What have you been reading?

[Silverlion]

Reread all of Simon Green's Nightside series (and the final book which was a crossover with his Secret Histories world.), started reading his Ghostfinder's series, and his Ishmael Jones murder mystery series (Still sci-fi/fantasy though.)

 

[Acmegamer]

Reread all of Simon Green's Nightside series (and the final book which was a crossover with his Secret Histories world.), started reading his Ghostfinder's series, and his Ishmael Jones murder mystery series (Still sci-fi/fantasy though.)

I am aware of the name but no books are coming to mind. How is he to read? I did have this vague thought that he might have done a Conan book in the 1980s, a few authors did that I had snagged. Could be wrong on that memory of course or confusing Green with someone else.

 

[Silverlion]

I am aware of the name but no books are coming to mind. How is he to read? I did have this vague thought that he might have done a Conan book in the 1980s, a few authors did that I had snagged. Could be wrong on that memory of course or confusing Green with someone else.

Honestly? They read like modern pulp, with some repetitions in descriptions (often from one book to the next to introduce the world.) Big ideas and action, enjoyable to me, and fast-paced. They're not high literature or going to get awards, sometimes silly, sometimes dark, but always pulpy fun.

 

[stonetoflesh]

Almost done with God Emperor of Dune. It felt like a struggle to finish the first time around (in the mid-90s), so plodding and slow compared to what had come before it. Happy to say that I've really enjoyed it this time around.

Next on the list is another re-read, the History of the Runestaff by Michael Moorcock. The adventures of Dorian Hawkmoon in Tragic Millennium Europe were my favorites of his Eternal Champion tales when I read them 20+ years ago, I'd like to revisit the setting that still feeds me inspirational drips today.

 

[Acmegamer]

Almost done with God Emperor of Dune. It felt like a struggle to finish the first time around (in the mid-90s), so plodding and slow compared to what had come before it. Happy to say that I've really enjoyed it this time around.

Next on the list is another re-read, the History of the Runestaff by Michael Moorcock. The adventures of Dorian Hawkmoon in Tragic Millennium Europe were my favorites of his Eternal Champion tales when I read them 20+ years ago, I'd like to revisit the setting that still feeds me inspirational drips today.

I need to track those down again. I lost a lot of books in storage due to water damage years ago. I loved the Dorian Hawkmoon books as well as the Corum books. I wonder if I'll enjoy them now.

Like you, I felt the same about God Emperor of Dune and Children of Dune when I read them back in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Reading them in the the past twenty years, and again a few years ago, I really enjoyed them. Tastes change.

 

[EmperorNorton]

My wife has been insisting that I would love the Murderbot Diaries books, so I started reading them last week.

I'm almost annoyed out how correct she was about how much I would love them.

 

[xanther]

Almost done reading: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures.
Non-fiction, highly recommend.
I'm very much into the mycology and mushroom hunting for a while, so a lot in it knew already , but plenty did not, also puts its all together well.

Slowly reading The Bridge Trilogy by William Gibson, another cyberpunk sci-fi series.

 

[sharps54]

Almost done reading: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures.
Non-fiction, highly recommend.
I'm very much into the mycology and mushroom hunting for a while, so a lot in it knew already , but plenty did not, also puts its all together well.

Slowly reading The Bridge Trilogy by William Gibson, another cyberpunk sci-fi series.

I remember really enjoying Virtual Light, I need to revisit those books.

 

[Acmegamer]

Almost done reading: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures.
Non-fiction, highly recommend.
I'm very much into the mycology and mushroom hunting for a while, so a lot in it knew already , but plenty did not, also puts its all together well.

Slowly reading The Bridge Trilogy by William Gibson, another cyberpunk sci-fi series.

My mind just goes here when I read about the above about the Fungi. Instead "Invasion of the Fungi Body Snatchers" So, kinda horrified and fascinated at the time. Also can't go wrong with reading some William Gibson.

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

I've just finished Ascension by Nicholas Binge.
Great Lovecraftian tale about a mountain expedition and the Alien horrors they face. Highly recommended!

 

[Lofgeornost]

Reading for work, but it might interest some here:

 

[BedrockBrendan]

Read House of Seven Gables followed by Frankenstein (1818 edition). The former is a bit dull if I am being honest (and I say that as a regular visitor the House of Seven Gables in Salem). It is more gothic romance, and a bit of a psychological study of the characters. The opening is very good though and I like the overall concept. I also found Hepzibah to be an entertaining character in the book. Frankenstein I haven't read in years and one thing that surprised me is how well it holds up. Often when I read books from the 19th century, they involve a little more work as a reader to maintain your interest. But the 1818 edition of Frankenstein is a page turner and still has the impact it made on me when I first read it. Also looking into the differences between the editions, I find I vastly prefer the 1818 to the 1831 edition. Characters in these gothic stories speak in a somewhat floral poetic language, and I have to admit I kind of like that more than something that feels naturalistic and real.

Thinking of reading some Gu Long. May re-read death blade's translation of Heroes Shed No Tears

 

[Lofgeornost]

Read House of Seven Gables followed by Frankenstein (1818 edition)... Frankenstein I haven't read in years and one thing that surprised me is how well it holds up. Often when I read books from the 19th century, they involve a little more work as a reader to maintain your interest. But the 1818 edition of Frankenstein is a page turner and still has the impact it made on me when I first read it. Also looking into the differences between the editions, I find I vastly prefer the 1818 to the 1831 edition. Characters in these gothic stories speak in a somewhat floral poetic language, and I have to admit I kind of like that more than something that feels naturalistic and real.

Thinking of reading some Gu Long. May re-read death blade's translation of Heroes Shed No Tears

I re-read Frankenstein a few years back because it was part of a local 'big read' program and like you was impressed by it. I also like its eloquent version of the monster more than the Hollywood err-arrh incarnation. Revisiting it actually got me started reading a good deal about the background, particularly medieval and early-modern stories about talking brazen heads, automata, androids, etc. and alchemical ideas of creating life.

 

[BedrockBrendan]

I re-read Frankenstein a few years back because it was part of a local 'big read' program and like you was impressed by it. I also like its eloquent version of the monster more than the Hollywood err-arrh incarnation. Revisiting it actually got me started reading a good deal about the background, particularly medieval and early-modern stories about talking brazen heads, automata, androids, etc. and alchemical ideas of creating life.

I first read it a couple of years before the 1994 Frankenstein came out and I remember being kind of dissappointed seeing the movie. I guess in that one the monster is more eloquent but he speaks like a poet in the book and gets a lot of dialogue. The issue with that movie though was less the monster and more Kenneth Branagh spending an inordinate amount of screen time on his pecs lol. I still like the classic Frankenstein movies, especially Bride of Frankenstein. but the book is a whole other experience with a lot more depth of character to it

 

[Giganotosaurus]

Reading for work, but it might interest some here:
View attachment 81603

Are we working at Cheyenne Mountain?

 

[sharps54]

 

[Lofgeornost]

Are we working at Cheyenne Mountain?

No, but my employer has been toying with adding a small nuclear capability--nothing flashy, just something in 150 kiloton range. It's either than or a new student center.

 

[Lofgeornost]

I first read it a couple of years before the 1994 Frankenstein came out and I remember being kind of dissappointed seeing the movie. I guess in that one the monster is more eloquent but he speaks like a poet in the book and gets a lot of dialogue. The issue with that movie though was less the monster and more Kenneth Branagh spending an inordinate amount of screen time on his pecs lol. I still like the classic Frankenstein movies, especially Bride of Frankenstein. but the book is a whole other experience with a lot more depth of character to it

Yeah, I agree about the Branagh version. Even though I like the eloquent monster, I also really appreciate Boris Karloff's performance in Whale's Frankenstein. You can really see techniques developed for silent acting being exploited there in a film with sound.

 

[sharps54]

Yeah, I agree about the Branagh version. Even though I like the eloquent monster, I also really appreciate Boris Karloff's performance in Whale's Frankenstein. You can really see techniques developed for silent acting being exploited there in a film with sound.

It will be interesting to see Bale’s performance next year

 

[AsenRG]

Read "Fourth Wing" last, because First Wife was reading it...

It's actually a rather decent fantasy in its own right. And it reads a lot like one of my home campaigns (I remove some of the spicier elements* from the games in FLGS, especially when there's underage players at the table), including in the fact that of course, when...

Spoiler: Fourth Wing Minor Spoiler

...you learn limited telepathy, the first thing you use it for is what? Dirty talk to the MC's boyfriend, of course!

So, it sounds like the new romantasy trend is what I've always believed should be part of fantasy.

And yes, that means that for a change, I approve of the new trend!


*If I know the player would be interested, we can always clarify the details afterwards on Discord!

 

[Stan]

I read Frankenstein a few years ago and was struck by just how much we think of core Frankenstein wasn't there. No bolts on the neck - I don't think electricity was mentioned at all. No Igor - the classic movie introduced the character model but I think he was named Fritz there. I'm not dissing the book by any means as it has so much that has been left behind; it's just not like you'd think beforehand. It would be like watching Bladerunner and then reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - two things related but not all that similar.

 

[Fenris-77]

Electricity is very much there. Early experiments with electricity were a key inspiration of Shelley's. It's referred to in the novel, and generally at the time, as Galvanic energy. A cromulent article

 

[BedrockBrendan]

I read Frankenstein a few years ago and was struck by just how much we think of core Frankenstein wasn't there. No bolts on the neck - I don't think electricity was mentioned at all. No Igor - the classic movie introduced the character model but I think he was named Fritz there. I'm not dissing the book by any means as it has so much that has been left behind; it's just not like you'd think beforehand. It would be like watching Bladerunner and then reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - two things related but not all that similar.

The book is so different. Apparently the 1931 movie is based on a play that was performed in Shelley's lifetime. A lot of the particulars about the creation of the monster are hinted at but not described in detail (for example it mentions him going to charnel houses and slaughter houses for parts so you can assume he is a combination of human and animal parts).

 

[AsenRG]

I read Frankenstein a few years ago and was struck by just how much we think of core Frankenstein wasn't there. No bolts on the neck - I don't think electricity was mentioned at all. No Igor - the classic movie introduced the character model but I think he was named Fritz there. I'm not dissing the book by any means as it has so much that has been left behind; it's just not like you'd think beforehand. It would be like watching Bladerunner and then reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - two things related but not all that similar.

...the shock was reversed for me. I'd read the book, and when someone mentioned Frankenstein in a PbP game I said I'm familiar with the source material.

Then I was quite surprised by, well, everything you mentioned! Except electricity, I'd gotten that part from somewhere...


I'm afraid the people in that game might have thought I lied about my familiarity, or having read the book!

 

[Stan]

Electricity is very much there. Early experiments with electricity were a key inspiration of Shelley's. It's referred to in the novel, and generally at the time, as Galvanic energy. A cromulent article

You're right. A bit of research did find galvanism. But I specifically remember the doctor refusing to describe details for fear of copycats. No platform with lightning.

 

[Lofgeornost]

Courtesy of the local public library and Hoopla. It's a nicely balanced account:

 

[Lofgeornost]

Voros recently posted some vintage John Jakes’ covers in another thread, which got me interested in whether any of his SF/Fantasy output is available on Hoopla. Turns out some of it is. Since I had trouble sleeping last night, I finished his Mention My Name in Atlantis, a novella that was first published in 1972. It’s a comic take on the fall of said island, largely inspired by “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” The narrator is basically Pseudolus from that musical, as played by Zero Mostel, and I could almost hear him delivering some of the lines in the book. Instead of being a slave, though, he is a highly successful pimp, who delivers courtesans hidden in wine-barrels to the homes of the rich and respectable. He falls afoul of the chief general of Atlantis, here imagined as a small island city-state and has to dodge the constant demands of one of his chief courtesans, Aphrodisiac, that they marry. Then a bombastic barbarian warrior-king, Conan of Chimeria, washes up on the island and his fate gets entwined with our hero. Oh, and space aliens in flying saucers end up playing a pretty significant role in the plot, too.

I enjoyed it, on the whole, though the parodies of Howard in it could have been better done, and the whole thing was a bit longer than it should have been, I thought—there was a bit too much of fleeing from soldiers or murderous crowds towards the book’s end.

 

[Voros]

Voros recently posted some vintage John Jakes’ covers in another thread, which got me interested in whether any of his SF/Fantasy output is available on Hoopla. Turns out some of it is. Since I had trouble sleeping last night, I finished his Mention My Name in Atlantis, a novella that was first published in 1972. It’s a comic take on the fall of said island, largely inspired by “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” The narrator is basically Pseudolus from that musical, as played by Zero Mostel, and I could almost hear him delivering some of the lines in the book. Instead of being a slave, though, he is a highly successful pimp, who delivers courtesans hidden in wine-barrels to the homes of the rich and respectable. He falls afoul of the chief general of Atlantis, here imagined as a small island city-state and has to dodge the constant demands of one of his chief courtesans, Aphrodisiac, that they marry. Then a bombastic barbarian warrior-king, Conan of Chimeria, washes up on the island and his fate gets entwined with our hero. Oh, and space aliens in flying saucers end up playing a pretty significant role in the plot, too.

I enjoyed it, on the whole, though the parodies of Howard in it could have been better done, and the whole thing was a bit longer than it should have been, I thought—there was a bit too much of fleeing from soldiers or murderous crowds towards the book’s end.

Jakes is an interesting writer with a few really good sf and fantasy books among a lot of journeymen work. I quite liked his concise and vivid one-off fantasy The Last Magicians and the New Waveish sf of On Wheels.

 

[Acmegamer]

I recall fondly reading a lot of Jakes sf and fantasy books. I was young at the time, so my opinion of those books if I were to read them today might be different. I'll have to look into tracking some of them down to read.

I'm currently reading mostly ttrpg books. Currently reading "Against the Darkmaster", I'm finding it an easy read and the mechanics make sense to me. Must be old memories of MERP and Rolemaster stirring up in my memories making it easier for me to Grok.

Also before bed reading Mick Herron's "The Marylebone Drop. One of his Slough House novellas. I really enjoyed the various books in the series so far. Need to see if there are anymore I'm missing.

I need to return to reading more of Steven Erikson's Malazan books though after the current Herron book.

 

[Lychee of the Exchequer]

I've just finished reading The Culture series by Iain M. Banks, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's striking how a good author can make you enjoy a story whose foundational universe is so opposed to your philosophy.

I find the godless, hedonistic and faux goody-two-shoes Culture truly despicable, but really marvel at their belief that they're the good guys. In so many ways, they're a kind of anti-Star Trek polity, with an anti-Prime Directive - if one reads the Star trek Prime Directive as "Do not interfere with less technologically advanced society", the Culture Directive would be "Everyone should have a chance to be rescued by us from their original primitive backwards society. Poor bastards: that's for their own good even if their primitive brains can't grasp it".

Of course, Star Trek idealism was inspired by Gene Rodenberry unbounded optimism, and The Culture series is grounded in Iain M. Banks seasoned cynicism

I'm gonna read some Iain Banks non-SF novels next.

And I'm presently reading Psion, by Joan D. Vinge. The rawness and pain of Cat, the hero of the book, is impressively painted - it's a great book.

Ho, I'm also reading reading Junkie by William S. Burroughs - his first book and seemingly a bit of an autobiography. The main character is thoroughly unlikable, to the point that the book is a pain to read, so I suppose the author's honestly is commendable. Some nuggets are really well written, and I'm curious how subsequent books by Burroughs will have improved regarding his style.

 

[StubbornMule]

Some of Banks' non-SF material is absolutely stellar too! And there's quite a bit of it out there (he largely alternated between releasing a SF and a fiction book each year).

 

[Lofgeornost]

So, awhile back I read The Swordswoman (1982) by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, which I enjoyed. Her Tomoe Gozen trilogy was on sale on Kindle not too long ago, so I purchased it. Since I've finally had some free time in the last few days, I read the first book, The Disfavored Hero (1981), originally titled simply Tomoe Gozen.

It's a fantasy series set in Mythic Japan, here called Naipon--vaguely Kamakura era, with creatures from Japanese folklore and myth as reality. The main character, Tomoe, is a female samurai and outstanding warrior. I had been under the impression that the first book would be her 'origin story,' so to speak, but it is not--when we first meet her, she is already an established hero. The prose is a little clunky at first--it reminded me a bit of a slightly awkward translation into English--but improves as the book progresses. It's an episodic novel, so much so that I wondered if it had been published as a serial or set of novellas first, but apparently not. The best section, to my taste, was part II, "The Bakemono's Curse," where Salmonson does a good job of weaving various strands of magic and the otherworld into her faux-historic setting. Anyway, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next two books.

There was of course a historical Tomoe Gozen, who lived in the late Heian period and took part in the Genpei War, but so far I'd say she is a fairly distant inspiration for this fictional version.

 

[Voros]

I've just finished reading The Culture series by Iain M. Banks, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's striking how a good author can make you enjoy a story whose foundational universe is so opposed to your philosophy.

I find the godless, hedonistic and faux goody-two-shoes Culture truly despicable, but really marvel at their belief that they're the good guys. In so many ways, they're a kind of anti-Star Trek polity, with an anti-Prime Directive - if one reads the Star trek Prime Directive as "Do not interfere with less technologically advanced society", the Culture Directive would be "Everyone should have a chance to be rescued by us from their original primitive backwards society. Poor bastards: that's for their own good even if their primitive brains can't grasp it".

Of course, Star Trek idealism was inspired by Gene Rodenberry unbounded optimism, and The Culture series is grounded in Iain M. Banks seasoned cynicism

I'm gonna read some Iain Banks non-SF novels next.

And I'm presently reading Psion, by Joan D. Vinge. The rawness and pain of Cat, the hero of the book, is impressively painted - it's a great book.

Ho, I'm also reading reading Junkie by William S. Burroughs - his first book and seemingly a bit of an autobiography. The main character is thoroughly unlikable, to the point that the book is a pain to read, so I suppose the author's honestly is commendable. Some nuggets are really well written, and I'm curious how subsequent books by Burroughs will have improved regarding his style.

Junkie and Queer are the only realist novels Burroughs wrote and nothing like what came after. If you find Banks godless and hedonistic I doubt you're going to like Burroughs' other books.

I don't think Burroughs really found his voice until Naked Lunch but really hit his stride with Nova Express and Wild Boys.

But they aren't conventional novels at all, they're dense, imagistic poetry prose drawing on hardboiled detective fiction and very wild sf imagery with a lot of paranoia, body horror, grotesque sex and violence. Formally, Beckett's later novels seem like an influence, particularly on Nova Express but Burroughs' books are even more plotless, although packed with incident.

His lifelong addiction to heroin, although contrary to legend he only wrote when off junk, is far less significant in his books than his homosexuality.

There is far more pornographic sex in his books than meditations on junk. I think that catches some people off-guard who only know the surface persona of Burroughs as some kind of poet laureate of junk.

But he only really wrote about heroin addiction in Naked Lunch. And although there are great sections in Naked Lunch, like the famous fragment 'the man who taught his asshole to talk' that was excerpted in Cronenberg's very loose film adaptation, I don't consider it near his best book. And if anything it is a poor introduction to Burroughs as he's still finding his legs and it is full of obsessive sexual violence that is considerably muted in the mid-period books of his peak, which are full of weird sex but of a more horny but consensual and tender kind.

I suspect Naked Lunch is one of those books more often owned rather than read (like the Silmarillion and Brief History of Time) as I remember in uni every guy had a copy but in conversation seemed unaware of the actual content of the book.

TL; dr: the early novels don't really have anything to do with the rest of his work outside of the obvious autobiographical background.

 

[Voros]

Lofgeornost's posts made me realize I should be using Hoopla more often and I've been tearing through their excellent selection of comics.




I'll post about some of them in the DC and Marvel threads but I'm really enjoying digging into Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips first rate crime comics and Van Sciver's history on Joseph Smith, prophet and founder of Mormonism.




Van Sciver's Fante Bukowski series is very different, hilarious, caustic and eventually surprisingly tender. At first I enjoyed it for how well he satirized a certain kind of arrogant yet insecure, macho and largely untalented young wannabe writers all too familiar to anyone who has been in a writing workshop but it develops into something deeper and more melancholy. Highly recommend all his work.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Lofgeornost's posts made me realize I should be using Hoopla more often and I've been tearing through their excellent selection of comics.

View attachment 81779
View attachment 81782

I'll post about some of them in the DC and Marvel threads but I'm really enjoying digging into Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips first rate crime comics and Van Sciver's history on Joseph Smith, prophet and founder of Mormonism.

View attachment 81780


Van Sciver's Fante Bukowski series is very different, hilarious, caustic and eventually surprisingly tender. At first I enjoyed it for how well he satirized a certain kind of arrogant yet insecure, macho and largely untalented young wannabe writers all too familiar to anyone who has been in a writing workshop but it develops into something deeper and more melancholy. Highly recommend all his work.

View attachment 81781

Not familiar with Van Sciver's work other than by reputation, but you cannot go wrong with Brubaker & Phillips.

 

[Tulpa Girl]

Just finished reading this last night. I started this a few days ago, going through maybe 30-40 pages at a time at night before going to bed.

The main thing to get out of the way is that, despite the cover proclaiming this to be "Alex Raymond's original story", this isn't really an adaptation of the original strips. Ron Goulart (under the pen name of Con Steffanson) makes a number of changes and additions to the basic setup, and changes some of the plot points of the early strips. The biggest right out of the gate is that Flash and Dale aren't just random people that a half-cracked Zarkov shanghais into his rocket ship on his suicide mission to divert the approaching Mongo from crashing into the Earth. Rather, in this version they're part of a three-person exploration team that travels to different worlds for the 'PlanExplo Foundation' - Mongo isn't their first rodeo, even if Mongo is far wilder and more dangerous than the other worlds that they had previously visited. A nice side-effect of this is that Dale, even if she doesn't have much to do in this story, is at least by implication more competent than the early stories often gave her credit for, as it is assumed that she has at least a certain amount of training and experience to be part of this exploration crew.

As long as you're not looking for a more literal and faithful adaptation of the early Raymond strips, then this is a fast-paced, fun read, dripping in pulpy goodness. Goulart adds lots of fun bits into the story, some of which I will most likely swipe unashamedly if I ever wind up running something in a pulp sci-fi vein. His version of Zarkov is incredibly badass - not only is he a master of multiple sciences, of course, but he's also quite solid in a fight, rescuing various peoples along the way by himself (the three main characters get separated very early in the story, and are only reunited near the end), and just for good measure he has self-taught himself various mental techniques that are right out of the 30's hero pulps (including but not limited to being able to get a full night of REM sleep while simultaneously being aware enough of his surroundings to be aware of any approaching dangers).

The book ends with our heroes reunited, with various allies gathered (although not all of the ones that you might expect), but the overthrow of Ming's empire is still a long ways away.

Overall, a fun, breezy read, and I'll probably start on the second book in the series relatively shortly.

 

[Sable Wyvern]

I have recently started on the Black Company. It was off to a bit of a rocky start, with the very terse writing style, but it's starting to grow on me.

It's also put me in a mood to go back and read Malazan again.

 

[David Johansen]

I'm reading Children of the Lens by Doc EE Smith right now. The bit where Kimball is posing as a writer of space operas and there's a sample of his work is pretty funny.