/lit/ - Literature

>>20909870
The Pit - James Rollins
A dog is the protagonist and is cast in the role of a Roman gladiator, which is to say it's about dog fighting. There are also the trainers and dognappers, which fill the role of slavers. There's animal cruelty, though it's not particularly graphic. It's written well enough, but it was somewhat uncomfortable to read.
Ok

Out of the Dark - David Weber [Out of the Dark]
Aliens invade Earth seeking to make all of humanity their slaves. They've badly miscalculated though, because it's not the humans they should be worried about. Regardless of how insane human are, what they truly ought to fear is what comes...out of the dark.
Blah

The Girls from Avenger - Carrie Vaughn
In 1943, a female pilot of WASP investigates the mysterious death of a fellow pilot despite the obstacles presented by military secrecy and male contempt.
Meh

Ancient Ways - S. M. Stirling [Emberverse]
It's 2055, which is 57 years after an apocalyptic event called The Change. Modern technology exists only as scattered artifacts. A Cossack saves a stranger from his tribal enemies. The stranger then requests help to rescue a princess, and so the adventure begins. The more I read this the more I enjoyed it.
Highly Enjoyable

Ninieslando - Howard Waldrop
In the midst of World War I, 1917, a British soldier in the trenches suffers. Soon his life will change due to the secret power of Esperanto and its global plans.
Meh

Recidivist - Gardner Dozois
This was a bleak and hopeless AI apocalypse future where the rules of reality no longer applied and nostalgia rather than hope sustained those few who remained.
Blah

My Name Is Legion - David Morrell
During World War II, 1941, the French Foreign Legion was in Syria on both sides of the conflict. The legionnaire protagonist recalls his life and a historical battle critical to the lore of their organization. How difficult will it be for him to kill his comrades and for them to kill him?
Ok

Defenders of the Frontier - Robert Silverberg
A group of eleven soldiers who are known only by their military position wonder if their outpost needs to be defended any longer from enemies or indeed if their allies even still exist because there doesn't seem to be anyone else out there. No one at all. Is this all there is to life now?
Meh

The Scroll - David Ball
Sultan Ismail of 17th century Morocco tortures a French engineer and executes many others on a regular basis, for both whimsy and compliance. The engineer suffers and suffers, as do many others, in this relentlessly grim story.
Blah

The Mystery Knight - George R. R. Martin [A Song of Ice and Fire/Dunk and Egg]
The third and final novella in this series. Dunk and Egg enter a tournament where the prize is a dragon egg, but nothing is what it seems. I didn't read it again, because I'd prefer starting from the first if I were to do so. I don't remember why I relatively didn't like it that much.
Ok