Space opera. Wilson Cole joins the crew of the starship Theodore Roosevelt guarding a back-water, as it were, area of the Rim. Moves right along, dialogue seems oddly anachronistic, and the sexual references seem out of place, to me.
I really really hate it when I finish a book and find a bunch of appendices at the end. Am I suppose to look through the book and discover this stuff on my own, and take a chance on reading the ending? Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a way to let the reader know what the different parts of the book were...
In Book Four there is lots of space fighting as Cole's armada grows. A bit of cussing. The "About The Author" section seems to go on and on with all the author's many accomplishments and awards. Perhaps I'm jealous, but I think the extensive list would be more appropriate in an encyclopedia article rather than four pages in the appendix of a novel.
I guess this is #1 of the Prefect Dreyfus Emergency series. It is pretty good. I like how the author used the word "conjour".
Quote::
'...But the rules say you can't have quickmatter anywhere near a polling core.' 'I like rules,' Thalia said. 'Rules are good.' 'Let's unwrap the baby.' -- page 319
Of particular interest was the reminiscing about the Tallulah Falls Railway. There is a nice diagram and article about trestle construction. Also an article mentioning how a Model T Ford shifts, quite different from cars nowadays. People sure were poor back in the Depression. But then, they didn't have television, so they didn't know what they were missing.
Penelope wakes up deaf on the morning of her elevening, and thus is the only child left behind when the Pied Piper pipes his flute. It becomes her mission to rescue the town's children, and subdue the piper. Very good!
I've read, as Pirsig is quoted, "ZMM", two or three times. I read "Lila", too, but both were so long along they are not in this database. I didn't understand a lot of it, and surely misunderstood a great deal, too, but it affected me greatly. This is a GREAT travelogue, and I highly recommend it.
One thing, for some reason I got it in my head that Pirsig rode a Norton. Today I Learned that his bike was a Honda 305 Superhawk. The first motorcycle I ever rode was a Honda 305 Scrambler, so there is a point of congruity for ya! A quick search on Amazon Look Inside finds no trace of the word "Norton", so who knows where I got that from!
Alien leave an interstellar gate near Earth. Bad aliens come to take over. Crusty Vermonters fight back. Got a good talk-up on this from Mr. E. at work, so even though passing on a a previous title by Ringo, I gave it a shot. I like it very much, and will read the rest of the series. I just wish we could have a "liberal" hero in a war book!
Well, THAT was interesting! Ringo's protagonist, "Bandit Six", is not shy about sharing his opinions. Good story. Is there a sequel? How did he meet his wife? This book got a lot of one star reviews on Good Reads...
I don't know why I picked up this book, maybe it was the big-boobed blonde on the cover. I struggle through the first chapter, and gave up. Not interesting to me, too much blah blah blah. Pretty much the same experience I had with Pride And Prejudice, but I struggle through it because it is a classic. This ain't no Jane Austen. I'm not putting forth the effort.
Gave up reading 12/2008