award – Made by Mikal

Starship Troopers

Post author:mikal
Post published:October 1, 2013
Post category:Book

I saw the movie a few years ago, and so I read this book on a whim. Its very different to the movie. The book is interesting, although it does have a tendency to slide into rants about the moral responsibilities which come with having an electoral franchise. The book is also very pro military in its stance, although that's fair enough (an author without an opinion would be a boring author). Overall, I thought this book was an enjoyable read. Update 2013: I last read this book almost exactly four years ago. Its still a good read, and I didn’t find it as ranty as last time. I do think this is a better story than the movie, as it has more depth. Overall a good read, if not a particularly deep one.

The Ghost Brigades (2)

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 30, 2011
Post category:Book

The second time around I think my opinion has changed a little. I found the plot a little hard to believe (perhaps I am scarred by other book's twee explorations of the motivations of alien species), and overall the book not as good as Old Man's War. Then again, its far from the worst book I have read this year. Original post about this book. [award: nominee prometheus 2007] [isbn: 0765354063]

Red Mars

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 21, 2011
Post category:Book

This is another book on colonization. To be totally honest I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second, and I rather thought the book dragged on and could have done with a more vigorous editing. There are sections which are deeply descriptive, but it doesn't progress the story. Overall, I was a little disappointed.

Speaker For The Dead

Post author:mikal
Post published:October 14, 2011
Post category:Book

This is the second book in the Ender's Game series, and is better than the novelized Ender's Game, although it is impossible to beat the short story version. Ender has grown a lot over the time between this book and the last, and the story is compelling and believable. I really enjoyed this book.

Rendezvous With Rama

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 7, 2011
Post category:Book

This is a classic book, so I expected a lot from it. I was a little disappointed to be honest. The book is slow, although interesting. There chapters are all very short as well (around four or five pages), which is a little odd. There is a lot of potential with this concept, and I feel this book could have gone a lot further.

Buying Time

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 9, 2010
Post category:Book

This book isn't Haldeman's best work (checkout The Forever War, The Forever Peace, or Marsbound for examples of his really good stuff). I found the characters largely unsympathetic, and the plot quite slow. The book is also odd in that it was written in 1989, but is full of stuff you'd expect to see from a Heinlein novel like The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress -- global conspiracies, Russian space colonies with vigilante law, that sort of thing. Interestingly, the plot twist is much more smoothly done than many other Haldeman novels, which is nice.

Ender’s Game

Post author:mikal
Post published:November 10, 2010
Post category:Book

I've read this book before, many years ago. I figured I should re-read it, given how much I love the short story. Unfortunately, I think the short story is better than the novelization. The novel tends to try to explain too much, although the last chapter is a worthy addition. I'm sure I'll still read the rest in the series though, as there is more to see in this universe.

The Last Colony

Post author:mikal
Post published:November 9, 2010
Post category:Book

All of the Old Men's War books (Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades) have started slowly and built up to a climax. That's been good because its given some time for background which makes the second phase of the book all the more fully formed. This book is the same, although I think the introduction is more long winded than previously, and the whole thing gets wrapped up surprisingly quickly. Overall a good book, but not as good as the previous two.

The Ghost Brigades

Post author:mikal
Post published:November 4, 2010
Post category:Book

This book is a really good sequel, and just as good as Old Man's War. While some of the characters reappear, the story stands on its own and is quite entertaining. I enjoyed this book a lot. There's something about bright green genetically engineered super soldiers killing aliens that makes me happy. [award: nominee prometheus 2007] [isbn: 0765354063]

Old Man’s War

Post author:mikal
Post published:November 2, 2010
Post category:Book

I've owned this book for a while, and now really regret not reading it the second it hit my shelves. Its amazingly good for a first book, and is definitely as good as The Forever War and Forever Peace, and better than Starship Troopers. I'm very very impressed with it. An excellent book if you're into combat scifi. Update 2011: I've been in a rut recently where I haven't really been enjoying the books I've been reading. The number of books I read has also dropped off a lot since I moved back to Australia. Some of the drop off is associated with living in a house instead of an apartment -- there is constant maintenance work to be done, and I might never finish painting this place. However, I was worried that perhaps I simply wasn't as into reading as I was a couple of years ago. So, I decided to go back and read a book I enjoyed before, and see if I still liked it. This was that book. The answer is hells yes. This book is still fantastic, and I really enjoyed it. I also knocked it over in a time similar to when I was…