Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

Our October group read theme is Memorable Sidekicks. Each member is welcome to make one nomination for an action/adventure novel that has a 'memorable sidekick' by adding the title or bookcover link (using the add book/author tab above the comment box) on Goodreads. If your book is not added by using the link on Goodreads, it will not be added to the poll.

Guidelines:

*The book must be readily available--new in print (not just used) or in ebook.
*The book must be the first in an ongoing connected series or a standalone (or it can be a later book in a series that is not interconnected to the other books).
*Any books that have previously been featured as group reads on Action/Adventure Aficionados are ineligible for nomination. You can see which books have been group reads by going to this thread:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...

The poll will be posted on September 8th.

Nominations so far:

Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds by Brian Daley
For Love of Mother-Not by Alan Dean Foster
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes anthology

I am going to kick this off by recommending the book where my favourite sidekick first appeared. , the first "Scarecrow" book by Matthew Reilly. Captain Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield is A Marine Force Recon unit leader and has a number of sidekicks. The best by far is Gena Newman AKA Mother. She is the most non stereotypical female character I have ever encountered in an A/A book and god help anyone who crosses her or Scarecrow.

Henry wrote: "I am going to kick this off by recommending the book where my favourite sidekick first appeared. , the first "Scarecrow" book by Matthew Reilly. Captain Shane "Scarecr..."

Great choice...Mother is one of my favorites too!

Mother's cool!

How about Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds or the Adventures of Alacrity Fitzhugh and Hobart Floyt!

This is going old school Sci-fy, but as I recall, there was a lot action from space yacht racing to assasins and all sorts of things. This is written by Brian Daley and a fun story.

Available at Amazon in Paperback in the States as low as $3.99 with the Kindle version available for less than 6 dollars.

Paperback and Kindle available Available at Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the UK

I'm not nominating this just stating mention memorable sidekick and my brain can't get past Sancho Panza from Dan Quixote

Hugh got me thinking about old duo's. I like his pick, but I'll toss Pip & Flinx into the mix with For Love of Mother-Not, the first of the series. Orphan & pet mini-dragon in an SF setting by Alan Dean Foster.

I almost wient with Pip & Flinx! Good choice!

Travis of NNY wrote: "I'm not nominating this just stating mention memorable sidekick and my brain can't get past Sancho Panza from Dan Quixote"

Great, now I can't get my brain past Quickdraw McGraw and .... damn... I'll never sleep until I remember the name of his little burro sidekick! Guadalupe.... no, no, that's not it... Damn.

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Travis of NNY wrote: "I'm not nominating this just stating mention memorable sidekick and my brain can't get past Sancho Panza from Dan Quixote"

Great, now I can't get my brain past Quickdraw McGr..."

Babba Looey Haha, I can't spell .

ba-ba LOOEY! that's right. He was El-KaBong's! Sidekick. El-Kabong's Secret Identity was Quickdraw McGraw!

Thank you (Sigh of releif) now I can sleep tonight).

And Arthur was "THE TICK's" Side kick.... but thats going a whole other direction.

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "ba-ba LOOEY! that's right. He was El-KaBong's! Sidekick. El-Kabong's Secret Identity was Quickdraw McGraw!

Thank you (Sigh of releif) now I can sleep tonight).

And Arthur was "THE TICK's" ..."

Where did he pull all those guitars out of?!

I should have written Don not Dan I blame auto correct it doesn't think don is a word

Travis of NNY wrote: "I, Curmudgeon wrote: "ba-ba LOOEY! that's right. He was El-KaBong's! Sidekick. El-Kabong's Secret Identity was Quickdraw McGraw!

Thank you (Sigh of releif) now I can sleep tonight).

And Ar..."

Tell that to the Sopranos

Great so far off topic now I can't think of Zorro's sidekick

Wait not zorro I mean the lone ranger

Travis of NNY wrote: "Great so far off topic now I can't think of Zorro's sidekick"

Ah-crap...thanks a lot Travis. MAGICATS! a little help please.

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Travis of NNY wrote: "Great so far off topic now I can't think of Zorro's sidekick"

Ah-crap...thanks a lot Travis. MAGICATS! a little help please."

Bernardo

Travis of NNY wrote: "Wait not zorro I mean the lone ranger"

Tonto

Hey guys, I am going out now. You are on your own. LOL!

and for those of you "on track" and wondering where this is going...

there are some wonderful side kicks that haven't been mentioned and are in books for adults rather than cartoons for... adults... ::cough::

Like Joe Kowolski who started in "Ice Hunt" but has been a running partner of Gray Pierce for all of the Sigma Force Novels by James Rollins (not a nomination...just gettin' us back on track.

Al Giordino from Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt Series.

Harry from Konrath's "Jack Daniels" series. (I don't want to know where he got the monkey okay. Just don't tell me.)


The Chess Team Adventures by Jeremy Robinson where an entire team of cool bad-assed dudes hang out.

and for a more recent read that I enjoyed, a wonderful host of Sidekicks in Earthman Jack by Matthew Kadish, including a robot evil genius!

(Hecubus for Evil Genious of the Millenium!)

The Spinward Fringe Series by Randolf Lalonde has Stephanie (sigh), she's so...hot... ::blink, blink::) (cough) Um I mean Stephanie and Frost her buttheaded sometimes Side-kick sometimes Boyfriend (sometimes Ex-Boyfriend...you get the idea).

And Salley and Keith Pomeroy's Buttler and Tommy! (Tommy's cool!)

Magiccats wrote: "Hey guys, I am going out now. You are on your own. LOL!"

Thanks for the Emergency Rush on Side-kick naming help. Who else would have remembered Bernardo? .. only you.. we are forever in your debet.

(Travis, She's my hero!)

(and I'm proud to be Eileen and Lady D's Sometimes moody sidekick too.)

Holy make sure to never play trivial pursuit with magiccats Batman!

You all have been very funny this morning!



(Curmudgeon, never a dull moment)

Not sure if we are able to nominate an anthology, but if so, thought this one might be fun. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes . It's a collection of short fiction stories that feature Holmes and Watson across a multitude of genres including fantsy, sci-fi, horror, etc., by such authors as Stephen King and Neil Gaimen.

It sounds like a good nomination to me. We haven't done short stories, but, why not? Their viable parts of the writing and book worlds. Heck Chicks in Chainmail wouldn't be a bad nomination...(cept I already made one).

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Heck Chicks in Chainmail wouldn't be a bad nomination...(ce..."

Ha Ha, nobody would have been able to resist a book with that title!

I didn't nominate it because it doesn't come in a kindle version..

(view spoiler)[ or an illustrated version. (hide spoiler)]

:P

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "I didn't nominate it because it doesn't come in a kindle version..

[spoilers removed]

:P"

(view spoiler)[Smart decisions were not made here by the publishers...an illustrated version would definitely have been a bestseller!!! (hide spoiler)] :)

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "How about Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds or the Adventures of Alacrity Fitzhugh and Hobart Floyt!

This is going old school Sci-fy, but as I recall, there was a lot action from space yacht racing ...Brian Daley "

I used to like Brian Daly. I like Kowalski. Dr. Watson is outstanding.

It is my experience that Trivial Pursuit and related games favor the oldest person in the group. ;-)

@ Lisa P, we don't have a rule against anthologies, although we did rule out omnibus collections. So why not? It's only 454 pages.

Lisa P wrote: "I, Curmudgeon wrote: "I didn't nominate it because it doesn't come in a kindle version..

[spoilers removed]

:P"

[spoilers removed] :)"

(view spoiler)[ You got dat right, Sister!...and it would have been very popular with the Navy (hide spoiler)] LOL

:D

I'm good with my nomination, still, but there are a lot of good sidekicks out there. I was thinking maybe Gilgamesh and Enkidu, but, nobody wants to be dragging around stone tablits and my cuneiform is a little rusty. (Yes, that means even the first written story anybody has found and documented (Oldest) had a side-kick in it. And it was a bit James Rollins-ish but there was some action and adventure in that, and a Goddess and a Preistess and all. Or so I'm told.

That's the history lesson for today.

The poll is up:

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/90312

It closes on the 15th.

Ice Station won the poll. Join us in October for the discussion!