…and here are a few random thoughts I had:

( Warning: extrememly caustic attempts at wit within. )


Okay, despite the snarking, I didn't hate it. Probably. I'm going to read the next book. (I got a little ways into it, in fact, but it had to go back to the library. I got too many books last time and used up all my renews before I got through them all.) My need for books is great. I often go through several in a week. My standards are low.

...and am I the only one that really, really wants someone--anyone!--to to wipe that smug facade of false moral superiority off Daala's face by reminding her that she used to be in charge of the Sun Crusher project? Sun Crusher. It did exactly what it said on the tin, only with more supernova. You want to charge someone with "reckless endangerment of a population"? Who was it who built a genocidal superweapon and then let a teenager steal it and use it to kill millions? Can someone please explain to me how Daala is the Chief of State, rather than facing a war crimes tribunal? We're talking about somebody who was not only evil, but so incompetent at it that other writers had to retcon in brain damage to explain it. To put both of those things in perspective: the only battle where she didn't lose and get at least one of her ships wreaked in the process was the one where she slaughtered some unarmed colonists.

Can we get at least one snarky remark on the subject? Pretty please?

Other than that, a decent book. I think I've figured out what they're up to with the overarching plot of the series, and it's moderately interesting.

....Of course, it's no Aaron Allston. :-)

(Now with added alliterative appeal.)

As some of you know, I go through books at an impressive rate during the slow parts of my work shift. I have a hard time finding enough new reading material to keep myself supplied.

Well, I finished my last library book on Saturday even though I tried not to.* (Tamora Pierce's Terrier. My first experience with anything by Pierce. Not bad.) I've been making do with an RPG rulebook and a security gear catalog. (I needed a new pair of boots. Really good boots.) So if I'm not going to re-read Wraith Squadron for the twentieth time... I could really use some suggestions for books I could read. Any thoughts?

I'm very big on fiction. My reading habits tend towards science fiction and (to a lesser degree) fantasy, but not exclusively so. A good sense of humor certainly helps, but is not a must, so long as the story is good. It doesn't have to be fiction, but that's usually the best for drawing me in and keeping my awake and entertained through the long hours of the night. Plenty of non-fiction has proved equally gripping. (Georgia Diary, Shake Hands with the Devil and Your Inner Fish to name a few.)

There's more books out there than even I could read in a hundred lifetimes... but how do I know what's good? I could use you guys' help with that.

Thanks.



*I wasn't able to avoid finishing it. Aside from it being decently compelling, I was also exhausted on Saturday. Too tired to try and pass the time by writing or to stay coherent without something to occupy my mind. I got two hours of sleep, then spent eight hours with my friends gaming, then eight hours of work. And then on my days off I completely failed in my plan to catch up on lost and my plan to finish rewriting that story I've been working on. I swear, this weekend either I finish that damn story or it finishes me.