Book Club

I’ve been reading a lot more recently, and I keep loosing track of what I have read, so here’s a list.

  • The Apollo Murders

    Cmdr. Chris Hadfield

    An alternate history take where NASA sends military service members on Apollo 18, they encounter some Ruskies in space and things go sideways.

    Pacing was a bit off, really front-loaded with characters and settings, and then you end up slowly floating towards the moon.

    Still, Chris knows what he’s talking about.

  • The Damned

    Alan Dean Foster

    Really fun 3 book series where Humans are the scary alien race. Apparently not murdering your own race is a sign of an uncivilized species.

    And when the universe is full of civilized species who feint at the sight of blood, who do you call when you need to fight a war. HUMANS!!

    Really fun concept, well executed.

  • Norseman

    Griff Hosker

    Books 1 and 2 of an obvious 3 parter, where we follow Lief Wolf Killer as he grows from a boy to a man in the Viking world of the 800’s.

    The writer is a historian, so lots of detail about period accurate things like making timbers to fix a boat, and less “all out decapitation action” which I enjoyed.

    Writing style is a bit stilted because it’s from the perspective of the Viking himself.

  • Agent to the Stars

    John Scalzi

    His first novel, and I loved Redshirts and Kaiju Protection Society, so I took a chance. Really fun unique concept of what would friendly aliens to do make contact with Earth? Probably hire a Hollywood Agent to smooth the introduction.

  • Golden Serpent & Second Strike

    Mark Abernethy

    Re-read these spy thriller action books because they are so good.

    Finally an Australian spy protagonist, set in Australia and Indonesia… Who needs the CIA when you have ASIS.

    As a former contractor for PM&C, I do find it hilarious when he says that that is where all the smart go-getters go… not in my experience.

  • Wilde & Chase series

    Andy McDermott

    In 2024-25 I read the entire 18 book series about archeologist Nina Wilde and her ex-SAS husband Eddie Chase, as they uncovered Atlantis and killed Nazis.

    Very fun series, reminiscent of Matthew Reilly and Clive Custler.

  • Ready Player Two

    Ernest Cline

    The sequel of Ready Player One, and I don’t think I liked it as much.

    It felt a little bit too much like everything had to be a reference, everything had to be fan service.

    And Wade Watts came off as even more of a weird incel.

  • The Impossible Fortune

    Richard Osman

    Another fun murder mystery jaunt with the old folks. Nothing amazing, but fun to solve another murder with them.

    And I enjoyed the subtle bond references considering Pierce Bronson and the movie.