Erik Mona Chief Creative Officer, Publisher |
Les Miserables is a Great Book. I'd skip the chapter on poop in the Paris sewer system, though. It's boring as hell and has nothing to do with the story. My (Penguin) edition moved it to an appendix.
I'm currently reading:
The Hounds of Skaith by Leigh Brackett
Citadel of the Star-Lords by Edmond Hamilton
Who Fears the Devil by Manly Wade Wellman (my current favorite of the year)
I still haven't finished:
The Shores of Death by Michael Moorcock (this is really good, but it keeps slipping down the priority pile for one reason or another).
On the plane home for Thanksgiving I finished "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the final John Carter of Mars story) and a novella by C. L. Moore entitled "Paradise Road." Both were excellent.
--Erik
Jebadiah U. |
Recently finished China Mieville's "Iron Council." The second book of his I've read. They were both okay, better in some parts, worse in others. Now I'm less than 100 pages into "Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson. It is definitely literature...but I'm enjoying it anyway. I've read a few magazine articles Johnson's written (he did a really great piece for Harper's about Charles Taylor's child soldiers in Liberia--they're called the Small Boys Army) and two novels, "Jesus' Son" and "Angels". I preferred the latter.
Erik Mona Chief Creative Officer, Publisher |
Recently finished China Mieville's "Iron Council." The second book of his I've read. They were both okay, better in some parts, worse in others. Now I'm less than 100 pages into "Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson. It is definitely literature...but I'm enjoying it anyway. I've read a few magazine articles Johnson's written (he did a really great piece for Harper's about Charles Taylor's child soldiers in Liberia--they're called the Small Boys Army) and two novels, "Jesus' Son" and "Angels". I preferred the latter.
I read Jesus' Son in college and thought it was one of the better "modern" books they had us read. What's Angels about?
Andrew Turner |
The Spiraling Worm by David Conyers and John Sunseri. Very good. Probably the best, modern, non-pastiche man vs. the Mythos stories I've ever read. Nice in this Chaosium collection is something I've never seen them do in past anthologies: each story is interconnected and follows a handful of protagonists. I enjoy all the Chaosium and ESP collections because I'm a sucker for them, but this one is really, really good. Recommended (and don't judge this book by its really, really crappy cover--Chaosium spent about a decade putting out photomontage covers that everyone universally hated, so now they're back to cartoonish, computer-rendered stuff that just looks amateurish. Oh, well.).
Kirth Gersen |
I'm currently reading:
Who Fears the Devil by Manly Wade Wellman (my current favorite of the year)
Great stuff! I got hooked on his "Silver John" novels and moved on from there. It's almost too bad there are already published collections... MWW would otherwise be a great addition to the "Planet Stories" line.
Jebadiah U. |
I read Jesus' Son in college and thought it was one of the better "modern" books they had us read. What's Angels about?
It's like Jesus' Son in that it's gritty and depressing, but unlike Jesus' Son in that it's not written in a minimalist style but something much closer to Joan Didion or Robert Stone. The book starts when a single mom gets on a bus in Oakland with her two kids, meets a guy who is clearly homicidal, and for no particularly explicable reason decides to stay with him. It gets worse from there. This guy reappears in Tree of Smoke as a supporting character.
TwilightKing |
Vomit Guy wrote:After his work on Ralph!, I'm a bit sceptical about a sequel. The first book had such a definitive ending and it just seems like a play for more money.I am currently reading Splooooorrrtch by Will Upchuck
** spoiler omitted **
But Splooooorrrtch just sounds like it will have a lot more volume than Ralph!, more meat if you will. A hefty chunk of a book.
rclifton |
Les Miserables is a Great Book. I'd skip the chapter on poop in the Paris sewer system, though. It's boring as hell and has nothing to do with the story. My (Penguin) edition moved it to an appendix.
I'm currently reading:
The Hounds of Skaith by Leigh Brackett
Citadel of the Star-Lords by Edmond Hamilton
Who Fears the Devil by Manly Wade Wellman (my current favorite of the year)I still haven't finished:
The Shores of Death by Michael Moorcock (this is really good, but it keeps slipping down the priority pile for one reason or another).
On the plane home for Thanksgiving I finished "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the final John Carter of Mars story) and a novella by C. L. Moore entitled "Paradise Road." Both were excellent.
--Erik
Any chance of Planet Stories publishing Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John books???? Puh-leasssseeeeee!!!!!!!!
Erik Mona Chief Creative Officer, Publisher |
Shem |
The Diamond Throne; by David Eddings
I love that book and series. If I ever play a Paladin (I prefer the term Knight) he will be a bit more like Sparhawk than my DM will probably be comfortable with.
I just finished City of Beast (Planet Stories) and am now reading the Anubis Murders. I will probably read the other book that has been released in the series next by C.L. Lewis.
Oliver von Spreckelsen |
After finishing all 3 Azzie Elbub books from Zelazny/Sheckley I have started with the first book in a Norwegian series "The Saga of the Icefolk" translated to German (name: Trollbundet / Bewitched / Der Zauberbund).
Bran 637 |
"The deed of Paksenarrion" by Elizabeth Moon. It's been a loooong time I haven't discovered such a great author. Since Robin Hobb and Georges RR Martin in fact :) Too much FR books clouded my judgement I guess ;o)
BTW "Shadowbred" and "Shadowstorm" by Paul S. Kemp are good readings if you like gritty FR novels.
I'm also reading "Trend Following" by Michael S. Covel. A must-read if you're looking for a robust trading method and a few rules to start trading.
Bran.
The Jade |
I'm viddying a real flip horrorshow biblio called 'A Clockwork Orange' by some starry chelloveck name o' Anthony Burgess. It's full o' the old ultraviolence, O my brothers, as well as no malenky mesto o' the red, red krovvy. O my droogies, 'tis a horrorshow vesch.
After we treat these foul eunich jellies real horrorshow-like, we can head down to the Moloko.
I knew a guy in HS (Nicky Scandifio sp?) who actually mocked the Moloko in NYC. He may have even medicated the milk.
Jit |
After finishing all 3 Azzie Elbub books from Zelazny/Sheckley I have started with the first book in a Norwegian series "The Saga of the Icefolk" translated to German (name: Trollbundet / Bewitched / Der Zauberbund).
1 down , 46 to go:).
Reading "The Buddenbrooks" by T. Mann, just because i found it in "the most boring book" thread, not the quickest of reads but interesting.
"The Electric church" by Jeff Somers, methinks the author has been playing to much Shadowrun ...
"Baltimore blues" Laura Lippman, crime and rowing.
Finished "Midshipman's hope" by David Feintuch, it's Hornblower in space, with a bit too much corporal punishment for my taste .
Oliver von Spreckelsen |
Oliver von Spreckelsen wrote:After finishing all 3 Azzie Elbub books from Zelazny/Sheckley I have started with the first book in a Norwegian series "The Saga of the Icefolk" translated to German (name: Trollbundet / Bewitched / Der Zauberbund).1 down , 46 to go:).
There are only 9 available in German (I did not choose Scandinavian languages with my bonus languages for Int - German, English + Latin for me, with a teensy bit of French thrown in). But as they are currently reissued, there is a chance that the new publisher may not stop with Book 9...
MetalMaiden |
Reading now:
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever: Book 1: Lord Foul's Bane.
Oh, these are some of my favorite books! I'm eagerly anticipating the completion of The Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. But, I guess I shouldn't get too eager because the last book isn't due out unitl 2013.
I recently finished reading Hood by Stephen Lawhead. I hope I get Scarlet for Christmas.
Wayne Ligon |
Just finshed 'Hero' (Superhero prose fiction by Perry Moore; I give it an average C for a first novel; at least he didn't go with the two egregious cliches I thought he would use - 'Soon I Will Be Invincible' by Austin Grossman is a much better superhero novel), and started on 'Money' by Terry Prachett (which features Mr Lipwick from 'Going Postal').
Swamp Druid |
recently finished:
Rising - Brian Keene
It's a decent apocalyptic zombie novel. It's got a different take than most zombie novels I've read. The zombies are created by demons that inhabit the bodies of the dead (including nonhuman animals).
Currently reading:
The House of Morgan - Ron Chernow
It's about the history of the Morgan banking empire.
Taxing Ourselves - Joel Slemrod and Jon Bakija
A non-technical look at various tax systems. A really good explanation of the different tax systems that have been proposed without taking sides for a particular approach.
Paul Wilson |
Currently about 1/3 of the way through The Well of Ascension, the second book in the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. The first book in the series was incredible and while this one is suffering slightly from a case of "middle book"-itus, I still highly recommend it. The magic system he has developed for this is one of the most original ones I've seen in years.
BTW, in case no one else has bothered to mention this somewhere else on here, Brandon Sanderson has been hired to complete the final book in Jordan's Wheel of Time series.
Erik Mona Chief Creative Officer, Publisher |
I recently finished "Citadel of the Star-Lords" by Edmond Hamilton and "Skeleton-Men of Jupiter" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
I'm about to finish a novella called "Battle in the Dawn" by Manly Wade Wellman, from a 1938 issue of Amazing Stories. The early human warrior Hok and his tribe encounter the brutal Neanderthals in the danger-filled plains of ancient Europe. It's pretty incredible, and Wellman remains my favorite discovery of 2007.
I hope to get a chance to republish this story in a Planet Stories anthology some time in the next year or so. It's wonderful.
--Erik