also get some characters with psychic, even fantastical abilities. (Throw-back to some tropes that were popular back in the 1950s and '60s.)
The tale includes a love story involving quite a bit of inter-species sex, and there is some spiritual/philosophical stuff that may or may not appeal.
3.5 stars rounded up.

It has been a while since I read any Walter Mosley. I had forgotten how much I enjoy his stories. (Gotta do something about that. So little time; so many good books to read.)
For this book, you can get the general setup from the cover text. I'll just say that Joe King Oliver faces a deep conspiracy and long odds. Life can be hard for an honest man.
There are some interesting characters, both good and bad. I particularly like Melquarth Frost, who seems to somewhat fill the slot occupied by Mouse in Mosley's Easy Rawlins series.
Dion Graham does a good job narrating the audio version.
A solid 4 stars.