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SO what do I do now?

This fascinating series is a combination of historical seafaring, swashbuckling adventure, and high technological science-fiction. Join us in a discussion!
Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by Louis R   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:33 pm

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To be fair, those episodes are novella-length - 30-50,000 words each. So it isn't quite that many books.

Larry wrote:
Eagleeye wrote:
Try Laurence Dahners "Ell Donsaii"-books (or any of his other works). Very good to read, every single one of them.

Or ... learn a new language! ;) How about German, so you can read the world's oldest and biggest SciFi-universe still in publication (Perry Rhodan) in original language? It started in September 1961 and since then there is a new installment every single week ... To date, they're near #2.900.


TWO THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED EPISODES!!!! Great googly Mooglies, I wouldn't know where to start. And I thought the Lensmen series was stretching a plot line but 2,900 and counting.... I'm actually at a loss for words.
That's impressive.

Larry
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by C. O. Thompson   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:15 pm

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n7axw wrote:Perhaps we could actually discuss the book... It has to be close to being David's best. I'm busy studying it after first read. There are all sorts of potential threads to work through. It's not quite as easy as getting the material a snippet at a time, but still... No reason for boredom yet. Now it becomes work.

Don

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Don,
I agree with you on the thought that this may have been David's best work and there are many aspects of Charis's soft landing or changing of gears that we could discuss for years. Now that they don't need to build so many guns or bullets, what will they direct their energies towards?
How will they get back into space and get ready to face the ultimate challenge?

I also saw several authors mentioned here in response to the first post who I would agree have fine stories, well written with multi-faceted characters and, I for one would rather read than watch TV. I agree with what Robert Heinlein's lawyer character in "Stranger in a Strange land" called it (the babble box) way back then, he saw things more clearly than many do today. ;)
To the person who started this thread, have you revisited the work of Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Andre Norton.
I sometimes get a kick out of seeing how far technology has progressed since some of these masters of the craft of Sci-Fi typed their manuscripts... even more amusing than when reading a gumshoe mystery where the PI has to stop at a pay phone even more than seeing how values changed when one of them light up a cigarette in the bar while waiting for someone.
Just my 2 ₡ worth
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by Peter2   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:35 pm

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C. O. Thompson wrote:
n7axw wrote:Perhaps we could actually discuss the book... It has to be close to being David's best. I'm busy studying it after first read. There are all sorts of potential threads to work through. It's not quite as easy as getting the material a snippet at a time, but still... No reason for boredom yet. Now it becomes work.

Don

-


Don,
I agree with you on the thought that this may have been David's best work and there are many aspects of Charis's soft landing or changing of gears that we could discuss for years. Now that they don't need to build so many guns or bullets, what will they direct their energies towards?
How will they get back into space and get ready to face the ultimate challenge?

I also saw several authors mentioned here in response to the first post who I would agree have fine stories, well written with multi-faceted characters and, I for one would rather read than watch TV. I agree with what Robert Heinlein's lawyer character in "Stranger in a Strange land" called it (the babble box) way back then, he saw things more clearly than many do today. ;)
To the person who started this thread, have you revisited the work of Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Andre Norton.
I sometimes get a kick out of seeing how far technology has progressed since some of these masters of the craft of Sci-Fi typed their manuscripts... even more amusing than when reading a gumshoe mystery where the PI has to stop at a pay phone even more than seeing how values changed when one of them light up a cigarette in the bar while waiting for someone.


If you're going that far back, you could also try Eric Frank Russell, who in my opinion is one of the most under-rated authors of all time, possibly because his output was comparatively low.

However, be careful which editions you get, and try to get the full-length books. At least three of them (Dreadful Sanctuary, Next of Kin and Wasp) have been published in abridged versions which are very much poorer than the full length books. Especially it should be noted that the Kindle version of Wasp, is one of them – avoid it.
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by Lunan   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:31 pm

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I just started Glynn Stewart's starship mage books. mid way into book 2 and its quite good

Larry wrote:Well fellow gentle readers, I am now in a quandary. I have polished off Shadow of Victory and At the Sign of Triumph. The elections are over and no truly stunning technological revolutions appear in the offing. Having read all the books on my waiting list what am I to do with my spare time now? Oh sure there's the boring little matter of home repairs and school and work and helping out with my aging and ill relatives, but what I mean is What can I do for fun? Honestly All I see now is chores. Somehow now that I don't have the anticipation of waiting on the next DW missive I, well I just don't know what to do? My gosh, must I return to <Dare I say it> reality???
But it seems so grey, and dull!

Sigh

Larry
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by C. O. Thompson   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 5:32 pm

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Another author who published with Baen that you may like is Elizabeth Moon... she has two series that deal with space and warfare including one aspect I had not found anywhere else but thought HMMMMM when I read it in the Vata Wars.
If a ship could perform a FTL micro jump after it fired its particle beam weapon, it might shoot itself
Just my 2 ₡ worth
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by Keith_w   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 7:04 pm

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C. O. Thompson wrote:Another author who published with Baen that you may like is Elizabeth Moon... she has two series that deal with space and warfare including one aspect I had not found anywhere else but thought HMMMMM when I read it in the Vata Wars.
If a ship could perform a FTL micro jump after it fired its particle beam weapon, it might shoot itself


I love the Familias series, what's the other one?
--
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by Weird Harold   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 7:46 pm

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Keith_w wrote:
C. O. Thompson wrote:Another author who published with Baen that you may like is Elizabeth Moon... she has two series that deal with space and warfare including one aspect I had not found anywhere else but thought HMMMMM when I read it in the Vata Wars.
If a ship could perform a FTL micro jump after it fired its particle beam weapon, it might shoot itself


I love the Familias series, what's the other one?


IIRC, book 1 is Trading in Danger The series is "Vatta's War" according to google and wikipedia.

PS: There is a new book in the series (start of a new series?) due in April 2017: http://www.elizabethmoon.com/books-vattawar.html
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.
.
Answers! I got lots of answers!

(Now if I could just find the right questions.)
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by Hildum   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:07 pm

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Larry wrote:Well fellow gentle readers, I am now in a quandary. I have polished off Shadow of Victory and At the Sign of Triumph. The elections are over and no truly stunning technological revolutions appear in the offing. Having read all the books on my waiting list what am I to do with my spare time now? Oh sure there's the boring little matter of home repairs and school and work and helping out with my aging and ill relatives, but what I mean is What can I do for fun? Honestly All I see now is chores. Somehow now that I don't have the anticipation of waiting on the next DW missive I, well I just don't know what to do? My gosh, must I return to <Dare I say it> reality???
But it seems so grey, and dull!

Sigh

Larry


I have a light reading project to fill the time, by reading, and watching, the Sword Art Online series by Kawahara. The underlying concept is interesting, and the story is engaging, though there are times that the quality of concept and consistency of characterization varies. This was originally written as a contest entry for a Japanese short story contest, but the author exceeded the allowable length and set the story aside for a few year - but did publish parts on the net (shades of The Martian). He was picked up by a publisher via another story, and the publisher asked if he had any other work they could publish. This turned out to be a home run for the publisher and author, and the series now exists as light novels, manga, anime, and is being turned into a live action movie/series in the US.

There is the original series of books not in chronological order, a manga partially reordering the novels, and an anime series that switches to chronological order. The author is now writing a more detailed chronological series covering the events skipped in the first series, and also is writing a second set of manga dealing with some of the principle secondary characters.

Engaging, and an interesting concept with just enough new material being translated to keep a few books in the pipeline.
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by C. O. Thompson   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 11:00 pm

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Keith_w wrote:
C. O. Thompson wrote:Another author who published with Baen that you may like is Elizabeth Moon... she has two series that deal with space and warfare including one aspect I had not found anywhere else but thought HMMMMM when I read it in the Vata Wars.
If a ship could perform a FTL micro jump after it fired its particle beam weapon, it might shoot itself


I love the Familias series, what's the other one?



The other one is Vatta Wars... and I misspoke, it is published by DelRay http://www.elizabethmoon.com/universes/vatta.html five books, fast pace... more than a few surprises
The The Serrano Legacy Series aka Familias series is on Baen web site.

I got both series for kindle at very good bundled price and have re-read each series.
She also writes (as David does) some of the sci-fi with wizards and magic rather than nuts and bolts... not my favorite genre.
Just my 2 ₡ worth
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Re: SO what do I do now?
Post by C. O. Thompson   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 11:14 pm

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Weird Harold wrote:
C. O. Thompson wrote:Another author who published with Baen that you may like is Elizabeth Moon... she has two series that deal with space and warfare including one aspect I had not found anywhere else but thought HMMMMM when I read it in the Vata Wars.
If a ship could perform a FTL micro jump after it fired its particle beam weapon, it might shoot itself


I love the Familias series, what's the other one?


IIRC, book 1 is Trading in Danger The series is "Vatta's War" according to google and wikipedia.

PS: There is a new book in the series (start of a new series?) due in April 2017: http://www.elizabethmoon.com/books-vattawar.html[/quote]


Harold,

I just went back to her website and found it updated since my last visit.
Thanks for the heads up on the new book... I wrote to her (using the email link) on her website.

She had a lot of wonderful articles and advice for aspiring writers as well (which I cannot find on the updated site). I would have strongly recommend these to anyone who may find they have either time on their hands or, a desire to write.

In one she points out that conflict moves the story... and I replied that there are still some unresolved issues (conflict) in that series so I am delighted that she found the time to further the story.

With that in mind, the Serrano Universe could use one more book IMHO but... anyone who is looking for a very good read, should check her out.
Just my 2 ₡ worth
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