Old Man's War - reading

Finished "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi. It's a hell of a lot better than Redshirts. That's for sure. It felt to me like a novel long in the making, with interesting takes on technology and culture, put together in a nice package that's quick to read. I may consider reading the sequels, though probably not really soon.

A Sky of Stars - reading

Finished "A Sky of Stars" by me. This is the first time I have read this book since I wrote it. The writing is better than in "Following the First Star" but the story isn't quite as complete. As a consequence, starting the third book should be easy, right? RIGHT?

NaNoWriMo 2014 starts in about 2 weeks, and this read-through was part of getting ready for that. Here's to hoping I can pick up where I left off and win once more!

Following the First Star - reading

Finished "Following the First Star" by me. This is yet another re-read as I consider what I'm going to write for NaNoWriMo this year (starting in about four weeks). As I went through, I did find the title of book three of the series right there in the text: "A Sky of Stone." That much was encouraging, at least. I'm also half wondering if I should rename this book to "A Sky of " ("fill in the blank") to fit with the naming theme. A Sky of Colors? Something like that.

I did find one connection that isn't explicitly called out in the text. When I get around to a rewrite, I'll have to include that. It's a way that the antagonist shoots himself in the foot, but it's subtle, so I like it a lot.

Armor - reading

Finished "Armor" by John Steakley. This has been on my list of favorite books for years, but it had been a while since I last read it. I brought it along for the plane ride. I'd still recommend it to anyone who likes a sort of military sci-fi story. Once you read it the first time, though, it does lose a little luster upon re-reading.

After finishing this, I picked up Old Man's War, which is still in progress, though that may be interrupted. (See next post.)