A.R.S.E.

Robbin Hobb is a top author Wobbly
But the best out there is (or was) Robert Jordan
Started reading the Wheel of Time when i was 17 i'm now 40 and book 12 just got released (there is another 2 coming soon i hope)
If you like Fantasy it doesn't get better than thin this.
My second fave is Peter F Hamilton. Space/future/fantasy. A hardcore read but worth it if you like to be challenged

vipergod wrote: My second fave is Peter F Hamilton. Space/future/fantasy. A hardcore read but worth it if you like to be challenged

I'm about 250 pages into the first book i've read of his. Prefer Alistair Reynolds so far (feels a bit more 'futurey') but i'm looking forward to where the book goes (Pandora's Star).

Keep digging Mick you have got Judas Unchained after that then go to the void trilogy wich is 2 books atm still waitng for book 3
But start with the Nights Dawn Trilogy.... It also has 2 other books in the same time line so thats 5

Vale J.D. Salinger

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainmen ... 73460.html

Yea sad... never read the best seller though.

Just finished Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa , great story on the life of the famed Japanese swordsman and am about halfway through The Gurkhas by John Parker .

I've been reading "Public Enemies" by Bryan Burrough. This is the the book on which they based the film.

Personally, I prefer the book and there's a lot more in it besides John Dillinger. He also covers Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde and the Barker/Karpis Gang.

vipergod wrote:Keep digging Mick you have got Judas Unchained after that then go to the void trilogy wich is 2 books atm still waitng for book 3
But start with the Nights Dawn Trilogy.... It also has 2 other books in the same time line so thats 5

About half way through Judas Unchained now! That's 6 months (so far) spent reading a two book series!! Very much enjoying it though.

Public Enemies Bryan Burrough, Penguin Books, 2004.

Well, I finished "Public Enemies". I'd have to rate it as one of the easiest 500 page books I've ever read. The pace is spot on and there's a massive amount of detail. It reads like an adventure novel but you can put it down almost any time and pick it up again as long as you are judicious with where you stop. There is a bewildering number of different characters involved and even with my prior interest - sparked by a visit to the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary - I still found it complicated. I think the author could have provided a chart with some of the links between gangs and their various members and even law enforcement officers. Alvin Karpis was, for me, the most interesting though Homer Van Meter was a nasty second. Most readers will probably be more interested in Dillinger and he is the focus of the film. Bonnie & Clyde rate plenty of column space and so do Baby Face Nelson (by far the craziest), Pretty Boy Floyd and Machine Gun Kelly (arguably the dumbest, though Doc Barker would give him a run for his money).

The only criticisms I have are petty when viewed in perspective. Burroughs is American and reverts to their national habit of inventing words like "burglarized" when "burgled" will do. After 550 pages of heavily researched, high quality writing, it is a small thing to put up with. If you're looking for some longer-term reading entertainment and the subject interests you, this one should be close to the top of your list.

I did not rate the film at all, neither did my mrs, and she is a mad gangster movie nut. I found it slow and dull.

I might try the book, the characters certainly are interesting

I have been on a Scott Sigler bender...I have read/Listened to EarthCore, Ancestor, Infection / Contagious, The Rookie / The Starter, The Crypt- set in the Rookie universe, Nocturnal, BloodCast Season 1/2

and Harvey by Phil Rossi

I'm still only on my second book for the year. And reading a bit every night at that.

2nd book.. Exar.. ohh better then nothing I guess and still more then quite a few people out there, got to start some where.

wobblysauce wrote:2nd book.. Exar.. ohh better then nothing I guess and still more then quite a few people out there, got to start some where.

It's more that the books have been 1200 pages long and I don't read very fast at all.

big books are nice, but some times arms get cramps, during 1hr+ read sessions, most of my books I have read are around the 750-900avg pages mark some more some less.

Currently reading a compendium of Dashiell Hammett. It includes "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Glass Key".

wobblysauce wrote:I have been on a Scott Sigler bender...I have read/Listened to EarthCore, Ancestor, Infection / Contagious, The Rookie / The Starter, The Crypt- set in the Rookie universe, Nocturnal, The Crypt

and Harvey by Phil Rossi

Loved The Rookie. Is The Starter the next part of that series ?

If you like fantasy, I don't think you can go past "Shadowmagic" which is a free podcast novel and has been picked up by harper colins. Great read / listen.

Nigel wrote:

wobblysauce wrote:I have been on a Scott Sigler bender...I have read/Listened to EarthCore, Ancestor, Infection / Contagious, The Rookie / The Starter, The Crypt- set in the Rookie universe, Nocturnal, BloodCast Season 1/2

and Harvey by Phil Rossi

Loved The Rookie. Is The Starter the next part of that series ?

If you like fantasy, I don't think you can go past "Shadowmagic" which is a free podcast novel and has been picked up by harper colins. Great read / listen.

yes, The Starter is Part2/Book2/Follow on.

have a look at The Prince of Hazel and Oak, Book 2 of the Shadowmagic Series by John Lenahan. At the moment he is at part 19 of the audio book

wow.. this weekend was a blast.. I was listening to Quarter Share - Written and Read by Nathan Lowell at work and when I finished work on Saturday I listened to the rest of the books Half Share, Full Share, Double Share, Captains Share. 10:30am till 3am Saturday. woke at 6am and finished the series by 11pm Sunday night. Just laying in bed.

Yep been listening to The Prince of Hazel and Oak. Great series. The Quarter Share - Captains Share books are great. Can't say enough good things about it as a series.

Another worth looking at is Devlin, Abnormal Investigations - Case File: THE HELL HERMIT what a pisser that story is.

woo Nigel.. déjà vu, at work today some was talking about that same book. I will take a look at it

Have you looked at South Coast(same universe as Shares following the shaman side) and Ravenwood? I am still going through them now

By: Nathan wrote:Owner's Share should be out this spring. Cape Grace this fall.

I cant wait...



Edit, the new Owners Share Books took down Podiobooks.com with 15%of the total bandwidth and it wasnt even out a full month yet.. tho Podio are upgrading the servers to handle the loads better.

Just finishing "Hurricane" by Leo McKinstry.

Good book about the development and exploits of the fighter which bore the brunt of the German assault in the Battle of Britain. It gets no credit because everyone has been programmed to think "Spitfire" every time the Battle is mentioned. These days the Hurricane is almost regarded as a national shame if it's mentioned at all.

This is a book for anyone and not just aviation enthusiasts like me. It goes at a good pace and doesn't get bogged down in meandering technical detail - something others have criticised it for. If they want a tech book there are plenty of others to choose from. This is more "the common man's" book and I think that's a good thing if it makes people more aware.

The first hundred or so pages are a goldmine of information and set the record straight as far as Chamberlain is concerned.

http://www.warbooksreview.com/war-books ... tain-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well, the Spitfire was the better plane. It looked awesome, had that wing and didn't have a fabric covered fuselage. The Hurricane had its place but it was mostly by virtue of being there first. I have always liked the Hawker aircraft though - a pretty rugged design better suited to going to Africa and such places than having to deal with Bf-109s over Europe.

mmm Exar.. nice book..

Exar Kun wrote:Well, the Spitfire was the better plane.

Better is as better does. In 1940 the Spitfire was still full of minor bugs and suffered from inadequate firepower. The Hurricane was tough, easy to fly, easy to repair and a better gun platform. It was also the tightest turning fighter of the Battle of Britain. The Spitfire had more development potential than the Hurricane but it also took a lot longer to build and was more expensive. While the cost was justified, there were few, if any, Hurricane pilots in 1940 who felt they had an inferior machine. As one said: the Spitfire was an aircraft you wanted to fly but the Hurricane was the one you'd go to war in.

a pretty rugged design better suited to going to Africa and such places than having to deal with Bf-109s over Europe.

The Hurricane was more than capable of taking on a Bf109 in 1940. It depended more on surprise than anything else. Later on was a different story but not then. The Hurricane comprised 2/3 of Fighter Command to the Spitfire 1/3 and the kills were spread the same way so it was no slouch.

Currently making my way through "Savage Continent" by British historian Keith Lowe.

This is actually better than I'd hoped for - so far.

It starts with the end of WWII in Europe. People tend to think that everything basically returned to normal after it was all over. Everyone stopped hating Jews and killing each other and that they all went home. Nothing could be further from the truth and what prompted me to read it was the comment I read somewhere else that the immediate post-war period was characterised by murder, reprisal attacks, savage beatings, rapes and even a civil war in Greece. Economies had failed, there was nothing in the shops (no food), no currency, no law and order, no banks and no communications. If you wanted something you had to barter for it. Armed men roamed the countryside and stole at gun point. Women were raped and prostituted themselves to get everything from food to soap. Accused collaborators were beaten, killed or driven out of their communities. People took the opportunity to settle old scores. Europe was a charnel house with millions of people on the hoof.

Lowe dismisses the German concept of the starting point. Yes they made a spectacular recovery but it did not start right away. There were months, even years of complete disorder as the hundreds of towns and millions of people were resettled.

So far, so good. It's probably of little to no interest to those looking for military history and it goes under the radar for the Cold War but it definitely has its place and goes a long way towards explaining the post-war alliances and vendettas which characterised the next 40 years. Lowe seems to support my old argument that WWII did not really end until 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down.