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Oh yes, another author who's books are impossible to put down once the spine is cracked. I read these in the order as they are listed, except for the last, which I have not read. They certainly paint an interesting image of the Asian mindset and society. Asian Saga 1. Shogun (1975) 2. Tai Pan (1966) 3. Gai-jin (1993) 4. King Rat (1962) 5. Noble House (1981) 6. Whirlwind (1986) And what? We no longer have any fans of the immortal Zane Grey. Talk about painting an image with words. He was the master. I had forgotten those books much less that I had read them, well 1, 2, 4 & 5 anyway.
Be Polite , Be Professional , but have a plan to kill everybody you meet -General James Mattis United States Marine Corps
Nothing is darker than a mau mau's moo moo.
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Dies The Fire and the books that follow. By S.M. Stirling. Have you read The General books by Stiriling and David Drake? Great reads.
A government is the most dangerous threat to man�s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.
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Joined: Jun 2004
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Campfire Ranger
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Those were great up till Chapterhouse Dune, you can almost tell which chapter his son took over after his death.
A government is the most dangerous threat to man�s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.
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Louis L'Amour's "Last of the Breed" was probably the best fiction adventure novel I have read. There was supposed to be a second novel in the series, but he died before writing it.
Osama and Obama both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.
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An interesting Asian novel was "Musashi". It was long, but I was sad when I finished it.
Edited to add:
Mushashi may be a historical novel. An Amazon Review:
The Tale of Old Japan's Most Famous Swordsman, May 14, 2000 By Stuart W. Mirsky "swm" This review is from: Musashi (Hardcover) Written in the early twentieth century, this indigenous Japanese novel recounts the life and times of old Japan's greatest swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi -- a man who began life as an over-eager and rather brutish young lout but who, through the discipline of Japan's "way of the sword," turned himself into a master of his chosen weapon. But this tale is not only about a life spent in training to perfect the art of killing with a sharpened piece of steel. In the venerable Japanese tradition, it is also about a man's search to conquer himself, to become a better person. The Buddhist view cultivated by the Japanese warrior class allowed for a spiritual dimension to their very bloody enterprise of warfare and killing. And it is this aspect of his training that consumes Musashi, to the detriment of the people he encounters and who seek to attach themselves to him. Unable to settle down in the ordinary way, or to simply join a particular clan as a retainer to some noble lord, Musashi embarks on the life of a ronin (masterless samurai) as he wends his way through the feudal world of medieval Japan in his seemingly endless search for perfection. In the process he finds a young woman who loves him and many enemies who seek his destruction, at least in part in repayment for the damage he does them while on his quest. He also crosses swords with many other experts in Japan's martial arts, but it is his early encounter with a Buddhist priest that puts him on the path which will forever after guide his life. Musashi ultimately finds his grail in a duel to the death with a man called Kojiro, who will become his greatest opponent, a sword master famous for his "swallow cut" -- a stroke so fast and deadly that it can slice a swooping, looping bird out of the air in mid-flight. This alone is a challenge worthy of the master which Musashi has become -- and a match which even he may not be up to, for this opponent is surely the finest technician in his art in all Japan. But there is more to swordsmanship than technical skill, as Musashi has learned, and there is more to living one's life than merely preserving it. Musashi attains a sort of peace in preparation for his climactic bout, for he is willing to risk all and even die in order to win against the master of the swallow cut, while applying all the strategy he has learned throughout his tumultuous career to unsettle the man who will oppose him. In the end Musashi became a legend to his countrymen, composing the famous Book of Five Rings -- his contribution to the art of strategy. But what he and Kojiro must do when they finally face each other is a tale in itself -- and a denoument towards which everything else in this book ultimately leads.
Osama and Obama both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.
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Asterix the Gaul is my favorite series.
If you like Tony Hillerman, and I do, you will like Arthur Upfield's books about half aborginal detective Napoleon Bonaparte (Boney) who is an Australian version of Jim Chee. I've read three of the series, likely picked for Americans. The only title I recall is the Black Virgin.
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I'm working my way through the LOTR series right now, and I'm really liking it too. Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest stories ever written, but his writing style just doesn�t grab me. I really had to force my way through those books. I�m that way with most British authors�I guess I�m just an un-civilized heathen. The one exception is an Irishman, Patrick O�Brian� and the Aubrey/Maturin series; those are great. Two of my favs, particularly O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series. Expat
"There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous men." - Robert Heinlein
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Northworld by David Drake
"There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous men." - Robert Heinlein
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I don't read a lot of fiction, but there are two authors I've enjoyed reading.
First is Bartle Bull who wrote two series of books, one of which was about a PH: A Cafe on the Nile, China Star, The White Rhino Hotel, Shanghai Station, The Devil's Oasis.
The other is George McDonald Fraser. He wrote a series about Harry Flashman, a British officer in the colonial period. Lots of humor, sex, and poking fun of the british during a lot of historical events of the time.
Don't just be a survivor, be a competitor.
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I started with Robert Ludlum back in the late 70s with the Materese Circle, then the Bourne Identity and then all of his books including two done by ghost writers after he died.
Lately I'm all into the Game of Thrones books.
But I've read all of Clancy's books and most of King's books. I've also read just about all of the Patricia Cornwell books that I know of.
These Game of Throne books are fairly enthralling.
Some of the crazier series I read as a younger man were the, well, they were Science Fiction, but good, all of them.
Last edited by SCRooster; 03/08/13.
What you think about, you do ... what you do, you become. In a nation where anything goes ... eventually, everything will. We're almost there.
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Anything from Pat McManus.
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Tony Hillerman, Dick Francis, John D. McDonald (Travis McGee) and Lawrence Block plus a lot of fantasy. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time has just been finished up by Brandson Sanderson after the death of Jordan. This series of 14 books was 11,000 pages or so long, written over 23 years.
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Since this is a thread about fiction series, I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Congressional Record.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
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Campfire Outfitter
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Louis L'Amour's "Last of the Breed" was probably the best fiction adventure novel I have read. There was supposed to be a second novel in the series, but he died before writing it. It was a sad day when he passed.
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Campfire Outfitter
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As a young nerd science fiction was my main read. ... I tried reading some science fiction or fantasy a few years ago and it was pathetic. Juvenile and hackneyed, it read more like a bad soap opera than the speculative fiction of earlier decades. One dimensional characters were the norm. Jim, in the early days, science fiction was written by men who were actually ... you know ... scientists. Now a lot of it (most of it, really) is written by all those kids who grew up reading it, but instead of becoming scientists, they became science fiction writers.
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Campfire Ranger
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Wendell Berry's Port Williams series is pure genius. He has built the community & it's history from post-reconstruction to present day.
In he deals heavily with what it means to be in community w/ one another and our place, and illustrates many of the unfortunate side effects of the modern & post-modern culture of disconnectedness.
The man loves life, the creation, marriage, and other conservative institutions and beautifully illiterates how deeply counter-cultural it is to be devoted to them.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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As a young nerd science fiction was my main read. ... I tried reading some science fiction or fantasy a few years ago and it was pathetic. Juvenile and hackneyed, it read more like a bad soap opera than the speculative fiction of earlier decades. One dimensional characters were the norm. Jim, in the early days, science fiction was written by men who were actually ... you know ... scientists. Now a lot of it (most of it, really) is written by all those kids who grew up reading it, but instead of becoming scientists, they became science fiction writers. So, I could become a best selling science fiction writer?
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
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Campfire Ranger
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As a young nerd science fiction was my main read. ... I tried reading some science fiction or fantasy a few years ago and it was pathetic. Juvenile and hackneyed, it read more like a bad soap opera than the speculative fiction of earlier decades. One dimensional characters were the norm. Jim, in the early days, science fiction was written by men who were actually ... you know ... scientists. Now a lot of it (most of it, really) is written by all those kids who grew up reading it, but instead of becoming scientists, they became science fiction writers. The best science fiction (since Jules Vern) has little to do with science and much to do with sociology. If we give a society this imaginary device, or imaginary technology, what will that society become?
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
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I like J.W. Hall's books about south Florida... "Mean High Tide", and etc.
In Fantasy fiction Tolkien has long been the hallmark, but i do believe that Steven Lawhead might just be better. The Albion Trilogy, and The Pendragon Cycle were terrific. His stand alone work "Avalon" is a favorite...
I like Kyle Mill's stuff... Very readable books about a fictional FBI agent and his cases. he also has a couple of other books that are very good...
I have read several of the Doc Ford books by Randy W. White. Well written and readable, but Ford's clandestine service background is a bit far-fetched...
Likewise with C.J. Box, and the Joe Pickett books... very readable but Pickett's ex-army buddy's story just doesn't hold water at all... The books would be better without that crap...
with vince flynn and lee child, you're better off watching game shows on TV...
"Chances Will Be Taken"
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I read all of the Louis Lamour books in jr high and high school. Last of the Breed as mentioned was one of his best. Also mentioned the CJ Box books. I plan on starting Longmire soon. I am up to the fourth book in the Game of Throne series. They are very good but tend to get a bit wordy to get the book up to almost 1000 pages a piece.
I don't know if anyone mention Michael Crieghton. I enjoyed his books as well. It was too bad he passed away good writer and I think leaning conservative. One of his last books was a fiction book based on the global warming farce. He actually started researching global warming to write the book and found it not believable and based the book on his research with a fictional plot.
Another guy I want to start reading just to support a conservative is Andrew Klavan. He is on PJ TV or pajamas media. Klavan on the Culture. He has written many books including a young adult series. Clint Eastwood made one of his books "True Crime" in to a movie. He had a couple other books made into movies as well.
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