Monday, April 28th, 2014
Hard Magic by Larry Correia
Larry Coreia makes the book pick again. This time with the first book in his hard-boiled noir series complete with more than a bit of magic thrown in. It’s the 1930’s and magic has been around for about a hundred years. It started with just a few people, but it’s been growing pretty steady, so by the time this story takes place it’s pretty mainstream. Magic takes different forms in different people. Some can move objects with their mind, others can heal people, others can change the effect (more or less) the effect of gravity, others can teleport, and so on. Then there are the Cogs. They are just really, really smart in specific areas. Einstein was a Cog, as was Count Von Zeppelin, and John Moses Browning. Larry Correia is a former firearms instructor, so of course John Moses Browning in the book, and he is hero. I enjoyed this book a lot. Good characters, both good guys and bad guys, and those who are really a bit of both. An interesting setting, and lots of action. I’m glad there are two sequels to this already in print.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: Baen, book, Detective, Magic, Monday Book Pick, Noir, Science Fiction, SciFi
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Monday, April 21st, 2014
The Given Sacrifice by S.M. Stirling
Once again, S.M. Stirling proves himself to be the current master of the epic trilogy. Set in his Emberverse, he wraps up another historic period of his alternate universe where Powers have denied technology beyond gunpowder. Don’t worry, there will be more epic trilogies set in the Change series. It’s just time for the next generation.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: alternate, Alternate History, book, Monday Book Pick, Science Fiction, SciFi
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Monday, March 17th, 2014
Big Boys Don’t Cry by Tom Kratman
Tom Kratman writes a Bolo Novella. OK, they aren’t called “Bolos”, but Parthas. They are just huge, tank like, war machines with an AI core, that are pretty damn smart by the time they reach revs in the late thirties. Let’s just say that in this morality play, the Partha’s human masters do things to them that no Bolo (or Partha) should have to live through. I know a few things about the military, military history, and training. Subjects that Kratman is an expert on, and all three play a part in this story. An interesting read, with a happier ending than you would expect.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: Baen Books, book, Military Science Fiction, Monday Book Pick, Science Fiction, SciFi
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Monday, February 17th, 2014
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD: Empyre by Will Murray
Will Murry is well known to pulp fans for his new Doc Savage novels. This book is about Marvel’s Nick Fury, Director of Shield. It was published back in 2000, and features the “old school” Nick Fury. The one who lead the “Howling Commandos” back in WWII. This is before someone decided that Sam Jackson would make a Bad Ass Nick Fury (which he did/does). In this adventure, Nick Fury has brought back the psychic division (called “Special Powers” in this iteration), and just in time too. The Special Powers group plays a major role in solving the latest evil plot from Hydra to cause death and destruction around the world. The afterword to the book says that Will Murry is a practicing psychic and has used all the of the techniques the SHIELD Special Powers group uses, including remote viewing. For you skeptics, consider this. This book was published in 2000. Spoiler alert here: It has a Middle Eastern base group (a fragment of Hydra and a thinly disguised Saddam Hussein) using commercial airliners to attack major cities by crashing the airliner into the target city. OK, Tom Clancy also used that one his books back before 9/11/2011. Still, the point had to be made. Either way, this is old school Marvel adventure with a flying SHIELD Humvee taking out Iraqi (of course they use another name, but it’s not hard to figure out) MIGs and Nick Fury at his cigar chomping best.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: book, comic book, Comics, Marvel, Monday Book Pick, Science Fiction, SciFi
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Monday, January 27th, 2014
The Sword of Exodus by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari
The sequel to Dead Six. Valentine and Lorenso are in even deeper shit than they were before. Plenty of action and raw meat for the firearm enthusists.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: Adventure, Baen, book, Monday Book Pick
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Monday, January 13th, 2014
The Forever Engine by Frank Chadwick
Crunchy Steampunk goodness from one of the founders of the genre. Yes, it’s that Frank Chadwick, creater of the Space:1889 RPG. Those of you, like me, will find a good deal familiar with tale of adventure and Mad Science. Including Liftwood, stout hearted British Marines, and a five barrel Nordenfelt!
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: Baen Books, book, Monday Book Pick, RPG, Science Fiction, SciFi, Steampunk
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Monday, November 25th, 2013
Hard-Boiled by Doug Ross
Doug Ross takes a break from political blogging and knocks out a formula pulp Noir detective story. In doing so, he reminds us that there was a formula for these books because the formula worked! It was a fun, fast paced read. Where the good guys have flaws and the bad guys are ruthless killers. It isn’t high art, but it is an example of a classic art form. The Pulp Noir Detective Thriller.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: book, Detective, Monday Book Pick, Noir, Pulp, Thiller
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Monday, November 11th, 2013
Don’t Let The Hippies Shower by Stephen Kruiser
Political comedian turns author and produces a funny book that covers serious topics. His theory is that many social problems started when hippies started bathing and blending in with responsible adults. They then needed jobs, and unfortunately selected a job that gave them their summers off let them rot childrens’ brains with their hippy dribble. He has an interesting and surprisingly simple solution. Check it out.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: Humor, Monday Book Pick, Politics
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Monday, November 4th, 2013
Dead Six by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari
This is an upfront adventure story. Two groups of very skilled killers, one a group of mercenaries, the other a group of ruthless thieves. Both end up in a small Middle Eastern country and their missions often put them into conflict. Lots of action, very accurate weapons description and handling, shadow agencies, and grand conspiracies. I really enjoyed this book, a fun read with plenty of action and twists.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: Adventure, Baen, Baen Books, book, Monday Book Pick
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Monday, October 7th, 2013
The Evil in Pemberley House by Philip Jose Farmer and Win Scott Eckert
Win Scott Eckert finishes an unpublished Farmer novel set deep in Farmer’s Wold Newton settings. Half the fun of this book is spotting all the references. Some are obvious, others require a Farmerphile, such as myself, to spot. Overall, a nice bit of pulp set in the early 70s. Patricia Clarke Wildman, the daughter of the Pulp Hero known as “Doc Savage”, is in a rough emotional spot, after the death of her parents, and her recent husband. Then she discovers that she is inheriting an English estate, made famous in the Jane Austin novel, “Pride and Prejudice.” Of course there is a ghost involved, and some shady characters among the living up to no good. With only minor spoilers, let me say that good mystery and spot of adventure is just what Patricia needed to get her out of her funk. She is her father’s daughter after all. Mild warning about the sex scenes. Very risque by 1970’s standards, but not so much today. Milder than what you would find in John Ringo’s Ghost series. A good read for the Farmer fan, but perhaps a bit too much ‘inside baseball’ references for someone not familiar with Farmer’s body of work.
Monday Book Pick Archive
Tags: book, Doc Savage, Monday Book Pick, Philip Jose Farmer, Pulp, Science Fiction, SciFi
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