Teaser Tuesday 5/21/2013: “The Dreaming Void”

This week I’m almost halfway through Peter F. Hamilton’s The Dreaming Void, part one of his “Void” trilogy, in which humanity discovers that what they thought was a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is, in fact, some sort of ancient, gigantic artifact that periodically wakes up and eats nearby stars. So of course, somebody decides they have to send a ship into it. Readers of Hamilton’s earlier “Commonwealth Sage”, in whose universe the “Void” trilogy is set, will remember how well it turned out the last time humans sent ships poking around such a construct. (Hint: Not well.) Like most of Hamilton’s books, this one is taking a nice long time to get going, but, also like most of Hamilton’s books, I expect that once the plot really kicks in, I won’t want to put it down.

Teaser Tuesday 3/26/2013: “Wool”

This week I’m still working on Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey, the dystopian SF novel from last week.  This is a big book and well worth the $3.99 Kindle price.  It still mostly takes place in that giant silo (“They mostly stay in the silo.  Mostly.”), and at this point my speculation last week that the title, which seemed to refer to the wool pads use to scrub sensors, might also refer to the old saw about “pulling the wool over one’s eyes” has been explicitly stated.  Five points for me!

Teaser Tuesday 3/19/2013: “Wool”

So having run out of free books, I have shelled out the princely sum of $3.99 for Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey, a dystopian SF novel that, so far, takes place entirely in a giant underground silo in which the remnants of humanity eke out an existence, while outside, the earth is a lifeless world beneath a toxic atmospheric stew.  At the moment the title appears to refer to the wool pads used by convicts (or the occasional volunteer) who goes out into the poisonous world to scrub the sensors and cameras that allow those within the silo to look out at the wasteland they have left behind, but I’m thinking it also refers to the wool being pulled over everyone’s eyes, perhaps by the silo’s IT Department.  We shall see!

Teaser Tuesday 2/5/2013: “Gust Front”

Still reading Gust Front by John Ringo — this is one big book!  Since last week’s excerpt was all about running away, I thought it would be appropriate for this week’s excerpt to be about what happens when the invaders reach Washington, D.C., and begin trying to take the Mall and, specifically, the Washington Monument.  As a bonus, it’s from the point of view of the same person whose unit was fleeing through Arlington National Cemetery, too.

Teaser Tuesday 1/29/2013: “Gust Front”

Well I’m now at 83% of the way through Gust Front by John Ringo.  The Posleen have arrived with an army of a few million heavily armed centaur-shaped aliens.  What do you do when you’re outnumbered a hundred to one by enemy berserkers?  You do this:

Teaser Tuesday 1/22/2013: “Gust Front”

At the moment, I’m about 25% of the way through Gust Front by John Ringo, in which the alien Posleen are poised to invade the earth.  At least, that’s what they keep saying; there’s been no actual sign of the Posleen yet.  But I’m sure they will be arriving any time now!  *checks watch*

Teaser Tuesday 12/18/2012: A Plague of Demons

This week I’m reading A Plague of Demons by Keith Laumer, another of the e-books that I downloaded directly from Baen’s Free Library. This is not the sequel to the much-loved A Plague of Angels (that would be the quite avoidable The Waters Rising); rather, it’s about aliens in North Africa harvesting brains. Why? I don’t know yet. Maybe they sell them in roach coaches that roam zombie-infested areas. (Or maybe not.)

Then I re-crossed the street, slowed, and gave half a dozen grimy windows filled with moth-riddled mats and hammered brass atrocities more attention than they deserved. By the time I reached the end of the long block, I was sure: the little man with the formerly white suit and the pendulous lower lip was following me.

Another protagonist being followed by another unskilled tail? I see a trend! Clearly our villains need to invest in a training program for their operatives.

And, of course, here is this weeks teaser from The War of the Ravels!

“They were issuing weapons to every man who could hold a blade,” Cynidece said. “Even you probably would have gotten one, if Aldric hadn’t tucked you into his fancy cab and given his horse a smack on the rump to make it run along home.”

Teaser Tuesday 12/11/2012: “Tears in Rain”

This month my free book from Amazon is Tears in Rain by Rosa Montero. The astute reader may recognize “tears in rain” as part of Rutger Hauer’s epic Famous Last Words in the film “Blade Runner”, appearing here as listed on Wikipedia:

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. [laughs] Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like [coughs] tears in rain. Time to die.”

Teaser Tuesday 12/4/2012: The Apocalypse Troll

So at the moment I’m reading a book by David Weber with the somewhat unfortunate title The Apocalypse Troll, which always makes me snicker a little, perhaps because of Dennis the Vizsla’s run-in with Obvious Troll a few years ago. (However, the Troll in this book is not obvious. At least, not once it stops firing nukes at the U.S. Navy.)

Teaser Tuesday (Or Wednesday Or Whatever If I Screw The Date Up Again): “Pines”

This week I’m reading Pines, by Blake Crouch. This is another Prime freebie for the Kindle, thus continuing my effort to avoid spending money on books for a while — an effort which has probably just been extended by another few months due to my iPod’s unfortunate high-speed encounter with a tile floor. Deceleration trauma is rough on small spinning drives! Anyway, “Pines” is about a Secret Service agents who awakens in a small Idaho town following a car crash, and has a rather rough time leaving. I’m almost finished with it and, while I figured out the Big Twist well before the Big Reveal, the rules say no spoilers, so I had to choose my two sentences carefully. Here goes!

“It’s done,” Pilcher said, “and you’re my new sheriff. Welcome aboard.”

Believe me, this falls into the category of “An Offer You Can’t Refuse”.

And now, of course, here is this week’s teaser from The War of the Ravels:

The innkeeper tugged his blade free again, and accidentally dropped it this time. It failed to penetrate the ground, ending up lying on its side like some sort of unintentional metaphor.