Just finished Dance this morning--I estimate it took me around 50 hours of reading. To all of you who read it in a couple days: you are gods among men, and I have absolutely no understanding of how you pulled it off, but bravo-bravo.
It's a combination of fast reading speed, speed reading tricks, and not sleeping.
And methamphetamines.
Starting Televisionary Oracle by Rob Brezney. So far reminds me very much of Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus Trilogy. So I am heading back into that one next, to complete my trip down that lane will be re-reads of the Principia Discordia, and Dharma Bums by Kerouac.
To add some new to the ones I've already read:
Naked Lunch- Burroughs
and Disinfo's Biography of Bryon Gysin- Everything is Permitted.
and Dharma Bums by Kerouac.
To add some new to the ones I've already read:
Naked Lunch- Burroughs
and Disinfo's Biography of Bryon Gysin- Everything is Permitted.
Speaking of methamphetamines...
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Just finished Dance this morning--I estimate it took me around 50 hours of reading. To all of you who read it in a couple days: you are gods among men, and I have absolutely no understanding of how you pulled it off, but bravo-bravo.It's a combination of fast reading speed, speed reading tricks, and not sleeping.
Maybe I should have said, "to all of you with full-time jobs and families, who couldn't possibly take a 48 hour sabbatical from Life..."
Now, Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This is technically a reread, but the last time I was some 12 or 13 years old. I'm about 50 pages in and it's all new to me; I don't remember any of it, but it's great. I never read the three sequels, so they're on the list.
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Next up is probably going to be Best Served Cold.
+1
That was the first one I read by Abercrombie, and I thought it was great. All the characters are vicious little gems, but I think I like Nicomo Cosca best.
Probably the evilest fantasy novel I've ever read.
Finally finished it; too much going on to distract me. It's the only thing of Abercrombie I've read so far, and it won't be the last. The way he handled Monza's character development as more and more of her background is revealed.
Finally finished it; too much going on to distract me. It's the only thing of Abercrombie I've read so far, and it won't be the last. The way he handled Monza's character development as more and more of her background is revealed.
Well, now you have to read The First Law Trilogy, read Best Served Cold again so that you can make sure you fully understood it and then read The Heroes and you'll be all caught up!
Just finished "Changes" (Dresden Files) today while doing laundry. Met Jim Butcher (and cover artist Chris McGrath) last week at a signing in NYC and got both to sign "Ghost Story".
Up next...
Ghost Story - Jim Butcher
or
Bonehunters - Steven Erikson
or
Clash of Kings - George RR Martin (reread Game of Thrones recently)
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Well, now you have to read The First Law Trilogy, read Best Served Cold again so that you can make sure you fully understood it and then read The Heroes and you'll be all caught up!
Sounds good.
Well, now you have to read The First Law Trilogy, read Best Served Cold again so that you can make sure you fully understood it and then read The Heroes and you'll be all caught up!
Sounds good.
** spoiler omitted **
re: The Difference Engine
The Byron and the Industrial Radicals thing is pretty funny--there's a quote from Marx (I think) somewhere about revolutionaries consider it a tragedy that Shelley died so young but that Byron died at just the right time before he could backslide!
Hee hee!
"Azure Bonds" by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak. For like the 20th time.
I have a soft spot in my heart for Azure Bonds.
Nowadays, of course, halflings can be bards and nobody thinks twice!
Racist 2nd edition.
Reading Under the Dome, by Stephen King. A 1,000+ page book that you could read in just days. Very hard to put down or stay away from.
King may often be a bit hackneyed. You definitely come to recognize his well-trod tropes over the years. And his slang tends to be outdated.
But one thing you can say for him; he understands America and Americans only too well. Speaking as a work of prose, Under the Dome is far from his greatest. But as social commentary, it is eerily, eerily tapped into what is happening right now in politics and society in this country.
If I had my way, every citizen would have this as required reading before they turned the TV on again, or voted for some slimy politician. Especially one particular brand new entrant to a certain race. The BBEG from Under the Dome and that particular candidate were pretty much separated at birth. King's psychic powers at their most powerful, I guess.
Finally finished ADwD. Now I'm torn. I still have Rothfuss' new one on the shelf, got some steampunk to get to, and a whole summer of ratty yard-sale finds.
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Also I just hit a library sale this weekend and found some intriguing titles:
Norman Cohn's "The Pursuit of the Millenium: Revolutionary messianism in medieval and Reformation Europe and its bearing on modern totalitarian movements".
Believe it or not, there's a huge lot of interesting and useful setting elements in it for anything from a standard medieval fantasy setting to something Cthulhoid. It's all about how nigh-impossible it has been to stomp out various cults and heresies down through the ages from pre-Christian times.
Finished The Difference Engine; it's awesome, though somewhat unsatisfying plot-wise. But world-building wise, it's the most Marxist campaign setting I've ever seen and that's before you even throw in the Manhattan Commune.
Am 2/3rds of the way through The Mysterious Island; it's ponderous. A day-by-day account of THREE FRICKIN' YEARS. But enjoyable.
Being tempted to pick up Mariano Azuela's The Underdogs, mostly because it's short.
Just got "Embassytown" by China Mieville out of the library; I just need to finish "Azure Bonds" by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb first.
I just finished Aliette de Bodard's 'Harbinger of the Storm', second in her series about a high priest of the dead in the Aztec empire.
Now I'm reading Glen Cook's 'An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat' and Tanith Lee's 'Tales from the Flat Earth.'
After a brief hiatus, I am starting Book V, "Wolves of the Calla"I just started "The Gunslinger" by Stephen King.
I didn't even know the Dark Tower series existed until a few weeks ago.I am starting book II, "The Drawing of the Three".
The Gunslinger rocked!
Now, I am starting book III, "The Waste Lands".Starting Book IV !! "Wizard and Glass"
Just finished Book VI, "Song of Susannah"
Starting Book VII, "The Dark Tower"
.
DONE.
I finished reading the Dark Tower Series !!!
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Now note that Augustus the Strong is a larger-than-life noble, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, who...had many, many mistresses (the story is that he had 365 illegitimate children)I just noticed this.
Wow.
I guess it IS good to be the king.
I just noticed THIS.
You better believe it.
Check out his Wikipedia article.
Then read about Meissen porcelain.
Then read about The Great Northern War.
Then read about The Green Vault. I've been there. There's a room that's just pieces of lathed ivory. Another one that's completely encrusted in semiprecious stones. Here's more about this multi-room treasure chest.
This guy fuels adventure writing and NPCs like you wouldn't believe. And why there isn't a Hollywood movie dedicated to this level of opulent insane over-the-topness is absolutely surprising.
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Just got around to reading the Lost Chronicles trilogy; I'm about half-way through Dragons of the Dwarven Depths...ugh! The sheer number of typos--misspelled words, words missing, words actually out of place (like a bad cut-and-paste job), missing quotation marks to the point of having to figure out who's talking... The typos, usually not even noticed or easy enough to overlook, are so numerous that I'm actually close to quitting the book.
About the most poorly (professionally) edited novel I've ever read.
I just need to finish "Azure Bonds" by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb first.
Olive Ruskettle is hawt!
And why there isn't a Hollywood movie dedicated to this level of opulent insane over-the-topness is absolutely surprising.
That's all a little too much to digest at once; I'll go through it later, but, yeah, he looks pretty crazy.
In answer to this question, though, I think being the King of Saxe-Poland-Lithuania has something to do with his obscurity. Not so sure I could identify it on a map.
Finished The Underdogs. Mariano Azuela served in the government of Madero the reformer whose assassination kicked off the Mexican Revolution. After that Azuela ended up serving as a doctor in Pancho Villa's army and wrote this book while in exile in Texas before returning to Mexico.
Anyway, it's pretty good, about Mexican soldier/bandits during the revolution. I don't know a whole hell of a lot about it other than the big names--Huerta, Zapata, Carranza (anyone know a good history?), but it doesn't sound like it was much fun. Last three paragraphs are pretty killer, though:
The smoke of the guns hangs thick in the air. Locusts chant their mysterious, imperturbable song. Doves coo lyrically in the crannies of the rocks. The cows gaze placidly.
The sierra is clad in gala colors. Over its inaccessible peaks the opalescent fog settles like a snowy veil on the forehead of a bride.
At the foot of a hollow, sumptuous and huge as the portico of an old cathedral, Demetrio Macias, his eyes leveled in an eternal glance, continues to point the barrel of his gun.
Like a more expressive Hemingway, but I don't know if that's Azuela or the translator.
And here's some crazy shiznit that you run across while reading about August the Strong on Wikipedia.
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In answer to this question, though, I think being the King of Saxe-Poland-Lithuania has something to do with his obscurity. Not so sure I could identify it on a map.
Oh, absolutely. The only English-language stuff I've seen on the guy is Wikipedia and the Pleasure and Ambition book, and the book is super-dry. It's a sin just how soporific it is. All the best stuff is in German, in and around Dresden. (That's another reason; America hasn't really rediscovered Dresden yet. Poland kind of wants to forget the guy.)
The best film I know that talks about Augustus the Strong was produced in East Germany. There's a great scene where he deals with a an unpopular diplomat by picking up a large iron bar, bending it across his shoulders, then wraps it around the diplomat. Of course, they were in a beautifully appointed Baroque-style palace, and wearing powdered wigs and ruffles at the time.
Here's a Youtube snippet: Augustus the Strong.
The next time I'm in a court intrigue campaign, but want to play a BDF, I'm playing that guy.
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Finished The Underdogs. Mariano Azuela served in the government of Madero the reformer whose assassination kicked off the Mexican Revolution. After that Azuela ended up serving as a doctor in Pancho Villa's army and wrote this book while in exile in Texas before returning to Mexico.
Anyway, it's pretty good, about Mexican soldier/bandits during the revolution. I don't know a whole hell of a lot about it other than the big names--Huerta, Zapata, Carranza (anyone know a good history?), but it doesn't sound like it was much fun. Last three paragraphs are pretty killer, though:
** spoiler omitted **
Like a more expressive Hemingway, but I don't know if that's Azuela or the translator.
Los de Abajos! It's been ages since I read that. I totally need to read it again. My family fled to the United States during the Mexican Revolution. I'm afraid I don't have a good history for you (shame, it's part of my family's history) but it's an interesting juxtaposition for the stories I heard. On one hand, in Mexico, my grandmother had a very precise ritual for brushing her hair--required to keep her beautiful for potential suitors. My great-grandfather had a full artist's scholarship to the University of Guadalajara, but was not allowed to go because he had to be a powerful businessman for the family instead. Fast forward to after 1910, and my grandmother's losing her fingerprints due to the heat in the cannery in Oakland where she worked. They lost everything when they had to flee.
I'm starting a Fantasy Flight novel kick. Just finsihed "Ghouls of the Miskatonic" by Graham McNeil and was pleased by it. It's a Cthulu-ish novel lifted from in the Arkham Horror board game. Tonight I'll be strating "Free Fall" by William H. Keith, which is a Android novel, lifted from teh murder mysetry style game, Android.
In gaming books, I'm reading The War of The Burning Sky hardback compliation and the Inner Seas magic book.
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And here's some crazy shiznit that you run across while reading about August the Strong on Wikipedia.
I know! I file that under, "That's so wrong, it's totally going into my next game!"
Just finished Patricia McKillip's Solstice Wood. I've enjoyed everything else by her I've read, but although I devoured this one, I didn't enjoy it as much.
Needing a small book for my bike/bus commute this morning, and seeing Jane Yolen in the news, picked up her Briar Rose, which I'd been putting off: young woman investigates her recently deceased grandmother's past, which her grandmother had only told of framed as an unusually grim version of "Sleeping Beauty," in which the other sleepers never waken.
Finally finished The Mysterious Island. Wouldn't recommend it to a casual Verne fan; I found it rewarding though laborious. It put me to sleep a lot these past few weeks.
Picked up Machiavelli's The Prince and it was a blast. The ironies of Mach, a lifelong Florentine republican who wrote more books about republican government, becoming the poster-boy for manipulative, amoral, Jew of Malta-style evil because of a book that he wrote and wasn't even published in his time is pretty funny.
So is the suggestion that he makes that there are only two ways to become a prince: to be a ruthless bastard or to be descended from a ruthless bastard. And since nobody needs a manual for the second category...
Anyway, it's pretty obvious that Joe Abercrombie got Nicomo Cosca from this book and it gives you all kinds of ideas about how to run evil noblemen.
Picked up Machiavelli's The Prince and it was a blast.
I found it an entertaining read, but more improrantly, there were some suggestions in there that made running a classroom full of unruly 9th graders go a whole lot more smoothly... I'm not saying I followed all of it, or even most of it (doing so would have had me rapidly end up in court), but one or two of the snippets were quite useful.
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Picked up Machiavelli's The Prince and it was a blast.I found it an entertaining read, but more improrantly, there were some suggestions in there that made running a classroom full of unruly 9th graders go a whole lot more smoothly... I'm not saying I followed all of it, or even most of it (doing so would have had me rapidly end up in court), but one or two of the snippets were quite useful.
It has been way too long since I have read this book.
It has been way too long since I have read this book.Picked up Machiavelli's The Prince and it was a blast.I found it an entertaining read, but more improrantly, there were some suggestions in there that made running a classroom full of unruly 9th graders go a whole lot more smoothly... I'm not saying I followed all of it, or even most of it (doing so would have had me rapidly end up in court), but one or two of the snippets were quite useful.
Reading it after having read The Divine Comedy not too long ago, made me realize that I should make an attempt to read up more on Medieval/Renaissance Italy.
It sounds like the place was absolutely gonzo-nuts the entire time, with the duke of this place warring with the count of that place, condottieri running around blowing shiznit up, the Church acting like a bunch of wanna-be Asmodeans, the Medici, the Borgias, the Vittellis, the two republics, it sounds like it was a zoo!
And meanwhile you got all these painters and sculptors and Galileo...and, of course, all the hot-passioned licentious animalistic sex that Italians have always been good for...
Renaissance Italy rocks!!!
but I wouldn't want to live there.
It sounds like the place was absolutely gonzo-nuts the entire time, with the duke of this place warring with the count of that place, condottieri running around blowing shiznit up, the Church acting like a bunch of wanna-be Asmodeans, the Medici, the Borgias, the Vittellis, the two republics, it sounds like it was a zoo!
Read Mario Puzo's "The Family," which is an excellent (albeit rather fictionalized) view of the Borgia popes.
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It sounds like the place was absolutely gonzo-nuts the entire time, with the duke of this place warring with the count of that place, condottieri running around blowing shiznit up, the Church acting like a bunch of wanna-be Asmodeans, the Medici, the Borgias, the Vittellis, the two republics, it sounds like it was a zoo!Read Mario Puzo's "The Family," which is an excellent (albeit rather fictionalized) view of the Borgia popes.
The Borgia popes were the tip of the iceberg, that family was something else in a time when excess was king and queen.
According to the footnotes in The Prince, the Borgias were actually a Spanish family. One for the Historical Misconception thread? Or is that just my misconception?
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According to the footnotes in The Prince, the Borgias were actually a Spanish family. One for the Historical Misconception thread? Or is that just my misconception?
They had a great many holdings in Spain and were a Spanish family. They moved to Rome to be in the thick of the political mess that was going on at the time. Took over and all but created a political/religious dynasty. It was one of the reasons that for years thereafter all popes elected tended to be Italian. Well That is my guess anyway.
A Long, Long Way by Sebastian Barry. A novel about Irish soldiers fighting in the First World War. It's an interesting read, if perhaps a bit low brow in some places (soldiers in the field after all), but it does give quite an interesting look at what life would have been like in the trenches.
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Finally finished Dwarven Depths, and I'm very sad to report it was quite the chore. Having never really appreciated Kitiaria, I've temporarily skipped book two and jumped straight to Dragons of an Hourglass Mage. Thank Paladine the editor must have returned from vacation, there are very few typos and other errors on this book, and it seems Weiss and Hickman enjoyed writing this one, since it has the feel and flavor I remember.
Nagash Immortal
Brettonian Knights
The Confessions of St. Augustine
Chaos and Creativity
Demon Ex Machinus
WHFRPG 3.0 GM Guide (hardcover)
In service,
Rich
http://zhalindor.com
Renaissance Italy rocks!!!
but I wouldn't want to live there.
Oh! I forgot one! "Cathedral of the Sea" a novel about Renaissance Italy - that sounded OK if you were a craftsman living in a port town, but otherwise seemed extremely unpleasant.
In service,
Rich
http://zhalindor.com
Philip Dray--There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America
Am up to the beginning of World War II.
Pretty good book, maybe the best one-volume study of American labor that I've ever read. The first half is pretty awesome, starting in my stomping grounds to study the Lowell mills on the Merrimack River before heading down to Lynn, MA to look at the shoemakers' pre-Civil War strike.
From there it looks at all kinds of milestones in the history of the American working class: the Molly Maguires, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Haymarket affair, the Pullman Strike, etc., etc.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the focus turns more to what's going on in Washington, which doesn't interest me as much as the tales of the Lawrence Bread and Roses strike, the IWW or the 1934 general strikes in Toledo, Minneapolis and San Francisco, but, whatever. What else would you expect from a liberal historian?
Anyway, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in reading about America's very bloody history in the field of industrial relations. It's no coincidence that two of the major international socialist holidays (May Day and International Women's Day) commemorate events that occured on American soil!
I think I'm the only rpg player who has never read a modern fantasy novel. I read the first book of the Lord of the Rings, CS Lewis and Narnia, and that was it. Every other fantasy novel I've tried to read strikes me as poorly written. That said I do read a great deal of folklore and myth. Last book I read was Confucius' Analects in English Translation.
I think I'm the only rpg player who has never read a modern fantasy novel.
Don't be so sure. Back in High School, I DMed D&D with a player who claimed never to have read a novel AT ALL! Even when assigned to read a novel for school, he claimed that he would just "fake it" for a book report or test. I'm sure that he was exaggerating, but I can believe that he had never read a real FANTASY novel, anyway.
(Once, I met him long after we stopped playing. He announced to me "Well, I just read my first book. It was a school assignment, and for once, I judged that I wouldn't be able to fake it this time.")
Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind.