So, is On Basilisk Station the next book?

[Vance]

I somehow got the impression that On Basilisk Station was the next selection, but I am not sure if it is official. I would like to get started early, if it is, since it takes me a long time to get through a book!

[Nick]

I didn't get that impression at all. Just wait for the next podcast and you'll find out. Should be in the next couple of days.

EDIT: We are due for a fantasy book if you listened to the podcast.

[Vance]

Yes, I had forgotten about that. Maybe they have just talked about it a lot lately, and I think mentioned that it would be a good upcoming pick.

[Sean]

I know people keep suggesting Weber novels, but please, please no. My tolerance for rightwing military wankery isn't high enough for Honor Harrington.

[Warren]

Nicks right. I specifically remember it being mention. Followed by separate discussion about how they might choose the next one.
Which in theory would be a fantasy pick by Ms Belmont.
However since she has 97 books on her "to read list".
Trying to second guess the selection would be difficult.

[Sandi]

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[Gordon]

I *love* the Honor Harrington series. Thumbs up on it, though I listened to On Basilisk Station months ago. Maybe I'll read the eBook version this time.

[running_target]

Sean wrote: "I know people keep suggesting Weber novels, but please, please no. My tolerance for rightwing military wankery isn't high enough for Honor Harrington."

Weber isn't especially right wing, I can think of much worse.

Military? Yup.

Wankery now. . . I think his most recent HH book is pure unmitigated expository wankery. He needs to bring Honor to a satisfying end and move on to something else.

[terpkristin]

Sadly they still haven't announces the next title. :(

At this point even though I'm not excited by On Basilisk Station, I just want to know what's next! :)

[Alterjess]

Please no Honor Harrington. I tried to read On Basilisk Station many years back and couldn't get past the telepathic cat.

[Tamahome]

running_target wrote: "Sean wrote: "I know people keep suggesting Weber novels, but please, please no. My tolerance for rightwing military wankery isn't high enough for Honor Harrington."

Weber isn't especially right wi..."

That's true, I hear Tom Kratman is much more right wing.

[Sean]

Tamahome wrote: "That's true, I hear Tom Kratman is much more right wing."

Kratman is beyond rightwing. He wrote a book about how awesome the SS was and posts to Usenet as "Herr Oberst." Still less nutty than Leo Frankowski or S.M. Stirling.

[Stan]

Weird how some people have troubles with massive battles and wars in a science fiction setting, but don't blink an eye at the battles in Tolkein and Fantasy novels.

[Sean]

There's nothing wrong with massive battles done well -- Walter Jon William's Dread Empire Falls, or Taylor Anderson's Destroyermen are great. What I don't like is the ra-ra jingoism of milSF. Tolkien depicted battles as necessary tragedies, not some awesome adventure where good, brave people get to demonstrate their moral superiority over pusillanimous politicos and peacenik journalists.

Oh, and Tolkien never spent five pages describing a single volley of arrows from the time the archers drew the bolt from their quiver to when it punches through the enemy's armor.

[Noel]

Sean wrote: "I know people keep suggesting Weber novels, but please, please no. My tolerance for rightwing military wankery isn't high enough for Honor Harrington."

As opposed to flaky adolescent female obsessed Japanese crap?

[Nick]

Just make the book a alternate book read for the month, that way those who really don't want to read it can skip it and still have something to read with the group. Same as what happened with 1Q84.

[Nick]

Warren wrote: "Nicks right. I specifically remember it being mention. Followed by separate discussion about how they might choose the next one.
Which in theory would be a fantasy pick by Ms Belmont.
However since..."

I meant I didn't get the impression it would be a book pick. At least not officially. In the scheme of things doesn't really matter.

[Noel]

Agreed, it doesn't really matter.

[Matt]

for those interested On Basilisk Station is available as part of the Barn ebook library for free. also, a bunch of other Weber and Drake novels.

[Noel]

Thanks Matt, trouble is I already spent a fortune getting them all from Audible!

[Stan]

Sean wrote: "There's nothing wrong with massive battles done well -- Walter Jon William's Dread Empire Falls, or Taylor Anderson's Destroyermen are great. What I don't like is the ra..."

Weber does a pretty good job at showing that there are good people and bad people on both sides of any conflict. For the most part he shows "shades of gray" for individuals, but usually portrays large organizations as self serving with corruption spread pretty equally on both sides.

[Noel]

Yes, that's quite true.

[Sean]

Noel wrote: "As opposed to flaky adolescent female obsessed Japanese crap?"

Yes, all Japanese science fiction is like Sailor Moon. There is no Japanese MilSF, dystopian literature, Lovecraftian horror, or dark fantasy.

[Tim]

I'm probably setting myself up for something, but I never found Stirling especially nutty. The early Emberverse books I thought quite good. The last island book drug on too long, but Sky People and Crimson Kings were fun.

It has been years though, maybe I'm hazy.

[Noel]

Tim, that seems reasonable to me. I don't know anything about Stirling's background or writings outside of his fiction, but I have enjoyed some his books and didn't find anything 'nutty' about them.

[Sean]

Tim wrote: "I'm probably setting myself up for something, but I never found Stirling especially nutty. The early Emberverse books I thought quite good. The last island book drug on too long, but Sky People and..."

You never encountered him on Usenet. The man is a rabid moonbat. Here's one of his more infamous posts, on the subject of Internet piracy:

I want these scumbags dead. And that ain't no metaphor. I'll settle for in jail, undergoing daily torment. And anyone who helps them, too. All members. All users. All nodes.

It's obvious that draconian laws are necessary here. Track down anyone involved with this piracy; and punish. Punish hard. 10 years of getting gang-raped in prison would seem appropriate -- for anyone involved. I propose a law requiring a transparent tag showing origin and history on any file on any server, and that the file be immediately accessible on request. The authorities should develop and send out a "sniffer" intelligent agent program to detect files not meeting these criteria. Immediately shut down any server/node that doesn't reply properly. With really... severe... penalties for anyone owning hardware harboring pirate files. Sufficient to make them take elaborate precautions not to do so.

Note that this wasn't an isolated post. He expressed this view many, many times over the years, and his other political views were equally out-there.

As for his fiction, I lost interest in it the first time I saw him defend the Draka timeline as totally realistic alternate history.

[Noel]

Jeez! I stand corrected. He is a raving nutcase!

[Stan]

Never ever ever listen to an actors views or an authors comments out side of their own specialities

It will forever lesson your appreciation of their work.

Sad - but like most things, true at least 50% of the time.

[aldenoneil]

Sean wrote: "I want these scumbags dead. And that ain't no metaphor. I'll settle for in jail, undergoing daily torment. And anyone who helps them, too. All members. All users. All nodes."

And yet his book's on Baen for free. He's like a closeted senator.

[Andrés]

I love the Harrington series (even if I hated a little books 8 and 9), and even if the empathic treecat is a little bit of a crutch that gives the author an excuse to describe emotions, if you can go past that is a really nice politic - social -military series.
Only point against is that is an unfinished series... I just finished the 13th and it ends in the worst cliffhanger... I already have my preorder for march 6th :)

[Kev]

The treecats make the Honor Harrington series bearable for me!

I wonder what that says about me...

[Noel]

Nimitz is my hero.

[Jeremiah]

So...I find it is best to ignor the political leanings of any author if you plan on enjoying their books. With a few marked exceptions, I have taken the policy of trying hard not to learn much about the authors of books before reading their work, and often after reading their work. Look, most people I know love Ender's Game. His books are awesome, and he is an excellent teacher, as regards writing and in particular, writing science fiction. That said, his personal political views are terrible. His essays about homosexuality are so offensive as to make me a little ill. Am I to disregard all his fiction, and all his excellent writing advice, just because of his personal views? Tom Cruise is a loon, but it doesn't mean his movies aren't any good. My point is, don't judge a book by what you know about the writer. Unless the writer is, in fact, a member of the Nazi party and is advocating the extermination of the other races, chances are, they are nto as bad as you think.

I have met David Weber on a number of occasions. Hell, he has played spades with my mom. He is a nice guy. Is his politics a little right of center? Most likely. It is not like politics comes up all that often in conversation, but sure, he is an older middle class white guy. Statistics say he is likely more conservative. This has as much to do with his writing ability as his choice in lunch meat.

The Honor Harrington series is excellent military SF. His prose style is a little cheesy, but no where near as bad as some we have read here. It is filled with lots of history buff in jokes. They have a strong female lead who is expressly inspired by Horatio Hornblower. Are they going to be for everyone? Nope, but then again, neither was Mists of Avalon.

my rare bit of .02 cents.

[Neil]

Just read this book. Loved it. You can get it free too which is nice.

[Keith]

I've only read the first two Honor Harrington books, and while I think tactically she has all the finesse of one of Haig's WWI charges, I never found the politics particularly fascist or right wing. They take more the approach that most politicians are corrupt, greedy idiots, and many military commanders are incompetent and corrupt as well. The notion that there's a core of people who could accomplish pretty much anything with their awesome competency if only the fools would stand aside is pretty common in the military and, well, just about every other profession ever.

The politics of people in the military are often tricky and complex. I know plenty of people who believe in their military mission, believe in the concept, but are disheartened by how the military is used by politicians, and many more who are socially liberal in many ways. Like I said, my exposure to Weber is only two books, but I think so far he has tried to address this complexity.

And all that said -- I don't necessarily think that a book or author having controversial politics should exclude it from consideration. After all, isn't one of the reasons we all join a book club so that we can discuss the book? And is it not good for the brain to grapple with something with which we might disagree?

[Noel]

Quite right. The HH books are not right wing but are good stories which are influenced by Forrester and O'Brian and the political situation before, during and after the French Revolution.
The problem is that some people unfairly lable books right wing, if the books have any sort of military feel or bias. Sometimes, they're right, sometimes not. I think their political viewpoints and prejudices get in the way. As happens with all of us to some extent.