From the Reading Chair
So a while back I came up with this loopy theory that the killer app for tablets and ebooks was… real books. Apparently it wasn’t so loopy, because a lot of commenters agreed. So I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.
And more than one person suggested I check out Baen Books, which makes a chunk of their back catalog available digitally — for free. And before I knew it, Baen author Sarah Hoyt emailed and asked if I’d like a copy of one of her books. Hardcopy, that is. That was on a Friday. The book arrived on Monday. Wow!
But that was ages ago, and I only just this week got a chance to read Sarah’s Darkship Thieves. Now I don’t think I’ve read any pure space opera since the novelization of “Return of the Jedi” came out, but this book is a blast. Just thrilling, sexy fun. And can you get too much of any of those?
So: A belated thank you, Sarah — and a hearty recommendation to everybody here to pick up this book!
Wow. I see what happens when I don’t check you every day. You’re very welcome and thank you! A sequel for this book has been contracted, so the series will go on!
Would Project Gutenberg count as ‘real books’?
So umm did you actually read more Baen books? They’re very good.
Darkship Thieves looks good. Unfortunately, itnis not available in ebook format. There is an irony in there somewhere.
It IS available in ebook format. Baen books makes all their books available in ebook, with no DRM. Unfortunately, you have to go to their site to get it. Fortunately it’s fairly painless: http://www.webscription.net/p-1102-darkship-thieves.aspx
pure space opera
I assume that you haven’t read The Lensmen series or the Skylark series. Old stuff, but E. E. “Doc” Smith pretty much popularized the genre.