Book swap or recommendation?

[Ken L]

5 hours ago, *Ant* said:

I'm not so sure Ken, and some of his research goes back way way further than the Columbian exchange, in some cases thousands of years. I'd never say i'm a firm believer in all he says, but I do have a fascination with the "what if", and have an open mind to alternative theories. One thing that stuck in my mind was that a "lost" tribe that were discovered in the Amazon in the early part of the 20th century, who had had no contact with the outside world, knew that Sirius was a binary star system and they referred to it as the mother and child star. I just love quirky mysteries such as that.

There are plenty of weird quirks of human history and apparently incongruous knowledge or technologies to be explained but my problem with the whole idea of a prehistoric global civilisation is that wherever humans go, they take their familiar plants and animals with them and if they find cool stuff on their travels, they take it home and grow it there.

If people were travelling regularly between the old and new worlds before Columbus, why didn't they transfer plants, animals or for that matter diseases?

[Huge_Vitae]

I’m with you on that Phone. Started off on the classics, including War and Peace! Found a habit in fiction by the likes of Wheatley and Clive Cussler but the list of decent fiction reads is very short indeed and easily exhausted.

Although, I was aware of an upcoming author who made NATO Strategic planners take a sharp intake of breath before one of those collective “OH Sh1t” moments in “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy and followed his releases avidly for some while.

Over the last decade I have switched to non fiction but nothing written by people who have made an awful lot of money in so called entertainment and wish to improve their bank balance even more, I mean real life stories of real life people you probably wouldn’t notice sat next to you on a bus!

My wife’s grandfather was a rather famous RN Diver in the days of brass helmets and hand operated bellows, although not well written as it was a true auto biography it is a good insight.

USS. Indianapolis is a gripping account of that disaster, written by Lt. Commander Lewis Haynes one of the survivors it is both harrowing and gripping whilst awakening primeval fears.

Apache Dawn by Damien Lewis is another great read as is Tail Gunner by SqnLdr. R Rivas.

But I would go to Red Storm Rising to reignite your will for fiction, for me it was a not put down read.

[Ken L]

Always loved Pratchett.

For fantasy stuff, George RR Martin is currently top of the tree but Raymond Fiest, David Eddings and a few others are good.

I enjoyed Iain M Bank's sci-fi.

[John S]

I agree with H_V, Tom Clancy is a must read! The first novel I read of his was The Hunt for Red October, the second was Red Storm Rising. Since then I've read all his novels and enjoyed every bloody one of them.

RIP Tom, taken from us too early.

[Ken L]

On ‎1‎/‎20‎/‎2020 at 9:30 PM, John S said:

I agree with H_V, Tom Clancy is a must read! The first novel I read of his was The Hunt for Red October, the second was Red Storm Rising. Since then I've read all his novels and enjoyed every bloody one of them.

RIP Tom, taken from us too early.

Yep, Clancy is very good. Of the main sequence novels, only Red Rabbit was a disappointment.

Don't bother with the side projects like the Op-Center books though.

Edited January 21, 2020 by Ken L

[Ken L]

Artemis Fowl books are a great lightweight read but be quick because there's a movie version coming out that looks terrible and will likely spoil them forever for you if you watch it.

[*Ant*]

Halfway through a fabulous read at the moment. Unexplained - Supernatural Stories For Uncertain Times by Richard Maclean Smith. Apparently the Financial Times calls it "A grisly treat", and I most certainly agree. 

[John S]

Might buy that Ant, I love a good spooky book

[*Ant*]

1 hour ago, John S said:

Might buy that Ant, I love a good spooky book

I thoroughly recommend it John, it really is a fab read. If you can hang on until i've finished it I can always pop it in the post for you. 

[John S]

23 hours ago, *Ant* said:

I thoroughly recommend it John, it really is a fab read. If you can hang on until i've finished it I can always pop it in the post for you. 

Thanks Ant, but already ordered it from Amazon