Holidays - Reading

Well with my exams having finished in September I've spent the last few weeks reading, gaming and watching abit of Anime.

Read some pretty decent stuff during that time nothing absolutely brilliant. None the less if you like Science Fiction and Fantasy then many of these are worth a look at:

Science Fiction

Williams, Walter Jon - Dread Empire's Fall:
The Praxis
The Sundering
Conventions of War
- This series focuses on two major Characters Officers in the Fleet of the Galatic Empire as if falls apart after the death of the last members of the Master Race. Focus is Military, especially space fleets.


Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - CoDominium
The Mote in God's Eye
The Gripping Hand
- Two books about the first Contact with an Alien race. Some of the Best Science fiction I've read for quite some time.


Robinson, Kim Stanley - Mars
Red Mars
Green Mars
Blue Mars
- A political and science focused series that follows the teraforming of Mars over a couple of generations.


Anderson, Kevin J - Saga of the Seven Suns
Hidden Empire
A Forest of Stars
Horizon Storms
- This series hasn't been finished yet but is a nice big Space Opera. Following the lives of a number of Characters both human and Alien after humans accidental start a war with an ancient and powerful species, when they Convert an Gas Giant Inhabited by the race into a new Star using ancient Technology they discovered.

Bova, Ben - Voyagers
Voyagers
The Alien Within
Star Brothers
- Very Light Science fiction, about the discovery of an Alien Ship that drifts into the solar system set about the late 1970s


Eric Flint - Assiti Shards
1632
1633
1634
- Starts with a Very brief Scifi mechanism then quickly converts to a semi Historical/Alternate History Series. The Premise is a small American Village is transport back into the 17th Century and ends up in Germany in the middle of the "30 Year War" most of the historical detail appears to be fairly accurate so an interesting read.

CJ Cherryh - Morganine
Gate of Ivrel
Well of Shiuan
Fires of Azeroth
Exile's Gate
- Interesting Scifi/Fantasy series, An Alien Race created a series of gates that allow transport through time and between worlds, someone made the mistake of trying to go back and time and caused a massive cataclysm that wiped out the Alien civilization. Many years later Humans discover the Gates and send a team through with a job to disable every gate at any cost to prevent any one trying to go back in time ever again.


Fantasy

Canavan, Trudi - Black Magician
The Magicians Guild
The Novice
High Lord
- Nice resonable light Fantasy. Fairly typical series about a young Girl from the Slums who is found to be able to use Magic and is forced to join the Mage Guild as a result. Well worth a read though nice and clean.

CJ Cherryh - The Fortress Series
Fortress in the Eye of Time
Fortress of Eagles
Fortress of Owls
Fortress of Dragons
- Fairly typical High Fantasy though with out the usual elves, dwarves, orcs and Goblins. Well worth reading though again very clean.

Juliet E. McKenna - Einarinn
The Thief's Gamble
The Swordsman's Oath
The Gambler's Fortune
The Warrior's Bond
The Assassin's Edge
- Interesting series focus on a 2 characters a thief/Gambler and a Swordsman. Again clean and a good read.

Paolini, Christopher - Inheritance
Eragon
Eldest
- A classic boy and his dragon out to save the world series. It's very well written and apparently managed to knock "Harry Potter" off the top spot in the sales charts when the second book was released soon after the latest HP book.




Things I'm Intending to read soon or reread.

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan - Book 11 of The Wheel of Time, need I say more?

Gap into Madness series (5 books) by Stephen R. Donaldson - A Good but VERY Dark Science fiction Series this really pushes the limits of what I'm prepared to read (or least it did last time I read it in 1997 (hmm I was 13)). Definitely Adult only from memory , but still interesting and well written. I personally think it's better than Donaldsons fantasy "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" which is somewhat cleaner. Though I think my favorite work of his would be "Mordant's Need" A much cleaner Fantasy series.

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny - Should be interesting not read any thing of his before.



I Should also note that during this time I've also been watching some Anime mainly:

Witch Hunter Robin - A very nice series about a group who hunt down witches in modern Tokoyo.

Naruto - Funny action series set in a world were nija are used instead of Armies, following the adventures of a young nija and his friends from one of the major countries.