This is the third or fourth Joe Pickett novel I’ve read. It’s not one of the best.
All in Fiction
Bernard Cornwell's AZINCOURT
Nick Hook is an archer in Henry V’s army. The events in this novel go from 1413 to 1415 and follow Hook as Henry’s army invades France to assert his claim to the French throne.
Dan Simmons' ILIUM
While I would not put this in the same class as my favorites by Stephenson (e.g., Diamond Age) and Vinge (e.g., A Deepness in the Sky) it’s still pretty darn good and I look forward to the sequel.
Charles Portis' TRUE GRIT
I’ve never seen the True Grit movies. Till I ran across this book at a yard sale I was never even aware of the novel’s existence. But when you need a Western, as I sometimes do, this appears to be just what the doctor ordered.
Patrick O'Brian's THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL
I put off reading this book. Frankly, I’ve grown so attached to Aubrey and Maturin that I was not looking forward to the career disaster and legal troubles I knew were about to befall Jack.
Peter F. Hamilton's THE TEMPORAL VOID
I love space opera, but I’m probably not going to read Book Number Three in this series.
Peter F. Hamilton's THE DREAMING VOID
It’s over 1,000 years since the events described in Pandora’s Star. Investigator Paula Myo is still around and is tied into the fractious digital overmind that thinks it rules the galaxy. Unfortunately her personality is more cryptic than ever and she contributes little to the story.
Graham Greene's OUR MAN IN HAVANA
This is a grim but witty tale of Cold War skullduggery in pre-revolution Cuba. An expatriate British vacuum cleaner salesman whose teenage daughter has expensive tastes agrees to serve as a paid informer for the British secret service. He starts inventing agents and intelligence reports in order to pad his monthly expense reports.
Osamu Tezuka's PHOENIX: A TALE OF THE FUTURE
The artwork is nowhere near the level of detail and sophistication present in the author’s Buddha graphic novel series, but the story’s scope is vast. It begins in the year 3404 when the human race is decaying. The periodic intervention of the mystical Phoenix is all that stands in the way of total physical collapse of the Earth.
Whenever I feel I’ve been reading too much non-fiction or I just want to read a good story with interesting characters I turn to W. Somerset Maugham.
C.J. Box's “IN PLAIN SIGHT”
One of a series of novels by this author about a fictional Wyoming game warden named Joe Pickett, IN PLAIN SIGHT tells a gripping story that intertwines murder, family feud, politics, and a love of nature and the outdoors
Peter Watts' BLINDSIGHT
Peter Watts’ Blindsight is hard SF. Normally I like hard SF but I had some trouble with this one:
“Captain” Alatriste is an ex-soldier in 17th Century Madrid who scratches out a living via odd jobs and spends part of his time gabbing and drinking at a local bar. An old “friend” tosses him a job which is initially to scare a pair of English travelers but turns out to be a contract for murder.
Shelby Foote's “SHILOH”
This novel follows several Confederate and Union solders during the two days of the 1862 battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.
Patrick O'Brian's THE MAURITIUS COMMAND
The book starts out with Jack, reduced to half pay while he awaits a command, surrounded by his family (and mother in law) in a shabby English country “estate” where he is proving unequivocally that he does not have the makings of a farmer.
One day his friend Steven visits and announces that Jack will receive orders and a command. Jack’s assignment: assume command of a small fleet and retake two islands in the Indian Ocean from the French.
Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS
I finished reading Neil Gaiman’s Hugo-winning novel AMERICAN GODS in between shoveling snow and decorating for Christmas. It’s a good but long read.
Patrick O'Brian's THE POST CAPTAIN
Writing about the writing in Patrck O’Brian’s splendid novel The Post Captain requires an act of humility. As an example of the potential glories of written English, this book is a nonpareil.