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I've got vampire$ in my list!

Thanks for bringing up the Dark Forest! I haven't read it (or Three Body Problem) but now I have them on my Sci Fi list! Glad to hear you like it. We had Heinlein (Starship Troopers) and Ender's Game in our first video, because they're definitely some of the best of the classics!

Another one that slipped by me, thanks for the suggestion! I just looked it up and it sounds really interesting. Will definitely add this to the TBR, thank you!

Yes! Reading through it now. Definitely classic.

Yes. Very definitely. Also his _Weasels_ stuff - _Grimmer Than Hell_

Thank you! Military sci fi is one of my favorite genres and it's always a blast (ha!) to read. Thanks to viewer comments, I think we've got lots of great books to chat about in the future too!

@@D3Reads Oh yes, absolutely! Let's make more military sci-fi book review videos!

@BurnEnough You guys have a really cool podcast, by the way. Love the format!

@@D3Reads Thank you :) I also enjoy your videos (and shorts) about military sci-fi. Hopefully there's more to come :)

I've never read EE Smith, I hate to admit. I just did a little digging and I'm stunned I've overlooked his work! Thanks for pointing this out, because we're creating a master TBR list for Mil Sci Fi!

You're going to think I'm a liar, but this 100% true: I just received a copy of Dorsai! today! I ordered it through Thrift Books and plan on releasing a "Military Sci Fi Master TBR" video shortly and I'm including Dickinson's work based on viewer recommendations. So I'm stoked to read it!

@@D3Reads I believe you! Hope you enjoy it as much as i have over the years.

You know, I haven't read anything by Ketchum. I just looked him up, and he's got a ton of work. Do you have a recommendation on where to start? I've heard about Lovecraft's apparent change of heart, but there's some speculation that this was more revisionism by fans than actual turning from those beliefs. I'd love to believe he recanted to any degree, but even if that was true that doesn't change the ugliness embedded in his writing and I'd still think it important to let readers know it's out there.

@@D3Reads I'd suggest "Offseason" "The Lost" and "Peaceable Kingdom" which is a collection of short stories. We'll have to agree to disagree on Lovecraft.

That's awesome! Thanks for letting us know, we'll make sure to check it out.

I am adding it to our list now! Thank you for reminding me, I had heard of it and wanted to check it out but it slipped my mind for the longest time. You have great timing too, because we're planning a "Best Vampire Novels" video for Halloween, so thank you!

@@D3Reads Looking forward to the best of Vampire novels video!

Funny thing, I read The Lottery in Middle School many years ago and was appropriately fascinated with and traumatized by it, but I didn't remember who wrote it. Every so often I would ask people if they had read it, and if they hadn't I'd gleefully tell it to them as best I could from memory. Years later I read Hill House and loved it, but didn't connect the dots. It wasn't until I started putting together this video that I realized it was the same person who left such a lasting imprint on me for so long. Yeah, she's great.

Thanks so much for watching! I appreciate the comment, and would love to know if you've got a favorite in this genre. Cosmic horror is a very tricky kind of story, and I'm always looking out for other great books.

Thanks! We're planning an update (or two) to roll out before Halloween! Do you have any favorites that you think should be on a best of list? We really appreciate the comment!

I really liked Others by James Herbert. Gothic meets Noir. I also liked Koko by Peter Straub I loved the Shining and Dr Sleep by Stephen King. I also loved The Running Man and Thinner by Richard Bachman his shadow brother. I have not ready anything new for quite some time now (and thus would love the recommendations !) I also remember loving Locke and Key by Tom Hill but that's a Graphic Novel which feels like a cheat ! Hope you cover some of these... ​@@D3Reads

I actually like critical comments on my videos, because I learn a lot. But in fairness, what you said is a far cry from what I said. I reviewed both the horror and the story of each book, and found that both Lovecraft Country and Ballad, both of which t are set amidst racism in the US, were good books. The racial context added a different element of horror, but the Ballad of Black Tom was excellent cosmic horror. If you've read the books, then let me know what you think. If not, and stories that highlight social injustice aren't your thing, then I guess I've saved you some time. Thanks for watching all the same.

The Dreamers is great as well! Kind of an homage to Lovecraft, I loved it!

I want to say that the term came into fashion as militaries started incorporating relatively rapid movement capabilities for their infantry. Most troops were foot soldiers who had to march or jump on trains to get to the front, but then some were trained and equipped to move as a cohesive unit to and around the battlefield using trucks and troop carriers and the like. It depended on their TO&E (table of organization and equipment). Infantry of course moves, but I think mobile infantry was expected to move quickly and were more rapidly deployed. But it's been a while since I've looked at that kind of thing, so I may not have that exactly right.

@@D3Reads Thanks. The only thing is that up until Putin invaded Ukraine, WW1 was really the only major war in modern history where infantry was static for any length of time. After watching this video and giving it a little thought I would speculate that Heinlein perhaps was trying to convey what would have been their global military force as distinct from how a national military would be organized in our fragmented world today. A more Machiavellian possibility is that separating the different components of the armed forces by their combat role (infantry, artillery, armor...) makes it less likely for any one branch with multiple capabilities under a single command to pull off a coup. So Mobile Infantry was chosen to make it sound distinct, like Army infantry or Marine infantry. Its been a long time since I've read it, might just have to check it out again. (P.S.: 7 years in the artillery.)

It's a time thing. The Military was finally mechanizing, but that limited strategic mobility--to heavy to fly and took a lot of ships to move them. Airborne had strategic mobility, but moved at 4 mph once on the ground--or less. The US Army and USMC were experimenting, at the time, with helicopters, calling it "Airmobile". Heinlein combined the strategic mobility of airborne troops with the tactical mobility and striking power of mechanized infantry by way of the powered armor.

@@mitchellsmith4690 That makes sense, thanks. Still, regardless of whether it is mechanized, airborne, air assault, mountain... infantry has always been mobile. That's kind of the point. Taking what you said here and combining it with my last reply about Heinlein making the infantry its own branch of the military would tie it together quite well. For full disclosure I was an artillery guy in a standard ground pounding infantry division where mobility was everything.

@@deepashtray5605 I was a FISTer in the 82d, then 2 ACR, then the 82d...in terms of tactical mobility, dismounts have very little, and that slow!

Wow I have to admit that I didn't have this one on my radar. It sounds really interesting! I'm putting it on my TBR and will try to read it before the next iteration of this video. Thank you very much!

I got a few comments telling me the background music is too loud or distracting. Since this video I've tuned it down quite a bit, so I hope it's not distracting. Sorry about these first ones, there's been a learning curve to be sure!

Thanks for the insightful comments! You make some very fair observations about the style of the book. I agree some parts are stilted, but I'll dig in on the horror aspects of this novel. I totally agree about how the the creature becomes evil, but horror is woven throughout the story. Some would call it more science fiction than horror, which is fair, but Dr Frankenstein is tormented by a hell of his own creation, and I find it really fascinating (and creepy) throughout. But again, I appreciate your thoughts, and you've definitely made your case!

I'll do just that (I definitely don't need much prompting to read Terry Pratchett)! I will reread Feet of Clay. Like I said in the video, I can easily change my list because Pratchett has so many amazing novels, it's hard to pin down top 10, much less a top 3. Would you say Feet of Clay your absolute favorite Discworld novel?

You're welcome and thank you for checking out the video!

The Last Man on Earth was fantastic! I agree with you there, better than the other adaptations.

Both of these stories are so good. I think the Wendigo does just as good a job as The Willows of building dread as the story progresses. Very well done. I'd love to hear what you think when you get a chance to read it!

@@D3Reads I just downloaded it from Project Guttenberg. I'm really excited to hear that the story builds dread. I want to be scared. Thr Willows really creeped me out. I hope this one will too.

@@Cersey-rd1rh I originally read Blackwood's stories by checking out a collection using Hoopla. But I enjoyed The Wendigo and the Willows so much I went out and bought a hardbound collection. I really like his style.

Point taken. I would like to point out that while Jeff is correct and I was wrong, Jeff can be both correct and dumb at the same time.

​@@D3Readswait minute. Something said

At first I had no idea, and thought it was my mic rubbing against the hoodie zipper. But as I prepared my next video I realized that the mics I wear (which are decent but not the most expensive out there) have a cheap flaw: the power buttons are sort of loose, and rattle when I move. Isn't that stupid? So I implemented a high-tech fix: I put scotch tape on the power button to fix it in place when I record, and it worked!

The video was definitely skewed toward older works (1980s and earlier), those that inspired more recent novels. John Ringo has been brought up at least once from another comment, so I've got him on my TBR list, though I didn't have Alanson on my radar. I appreciate the suggestions! Do you have a favorite you'd recommend to start either author. Looks like Columbus Day makes sense for Alanson.

Wow, thanks so much! And thank you for that comment, I'm really glad you liked it. Do you have any favorites you can recommend? I've learned that as much as I like these kinds of stories a lot of folks have favorites I haven't yet experienced. Thanks again for your comment and super glad you're here!

@@D3Reads Ah, good question! I particularly loved "The Thing on the Doorstep" by Lovecraft. I read it in the middle of the day, in a crowded room, and still managed to feel very freaked out. Another I enjoyed, though it's part of the WarHammer 40K setting, which can be off-putting for some folks, is "The House of Night and Chain" by David Ananndale. That one was an absolutely captivating read.

I read Doorstep so very long ago, but I've never heard of The house of Night and Chain. I just looked it up on Amazon and it sounds intriguing. I love this about TH-cam because I doubt I'd have found out about this any other way, thank you very much!

@@D3Reads OMG thanks so much for actually looking into it! That's awesome of you. It's a great read, whether or not you like 40K, because the horror of it is just very...unpleasantly human, while being profoundly beyond the bounds of our limited moral and intellectual comprehension. Great book. I'd have more recs, but right now I'm on a bit of a Wuxia reading craze, so most of my recommendations at present are more for epic kung fu novels than cosmic horror. But I always come back to cosmic horror, whenever the mood for knowing the unknowable sets in, and then it's time to pull out some Lovecraft (or a cute Arkham Horror book if I'm looking for some very easy reading that just has a light cosmic horror touch to it), and listen to some excessively loud doom metal of course, to set the ambience. :D Anyhow, I hope you enjoy The House of Night and Chain. It was a great read.

Of course! One of the great things I enjoy about these videos is learning about books I may never have considered before. I went a LONG time sticking to authors I was familiar with and rarely ventured into unknown territory, which is really sad. So I'm making up for it now! Just have to make the time to read all these novels and stories. And even better I'll get to recommend them when I update these videos in the future, so more people can learn about them. So I am really grateful for the recommendation!

I haven't read The Croning yet but it sounds really interesting based on the quick search I did and so it's now on my list. Thank you!

We're like the people who post recipes on cooking blogs, like "here's how to make a bowl of cereal for breakfast" and then you have to comb through 2 pages of how the author's grandparents emigrated to America in the 1600s and then built a farm and only had one cow but they used that milk to eat Cheerios or something. And to be fair, I felt this particular video went longer than it should. We just love talking about books! But point taken! I'm looking to add chapters to our videos so you can easily see and skip to the books in the future. Really appreciate the comment!

Added to the list!

Wow, I barely remember that one! I've got to reread it. I went on a Lovecraft kick a few years ago and read everything I could get my hands on. I reread a couple of his "signature" stories for this article, since they're the ones on the Goodreads list. But I know he's got much better stuff out there. Thanks for the comment!

I definitely got a Lovecraft vibe from The Fisherman. But now that you mention it, I thought I had read all of Lovecrafts stories, but I don't think I actually read that one. I did a quick search to "refresh" my memory and I don't remember that one at all. So now I've got a new Lovecraft to read. For that, I thank you! And thanks for the comment!

It’s one of his best I think. Incidentally, I can recommend Lovecraft and Carter - I forget the name of the author, but they are contemporary lovecraftian books and are very well done.

Thanks so much! I really appreciate that. And I can't recommend the Fisherman enough, I really think it's one of my favorite books I've read this year. And I'm hoping to watch that movie soon, maybe even this weekend so when that happens I'll comment here. Thanks again for watching!

HA, thank you very much! Really appreciate the comment, and if you do read any of these let me know what you think. A number of other commenters point out that The Colour out of Space is probably one of Lovecraft's best, and I can't recommend The Ballad of Black Tom enough. Thanks again! ( oh and not a grandpa yet, but probably not that far off either)

I checked out a collection of Algernon Blackwood from Hoopla, but after reading The Willows I bought a bound collection of his work. Really good stuff! And thanks for the comment!

LOL. That's fair. I thought The Shadow over Innsmouth was outright silly. But he's got some real horror out there. But more to the point, there's better horror out there.

I read the Colour Out of Space recently and can definitely recommend. Was disturbing to me at least.

Wow. Try reading The Colour Out of Space and/or The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and if those stories don't evoke your fear and terror then you've got nerves of steel!

I was going to reread the Color Out of Space because I remember it being pretty good! It's been a while and I wanted to refresh my memory before putting up this video, but I ran out of time. It made an impact though so I'll definitely revisit.

I remember liking Colour out of Space (though it's been a while) and I will definitely reread. Innsmouth just didn't do it for me. It starts strong, but I felt it didn't deliver in the end. Thanks for your comment!

Just checked it out and it sounds really interesting. Adding to the Must Read List, thanks!

Thanks for sharing that! Listening to War of the Worlds while on duty in theater on Halloween, that sounds like the setting for sci fi or horror story itself. Really appreciate that fantastic comment!

I'll give them a look and add them to the channel list! Thank you!

Thanks for that! I've been looking over his books on Amazon and he's got a lot of interesting stuff out there, from zombies to historic fiction. Do you have a recommendation on a good place to start? A favorite or must read of his work?

The infection book 1 & book 2 are my favorite because its 28 days later meets the mist. And horror scifi is my jam. Tooth & nail is a good one shot novel with all the main characters are the army but its not scifi. The aviator is 2 novellas about a navy fighter pilot vs north korea(not scifi). I still plan on reading more of his work

I've read some of Zelazny years ago, thanks for reminding me! But I don't think I've read any of the Amber books, though, so I'll add that to my list (I'm compiling a list from comments and plan on sharing that soon) of must reads, so thank you! I have to admit that I'm not familiar with Gerrold though. It looks like the first in the Chtorr books is out of print but available used. I'll have to add that to my list when I head to the used book store soon. So thank you for that as well!