Aberzombie wrote: The other day I reread Dune, just because it had been over a year (I think).
Now I’m rereading REH stuff. Many years ago, when I was living in Philadelphia, someone put out an 11 book series (that’s how many I bought, at least). I’m pretty sure the series printed pretty much everything he’d ever written, including fragments.
The Del Rey series?
I've got a bunch of those. Not everything he wrote was gold, but there's a lot of good stuff in there.
"Thirteen o'clock and other zero hours" by C.M. Kornbluth, under the pen name Cyril Corwin. The titular story is described by James Blish as Carrollian but I feel it more Ozish (Ozian? Ozic?). Strictly speaking it's more like an L. Sprague deCamp story than Carrol or Baum. Whatever, it was amusing if rather dated in its portrayal of women.
I took a break from reading REH to work through the first two HP books. However, since today would have been REH’s birthday, I’ll have to go back his stuff.
The last story in 13 o'clock was a rather amusing very 'meta' story. all in all, a decent read, though I doubt I will reread it any time soon.
Now nearing half way through Charles Sheffield's The Nimrod Hunt. human creations go rogue and start killing people and flee to the edge of known space. So far, apart from the initial incident we have seen neither hide nor hair of the enemy, onyl the humans tasked with trying to find and eliminat them. Decent enough story though it shows its age with a passage explaining how despite being good enough to model DNA in every conceivable way, computers 800 or so years in the future are still incapable of beating chess grandmasters.
The Nimrod Hunt was OK. The monsters were something of a McGuffin and the ending and its consequences were abrupt and should have been explored a bit more. Bonus points to Sheffield for trying to make aliens a bit more alien than most pop SF, even if it was rather superficial.
Now on to the Aeniad.
My wife backed a Kickstarter for a "lunarpunk" anthology titled Bioluminescent, which a friend of ours has a story in. We received our copy last week, and I've read through about half of it so far. I'm still trying to get my head around this new subgenre (which this anthology is trying to help define) but it's an intriguing collection.
Making my way through the Mekton Zeta core book.
I just finished "The Long Walk" by Stephen King a day ago. Such an underrated Stephen King book imo, loved every bit of it.
After completing the HP series again, I’ve gone back to REH. Now I’m working my way through the second of the three Conan collections. This one primarily had three stories: The People of the Black Circle, The Hour of the Dragon, and A Witch Shall be Born.
Bjørn Røyrvik wrote: The Nimrod Hunt was OK. The monsters were something of a McGuffin and the ending and its consequences were abrupt and should have been explored a bit more. Bonus points to Sheffield for trying to make aliens a bit more alien than most pop SF, even if it was rather superficial.
Now on to the Aeniad.
The swarm of beetles-alien was really neat. (Tinker Composite?) The plant/mineral hybrid felt like a reach too far, though, like he was just trying to go completely out-there exotic.
I've got two different copies of this story, under two different titles. I feel like it's been published to death under various names, like 'The Mind Pool' or whatever. I see one and I'm like, 'I liked that other book by this guy!' and then I'm a few pages in 'Waitaminute... It's the same darn book!'
Set wrote: The swarm of beetles-alien was really neat. (Tinker Composite?) The plant/mineral hybrid felt like a reach too far, though, like he was just trying to go completely out-there exotic.
My thoughts exactly. Set wrote: The swarm of beetles-alien was really neat. (Tinker Composite?) The plant/mineral hybrid felt like a reach too far, though, like he was just trying to go completely out-there exotic.
I've got two different copies of this story, under two different titles. I feel like it's been published to death under various names, like 'The Mind Pool' or whatever. I see one and I'm like, 'I liked that other book by this guy!' and then I'm a few pages in 'Waitaminute... It's the same darn book!'
Lemme guess, American vs British edition?
It's not my favorite Sheffiled book, not like "Between the strokes of night" or "Convergent series" (barring the last one), but it's better than "My brother's keeper".
I moved on to the third of the Conan books in my REH collection. This one has The Servants of Bit-Yakin, Beyond the Black River, The Black Stranger, The Man-Eaters of Zamboula and Red Nails.
'Transit to Scorpio' by Alan Burt Akers, 'Pagan Britain', by Ronald Hutton, and 'Ten Luminous Emanations' by Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag.
I was just looking for something new to read. Thanks to your recommendations, I found several books that interested me.
I read Pterry's The Carpet People, for some light entertainment. I need to track down the original version and see how it holds up.
Now on to Rumaan Alam's Leave the world behind. About 15% of the book (so far) is setting the stage and ramming home the mundanity of the initial situation. I'm generally ok with a rambling, slow start but this is a little too focused on the inconsequential details and I find myself getting a little bored. I assume it will pick up soon.
"Impossible city". Karen Cheng
Set wrote: Bjørn Røyrvik wrote: The Nimrod Hunt was OK. The monsters were something of a McGuffin and the ending and its consequences were abrupt and should have been explored a bit more. Bonus points to Sheffield for trying to make aliens a bit more alien than most pop SF, even if it was rather superficial.
Now on to the Aeniad.
The swarm of beetles-alien was really neat. (Tinker Composite?) The plant/mineral hybrid felt like a reach too far, though, like he was just trying to go completely out-there exotic.
I've got two different copies of this story, under two different titles. I feel like it's been published to death under various names, like 'The Mind Pool' or whatever. I see one and I'm like, 'I liked that other book by this guy!' and then I'm a few pages in 'Waitaminute... It's the same darn book!'
Holy s%~@.
You're back.
Leave the World Behind was a disappointment. Uninteresting characters, took too long to get started with the Event, a vague cataclysm which we never find out what was, and with nothing but the most oblique references to the wider world which might have shed light on the situation. Honestly, it felt like half a book, with the more interesting half left off.
Now about 7 chapters in to Any McDermott's "The Tomb of Hercules". In translation, sadly, but it was a free book so I won't complain too much. It's action-packed and not boring, though thus far I'm not sure it's particularly good.
"The emperor's new mind" by Roger Penrose
I'm just over half way through "The Tomb of Hercules", which at over 500 pages should tell you how easy a read it is. It's basically a Michael Bay movie in book format. There is at least not as much 'humor' as Bay's movies have.
Now about 1/4 of the way through Charles de Lint's Moonheart. I haven't read much by de Lint, just 4 or 5 novels plus a couple of short story collections, but whenever I do I ask myself one question: why don't I read more?
It remains to be seen if this one stays as good all the way through as it is now, but I'm guessing it will.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
I just started Aliens: Phalanx by Scott Sigler. This will be my first foray into the Aliens series of books, though I did read William Gibson's unused Alien 3 script from 1987. That was pretty good, and would have taken the movie series in a much different direction than what we ended up with.
Nearly done with John Appel's Assassin's Orbit. It's quite entertaining. The SF aspect is fun but nothing special, the intrigue is fine, the characters are entertaining and the action is good and works in service of the story rather than being the point of the story. I may have to get more by this author.
Assassin's Orbit makes me want to read more of the cast and setting. The original story was pitched as nBSG meets Golden Girls. It's more like Golden Girls on DS9, but I'll forgive the different direction the book took from pitch to final product.
Most of the way through Andy McDermott's "The Secret of Excalibur". I've previously compared these stories to Michael Bay movies, but an equally apt comparison would be D&D adventures. Hidden treasures, conspiracies, lots of action, etc. Not terribly good but bad. Entertaining enough to read once and not be bored.
I'm a third of the way through Allison Croggon's The Gift, which so far is a pretty average.
Protagonist from Humble Beginnings (TM) who is secretly a sort of princess and the Chosen Fated One, has special powers and is almost supernaturally talented at picking up new skills (like learning to read in less than two weeks), meets the usual cast of characters who instantly are either super nice or pointlessly mean, set to fight the BBEG who is returning and spreading his darkness across the land.
I also get the feeling the author is a big fan of Tolkien, considering the framing device and the amount of poetry she puts in. To be fair, she's a poet so that bit isn't too surprising.
Croggon went the extra mile in trying to portray her story as lost manuscripts from a forgotten age in that she actually added a bibliography of ficitonal academic works. Points for effort. It still feels like a generic pseudo-medieval fantasy, not something set before the last Ice Age. If I find more books cheap I may pick them up.
Now on to The SEcret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch. This was actually my first introduction to Twin Peaks in the early 90s, and I don't remember much about it. Since we watched all of TP a couple years ago I felt it was time to revisit the book. First impressions: it doesn't feel like a 12 year old girl wrote it, but I'll admit I'm no expert on the psychology or writing ability of 12-year old girls.
My wife and I lost most of our The Sandman collection in a flood ages and ages ago, and until recently, it's been far too expensive to replace the books we lost. However, I've learned that DC reprinted the series in new, much more affordable last year, so I picked up and re-read Book 1 this weekend. I greatly enjoyed the first season of the Netflix series, so it was well past time to re-read the original! (And very conveniently, Book 1 breaks right about exactly where S1 does, at the close of "Dream Country.")
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'Otherlands', by Thomas Halliday. It describes various different environments from the very, very distant past, and the flora & fauna present, and it's flippin' great.
I've also been revisiting the Lone Wolf gamebooks - I'm up to number seven, though the rest will have to wait until I can find them - so I'm reading 'Swords Against Deviltry' by Fritz Leiber while I wait.
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Limeylongears wrote: 'Otherlands', by Thomas Halliday. It describes various different environments from the very, very distant past, and the flora & fauna present, and it's flippin' great.
I've also been revisiting the Lone Wolf gamebooks - I'm up to number seven, though the rest will have to wait until I can find them - so I'm reading 'Swords Against Deviltry' by Fritz Leiber while I wait.
get a d10. even blindfolded i know where the numbers are!
I remembered basically nothing of TSDoLP, and I can only assume I didn't understand a lot what was going on when I first read it because it was quite unpleasant in many ways, and considering how wimpy I was when I read it I'm sure it would have made more of an impression on me if I had 'gotten it'.
Nearly done with the first volume of Battle Angel Alite: Lost Order.
BLA is one of my SO's favorite manga and I like it too, but for some reason she never wanted to get Last Order. So I did. I'm enjoying it.
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Thanks to Loot the Body's song, I'm revisiting Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter .
Not as good as his short stories like "Time and the Gods", but still a classic.
Bjørn Røyrvik wrote: Nearly done with John Appel's Assassin's Orbit. It's quite entertaining. The SF aspect is fun but nothing special, the intrigue is fine, the characters are entertaining and the action is good and works in service of the story rather than being the point of the story. I may have to get more by this author. Based on the mention here, I checked it out and it was pretty fun. I like that the main characters are not at all newbies or rookies!
Thanks for the recommendation!
I read Zach Weinersmith's (of SMBC fame) new book Bea Wolf. If you aren't familiar with his work (where this has been advertised for some time now) and the title didn't give it away, it's his retelling of Beowulf, for and starring children. It's absolutely wonderful. Pseudo-OE poetic full of kennings and alliteration, great art, and a treat for all those who love the original poem or just want a cool story to tell their kids. It only goes up to the fight against Grendel, so we can hope he will write a couple more books in the series.
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I'm rereading A Midsummer Night's Dream because one of my sons is in the cast for his high school's production of it this spring.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
I have recently started Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences by John Allen Paulos. I forgot who recommended it to me but it should be a good read.
I got a little reading done on my vacation. "King of Elfland's Daughter" was good. Not Dunsany's best work but it's hard to match "Time and the Gods" so that's not a slam against him.
Diana Wynne Jones' The Merlin Conspiracy was not her best. 'Not her best' is about like saying 'not Pratchett's best work' - it's still pretty good by most standards.
Sherri Tepper's The Singer from the Sea which is pretty much Herbert's "Dune" mixed with Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", with a dash of Jane Austen. It's good but Tepper does get a bit preachy and those who don't like preachiness might be put off by certain bits. I agree with most of her positions and I find it a little excessive.
Noel Streatfeild's Theater Shoes, about three children getting into the theater scene in WWII London. I thought it started better than it finished, but it was a time killer if not particularly memorable.
Some book I can't remember the name of by some dude I can't remember the name of. It was his autobiography of growing up on a farm in rural Norway in the 30s and 40s, with a bit of local history. A fascinating insight into what life was like then, and how in many respects it hadn't changed much in 100 years or so. The most important thing is that he was from a neighboring valley from where my grandfather grew up (the valley where my family's cabin is and where I have spent a lot of vacations) and lots of the people mentioned were ones I knew, had met once or twice , or at least heard of. I even learned a little bit of family history from the book.
Currently reading le Guin's Lavinia, which I've had my eye on for a while but put off reading until I had read the Aeniad. So far it's good, as expected of le Guin.
'One Eye', by Stuart Gordon, a very solid post-apocalypse science fantasy adventure, 'On The Kabbalah And Its Symbolism' by Gershon Scholem (great section on the golem), and 'The Curious Lore of Precious Stones', by George Frederick Katz.
Lavinia was good, as expected by le Guin.
Currently reading Beyond Darkness and Madness, the GM guide for Kult: Divinity Lost.
KDL is probably the best edition of Kult. It's certainly the prettiest. The GMG is a good guide on how to structure and run a good Kult game, how to create atmosphere and more. It's a lot nicer than old school Kult in the sense that it makes a big deal of the Horror Contract and communication and clear limits for players and GM, where 1e merely had a 'recommended for 16 and older' and possibly some vague mutterings about not being too much of a dick. Much of the book will work well for any type of horror game, though you may want to tone things down since Kult by design is meant to be intense and nasty.
I can't recall which book I read after this but the one I finished most recently was Brian Aldiss' The Male Response. I'm performing all sorts of mental gymnastics to convince myself the satire is more subtle than I believe it to be but I'm stuck with a story that didn't age too well and comes off as rather chauvinistic and not a little racist. Some of this is that we see everything from the POV of the protagonist who is obviously and explicitly not meant to be perfect but there is more to it than that.
I could be reading too much in to things since I frankly don't know much about the Westernization ('civilization') of certain parts of Africa and if the portrayal here is based on real stuff then my fears are mostly unfounded. If the portrayals are based more on contemporary popular understanding of the subject and less on facts, this can be a bit distasteful.
In short, unless you are a big fan of Aldiss (much of his stuff is good and I recommend him in general), you don't need to read this one.
Now reading Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, the first of the Locked Tomb stories. The book has a quote from Charles Stross (who I like and heartily recommend) on the front which is in actuality a mere description and not a recommendation. The start gives us some fun worlds with some ok supporting cast and a protagonist who tries too hard to be edgy and quippy. I'm not too far along but my initial impression was that this is basiclly a try-hard shounen anime in novel form, with a strong element of Gormenghast.
Still, lesbian space necromancers dungeon crawling in space castle-tombs is a hook that will if nothing else garner a second look.
I liked Gideon quite a bit, along with the rest of the series. It's a bit of a slow burn, with a lot of time spent setting things up before the pay off. There's a lot simmering underneath Gideon's edgy, quippy surface - and beneath Harrow's as well.
One of the interesting tricks, that's true in the other two books in the series as well, is that our viewpoint character really knows the least of what's going on of anyone in the cast and the answers aren't fed to her or to us either. They reward a reread as well - to pick up on all the hints you missed the first time around.
Over 10 years ago, I tried to read Pathfinder Tales: Winter Witch and quit before getting halfway through it. I spoke about why I disliked it (in this thread). The short version of my rant involves the two main characters, Declan and Ellasif. I felt that Declan was uninteresting. Ellasif was interesting, but I thought that her actions - specifically her motives for going on the adventure - were foolish and morally reprehensible, so I felt no sympathy for her.
Over 10 years later - simply because I felt in the mood to read a "D&D-like" novel and I had already covered so much of Winter Witch - I picked up the book from where I had left off. I have 9 pages to go; I plan to finish it tomorrow. I still feel the same way about the characters, but at least Ellasif began to ADMIT to herself that what she had done was foolish and wrong.
And I finally got to read a novel set in Irrisen. I kept thinking about how much I would have loved it back in 2010, when I was a Golarion fan.
Gideon the Ninth picked up but I'm not sure I'll bother picking up the rest of the series.
Our eponymous protagonist wasn't particularly interesting, there were some moments of character development that seemed forced and overly hasty, and the use of modern idiom /slang was jarring. The world building was ok and necromantic powers were the real star of the novel. As a fan of necromancy in general I plan to mine it for stuff.
In many ways the magic of GtN reminds me of the magic of Charles Stross' Laundry Files/New Management series, though significantly nicer.
I recently acquired and read Volume 2 of the recent The Sandman reprints, so I am now halfway through rereading the series.
I'm currently rereading Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos, which collects early stories of some key Mythos elements contributed by other authors.
Forgot to mention last update that I am currently rereading John Crowley's Little, big. It's so gentle and slice-of-lifey and the supernatural elements are woven in the text with such a delicate touch that it is easy to accept them with only the barest ripple of wonder. I really loved this book the first time I read it, so it remains to be seen if it still rates highly. Sings point to 'yes'.
A History of Halifax (Halifax in West Yorkshire, not Halifax, Nova Scotia), and 'The Lemurian Stone', by Stephen F. Hickman.
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I just finished Tsalmoth by Steven Brust. Some interesting backstory on Vlad's early interactions with the Left Hand, which tie in (via the epilogue) to the ending of Hawk. Also a couple of very interesting plot twists that I won't spoil regarding Vlad himself and his attitude toward Verra.
Limeylongears wrote: 'The Lemurian Stone', by Stephen F. Hickman. A bit anime in feel, IMO, but a pretty enjoyable read from what I recall.
I learned this past week that the webtoon Lore Olympus is available in print collections, so I picked up and read Volume 1. (There are at least 2 more volumes, but the bookstore I saw them at didn't have v.2, alas.) I started reading this series online years ago, but couldn't keep up with it despite enjoying it a great deal. It's a retelling of Greek myth focusing on the budding romance between Hades and Persephone, with modern touches including cars, smartphones, apartments, clubs, etc. The art is pretty, and frequently on the cutesy side, but the story is surprisingly deep, and doesn't shy away from the darker sides of the Greek gods. (The front matter includes a somewhat vaguely worded, but justified, content warning.)
'Sefer Yetzirah', translated and commented upon by Aryeh Kaplan, and 'The City In The Autumn Stars', by Michael Moorcock.
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