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...

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Rumors of War (200

The list can now be found here.

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This weekend marks the traditional "start of the summer", the "start of the driving season" and such.

It also is Memorial Day, time when we should be honoring those who served and who are currently serving.

Alas, that people in the Washington, D.C. area seem to be unable to support the troops. more...

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Fred's Reading Report (April 200

O.K., it's that time of the month again!

Eighteen books YTD! 187 short works!

Which is to say...there's good news and there's bad news. For short works, if the goal is one short a day, I needed to be at 121 stories by the end of April. So, I've exceeded that goal. For long form, 18 books is better than one book a month for a year, so I'm way ahead of 99.99% of the people I know (many barely manage a book a year, for all love). more...

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Highly recommended and on PBS this week (sorry for the late notice): Carrier.

This 10-hour documentary follows a six-month deployment of the U.S.S. Nimitz, ">CVN-68. This is not Top Gun, this is a realistic, honest, excellent look at all levels of the ship, from the air wings to the guys who clean the toilets. It is not glamorous, it doesn't spin too far to the positive or the negative. This is what "reality television" never even gets close to being.

I was in the Army, not the Navy, but this is a very good depiction of the "rough men" who protect us while we sleep.

A darn fine effort. A DVD will be out in May; I've already put in a pre-order.

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Fred's Reading Report (March 200

It was the best of times...oh, never mind!

Reading was impacted by a temporary increase in hours worked. So, I feel like I have not done as well as the first two months of the year.

Books read: 7. Bourdain...A Cook's Tour. O'Brian...Master & Commander. Pournelle...The Endless Frontier, Volume 1. Ramsay...Roasting in Hell's Kitchen. Ringo...The Last Centurion. Ringo...Princess of Wands. Whittemore...Quin's Shanghai Circus.

134 short works read. Goal for the year 365; goal for month, to reach 91; goal for next month...121 (so I'm ahead for the year, so far!)

Current reads, on deck, on Mount Toberead...I'm increasingly shuffling the piles, so it is easier just to list what is finished rather than what is being read!

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The Last Centurion; John Ringo (Baen Books, August 200 .

Kumbaya.

I just finished reading this, in eARC (electronic Advanced Reading Copy) form from Baen's Webscription service.

Ringo has been steadily maturing as a writer. He has taken some chances, with Ghost and the other volumes of the Paladin of Shadows series, for example. I think the one thing that has kept him from a wider audience is the "science fiction stigma" and the generally (ahem) right-leaning orientation of the books.

No more. With The Last Centurion, he has moved firmly into the technothriller genre. That should attract more readers, as Ghost and its sequels did.

Kumbaya.

And...well...he pretty much manages to say something to anger just about everybody in the course of this book. Sure, the brunt falls on the Left, but keep reading. Everybody suffers at some point or another.

And maybe that is the point. As there is some stuff in here that ought to make you angry...and then make you think.

I'll give it another read when the final version is released.

Kumbaya.

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In his new book, The Last Centurion (out as an eARC), John Ringo has a good description of how much mass, in terms of supplies, a modern army uses. Think a football stadium. Actually a couple of football stadiums. Filled.

So how many vehicles are involved? Here's a good description (continued after the fold, due to one "not-kid-friendly" word):

more...

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Fred's Reading Report (February 200

Leap Year! An extra day of reading! Nope, just an increased number of hours at work, alas...

Books? 11, year-to-date.

Short works? 74, year-to-date.

Currently being read:

Poul Anderson: The Earth Book of Stormgate. Trader to the Stars. The Trouble Twisters. more...

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Via the Wayback Machine, pictures of Robert A. Heinlein's bomb shelter! This was the model for the bomb shelter featured in Heinlein's novel, Farnham's Freehold (click on the link for several sample chapters).

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Other Times Than Peace, David Drake (Baen Books, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4165-2076-4, cover by Kurt Miller).

The review can now be found here.

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Don't you love when people game the system? more...

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HALO: First Strike; Eric Nylund (Del Rey, 2003, ISBN 0-345-46781-7, cover by Lorraine McLees).

HALO: Ghosts of Onyx, Eric Nylund (Tor, 2006, ISBN 978-0-765-35470-9, cover artist not indicated).

The review can now be found here.

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An article implies that Robert A. Heinlein's influence is declining. The evidence? That the literati don't take him seriously anymore. Is being compared to Heinlein a help or hindrance to a new science fiction writer? One such writer speaks up (and to be honest, the main reason I picked up John Scalzi's books was because of the comparison to Heinlein!)

Looks like it is time to trot out this 1980 essay by Spider Robinson again! more...

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Balefires; David Drake (Night Shade Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-59780-071-6, cover by Richard Pellegrino).

The review can now be viewed here.

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A great online photo album of airplanes from various eras.

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Combined review can now be found here.

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My friend Pete Young's pictures in various categories at Flickr. Various subjects, including SF author's with pending Big Works A'Coming.

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A veteran—whether active duty, retired, National Guard, or Reserve—is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America, for an amount of up to and including my life. That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

(Author Unknown)

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ItÂ’s been a long time since IÂ’ve seen any fighting. I canÂ’t remember my last shootout: itÂ’s been months. The nightmare is ending. Al Qaeda is being crushed. The Sunni tribes are awakening all across Iraq and foreswearing violence for negotiation. Many of the Shia are ready to stop the fighting that undermines their ability to forge and manage a new government. This is a complex and still delicate denouement, and the war may not be over yet. But the Muslims are saying itÂ’s time to come home. And the Christians are saying itÂ’s time to come home. They are weary, and there is much work to be done.

Bet you won't be reading this story in the MSM anytime soon. Or hearing it from the House or Senate.

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