What book are you currently reading?

[Odovacar]

PS. Did you spot that Bel Rios is modelled on Belisarius?

No. I didn't. Interesting view.

I even thought about starting a topic on the Trilogy.

1, Initially I thought "how lame is the psycho-history ..counting history" but the plot made it credible a bit. Not as a valid theory, of course, but the plot was sophisticated it gave an atmosphere to the whole thing.

2, Then it made me think...Hegel came into my mind...is there some law of history? Is the fall of empires and civilizations inevitable?

3, Then I compared it with real history. First: Religion as power. (aided by technics) Then technics through commercy. Then the rule of money cripples the Foundation and the great founders vanish. What Foundation could not do, the Mule does, a completly external someone who had no place in the big plot. (At least we think so...)

Then again Foundation rules, but in the reality the Second Foundation controls everything.

It was like a modern middle ages then capitalism, then some postmodernist time....

I have a couple of other observations (homo novi create history always not nobles and dynasties, violence is a misleading force, the role of women grows through history,
and finally spirit conquers what money and technics can't.)

BTW: should I read the other three foudation books by Asimov? By that other author too? Are they as great as the original, or similar experience?

[Juvenal]

Regarding Bel Riose etc. Foundation was partly inspired by Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, so we have Trantor representing a Rome that is the administrative centre for the whole Empire, but is utterly dependent on food imports - it even has an hereditary Emperor. The outer Provinces are slowly breaking away into mini-kingdoms, and any successful general is immediately considered a threat by the Emperor (who dare not leave Trantor himself for long for fear of being usurped).

...First: Religion as power. (aided by technics) Then technics through commercy. Then the rule of money cripples the Foundation and the great founders vanish. What Foundation could not do, the Mule does, a completly external someone who had no place in the big plot. (At least we think so...)

Then again Foundation rules, but in the reality the Second Foundation controls everything.

It was like a modern middle ages then capitalism, then some postmodernist time....

I think this shows just how impressive Asimov is as a synthesist, he spent his whole life sweeping up knowledge and then explaining it to people. Apart from the science fiction, he wrote crime and mystery stories (he loved puzzles), and science essays and general works - including Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare and Asimov's Guide to the Bible! He also lectured (he was a professor of Biochemistry) and even co-wrote a Biochemistry text-book. He has more than 400 published books!

... BTW: should I read the other three foudation books by Asimov? By that other author too? Are they as great as the original, or similar experience?

I liked the prequels (Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation).

I didn't like the sequels (Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth), but I read them anyway, just to find out where his ideas were leading.

I also very much liked the tribute trilogy, but as I said before Gregory Benford, Greg Bear and David Brin are all favourite authors of mine.

[Steel of Fury]

Close to finishing Napoleon in Egypt by Paul Strathern. Engagingly written and well-documented account of the young Bonaparte's most exotic campaign. Dreaming of conquering the East like his hero Alexander the Great, the ambitious young commander set out with 40,000 men in more than 300 ships to spread his power and French Revolutionary ideals to what many Europeans considered a mysterious and fascinating land. Comprising his army were a group of savants that included experts in the fields of archaeology, history, chemistry, geology, astronomy, etc., who laid the foundation for modern Egyptology. The harrowing account of what the French underwent in a foreign and hostile land is gripping and disturbing to read, and the culture clash between the two different nations is nearly similar to the tale of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and is proof of the failure of Multiculturalism from over two centuries back. The battles, drama, personal interactions between the characters involved, the fascinating depiction of late-18th Century Egyptian life, etc., show how much of interest occurred in Napoleon's effort and failure to create an empire which he dreamed would cover Africa all the way to India.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

Currently reading:
The Road - Cormac Mccarthy. Fine book, great minimalist prose, akin to Hemmingway. Soon to be a move with Viggo Mor...Mor.... Aragorn.

Mantrapping - Ragnar Benson.

Bear Went over the Mountain - Soviet tactics in Afganistan.

[Carl von Döbeln]

Years of warfare-Peter englund

[Odovacar]

I liked the prequels (Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation).

I didn't like the sequels (Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth), but I read them anyway, just to find out where his ideas were leading.

Thanks! I check them out. Yeah I've read Asimov was inspired by Gibbon but his novell is better as literature than Gibbon's work as history...

[removeduser_426582376423734]

[Carl von Döbeln]

Close to finishing Napoleon in Egypt by Paul Strathern. Engagingly written and well-documented account of the young Bonaparte's most exotic campaign. Dreaming of conquering the East like his hero Alexander the Great, the ambitious young commander set out with 40,000 men in more than 300 ships to spread his power and French Revolutionary ideals to what many Europeans considered a mysterious and fascinating land. Comprising his army were a group of savants that included experts in the fields of archaeology, history, chemistry, geology, astronomy, etc., who laid the foundation for modern Egyptology. The harrowing account of what the French underwent in a foreign and hostile land is gripping and disturbing to read, and the culture clash between the two different nations is nearly similar to the tale of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and is proof of the failure of Multiculturalism from over two centuries back. The battles, drama, personal interactions between the characters involved, the fascinating depiction of late-18th Century Egyptian life, etc., show how much of interest occurred in Napoleon's effort and failure to create an empire which he dreamed would cover Africa all the way to India.

Great Book!

[Constance]

I'm currently reading Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Yes I'm a Whedoknight

and



along with

[Steel of Fury]

Recently finished The Fall of Constantinople: The Ottoman Conquest of Byzantium by David Nicolle, Stephen Turnbull, and John Haldon. One of the titles in Osprey's "General Military" series it covers the background of Byzantium and it's way of war, closing with the campaign that put an end to Constantinople and the last vestige of the Roman Empire. Like all Osprey books it's lavishly illustrated with artwork, images, and maps pertaining to the subject. Good reading while playing Medieval II and Kingdoms.

[Pallantides]

[Antissa]

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell



Synopsis:

Product Description
An extraordinary and dramatic depiction of the legendary battle of Agincourt from the number one historical novelist Agincourt, fought on October 25th 1415, on St Crispin's Day, is one of the best known battles, in part through the brilliant depiction of it in Shakespeare's Henry V, in part because it was a brilliant and unexpected English victory and in part because it was the first battle won by the use of the longbow - a weapon developed by the English which enabled them to dominate the European battlefields for the rest of the century. Bernard Cornwell's Azincourt is a vivid, breathtaking and meticulously well researched account of this momentous battle and its aftermath. From the varying viewpoints of nobles, peasants, archers, and horsemen, Azincourt skilfully brings to life the hours of relentless fighting, the desperation of an army crippled by disease and the exceptional bravery of the English soldiers.

It probably comes as no suprise to anyone who saw Bernard Cornwell's glowing comments on the front of Juliet Barker's excellent history book 'Agincourt', that Cornwell turned his attention Henry V's famous, almost miraculous, victory over the French. The problem is how to make such an extraordinarily well known story - thanks to Shakespeare and numerous histories - seem fresh and exciting. Thankfully, we are in the hands of a master at this sort of thing.

His story of Nick Hook, an English longbowman, does more than simply tick the expected boxes. It successfully puts the victory at Agincourt into perspective both politically and socially. It does so by bringing us firmly into the lives of the people. These people realised as properly medieval men and women. Cornwell scores over so many of his competitors by convincing us that these are not simply modern men in fancy dress. Faith in Christianity, for example, and the battle between the heretical Lollard beliefs, common in England at the time, and the Church are woven into the fabric of the story. It will come as no suprise that the battle scenes are strongly and convincingly portrayed.

I always hesitate before giving a five star review, but this is certainly worth it.

[Orko]

[Sebdeas]

[Mitth'raw'nuruodo]

I am reading about how awesome I am in a book I have read many times before called, Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn. A fantastic book in a fantastic trilogy for those who have not read it.

[Atterdag]

Currently reading: Steinbach, Peter etc.; Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg und der Umsturzversuch vom 20. Juli 1944, Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, 2007

Shyam reading Watchmen a long time ago

Good call, I got one just like that in the image. Amazing story, just as good as V for Vendetta.

I'm currently reading Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.

Awesome book.

[Dance the older]

I just finished my 3rd read of

[Finn]

I'm currently reading this for the 2nd time.......

[Steel of Fury]

Good and interesting books.