No, I haven't read the Belesarius series. I will say, though, that Eric Flint is rather recent to me as an author. Back in 1977 he and I were involved in the same political movement. That was the year of the 110-day coal strike too and we were both working in strike support in West Virginia. Eric Flint was located in the northern part of the state and I was in the southern part of the state, so we did not exactly become close buddies, but we did get together and collaborated. For whatever reason a minor incident stands out for me that concerns him. Eric Flint and I and some comrades were in a bar and grill type establishment in Morgantown, West Virginia and he was sitting across the table from me eating a something. I asked him what it was and it turned out to be a burrito. That was the first burrito I ever saw. Nowadays there is a burrito joint on almost every corner. Anyway, just about three or four years ago I was moderating a Yahoo group of a political nature. At some point I happened to mention that I was a science fiction fan. One of the others asked me if I knew that Eric Flint, a former member of our movement, was now a top science fiction writer. Well, I had never read anything by him, but I did recognize the name as a science fiction writer, but I had no idea at all that it was the same Eric Flint. I went to the Baen web site and read his essay there about how the free library came into existence and I remember thinking that it was too bad that I didn't know he was a science fiction fan back when I knew him. We would have had something to talk about besides politics and the strike. Neither of us knew that the other was interested in science fiction though. I downloaded his first novel, Mother of Demons, from the Baen web site and read it. Since I already knew his political background as a socialist it was very obvious to me how his politics had influenced his writing. Next I tried 1632 and the political background was less obvious, but it was still there. What was extremely obvious, though, was his connection with West Virginia. For anyone who is interested in time travel stories that are somewhat different from most time travel stories that might be a good place to start. An entire West Virginia town is somehow transported back to Germany in the year 1632.
On 3/24/2012 1:47 PM, Duane Iverson wrote:
Beating the drum for Baen Bookks.All of the 1632 series is available there also, Roger, Have you read the belesarius Series he cowrote with David Drake?----- Original Message ----- *From:* Roger Loran Bailey <mailto:rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx> *To:* bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *Sent:* Saturday, March 24, 2012 12:00 PM *Subject:* [bookshare-discuss] Re: NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You should try the Time Patrol series by Poul Anderson. Also, you might want to read 1632 by Eric Flint. I knew Eric Flint before he became a writer. Too bad I didn't know he was a science fiction fan then. I suppose that shows that I didn't know him real well. On 3/24/2012 9:18 AM, Lori Castner wrote:Hi, I'm not a big Science Fiction or fantasy fan, but nevertheless read this list with interest. I do enjoy time travel books though and just want to make two recommendations. The newest Stephen King book entitled 11-22-63 is one of the best books I have ever read; it is on time travel. I read it as soon as it came out--it was immediately on Bookshare. And I read it almost nonstop. It's almost as good as The Stand, in my opinion. Another older and very good travel book is "Time and Again" by Jack Finney, also on Bookshare. Stephen King mentioned it in the acknowledgments at the end of 11-22-63. Hope some of you will enjoy these two books. Lori C. ----- Original Message ----- *From:* Judy s. <mailto:cherryjam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> *To:* bookshare-discuss <mailto:bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *Sent:* Thursday, March 22, 2012 8:39 PM *Subject:* [bookshare-discuss] NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books NPR does an annual survey of readers' favorite science fiction and fantasy books. Here's their list of the top 100, in order from top to bottom, according to the 60,000 ballots that were cast by NPR readers. I wonder how many of these we have on Bookshare? I'd look it up if I had something faster than my poky dial-up connection. smile I noticed that Watership Down is in the list. It never struck me as part of the fantasy genre, but hey, what do I know of how it's decided where a book lies, especially in the science fiction and fantasy genres? grin. I'll paste the list below. Judy s. 1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien 2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams 3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card 4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert 5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin 6. 1984, by George Orwell 7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury 8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov 9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley 10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman 11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman 12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan 13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell 14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson 15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore 16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov 17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein 18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss 19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley 21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick 22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood 23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King 24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke 25. The Stand, by Stephen King 26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson 27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury 28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut 29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman 30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess 31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein 32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams 33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey 34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein 35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller 36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells 37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne 38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys 39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells 40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny 41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings 42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley 43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson 44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven 45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin 46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien 47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White 48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman 49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke 50. Contact, by Carl Sagan 51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons 52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman 53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson 54. World War Z, by Max Brooks 55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle 56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman 57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett 58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson 59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold 60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett 61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle 62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind 63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy 64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke 65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson 66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist 67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks 68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard 69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb 70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger 71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson 72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne 73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore 74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi 75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson 76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke 77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey 78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin 79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury 80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire 81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson 82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde 83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks 84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart 85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson 86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher 87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe 88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn 89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan 90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock 91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury 92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley 93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge 94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov 95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson 96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle 97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis 98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville 99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony 100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis Source of information: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139248590/top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books
