Olap stopped reading Para Handy Tales by Neil Munro
Shelved for now. Lots of short stories, will pick back up when next in Argyll
Reviews and Comments
Sci-fi and military history fan from Scotland
This link opens in a pop-up window
Olap reviewed The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published …
Backstory did you say?
3 stars
Too much at times. Too little in the stories that I did want to know more about though also. You cab see why it never made it to regular publishing
Olap finished reading The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published …
10 weeks of world building. Few finer. So nany stories, a hard read is most chapters, but worth it. Gonna makes the Rings of Power even more worth it. Will be a few years before I tackle more Tolkien I expect though
Olap started reading The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published …
Long overdue attempting this epic
Olap reviewed Tough and Competent by Eugene F. Kranz
Old school management
3 stars
Hands on. That's what he practised and preached. 50 years of management experience is great to call upon, but I do suspect some more academic theory would have allowed him to scale up to the Apollo and ISS era in NASA slightly better. What clearly was visible was when the vision as clear, execution is paramount, and total commitment yields results. Lots of good practical lessons for managers today however. Being tough and competent is not optional if you want that high performance team
3 stars as the book does lull in parts, but it does have a strong finish
Hands on. That's what he practised and preached. 50 years of management experience is great to call upon, but I do suspect some more academic theory would have allowed him to scale up to the Apollo and ISS era in NASA slightly better. What clearly was visible was when the vision as clear, execution is paramount, and total commitment yields results. Lots of good practical lessons for managers today however. Being tough and competent is not optional if you want that high performance team
3 stars as the book does lull in parts, but it does have a strong finish
Olap finished reading Control Freak by Cliff Bleszinski
Great biography of CliffyB I read for some work inspiration. Lots of good lessons
Olap reviewed The Eastern Front by Nick Lloyd
Central Europe like you've never known
5 stars
Where to begin? Nick Lloyd here has out shone his at times dry western front with a tour de force blow by blow account of the eastern fronts. Poland, Serbia, Romania, Italy, of course Russia and its revolution and the central powers' heights of victory in the east. You can scarecely believe things end like they did for the entente in November 1918 in even March 1918. Full of quotes bringing a touch more life and human touch to the generals and emperors who are clearly flawed humans. Cannot wait for his third book on this already, though I suspect 2027
Where to begin? Nick Lloyd here has out shone his at times dry western front with a tour de force blow by blow account of the eastern fronts. Poland, Serbia, Romania, Italy, of course Russia and its revolution and the central powers' heights of victory in the east. You can scarecely believe things end like they did for the entente in November 1918 in even March 1918. Full of quotes bringing a touch more life and human touch to the generals and emperors who are clearly flawed humans. Cannot wait for his third book on this already, though I suspect 2027
Olap finished reading The Eastern Front by Nick Lloyd
220k words. A biggie
Olap started reading Para Handy Tales by Neil Munro
I've the 4th edition from 1963 that I found in a charity shop, seeing as I'm off to Argyll soon it would be rude not to!
I've the 4th edition from 1963 that I found in a charity shop, seeing as I'm off to Argyll soon it would be rude not to!
Olap started reading The Eastern Front by Nick Lloyd
Big epic, but have been looking forward to it since finishing The Western Front last year
Olap finished reading The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis (SF Masterworks)
Thomas Jerome Newton is an extraterrestrial from the planet Anthea, which has been devastated by …
A quick little read in between some of my behemoths. Started strong with an intriguing main character but petered out at the last pages after the bib reveal
Olap reviewed Chapter House Dune by Frank Herbert
Chapterhouse: Dune is a 1985 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the last in his …
Best of post Mua' Dib
4 stars
Well, this has it all - transhumanism, leadership, politics, wars, ethics. Written in Herbert's, even after 6 novels, rather challenging prose and with little brevity; the last 100 pages are page turners indeed. Will have to see what Brian and Kevin did also with notes about #7. But maybe next year
Well, this has it all - transhumanism, leadership, politics, wars, ethics. Written in Herbert's, even after 6 novels, rather challenging prose and with little brevity; the last 100 pages are page turners indeed. Will have to see what Brian and Kevin did also with notes about #7. But maybe next year
Olap reviewed The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine …
To visit the future
4 stars
HG Wells was truly visionary. Almost written for the silver screen, this holds up well by today's standards though fails a bechdel test. Left me wondering indeed what the future may hold, but probably not cannibalism communism
HG Wells was truly visionary. Almost written for the silver screen, this holds up well by today's standards though fails a bechdel test. Left me wondering indeed what the future may hold, but probably not cannibalism communism
Olap reviewed Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell
From the internationally bestselling author of the Sharpe novels and in the bicentenary year of …
Depth, you got it!
4 stars
A brutal portrayal of a bloody few days that shaped Europe for the next century. Makes you wonder how Napoleon got so respected!
Olap finished reading Eternity's Mind: The Saga of Shadows, Book Three by Kevin J. Anderson
Good end to the saga, lots wrapped up. Eternity's mind a touch underdeveloped though
Good end to the saga, lots wrapped up. Eternity's mind a touch underdeveloped though