...in London, in that part of it known as Whitehall where the art of government was once practiced and is now imitated; where lies flourish and are admired as if they were prize blooms at the Chelsea Flower Show; and where infirmity of purpose is practiced with a belligerence that might almost make you think great men had come again...

(J.K. Mayo, The Interloper)

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David Drake; Lt. Leary, Commanding (Baen Books; 2000; ISBN 0-671-57875-8; cover by Stephen Hickman).

(Read the entire book online, or download it, for free!)

Lt. Leary, Commanding is the second volume in Drake's RCN Series. (For an account of how I came to read the first volume, see this previous post, for a note by David Drake on the series, see this link.) Leary is involved in repairing and refitting the ship the ship he (ahem) acquired in With the Lightnings when he is called on to take command and participate in a mission to a neighboring planet. The mission is muddied by political intrigue, both on his planet, on an intermediate planet (where a side adventure resembles the events of the short precursor story, A Grand Tour, which appeared in the Honor Harrington-related collection More Than Honor), and on the planet his mission originally was aiming for. Toss in a cranky fleet commander, a gang of pirates, and a small private war and top it all off with a nice fleet action and you have some of the finest writing that Patrick O'Brian never did.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The A.V. Club at The Onion has put together a list of books for the summer. Titles include M. John Harrison's Nova Swing (on Mount Toberead), Gene Wolfe's WizardKnight duo (also on Mount Toberead) and Jay Lake's Mainspring (need I repeat myself?). So many books, so little time, so many ex...need I repeat myself?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves: InterWorld (Subterranean Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59606-173-6).

Review can be found here (no, I have not yet quit my day job!).

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Gene Wolfe and Neil Gaiman: A Walking Tour of the Shambles (Little Walks for Sightseers #16) (American Fantasy, 2002, ISBN 0-9610352-6-9; cover art by Gahan Wilson, interior art by Randy Broecker and Earl Geier).

This is a very small book...not sure I'd rate it a book, other than the fact that it is between too covers.

It is also an utterly hilarious book. From the listing of "other books" (all fictional titles) to the amazing sites you'll see in an obscure part of Chicago, to suggestions of what to eat at a restaurant you'll come across on your walking tour...funny stuff. Did you know about the buried Chinese cemetery? How about the tunnels under Lake Michigan? And what about that odd statue with the ruby eye that gets stolen and returns on a regular basis.

Try to find a copy and save your pennies to buy it. Bonus for me, my copy is signed by Wolfe, Gaiman and Wilson (and I'll let you guess which signature I value the most).

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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David Drake: The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume One (Night Shade Books; 2006; ISBN 978-1-892389-69-5; cover by John Berkey).

David Drake: The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume Two (Night Shade Books; 2006; ISBN 978-1-892389-73-2; cover by John Berkey).

David Drake: The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume Three (Night Shade Books; 2007; ISBN 978-1-892389-80-0; cover by David Martin).

As I read more and more of David Drake's books, I find that I did him something of a disservice in my earlier review of this series. It is only after going through the series, hearing a couple of interviews with him, and reading a chunk of additional tales (of varying lengths) that I see how lightly I dismissed his work.

And for that, I apologize.

more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Following up on the previous entry, I really recommend a visit to The Agony Column's audio page and Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing (silly name, that). I've been downloading podcasts like mad; and even if I've never heard of the author, or have had any interest in the genre being discussed, I've been finding a lot of stuff that is making its way to my wish list! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'll freely admit to having ignored this gentleman's work. There are two reasons, really: (a) I'm not as interested in fantasy as I am in science fiction; (b) other than a few exceptions, I tend to ignore long open-ended serial novels (especially if they fit the first category!).

However... more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A friend passed on a link to an interview with Douglas R. Hofstadter, author of I am a Strange Loop as well as the (in)famous Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So many books, so little time, so many ex-lovers to bury!

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Kim Stanley Robinson is a sad, bitter, depressing man.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've scored a copy of Psychological Warfare by Paul A. Linebarger.

Who the heck is he, you ask? For shame!

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'You danced?' cried Jack, far more astonished than if Stephen had said 'as we ate our cold roast baby'.

'Certainty I danced. Why would I not dance, pray?'

'Certainty you are to dance most uncommon graceful, I am sure. I only wondered. But did you indeed go about dancing?'

'I did. You have not travelled in Catalonia, sir, I believe?'

'Not I.' more...

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John Ringo: A Hymn Before Battle (Baen Books, 2001, ISBN 978-1-4165-3321-4; cover by Patrick Turner).

I had read this volume once previously, but picked it up again as I'm trying (desperately!) to catch up on the various series that I keep accumulating. Alas, with somebody like John Ringo (as with several other authors from Baen Books) this is proving difficult...since many churn these puppies out faster than I can consume them. Someday, someday... more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov: I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay (Warner Books; 1994; ISBN 0-446-67062-6; illustrated by Mark Zug).

Inspired by this podcast mentioned by the folks at SF Signal, I hauled this book down for another read. I had read it once before, enjoyed the two introductions (one by Asimov, one by Ellison) immensely, but had kind of been left cold by the rest...I found the form (a screenplay) hard to handle.

This time around, I must have been in the right mindset. Because I found this to be the greatest science fiction movie never made. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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John's Reading Report (May 200

Over the past month I have finished:

The Martian General's Daughter, Theodore Judson

All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson

Oath of Fealty, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

In progress:

Pattern Recognition, William Gibson

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Douglas R. Hofstadter.

Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett.

On deck:

Extraordinary Relationships, Roberta Gilbert.

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemerovsky.

Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain--and How it Changed the World, Carl Zimmer.

Spook Country, William Gibson.

Posted by: JohnL at 12:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fred's Reading Report (May 200

Book count for the year? 28 books.

Short story count for the year? 255 short stories (goal for the end of the month was to get to 152).

While the numbers look good, I still feel like I'm reading a lot less these days. Maybe it is time to unsubscribe from a few internet timesinks!

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