OT - Book (Fiction) Review/Recommendations Thread

[TrailerParkJawa]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Good pick. I enjoyed it, although I found that it dragged a little in places. I could easily see calories becoming currency in the T2K world- Krakow kind of does this with its food chit program. I can't believe I didn't make that connection when I was in the process of reading the book- I usually link nearly everything to T2K in some way.



I couldn't finish Earth Abides. It wasn't a bad book (I stopped about 2/3 in) but it just didn't consistently capture my interest.

I had to read Earth Abides at SJSU so begin to end was mandatory cause we had daily discussions in class.

I agree Windup Girl might drag in spots or leaves a few threads hanging. I think this book, like alot of sci-fi, is thinly veiled social critique of today's world. I've started reading the other books by the author and many are very dark visions of the future and the dominance of seed companies.

I did see T2k parrallels but I think the book largely stands on its own in the post oil age. What I loved most is how richly detailed that world is. I had to read this book in small chunks just to absord those details.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Have we mentioned Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon in this thread? 'cause, that one.

[Targan]

I've just finished reading From the Ashes, the prequel novel to the film Terminator Salvation, by Timothy Zahn. It's published by Titan Books, ISBN 9781848560864. I didn't have high hopes for the novel before I started reading it but I've been pleasantly surprised.

*SPOILERS*

The story of the novel follows two parallel paths that converge part way through, one about John Connor and his highly effective Resistance unit and the other about a USMC sergeant who had been on active duty near the US-Mexico border when Judgement Day occurred. The novel is set in the ruins of Los Angeles 10 years after the nukes flew. The Marine sergeant has taken on the duty of protecting a group of refugees in a partly-ruined housing or office complex.

Tim Zahn obviously has some concept of how military units operate and his descriptions of irregular urban warfare against Skynet's forces are really pretty good. There's a lot of emphasis on scrounging for usable supplies, repairing old and much abused vital equipment and setting up caches and fall-back positions.

If any of you happen upon this novel in your travels, I can recommend it. It has a definite T2K feel, just with the threat of implaccable, minigun-toting, deaths-head metal skeleton monsters thrown in.

[Olefin]

Definite recommendation for

The Texas-Israeli War: 1999

Its a 1974 science-fiction novel by Jake Saunders and Howard Waldr that I found at a used bookstore in LA about ten years ago.

Reads very much like Twilight 2000 with a scenario that has the US breaking apart during a WWIII scenario that has the world powers fighting with biological and chemical warfare instead of nukes (only a few left after a disarmament treaty). Right down to factories shutting down, planes disappearing because of a lack of spare parts, huge population losses due to the war and its effects.

I highly recommend it for those running a campaign - some great ideas in that book.

[Neal5x5]

There are many PA and military fiction titles available on the Amazon Kindle that major publishers probably would have rejected because it's too small a niche market or because of other prejudices. The titles are generally inexpensive and some are very good. The downside is that some could have used more proofreading or editorial input, However, if you're willing to overlook occasional misspellings and grammatical mistakes there are quite a few gems to be had.

Here's a list of some of those I've read in the past year that I would recommend

WWIII Fiction
Chieftains by Bob Forrest-Webb – A BAO version of Team Yankee. Well written and believable.
Invasion by DC Alden – A unified Middle East caliphate invades Europe and Great Britain. A little far fetched but worth reading.
Invasion: Alaska by Vaughn Heppner – Takes place in twenty years and has elements of sci-fi but reads like Red Storm Rising. One of the best on the list.
Invasion: California by Vaughn Heppner – A sequel to Invasion: Alaska but even better. Highly recommend this one.
The Blast of War by Adam Yoshida – A fictional history of a near-future conflict within the USA and between the West and China. Reads like Keegan or Ambrose.
A Land War in Asia by Adam Yoshida – Sequel to Blast of War.
A Thousand Points of Light by Adam Yoshida – Sequel to Land War in Asia, conclusion of the trilogy.
Dawn of the Tiger by Gus Frazer – Near-future invasion of Australia by China.
The Third World War by Humphrey Hawksley – China vs. Russia vs. the West. Not a happy ending.
Line of Control by Mainak Dhar – Conventional and nuclear conflict between Pakistan/China and India. Good read for a different perspective.

WWIII/SHTF Fiction (Cosy Apocalypse)
Long Voyage Back by Luke Rhinehart – People with a yacht try and avoid the effects of a nuclear war.
The Living Will Envy the Dead by Christopher Nuttall – Nuclear war as seen by survivors in a small mountain town.
Then Came War by Jacquelin Druga – Survivors of a trainwreck emerge to find that the US has been attacked and invaded.

SHTF Fiction
Half Past Midnight by Jeff Bracken – EMP survival
77 Days in September by Ray Gorham – EMP survival.
Before the Door by Ruth Godwin – Post-nuclear survival of a young girl.
Fifty Falling Stars by Wesley Higginbotham – Civil unrest, nukes, dogs and cats living together. One of the better ones.
Final Dawn by Mike Kraus – EMP and nuke survival.
Land (Stranded) by Theresa Shaver – EMP survival, kind of a young-adult story.
The Jakarta Pandemic by Steven Konkoly – Pandemic (duh) survival for a family in the suburbs. Well written.

Post Apoc Fiction
The Old Man and the Wasteland by Nick Cole – A kind of Old Man and the Sea for PA buffs. More sci-fi than others on the list but worth reading.

Zombie Apocalypse
Tooth and Nail by Craig DiLouie – A platoon of infantry in New York City during an outbreak of a zombie infection. Original and militarily accurate.
Infection by Craig DiLouie –A group of survivors with a Bradley IFV attempt to escape Pittsburg and reach a survivor group. Very original zombies and story.
The Killing Floor by Craig DiLouie – A sequel to Infection.
Plague of the Dead by Z.A. Recht – Marines and sailors escape a zombie infested Middle East to return home only to find zombies here. A second plot line revolving around a potential cure.
Thunder and Ashes by Z.A. Recht – Sequel to Plague of the Dead

Real Combat Stories
House to House by John Bruning – Memoirs of a mechanized infantry sergeant’s experience in Iraq, with a focus on Fallujah. Made me say “holy ****!” a lot.
Outlaw Platoon by Sean Parnell – Memoirs of an infantry platoon LT in an exposed OP in Afghanistan.
Sniper: A Novel by Nicolai Lilin – I know it says novel but if this isn’t somebody’s actual experiences fighting in the Chechen wars, I’ll eat my hat. Brutal combat and gut-wrenching experiences.

[Targan]

Neal5x5, I've read House to House by John Bruning and enjoyed it. The author is not what you'd describe as a humble man but I guess if you've been through what he has you're entitled to be proud of yourself.

The 3 books you've listed under Real Combat Stories probably belong in the OT - Book (Non Fiction) Review/Recommendations Thread. That's got some great reading suggestions in it if you haven't looked at it before.

[Adm.Lee]

An Army epidemiologist is sent to Alaska to find out if some corpses emerging from the permafrost still carry the 1918 "Spanish flu." The corpses are coming from a remote island, said to be haunted by the souls of the Russian immigrants who died there, and there's a historical mystery to be uncovered.

The story is tightly written, there are some supernatural elements, but they could be real or imagined, and they do not overshadow the story that it becomes a ghost story in itself. The military elements are present, but not a key structure. I felt like the author had a little confusion, or maybe just loose writing, between the National Guard and the Coast Guard elements near the end.

Spoiler: Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov escaped from Siberia, protected by Rasputin's blessing, and is the sole survivor on the island. The jewels that she carried away are part of the mystery. A silver cross, given to her by Rasputin, is her protection.

This could come into a T2k game in several ways.
1. TEOTWAKI brought about by a re-appearance of the influenza that killed millions of people in 1918, then burned out. I've seen an estimate that 20% of the world's population was infected (or was that exposed?).

2. In a 'canon' T2k setting, American or Soviet troops in Alaska go to scout this island, and could uncover its secrets, just like "King's Ransom."

3. If running a Twilight:1918-19 game like I have done (and likely will do again), the Romanov element is an obvious plot device, just like "King's Ransom." This could also have the threat of the deadly flu hanging overhead.

4 stars (of 5), a good read on a sleepless night.