Old Weather Forum
Shore Leave => Dockside Cafe => Topic started by: sierran on 14 October 2010, 15:15:02
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I was randomly assigned to the HMS Otranto, an Armed Merchant
Cruiser which seems to be cruising off South America in the logs I'm
working on now. Interestingly (to me) this ship appears to have
been instrumental in the Battle of Coronel, having spotted the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to begin the brouhaha (in which Maximilian Graf Spee beat the tar out of the RN, the rotter).
Sorry
to ramble...I bring this up because one of my favorite naval fiction
works intimately concerns this very time and theater: "Thunder at
Dawn", part of the David Cochrane Smith series, by Alan Evans. I
strongly recommend this book for a vivid look at life in the coal-fired
RN off South America in WWI, aboard the fictional light cruiser H.M.S. Thunder ("Had to call 'er Thunder, didn't they? Couldn't've very well called her Lightning!")
Actually,
I'm also interested to note that Otranto met her end off the island of
Islay, whose marvelous exports I enjoy on so many occasions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islay_whisky
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islay_whisky)
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Every good cause need its book club, where the more sedentary members can settle down to a good read.
I think we should restrict its scope to books likely to be of interest to mariners.
With that restriction, may I propose my first offering.
"Learning the ropes" by Eric Newby, which I received through the post today and sat down and read from cover to cover.
This
is the picture book accompanying volume to "The Last Great Grain Race",
published many years later and incorporating many of Newby's
wonderfully atmospheric pictures captured on his Zeiss Super Ikonta
folding camera, (the same one my mother had), which were computer
corrected for the book by IBM (which he fails to note).
Enhanced
or not, the pictures are superb, though from the text you won't learn
much more than from TLGGR. But the pictures are are
delicious. Sail, ropes, storms, doldrums, loadings, strong young
men, unloadings, Swedes, Finns, wind and sun.
Now it's not RN and sail had gone from the Andrew 50 years before, but it's a fine recollection.
Read.
Charles Norrie
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Is this for OW book recommendations? If so, I particularly like
contemporary accounts - may not be accurate, but the people were there.
Two books I've put online:
Accounts of minor WW1 naval operations - http://www.naval-history.net/WW1Book-NavyEverywhere00.htm
Life
on an imaginary battleship in WW2 by a naval officer - life on big
ships was not much different from WW1 -
http://www.naval-history.net/WW2aaNavalLife-Customs1.htm
Gordon
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I can recommend Alexander Fullerton's "The Blooding of the Guns"
which is a fictionalised account of the battle of Jutland, probably the
biggest naval battle of WW1.
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I suppose I should really turn to the Patrick O'Brian series again but I find myself engaged in Norse detectives at present.
Been
through the Mankell/Wallander books and the Stieg Larsson trilogy but
am now on what I feel are the best so far: the Jo Nesbo Harry Hole
series. That could have something to do with having lived in Oslo and
recognising the places he writes of though.
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I just finished re-reading the Lois McMaster Bujold "Sharing Knife"
series. An interesting sci fi / fantasy blend figuring out how a
civilization would clean up the environment long after a magical
armegeddon. Good characterization and a very tight consistant
universe.
Also a nice love story. ;D
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I'm going through Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books (again!) - I want a Companion!!!
yours -
Kathy W.
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David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas.
wow.
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The Caine Mutiny. Hadn't read it before...
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The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
I thought Mary Boleyn
seemed an interesting character when reading Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall -
some divergences between the two authors though. Always the
problem with novels based on real historical events/people - you never
know how much is real and how much is fiction.
Incidentally, is
there a naval equivalent of Siegfried Sassoon/Robert Graves/Erich Maria
Remarque - or are all WWI novels set on the Western Front?
Thanks
for the Jo Nesbo recommendation, pliget - I've bought one but haven't
read it yet. (Having seen the OW rankings, I'm surprised you can
find time to read!!! ;D)
Su
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Mostly I just look at the pictures
and transcribe the text :)
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I just finished an amazing book: A Real Boy by Christopher and
Nicola Stevens. They've got a teenage son with severe Autism, and the
book describes their life with him. They don't ever feel sorry for
themselves, and they're very honest about what it's like living with
David. It made me laugh out loud in places as they describe the things
he gets up to.
Definitely recommended to all ;D
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I am currently reading 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel - definitely
recommended to anyone who is interested in naval history, or science, or
who has ever wondered how a ship can possibly know where it is in the
middle of a big blue sea.
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I'd like to add "Lost Voices of the Royal Navy" by Max Arthur.
It actually covers 1914-1945 and I've only read the section dealing
with WW1 (including first-hand accounts of Jutland and the scuttling of
the German fleet) - the rest looks fascinating as well, but I find
myself torn between informing myself with background reading and
actually getting on and doing the logs!
Then, of course, there's
my perennial favourite for those of us on the Atlantic Patrol - "The Big
Blockade" by E Keble Chatterton - very readable for a book written 80
years ago and including lots of tales of derring-do on the high seas.
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I think we should resurrect this topic.... ;D
I highly recommend The Guns of August by Barbara Tuckman, which details the events right before and the 1st month of WWI (published in 1962)
and I also recommend The Zimmermann Telegram, which deals with one of the primary actions that lead the US into WWI (published in 1958)
While
both were written a while ago (probably long before many of the people
transcribing here were born :o), they are still excellent books and
provide a clear picture of why things happened the way they did.
I also recommend The Proud Tower,
which is about Europe from @1890 to WWI - it provides a very good
discussion of the long term actions (and personalities) that lead to
WWI.
yours-
Kathy W.
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I
just finished re-reading the Lois McMaster Bujold "Sharing Knife"
series. An interesting sci fi / fantasy blend figuring out how a
civilization would clean up the environment long after a magical
armegeddon. Good characterization and a very tight consistant
universe.
Also a nice love story. ;D
I haven't read that (yet), but I dearly love her Vorkosigan series (sci fi).
My favorite fantasy is Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy.
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I'm going through Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books (again!) - I want a Companion!!!
yours -
Kathy W.
I am a great fan of her too. I have also read many of her books several times, especially her earliest Valdemar books.
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I've just finished Prey by Michael Crichton - read for about the millionth time. I love that book!
Just started The Liar by Stephen Fry. Not read this one before, but enjoying it so far.
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Just finished introducing myself on that topic line, but I mentioned
there I am reading The War for All the Oceans by Roy and Lesley Adkins.
It's about the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Just finished The
Six Frigates by Ian W. Toll, about the founding of the US Navy. Ripping
good yarns.
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM%2053-67607/ADM%2053-67607-102_0.jpg
If anyone else is a fan of Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" novels, you'll like the entry at 3.45am ;D
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If anyone else is a fan of Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" novels, you'll like the entry at 3.45am
Not to mention Anne McCaffrey fans.
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I just finished a suitably nautical sort of reading: Moby Dick.
Such a marvellous book - and I wouldn't even have picked it up if I
hadn't been in a rush to get to the airport and grabbed the first off a
pile of unread books in my room. Actually I'm kind of ashamed to think
that I had always assumed it was just some long, lumbering adventure
story to the general theme of 'Madman chases whale. Everybody dies. Big
deal.'
Oh well, in this case I'm happy to have been proven completely wrong. :)
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Thanks for the suggestion. I had made the same assumption about Moby Dick as you had...
However, it will have to wait until I can pick up "Operation Mincemeat" that is waiting for me at the local library...
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Not to mention Anne McCaffrey fans.
Yes ;D
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RIP from me. There is a book "The Sailors War 1914-1918" which deals with life afloat during the great war.
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I have been reading "Operation Kronstadt" by Harry Ferguson.
So now I know what the Vindictive was doing in the Baltic in 1919!
It reads like a thriller and I'd recommend it to anyone, even if you
haven't been transcribing the logs of a ship that took part in this
campaign.
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I have red Operation Kronstadt too a excellent tail of spies and
adventure. However, during the CMB attack on Kronstadt the Battleship
Petropavlovsk was not hit by torpedos they ran underneath the ship and
exploded against the quay.
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I'm in the middle of "The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean," by Susan Casey.
I
have been particularly fascinated about the various mentions and
discussion of solitons, first described by John Scott Russell who
observed one in the Union Canal in Scotland in 1834.
Just had a
thought: would the "state of the sea" entries help any of the
scientists who study the rogue wave type phenomena?
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Not to mention Anne McCaffrey fans.
Yes ;D
:raises hand: that's me!
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Not to mention Anne McCaffrey fans.
Yes ;D
:raises hand: that's me!
There weren't any young dragons around when Daniel hatched out, were there?
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I've just finished reading "Scrimgeour's Small Scribbling Diary
1914-1916". Alexander Scrimgeour was a midshipman who served on
the Crescent, the Alsatian and the Invincible. He was killed at
Jutland at the age of 19. This book brings together his wartime
diaries and his letters home. It's a fascinating account of both
life on board ship and the social life of a young Edwardian
gentleman. An ideal Christmas present for the OW addict in your
life! (And that's probably you. isn't it? ;D )
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A bit tangential, and from half a century earlier, 'This Thing of
Darkness
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0755302818/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_link_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0)'
by Harry Thompson is a brilliant biography, in the form of a novel, of
Robert Fitzroy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_FitzRoy) (of the
shipping area). He invented weather forecasting and was an outstanding
sailor, as well as a fair (but tragically misunderstood) man.
It's
an account of the voyage of the 'Beagle' and its consequences from a
different perspective, and contrasts the personalities of Darwin &
Fitzroy brilliantly, and tellingly.
As well as giving a
background to naval sailing ships and organisation of the era, daily
seafaring practice, and the challenges of sailing the ships in the
Southern Ocean, it also gives an insight into how the 'Establishment' of
the time dealt with those who chose to put their professional, personal
and social concerns above conforming with the contemporary norm.
Apart from anything else though, it is simply a cracking yarn!!
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There is a good account of the Q Ships, and a great deal more
besides, in 'Castles of Steel - Britain, Germany and the winning of the
Great War at sea' by Robert K Massie, published by Vintage Books in the
UK.
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A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Battle of WWII by Richard Snow
I'm
about a third of the way through. The description of the (lack
of) space on board the German U boats is, by itself, worth the price of
the book.
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The description of the (lack of) space on board the German U boats is, by itself, worth the price of the book.
I'm not happy about confined spaces. I find submarine books uncomfortable reading.
You
reminded me of a book dealing with the other side of the WW2 contest
and tactics: "Walker RN". I found it a compelling read. Surprisingly, it
is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/categories/c55238/
The couple (OK six) of the sections that I've read seem to be as I remember the book.
Johnnie
Walker seems to have been an eccentric peg just waiting until the
accommodating hole came along. He saw his ideas bear fruit, but didn't
see the harvest completed.
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Not to mention Anne McCaffrey fans.
Yes ;D
:raises hand: that's me!
There weren't any young dragons around when Daniel hatched out, were there?
He'll be D'nel!
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He'll be D'nel!
;D
Brill.
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I'm in the middle of "The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean," by Susan Casey.
I
have been particularly fascinated about the various mentions and
discussion of solitons, first described by John Scott Russell who
observed one in the Union Canal in Scotland in 1834.
Just had a
thought: would the "state of the sea" entries help any of the
scientists who study the rogue wave type phenomena
I
am sure oceanographers might seriously like it, but there was a simple
reason why Philip said they did NOT want it lumped in with weather
readings.
http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=1904.msg24009#msg24009
Please feel free to record anything that interests you about the "state
of the sea" under "Event/Other".
If anyone else is a fan of Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" novels, you'll like the entry at 3.45am
Not to mention Anne McCaffrey fans.
Me too - both of them. 8)
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I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but fans of
Patrick O'Brian may be interested to hear that the canon will be
released as e-books, apparently in all markets not just in the US, on 5
December 2011 -- Nook, Kindle, and other platforms. More details
are available at http://books.wwnorton.com/books/promo.aspx?id=24340
Enjoy!
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On the subject of lack of space in U-boats (and off the subject of
books), the film Das Boot is superbly realistic. You can have dubbed
english, but it's best in the German with subtitles. Avoid however, the
appalling "In Enemy Hands". Apart from the hysterically funny dialogue,
it includes footage of two submarines, both underwater firing torpedoes
at each other (!!) and a warship firing at a submerged submarine with
its maindeck guns (!!!) with the barrels elevated at 45 degrees (!!!!).
Get Das Boot, so realistic you can smell the crew. I haven't yet seen
U-571, but it's pretty clear that this is more Hollywood re-writing
history.
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and related to the Anne McCaffrey subthread here... she died today :( :'(
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Thanks for telling us - she is someone whose life should be
celebrated. My favorite of her stories was The Ship Who Sang.
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Thanks for telling us - she is someone whose life should be celebrated. My favorite of her stories was The Ship Who Sang.
That was one of the first book of hers I read. My favorite is Dragonsinger.
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She will be missed.
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My favorite is The White Dragon, but I also love all 3 Dragon Song books - she will be missed! :'(
Kathy
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Am in the middle of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.
Wow. What a story...
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Merry nearly-Christmas one and all,
Having dumped History as
subject before GCSE, my understanding of WWI has been somewhat limited
to the tragic trenches of the Western Front. OW has been a real
eye-opener for me about how much more of the 'World' was in involved in
the 'War'. In particular the whole sorry Dardanelles/Gallipoli episode.
One
of the joys of having a Kindle (other e-book devices are available) is
that it has opened up a whole world of free literature, courtesy of the
Gutenburg Project and I am currently working my way through some of the
books here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/World_War_I_%28Bookshelf%29#The_Dardanelles
I
started with "On Land And Sea At The Dardanelles" by Thomas
Charles Bridges, which is a Boys Own, type adventure, where our gallant
young hero and chum miraculously survive the beach landings, get lost
behind enemy lines and have a series of rather implausible but
entertaining scrapes and near-misses.
Next was "At
Suvla Bay" by John Hargrave, a diary account by a pacifist boy scout who
become a Sergeant of a the stretcher bearers and medics. It is very
moving and describes both the horror of the 'Mechanical Death' and
'Sniper Madness', but also moments of poetic beauty and human
warmth.
On a third extreme, I am currently reading the diary of
Sir Ian Hamilton who got lumbered with the task of organising the whole
thing. A great quote is "The German General is the product of an
organising nation. The British General is the product of an improvising
nation. Each army would be better commanded by the other army's
General."
It's clear that he was out of his depth and
didn't have the technical or organisational support, or military
information to do an effective job. Having read about the naval
engagements through the logs of ship's like Amethyst, Canopus, Sapphire
and Goliath it's interesting to get it from his, more emotive,
perspective.
The Dardenelles seem a near perfect natural
fortification and it seems like the British only have a sliver of a
chance early on but by giving the Turks time to dig in they just
condemned tens of thousands of men to death, disease and
mutilation.
Ok, so perhaps not cheery Christmas reading
after all, but what do other people think? If you've done logs from any
of the Dardenelles fleet what were your impressions?
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Just into the second chapter of The Imperial War Museum book of the
War at Sea 1914 - 1918, by Julian Thompson. The subtitle is 'The
face of battle revealed in the words of the men who fought', and that's
what is making it so fascinating. It's not just the history (in
fact he specifically says it isn't a complete history of the naval war)
but about what it was like to be part of it - quoting from diaries and
letters and memoirs.
I've already learnt so much, just from the first chapter which paints a picture of the pre-war Navy.
Published
in 2005, so I don't know whether it's still in print; I found a
secondhand copy, entirely by chance, in Blackwells in Oxford.
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Sounds great! I've already been onto Amazon and ordered a
copy. It doesn't appear to be currently in print but there were a
number of used copies available.
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I ordered one too. Amazon UK had an interesting range of prices for used copies.
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They'll be wondering what's caused this sudden upsurge in sales of this book! :D
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Pity they don't offer discounts for those who get others to buy - I could be doing quite well .... :D
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Indeed. :D
Added to my wish list, too.
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Finally reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series - what a hoot! ;D He was a man of his time
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During the 1800s the RN was active in surpressing the seaborne slave
trade. The books "Royal Navy and the Slave Trade" Bernard Edward and
"The Slave Trade" Hugh Thomas deal with this subject. Note many jolly
jack tars and sailors from other navies died to stop to this horrible
business. It would be good to hear more about these men and their
sacrifices.
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My copy of The War at Sea arrived a few days ago.
I haven't read much of it yet but it looks pretty good. Great pics too.
It's also available on Kindle. ;)
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Yes, I love the pictures - especially the ones of seaplanes, as Himalaya has (or did have) them.
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I haven't got my copy yet - it's been a bit of a drama! The
same author has also written The Imperial War Museum Book of the Sea
(Second World War) and that is what arrived in the post! Having
initially cursed the seller for sending me the wrong book, I realized
that one of the listings on Amazon was a complete hotch-potch of both
books - I've drawn this to their attention, but if anyone else is
considering buying, for the time being you need to be very careful,
until they get the listing corrected. I've decided to keep the WW2
book as it looks interesting - and was very cheap. My second
order was cancelled by the seller without any explanation. My
third attempt has apparently been despatched, so I am eagerly awaiting
its arrival!
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My copy arrived this morning - the right volume this time! The
photographs are terrific - there's one of the Changuinola in dazzle
camouflage. If only I could read and transcribe at the same
time! ::)
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The Complete Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs - what a hoot! ;D
He told good stories, but was definitely a man of his times -
I
wanted to read the John Carter series, because 1) they are Sci Fi
classics and 2) I want to see the movie and I like to read the book a
movie is based on, before I see the film.
If you like Sci Fi / Adventure stories, I recommend his works - just remember the time period he lived/wrote in -
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My
copy arrived this morning - the right volume this time! The
photographs are terrific - there's one of the Changuinola in dazzle
camouflage. If only I could read and transcribe at the same
time! ::)
Yes, that's a problem - but you could use it a bit of reading as a reward for so much transcribing? ::)
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Well, I keep promising myself treats when I achieve my targets -
just never seem to reach my targets! So for a start I need to
redefine them as "aspirations"!
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Embassytown by China Mieville.
Weird and wonderful sci-fi, or just 'weird fiction' as China says.
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Excuse me! I moved this here from Praise for the OW forum
Randi
;D Awesome! Just awesome! Keep up the good work. I to am a fan of My
Little Pony. What do you think of the Dragons of Pern? OH and OW
Forum is awesome IMHO.
Someone
else who is Pern fan - not so keen on some of her others although the
Damia series was OK. Do we fall into a 'typical' box - not on your life,
it is what makes OW so interesting. It is also a very supportive
community, I just wish some of the internet trolls could learn from our
example.
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Someone
else who is Pern fan - not so keen on some of her others although the
Damia series was OK. Do we fall into a 'typical' box - not on your life,
it is what makes OW so interesting. It is also a very supportive
community, I just wish some of the internet trolls could learn from our
example.
;D Oh another fan! Awesome! Her books I have read over and over again thru the years. ;D
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I'm a fast & addicted reader and when reading fiction I prefer
story tellers to novelists where the form seems more important than the
story. So I revisit old friends, especially when I want to relax or if
I'm not well. Her books are 'friends', another is the Brother Cadfael
series by Ellis Peters. I was surprised just how much real history
and real place she weaves into her books. If you haven't tried them
then you might enjoy the 'leper of St Giles'.
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I am a Brother Cadfael fan too! My favorites are the first two books in the series: One Corpse too Many and A Morbid Taste for Bones.
I also like Dragons of Pern.
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I enjoy Pern - and I have a few Brother Cadfael books kicking around ;D
If
you like mysteries, then I highly recommend a series set in Alaska -
the protagonist is a woman private detective named Kate Sugak - this is a
very well written series.
If you like, Scifi/fantasy, then I
also highly recommend a series set in Chicago - the protagonist is a
wizard named Harry Dresden, who is also a private detective.
Just
a word of warning - these are both series written by adults for adults -
they are not raunchy or anything like that, but they are also not for
children.
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I've read 2 or 3 of the Alaska one. Holiday reads but a bit too gritty for 'old friends'.
If
you like trying to outguess the 'detective' you might enjoy the Steven
Dunbar series by Ken McClure. Unlike most of them the science is
totally accurate (the author was a research scientist) but they are
fairly gritty as well. Have a look at the pub date though, some of his
science has moved on since they were written but it was cutting edge at
the time. Another series which has the ring of authenticity is the
series by Stella Rimington - she used to be head of MI5 so her insight
into the way the Intelligence Services work is censored authentic.
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I just finished The Running Hare The Secret Life of Farmland by John Lewis-Stempel (a writer and farmer).
A
friend lent it to me. It really didn't sound like my cup of tea (mainly
historical mysteries/novels, science fiction, fantasy, and, of course
sea stories), but I really enjoyed it.
It was very well written,
and it centered around his experiment of returning to methods of farming
that were more wildlife-friendly than most of the large-scale,
high-production methods used today.
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That sounds like the type of book that I like Randi - I might try to track a copy down :D
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A friend of mine has read it recently - she also said it was a
wonderful book. I haven't read it myself (like you, not sure it
was really my thing) though I did hear some extracts on the radio when
it first came out.
Talking of wonderful books, I have just
finished reading Philip Pullman's "La Belle Sauvage" - I believe he's
already completed the second volume of the trilogy, so we shouldn't be
waiting 15 years this time!
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Talking
of wonderful books, I have just finished reading Philip Pullman's "La
Belle Sauvage" - I believe he's already completed the second volume of
the trilogy, so we shouldn't be waiting 15 years this time!
That
was the last book that I read. I thought that his "Dark Materials
trilogy" stands as one of the most original works I have read.
Remarkable really as it was meant to be a childrens book.
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They sound interesting, I'll have to keep an eye open for them at the library.
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That
was the last book that I read. I thought that his "Dark Materials
trilogy" stands as one of the most original works I have read.
Remarkable really as it was meant to be a childrens book.
I
read that a few years back Hurlock. I couldn't put the set down until
they were finished. Wonderful writing I thought. :D
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I fell in love with Phillip Pullmans Dark Materials Trilogy reading it to my daughter when she was small.
The
Belle Sauvage has already been aired as a radio drama on BBC Radio 4.
Very well done. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b099tf53). (If I
remember correctly some of the non UK readers may not be able to access
this, Sorry!!)
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Mysteries (light reading):
- Mrs. Jeffries & the Best Laid Plans by Emily Brightwell
This is the first one of hers that I have read.
Her investigating team makes me think of the forum! - Rest You Merry by Charlotte Macleod
This appears to be the first of her Peter Shandy series.
They are good stories with a strong sense of humor.
Curse of the Giant Hogweed, in this series, is a very, very funny fantasy-mystery-spoof. - Rita Mae Brown has a Mrs Murphy series and Jane Arnold series.
Both are fun - the animals are detectives too.
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Sci-fi!
I've just started Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovksy.
It contains sentient spiders, alien of course. :o
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Sci-fi!
I've just started Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovksy.
It contains sentient spiders, alien of course. :o
I
really enjoyed Children of Time - let us know what you think of it when
you finish. I started reading a lot of SF a couple of years ago
as much-needed escapism. I'm in a Sci-Fi Facebook Book Group and
we are currently reading The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross.
Let's just say I'm not enjoying it as much as Children of Time!
But I recently read Exhalation, short stories by Ted Chiang - I thought
it was an amazing book, and it comes with a recommendation from Barack
Obama! Although it's Sci-Fi I think it really transcends the genre
and some of my friends who are not particular SF fans will be finding
this turning up as a birthday present.
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Ah yes, I would also recommend Exhalation.
Ted Chiang's first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, was pretty good too, as I recall.
It's a long time since I read it.
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Yes, Ted Chiang's first book of short stories is on my to-be-read list (pretty near the top). :)
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I like to listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I work on
OldWeather whaling and currently I'm almost done listening to "The Long
Ships" by Frans G. Bengtsson. It's one of those thick books I've had
sitting on my shelf for awhile and listening to the audiobook instead
got me to finally commit to it. It helps to have someone else
pronouncing all the Viking names so I'm not stumbling over them in my
head. Next I'm going to see if I do better at listening to "The Master
and Margarita" than reading it.
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They sound interesting April :) Sounds like you are like me - I
like something else going on when I'm OWW-ing. What's the general story
from the Long Ships then please?
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The Long Ships is a long adventure novel about the life of a
fictional viking, Red Orm, that's kinda written in the style of old
Icelandic sagas. I think it was originally serialized so each section is
just a new story with little breaks in between to mention what's going
on in the world historically in the meantime to give a sense of time and
place. He and his friends are pretty well-traveled and they go as far
as Andalusia and the Byzantine Empire. Some parts of it are pretty funny
and for a story with a bunch of raiding vikings I think it's not so
dark or grim. Orm is a viking, but he's also just this big, nice guy who
gets nervous about catching colds and insists he's now friends with
people even when they try to argue with him.
I originally picked
it out at a used bookstore because the forward to my edition was
written by the author Michael Chabon and I wanted to know why he loved
it.
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Oh that sounds like my kind of book - I'll put it on my list. :D
I
saw a programme about the great mosque in Istanbul. Somewhere on an
upper level overlooking the main area there's some viking graffiti
gouged into the stonework. Not just the first travelling salesmen, but
the first naughty tourists. ;D
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Saw this item in the NY Times, about the Defiance, wrecked in 1769,
near York, Maine. "Every few years, waves expose the 250-year-old
wreck."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/us/maine-shipwreck-colonial.html
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8) 8) 8)