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Between the Battles & the Art ... => The Count's Tavern => Topic started by: Artobans Ghost on June 28, 2016, 03:32:50 AM
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Just curious as to what book/poem/comic people are reading to relax.
Include if you want, particular books/collections/series that have left an impact that has inspired or haunted you through your life.
At the moment I read a ton of the 40k and Black Library stuff - The World Engine - at the moment.
In the recent past it was the series by Stephon Erikson - the Fall of the Malazan Empire. Awesome series of 10 volumes at about 1K pages each book. Really was sorry when I had finished it. :(
Looking forward to some of your favourites :)
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Terry Pratchett Discworld and the Dresden Files are two of my favorite series by far.
Just finished an amazing book called How Music Got Free, all about the rise of online piracy.
Currently reading the Gaunts Ghost series.
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I haven't been able to successfully read a full book since becoming a parent. However, I have recently started listening to audiobooks on some of my long drives for work. The most recent was Xenophon's Anabasis.
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Solomon Kane, one story a night.
Also the random old White Dwarf for a hobby article or battle report.
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I am reading the second part of the first law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It's pretty good.
Also am up to date with the 40k series the beast arises, they have been variable but generally a worthwhile read.
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Conn igguldan's ghengis khan series. Midway through book two.
Before that, George.RR Martin's 'Tuf Voyaging'. Was quite entertaining.
@ 023 - I do my only reading time on public transport to and from work. Only 20 minutes each way, but can get through a bit.
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I've still got to rate R. Scott Bakker's 'Prince of Nothing' trilogy as one of the best I've ever read.
He puts G.R.R. Martin to shame in terms of intrigue and gritty story telling. Humanity in all its pettiness and glory if you will. But one of the amazing aspects is that he manages to weave all kinds of philisophical aspects into the story. Going deep into human nature, faith, belief and religion, the nature of the soul. And he does so without ruining the story but actually enhancing it!
All set in a fantasy world based on the ancient near east with a dash of roman empire and germanic tribes. With an underlying evil in the form of a few otherworldly beings that use their knowledge of genetics to create their own monstrous armies. And a fallen Elven civilization that is the most twisted forms of Elves I've ever encountered.
:::cheers:::
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Oh wait, ya said "literature", never mind. :icon_wink: :icon_lol:
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Oh wait, ya said "literature", never mind. :icon_wink: :icon_lol:
Ha! - I concede my 'World Engine' doesn't quite rank as literature :)
I was looking forward to your input though. Every time you mention your New England area, I think of HP Lovecraft. I read everything that was published in my teens and still re- read some now and again. Mainly for the setting and the impression it left with me.
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The Eisenhorn omnibus. Loving it.
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I'm currently reading a Black Library novel omnibus called the Ambassador Chronicles. It's about an old Empire general veteran from Nuln being selected to be an ambassador in Kislev prior to the Storm of Chaos. So far I find it a bit underwhelming given the premise. There is not enough exploration of Kislev as a society and too much run of the mill murder mystery, that might as well happen in any Old World city.
After I have finished that book I was thinking about reading Anno Dracula (featuring non-Warhammer Genevieve from the classic Warhammer novel Drachenfels) by Kim Newman or Weaveworld by Clive Barker.
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I got a kindle from my sister so I been reading around two and a half books per month. One from the free library, one "new Release" per month and half of Gotrek & Felix. If you want a Colombian to do something fast, tell him its free but only for limited time. We love free stuff.
Book of the month: "Blogging - The ultimate Guide on How to replace... by Alan Hirsch" Not even worth writing the whole title. First few hits on google are probably better than this book. 2/10
New Release: Temporary Agent by Daniel Judson - Its okay. Something different from what I normally read and entertaining, but doesn't cross the line. 6/10
Gotrek & Felix: Giant Slayer Probably not my favorite so far, but still interesting. I enjoy more the books with more background stories or characters build up. 6/10
Anyone else has a kindle and uses the Kindle Users Library free book? I would appreciate suggestions.
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Reading part 2, and about to start of part 3 of Mark Z. Danielewski's 27-volume "The Familiar". If anyone here hasn't read his "House of Leaves", they really ought to...
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Finished "Red Rising" - Sort of tiresome and amateur, feels a lot like hunger games, defiant, etc.
Currently reading "Ready Player One". If you grew up in the 80s and you love video games... this book is for you. It feels like Earnest Kline wrote the book just for me, which is an odd feeling as I go through the pages. I'm not finished with it yet but I have been enjoying the ride.
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Lots of good leads to follow.
Seeing the George R Martin references made me think of his comment in book 5 of the game of thrones -' the last book was a bitch to write - this one was a bitch and a bastard' :)
Anyone know if he did # 6 yet?
@023 - I have a contract that I have to spend nearly 2 1/2 hours driving every day for awhile. Maybe those audio books would be good.
(And as an aside - did I see a pic of you in one of your blogs in the cockpit of a ford trimotor or am I just out to lunch. I loved the look of the trimotor - used to have a model of one somewhere)
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Reading Master and Commander now.
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Non-fiction for me, as (nearly) always: David Wootton's 'The Invention of Science, A New History of the Scientific Revolution' and Richard Carrier 'On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt' One's for work, the other for 'pleasure' :engel:
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Reading "The illustrated manners book; a manual of good behavior and polite accomplishments" ("Thanks to Hark a Vagrant!") published in 1855. It is remarkably progressive of its time. Particularly around pages 111-114 about women and men. I wish I had a means of copying and pasting it here rather than transcribe it. Was very interesting.
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Next on the list - Rynn's World by Steve Parker - more 40K :)
Finished the World Engine - Another SM chapter consigned to history.
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Non-fiction for me, as (nearly) always: David Wootton's 'The Invention of Science, A New History of the Scientific Revolution' and Richard Carrier 'On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt' One's for work, the other for 'pleasure' :engel:
Carrier is a work of fiction - I guess that explains the "nearly"...
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Is it though? Surely its true nature is a very careful historical and linguistic analysis of what should now be recognised as fiction? I've yet to see any faults/mistakes. A Christian would think his work is riddled with them, but that's because their conviction arises from faith, not from actually studying the text's history and Jewish/Classical history. On a side note, he's the first historian I have read who performs historical research mathematically.
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Just heard an interesting interview on the radio with author Eric Weiner.
His book is The Geography of Genius.
Premise is 'a search for the worlds most creative places from ancient Athens to Silicon Valley'.
This sounds like a very cool read.
http://www.ericweinerbooks.com/books/the-geography-of-genius/description/
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Is it though? Surely its true nature is a very careful historical and linguistic analysis of what should now be recognised as fiction? I've yet to see any faults/mistakes. A Christian would think his work is riddled with them, but that's because their conviction arises from faith, not from actually studying the text's history and Jewish/Classical history. On a side note, he's the first historian I have read who performs historical research mathematically.
As history, Carrier's work is just a notch above the works of Michael Baignent or Robert Bauval e.a. Regarding the use of mathematical method: garbage in, garbage out. Here is a detailed (4 part) critique of Carrier's use of the Bayesian Method (https://letterstonature.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/probably-not-a-fine-tuned-critique-of-richard-carrier-part-1/) by Dr. Barnes, a cosmologist.
And here is the view by Jeffery Lowder, a friend of Carrier on The Carrier-Barnes Exchange on Fine-Tuning (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/secularoutpost/2014/05/09/the-carrier-barnes-exchange-on-fine-tuning/).
This sums it up fairly well: "With all due respect to Dr. Carrier, I find part 1 of Dr. Barnes’ critique to be very persuasive and, in fact, to be a prima facie devastating critique."
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Yeah, ok. I never understood either the mathematics of Bayesian theory or the need to drag it into the process. So those articles are wasted on me. I did get grade A in A level maths, but you have to be really into maths to get a grip with articles such as that. My surprise that Carrier was using maths was the reason why I made the point re: him being the first historian I know who has done so. Note I stressed it was the 'historical and linguistic analysis' that impressed me, and only mentioned the maths as an afterthought.
But, in terms of his studies of the texts, then unless he is basically lying outright about what they say and what words mean/meant (and he references everything very carefully) then he has some very interesting points that leave one wondering whether we can even assume there was a historical Jesus, never mind anything more. There's just so little to go on, and no 'evidence' that isn't problematic re: dating, sources, language, ideas, context ... etc. All we seem to be able to say for certainty is that Christianity as we know it derived from a process we can't pin down or know much about at all, and thus may well have begun with an original conception that was significantly different to what eventually emerged as Christianity.
I recommend you read the book rather than articles about the book. Or, and it is fun, watch his lectures / debates on YouTube, such as the Skepticon ones. It is fascinating stuff and has me quite gripped!
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In truth, I am just excited by the book: the analysis, the ideas, and specifically the uncertainties revealed. And this excitement is like that that I have experienced reading a good story, but has more bite as it connects with my life as a 'good' Catholic who transformed agonisingly into a full-blown atheist!
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As history, Carrier's work is just a notch above the works of Michael Baignent or Robert Bauval e.a. Regarding the use of mathematical method: garbage in, garbage out.
Funnily enough, that's exactly what Richard Dawkins has to say about Stephen Unwin's attempts at proving the existence of god through the Bayesian Method.
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I knew I'd heard the garbage in, garbage out phrase uttered by an atheist before!
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As history, Carrier's work is just a notch above the works of Michael Baignent or Robert Bauval e.a. Regarding the use of mathematical method: garbage in, garbage out.
Funnily enough, that's exactly what Richard Dawkins has to say about Stephen Unwin's attempts at proving the existence of god through the Bayesian Method.
And I would agree with him on this point. That said, Carrier's historical and linguistic analysis is as flawed as his mathematics.
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So you've read Carrier, Fidelis?
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I have read Carrier - not the book, but his blogs and various of his documents available on the internet like:
- So…if Jesus Didn’t Exist, Where Did He Come From?
- The New Testament: We Don’t Have What They Originally Had
- Bayes’ Theorem and the Modern Historian
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Interesting answer :icon_wink:
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Well, I will never spend 35 USD on any book without checking first if it might be worth it. It is not.
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I refer you to my previous answer. :icon_wink:
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Not unsurprisingly, more 40k. This round - Adeptus Mechanicus by Rob Sanders.
I'm liking the perspective from the Skitarii mindset.....kinda worries me a bit ....
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I've been reading through the Witcher novels again. At least this year there was a full translation of Tower of the Swallow but still having to use the fan one for Lady of the Lake. Since the death of proper Old World Warhammer I always get tempted when reading these that my Imperials will transition to Redanians and Temarians, though the unit of Blazing Sun Knights obviously become loathsome Nilfgaardians.
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I've been reading through the Witcher novels again. At least this year there was a full translation of Tower of the Swallow but still having to use the fan one for Lady of the Lake. Since the death of proper Old World Warhammer I always get tempted when reading these that my Imperials will transition to Redanians and Temarians, though the unit of Blazing Sun Knights obviously become loathsome Nilfgaardians.
I missed the Witcher Saga altogether. After reading your post, I wiki'd it. Looks pretty cool with a lot of spin offs (gaming, video and movie)
The heraldry of the Nilfgaardians is a sure match for the Blazing Suns :)
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Oh wait, ya said "literature", never mind. :icon_wink: :icon_lol:
Ha! - I concede my 'World Engine' doesn't quite rank as literature :)
I was looking forward to your input though. Every time you mention your New England area, I think of HP Lovecraft. I read everything that was published in my teens and still re- read some now and again. Mainly for the setting and the impression it left with me.
The word "literature" has an origin based in having letters forming words forming a book one is capable of learning from. And if I recall, it's first known usage as a word was in the 14th century, which I find interesting because that puts its initial use being towards the end of the middle ages and moving towards the renaissance. Some say literature needs to be writing of some sort of artistic or intellectual importance, yet like so much in life, I say such seems relative while changing over time. My interpretation seems more liberal than some, yet more full as well. Those that seek to constrict and control without a measure of moderation, in the moment understanding, and case by case awareness have been known to be confrontational with my view. They tend to be folks ... well, never mind, not worth the whining I could see if more is said on this tangent ... lol. So back to my view ... speech and language tend to be something that changes in meaning and structure over time, and if written words are a bi-product of spoken words, then it seems that changes over time of people's values, and as their efforts to communicate changes, so does the language and what is considered literature. The wider view a person has as to what literature is, probably the more adaptable a person can be to the society as it changes, too. Thus having a broad view of literature seems wise.
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@gp - I like that interpretation- very inclusive and accepting 👍
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I've been re-reading the game of thrones series, but I have apparently lost part one of book three! Grrrrrr. ::heretic::
Why couldn't I have lost book four instead?
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I'm reading book three now! It's actually not as much as a slog as book 1 and 2 were. Maybe because I haven't read t so often!
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Not unsurprisingly, more 40k. This round - Adeptus Mechanicus by Rob Sanders.
I'm liking the perspective from the Skitarii mindset.....kinda worries me a bit ....
You have just reminded me I bought those ad mech books am really looking forward to reading them
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I've been re-reading the game of thrones series, but I have apparently lost part one of book three! Grrrrrr. ::heretic::
Why couldn't I have lost book four instead?
Book four actually started to grow on me my second time through. It's still not perfect by any means and still the weakest one out, but I liked it more the second time around.
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Ive started reading:
1776 by David McCullough (https://www.amazon.com/1776-David-McCullough/dp/0743226720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470800793&sr=8-1&keywords=1776) - really quite good! Interesting and not a dry history, nor long.
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Book four actually started to grow on me my second time through. It's still not perfect by any means and still the weakest one out, but I liked it more the second time around.
It's probably not as annoying if you know in advance that nothing much is going to happen.
I wish I could find book 3 part one though. I bet someone borrowed it and hasn't returned it. ::heretic::
Re-reading book 2, I was surprised by how different the tv series version of events was. It was quite different! The Qarth and Winterfell parts especially.
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has anyone read City of Bones series? found the box set at a yard sale for $1.00
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@ rufus - Yep, agree. I have a mangled version in my head nowdays.
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(( I know they are young-adult novels, but I've been reading the short series by Rin Chupeco. They're quick reads, and I don't have to spend days / weeks completing them. ))
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Just finished the 'Faithful Executioner' about a 16 th century executioner in the city of Nuremberg. True story of Franze Schmidt list of executions and his reclamation of his fathers and his family honour.
Good book only a bit repetitive but it gives an excellent look at the 15th to 18th century hate and need for an execution man
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I finished 1776 and quite enjoyed it. Interesting and humanizing look at a very iconic year, and examination of leaders and their choices on both sides.
It, and the popularity of the hit Broadway musical, convinced me to pick up the 700+ page biography on Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. It's a hefty tome, but the first chapters have me hooked so far.
https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Hamilton-Ron-Chernow/dp/0143034758
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Conn igguldan's ghengis khan series. Midway through book two.
Finished book 3. Ordered 4 & 5 from book depository on the weekend. Will be reading the forum on public transport now until they arrive.
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The Great Gatsby. Incredible book and I love every, single page of it.
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In Ireland, I found a small book at an old book store titled "General's letters to his son on obtaining his commission" from 1918. I'm interested to read the advice.
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So I listened to the audiobook (it's almost the same as reading) of Remdezvous with Rama by Aethur C. Clarke. It's better than most space sci-fi stories I'm used to these days. I'm kinda starting to think that Star Wars has ruined space sci-fi and real life culture to some degree.
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The Great Gatsby. Incredible book and I love every, single page of it.
I really don't like it, but I'm glad you do. :::cheers:::
I'm reading All Quiet on the Western Front.
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The Great Gatsby. Incredible book and I love every, single page of it.
I really don't like it, but I'm glad you do. :::cheers:::
I'm reading All Quiet on the Western Front.
To be honest, I've only decided to read it, after seeing the movie. ;)
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I decided to never watch the movie because I disliked the book so much. :icon_lol:
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I'm reading All Quiet on the Western Front.
How did you fit the book in your house? Did the forklift leave tracks on the carpet?
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I remmber the movie but never read the book. Ernest Borgnine and the waltons guy were the actors I think.
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How did you fit the book in your house? Did the forklift leave tracks on the carpet?
It's not that big, like 300 pages. Did I get an abridged version and not know it? :unsure:
I remmber the movie but never read the book. Ernest Borgnine and the waltons guy were the actors I think.
I saw the movie a while ago and really wasn't that fond of it. I was a youth though, and probably didn't get what was trying to be said. I haven't watched it in so long. I had the book for a really long time and never gave it a shot. I even tried to sell it in a yard sale and it didn't sell. My wife went to take the book to a used book store and they wouldn't take it because it was so beat up. So then, after all that I've sat down and started to read it. It's very good so far, about half way through.
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All quiet is short iirc.
Great book.
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How did you fit the book in your house? Did the forklift leave tracks on the carpet?
It's not that big, like 300 pages. Did I get an abridged version and not know it? :unsure:
I made a mistake. For some reason I was thinking of War and Peace, which is like 1,300+ Pages.
Have you seen the 1930s movie of all is quiet on the western front?
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I'm kinda starting to think that Star Wars has ruined space sci-fi and real life culture to some degree.
Howso?
Also, finally, after 2.5 weeks by book depository order came in. I can finally start on book 4 of the conqueror series (Genghis Khan - conn igguldan).
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I'm kinda starting to think that Star Wars has ruined space sci-fi and real life culture to some degree.
Howso?
Also, finally, after 2.5 weeks by book depository order came in. I can finally start on book 4 of the conqueror series (Genghis Khan - conn igguldan).
I mostly think that Star Wars is all about style over substance in storytelling. I also saw on the news the other day that some local Kendo club is now a Jedi fencing club because samurais are too obscure compared to Star Wars now. So now I'm starting to think that Star Wars is slowly replacing other cultural elements in some decadent manner.
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I made a mistake. For some reason I was thinking of War and Peace, which is like 1,300+ Pages.
Have you seen the 1930s movie of all is quiet on the western front?
Ah, gotcha. I'm not really all that interested in trying War and Peace. I've seen the movie a long time ago. Didn't like it at the time, but after reading the book I think I missed the meaning in my first viewing.
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I mostly think that Star Wars is all about style over substance in storytelling. I also saw on the news the other day that some local Kendo club is now a Jedi fencing club because samurais are too obscure compared to Star Wars now. So now I'm starting to think that Star Wars is slowly replacing other cultural elements in some decadent manner.
Perhaps. I never really saw it that way, but I read the EU when they were fresh. Rogue squadron was good storytelling. I think that helped. I can definitely see it like that nowdays though. I think prequels did that actually. Hmmm.
The kendo thing is ridiculous though. Who doesn't love samurai!?
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I mostly think that Star Wars is all about style over substance in storytelling. I also saw on the news the other day that some local Kendo club is now a Jedi fencing club because samurais are too obscure compared to Star Wars now. So now I'm starting to think that Star Wars is slowly replacing other cultural elements in some decadent manner.
Perhaps. I never really saw it that way, but I read the EU when they were fresh. Rogue squadron was good storytelling. I think that helped. I can definitely see it like that nowdays though. I think prequels did that actually. Hmmm.
The kendo thing is ridiculous though. Who doesn't love samurai!?
I'm probably just overreacting. But I do like sci-fi a whole more as a genre when it's not fairy tales in space.
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I mostly think that Star Wars is all about style over substance in storytelling. I also saw on the news the other day that some local Kendo club is now a Jedi fencing club because samurais are too obscure compared to Star Wars now. So now I'm starting to think that Star Wars is slowly replacing other cultural elements in some decadent manner.
Perhaps. I never really saw it that way, but I read the EU when they were fresh. Rogue squadron was good storytelling. I think that helped. I can definitely see it like that nowdays though. I think prequels did that actually. Hmmm.
The kendo thing is ridiculous though. Who doesn't love samurai!?
I'm probably just overreacting. But I do like sci-fi a whole more as a genre when it's not fairy tales in space.
I agree. That's why I've always liked 40K more than SW. :-P
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I think Star Trek is heading that way now too.
The Sci part of sci-fi certain is light on the science now days.
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40k is more like in the realm of metal album covers the setting than actual sci-fi. :closed-eyes:
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40k is more like in the realm of metal album covers the setting than actual sci-fi. :closed-eyes:
I honestly think that it has more to do with fantasy than sci-fi. Star Trek is a sci-fi. 40K is a cocaine-laced ride through hell with heavy metal blasting through your earphones.
Also Samurai are awesome. Period.
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40k is more like in the realm of metal album covers the setting than actual sci-fi. :closed-eyes:
I honestly think that it has more to do with fantasy than sci-fi. Star Trek is a sci-fi. 40K is a cocaine-laced ride through hell with heavy metal blasting through your earphones.
Also Samurai are awesome. Period.
I agree 100% with everything in this post.
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Star Trek is a sci-fi.
Is it though anymore?
Also Samurai are awesome. Period.
Surely we can all agree on that.
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Didn't Lucas initially want Toshiro Mifune to play Obi Kenobi? I think I read that somewhere.
Would have made for quite a different movie.
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[quote 40K is a cocaine-laced ride through hell with heavy metal blasting through your earphones
This is funny and true!! I love 40k books. Counts for at least 80% of my reading lately. Always liked sci-fi. Used to really like Asimov and the foundation series. Just loved them and it's psychohistory 😀
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I actually wish that they still made the Warhammer Monthly comics, since 40k has such striking visuals. Bloodquest was probably the best 40k story in that publication.
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But guys, they are returning to printing Warhammer comics.
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2016/07/40k-comics-coming-back-in-october.html
Dark Angels vs Iron Warriors baby!
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I honestly prefer it in black and white.
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I also like the old B&W comics, but check out Damnation Crusade and Condemned by Fire. They're in color and very nicely made. :smile2:
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'And now for something completely different' - another 40k book!
The Siege of Castellax. What better way than have the nasties (Iron Warriors) bash it out with the Orks. Who can lose?😺
Also filled in some time with an old favorite mag -Strategy and Tactics #300 - The Rommel Factor. My brother picked it up for me in the hospital and I forgot how much I enjoyed this magazine. I used to have many copies and a subscription to it. Filled with all kinds of set stuff.
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Something cheery I read while in the hospital for a month. The Faithful Excecutioner by Joel F Harrington.
A story about Franz Schmidt who lived 1554 - 1634 and executed 304 people over his career. Not a career of his choosing but one forced upon him as a teenager when he witnessed a nobleman having a dog thrown at him and was told to execute this person who threw the dog. Apparently he had to do what his superior had said and this condemned him to his trade. He spent his life trying to redeem his family honour and it carried on to his son who eventually regained their honour. Truly a neat look at life in the 1500 - 1600.
But he was not a monster. To the contrary, he was a sober, reliable family man, one who reluctantly pursued his vocation.
(Copied and pasted that last line out of sheer laziness)
G
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Just settling in with ' The Generals Handbook'. Not quite literature but fun to read. I havnt picked up any of the new books for AOS so this seems a good place to start.
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Working my way through the River's of London series while I wait for the next Dresden Files book. It's fun.
Also rereading my way through the discworld. Some of the greatest books on the planet.
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I second this.
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I've heard of these. All good remarks on them. I really need to track them down I think
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'Rivers of London'? Thames, Fleet .. I know of no more. But I do live in Yorkshire and I claim all that might redeem, plus two bottles of wine (and all the re-typing therein) involved. And more besides ... there's always more besides .... ... so, while I am here, what were we talking about?
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Working my way through the River's of London series while I wait for the next Dresden Files book. It's fun.
"As of September 2016: Jim is currently writing Peace Talks (#16), so we’re still quite a ways from having a release date."
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Records of the medieval sword by Ewart Oakeshott and I:33, also known Walpurgis fechtbuch from about 1320
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The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior [Leonardo, Machiavelli, Borgia] A Fateful Collusion. By Paul Strathern.
(Some of you may know why.)
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Working my way through the River's of London series while I wait for the next Dresden Files book. It's fun.
"As of September 2016: Jim is currently writing Peace Talks (#16), so we’re still quite a ways from having a release date."
Sigh, I know. it's going to be awhile. Should be worth the wait. Rivers of London is really good so far, and there's five books to go through while I wait. It's kinda sorta like a british version of the Dresden Files.
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The Aeronaughts Windlass was pretty good. His other I didn't enjoy.
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Do you mean the Dresden one's, or the other Codex series?
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Codex. I love Dresden, though I feel after Changes it has been underwhelming.
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Agree fully on all counts. I really liked Skin Game because I felt he was finally planning ahead and using his power, but I sort of miss the original PI kind of stuff.
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Indeed. Sometimes long stories like this sort of lose that luster of what made it so enticing in the beginning. I felt the same way about Fringe, was amazing in the beginning, but the more the overlying plot was revealed the less interested I was. Changes is obviously appropriately named, and it's going to take a while to build back up to that crescendo again. I think he really set himself a tough task this way. I'm going to see it out, for sure, I just hope it does pick up again.
MINOR SPOILER FOR THE BOOKS BELOW
I will say that of all the things he's done so far, I don't really like the way he's handled Butters/Knights of the Cross. It just feels like everybody in the squad is getting some form of McGuffin to equal the playing field. I understand the reasoning for it, and from a Christian/faith perspective I can even appreciate what it's trying to say. It just feels a bit out of place.
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I know what you mean. Everyone is getting a major upgrade, which is a bit of a shame. Part of what I liked was seeing the regular mortals try and deal with stuff. It looks like soon there wont be any left.
Still it's a minor gripe. Uriel is a great character so getting to see him around is always nice.
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The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior [Leonardo, Machiavelli, Borgia] A Fateful Collusion. By Paul Strathern.
(Some of you may know why.)
Narrative or historical commentary?
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So if one wanted to get into this HP Lovecraft stuff, what would be a great book/story to start? not necessarily the first but which one is the best to start with.
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Codex. I love Dresden, though I feel after Changes it has been underwhelming.
Perhaps you should try the Dresden Codex, then...
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So if one wanted to get into this HP Lovecraft stuff, what would be a great book/story to start? not necessarily the first but which one is the best to start with.
I've read everything he wrote and have a copy of everything kicking around. A lot of his stuff is repetitive as he wrote them for magazines but I always liked at 'the mountains of madness' and ' dream quest of unknown kadath'. I also reallly liked the story 'the strange high house in he mist'. Reanimator is pretty good too.
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So if one wanted to get into this HP Lovecraft stuff, what would be a great book/story to start? not necessarily the first but which one is the best to start with.
I would suggest to start with some short stories. "The Color Out Of Space" is pretty good, as is "Pickman's Model".
See whether you like his writing style (not everybody does), and then expand.
Incidentally, when you google "lovecraft pick...", autocomplete suggests "lovecraft pickup lines". But I'm not sure these work.
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"The Color Out Of Space" is pretty good, as is "Pickman's Model".
Damn ! I had Completely forgotten these 2. They are better to start off with for sure. Now that I think about it, dream quest is a bit much to start off with.
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Currently reading articles about enterprise IT and business process modelling. I will pay for one of you to come here and assassinate me.
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I will pay for one of you to come here and assassinate me.
Just draw some Mohammed cartoons and save yourself the money.
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I will pay for one of you to come here and assassinate me.
Just draw some Mohammed cartoons and save yourself the money.
If by "assassinate" you mean "blown the hell up", then yeah - Patsy's covered.
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Habitat, comic.
soooo gooooood.
(http://www.page45.com/world/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Habitat-2.jpg)
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Habitat, comic.
soooo gooooood.
Looks really cool. A Meso-American look inside a cylinder habitat station? Powerful imagery.
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Something like "ring world" by Larry Niven except with awesome artwork. I havnt read those books go 20 years but I seem to remember that the society had devolved somewhat and they no longer realized they lived on this construct. Really loved the idea behind this story. Kind of like a slice of a dyson sphere.
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an environment patrolled by three tribes, basically. Habitat Security, civilians, and engineers.
HabSec hunt civvies for meat, all other animal life on the station is dead!
technology that has been largely lost/the civvies partially revere.
very good.
Something like "ring world" by Larry Niven except with awesome artwork. I havnt read those books go 20 years but I seem to remember that the society had devolved somewhat and they no longer realized they lived on this construct. Really loved the idea behind this story. Kind of like a slice of a dyson sphere.
I might check that out!
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It was a pretty cool idea. The ring was hugely wide and had the circumference of the earths orbit around the sun with a smaller ring between it and the sun made of these huge blocks that were separated enough to imitate a 24 hr night/day cycle. The construction materials came from the other planets ingle system but since there are no other planets, it ate up a lot of materials. Excellent book that made me read most of his collection including a co written book with jerry Parnell about 'Dante's inferno' where the character winds up in hell and can only escape by descending the rings to get into purgatory. Awesome and funny book and includes Mussolini as a sort of toor guide on some of the levels.
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Havnt been reading in awhile. Then 'The Gates of Azyr' was free online. About half way thru and enjoying immensely.
Edit: dang! Finished it already. Good book and forcing me to buy the next one I guess 😺 I like Chris Wraight as an author. His Space Wolves novels are great and I find inspirational for my fledgling Wolves. I will have Njall Stormcaller in my force eventually.
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I've managed to read HALF the Souldrinkers omnibus whilst waiting for my doctor at appointments
Ten years ago, I read one discworld book a week. I now find reading Discworld arduous. I'm tired of the whole 'Almost Victorian' theme. Was that always in the series or have I just been misreading the books all these years? My first exposure to discworld was the Soul music and Wyrd sisters cartoon adaptions and they both had a more medieval theme to them. I guess I've just been misreading them
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I'd say it's always been there in the discworld, just in a tongue in cheek way. Moving pictures is about Hollywood, soul music about Rock/The Beatles/jazz/etc.
Discworld continues to be my favorite series of all time. Just got 3 more this Christmas to continue building the hard cover collection.
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I think i might re-read Moving pictures. My favourite bit was the part when the wizards sneak out of the university to go to the cinema and wear false bears over their real ones [on the assumption that no one with a false beard would have a real one]
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Got matthew riley's Four Kingdoms for christmas. Will likely ready in a few weeks when im back at work.
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The Sigillite by Chris Wraight. Just downloaded it from black library. A couple of pages in.
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The Sigillite by Chris Wraight. Just downloaded it from black library. A couple of pages in.
It's really good. I generally love the Knights-Errant story arc in the Horus Heresy. Astartes secret agents FTW. :blush:
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Decided to read Soul music for the umpteenth time :-P
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Finishing off the year (though will run into the new one) with Jeffrey Wert's Mosby's Rangers.
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It's really good. I generally love the Knights-Errant story arc in the Horus Heresy. Astartes secret agents FTW. :blush:
Just finished the sigillite. Your right - really good. This knights-errant story arc sounds great. Where does it begin?
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A Ghost Return - Dan Abnet. Probably one of my favorite authors with the Gaunts Ghosts series. Loved every book and the fact he doesn't mind knocking off main characters.
Downloaded 2 small reads - the last son of prosperro and unearthed and they both disappeared from iBooks. I remember the download and went to read later but no sign of them. Into the warp they went. Sent BL an email to see if they will renew them but I know I downloaded them. Luckily they are only 4.99 each. Still can't bring myself to order a big book cause I like the reality of a book but these short ones are fun and portable.
Edit: problem with shorts are that they are......short. Just start feeling the surroundings and there done.
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Just started ex machina, Brian Vaughan's comic book series.
Looks really good!
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Did a quick look at ex machina on google. Looks prettty good!
Just finished The Fissure by Nic Vincent. Pretty good and aluded to in Dan Abnet's A Ghost Return. Makes me want to get Abnet's brotherhood of the Snake book.
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Currently just started the Cain series for 40k. Always been a big fan of Black Adder so I'm liking this. It's also pointed me towards the Flashman papers which I'm excited to start. Turns out my parents know Flashman especially and are big fans, so that led to an exciting talk.
I've also got the two most recent River's of London books lined up. Can't wait to get stuck into those.
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Loved the Cain series. Great humour thruout.
And as guessed - I downloaded brothers of the snake by Dan Abnet and just got thru the first section. I'm so predictable 😺
Got a bit worried when I started reading and it sounded like I had read it before. Then realized I had just read an excerpt a number of years ago. Hate spending when I don't have too.
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I think i'll re-read the 'Traitors hand' once I finish Soul music again.
That comment Cain makes, when they're about to raid the cat house always cracks me up :eusa_clap:
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Finished "Last Ditch" some time ago. It wasn't the first Cain book that I've read. I like him, but it's annoying that almost all of his books are exactly the same. The humor is nice, but the repetitiveness gets to me, after a while.
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Finished unearthed and last son of prospero - interesting character unveiled here! Won't spoil anything unless prompted.
Finished Brothers of the Snake - good read. And know reading cybernetica.
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Yet more 40k from my favourite group the space Wolves about my actual army based on Harol Deathwolf's great company. The Curse of the Wolfen. Great read but it ended like it needed a sequel which I think is The Legasy of Russ which I should get but I promised myself I would get City of Secrets first. I should stick to a plan. That's why my life is a shlomosel to begin with. Always sidetracked. If I was a train yard I should be found somewhere on a wayward track 😺
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Reading War and Peace and have just passed Pierre's duel with Dolokhov.
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Reading War and Peace and have just passed Pierre's duel with Dolokhov.
Congratulations! Quite an ambitious undertaking. One that I havnt done myself but always had good intentions - but you know what they say about that lol.
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I've committed to reading 12 books in 12 months. For January I'm rereading a book I read in elementary school:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/My_Side_of_the_Mountain.jpg)
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I am reading a book written by the esteemed gentleman and fencing master Col. Thomas Hoyer Monstery in the 1870:ies.
"Self defense for gentlemen and ladies".
What an awesome chap!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Thomas_Hoyer_Monstery
His most gifted student was possibly even more badass than her Master.
http://usfencinghalloffame.com/wp/hattan-ella-jaguarina/
but when they once staged a joint fencing display they were judged very evenly matched by both audience and judges.
https://martialartsnewyork.org/2015/03/31/colonel-thomas-monstery-and-the-training-of-jaguarina-americas-champion-swordswoman/
Now, consider this. Monstery fought several duels AND in several combat skirmishes. And had to defend himself in the street on occasions. Yet, he hated guns. He said that man who carry a gun is more likely to use it hastily.
When you fought a duel with the sword, you were much more able to stop and and show humanity, to ask if honours were satisfied etc.
But as soon as a trigger is pulled a man is turned into a murderer wether he wants it or not, as Monstery put it.
Now, Monstery did kill a few men in his career but he did not consider that as something grand. They may have wanted his life but they were still fellow men. Hence Monstery said that the art of boxing was of great value to the gentleman. It gave him an ability to defend himself and his lady without risking to become a murderer. Monsterys boxing is not like what we see today. It looks much more like what we see from modern self-defence, blocks with the lower arms and legs, jabs for keeping the opponent at bay and then straight "scientific" blows using the straight line, targetting the nose and the bridge between the eyes.
Uppercuts and curved blows was something Monstery taught his students to defend against, but not to use. You risked among other things severly injuring your hands and knuckles, which in a self-defence situation is very counter-productive.
However, Monstery argued that the gentlemans best item of self-defence was the regular walking cane. No swordcane or such things, just a sturdy normal cane.
He also taught his female students the use of boxing and trained them as hard as his male ones. He made zero difference between them.
But he also saw that women, due to fashion and the codes of society had other things to consider. They did not use canes for example, depriving them of an excellent self-defence tool.
But instead it was often fashionable to carry a parasol and Monstery developed a system for turning it into a nasty self-defence tool. He taught that hitting with it was usually pointless but drilled his students in using it as a parry tool and then via rapier fencing to learn to use it for stabbing, either stabbing the face and eyes and of course the groin.
I would not want to be the assailant leaping a New York woman in the streets finding out the hard way she had studied for the Colonel.
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Now that sounds interesting 👆
A note to Padre - I could have sworn there were a couple of recent posts here from you that I wanted to comment on but I can't find em lol. I think I wanted to ask you if you've ever listened to Graham Hancock on his thoughts on conciousness and the mind being an interpreter of 'other being' for lack of a better term. He described something like watching tv and throwing a brick at it destroying the device ie:body but not the signal ie:conscious. He is also a big fan of dmt. You might find it interesting or just another load of crap.
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So I was feeling pretty confident about my reading in German, because I spend large parts of my day with Adorno and Hegel and stuff. But then I picked up Thomas Mann's "Joseph und seine Brüder"...
Like this sentence (yes, singular), which was more-or-less chosen at random:
Die Überlieferung will wissen, daß ihm sein Gott, der Gott, an dessen Wesensbild sein Geist arbeitete, der Höchste unter den anderen, dem ganz allein zu dienen er aus Stolz und Liebe entschlossen war, der Gott der Äonen, dem er Namen suchte und hinlängliche nicht fand, weshalb er ihm die Mehrzahl verlieh und ihn Elohim, die Gottheit, versuchsweise nannte: daß also Elohim ihm ebenso weitreichende wie fest umschriebene Verheißungen gemacht hatte, des Sinnes nicht nur, er, der Mann aus Ur, solle zu einem Volke werden, zahlreich wie Sand und Sterne, und allen Völkern ein Segen sein, sondern auch dahingehend, das Land, in dem er nun als Fremder wohne und wohin Elohim ihn aus Chaldäa geführt hätte, solle ihm und seinem Samen zu ewiger Besitzung gegeben werden in allen seinen Teilen, - wobei der Gott der Götter ausdrücklich die Völkerschaften und gegenwärtigen Inhaber des Landes aufgeführt hätte, deren "Tore" der Same des Ur-Mannes besitzen solle, das heißt: denen der Gott im Interesse des Ur-Mannes und seines Samens Unterwerfung und Knechtschaft bündig zugedacht habe.
Jesus. Like, it's fine (and quite beautiful), but you can't let your mind wander for a moment...
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If you can read this - fantastic. I can count to 100 I think and a couple of frases. From my earliest recollection I always wanted to speak German and despite taking it in school for 2 years I failed in this effort.
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Yeah, my german should probably be better than it actually is: I've been living here for seven years, now... I did basically learn by reading though. I started with Harry Potter (each page taking, like, an hour, at the beginning), and then gradually getting more complicated. It's only been in the last year or two that I really "found a voice" in german, though, and was capable of having non-trivial, non-drunk friendships in german...
I have an ongoing discussion with a friend of mine about translateability. I hold, for example, that Shakespeare is basically "untranslatable" (i mean, it's obviously not in a literal sense, but loses something vital in translation, I think). His example has always been Thomas Mann, which is what prompted my reading this book.
I do find this question interesting. When Sebald writes an 11-page sentence in "austerlitz", for example, this is a sentence that I can somehow very well imagine working in English through more or less basic hypotactic formulations. Whereas the dense network of dependencies and simultaneous distancing evident in that random Mann example are way harder to reproduce in the English language...
Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk
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The Legasy of Russ - holy catfish - lots of action here. Only half way thru and sooo many Wolves have had their strings cut. Very painful.
Done! What a book! If you like total ruin and annialation and unbreakable spirit this is the one for you. Classic Space Wolves stuff. On to the city of secrets!
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Nick Horth's City of Secrets - I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Apparently his first book and he is a background author for AOS and 40K. Great sense of humour and excellent ability to craft a setting. I feel like I just visited an Old World city but in the new setting. Pretty grim sigmarites in this story. Very much like Space Marines - the type you don't want to piss off. Really looking forward to new material by this guy. He could become a favourite and his witch hunter is pretty much as he should be. Mortal with the will of a warrior priest.
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I just finished Bernard Cornwell's Archer's Tale/Harlequin. I've now started up the first omnibus of the Gotrek and Felix saga.
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Gotrek and Felix is great, as long as you stick to the ones written by William King.
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Noted. Thanks.
I've been missing old Warhammer and figured why not.
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Gotrek and Felix is great, as long as you stick to the ones written by William King.
I can't agree more. The original saga is simply great. :blush:
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Gotrek and Felix is great, as long as you stick to the ones written by William King.
I can't agree more. The original saga is simply great. :blush:
Ditto. One of the best of all time.
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Just finished 'War Storm'. 3 shorter stories by Josh Reynolds, Nick Kyme and Guy Haley. Continuing the stormcast stories and I have to say I'm getting into the environment. There is room for every narrative. I found I was thinking of WoW's country of Nagrand with the floating islands which happened to be one of my favourite landscapes in the game (Outlands). Reminded them again of Roger Dean's wild landscapes.
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Not too long ago i finished Khrushchev's memoirs. Interesting stuff, if you're part of the small fraction of humanity with nerdy interest in that kind of thing :happy:
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Working my way through Ghal Maraz. Enjoying it completely. A lot of the battles and characters spring too life and reading about them in mongoose mats gaming diary is a nice combo. Feels like I met them already. I am really liking The Lord Relictor and his abilities to heal and grasp the elements. Looking up on his Warscroll, it doesn't seem to do him justice with only D3 damage in mortal wounds. Definitely is going to be a hero in my future army.
Getting a good feel for the fluff as well and trying to read the novels in order.
Edit: didn't realize it was two books. Just finished it. Allarielle was some pissed off. Really enjoyed it 😺
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I've been acquiring a steady collection of Terry Pratchett hardcovers these past few years. Right now I'm reading Carpe Jugulum, liking it a lot more than the first time because that was a horrible Dutch translation called 'Pluk de Strot' which really translates like 'pluck the throat'.
I've never read a good Dutch translation of Pratchett though, all the clever puns with words get lost in the translation and often even missed by the translator! Often I would read some sentence that didn't seem to make any sense, but translating it directly back into English got me to some clever word play.
I can only imagine how the translator had butchered they way the Nac Mac Feegle talk. Must have completely repressed that memory I guess...
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I am reading Mathematical magick, or, The wonders that may be performed by mechanical geometry in two books: concerning mechanical [brace] powers, motions ... by the bishop of Chester (mid seveteenth century) John Wilkins, the same man who proposed that there may be life on the moon and speculated concerning flying machines. I am learning a lot, surprisingly interesting too, about levers, wheels, etc. Also, the american spelling of 'center' is his way. Apparently it is us English who have changed it. Also, don't use 'explanations', use 'explications'. It's more fun!
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I've been acquiring a steady collection of Terry Pratchett hardcovers these past few years. Right now I'm reading Carpe Jugulum, liking it a lot more than the first time because that was a horrible Dutch translation called 'Pluk de Strot' which really translates like 'pluck the throat'.
I've never read a good Dutch translation of Pratchett though, all the clever puns with words get lost in the translation and often even missed by the translator! Often I would read some sentence that didn't seem to make any sense, but translating it directly back into English got me to some clever word play.
I can only imagine how the translator had butchered they way the Nac Mac Feegle talk. Must have completely repressed that memory I guess...
Terry Pratchett is a genius, but sadly I can see how it would be just about impossible to translate and keep the same word play. I feel they have the same problem with the couple of movies or mini series they've made. The word play just doesn't make it to the screen in the same way.
I've been reading through the River's of London series while I wait for the next Dresden File's book to come out. It's a pretty fun, urban fantasy series. A cop in the Met accidently finds out they have a division that deals with magical crimes or creatures and ends up getting recruited. Each book is generally a traditional crime drama but with magic. It's a different take then Dresden File's though because the main character spends a lot of time trying to work out the science behind how the magic works. Especially because the wizards group was founded by Newton after he modernized and codified magic as a science instead superstition.
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It seems everyone raves about Terry Pratchett. I think the time is coming to investigate if I can break this realmgate wars craziness.
Just finished The Eldritch Fortress and completely loved it. I think I'm pretty immersed in the AOS fluff now (almost criminal offence to the oldworlders ) but it really is pretty much the same stories/writers in a different setting and it's what I enjoy so what the hell.
Definitely have my army almost planned and I love the stormcast models. Especially the dracoth cavalry. Unfortunately hellishly expensive as well. Ionis Cryptborn I think is my favorite character but not sure if there's a model for him. What I think I like best about AOS is that I can use every unit I like (because narrative is the form I will probably go with since there are so many ways to play) and I'll get to use all the dust gatherers that are kicking around. I remember painting up the unit spearmen from the empire/ork starter set and never using them ever.
Anyway back to Pratchett - I have a feeling I'm gonna like his work. Unfortunately I downloaded Hammers of Sigmar as my next dose i my addiction.
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Pratchett is great as long as I don't go in for the Fantasy story. The books are a satire on human society, interpersonal relations, self-image and real world historical events, and it does this by means of a Fantasy setting.
:biggriin:
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Just browsing Xath's blog and came across his review of 'Warrior Priest'
http://italwaysrainsinnuln.blogspot.ca/2017/01/xathrodox86-reviews-warrior-priest-by.html?m=1
Looks like I may railroad Pratchett one more time as this is my favorite warhammer character type. Looking it up in the Black Library and I find 'Luther Huss'. I remember this book coming out but never read it. That's 2 now. Luther was the first hero I bought and loved the model and the fluff. Would be responsible for my Sigmarite army with lots of flaggies and war alter and of course Luther himself.
I don't think the kid in us ever leaves.
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Just browsing Xath's blog and came across his review of 'Warrior Priest'
http://italwaysrainsinnuln.blogspot.ca/2017/01/xathrodox86-reviews-warrior-priest-by.html?m=1
Looks like I may railroad Pratchett one more time as this is my favorite warhammer character type. Looking it up in the Black Library and I find 'Luther Huss'. I remember this book coming out but never read it. That's 2 now. Luther was the first hero I bought and loved the model and the fluff. Would be responsible for my Sigmarite army with lots of flaggies and war alter and of course Luther himself.
I don't think the kid in us ever leaves.
Having read both picking up Warrior Priest is a better investment than Luthor Huss, I liked the former and loathed the latter but ones own taste may be different. In general to not give spoilers or anything Warrior Priests main cast at least felt more relate able than that of Huss especially in the manner in which Huss is presented vs the random Warrior Priest, superior villains as well.
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I haven't read Huss, but Warrior Priest is simply great, like I've written on my blog. ;) S.O.F put it really well - it has a relatable cast and a fully developed, complex villian. These two things, combined with excellent descriptions of chilly Ostland, makes for one hell of a read.
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I loved Luthor Huss. But I have always liked his fluff.
I felt so sad when The old world was destroyed by GW and I had finally gotten hold of Luthor. So he never got to play. :icon_sad:
Maybe I should get Warrior Priest.
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I loved Luthor Huss. But I have always liked his fluff.
I felt so sad when The old world was destroyed by GW and I had finally gotten hold of Luthor. So he never got to play. :icon_sad:
Maybe I should get Warrior Priest.
I also have a Luthor mini. He's awesome and he absolutely rocked in the 6th edition. I reccomend that you grab a copy of "WP". ;)
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I read "a wizard of earthsea" on holiday.
fuck me, wish i'd read that when I was 11.
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I read "a wizard of earthsea" on holiday.
fuck me, wish i'd read that when I was 11.
Loved that age. Imagination was everything and everything was new.
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I read "a wizard of earthsea" on holiday.
fuck me, wish i'd read that when I was 11.
I did!
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Earthsea was fantastic. Quite unique. Been a long time since I read it though!
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I really enjoyed that she was quite sparse with description and even narrative at some points, nit afraid to skip stuff!
And I loved the magic lore with importance of names.
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@Bawtrm - which Pratchett should I start with. Paroosing his works, there is quite a lot. Also now inspired by JAK's incredible group of disc world miniatures I think I need to examine this. I will go thru 'Warrior Priest ' first and then to Pratchett.
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"Reaper Man" is a good one to start, I think. He had found his style by then, and the book does not require any previous knowledge of the setting.
"Small Gods" makes for a good gateway drug, too, but it's a standalone.
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"Reaper Man" it is. Need some damage control to get off this Black Library drug 😺
Thanks!
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"Reaper Man" is a good one to start, I think. He had found his style by then, and the book does not require any previous knowledge of the setting.
Not Mort? Or Guards! Guards!
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I think that Mort is the better introduction to the character THAT ALWAYS TALKS IN CALL CAPS, but hey, Reaper Man works too.
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Reaper Man is good, but I think it's better to start a bit earlier.
The first one I read was the Colour of Magic, at the age of 11 or so. I didn't understand any of the parodies of fantasy fiction in it!
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Love the title 'Guards! Guards!
Conjures up a ton of ideas.
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I'll quote Pratchetts dedication from the beginning of the book:
They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol. Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be slaughtered. No one ever asks them if they want to.
This book is dedicated to those fine men.
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Getting it as we speak! It says it is the city watch #1 as well. I can get a good copy from amazon for .50 cents plus 6.49 shipping Canadian. How freakin good is that?! With JAK,s thread on the city watch, this just makes sense.
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Cool! I hope you enjoy it. It's one of my favourites.
The Discworld novels have a number of recurring protagonists who basically have their own mini-series in the series. It's a very loose, informal thing, but Guards! Guards! Is the novel where the Watch characters are first introduced - just like Mort is the one where DEATH makes his first centerstage appearance (I think Death is the one character that's in pretty much every single Pratchett book I know, Discworld or otherwise. Even if it's just for one scene and a hilarious one-liner). It's not a bad idea to read those first, genereally. Although I will say that Pratchett was still finding his stylistic feet when he wrote The Light Fantastic and The Colour of Magic (which introduce Rincewind and the Wizards of Unseen University).
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Cool! I hope you enjoy it. It's one of my favourites.
The Discworld novels have a number of recurring protagonists who basically have their own mini-series in the series. It's a very loose, informal thing, but Guards! Guards! Is the novel where the Watch characters are first introduced - just like Mort is the one where DEATH makes his first centerstage appearance (I think Death is the one character that's in pretty much every single Pratchett book I know, Discworld or otherwise. Even if it's just for one scene and a hilarious one-liner). It's not a bad idea to read those first, genereally. Although I will say that Pratchett was still finding his stylistic feet when he wrote The Light Fantastic and The Colour of Magic (which introduce Rincewind and the Wizards of Unseen University).
Awesome! It's sounding really good. Just ordered and will get it March 1-8th. Gives me time to finish off 'The Fall of Malvolion' by Dan Abnet's and 'Warrior Priest'. Just finished 'Hammers of Sigmar ' and thoroughly enjoyed that as well.
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Morts the only one I've read, and enjoyed it.
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I particularly love series books so will look forward to that as well.
Edit: welcome back btw. Good vacation?
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Dn, 'the Fall of Malvolion' was but an Abnet tease. Over in an instant. As usual he had a way of instantly grabbing your attention and I couldn't put it down. Mordian Guard in a winless situation with 'nids.
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Not Mort? Or Guards! Guards!
Both good, but a tad immature in style, and random. But that's complaining on a high level.
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I personally think Guards Guards is a great place to start. The City Watch books I've always felt are some of the best.
There is a fairy large difference between some of the early books and the later books. They start of as real parody of fantasy tropes. Then after a few books it becomes more satire on the human condition that just happens to take place in a fantasy world. Reaper man is a fantastic one, but I'm not sure I'd start with Mort. Death is a key character, but if your just starting the series I'd lean towards starting with some of the more human characters. Perhaps one of the early wizard books.
I remember I started of with Feet of Clay. It was purely because I found it in my library's old paper back section. After that I devoured the pretty randomly, before purposely going back and starting with the first one. One of my friends started with Going Postal and that can be a good gateway, but pretty far into the series.
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Not Mort? Or Guards! Guards!
Both good, but a tad immature in style, and random. But that's complaining on a high level.
Immature? Certainly not!
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'Guards!Guards! - 'When he is on the griddle, the Supreme Grand Master thought, Brother Plasterer will not be lonely.'
Ok, I am finding this book very funny. When you buy amazon you get some of the book free to download so you don't have to wait for delivery to start reading. Almost every page makes me laugh.
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Almost every page makes me laugh.
One of my favourite Pratchett reading memories is a long train ride where I was reading some Discworld novel to pass the time. And fuck me, it was completely impossible to NOT constantly snicker or outright laugh, despite (or perhaps because of) trying real hard not to.
Just so many good jokes. Guy regards some meadow by a river and reminisces. "In the early days of his marriage, he and the missus had come here often to spoon and, on one memorable occasion, to fork".
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Oh yes. Sometimes my wife is suddenly distracted by my sniggering and it's "Oh, you're reading Pratchett again." :icon_lol:
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Technical constructions and inventions from Marshall Brain. A good read with quick explanations of the major technical advancements.
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I've seen some snatches of his stuff before and liked it. I should add it to my reading list. I always enjoy 'how it works' books like that.
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Finished up the first Gotrek and Felix omnibus. Until I figure out if I'll get the next one or into something else I'm falling back on Johnny Tremain. I hated the book as a child, but I still have it and thought I'd give it another chance. I know it's a kids book, but it's stuck with me as one of my least favorite books so I want to see if that still holds up.
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I know it's a kids book, but it's stuck with me as one of my least favorite books so I want to see if that still holds up.
If it helps just think of it as Johnny Deformed instead, heard that has worked for other people.
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I do think about that every time the book is mentioned. :icon_lol:
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Oh wait, ya said "literature", never mind. :icon_wink: :icon_lol:
Ha! - I concede my 'World Engine' doesn't quite rank as literature :)
I was looking forward to your input though. Every time you mention your New England area, I think of HP Lovecraft. I read everything that was published in my teens and still re- read some now and again. Mainly for the setting and the impression it left with me.
Finally getting back to this thread ... :icon_lol: ... haven't read HP Lovecraft. Perhaps at some point.
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Reading Master and Commander now.
I've seen the movie and enjoyed it, wondering if the book is good, what did you think of it?
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Not unsurprisingly, more 40k. This round - Adeptus Mechanicus by Rob Sanders.
I'm liking the perspective from the Skitarii mindset.....kinda worries me a bit ....
Can you summarize?
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Ha! I forgot I'd written this ...
The word "literature" has an origin based in having letters forming words forming a book one is capable of learning from. And if I recall, it's first known usage as a word was in the 14th century, which I find interesting because that puts its initial use being towards the end of the middle ages and moving towards the renaissance. Some say literature needs to be writing of some sort of artistic or intellectual importance, yet like so much in life, I say such seems relative while changing over time. My interpretation seems more liberal than some, yet more full as well. Those that seek to constrict and control without a measure of moderation, in the moment understanding, and case by case awareness have been known to be confrontational with my view. They tend to be folks ... well, never mind, not worth the whining I could see if more is said on this tangent ... lol. So back to my view ... speech and language tend to be something that changes in meaning and structure over time, and if written words are a bi-product of spoken words, then it seems that changes over time of people's values, and as their efforts to communicate changes, so does the language and what is considered literature. The wider view a person has as to what literature is, probably the more adaptable a person can be to the society as it changes, too. Thus having a broad view of literature seems wise.
@gp - I like that interpretation- very inclusive and accepting
Thank you. :icon_cool:
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Ive started reading:
1776 by David McCullough (https://www.amazon.com/1776-David-McCullough/dp/0743226720/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470800793&sr=8-1&keywords=1776) - really quite good! Interesting and not a dry history, nor long.
I'd eventually like to read this! :::cheers:::
So I listened to the audiobook (it's almost the same as reading) of Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. It's better than most space sci-fi stories I'm used to these days. I'm kinda starting to think that Star Wars has ruined space sci-fi and real life culture to some degree.
I read this when younger, and liked it. Pop cultural sci-fi has it's place, but so do some of the classics.
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The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior [Leonardo, Machiavelli, Borgia] A Fateful Collusion. By Paul Strathern.
(Some of you may know why.)
Was this worth reading?
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Received for Christmas a book called "Alfred the Great: The Man Who Made England", by Justin Pollard.
This isn't just about King Alfred, but also about the times and the culture he lived during. I've been enjoying the information regarding the Viking and Saxon culture's clashing, including how this relates to what was happening in France and Ireland. The interpretation made regarding how Alfred lost his rulership to the Viking named Guthrum, and then dealt with the Viking, after having raised enough soldiers to fight and defeat him to take back the rulership of Wessex, is particularly interesting.
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I'm kinda starting to think that Star Wars has ruined space sci-fi and real life culture to some degree.
Nonsense.
(http://i.imgur.com/gxGgzXt.gif)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp0wSiQ_Nnc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp0wSiQ_Nnc)
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:smile2:👆
Finished 'Warrior Priest' - definitely a good read. Certainly a lot of feelings not normally associated with the title and also the obvious exhaustion these guys must feel when swinging around a hammer. Makes me think of reading up somewhere about real life knights and when actually in battle would rotate out every 10 minutes or so because of the amount of energy it cost to fight. Makes sense really but takes the fun out of day long battles lol.
Still waiting for Guards! Guards! To arrive so I went with Luther Huss anyways. After that probably back to Realmgate Wars - The Beast Wars I think it's called and next in line. Really have a lot of the fluff down from a stormcast angle and thoroughly enjoying it. Loved the old world and still do but also the new world stuff as well. I look forward to my first AOS battle soon. Probably solo as no one plays it much here but I picked up the new Tzeentch battletome and these dudes will have it out with my empire army. I finally have my work table cut 88" long by 28" deep - just needs to be laminated now. As usual it is last on the priority list but just a little bit at a time gives me hope. Won't make my February deadline though 😾
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Ever wonder were Luther Huss got his name? Just found out.
“
Theiss stopped turning the pages. The text had been printed in Nuln and the type was narrow Imperial Gothic. On the verso was a short account of the life of Aldrecht Luthor, burgomeister of Rechtstadt. He had died defending his people against an incursion of beastmen – heroically, so the record stated. On the recto was that of Bohrs Huss, the pious and otherworldly prelate of pre-secession Marienburg”
“So there we go,’ said Theiss, satisfied. ‘Huss. Luthor Huss. Not very memorable perhaps, but it’ll do. I’ll tell the others to call you that.”
Excerpt From: Wraight, Chris. “Luthor Huss.” Black Library, 2011-12. iBooks
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The explanation in my head is far less poetic and involves 80's England, some long haired nerds and a LOT of beer. I like yours too though.
:-D
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The explanation in my head is far less poetic and involves 80's England, some long haired nerds and a LOT of beer. I like yours too though.
:-D
.
Not sure.....yours has a definite ambience to it. Reminds me when I worked at Vickers Instruments and I attended my first D&D night. My buddy had made 6 vats of blueberry wine (big mothers) and they were total crap. He had no other furniture except his wooden chairs in the middle of the room surrounded by his dud wine. The look of dejection was priceless and has lasted a lifetime. No food on his place either except spent pizza boxes. Perfect setting for a DM.😺
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Reading Master and Commander now.
I've seen the movie and enjoyed it, wondering if the book is good, what did you think of it?
It was ok. There was a lot of nautical jargon. I can see why it is highly regarded, but I don't think I'll read any more into the series.
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Finished Luther Huss. I really enjoyed it. Definitely he can't relate to the weaknesses of human frailty but he lives up to his fluff.
On another note Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett has found its way thru the mail to my house. Digging in for a lot of laughs and I could use something funny right about now.
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http://www.page45.com/store/Rise-Of-Dungeon-Master-Gary-Gygax-Creation-Of-Dd.html
graphic novel about gary gygax
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http://www.page45.com/store/Rise-Of-Dungeon-Master-Gary-Gygax-Creation-Of-Dd.html
graphic novel about gary gygax
Now that's something that I must read. :ph34r:
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Finished Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett. With recomdations from several members I bought a 2nd hand copy online for .60 cents plus shipping from amazon. Pretty cheap for an incredibly funny book. Almost every page was humorous. I can't remember laughing so much at his take on humanity. Definitely on my list of favourite authors. Now to find the next one to read. Thanks
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@Artobans Ghost
"The fools were holding their trousers at half mast and had a fifty custard pie salute". Its been 11 years since i read Guards, Guards but
i still remember several quotes.
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Bosworth 1485 by Michael Jones. It's a different look at Richard III and how his final battle played out. It's written more as a popular history, with academic notes not being that heavy in the text. It's on the rehabilitation side of the story and has been quite interesting.
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Finishing the Eisenhorn omnibus. Some of the best, sci-fi fiction that I've ever read. Seriously. :icon_redface:
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Finishing the Eisenhorn omnibus. Some of the best, sci-fi fiction that I've ever read. Seriously. :icon_redface:
That omnibus was pure genius. Loved every letter.
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Finishing the Eisenhorn omnibus. Some of the best, sci-fi fiction that I've ever read. Seriously. :icon_redface:
That omnibus was pure genius. Loved every letter.
After that I'll start on Ravenor and finally - Bequin.
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Bequin? Did something get by me 😺?
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It's the last part of Abnett's inquisition saga, concentrating mainly on Bequin, Eisenhorn's blank. Heard mixed things about it.
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Just finished for about the fourth time (about every ten years or so) 'The Forgotten Soldier' by Guy Sajer. Written in the 60's I think, it is about a French national (German mother, French father) who joined the Wehrmacht after the invasion and his personal journey across the Russian front and eventually joining the Grossdeucthland division. It is not to be read as a historical narrative but strictly as a personal journey thru the total depths of hell and despair. It's a true story and relates the day to day struggle of that nightmare. One of my favorite books.
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Just finished for about the fourth time (about every ten years or so) 'The Forgotten Soldier' by Guy Sajer. Written in the 60's I think, it is about a French national (German mother, French father) who joined the Wehrmacht after the invasion and his personal journey across the Russian front and eventually joining the Grossdeucthland division. It is not to be read as a historical narrative but strictly as a personal journey thru the total depths of hell and despair. It's a true story and relates the day to day struggle of that nightmare. One of my favorite books.
I know that one, read it numerous times while a teen. I should look for that book next time I'm at my parents, it deserves another read.
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@Bawtrm - agreed about another read. I have given away 3 copies of this book to friends just in the hopes they read it. My final copy I'm hanging onto 😺 Truly inspiring on a human level.
Next up - just finished Warbeast by Gav Thorpe. Working my way thru the realmgate novels. Really enjoyed it and further into the fluff I go, I have to say I like it. Really understanding the new releases and so forth. Onto The Fury of Gork where I came upon a colour scheme that has me thinking .... - “The Sons of Mallus had been forge-struck under the zenith of the Dark Moon, and their armour was a polished black, edged in purple and gold,”
Just started this but I always liked Josh Reynolds
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Finished Fury of Gork. Probably my favorite of the realmgate Wars. Great battle scenes and fights and a pretty good insight into the orruk mindset - if you can call it that.
Back to 40k with Ezekiel and the dark angels. My first 40k army and on equal footing with my like of the Space Wolves.
Looking forward to it.
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I started reading about the Silk Roads, a book called The Silk Roads, by Peter Frankopan, and in the beginning it was great. Really interesting to see how the wealth flowing from the trade roads kickstarted so many empires. About half way through the book though I'd just lost a bit of interest. Really interesting stuff, but he's only concerned about the history of economy. There's a lot of weird moments where major empires or people show up out of no where, he talks about them for a paragraph, then they disappear again. The Ottomans for example just kind of show up, conquer Constantinople, and are never mentioned again. Prior history knowledge aside, that seems like something that would effect trade.
So from there I've moved onto another really interesting book called Ghost On The Throne by James Romm. It's the history of Alexander the Great's empire, starting a week before he died. Everyone generally knows Alexander and what he did, but this book is all about AFTER him what everyone else did. His empire collapses incredibly fast as all his generals start fighting with each other and claiming his land.
It's a lot of stuff I only vaguely knew, so it's real interesting to finally get some names and places sorted. Just about all his greatest generals turn on each other, there's betrayal left right and center, and the empire disintegrates.
it's a really good book. It stays pretty informative but does a good job keeping the story interesting.
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Ghost on a Throne looks really good. Always interesting to see how fast empires fall apart when it's only one truly inspirational person who starts them. What's even more amazing is empires that remain for long periods of time and the effort to do so.
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The novelization of Star Wars the Force Awakens really fill in some major plot holes. Like how what happens to Poe after the TIE crash. How Starkiller base actually works (worm holes), and an actual ground battle of the surface of Starkiller base. Its like a LotR extended movie version.
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I assume it also explains what significance those planets were that they blew up, what 'the resistance' actually is, what happened to 'the empire' after 'jedi', why the resistance has only a handful of xwings, etc?
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I think it does go into more about the planets that were destroyed. The Republic government no longer resides on Coruscant and rotates to hopefully cut down on corruption. At the time of TFA the capital was in the Hosnian System and those planets were the ones targeted by Starkiller base. The First Order has its own territory on the outer rim where the remnants of the Empire fled. Instead of prolonging the civil war, there was a peace settled and the Empire and Rebels/New Repbulic went to their respective corners. The Resistance is the remnant of the Rebel faction that didn't want to leave the Empire (now the First Order) to rebuild their strength. They don't have a lot of manpower or weaponry because they're a splinter faction of extremists who couldn't leave well enough alone.
Some of that might be from other books, I don't remember where all the info comes from. I think that's a weakness in story telling, to leave so many crucial gaps that they need to be filled in via books.
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So from there I've moved onto another really interesting book called Ghost On The Throne by James Romm. It's the history of Alexander the Great's empire, starting a week before he died. Everyone generally knows Alexander and what he did, but this book is all about AFTER him what everyone else did. His empire collapses incredibly fast as all his generals start fighting with each other and claiming his land.
It's a lot of stuff I only vaguely knew, so it's real interesting to finally get some names and places sorted. Just about all his greatest generals turn on each other, there's betrayal left right and center, and the empire disintegrates.
it's a really good book. It stays pretty informative but does a good job keeping the story interesting.
I studies the Hellenistic era for my MA and it's totally awesome.
My thesis was about macedonian-egyptian architecture in Alexandria.
re star wars, hopefully they fill a bunch of that in in the 2nd and 3rd films.
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That's my hope as well, Finlay.
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Stuff.
Ah, ok. Makes sense.
Some of that might be from other books, I don't remember where all the info comes from. I think that's a weakness in story telling, to leave so many crucial gaps that they need to be filled in via books.
Yeah, i think they were going for a touch of ANH with its ambiguous references to the rebellion, the empire, and the clone wars.
Challenge it has though, is its continuing a story, not starting fully from scratch.
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So from there I've moved onto another really interesting book called Ghost On The Throne by James Romm. It's the history of Alexander the Great's empire, starting a week before he died. Everyone generally knows Alexander and what he did, but this book is all about AFTER him what everyone else did.
I studies the Hellenistic era for my MA and it's totally awesome.
My thesis was about macedonian-egyptian architecture in Alexandria.
The hellenistic period is the most interesting part of ancient history imo. I recommend the Europa Barbarorum mod for Rome TW or Medieval 2 TW if anyone's interested. Roma Surrectum is good too, same time period.
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I assume it also explains what significance those planets were that they blew up, what 'the resistance' actually is, what happened to 'the empire' after 'jedi', why the resistance has only a handful of xwings, etc?
Yes but I think it is explained more in the novel Bloodlines (its about Princess Leia post war and pre Ep7). The resistance forms because the Republic refuses to do anything about the New Order (Empire Remnant). The Galactic situation is akin to the Old Republic MMORPG where the galaxy is divided and there is a cold war of sorts, this time between the Order and the Republic. The new republic did not want to be like the Empire so they reduced the military. The resistance forms to actively fight the Order and is not backed by the Republic. It would be like if a bunch of Iraqi War vets started their own group to go and fight ISIS since the US isn't going back in there.
To be honest I haven't really read these books but instead I've been listening to the podcast Star Wars: New Canon Book Club. Its really fun to listen to. They cover novels, comics, and TV shows, and the recent movies. The 3 guys doing it are a treat to listen to (Although Alex and Davis sound very similar to each other, especially since Jesse's voice is so different). So if you don't want to read or listen to the audio book, this makes a great and fun alternative. https://soundcloud.com/starwarsbookclub (https://soundcloud.com/starwarsbookclub)
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Just reread Star Risk. I miss Chris Bunch. He built good worlds.
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Eisenhorn becomes even more awesome when considering that (which I didn't know at the time when I read it) it's one of the very first works by any GW-owned entity that describes the Inquisition in any level of detail. When, at the start of the first book, Eisenhorn describes the Amalathian ideology, Abnett is creating new fluff out of thin air.
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Eye of Ezekiel - C Z Dunn. I actually found this book a little slow going until I hit the 7th chapter and then it blew up into a full Dark Angels story. If you like librarians (and I always did - it was the first model I ever painted go 40k) this rocks. Plenty of fighting and a great piece of trivia almost solved.
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I'm starting on the Primarchs series. Here's hoping that it brings something new to a bit stale Horus Heresy saga.
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I just finished Horus Rising and i quite liked it, first 40k fluff i've ever read and im ready for more!
I hope that False gods is just as entertaining.
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I just finished Horus Rising and i quite liked it, first 40k fluff i've ever read and im ready for more!
I hope that False gods is just as entertaining.
It is. The only bad titles in HH series are "Battle for the Abyss", the early Dark Angels books and, depending on whom you ask, "The Outcast Dead". Oh and the Salamanders books. They're awful. The rest is good or at least passable.
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so, i have at least a few more to go before i get to a bad one? :-D
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so, i have at least a few more to go before i get to a bad one? :-D
Yeah, but later it gets better. Trust me on that. ;)
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Sieges of the English Civil Wars by John Barratt. Good stuff, so far. Makes me wanna incorporate loads more ideas into siege scenarios.
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Sieges of the English Civil Wars by John Barratt. Good stuff, so far. Makes me wanna incorporate loads more ideas into siege scenarios.
That would be cool to see.
Just finished The Black Rift by Josh Reynolds. Perhaps my favorite Realmgate book to date. The fighting scenes were riviting. Could hardly put it down.
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Couldn't resist and bought Labyrinth of the Lost - Silver Tower. That was a good read. Want to buy Silver Tower now. (Wish list only)
Got to know the 5 main characters and really liked the excelsior priest and strangely enough the chaos dude. Great models as well. Pretty much every part is a spoiler so I won't say anything but found I couldn't put it down.
Also the short read Argent - 40k inquisition stuff. Loved it and blew thru it. Inspired me to get The Carrion Throne - Chris Wraight - more inquisition stuff on terra. I'm pretty sure I'll like it. Love everything he writes.
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40K Legends part work AND 'Star dwellers'
So far I've enjoyed the first two volumes of the part work but as for that other book; Star dwellers is a tedious non-entity I found when I was moving house. Its slow, preachy and painful
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Right now, I am reading non-fiction works for research for a novel.... :blush:
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Just finished The Carrion Throne by Chris Wraight. I can't remember enjoying a 40k book as much as this since Abnet's Ravenor and Eisenhorn series. It was that good. Rivalled my fav Dan Abnet. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't other than this continues on from the Argent short. I could not put this down. If inquisition stuff is your bag then you will like it.
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Just finished The Carrion Throne by Chris Wraight. I can't remember enjoying a 40k book as much as this since Abnet's Ravenor and Eisenhorn series. It was that good. Rivalled my fav Dan Abnet. I don't want to give any spoilers so I won't other than this continues on from the Argent short. I could not put this down. If inquisition stuff is your bag then you will like it.
It is! I'll need to grab that one. I'm a sucker for anything =I= related. :smile2:
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Finished Bladestorm byMatt Westbrook. Fun realmgate book. Besides Nagash, the flesheaters and Allarielle I think I have consumed most of the Stormcast books and I have to say I am now very familiar with the settings and fluff and enjoying them imensely. Probably my favorite characters are the Lord Relictors which would be equivalent of the 40k Chaplains except they can heal friendly units and destroy enemies with his powers. He can also call on the elements as well so maybe close to Njall Stormcaller which is my favorite wolf. Also read the short 'The Vorago Fastness' which was a deathwatch kill team made up of the cursed of the cursed foundations. So fast to read thru though.
My son just got me Graham McNeill's Magnus the Red for my birthday so I'm just starting that. The anomaly being it's an actual book instead of an iBook and I have to say I miss real books. I like the convenience of iBooks though.
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The Gate of Worlds.
Robert Silverberg.
Just started.
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Magnus the Red is really good, like all the Primarchs novels so far. I recommend them highly.
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Magnus the Red is really good, like all the Primarchs novels so far. I recommend them highly.
Agreed! What a good book. You can't help feeling how utterly human Magnus was and his empathy for humanity as oppossed to his brothers. His was a definitely painful road to ruin.
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Magnus the Red is really good, like all the Primarchs novels so far. I recommend them highly.
Agreed! What a good book. You can't help feeling how utterly human Magnus was and his empathy for humanity as oppossed to his brothers. His was a definitely painful road to ruin.
Agreed! Especially if you know how bitter, cynical and outright cruel he came to be in the 41st millenium.
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Just downloaded Lemu Russ - The Great Wolf. Should be good according to Xath. I really don't know who I like better, the Dark Angels or the Space Wolves. I love em both. Have both armies coincidentally. Really near to flesh out the wolves though. Njall Stormcaller wil join the ranks eventually as he's my fav character and Harold Deathwolf as it's his company I'm doing.
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Just downloaded Lemu Russ - The Great Wolf. Should be good according to Xath. I really don't know who I like better, the Dark Angels or the Space Wolves. I love em both. Have both armies coincidentally. Really near to flesh out the wolves though. Njall Stormcaller wil join the ranks eventually as he's my fav character and Harold Deathwolf as it's his company I'm doing.
This book is strange. On one hand I really like it, it shows the spirit of the 6th. On the other, Chris Wraight paints them as... well, dumb. It's strange since he took from Dan Abnett, and has so far masterfully shown how badass the Vlka Fenryka can be. Leman Russ is not a bad book, but I do question author's ideas at certain points. Still, it's a good enough read, so you should enjoy it Artoban. ;)
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Ha! I shall tread carefully. My nose is slightly out of joint now making the mighty 6 th sound this way lol. I forget the name of the book now but it was about the grey knights and featured the wolves. They had teleported the wolves to make them surrender and the wolves calmly stated 'this is how a wolf surrenders' and on cue they shot the grey knight sargents that were channelling there squads abilities and they broke their hold on them. The wolves were teleported back to their ship and escaped leaving the rather stunned knights to contemplate their surrender. Absolutely the most awesome turn about in tactics. That book was actually an emotional moment in reading for me. I'll have to look it up again.
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"The Emperor's Gift" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. Great title, highly recommended.
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"The Emperor's Gift" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. Great title, highly recommended.
That was it!😺 Man I loved that book
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"The Emperor's Gift" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. Great title, highly recommended.
That was it!😺 Man I loved that book
It was pretty sweat. Definetly a great entry for the Sons of Titan. Shame that ADB decided not to make a follow up.
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Lemun Russ : the Great Wolf
Quote Xath: This book is strange
I see what you mean. Not to give spoilers but some of the tactics are indeed questionable. But an enjoyable read none the less.
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The Gate of Worlds.
Robert Silverberg.
Just started.
Just finished. Quick and easy read.
Alternative history. Black plague killed 80% of european population. Turks and russians conquered Europe. Aztec empire was strong enough to come into its own, because Europeans didn't arrive until another 100 years. Africa not exploited, will be a land of promise. Technology much more primative (steam powered cars).
Interesting read. I think North Americans will like it most. I understood references to the geography and native peoples, but took a few extra moments to think about it.
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Lemun Russ : the Great Wolf
Quote Xath: This book is strange
I see what you mean. Not to give spoilers but some of the tactics are indeed questionable. But an enjoyable read none the less.
I'm glad that you like it. It's not a bad book, but I was surprised how much the author wanted to show the weaker side of the Wolves. Still - it was worth a read.
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Read the new Thrawn book by Timothy Zahn. It was quite good. Didn't like the Arihnda character but I think that was supposed to be the point.
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Interesting!
I will also need to read this.
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is small gods a decent pratchet?
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is small gods a decent pratchet?
Yes.
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Yes. One of my favorites. It's a stand alone and I believe it takes place a few hundred years before the "current" timeline of the other books though.
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One of my favorites as well. An excellent satirical look at religion vs belief.
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top three pratchett recomendations.
I've read Mort and liked it.
Heard of Wyrd sisters and wee free men, don't know what's good.
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Top three? That's a tough one.
"Interesting Times" is great, but I think it'll be even better if you already know Rincewind and Cohen the Barbarian. "Hogfather" is great, and you already read Mort, which is a bonus. "The Truth" is good. It's pretty standalone too. "Guards, Guards!" is an easy recommendation, as well as "Wyrd Sisters".
Simply too many good ones.
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It's all good! So, so good.
My top three are probably Night Watch, Small Gods and Going Postal, but the Tiffany Aching series is pretty high as well. Guards! Guards! is a very good starting point because it's the first in the City Watch series. Night Watch is about fourth (or third?). It's also fairly early on in the overall series.
Wyrd sisters is also very good, and one of the early ones in the witch series. The series don't actually need to be read in any order, but its a nice progression.
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Totally agree with Aldaris on 'Interesting Times', top Discworld novel but it's better with a bit more info about Rincewind and Cohen.
I'll also second Gankom's reference to Small Gods. Really makes you think about religion versus belief. It's also stand alone requiring zero knowledge of the other books (one reason is that it takes place before the main story line from the other books), it's other books that sometimes reference Small Gods' Omnian faith in little ways.
I think all the Night Watch books are good, as are Going Postal and Making Money.
But really, I enjoy them all, there's not one among them where I'd say "Well I've read it, but I'll never re-read it."
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I think I'll be looking for small gods next. I got guards!gaurds! For 60 whole cents from amazon.
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Abebooks is another great site for deals depending on where you are.
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just reserved Good Omens (know it's not discworld), Guards! Guards! and Small gods from local library.
must not be in fashion in Exeter as there is hardly any pratchett there, had to get copies in from other branch libraries in Devon!
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That just sounds like heresy! Every library should be made to carry the full discworld collection by law!
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In about 15 chapters of Ressurection: The Horusian Wars by John French. One of the best Inquisition books I have read. I aim this a bit at Xath cause I think he'll love it. I can't put it down. Now I want to dig out my 40 k witchhunters, inquisitors and warband and build on it.
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In about 15 chapters of Ressurection: The Horusian Wars by John French. One of the best Inquisition books I have read. I aim this a bit at Xath cause I think he'll love it. I can't put it down. Now I want to dig out my 40 k witchhunters, inquisitors and warband and build on it.
I'm so far behind 40K novels that it's not funny. I'm planning on catching up with French's books, since the dude's awesome. "Praetorian of Dorn" is simply great and the man knows how to write inquisition. He worked on the Inquisitor game and Dark Heresy, after all.
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I really wish the 40k novels were on audible, but GW is too greedy to share. :eusa_wall:
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Ever wonder were Luther Huss got his name? Just found out.
“Theiss stopped turning the pages. The text had been printed in Nuln and the type was narrow Imperial Gothic. On the verso was a short account of the life of Aldrecht Luthor, burgomeister of Rechtstadt. He had died defending his people against an incursion of beastmen – heroically, so the record stated. On the recto was that of Bohrs Huss, the pious and otherworldly prelate of pre-secession Marienburg”
“So there we go,’ said Theiss, satisfied. ‘Huss. Luthor Huss. Not very memorable perhaps, but it’ll do. I’ll tell the others to call you that.”
Excerpt From: Wraight, Chris. “Luthor Huss.” Black Library, 2011-12. iBooks
Ha! And here I thought it was from Martin Luther and Jan Huss. :icon_wink:
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Reading Master and Commander now.
I've seen the movie and enjoyed it, wondering if the book is good, what did you think of it?
It was ok. There was a lot of nautical jargon. I can see why it is highly regarded, but I don't think I'll read any more into the series.
Hmmm ... that doesn't sound promising.
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Bosworth 1485 by Michael Jones. It's a different look at Richard III and how his final battle played out. It's written more as a popular history, with academic notes not being that heavy in the text. It's on the rehabilitation side of the story and has been quite interesting.
Wondering when this was published, is it based on the newest interpretation of Stanley knowing all along which side he was falling on?
I just finished reading Hugh Bicheno's recent 2 volume series on the Wars of the Roses called "Battle Royal" and "Royal Blood". I enjoyed reading the interpretations of the various battles, Towton and Bosworth particularly. The info on Towton was a version that included the archaeological research done on the battlefield, and for Bosworth it included an interesting account of how Stanley perhaps wasn't in favor of Richard III from the beginning of the campaign.
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Just finished for about the fourth time (about every ten years or so) 'The Forgotten Soldier' by Guy Sajer. Written in the 60's I think, it is about a French national (German mother, French father) who joined the Wehrmacht after the invasion and his personal journey across the Russian front and eventually joining the Grossdeucthland division. It is not to be read as a historical narrative but strictly as a personal journey thru the total depths of hell and despair. It's a true story and relates the day to day struggle of that nightmare. One of my favorite books.
I know that one, read it numerous times while a teen. I should look for that book next time I'm at my parents, it deserves another read.
Sounds like this might be worth a go. Thanks for sharing!
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I started reading about the Silk Roads, a book called The Silk Roads, by Peter Frankopan, and in the beginning it was great. Really interesting to see how the wealth flowing from the trade roads kickstarted so many empires. About half way through the book though I'd just lost a bit of interest. Really interesting stuff, but he's only concerned about the history of economy. There's a lot of weird moments where major empires or people show up out of no where, he talks about them for a paragraph, then they disappear again. The Ottomans for example just kind of show up, conquer Constantinople, and are never mentioned again. Prior history knowledge aside, that seems like something that would effect trade.
Thanks for the warning.
So from there I've moved onto another really interesting book called Ghost On The Throne by James Romm. It's the history of Alexander the Great's empire, starting a week before he died. Everyone generally knows Alexander and what he did, but this book is all about AFTER him what everyone else did. His empire collapses incredibly fast as all his generals start fighting with each other and claiming his land.
It's a lot of stuff I only vaguely knew, so it's real interesting to finally get some names and places sorted. Just about all his greatest generals turn on each other, there's betrayal left right and center, and the empire disintegrates.
it's a really good book. It stays pretty informative but does a good job keeping the story interesting.
I might look this up, thanks!
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...
Challenge it has though, ...
Sounds like Yoda.
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Sieges of the English Civil Wars by John Barratt. Good stuff, so far. Makes me wanna incorporate loads more ideas into siege scenarios.
I'm interested in reading a good book on the ECW. I didn't even know there were sieges during it.
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Just finished for about the fourth time (about every ten years or so) 'The Forgotten Soldier' by Guy Sajer. Written in the 60's I think, it is about a French national (German mother, French father) who joined the Wehrmacht after the invasion and his personal journey across the Russian front and eventually joining the Grossdeucthland division. It is not to be read as a historical narrative but strictly as a personal journey thru the total depths of hell and despair. It's a true story and relates the day to day struggle of that nightmare. One of my favorite books.
I know that one, read it numerous times while a teen. I should look for that book next time I'm at my parents, it deserves another read.
Sounds like this might be worth a go. Thanks for sharing!
Read it GP. It's truly gripping. You won't be able to put it down. I have a copy and will loan it to you if need be. (I say loan because I've given away 3 previous copies because it's so good.) I'll pay postage there and back if you want. Did I say it was good?
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Wondering when this was published, is it based on the newest interpretation of Stanley knowing all along which side he was falling on?
Originally 2002 but the edition I have is 2014 so there is some interpretation from archaeological evidence found in 2012. If I recall correctly the book takes the stance that Richard didn't know which way Stanley was leaning.
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My most recent understanding from Bicheno's book is the same, and that Stanley's deception was a long running process. If I recall correctly, the assertion seems to be made that Stanley might not have wanted to involve himself in the war most of the time anyway.
I need to go back and reread the chapter on Bosworth (in his second volume "Blood Royal"), although the one on Towton (in his first volume "Battle Royal") is also very good. The increased knowledge regarding Towton I've been aware of for awhile, yet having Bicheno wrap into his book provided an interpretation of further archaeological evidence I hadn't seen previously, and it was fascinating.
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I found at an antique store in the little town of Floyd, VA, all for $10
1924 Abridged version of Pilgrim's Progress
1908 version of a travel diary through Palestine called "Out-of-doors in the Holy Land"
Old 3 volume collection of complete works Charles Dickens
Reprinting of a diary of Moravian Settlers in North Carolina that reads suspiciously like Rufus Sparkfire wrote it.
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My most recent understanding from Bicheno's book is the same, and that Stanley's deception was a long running process. If I recall correctly, the assertion seems to be made that Stanley might not have wanted to involve himself in the war most of the time anyway.
I need to go back and reread the chapter on Bosworth (in his second volume "Blood Royal"), although the one on Towton (in his first volume "Battle Royal") is also very good. The increased knowledge regarding Towton I've been aware of for awhile, yet having Bicheno wrap into his book provided an interpretation of further archaeological evidence I hadn't seen previously, and it was fascinating.
Stanley was pretty slippery and never wanted to commit if he didn't have to. The History of England podcast is quite good and is into the Tudor period now, goes over the Wars of the Roses pretty well. I've listened for a long time now and have a better understanding of the Wars of the Roses. However, I wish I remembered more from it, but it's so much information, and the Wars of the Roses has always been one of those conflicts that is hard for me to keep straight due to the ever changing political landscape.
I found at an antique store in the little town of Floyd, VA, all for $10
How in the world did you end up in Floyd?
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Went camping in Rocky Knob, VA. Floyd and Meadows of Dan are nearest towns. They have a killer Tex Mex place.
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Went camping in Rocky Knob, VA.
:Ohmy: :icon_eek: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
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Went camping in Rocky Knob, VA.
:Ohmy: :icon_eek: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
You think that's bad:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercourse,_Pennsylvania
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Been there! They sell a LOT of bumper stickers.
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It's an ironically close drive from Blue Ball, PA
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I have in fact been to intercourse.... PA. yes...
I've also been to both Dildo and Conception Newfoundland. Fun places.
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Amish were selling fudge too, nice stuff.
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Amish were selling fudge too, nice stuff.
I've actually never been. I'd like to make it up to Gettysburg area sometime next year. The Amish I've met in Indiana also make good fudge.
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Stanley was pretty slippery and never wanted to commit if he didn't have to. The History of England podcast is quite good and is into the Tudor period now, goes over the Wars of the Roses pretty well. I've listened for a long time now and have a better understanding of the Wars of the Roses. However, I wish I remembered more from it, but it's so much information, and the Wars of the Roses has always been one of those conflicts that is hard for me to keep straight due to the ever changing political landscape.
I say that Stanley might have had as much impact on who would be King by his inaction, as Warwick had with his action. The War of the Roses went from about 1440 to 1485, and Stanley's troops didn't show at Blore Heath in 1450, didn't join Henry VI at Northhampton in 1460, didn't involve himself with Edward IV's Towton campaign in 1462, and didn't join Warwick in the 1470. And it can be said that Richard wouldn't have been King if Stanley had been mortally wounded in June of 1483, and there after Richard spared Lady Stanley from her actions, awarded a knightship to Stanley and his brothers with offices in the north, all reasons to presume Stanley's support when Henry Tudor arrived from France in 1485.
Regarding the politics of the era, in reading Bicheno's books, there is quite a bit of discussion involving the influence of the French. As an example and with the Bosworth campaign, various accounts of historians follow the Tudor narrative of the French playing a minor role in Henry VII's effort, and yet the French commanders present were one that later became a marshal of France, and the other was commander of French Royal Guard, and so their contingents accompanying Henry into England had to not only be significant, but also paid for by France, and armed and drilled in the continental fashion of military fighting of the time.
And back to Stanley, Henry marched into Stanley's territory where one of Stanley's men acted as a co-ordinator with Henry while Stanley stayed away, and when the campaign moved into high gear, Stanley marched parallel to Henry while reporting to Richard that he was blocking Henry's march, yet in actuality seems to have been screening it. And this was followed up by Stanley reporting to Richard that Henry's Vanguard had taken a certain route, which caused Richard to move his army in a way that placed him in a spot where numerical superiority was neutralized by location, and if this was Stanley's intention, quite the deception could already have been in motion, particularly if one takes into account where the French vanguard of Henry ended up on the battlefield followed by the rest of Henry's troops. And then before the battle even started, it appears Stanley backed up his position while his brother moved his own forces more in line with how the rest of Henry's moved onto the field. Meanwhile, Percy troops and artillery, the latter as shown through where artillery shot has been archaeologically discovered to have fallen, stayed in a position to cover Stanley while Richard led his forces down into the valley to confront Henry the contender and his French allies.
I had read Bicheno's first volume of the two book series, and was quite pleased with the detail and interpretations based on such, even sensing that so much after Towton and in the second book was somewhat anti-climatic, even the Warwick side switching. Then in reading the Bosworth ending, my ride through the two volumes became quite the enjoyable experience.
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Went camping in Rocky Knob, VA. Floyd and Meadows of Dan are nearest towns. They have a killer Tex Mex place.
Roger that. I went to university about 1/2 hour away from there.
I say that Stanley might have had as much impact on who would be King by his inaction, as Warwick had with his action.
Very good point.
Regarding the politics of the era, in reading Bicheno's books, there is quite a bit of discussion involving the influence of the French. As an example and with the Bosworth campaign, various accounts of historians follow the Tudor narrative of the French playing a minor role in Henry VII's effort, and yet the French commanders present were one that later became a marshal of France, and the other was commander of French Royal Guard, and so their contingents accompanying Henry into England had to not only be significant, but also paid for by France, and armed and drilled in the continental fashion of military fighting of the time.
I don't agree with the French having little impact. Without their support Henry wouldn't have stood a chance.
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I agree with you.
And I had always seen the French as in the background of the WotRs, a place where defeated nobles were able to find refuge, and yet that by itself seems to have been more intentional than I realized previously. It was interesting reading some of the politics of the French along side what was happening in England at the time.
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Went camping in Rocky Knob, VA. Floyd and Meadows of Dan are nearest towns. They have a killer Tex Mex place.
Roger that. I went to university about 1/2 hour away from there.
Did you visit Floyd very often? It's not a small town, "it's a state of mind". They had a surprisingly large craft beer selection.
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Na, never did. But there were a lot of Floyd folk that went to school there.
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I collected my Pratchett reservations from the library, looking forward to starting "guards, guards" as a counterpoint to handmaid's tale which i'm also reading atm.
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I collected my Pratchett reservations from the library, looking forward to starting "guards, guards" as a counterpoint to handmaid's tale which i'm also reading atm.
How are you liking handmaiden tale so far?
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Just started Dark Imperium. Gives the backdrop to Guilliman's return and the creation of the primaris marines. It makes much more sense now and looking at them in a different light now. Liking it a lot. Seeing how they are made with all the different primarchs gene code, I see how I could add some units to the Wolves. Brain fighting with the though of spending more cash. I still have a full battalion box to get thru.
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I collected my Pratchett reservations from the library, looking forward to starting "guards, guards" as a counterpoint to handmaid's tale which i'm also reading atm.
How are you liking handmaiden tale so far?
Quite a lot, but it is fairly grim.
the TV show was a major libido killer, so don't watch it before bed time with the wife if you have any ideas.
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Finished Dark Imperium. What a great book. Learned a lot about Guilliman and the Primaris marines. They all make sense now including Crawl the tech lord. Looking at his model in a new light. It actually gives a little hope to the Imperium. Not sure if there's a book before this that actually deals with Guilliman s return and the new crusade.
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Finished Dark Imperium. What a great book. Learned a lot about Guilliman and the Primaris marines. They all make sense now including Crawl the tech lord. Looking at his model in a new light. It actually gives a little hope to the Imperium. Not sure if there's a book before this that actually deals with Guilliman s return and the new crusade.
Interesting! I plan to read it soonish. As far as I know, only the Return of the Primarch campaign for the 7th edition, detailed the return of RG.
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I really wish the 40k novels were on audible, but GW is too greedy to share. :eusa_wall:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NL/Black-Shields-The-False-War-audiobook-2017 (https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NL/Black-Shields-The-False-War-audiobook-2017)
They listened!!
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Just finished Cadia Stands. Good book and fleshes out Creed. Got confused though. I set out reading this as the actual distruction of Cadia but then found myself reading about Tryok Fields and the betrayal on the Volscani betrayal and I thought it was an old reprinted book with abbadons 13th crusade and then the destruction follows like the new fluff. Now I'm not saying it isn't easy to screw with my head with the results making me look a bit foolish but this was a twist I wasn't expecting. It's shows I don't know my fluff because I thought the 13th crusade was old hat but it is kinda cool how it's now linked. Maybe someone can help this old fool.
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Tyrok fields massacre is still a thing. It's the prelude to the 13th Black Crusade, which ended with the destruction of Cadia.
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I really wish the 40k novels were on audible, but GW is too greedy to share. :eusa_wall:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NL/Black-Shields-The-False-War-audiobook-2017 (https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NL/Black-Shields-The-False-War-audiobook-2017)
They listened!!
That's not Audible though. However, they did put some on yesterday so you're not wrong:
https://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_cat_Sci-F_tseft__galileo?advsearchKeywords=warhammer+40%2C000&x=0&y=0&sprefixRefmarker=warh&sprefix=warh&sprefixRefmarker=nb_sb_ss_i_1_4 (https://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_cat_Sci-F_tseft__galileo?advsearchKeywords=warhammer+40%2C000&x=0&y=0&sprefixRefmarker=warh&sprefix=warh&sprefixRefmarker=nb_sb_ss_i_1_4)
The problem is I am not interested in any of them. Maybe Eisenhorn but I still need to finish Ravenor first (along with the final few chapters of Fall of Macharius). Was hoping the Ciaphas Cane novels were on audible as I have 2 free credits and wanted to snag them.
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Tyrok fields massacre is still a thing. It's the prelude to the 13th Black Crusade, which ended with the destruction of Cadia.
Still havnt finished with the stupid questions 😸
Way back the fluff had the great treason on Cadia but did that old fluff also include the final destruction of the planet as well? I just don't seem to remember it.
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No, Cadia won back in 2003.
Feels weird to think that the Cadian models are 14 years old.
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No, Cadia won back in 2003.
Feels weird to think that the Cadian models are 14 years old.
And still looking good, or at least decent.
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GW put out mostly solid and well designed sculpts from 2000-2005.
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Looking good books on the French and Indian War. Any recommendations?
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The Last of the Mohicans? Or were you looking for something more historical and less novel?
Switching topics: Back in 1816 Mary Shelly, her husband, and some friends went to Geneva with Lord Byron. If my memory serves me the weather was terrible so they were mostly stuck inside. They started reading some German ghost stories and came up with an idea. A friendly scary story competition. Mary Shelley wrote what would later be published as Frankenstein and Lord Byron wrote The Vampyre (which would later inspire Bram Stoker to write Dracula) although his physician Paul Polidori rewrote and published it with Byron's assistance. I had 2 free credits on audible and downloaded both. The Vamypre was shorter and so I started with that and it was pretty good and I can see where Bram stoker took some of the mythology. I found out this weekend while visiting my parents that my dad started reading Dracula and after a few chapters he had to stop reading as he was getting nightmares (granted he was reading Dracula during his graveyard shift at the hotel he works with and is often the only one there). I thought it was rather coincidental that we read similar stories. However now that I have started Frankenstein, I have to say Mary Shelley is definitely the better of the two as far as prose and is more captivating. I am only 4 chapters in but is so far really good and better than The Vampyre.
The Vampyre was very fun though and being that my wife comes from that area of the world were the protagonist visits and learns about vampires, it added some dimension to it. I remember looking up vampire folklore a long time ago and found that in her culture only twins were qualified to hunt vampires. I could totally imagine her people's traditional clothes and superstitions as I read the story which made it seem all the more real. The ending was dark and reminded me of a horrific version of the old German folktale "Bearskin." I would not be surprised if Lord Byron read it and combined parts of it with his journeys and folktales told to him in the Balkans. I'd recommend it if you want a really short story for the month of October.
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Looking good books on the French and Indian War. Any recommendations?
Seconded. My focus would be more historical, though trying out Last of the Mohicans might not be a bad idea.
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I finished Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." The old Universal movie is but a glimmer to what the actual story is! The only things similar is that there was a scientist named Frankenstein and he made a monster. I find it had more parallels with movies dealing with AIs or robots with consciousness. Creating a new life form with the consequences and moral/existential questions that follow. It also dealt with nature and nurture a bit.
for example:
[spoiler] The monster was not inherently evil. He was very kind and thoughtful but due to his monstrous appearance he was shunned, beaten, and shot! This drove him to hate humanity; they loathed him and so he loathed them. He just wanted someone to care about him and someone to care for. He then started to hate his creator for making him a lonely wretch in the world with no one to love or care about him [/spoiler]
You really start to feel for the creature. Being that the story is told from Victor Frankenstein's point of view, it is a very biased side of the story. Victor jumps to many conclusions based off of very little interactions from the monster and condemns the creature so early. Totally convinced the monster had maligned motives. Granted from his pov it seems warranted, but he just assumes the monster is malicious or deceitful from the get-go. I could not help but think of Mel Brooks's "Young Frankenstein." In the movie, Frankenstein wants to nurture and help the monster become accepted by society. He legitimately cares about the creature's well being like a father should a son. In the novel he runs away scared as soon as the monster is born, leaving the monster to roam the country side and fumble for meaning. It is truly a tragic tale! Mary Shelley uses amazing prose and poetry in her story. I also love how she handled the "explanation" of the creature's creation. I thought it was very clever.
There were a few moments where she was hung up on the scenery and it seemed like a love letter to the Swiss countryside which slowed the pacing at time. Other than that it was a great read and I fully encourage everyone to check it out.
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I'm busy with 'Three Kingdoms' (San Guo) one of the 4 great Chinese classics, often compared to western works like the Iliad.
Incidentally it's also the basis for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategic games from Koei. The second one in that series introduced me to the historic tale about 25-30 years ago.
Thus computer games -> classic literature :biggriin:
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Just finished Chris Wraight - Watchers of the Throne: The Emporers Legion. Really good. Good intro for the Custodians and Sisters of Silence and when Guilliman takes over. Couldn’t put it down. I’m really a sucker for all this fluff. Explains how they were released from just guarding the throne and what a decrepad state the sisters had fallen into.
Between Dark Imperium, Cadia Stands, and the Emperors Legion, the fluff of the new 40k is really rounded out as to the whys and where of the new releases. Now I’m up to speed and may just get that Astra Militarium codex to start.
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Reading The unremembered Empire by Dan Abnett.
Damn what I have missed Abnett.
I am also getting more and more intrigued by Guilliman and the base for my new fluff comes from The Pharos. I think I should read Emperors legion.
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Ice Forged, by Gail Z Martin
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Reading The unremembered Empire by Dan Abnett.
Damn what I have missed Abnett.
I am also getting more and more intrigued by Guilliman and the base for my new fluff comes from The Pharos. I think I should read Emperors legion.
I have to admit when the arrival of the primarchs I was less then interested in the model and fluff but now that I know what’s going on it makes a huge difference in my interest level. Custodes, sisters, primarchs and primaris marines all are making sense.
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Unfortunately the whole Imperium Secundus plot branch is pretty weak.
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I just finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. It was really good. I loved the characters (especially the bad guy) and the premise. A small Illinois town is visited by a strange carnival a week before Halloween. 2 curious boys stumble upon its Dark and sinister secrets. People of the town start to disappear after attending some of the attractions and its up to Will and Jim to save the day, with Will's distant father in tow.
The characters, settings, and story was amazing, however I was not a fan of the purple prose. A number of times I told myself "we get it, we get it, its dark outside! Get on with it." Baring the extreme descriptions I felt it had a lack lust ending. Now this was written in 1968 so perhaps back then the ending wasn't so cliche as it is now-a-days (it did inspire Stephen King and Neil Gaiman). I just wanted a more interesting ending I suppose. I also wanted to know more of the carnival and the freaks. What some of the rides/attractions did to people and how the mysterious illustrations came to be on the Illustrated man.
Baring the purple prose and the tropey ending, I would definitely recommend reading this (especially in mid to late October). Bradbury is an amazing writer and very poetic. His characters are well fleshed out but also leaving you wanting to know more about them.
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Sven Hassel's S.S GENERAL
Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's gold
AND a little thing called 'Words most evil psychopaths'
I was first introduced to the Sharpe series ten years ago [almost to the day now that i think about it] when i stumbled across the DvD's. I know there's a bit of a debate in the fanbase over the books compared to the TV series but books are hard to adapt to film. The Tv incarnation of Sharpe's gold is heavily criticsised in the Sharpe fan base as its vastly different from the novel and drifts from a swashbuckling Napolionic romp into Indiana Jones territory by having Captain Dick Sharpe, fight an Aztec cult in the Pearinees whereas in the novel he's defending a fort, fueding with a snooty officer [he does this all the time in the books and films] and looking for the missing gold in grave yards.
Words most evil pyschopaths is nightmare fuel. I dont know where to begin with it :icon_sad:
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Sven Hassel's S.S GENERAL
Ah, the books by Sven Hassel. They, together with books like The Forgotten Soldier or Montyn surely dissuade a person from thinking WW2 was something glorious, and double so for the German side.
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Sven Hassel's S.S GENERAL
Ah, the books by Sven Hassel. They, together with books like The Forgotten Soldier or Montyn surely dissuade a person from thinking WW2 was something glorious, and double so for the German side.
I've noticed German books and media about the Eastern front [well, the ones produced after '45 anyway] tend to look at the conflict the same way most American Vietnam war stuff does. The soldiers are usually tired, cranky, fatigued, sick of the fighting, angry with their government and generals and wanting to go home.
I discovered the series about 20 years ago when I found a copy of the oft-maligned 'Wheels of terror' TV movie. I know the books different from the film [am I going to have to quote myself again?] but it didn't bother me that much. I guess the reason the guys who made the Tv movie had to use an SU-71 was because King tigers are hard to come by.
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Started Metro 2033 by Glukhovsky. Love me some good post-apo, russian fiction.
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Sven Hassel's S.S GENERAL
Ah, the books by Sven Hassel. They, together with books like The Forgotten Soldier or Montyn surely dissuade a person from thinking WW2 was something glorious, and double so for the German side.
I've noticed German books and media about the Eastern front [well, the ones produced after '45 anyway] tend to look at the conflict the same way most American Vietnam war stuff does. The soldiers are usually tired, cranky, fatigued, sick of the fighting, angry with their government and generals and wanting to go home.
I discovered the series about 20 years ago when I found a copy of the oft-maligned 'Wheels of terror' TV movie. I know the books different from the film [am I going to have to quote myself again?] but it didn't bother me that much. I guess the reason the guys who made the Tv movie had to use an SU-71 was because King tigers are hard to come by.
I’m going to check this out. Like Bawtrm mentioned - the Forgotten Solidier - is one of my all time favorites. Having met some very interesting people over the years - a survivor of Stalingrad - only reason he was a technician and certified as needed - weighed 72 lbs when he was airlifted out. Really wasn’t interested in telling me anything too much. He was a bricklayer and I was his labourer for a couple of days. Met another guy who flew the ME262 jets - he was a commercial glue salesman and my neighbor wias an intfantry man in the 4 th mountain division in Russia and survived the great retreat. Now that guy didn’t mind talking and the stories were great. After taking shrapnel in the back from a grenade he was paralyzed for 3 weeks and dragged on a pony sled - I think he called it a troika- and eventually wound up in a hospital in Denmark of all places. They used huge magnets to pull the metal away from the pinched nerves and he recovered. Only to be sent back to Russia after they surrendered to rebuild Russia. Spent 3 years there. Learned a lot of personal little glimpses into that eastern horror.
Edit: funny thing was, he held no animosity towards Russia. Even learned the language. What he did fear was the German military police and there dogs which he said treated them worse than the enemy.
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What he did fear was the German military police and there dogs which he said treated them worse than the enemy.
That's something you'll see in the Sven Hassel books as well.
Montijn/Montyn is a Dutck book by Dirk Ayelt Kooiman, it's been translated under 'A Lamb to Slaughter; an Artist among the Battlefields'.
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Quote Bawtrm: Montijn/Montyn is a Dutck book by Dirk Ayelt Kooiman, it's been translated under 'A Lamb to Slaughter; an Artist among the Battlefields'.
Just ordered a copy on amazon. Really look forward to it. Now to search Sven Hassel.
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.... I fully encourage everyone to check it out.
I'm halfway through! I'm working on some undead 3d models for my game, specifically the abomination based on Frankenstein, so this was a perfect read for the month, your review swayed me to pick it up.
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Looking good books on the French and Indian War. Any recommendations?
Seconded. My focus would be more historical, though trying out Last of the Mohicans might not be a bad idea.
I've read both of these and enjoyed ...
Crucible of War by Fred Anderson
The French & Indian War by Walter Borneman
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Thanks, GP.
The only things I've read on the subject are sort of niche. I'm about to finish up a book on Edward Cornwallis who was the founder of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The majority of that takes place between the the two sieges of Louisbourg as its a biography with most of the source material coming from his time as governor. The other one is Endgame 1758 which is about the fall of Louisbourg.
Both are good, the later being the better of the two.
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Finished SS General
The poor guys spent most of the book, dodging Gestapo and NKVD units, living off dead animals [sheep ala panzer] and when they finally made it back to friendly territory they had to be the firing squad for their own General.
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.... I fully encourage everyone to check it out.
I'm halfway through! I'm working on some undead 3d models for my game, specifically the abomination based on Frankenstein, so this was a perfect read for the month, your review swayed me to pick it up.
Let me know what you think of it when you finished. Glad one of my reviews could have been of some service!
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Just got this from amazon. Lol I bought it for $1.80. Didn’t see anything about the 18.60 shipping until it came up on the card. Anyway wasn’t quite what I expected but looks like fun. The smarties box is not only a good snack but is there for size comparison. This is definitely a pocketbook 😸
Edit: well hell!! Just realized the book I thought I ordered is not the one I wanted lol. Different author.
Quote Bawtrm:Montijn/Montyn is a Dutck book by Dirk Ayelt Kooiman, it's been translated under 'A Lamb to Slaughter; an Artist among the Battlefields'. I thought that whole procedure was too easy.
(https://artobansghost.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/img_1180.jpg)
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Smarties in the US are actually what Canadians call Rockets.
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I enjoyed guards! guards! for about 60% of it, but then I thought it ran out of steam and I no longer found it that funny. plowed my way through as it is a fairly easy and quick read anyway.
I think my Pratchet consumption is best limited to one every few years.
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Looking good books on the French and Indian War. Any recommendations?
Seconded. My focus would be more historical, though trying out Last of the Mohicans might not be a bad idea.
I've read both of these and enjoyed ...
Crucible of War by Fred Anderson
The French & Indian War by Walter Borneman
Thanks, GP.
The only things I've read on the subject are sort of niche. I'm about to finish up a book on Edward Cornwallis who was the founder of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The majority of that takes place between the the two sieges of Louisbourg as its a biography with most of the source material coming from his time as governor. The other one is Endgame 1758 which is about the fall of Louisbourg.
Both are good, the later being the better of the two.
Anderson's book is relatively long, yet seemed very good. Borneman's is shorter if one isn't interested in taking their time, and cover's much.
Maybe I'll look up Endgame 1758 to give it a go, thanks!
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By the way, currently reading a short hardback book called, "The English Civil War 1642-1651, An Illustrated Military History". It is primarily concerning itself with the military aspects of the campaigning, and although it covers battles and leaders to a degree with out a tin of detail, it also covers things like how armies were formed, recruited, trained, equipped, provisioned, and operated in the field. There are black and white illustrations from the era and pictures of equipment left over from the times, as well as colored plates of soldiers in uniform, the latter being helpful to hobby enthusiasts.
And as an aside, I've been slowly acquiring figures for ECW/TYW and look forward to exploring this era further.
Which reminds me, I have the book "The Thirty Years War, Europe's Tragedy" by Peter Wilson. It's a beast in it's size, and I've read it on and off for years, but it seems well written for those who might want to tackle it.
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I finished 'Sharpe's gold' it was a lot different to the TV series. I discovered the TV series about ten years ago. I've always had a fascination with the Napoleonic era [I guess that comes from playing with Lego pirate sets when I was a kid] and I was enthralled with Shapre when I discovered it. I prefer it over Hornblower. It was refreshing to see a war hero of time, who didn't dress like a dandy and wasnt a paragon of justice. I know there are haters out there, who despise the TV series for not being 100% accurate to the books, but I cant think of anyone else more suited to the role than Sean Bean.
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I finished 'Sharpe's gold' it was a lot different to the TV series. I discovered the TV series about ten years ago. I've always had a fascination with the Napoleonic era [I guess that comes from playing with Lego pirate sets when I was a kid] and I was enthralled with Shapre when I discovered it. I prefer it over Hornblower. It was refreshing to see a war hero of time, who didn't dress like a dandy and wasnt a paragon of justice. I know there are haters out there, who despise the TV series for not being 100% accurate to the books, but I cant think of anyone else more suited to the role than Sean Bean.
Agree with all the above. Liked the Hornblower series. Thought it was really well done. But the sharpe series was great and Sean bean was perfect for the role. My son and I made sure we saw every episode.
Edit: clueless again as these are the books your talking about lol
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@Artobans ghost
When my Dad and I went to a festival a couple of years ago, there was a problem with the Talevira [not sure how that's spelled] re-enactment. Everyone wanted to be a riflemen, not a British lineman or Frenchmen. The riflemen outnumbered everyone else 3-1
Sharpe might be relatively new in my area but its still made an impact.
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@Artobans ghost
When my Dad and I went to a festival a couple of years ago, there was a problem with the Talevira [not sure how that's spelled] re-enactment. Everyone wanted to be a riflemen, not a British lineman or Frenchmen. The riflemen outnumbered everyone else 3-1
Sharpe might be relatively new in my area but its still made an impact.
Now that is quite funny.
Just finished Eight Lametations:Spear of Shadow by Josh Reynolds. Really enjoyed this. Gives a good look at the interactions of Grungni
And his warband. A lot of karadon stuff in there too. They may be different looking but they are still dwarves thru and thru.
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I misplaced my copy of 'The first heretic' during my move. I found it the other day. I cant remember what happened [at being halfway through the book] so I guess I'll have to reread it
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Just finished CL Werner’s Overlords of the Iron Dragon. As any of his books, you will be in for a good read. Very little time to recover from each crazy situation they went thru. Again, like the last book, they may have a new setting, but they are dwarves thru and thru. I’m still trying to find out Werner’s returned hero in this book but not thouroughly sure.
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I've been rereading my way through the Rivers of London series. It's very similar to the Dresden Files if you know that, but this one is set in London and the character is actually a member of the Met. It's a good set of books, and even rereading through it is just as enjoyable as the first time.
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I found my missing copy of 'The first heretic'.
Up to the part with the naked, tattooed girl. Someone just made a comment about a monster known as 'Slaan ish'. I think the excrement is about to hit the fan :Ohmy:
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I need to write up my Dracula synopsis at some point, I finished it before Halloween but things have just been so busy.
I read "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" back in August, but due to the craziness of August (having in-laws visit, quitting my job, going to NYC for a writer's conference, then going to London and Paris, then starting a new job) I did not get a chance to write it out. Now its been a few months and it's a bit hazy in my mind so I'll have to re-read it and then post about it. I am thinking of doing a short story in the mean time.
Also I did some research to write my own cosmic horror story about a small town I traveled through that inspired me. I should begin penning it rather soon. Think Innsmouth mixed with The Whisperer in Darkness and a touch of Sleepy Hollow.
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Just finished ‘Deathfire’ by Nick Kyme. 2nd book in the heresy series based trilogy about Vulkan. Before this series, I was t too interested in the salamander legion but know I’m hooked as much as the DA and SW. about to buy the third book ‘Old Earth’ to find out what happens. Vulkan can’t die and in the first book he is captured by Cruze who kills him unlimited times in a crazy death trap that eventually robs him of his sanity. That’s all I’ll say as it is an amazing story so far. Doubt I’ll have the energy to start a salamander army but if I every get into the horesy era game, that will be my army. However I might get warmaster first as dabnet and gaunt are my all time favs.
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Still on 'First heretic'
The was a passage about Mortarion, 'sweeping men aside with his scythe like an old Terran legend' and another bit about one of the word bearers 'his legs being backwards like the Taur of Minos' I see what the writer did there :eusa_clap:
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Still on 'First heretic'
The was a passage about Mortarion, 'sweeping men aside with his scythe like an old Terran legend' and another bit about one of the word bearers 'his legs being backwards like the Taur of Minos' I see what the writer did there :eusa_clap:
Such niuances are what I love the most about 30/40K. :blush:
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I finished Dracula on Halloween. I initial picked it up because my Dad was reading it when I visited him in August and figured we'd have something to talk about. I talked with my dad recently on Christmas and, unfortunately he never finished it. Not because he got bored or became uninterested; quite the opposite in fact! He started having nightmares because of the book. It was really nicely written. If you knew nothing of vampires or Dracula going into it, the story would have seemed more like a novel about a serial killer than anything paranormal.
Not unlike Frankenstein, the book is written in the form of letters. In this book it is a series of letters from 4 or so different people's points of view experiencing different things related to Dracula all at the same time. About 2/3 of the way into the story it becomes relevant as Minna collects all of the letters from everyone and transcribes them for the rest of the cast to read. This was interesting because after this moment everyone in the story was now synced up with what the reader knew. I thought that was very clever and a good way of making the story framing device part of the story.
As for the plot: The plot was also very interesting. I feel like the myth of the vampire has culturally changed so much since this book popularized them. The Count can do many things and follow many rules that are both common and uncommon in modern Vampire stories. For example, he can not enter a house unless first invited in, which is typical of modern Vampires. What is uncommon is that he can walk around in during the day just fine, whereas contemporary Vampires are harmed by the sun. The daytime has different effects for the Count, but death is not one of them. The Count is a very enigmatic figure through the whole book and comes off like a mustache twirling bond villain at times. If you have seen the movie version from the early 90's with Gary Oldman, it is very similar in many regards but they injected a romance between Minna and the Count for some reason which is completely absent in the book. Minna in the book is metaphorically raped by the Count who wanted to strike back at his hunters. Perhaps the movie was trying to make Dracula more sympathetic? Considering how things happen in the book, Minna acts more like the victim of stalking from the Count and a target of the Count's vindictiveness when the cast starts hunting him. Poor Minna, she was perhaps the smartest of the main cast but her IQ dropped suddenly during a pivotal point in the book I was so upset with her. Her IQ promptly returned soon after. If it was anyone else in the main cast that blundered, it would have been fine, but Minna was the smartest of the group and should have known better at this point.
The themes of the novel were very interesting as well. Not only does it seem like a cat and mouse game with a paranormal serial killer, but also deals with trauma. Lucy becomes like her attacker, Minna becomes distant and feels unclean, her husband Jonathan goes crazy and feels no one would believe him and bottles it up. Even the heroic trio Arthur, Dr. John, and Quincey show how the victim's family and friends would respond to loss and trauma suffered by a loved one. The story also shows those who have been traumatized that they have a support network. Whether is with friends and family, or with medical professionals. There are many other themes too like, what is expected of a woman in Victorian times, science and mysticism, good vs evil, etc. I feel like those are pretty evident and are more talked about than the theme of trauma so I will not go into detail about the other themes here.
All in all I would highly suggest reading this classic novel. A century later it is still just as exciting, creepy, and relevant as when it was published. Reading it around Halloween made it extra creepy, as the days in the novel started to sync up with the days I read them.
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Hmmm, sounds like it might be worth a read.
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I read it most years in October. Always liked it although I generally do read it more because its a classic.
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Just read Animal Farm by George Orwell. Was really good! I loved the parallels that it shares with the Russian revolutions and how twisted absolute power can be on ideals and good intentions. Many people think it just addresses Stalin-ism and communism, but it really doesn't stop there. It is a critique of autocracy in general and can be applied to multiple political and social systems.
Its also super short. My version was about 112 pages.
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Just finish another 3 40k.
Old Earth - nick Kyme - 3rd inthe vulcan trilogy - loved it
Tallarn - John French - Heresy book 45? - 3 shorter stories into one. Loved it
Warmaster - Dan Abnet - Ghaunts Ghosts - damn Abnet to the outer hell’s for writing yet another fantastic book. Damn him for now making me wait as the road gets built for the next book. Damn him for making me loose sleep because I couldn’t put it down. Damn it - I recommend this.
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I have about 5000 hours of audiobooks to catch up with. I've decided to let my ears rest for the last half a year and now, with all the new releases (mainly 30K and 40K) I have some catching up to do.
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Just finished Red October by Douglas Boyd. The book chronicles the lead up to, the events of, and the civil war following the Russian Revolutions. It was a great read as it starts with the lives of Marx and Engels and their philosophies. This is followed by the main trio: Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. After a brief origin story for each of them in the early chapters, the book then changes tune and follows the ineptitude of the last Russian Emperor as he blunders time and again with foreign and domestic policy. He was totally out of touch on how to be a ruler, and on how his country was even ruled up to that point. Times were changing, and Russia was in the past. It didn't help that his father didn't bother to teach him anything, as he thought Nicholas II was too stupid to learn. Why Nicholas II was made his successor is beyond me. I put the blame on the entire revolution on the shoulders of Nicholas II and WW1. Not only was the army woefully under armed and trained, but the home front could not support such an endeavor. Combine this with outdated tactics, an aggressive enemy, and foreign funding of prominent exiled revolutionaries, it was a powder keg thrown into the fireplace. I felt rather bad for Nicholas II.
Boyd really shows how dire life was during the wars, revolutions, and counter revolutions. You really get to know the main three players mentioned earlier and how much they just hated each other. If Stalin didn't over shadow Lenin in history as a megalomaniac, I'd rank Lenin up there with Napoleon and Alexander. Lenin wanted the world, but only if he was the sole ruler of it. Trotsky was rather flamboyant in comparison and was diametrically opposed to Lenin in most things. Stalin just played in the background waiting, biding his time and gathering secret support. It truly was a revolution, as it ended up similar from where they started. After the dust was settled, Lenin (and later Stalin) were the monarchs, just in a different name. The communist party was their religion, where banishment from the party was no different than being excommunicated from the church in medieval times. The secret Tsar police, the Okhrana, was replaced by the Cheka. Oppression of the peasants and the working class just changed hands rather than improved their well being. The list goes on.
The most interesting of the accounts in the book was a chapter two-thirds of the way through about the execution and disposal of the Tsar and his family. It is written as a report by the commissar in charge that was retold by said commissar years after the event. If the subject matter wasn't so grim, it would be comical, but was overall very compelling. There are a number of colorful characters that pop in and out throughout the book, along with flavorful small stories.
If I had one complaint: it's that the author seemed to sneer at the people or subject matter at times. I know most of these men are not looked upon favorably by contemporaries, but I generally like a unbiased (or as unbiased as you can get) viewpoint when dealing with historical subjects. That is just my own pet peeve, but all in all it was a really nice read, especially if the era or subject matter of revolution interests you. I'd recommend it to any history buff.
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Just finished ‘Prince of Thorns’.
Was a good fun read. The first chapter or so I hated because trying to follow the ‘Road speak’ was uncomfortable, but after that it was great. Problem was, it actually used an idea I wanted to use in my own book ideas I have jotted down. Ah well.
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On my sisters advice I just picked up Hex by Thomas olde heuvelt, should be good. It sold well across the world and apparently they are making a movie of it in the US. Not bad for a 34 year old dutch writer.
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How unusual. More 40k. I just finished last night the 2nd grey knights book in a series. Finished warden of the blade and then read Castellan by David annendale. Good reads both. The human tole is enormous as usual and if I was a deamon, it would be my luck to have to face the castellan. He really knows how to ruin a party.
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hitting up some Ursula Le Guin in honour.
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Now that you mention it, it has been quite a few years since I last took Earthsea off the shelf...
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I've read earthsea, gonna try a few others now.
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How unusual. More 40k. I just finished last night the 2nd grey knights book in a series. Finished warden of the blade and then read Castellan by David annendale. Good reads both. The human tole is enormous as usual and if I was a deamon, it would be my luck to have to face the castellan. He really knows how to ruin a party.
Try ADB's "The Emperor's Gift". Best Grey Knight fiction out there.
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Welcome back Xath!! I have read the EG and I agree. I recommend that one above all else. You get to see the wolves do what they do best and it to give anything away, that scene in the grey knights ship still haunts me 😸
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Welcome back Xath!! I have read the EG and I agree. I recommend that one above all else. You get to see the wolves do what they do best and it to give anything away, that scene in the grey knights ship still haunts me 😸
Oh yeah, it's great. And the Inquisitor Annika and her retinue - what a great bunch of characters.
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I have taken a brief break from 40k (Brief because I've got the Forge of Mars sitting on the shelf waiting for me) and instead read the latest biography about Leonardo Da Vinci that came out.
It was a huge book but great! I've never been so interested to read about how paintings were made, the techniques, the paint itself, everything. Leonardo was just a brilliant genius at what he did. I did find it really interesting that the author was pointing out that Leonardo was not the only genius running around at the time. There was about a dozen different polymaths just in Italy who are all obsessed with knowledge, or painting, or whatever. Their all learning from each other and building on what the others have discovered. It reminded me a great deal about the quote about "Standing on the shoulders of giants". One of the interesting differences between Leonardo and the others is that many of the others are obsessed with publishing everything they know ("So that all of mankind can learn." as one Italian polymath put it) while Da Vinci can't get around to publishing anything because he keeps getting distracted, and frankly doesn't really want to.
It was a good book, but fairly big. The pictures included are amazing high resolution photo's of his paintings, sketches, notebook pages and maps.
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I read Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman. I was going through audible a few weeks ago with 2 credits and trying to figure out what to get. I got Red October (http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=51625.msg1024878#msg1024878) for myself and relized that my wife should read something too. She didn't seem to interested in anything, but then I came across Bringing Up Bébé. The synopsis seems to indicate it was an American mother's exploration of Parisian parenting. It triggered what I learned in my French culture class back in college. I mentioned it to her and played an excerpt of it for us to listen too. It sounded so interesting that we decided to get it. After I finished Red October I decided I hadn't read many "baby books" other than the mayo clinic's guide to pregnancy and newborns, and so I decided to listen to Pamela's pseudo-anthropological study of French parenting.
It was fascinating! Druckerman had moved to Paris with her British husband and decided to settle there. After having her first baby and she started noticing that French babies behaved differently. They did not cry or throw a fit in public, they slept through the night 3-6 weeks after delivery, and they were overall just well behaved. And the French parents looked happy and content as opposed to the ragged looking American and British parents. She found through Parisian anecdotes and some research that the French parenting philosophy exists but is taken for granted in France. To them what they do is just "common sense." There's an entire chapter dedicated to what the author calls "The Pause" and how it teaches the baby to "do their nights" as well as instill patience in their child. Another chapter is how they introduce children to food in a way they gets them to eat all kinds of different foods that most Anglophone kids would never eat let alone try. Its all very fascinating with pros and cons to the French parenting philosophy. For example, my wife and I have decided that we will do "The Pause" as well as getting them on a feeding schedule that matches our own, but unlike the french we do plan to breastfeed and do more than just let the child "discover" things.
I would highly recommend this book if you are going to be a parent, love french culture, interested in anthropology, love philosophy, or just love fun short stories about family. It was just an utterly captivating book that not only shows and critiques French parenting philosophy but also Anglophones as well.
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Thanks for the review Feanor. Sounds interesting. :icon_cool:
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Culloden: an account of the battle of [see Outlander if you don't know what I'm talking about]
AND C.O.P.S [central organisation of police specialists] short lived comic book issues that I found [does that count as literature?] It was one of my most favourite things as a kid; that's why I'm revisiting it
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I would highly recommend this book if you are going to be a parent,
Too late for that, but I am curious.
Could you give a brief description of 'the pause', how to get your kids to taste everything or the 'discovery' philosophy?
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Each of those things have their own chapter dedicated to them (arguably several as they all interweave with each other) and it may be best to just read the book as the author may explain it better than I can here, but I will do my best to explain "The Pause."
"The Pause" is something French parents do with children and start as early as after delivery (although some may wait until they take the baby home or even a couple of weeks after the birth) and pretty much do different iterations of it for the rest of the child's life. In most Anglophone cultures, when a baby begins to cry, parents will drop everything they are doing and go and check on the baby. Sometimes even picking the baby up and try to console the baby or feed it, etc. The French on the other hand do not drop everything. They pause for a moment. During this pause the parents will listen and observe the baby to discern what the cry means. Is the baby crying out of distress, dirty diaper, hungry, bored, just woke up, frustration? After all, when someone is talking to you, you should pause and try to understand what they are saying before responding. If it seems to be a distressful cry, or a dirty diaper cry, they would then go to the baby and take care of the situation. If its anything else they wait about 5-10 minutes. This gives the baby time to try to find a way to fall back asleep on their own and connect their sleep cycles together. Researchers have found that babies that get instant attention from crying will use it as a crutch to get what they want and in some cases are convinced that the parent needs them to cry and will sometimes cry with the intention of pleasing the parents. The French believe that children, even newborns, are smarter than you realize. They will learn to distract themselves, fall asleep, learn that it is sleep time, patience, and learn they are not the center of the universe through the pause. I know it sounds a bit hippie dippie, but the stranger thing is: it works. This pause method is what gets the child to sleep through their nights in 4-6 weeks. Allowing the parents to get back into a routine and restful sleep for everyone. It also allows the baby to be a part of their routine and an active part of the family. I am really condensing this here and may not being doing it justice, but you should really check out this book, if anything its just really interesting. :::cheers:::
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I am at an impasse. I want to continue delving into classical literature, particularly those that are well known that I have missed out on. I am trying to choose from the following:
Moby Dick
Pride and Prejudice
The Three Musketeers
War and Peace
Heart of Darkness
any suggestions?
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Never really cared for war and peace myself. Moby dick is pretty good and pretty classic. Out of that list I prefer Three Musketeers.
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Three Musketeers.
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Let me see if I remember this right. There are a group of soldiers out on a mission. Two of them stop to discuss an old novel.
McBride: Ever read Conrad's 'Heart of darkness?'
Metzger: No; I once saw a film called 'The heart is a lonely hunter'
If you know what I'm referancing :::cheers:::
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Read Dan Abnetts "The Warmaster", the newest Gaunts Ghosts book to come out after an - I think - 6 year break or so?
Liked it a lot overall. I'll get my biggest criticism out of the way first - it ends on the mother of all cliffhangers. Several in fact. So I'd like the next installment right the fuck NOW Dan, thank you very much. Other than that, it's a solid installment of the series, and holy shit, Abnett isn't afraid to shake things up big time. And I don't just mean in an "a major character we've come to like over many books dies" way (although that does happen...), this book shakes up some of the things that were the given foundations of the overall plot so far. Recommended for anyone who's familiar with the exploits of the Tanith First, I wouldn't advise starting with this one though.
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Quote Aldaris:So I'd like the next installment right the fuck NOW Dan, thank you very much
Agree with all the above review. Especially the statement here👆
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War and Peace is one of only 2 books ever that I put away along the way and never wanted to return to.
Like several writers from the time it's characterized by extremely detailed descriptions of the setting. So how the rooms look, or the clothes people wear etc. Added to this is that the biggest (by a good bit) of the book concerns itself mostly with the petty socializing of the aristocracy. Maybe an accurate depiction, but that doesn't make it actually interesting.
The only good parts (IMO) were the parts that took part at the front, where at least there were some dynamic stories to be told.
After finishing one of those parts I was disheartened to see the return to the home front and I peeked when they would return to the battles. I discovered this would take 200+ pages and put the book away in disgust.
I was 18 at the time though so maybe being more mature I'd appreciate the book more now? Don't really feel the pull of picking it up again though, except for my general dislike of not finishing things.
My other abandoned book project was 'Sans Famille' (Nobody's Boy / Alleen op de Wereld). It's never good when you just don't like the main character and I found Rémi a whiny little boy. Vitalis had 3 dogs, though I truly disliked the dog Rémi liked (a Mary Sue dog really). So I struggled along with the story, quietly loathing Rémi until I got to a part where the other two dogs died and the Mary Sue dog lives. Those were the only two 'characters' I truly liked!!! So yeah, ditched the book there and then.
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As it happens, I just found a quite enjoyable interview with Dan Abnett on Warhammer TV that's mostly about Gaunts Ghosts and The Warmaster in particular, but touches on his other 40K stuff as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evtYUKFNLZc
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I think it was the same interview, but there was a good interview in last months white dwarf that was the same thing.
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What a great interview with Abnett. He is incredibly likeable. Normally I try to avoid getting to know the personality of an artist, musician or writer because I find I really don’t care for them but dan abnett is really charming. He did say he’s writing the next book as he was speaking 😸
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"The Pause" is something French parents do with children and start as early as after delivery (although some may wait until they take the baby home or even a couple of weeks after the birth) and pretty much do different iterations of it for the rest of the child's life.
Ok, thanks for the explanation. I guess that here in the Netherlands a lot of people tend to follow the same strategy with babies. We usually say something like "Laat de baby maar even huilen." or "Let the baby cry for a moment."
In the beginning this teaches parents to interpret the different ways their baby may cry. After all, it's really the only way of communication a baby has at the beginning. This allows you to differ between cries like "I'm upset I woke up while I'm still sleepy", "Hey, I'm awake and would like a bottle", "My diaper is dirty." or "I've got cramps!".
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throw me in the "started war and peace then chucked it" category as well, where as I read Anna Karenina and enjoyed it.
now i'm about to show off my SEXIST PIG side, but I really do think pride and prejudice is a girls book- I'm just not that into "petty socialising" as batworm put it.
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Just finished Cornwell's the Flame Bearer. And now I will be following up with a couple of books on Vikings my wife picked up for me.
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Just finished knightsblade by Andy Clarke. About a Knight world that has to fight the inquisition and an ork waagh. The interesting part of this book was the shear number of knights. At one point 200 of them were in a single battle. Maybe a Freeblade somewhere on the horizon. I think there pretty expensive though.
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Just finished knightsblade by Andy Clarke. About a Knight world that has to fight the inquisition and an ork waagh. The interesting part of this book was the shear number of knights. At one point 200 of them were in a single battle. Maybe a Freeblade somewhere on the horizon. I think there pretty expensive though.
Wow, I've heard a lot of good stuff about Kinghtsblade. I actually dig Knights a lot, so I just might to pick this one up. :::cheers:::
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Reading Ancillary justice. won the Hugo in 2014. Liking it so far!
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a sci fi book about an opressive expansionist empire with massive ships run by AI consciousnesses who divide/reupload themselves into the corpses of the empires subjugated foes.
I can't believe no one else has read it!
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I ended up going with The Three Musketeers. What an amazingly fun adventure! So many fun and interesting characters, places, situations, and intrigue. I feel the book has been cheated in its movie adaptations (granted I have only seen the one Disney made in 1993). So many characters cut out or completely changed! It was an audio book and the voice actor did an amazing job. I really loved whenever he did Planche's voice as it sounded like Baldrick from Blackadder and its how I imagined him. Nearly every character was well developed with interesting backstories, ambitions, and attitudes. I fell in love with some and detested the villain (great job Dumas!!). The ending was a bit bittersweet with a few items tied up in the epilogue which could have used its own chapters but it was still and amazingly fun adventure. I highly recommend this book!
I am not sure how good the current BBC show is, but I really wish I could find a show or movie that did the book justice. The 1993 Disney movie was fun in a cheese action comedy kind of way, but does not do the book nor the characters justice. :-P
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I ended up going with The Three Musketeers. What an amazingly fun adventure! So many fun and interesting characters, places, situations, and intrigue. I feel the book has been cheated in its movie adaptations (granted I have only seen the one Disney made in 1993). So many characters cut out or completely changed! It was an audio book and the voice actor did an amazing job. I really loved whenever he did Planche's voice as it sounded like Baldrick from Blackadder and its how I imagined him. Nearly every character was well developed with interesting backstories, ambitions, and attitudes. I fell in love with some and detested the villain (great job Dumas!!). The ending was a bit bittersweet with a few items tied up in the epilogue which could have used its own chapters but it was still and amazingly fun adventure. I highly recommend this book!
I am not sure how good the current BBC show is, but I really wish I could find a show or movie that did the book justice. The 1993 Disney movie was fun in a cheese action comedy kind of way, but does not do the book nor the characters justice. :-P
Its public domain [i think] so there are no shortage of adaptions. I remember seeing several cartoon series and animated adaptions of it which i never wish to see again
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Sons of the Hydra - Rob Sanders. Great insight into the alpha legion or part of it. This is a must for Xath as I think he collects XX legion. This started a bit slow but that was probably just me burnt out on 40k a bit. Then I couldn’t put it down. No need to tell any part of it as it’s a twisted tale from beginning to end.
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Allison Weir's The Princes in the Tower. Well written. Looks quite biased towards Richard. Will still give it a go as it's still entertaining.
A coworker let me borrow the Island of Blood novella written by Darius Hinks. Should be a quick read.
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Sons of the Hydra - Rob Sanders. Great insight into the alpha legion or part of it. This is a must for Xath as I think he collects XX legion. This started a bit slow but that was probably just me burnt out on 40k a bit. Then I couldn’t put it down. No need to tell any part of it as it’s a twisted tale from beginning to end.
I need to read this! Heard that it's really good, as well as the "Shroud of night", another book by Sanders.
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Just finished Magos by Dan Abnet. A bunch of short stories concerning eisenhorn and ravenor plus a chronology of the works and ending with a full new novel. I really like how this was packaged and delivered. As with any Abnet work, I just can’t put it down. This guy loses none of his ability to write continuously good books. Inquisition at its best.
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I've heard that it's very good. I have it in audio format, just waiting to be listened to.
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Soldiers in the mist. Its the third instalment in a trilogy which I found in a charity shop. I'm having a bit of trouble following it as well, its the third instalment. Whoever wrote it though must have been a fan of Bernard Cornwell though
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"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is required reading in nearly all schools in the States. Like most of these schools, I too had to read Mark Twain's tale of a young adolescent as he went on his own Mississippi Odyssey with an escaped slave. The book is actually a sequel, and Huck first showed up with Tom Sawyer in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." I am vaguely familiar with the story of Tom Sawyer from made for TV movies and cartoons in my youth but never actually read it. When I saw it on Audible, and narrated by Nick Offerman himself (Ron Swanson of Parks and Rec), I decided it was time to know the chronicle of this little boy from Missouri.
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is truly a love letter to being a little boy. His adventures and superstitions remind me of when I was a little lad; trying to not get caught as I pursued my own fun with my friends and relations. What really struck me was how they think they know the world and proper incantations to bring about good luck or remove warts. It's a true insight on being a young kid. His adventures become the talk of the town as he witnessed a murder with the town delinquent and the wrong man was arrested, to striking it out as a pirate, and avoiding the real killer who may be out for vengeance. I would say that if "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was "The Odyssey" then "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" would be the stories with Thor and Loki from "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman (which is also a good read). The ending was amazing and could only happen to an 8 year old.
I did tell my wife that if our next baby is a boy, then this book will be required reading for her. :-P
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Pretty sure Tom Sawyer and Huck Fin are required reading everywhere. I had to read them when I was 9
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Pretty sure Tom Sawyer and Huck Fin are required reading everywhere. I had to read them when I was 9
I agree. They're awesome, childhood heroes, just like the children from Bullerbyn and Pippi Langstrumpf.
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Interesting. I personally HATED them as a child. But I hated a lot or required reading in English classes. Might be good reading as an adult to capture childhood memories and especially if you have kids thinking about them in such mischief. But as a child, it was not my cup of tea.
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Interesting. I personally HATED them as a child. But I hated a lot or required reading in English classes. Might be good reading as an adult to capture childhood memories and especially if you have kids thinking about them in such mischief. But as a child, it was not my cup of tea.
I remember hating pretty much everything I had to read too. I got so sick of Hatchet [after having to read and dissect it three years in a row] I never wished to see it again. I got so sick of Enders game in the last year of high school I considered Orson Scott Card the lowest lifeform on the planet at one point.
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Interesting. I personally HATED them as a child. But I hated a lot or required reading in English classes. Might be good reading as an adult to capture childhood memories and especially if you have kids thinking about them in such mischief. But as a child, it was not my cup of tea.
I loved them. I will definitely read them to my kids, one day.
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I actually really liked Hatchet in 7th grade. The teacher was so surprised by the class's adoration for the book, that he got the sequel on tape and played it for the class since we couldn't get everyone a book.
I had to read and dissect MacBeth 4 times (9th-12th grade!) that when we started doing Shakespear senior year (12th), our teacher said "Alright class, we're going to read 2 Shakespeare plays. Othello, and..."
"Please not Macbeth!" I spoke out.
She looked at me curiously, "uh, one of them is Macbeth..."
"Awe man, can I just like take a test on it and skip it? I've read it every year for English for the past 3 years!"
"Sorry, you have to follow along."
"hrmph"
That aside, It is probably my favorite Shakespeare play, I just don't want to read it ever again. The funny thing is, everyone else in my class had not read it yet, so guess who everyone wanted to team up with during group assignments?
Our group was told to do a research assignment on castles. A few of my team mates were really good at video editing (mind you this was 2004!) so we did a film project. We filmed some footage at Fort Washington since its the closest thing we had to a castle near by to use for shots. One of the group members had a crazy idea of dressing up as a deviled egg and running at the fort wall and throwing himself on the wall as a means to defeat the castle. We filmed the whole thing, even had a lead up to it of a girl in our group dressed as a princess and yours truly as a sword wielding energetic general screaming "Send in the Deviled Eggs!" The Devil Egg group member, Ryan, ran down the hill and 2 paces from the fort wall (during editing they played some heavy metal in the background as he screamed his battle cry during the whole run), faux tripped and acted like he scraped his knee, doing the family guy bit seen here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEZQ2rg-Rlg). He then picked himself up and limped over to the fort wall and threw himself against it.
Another part of the video talked about how the Hittites were the first known to build walls around their cities. The thing is the group members were convinced it was pronounced Hit-tittes rather than hit-tite-s. So we got our head shaved group member ,Scooter, to wear a stuffed bra and I ran into frame and slapped his boob and giggled off screen. It then cut back to Scooter saying "no, not those hit-tittes, the Hittittes were a blah blah blah." It went over well in class.
And the final crazy thing we did was show a beheading by having one person (someone who wasn't even in our class anymore) dress up as an executioner with a dragon axe he got from the Renaissance faire. Ryan then put a hoodie on and placed his head on a stump. We played some creepy medival monk chanting music a shot reverse shot of them before having him scoot his head into his hoodie and placing a pumpkin where is head was and then performing the execution by cutting the dragon axe into the pumpkin.
We got an A+ on the project and the teacher started referring to us as the crazy castle group. It was good times.
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I got so sick of Enders game in the last year of high school I considered Orson Scott Card the lowest lifeform on the planet at one point.
That's funny, I loved Ender's Game so much I read it several times! It wasn't an assignment though. I have assigned myself books to read for role-playing games and war games (I read a lot of books on the Italian Renaissance for my current campaign, and once I read Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core whilst painting the monsters and 15mm figures I would need for the scenario I was basing around it) and my life revolves around reading self-assigned history books.
The Edgar Rice Burroughs scenario, which was for the role playing game Space 1889, was written before the internet. I had no idea there was so many other books set in the world of Pellucidar and I am glad that was the case otherwise I would have felt obliged to read several severalmore of those books.
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I got so sick of Enders game in the last year of high school I considered Orson Scott Card the lowest lifeform on the planet at one point.
That's funny, I loved Ender's Game so much I read it several times! It wasn't an assignment though. I have assigned myself books to read for role-playing games and war games (I read a lot of books on the Italian Renaissance for my current campaign, and once I read Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core whilst painting the monsters and 15mm figures I would need for the scenario I was basing around it) and my life revolves around reading self-assigned history books.
The Edgar Rice Burroughs scenario, which was for the role playing game Space 1889, was written before the internet. I had no idea there was so many other books set in the world of Pellucidar and I am glad that was the case otherwise I would have felt obliged to read several severalmore of those books.
My hatred for it developed over having to read it over and over again and write countless essays and papers on it
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I liked Ender's Game but I'm not fond of the author or his other books. All his protagonist feel like the exact same character. Super smart kid who's automatically better at everything then everyone else. It was fun in Ender's Game but he kind of doubled down on it in others. One of his others books I read recently {Gate something} also had annoying female characters. Every one of them could stop talking about how in love they were with the main character and how they couldn't wait to have his babies. It was like multiple paragraphs of fangirl monologue.
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My wife is reading the Harry Potter series.
I just started rereading The Hobbit. Gosh those movies were terrible.
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My wife is reading the Harry Potter series.
I just started rereading The Hobbit. Gosh those movies were terrible.
I thought the first Harry Potter movie was magical. The rest of the series I didn’t mind either but the hobbit I could have lived without.
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Still haven't watched the Hobbit movies, and I have no intention to.
At first I was excited. Then I heard that they would make it a trilogy, which made me go "uh oh...". And then statements were released to the tune of "it was turned into a trilogy to account of the richness of the material". Which gave off such a strong whiff of bullshit that I decided to abstain for e bit and see what people thought. And from everything I was told and the clips I've seen, I haven't missed anything. Except the chance to see my childhood gateway to fantasy being shit on from a very great height.
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At first I was excited. Then I heard that they would make it a trilogy, which made me go "uh oh...". And then statements were released to the tune of "it was turned into a trilogy to account of the richness of the material". Which gave off such a strong whiff of bullshit that I decided to abstain for e bit and see what people thought.
When it was at two movies and the 'richness of material' bit I was fine, being that from the beginning they stated that the LotR appendix on Dwarves was fair game for the license. It was the move to three that made me iffy and I never managed to watch them in the theater, did however rent them on Amazon. They were meh with the first being of course the best as it had the least crap tacked on to it.
The biggest shame is that even with the Dwarf part for the back of LotR they completely mucked up the whole Goblin Wars stuff. Why not have the bit about crazy Thror wondering into Moria and his head being tossed out carved with the name Azog. Why then keep Azog around since he wasn't even as interesting as the books (and he really is just a bad guy name there) when you take out this material?
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They could have made a really awesome movie on the Goblin Wars. It could have been part two of three to break up the quest adventure and really add some good back story to stuff.
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I love picking on the Hobbit movies and I'll use any excuse to do it
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I love picking on the Hobbit movies and I'll use any excuse to do it
me too, jesus christ they were fucking terrible.
It scares me what netflix are going to do with the new LotR rights.
I like re-reading the hobbit because it only takes a few hours!
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They could have made a really awesome movie on the Goblin Wars.
Yeah. That's seriously badass Dwarf material. Have your dads head tossed at you insulted as a beggar. Sit stone faced forever contemplating this, stand up with a "this cannot be borne", go around and forge alliances and call in favours to initiate a genocidal war to avenge the slight, just to be able to stuff the bag of wooden coins right back down the original perpetrators gullet. That's so quintessentially Dwarven it makes me smile every time.
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I only saw the first one in the cinema. Decided not to bother with 2 and 3.
There was something off about the entire production. The look and feel was significantly different from that of LOTR, which looked earthy and believable apart from a couple of scenes. It's like the film had a strange, glossy, oversaturated CGI filter to it, like looking at a mix between the Star Wars prequels and 300.
48 fps didn't do any favours for it either - it made it look like consumer camera footage or a cheap soap opera. Although that's probably just me being conditioned by years of low film framerates.
Edit: Forgot this was the book thread, wanted to join in on the Hobbit bashing.
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The 3rd Hobbitt movie was an amazing Warhammer movie.
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Yeah. That's seriously badass Dwarf material. Have your dads head tossed at you insulted as a beggar. Sit stone faced forever contemplating this, stand up with a "this cannot be borne", go around and forge alliances and call in favours to initiate a genocidal war to avenge the slight, just to be able to stuff the bag of wooden coins right back down the original perpetrators gullet. That's so quintessentially Dwarven it makes me smile every time.
Exactly, hence why I thought at first when they were talking two films and the appendix you could get some pretty good films that tonally would have fit with the LotR movies.
Shame it came out such a mess not matching either the text it was taken from nor the feel of LotR (film and books).
No to steer this back toward the threads intended purpose, I always felt a bit of shame for not reading The Hobbit until I was 13. I'd watched the cartoon version since very early childhood but never bothered with the book. It also wasn't as if I didn't read much as a child either I just tended to read books on history/historical things or lots of stuff on Dinosaurs. I remember loathing much of the fiction one gets to read in upper grade school so perhaps that colored my reading preferences.
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I love picking on the Hobbit movies and I'll use any excuse to do it
me too, jesus christ they were fucking terrible.
It scares me what netflix are going to do with the new LotR rights.
I like re-reading the hobbit because it only takes a few hours!
I'm still pissed off that I've watched these movies. They were absolutely shitty.
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The 3rd Hobbitt movie was an amazing Warhammer movie.
billy connoly and his war pig.
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Havn’t posted for a bit. This is strange but I find I’ve been reading some 40k stuff.
Lukas the Trickster - josh Reynolds - very enjoyable. Anything space Wolf is.
Charachodons - The Outer Dark - Robbie Mcniven - nice book on exile chapters
Ferrus Manus - Gorgon of Medusa - liked it but it took a long time to read
Mercy - Danie Ware - sisters short.
Dragon Rampant rules - very cool.
Legacy of Dorn - Mike Lee - currently reading and completely loving it. Crimson Fist action on Rynnsworld from a different perspective.
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When LotRs came out, I loved them. When I heard stories about poor production for The Hobbit, and the idea it was being made into a trilogy, I completely skipped going to see them and still haven't. Won't. I have no desire to ruin my reading of the book when I was a youngster, and hope to enjoy reading it again some day. Along with the LotRs trilogy again as well.
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I must admit, I teared up a little (with joy) when watching the first Hobbit movie quote verbatim the book at the beginning. The first one wasn't bad (IMHO). The second movie strayed off the path once they ran into the elves (also thought Beorn looked too much like the wolf man) but dealt with the talking spiders cleverly. Never saw the third.
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Just finished Crusade for Armageddon and Storm of Iron. Halfway through Angels of darkness.
The books I scored at the charity shop were the following:
Cadian blood, Execution hour, Blades of chaos, Savage city, Death & dishonour, Empire in chaos, Runefang, The dead and the damned, Crusade for Armageddon, Storm of iron, Blood for the blood god, Hammers of Ulric, Honourkepper, Sigvald, Heart of chaos, Claws of chaos, Galaxy in flames, Rouge star Iron hands, Lords of the night, Innocence proves nothing, Blood gorgons, Scourge of the heretic AND Flesh & iron.
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What a score!👆
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Just finished Crusade for Armageddon and Storm of Iron. Halfway through Angels of darkness.
The books I scored at the charity shop were the following:
Cadian blood, Execution hour, Blades of chaos, Savage city, Death & dishonour, Empire in chaos, Runefang, The dead and the damned, Crusade for Armageddon, Storm of iron, Blood for the blood god, Hammers of Ulric, Honourkepper, Sigvald, Heart of chaos, Claws of chaos, Galaxy in flames, Rouge star Iron hands, Lords of the night, Innocence proves nothing, Blood gorgons, Scourge of the heretic AND Flesh & iron.
What a haul! How much did you paid for that collection?
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I think I paid something like $18.00 or $19.00 AU for the lot of them. Funny considering that many of them still have GW $14.95 price tags on them.
I went to the shop again today and found Words of blood. I keep checking the toy bins in case anyone's thrown out a landraider, Baneblade or chaos dwarf army.
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I think I paid something like $18.00 or $19.00 AU for the lot of them. Funny considering that many of them still have GW $14.95 price tags on them.
I went to the shop again today and found Words of blood. I keep checking the toy bins in case anyone's thrown out a landraider, Baneblade or chaos dwarf army.
That's a bloody steal! I'm so envious. :ph34r:
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Just finishing reading Honourkeeper by Nick Kyme
A long story about some Dwarfs, well written, nice descriptions, and decent characters. Like most of Warhammer books, they tent to be quiet simple and do not motivate your mind or imagination.
Warhammer Score: 8/10
General Score: 6/10
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I did it. I got my harpoon and went a-whaling, I went after the white whale and read Moby Dick. Herman Melville is an amazing author and is very poetic in his writing. I read the unabridged version, so 1/3 of the book was about Ahab and the crew of the Pequod going after Moby Dick. The other 2/3 of the book is everything to know about whales and whaling. Even those parts are beautifully written! It can be a bit of a slog because it goes off tangent and talks about whales. Stories, legends, paleontology, oceanography, history, how to hunt and harvest whales. It really gets into the nitty gritty of it all. I can see why its a classic, the story itself is pretty amazing as we follow Ishmael and his budding friendship with the Polynesian Queequeg as they sign onto a whaling voyage with the bitter old Ahab who wants nothing but revenge!
Honestly, you could probably find the abridged version without all the whale and whaling stuff in it, but I think you really lose out on the atmosphere and foreshadowing that Melville uses with those chapters, to build up tension and under stand what risks are involved when going after the demi-god of whales.
I also have found when talking to other people about this book, that different people get different things out of the story. Sometimes its a vengeance rampage tale, others its a philosophical look on existence, and everything in between. Not only is it a wonderful story, but it may be also worth the read to see what the ink blot shows you. Another book worthy of the title "classic."
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/03/a6/b4/03a6b4f33891917333b9c53a4dea9f76.jpg)
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Started Hammers of Ulric today.
There is a scene in the first few pages in which a knight is riding on a hobby horse while his companion moves it. Delving into Python territory. They were one step away from banging coconuts together......are coconuts indigenous to the Empire?
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Started Hammers of Ulric today.
There is a scene in the first few pages in which a knight is riding on a hobby horse while his companion moves it. Delving into Python territory. They were one step away from banging coconuts together......are coconuts indigenous to the Empire?
Luxury items from Lustria. Sorry fam. ;)
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The funny thing about Hammers of Ulric is that although it seems to have been written for the sole purpose of selling Knight kits, it delves a lot into Empire society. There's a heavy focus on the nightwatch and the lower rungs of society. I cant help but wonder if GW was thinking of producing a.....'working' girl kit at one point?
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I've just finished "Reiksguard" from the "Empire army" series. Really good read and a great insight into the workings of Empire's most august of knightly orders. I'll probably review it soon-ish on my blog. :smile2:
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Imperator - Wrath of the Omnissiah - Gav Thorpe. Good read if you like anything about titans. Like any addiction, this just lays the foundation for the next hit 😺. I think The Keys to Ruin by David Annendale is next I think.
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Just finished Necropolis by Dan Abnett, always a great. Then finished Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, which is always one of my favorite books. Ah but for the difference between goats and sheep.
Not sure what I'll do next. Might pick up The Lost omnibus, or maybe go to some non fiction historical stuff.
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Reading "Sword of Justice" by Chris Wraight. Fascinating insight into the mind of Ludwig Schwarzhelm and the interior politics of the Empire. It brought me a metric ton of ideas for my RPG sessions.
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Finished King of Thorns. Great followup to Prince of Thorns. However some of the ‘now’ and ‘then’ pacing was slightly off in the middle. I had to skip ahead to finish bits I was interested in to then come back. But I did that with Dany chapters in AsoIaF too.
What was excellent timing personally, was it referenced the bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo, and only a week ago I saw said bridge. It didn’t call it by name or anything, but I know thats what it was referring.
Need to order Emperor of Thorns next.
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Hammers of ulric is a bit of an odd read. It seems to alter between a narrative and recollection. The meat of the plot also doesn't come into play until well past the halfway point.
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I took a plunge and read The Iliad by Homer. It takes place in the 9th year of the Trojan War and largely follows Achilles and Hector. There was a lot of drama between the Achaeans and their champions. Some I never heard of (like Diomedes) but it was fun to learn about them. Hector just out and out hates Alexandros (aka Paris) for being a little arrogant punk. Helen at one time decides to give herself up to end the war, but Aphrodite threatens to make her existence a living hell for the rest of her life if she does. Poor Helen. Most of the story seems to be x killed y with their z, which made the story a bit of a slog at times. I felt like sometimes my mind checked out until a familiar or important hero shows up like Diomedes or Aeneas. It does paint quite the picture on how the ancient Greeks performed war. Its less like phalanxes coming at each other (that's way later in the historical record anyway) and more like a brawl of dogs fighting over meat (in this case dead men's armor). Also there is no cavalry. Cavalry didn't exist yet as horses where not bred for that (which matches historical/archaeological evidence), but there were a ton of chariot fights. Sometimes fighting like a mobile platform, sometimes as mobile archery positions, and sometimes just to drop off and pick up champions in the fight. The Olympians get funky fighty with themselves and the mortals too. Always trying to undermine Zeus and each other by helping/hindering the mortals. You learn about some of the physical features of the gods too, like Athena having grey eyes and a storm cloud on her shield. I thought that was pretty cool. I also liked that they illustrated the time frame of when this event took place as they mentioned that several of the fighters are literal sons of Hercules. Which is kind of cool, as now you have a sense of time in the legends.
I liked it, but would only really read it again for research purposes. It doesn't read like a compelling novel and there are many parts that you have to slog through as its just x killed y with z and repeat. It is a great piece of work when it comes to historical warfare and Greek mythology though. The language can be a bit dense at times and beautiful at others, but that may depend on what translation you read. I don't really give out ratings for the books I read, but I'll make an exception and rate this a solid 3/5 golden apples.
:mrgreen:
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You sir, should get 5/5 apples for making it happen. I tried 3 times and failed. As with most of the classics, I just couldn’t stomach it. Did make it thru paradise lost and the divine comedy and some of Shakespeare’s but that was it and many years ago when I had patience and ambition 😺
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All this talk of the Trojan war and Shakespeare reminds me of middleschool
I've only been reading snippets of Hammers of Ulric in between shifts at my workplace. So far its been a bit of a letdown
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Just reading ‘eye of Medusa’ about iron hands. Never realized the total lack of empathy they have but I guess it matches their fluff. Anyways came across this quote and found it very funny.
“Five century cog-studs had been beaten into the inseparable fusion of helmet and bionics that by position alone remained a face.
“An Iron Hands Space Marine of Drath’s age and construction could no longer simply die.”
Excerpt From
The Eye of Medusa
David Guymer
This material may be protected by copyright.
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Listening to the Garro anthology. Once again I am reminded why the grizzled Battle Captain remains as one of my favorite, fictional characters of all time. :blush:
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I have just started Dan Barker's "God, the Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction". A more entertaining way of getting to know the full horror of the Old Testament than reading it. I've read huge chunks before, which put me off having to read the whole disgusting thing. I realised very quickly why the O-level in RE I took at my Roman Catholic high school was on the Synoptic Gospels. I have a feeling no-one wanted us to see the horrors of the OT!
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I ordered Master of Mankind and The Lost omnibus yesterday so I'm looking forward to those arriving.
Otherwise I've been on a pretty good nonfiction kick. Some historical work on the Templars and the Crusader states, a biography of Russian general Georgy Zhukov (Which was fantastic and really puts the Eastern front into scale. Some of the numbers are ridiculous.) and a couple of books on the North American fur trade and frontier.
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Jonathan I. Israel
The Republic 1477-1806
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I've been very slowly working my way through Three Musketeers. I like it, but just haven't been devoting as much time to reading. Hopefully the library doesn't mind my renewal spam.
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I've been very slowly working my way through Three Musketeers. I like it, but just haven't been devoting as much time to reading. Hopefully the library doesn't mind my renewal spam.
It was quite the delight. I am sure they wont mind. :::cheers:::
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I ordered Master of Mankind and The Lost omnibus yesterday so I'm looking forward to those arriving.
Otherwise I've been on a pretty good nonfiction kick. Some historical work on the Templars and the Crusader states, a biography of Russian general Georgy Zhukov (Which was fantastic and really puts the Eastern front into scale. Some of the numbers are ridiculous.) and a couple of books on the North American fur trade and frontier.
Master of Mankind is great. You won't be dissapointed.
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Found two more novels in the same charity shop. This time its Ultramarine titles; Courage & honour and Killing ground.
Although Courage & honour seems to be about a novice ultramarine [so far], it features cameos of the chapters bigger players. Calgar's honour guard are much like Emperor Palpatine's Royal guards; silent sentinels capable of terrible wrath while Tigerius and Cassius both seem to be feared as much by their own troops as they are the enemy. And for all these years, the voice I imagined Cassius speaking in was that of Abe Simpson; you know, because he's old. Now I hear George C Scott.
Oh yes and the ultra marines have no time for boring committee meetings.
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I ordered Master of Mankind and The Lost omnibus yesterday so I'm looking forward to those arriving.
Otherwise I've been on a pretty good nonfiction kick. Some historical work on the Templars and the Crusader states, a biography of Russian general Georgy Zhukov (Which was fantastic and really puts the Eastern front into scale. Some of the numbers are ridiculous.) and a couple of books on the North American fur trade and frontier.
Master of Mankind is great. You won't be dissapointed.
Finished it two days back and loved it. I cant believe the controversy that came out the first few days it was out. It all flows together well, adds some answers and so many more questions in a good way. Seeing the Custodians at work was fantastic.
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The War Within the Webway was simply fascinating. I also loved the portrayal of the Emperor and this book had a solid, supporting cast. ADB at his finest.
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I really liked all the hints at how different people see the Emperor differently. I know there was a great deal of backlash from "The emperor see's the primarchs just as tools! Doesn't even use their names!" and I can't understand how people like that missed what I thought were obvious examples otherwise.
The War in the Webway is fantastic. The Custodes get just wrecked, and when the Ad Mech general does her thing at the end you want to start screaming at the book.
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At page 75 of Courage & honour. Its coming off as a Dawn of war fanfic
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Yeah, that ending is intense. I'm currently listening to the "Crimson King." I must say that it paints the Thousand Sons in a completely different manner, than how they're usually portrayed. I also love the references to other 30K books and our own, IRL history. McNeill is awesome.
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At the halfway point of Courage & Honour. Had a laugh when I noticed an egregious Transformers referance
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At the halfway point of Courage & Honour. Had a laugh when I noticed an egregious Transformers referance
Care to share? :smile2:
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^ The ultramarine's weapon was 'Optimally primed' :icon_rolleyes:. I guess it was fitting as he was fighting the Tau and the battlesuits remind me of the old school transformers.
Here's trivia. Dan Abnet used to work for Marvel U.K; he used to write Transformers comics [yes, I know Graham McNeil wrote the ultramarine books in question, I just found some of my old comics and noticed Dan 'Gaunts ghosts' Abnet used to work for Marvel]
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The Keys to Ruin - a short about the fireslayers fighting tzeentch. The duardin May have changed realms but not personality. Good read.
The Last Hunt - Robbie Macniven - the 4 th company of White Scars and the Tyranids with the Alderi showing up as allies. Great twist on the time continuum conundrum. When a space marine shows up, you know it’s gonna be bad for everyone.
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Started reading the Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly. Intriguing so far, but we all know it will turn into a thriller soon enough.
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^ The ultramarine's weapon was 'Optimally primed' :icon_rolleyes:. I guess it was fitting as he was fighting the Tau and the battlesuits remind me of the old school transformers.
Here's trivia. Dan Abnet used to work for Marvel U.K; he used to write Transformers comics [yes, I know Graham McNeil wrote the ultramarine books in question, I just found some of my old comics and noticed Dan 'Gaunts ghosts' Abnet used to work for Marvel]
I think he might still work for Marvel, actually. Not 100% sure about that.
Just finished "Ruinstorm" by David Annandale. Good book, non-stop action. Shows what would happen to the entire galaxy, if Chaos would won. Good Primarch portrayal, but Sanguinius was a bit whiney at times and there were only so many visions of Horus killing him, that I could stomach.
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I just finished Sea of Rust by C Robert Cargill. It's pretty good.
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Finished Hammers of Ulric. Was pretty disappointing and disjointed. The characters names were a bit lazy I.E Von Volk, Von Kreig....so there were characters names which translate into Mr Country and Mr War :icon_rolleyes:. So far, the book, featuring the often over-used and often maligned Ultra marines has been a lot better
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just bought "the fifth season"
book 1 of the broken earth trilogy.
it won the hugo in 2015 and the sequel won it in 2016.
get hype lads.
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Just finished "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris. It covers Theodore Roosevelt's life from birth to the moment he became president. I cannot remember the last biography I've read but this was truly amazing. Theodore Roosevelt is perhaps the most interesting historical figure I have ever read. It seems almost fantasy to see him born as a sickly little boy with super asthma and nervous diarrhea only to grow up and become a literal cowboy while also writing 13 books, fathering 6 children, being an active politician and even fighting in a war (he was 38)! His boundless energy and will power along with his keen intellect is near superhuman. Its almost unbelievable! He put together his own museum of natural history when he was 8 years old. He tracked down boat thieves from his ranch pursuing them down an icy river, got in a fist fight with an armed cowboy that was shooting up the saloon, stalked the streets of New York City at night as Police Commissioner to catch cops sleeping on the job, lead a couple of battle charges in a war, modernized the navy, ran the state of New York. Just wow. His resume is staggering that its no wonder he became president. His oration and charisma alone could have done the job but he had the experience, intelligence, and the grit to do it.
There's just so much more I want to say but the words escape me. You just really need to check it out.
It was a bully of a read and I am delighted to recommend it. :::cheers:::
(https://us-east-1.tchyn.io/snopes-production/uploads/2017/08/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=865,452)
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Teddy might be my favorite president. I should look into that book. Thanks for the run down.
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It was a bully of a read and I am delighted to recommend it. :::cheers:::
I see what you did there. :icon_mrgreen:
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It was a bully of a read and I am delighted to recommend it. :::cheers:::
I see what you did there. :icon_mrgreen:
I'm glad someone did :engel: Have you read the book?
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Finished Great Zoo of China. Starting on Emperor of Thorns.
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River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
Book by Buddy Levy
I've been laid off for the summer, so I have read countless books including all of the Game of Thrones published thus far. (Why is there no 6th book?)
Anyway I picked this volume up as (deep) background for the pirate campaign I have been doing and because of the book 1491 which touches on the same subject. I am particularly interested in the evolving nature of accepted history. Seeing the Amazon basin as heavily settled before the conquest as opposed to a trackless wilderness populated by pockets of primitive pristine natives living in harmony with nature.
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I've been laid off for the summer, so I have read countless books including all of the Game of Thrones published thus far. (Why is there no 6th book?)
Because GRRM hasn't finished it yet, and has kind of written himself into a corner with the sheer number of plot threads he needs to figure out. Not to mention he's spending a fair bit of time doing other writing/editing, coming up with scripts for the spin off shows, etc.
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I've been laid off for the summer, so I have read countless books including all of the Game of Thrones published thus far. (Why is there no 6th book?)
Because GRRM hasn't finished it yet, and has kind of written himself into a corner with the sheer number of plot threads he needs to figure out. Not to mention he's spending a fair bit of time doing other writing/editing, coming up with scripts for the spin off shows, etc.
This👆 And he once described book 4 as a bitch. Book 5 a bitch and a bastard. Definitely not enjoying it anymore.
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I hate when that happens.
Last night I finished Tabula Rasa : a crime novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth Downie.
I breezed through this novel, mainly because I have enjoyed the previous 5 or so in the series. The plot follows the adventures of a Roman medic and his British wife. The series has reached that point that most 'crime novel' series do where the victims must be the hero's friends.
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I've finished up a bunch of Horus Heresy books and am currently on "Wolfsbane", which is so good that it makes me want collect 30K Space Wolves.
Although I do wish that they'd start the Battle of Terra already.
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1/3 the way through Galaxy in flames. Lucius is hacking his way through Custodes as though they were made of glass.
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1/3 the way through Galaxy in flames. Lucius is hacking his way through Custodes as though they were made of glass.
Wait, Custodes? In Galaxy in Flames? I don't remember that. :ph34r:
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^ My mistake. I typed 'Custodes' by mistake. I cant remember who Lucuis was slicing through and I cant find that paragraph again :x
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I believe that You're talking about a bunch of 3rd Legion warriors, who've decided to become completely silent, for some reason.
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I think it was the Istvaanians....Istvanites Lucius was hacking through. They were described as wearing 'glass' armour. They must get their kit from the same place Cinderella gets her shoes from
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I'm currently reading Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself book. I believe it's a trilogy. Love the first book so far, about 2/3 in.
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I have two weeks until I return to work full time.
I just read Memento Mori, the VIII book in Ruth Downie's crime novels of Rome series. I had stopped reading it earlier in order to read the VI novel, so I could catch up on plot points like 'how did Valen's father in-law loose his leg?' And 'when did Ruso move back to Britain?' (Ancient Roman literary characters get around a good bit, Roso and Tilla were just in Rome in VII.) Anyway some of the answers were in book VI, so I continued with VIII werein Valens is accused of his wife's murder. The plot revolves around the Roman empire's development of modern Bath, which is one of the things I love about historical fiction.
Also finished Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which is the third non-fiction book by David Grann. This book has been on my list for awhile, and took at least a month for me to finish because I couldn't stand to read the details of the US government's Osage policy. (The Osage won the oil lottery in the early 20th century and were for a brief time one of the wealthiest groups in America. This led to special laws being passed to 'manage' [steal] the tribes' wealth. Considering the number of 'legal' ways to steal, it is shocking that folks resorted to murder.)
If you had asked me what really put the FBI on the map, I would have said the Untouchables. This book makes a case for the investigation of the Osage murders as the first case to catch the national spotlight.
The book also touches on a topic that I have seen mentioned in fictional accounts of the early years of the FBI--the old West gunfighter type lawman versus the more modern lawyers and college boys in the new Bureau. Since this particular case was focused in Oklahoma many of the 'old school' types featured in the investigation.
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Read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin to see what all the hubbub is about. I never imagined I would be swept up in such a story, but I am glad I was. Jane Austin wrote wonderfully and kept it at a nice pace. Its a nice drama about 5 sisters and their mother's mission to see them married before their father dies and they lose everything to his cousin. Not that the Father is on his deathbed or anything, he's in good health. Wonderful characters, witty verbal sparring, middle class intrigue, and a decent love story (without the tropey inclinations you would think were in it). Elizabeth was an interesting character and her observations and changes in feelings toward some of the characters felt natural and never forced. After the first 10 chapters I thought I knew what was going to happen, only for a cast of new characters to show up and constantly wreck everything and change the scenario. I don't know why, but I kept imagining Elizabeth's father as Stephen Fry. His sarcastic humor, especially toward his silly wife, was always a welcome sight. I honestly felt nothing for Jane and really didn't care much about the courting of Mr. Bingley. I detested Lady Catherine, Lydia, Kitty, Wickham, Caroline Bingley, Mrs. Bennet, and Mr. Colins, but I think the author didn't have much regard for them either. I kind of feel like many girls today try to be a Lydia as oppose to a Jane or Elizabeth, only to end up a Mrs. Bennet. That just be in my experience though, and I don't read too much into it. Just a fleeting thought.
Worth a look if you haven't.
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I have seen it written that the new Games of Thrones book is to be released this November.
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I have heard echoes of this also, although with the usual 'but it will not be...' ::heretic::
This week I devoured Eliot Pattison's Savage Liberty which is the fifth book in a series that I did not know existed even though I have read the first book in the series... I do this quite often.
Either way the book was a happy discovery and I have ordered as many of the series as my local library has available for more reading. The 'liberty' part of the title comes from the main characters association with John Hancock and John Adams. The story is a who's who of pre-Revolutionary War New England and Canada, with appearances by Ethan Allen, Robert Rogers and others. Throughout the book the concept of liberty is constantly discussed by characters from various view points.
The 'savage' part of the title refers to the massacre and revenge raids of the French and Indian war, the title character's connections to various native tribes and his connection to the nature spirits of the northeast American territories and Gaelic mythology. The book covers quite a bit of ground in the guise of a murder mystery/spy thriller. This includes an encounter with a Nessie kind of lake monster in Lake Champlain that I didn't even know was a legend.
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Still drifting thru the miasma of non-inspiration. Maybe it’s the summer heat. Didn’t stop me from reading
The Last Hunt - whitescars - fighting tyranids - very good
The Legasy of Russ - anything spacewolves I’m going to enjoy.
The War of Secrets - Dark Angel primaris detachment. Anything DA I’m going to enjoy
Hallowed Knight- Ghost of Demensus - AoS - love the sigmarites
The Voice of Mars - iron Hands fun. Took awhile to get in the swing but became really good.
Soul Wars - sigmarites again and a very good read. Introducing the Sacrosanct Chambers. Loved it
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Finished Great Zoo of China. Starting on Emperor of Thorns.
Halfway through. A few too many hints, or maybe I just had good intuition about a major plot spoiler (i turned ahead 300 pages to check, and yes I was right). Probably fine, dont know how the journey is going to go, still plenty of interesting stuff in there, its not going to stop me reading.
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I am reading "Talavera: Wellington's Early Peninsula Victories 1808-9", by Peter Edwards. Fascinating, and amazing how little is actually known regarding certain aspects of the campaigning.
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Finished "Perturabo: Hammer of Olympia." What a great book and one that really gives insight into the mind of ol' Perty. What a sad and misguided fellow he was.
Currently reading "Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix". Reminded me why I'm collecting LOYALIST Emperor's Children. Fulgrim's a prick.
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I'm rereading my Gotrex and Felix books. Now that we're getting some new Gotrex in Age of Sigmar stuff I want to pick up, I figured I should go back and reread the last series. I really like the early books under the first author, and the rest were a bit hit or miss for me, but Gotrex and Felix were always my two favorite fantasy characters.
Some of my best gaming memories were taking the two of them as mercenaries in my army and watching the growing terror on my opponents face as they slaughtered every monster they could.
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+1 William King's stories as the best. I wish I had not sold the original anthologies that introduced Gotreck and Felix.
Finished
--The Bride Box by Michael Pearce. I did not know bride boxes were a thing. 1913 Egypt. Which is fun for me because it is the same time period covered by the Ameila Peabody series (although the perspectives are different.)
--The Lord of Death by Eliot Pattison. Another series I did not know was a series even though I have read some of the books. Inspector Shan has adventures on Everest. Really interesting plot and background although I am catching on to Eliot Pattison's base storyline pretty quick. (The hero is always disgraced/condemned/accused but has knowledge and connections that the powers who condemned him can not do without, thus he will survive until the next calamity requires his services.)
--Original Death by Eliot Pattison. Book three in the Bone Rattler series (Savage Liberty is #5). I am trying to read all the books in the series (but #2 was unavailable). The story is set in the waning days of the French and Indian war (indeed in the exact time period that will drive the plot in the 5th book). The hero must solve/prevent a mutiny of the Highland regiments of the British army, an alliance of the 'woodland' tribes under a single messianic leader and the establishment of a Scottish kingdom in the New World. Unlike #5 none of the calamities that might occur are based on 'real' history. They are instead 'inspired' by what ifs, or slightly similar actual occurrences (Chief Pontiac and the Prophet, the Jesuit's influence on the Pope and connection to Boney Prince Charlie.)
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I noticed two more obscure yet familiar names in a Ciaphus Cain novel
Carracticus and Mot.
Now, if I remember my 1996 ABC kids line up correctly, Carracticus was the villain in the short lived Avenger Penguins and Mot was the central character [a purple, time traveling monster] in an equally short lived show [which was named after its protagonist].
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All Quiet on the Western Front was a long time favourite of mine, but I've never read any other of Erich Maria Remarque's novel. Giving Arch of Triumph a go right now.
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Cracked open Michael J. Sullivan's Theft of Swords. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but clearly he's got a lot of setting to work with and the main characters are actually entertaining me. Last time I was this into taking my lunch breaks to read was Calvin's Institutes.
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I'm rereading my Gotrex and Felix books. Now that we're getting some new Gotrex in Age of Sigmar stuff I want to pick up, I figured I should go back and reread the last series. I really like the early books under the first author, and the rest were a bit hit or miss for me, but Gotrex and Felix were always my two favorite fantasy characters.
Some of my best gaming memories were taking the two of them as mercenaries in my army and watching the growing terror on my opponents face as they slaughtered every monster they could.
My favorite duo of all time. You can find a pair of reviews of G&F audiobooks on my blog, as well as the interview with Bill King. :smile2:
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I've read your interview with him a good half a dozen times actually!
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I've read your interview with him a good half a dozen times actually!
Thank you! Now I'm blushing. :blush: :blush: :blush:
Also - another one is in the making, but for now: shhhhh....
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Summer 'vacation' is over for me. Back to work.
In the last few weeks I've enjoyed:
Blood of the Oak by Eliot Pattison. Book four in the Bone Rattler series. This installment varied the usual plot line of the main character being accused of a crime, yet released to investigate it. More pre-Revolutionary War intrigue this time introducing Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington to the name dropping, although it is Mrs. Franklin upon whom part of the plot hinges.
The Day of Battle by Rick Atkinson. World War II in Europe. The Italian campaign. Wonderful read.
Jackrabbit Smile by Joe R. Landsdale. This is the umpteenth book of the Hap and Leonard series which I really enjoy even if the backstory of the duo doesn't work as well in real time as it did in 1990. Hap and Leonard are still kicking ass in 2018 even though they would be in their late sixties/seventies nowadays.
Fender Lizards by Joe R. Landsdale. The library just happened to have this on the shelf, so I picked it up. Kinda teen fiction-ish (not much obscenity and no one gets killed in gory, disgusting ways or turned into a zombie), but a good read for all that.
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Halfway through Claws of chaos. Its certainly a lot better than the last WFB book I read; Hammers of Ulric
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I'm nearly halfway through War and Peace. Its good, but long.
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I'm nearly halfway through War and Peace. Its good, but long.
You should be lauded for getting that far. Tried, couldn’t do it. I recommend the 21 minute soundscape ‘The Gates of Delerium’ from Yes - Relayer album. It is my altime favorite piece of music based loosely on the book war and peace. I hated it the first time I listened as it has a lot to digest but when you figure out the paths, it can bring tears to the eyes. (And not tears of pain hopefully). Actually my second favorite song camefrom the b side - Sound Chaser - which does exactly what the name says. 😸
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I read it in high school as a project, but honestly I have trouble remember most of it and I usually have a very sharp memory when it comes to books.
I just read The Black Count by Tom Reiss. A fantastic book I couldn't put down. It's about General Alexandre Dumas, the father of the famous writer. You can clearly see where his son got inspiration from when it came to writing the Three Musketeers or Count of Monte Christo. What his characters do, his father and friends lived.
It follows General Dumas, who was a mixed race man in a world that was not very kind to people like that, from the island that will become Haiti, to living in Paris as a nobleman. He joins the army just before the revolution, then switches to the revolutionaries. He becomes a war hero and famous through Europe for his feats of strength and bravery. Even when Napoleon takes over he remains a die hard republican, and if there's one thing to take from the book, it's that you should NEVER piss off Napoleon. It wont turn out well for you.
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I'm nearly halfway through War and Peace. Its good, but long.
You should be lauded for getting that far. Tried, couldn’t do it. I recommend the 21 minute soundscape ‘The Gates of Delerium’ from Yes - Relayer album. It is my altime favorite piece of music based loosely on the book war and peace. I hated it the first time I listened as it has a lot to digest but when you figure out the paths, it can bring tears to the eyes. (And not tears of pain hopefully). Actually my second favorite song camefrom the b side - Sound Chaser - which does exactly what the name says. 😸
I read it in high school as a project, but honestly I have trouble remember most of it and I usually have a very sharp memory when it comes to books.
If a typical novel was to an hour and a half movie, War and Peace would be to a 10 season series from HBO, with each episode being an hour a piece, with 10 episodes a season. Its gripping and interesting with a bunch of colorful characters. Arguably there are 4 main characters: Pierre (the intellectual), Andrei (the noble), Nikolay (the hussar), and Natasha (the wild one) with many fun supporting characters and ancillary ones. All go through interesting turmoils both societal and emotional during Napoleonic era Russia.
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Brief Cases. Jim Butcher's second short story collection in the Dresden Files.
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Oh man I finished Brief Cases last week shortly before The Black Count I mentioned. Really loved Dresden, and I thought it was very interesting reading some stories from other POV's.
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Oh man I finished Brief Cases last week shortly before The Black Count I mentioned. Really loved Dresden, and I thought it was very interesting reading some stories from other POV's.
It's nice having old Dresden back, prior to Changes. It just hasn't been the same series since then. Hopefully Butcher gets the magic back.
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It certainly has been a very different series. I for one really enjoyed Skin Game, but at the same time we're seeing a very different Dresden in it.
I actually really enjoyed the Marcone short story in Brief Cases. It showed a very interesting side of him and his crew, as well as just how dangerous he is.
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Finished:
The Guns at Last Light by Rick Atkinson. The last book of the Liberation Trilogy (WWII in Europe). This series has taken me roughly a year to assemble and read all the books, but was well worth it.
Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose. Last fall I watched the series Turn on Netflicks. I had thought I had read this book before, but I had it confused with a novel which covered similar ground. Naturally the tv series had little to do with the actual history covered in the book, but both were fun.
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I actually really enjoyed the Marcone short story in Brief Cases. It showed a very interesting side of him and his crew, as well as just how dangerous he is.
It was pretty awesome seeing that side. I'm liking all of them. I'm on Cold Case right now in the book. This does make me look forward to Peace Talks more.
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I picked up about a dozen random assortment Black Library books at the used book store. Reading Heldenhammer now, but don't have the other 2 in the trilogy. I've got a Warhammer literature shelf now in my study. I feel like I have more interest in the novels now since WFB is dead and it's all I have left...
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Finished Emperor of Thorns. The writer said he wanted to finish, as he felt the story was told. But I think there are more stories to be told in that space from slightly earlier times with different characters. Was a cool setting.
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Finished:
Three Hands in the Fountain by Lindsay Davis. This book is one of the many Marcus Didius Falco mystery series which I have been reading for the last 20 yrs or so. This one was published in 1996 and I'm old enough that I could have read it before and not remember. I have endless books to re-discover. :roll:
Dragon Teeth by Micheal Crichton. This is an unpublished book, dredged up and published after the author's death like Pirate Latitudes. Its not a great story, but interested me in the Bone Wars between early paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope.
The Sinners by Ace Atkins. The newest in Atkins' Ranger series. The formula of country sheriff defeats new wave of bad guys while his love life gets more complicated is getting a bit old.
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After having completed "Talarvera: Wellington's Early Pennisula Victories 1808-9, I have started Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. The former was excellent. The latter is starting off with lot's of detail.
It is fascinating to see the early mistakes Jackson made in the Valley. It seems he learned and kept moving forward with vigor. More to read, and I like how this book covers the history with what seems to be good Union perspective as well.
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I'm reading some Necromunda novels from GW/Forge World. Rather enjoying!
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I guess it's literature...
Picked up some WFRPG supplements (Ashes of Middenheim and Spires of Altdorf). I really enjoy reading through to get a deeper look into the Warhammer fluff. I found where Xathrodox got his name from, too. Paging the Inquisition... :unsure: ::heretic::
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I guess it's literature...
Picked up some WFRPG supplements (Ashes of Middenheim and Spires of Altdorf). I really enjoy reading through to get a deeper look into the Warhammer fluff. I found where Xathrodox got his name from, too. Paging the Inquisition... :unsure: ::heretic::
My axe is ready. Bring them on.
On a more serious note - both of these supplements are really solid. They're having a lot of "meat" inside of them.
I'm currently listening to "Crusade and other stories" from the 40K universe. Some really mixed feelings about this one. A couple of stories are good, but a couple others are complete and utter garbage.
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Currently? Rogue Hereoes by Ben Macintyre, it covers the early history of the SAS.
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A few more:
Callis and Toll: The Silver Shard - AoS - witchhunters
The Horusian Wars: Incarnation - Inquisiton.
Slaves to Darkness : Iron Hands
The Tainted Heart - AoS - witchunters and bad luck
the Watchers of the Throne - 40k
Of honour and Iron - 40k
The prisoners of the black sun, the sands of blood,the Lords of Helstone, the bridge of seven sorrows - AoS shorts
Reaper Man - terry pratchett - fun book - best idea : all life wether long or short lives is the same length when viewed from eternity.
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For whatever reason, I often get Mort and Reaper man mixed up. Mort is ofcorse one of the earlier books and Reaper man is the one where Death is replaced and has to take a job as a farm hand under the moniker of Bill Skye. I remember laughing at the bit where the wizards were trying to bury whats-his-name at the crossroads but had blocked up all the traffic and Sam Vimes had a few things to say about it.
I've only just started Heart of chaos; the last book in the slaves to darkness trilogy. So far they've been the best fantasy battles novels I've ever read
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Reaperman is indeed the firing of death. Very fun. I’m now reading Feet of Clay. Just getting into it. Love how the dwarves use their bread as weapons.
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I think I must have missed Reaperman. Must rectify this.
Finished:
When Cortes met Montezuma by Matthew Restall. Interesting if kind of frustrating to follow. A revisionist look at the famous meeting and the Cortes legend.
Bad Optics by Joseph Heywood. The latest in the Woodscop series. I have been reading these off and on for 16 years. The series follows a Michigan game warden through some adventures that are routine and some that are a bit out there.
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What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the reaper man?
I liked Reaper Man. It's a great little story about duty, and still somehow there's snowglobes and shopping malls involved. Feet of Clay is also great. It was the very first Terry Pratchett I ever read, and I can still remember finding it by accident in the old paper back section of the library. Pushed to some back corner to make room for all the new paper backs.
just finished two books by the same author. Elephant Whisperer and Babylon's Ark by Lawrence Anthony. Both true stories. He's a pretty famous conservationist in South Africa who runs a pretty big wildlife preserve. In the Elephant one he takes in a problem herd of Elephants on short notice, otherwise their going to be killed, and he needs to reintegrate them into the wild and above all, get them to stop escaping on rampages. Along the way he has to deal with a mini civil war in Zululand, actual assassination attempts, poachers using heavy weaponry, and some very angry elephants. It was a pretty amazing book. Uplifting to see someone working with elephants (Which have always been some of my favorite creatures) but also pretty heart breaking at parts. Spoilers, but the circle of life is harsh and some of the animals you really get to know don't make it.
Babylon's Ark continues his personal crusade to help animals. It takes place in the opening days of the invasion of Iraq. The author/conservationist see's footage of how the war has devastated the Baghdad Zoo, once the largest most impressive zoo in the middle east. He pretty much immediately drops everything he's doing and travels to Iraq. The dude must have some serious connections, because he's meeting with ambassadors like their old friends and gets a pass to be one of the first non-military westerners into occupied Baghdad. Once in he starts working with the devastated zoo to try and safe the animals, and it was a hugely unpleasant under taking. Not only are they dealing with unexploded ordinance littering the ground, but literally every night loots descend on the place to strip whatever they just built or salvaged. It only cools down when some looters break into a bear cage to kill and eat the bear, and the bear rips them apart instead.
It keeps getting tougher to, because their desperate to find food for the few surviving animals, but the military keeps find private zoo's and herds that Saddam, his sons, and other powerful people kept in their estates. All the animals keep getting transported to the zoo and dumped on them, so that the military doesn't have to worry about it.
Both were fantastic books, highly recommend.
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I'm nearly done with War and Peace (If I didn't get sick so much the past few months I would have finished in August). It is Spooktober and I have a free credit on audible. Any suggestions in the spirit of the month regarding classics? Last year I read Dracula, Frankenstein, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Vampyre. I don't want to waste the credit on anything short that I can just listen to while at work in a couple of hours. Are there any classics I am missing? I tried to do some googling but many lists have stuff I already read (Young Goodman Brown, Macbeth) or something I am just not interested in (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) but I am pretty sure there's a spooky scary classical novel in my blind spot and I welcome any suggestions.
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Edgar Allen Poe? Though I’m not sure if there’s anything in the length your looking for.
The haunting of hill house - I remember this from my mom telling me about the book. I have not read this.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - again I have not read it but it sure is a classic
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I've read some of Poe (The Raven, Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher) and I may take it upon myself to read a few more this Spooktober but its not enough to justify a credit.
The Haunting of Hill House: I've never really been into ghost centered stories. Is it worth a look? It looks like Netflix is also doing an adaptation of it.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a great story and super short. I've already hit that one. :-D
I am wondering if I've already hit all of the classics. If so, my mission is complete and I can pick something a bit more modern.
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I cant put down Heart of chaos
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I finished "War and Peace". My thought halfway through can be found here (http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=51625.msg1035465#msg1035465). If I hadn't been sick for the past few months, coupled with my Daughter's surgery, I probably would have finished sooner. As I mentioned earlier it follows arguably 4 protagonists during the Napoleonic War in Russia. Where as the first half really focuses on the plot, personal beliefs, and soul searching of the main characters (as well as some small characters), the second half picks up where they left off with the addition of whole chapters and series of chapters of the author/narrator's personal view on philosophy, history, and people. This can really slow down the plot as you want to know if character X is going to be okay or what is character Y's reaction to another character's death/mutilation. I will say the narrator's essay are very intriguing and make you question the narrative you learned in school that historians have put in place. These parts could have been a whole other book titled "The State of Historians and the Philosophy of People Over Persons" or some such thing. When you get to the end of the book there are 2 epilogues. The first wraps up everything with the characters and the rest of their lives. The second epilogue is all about the narrator's view on everything covered in those essays. I will say the story is incredible and if you can get past a couple of boring chapters of soirees in the beginning, it really gets good. The interweaving stories of Pierre, Andrei, Nikolay, Natasha along with their friends and relations are captivating. It has action, romance, comedy, tragedy, political and societal intrigue, philosophy, history, and even a look inside the secretive Freemasons. Its worth the read, but there is no denying that its a mountain. If you are a literary hiker you will enjoy this trail but be sure to pack for a couple of nights.
(http://www.elist10.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/napoleonic-wars.jpg)
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I picked up a copy of Fulgrim the other day. I've not yet read any of it. Having both a pre and post Heresy Emperors children armies I know what the meat of the story is
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I picked up a copy of Fulgrim the other day. I've not yet read any of it. Having both a pre and post Heresy Emperors children armies I know what the meat of the story is
it's very good but also very sad. A solid read, if you ask me.
I'm struggling through Warlord by David Annandale. Titan books are surprisingly boring to me...
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I'm rereading Forges of Mars. One of my absolute favorite 40k books. It does such a good job of bringing factions like the Ad Mech to life. I'm not a huge fan of the Eldar's reason to be there in the first place, but I do like how the characters are written.
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I'm rereading Forges of Mars. One of my absolute favorite 40k books. It does such a good job of bringing factions like the Ad Mech to life. I'm not a huge fan of the Eldar's reason to be there in the first place, but I do like how the characters are written.
Is that one written by McNeill? I need to check it out!
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Yeah it's a Mcneil one. I strongly recommend the full omnibus because of the nice little short story at the end of it.
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I'll grab it then. After this dreary Warlord novel, I'll need to catch up on the Horus Heresy series. :blush:
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Enemy Within by Richard Lee Byers is a really good book. Outside of the Genevieve series this is probably my favorite Warhammer story. Byers is a good author, I've read some of his D&D stuff and they were good, but I'm not as enthralled by that lore as I am with Warhammer. I think this is the only book he's written for Warhammer, it's been on my wish list for a couple of years and it's been a fun read.
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I've always heard good things about the Genevieve series but I've never read any of it. Do they still make the books or are they out of print now?
(As I say this I sort of remember seeing at least one rerealesed recently.)
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You can get the omnibus for fairly cheap I think. It's not really typical hack and slash Warhammer.
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Finally finished ‘Feet of Clay’ by Terry Pratchett. No use describing just how humorous and brilliant he is. Everyone knows.
Just picked up Vulcan - Lord of Drakes. Looks good.
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I've been meaning to read Feet of clay for years now.
I'm only up to page 84 in Fulgrim. I cant put it down. I want to add Saul Tarvits to my 30k Emperors children army
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I finished "War and Peace". My thought halfway through can be found here (http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=51625.msg1035465#msg1035465). If I hadn't been sick for the past few months, coupled with my Daughter's surgery, I probably would have finished sooner. As I mentioned earlier it follows arguably 4 protagonists during the Napoleonic War in Russia. Where as the first half really focuses on the plot, personal beliefs, and soul searching of the main characters (as well as some small characters), the second half picks up where they left off with the addition of whole chapters and series of chapters of the author/narrator's personal view on philosophy, history, and people. This can really slow down the plot as you want to know if character X is going to be okay or what is character Y's reaction to another character's death/mutilation. I will say the narrator's essay are very intriguing and make you question the narrative you learned in school that historians have put in place. These parts could have been a whole other book titled "The State of Historians and the Philosophy of People Over Persons" or some such thing. When you get to the end of the book there are 2 epilogues. The first wraps up everything with the characters and the rest of their lives. The second epilogue is all about the narrator's view on everything covered in those essays. I will say the story is incredible and if you can get past a couple of boring chapters of soirees in the beginning, it really gets good. The interweaving stories of Pierre, Andrei, Nikolay, Natasha along with their friends and relations are captivating. It has action, romance, comedy, tragedy, political and societal intrigue, philosophy, history, and even a look inside the secretive Freemasons. Its worth the read, but there is no denying that its a mountain. If you are a literary hiker you will enjoy this trail but be sure to pack for a couple of nights.
I have always wondered what War and Peace was about, but never really that interested to pick it up and try it myself.
It does sound interesting now that you mention it, however I suspect with my slow rate or reading, it could take me years to get through it...
Thanks for this FFH!
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I would recommend "reading" it via audio book. I am not sure how long your commute to work is but that's when I would listen to it. The version I listened to was the unabridged 64 hour one, broken up into part one and part two. This made the slog a bit easier as I just felt like I was reading two 32 hour audio books instead of one 64 hour long book. The intermission halfway through made it seem less daunting.
I know the BBC did a series on it but they cut so much out (including my favorite scene!) that I am not sure I'd recommend it.
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As I was reading Fulgrim at work today, a colleague asked me if it was a 'romance' novel. By chance I was at the part when the Emperors children discover the Lear's temple of depravity. So I was compelled to say it was 'Kind of' a romance novel
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I needed a palette cleanser after War and Peace and so I just read both The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard and The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Funny story, I didn't know there were 2 volumes and I read The Adventures (which is vol 2) before The Exploits(vol 1). Which didn't matter as its a collection of stories. It takes place in Paris at a cafe where an old hussar hangs out and he tells you about his adventures when he was a hussar for Napoleon's Grande Armée. Imagine D'Artagnan if he was a Napoleonic hussar and there were no musketeers to hang out with. He duels, is sent on James Bond style secret missions, wooes lovely ladies (that didn't really know what love was until they met Gerard! *swoon*), swaggers with his dangling saber, and twirls his mustache! Of course this is all told from Gerard's perspective as he recounts the tale so who knows how much of it was "true" and how much is imbelished. The stories are told out of order so the first story may take place in Spain in 1810 but the next one may be in Venice in 1805! This was rather confusing at times considering I read vol2 and then vol1, and the story about how he did something so unspeakable that any British soldier that finds him would execute him immediately, only for the next story to be about him in a British Lord's house after being released as a p.o.w. After consulting Wikipedia I discovered that the second story happened a year before the first (and that there was a volume 1 that told how he got captured). It was really fun to read. In one story he rides with a hussar to duel a German count that killed the hussar's father during the revolution, only to fall into a trap and have to McGuyver their way out and save the princess. So many twists and turns along with Gerard obviously embellishing the story a bit made for a really exciting and fun adventure. I listened to them on audio book which was great because the voice actor was British doing a faux French accent the whole time. He kept switching back and forth on the pronunciation of lieutenant that it added to the comedy, along with his exaggerated British accents he put on for British characters. If you're looking for some adventure or want to read some Doyle outside of Sherlock Holmes then check out this adventure comedy.
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I finished Fulgrim the other day. Surprisingly; a few of the key events in the characters story arch weren't mentioned in the novel. Whilst reading it, I heard Zap Branigans voice in my psyche whenever Fulgrim said anything prior to his ascension into demonhood and afterwards, I heard Hedonism bots voice in my mind once that happened.
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I finally got around to finishing "Fall of Macharius" the third and final book of William King's Macharius trilogy. I started and read most of it a year ago but never got around to finishing it after we moved. It was a fun adventure for the twilight of the series. I know Macharius is compared as the IG's Alexander the Great but I would throw in Napoleon Bonaparte too. This one started off in a trench style war with one of Macharius' Generals that went rogue. Followed by some extreme 40k political intrigue followed by the final battle of Macharius before he would forcibly be retired. We follow the story from the POV of Sgt. Lemuel and his two friends Anton and Ivan, just like the last two books. All in all it was a fun book but I rather liked the IG's version from the codex back in 3rd edition. There was also a Macharius Campaign codex made by fans a long time ago that followed a similar timeline and campaign that the IG codex set up but it really expanded on the armies, generals, and enemies of the Crusade. William King must have read the fan made codex as well as the other IG codices as many of the same generals and strategies were used in the trilogy I just finished. Unless there was something official that GW came out with that I missed. :icon_neutral:
I did feel like the this final chapter ended abruptly but it was earned. If I was to rank the trilogy I think the first two were stronger than this one but not by much. The Cover art of all three books are amazing. I always try to pick out Lemuel, Anton and Ivan when looking at the cover art. Lemuel always has a cap on and shotgun in hand, Anton has his sniper rifle and goggles, and Ivan has his metal jaw. And of course being that its William King the Space Wolves make a dashing appearance!
These books are great for any IG enthusiasts.
:biggriin:
(https://josephspace.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/big.jpg)
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Currently, due to me being stodgy boring fellow, I'm reading Sandino's Communism: Spiritual Politics for the 21st Century by Donald C Hodges (1926-2009) of the University of Texas.
Yeah I know not exactly thrilling reading.
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Just finished terry Pratchett - equal rights - really humorous. First female wizard.
Now I’m fully getting into Pratchett. Just ordered - Interesting Times.
Downloaded kings of war free rules.
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I read the short story "Fight or Flight" by Sandy Mitchell last night. Its the introduction to the Ciaphas Cain omnibus. Sandy should fire their editor or the editor at black library that published this omnibus. There were so many glaring spelling mistakes and errors! At one point a character calls him "Cai" and completely drops the "n" in Cain! WTF dude! The story was fun and wacky. Really reminds me of Commissar Talon of "Eagle Ordinary" and I think they got their idea of Talon from Cain (mind you he does worship Cain in the comic). They introduce his first lackey "Jurgan" (pronounces yur-gen or jur-gen? Its a Valhalla regiment so I assumed it was Russian or Scandinavian in nature which would make it yur-gen) that has really bad BO and will be the Planchet to Cain's D'Artagnan. He shows promise and would be a great commander/commissar if he gave a shit about his job but this looks to be the beginning of his career.
Eagle Ordinary:
http://www.eagleordinary.com/comics/2025512/a-day-in-the-life/ (http://www.eagleordinary.com/comics/2025512/a-day-in-the-life/)
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Actually Cai isn't a spelling mistake. It comes up later in the books. It's his friend's nickname for him, and it's a shortened form of Ciaphas. Not his last name, but shortening his first name. It comes up a couple of times in the books.
Also +1 to Eagle Ordinary. It was so good GW poached the artist for their own webcomics.
edit: I'm now unsure about what I just wrote. I had some half formed memories of that, but it could be an actual spelling mistake at that point. I don't think he meets that friend again until much later in the omnibus.
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How is CAI short for CIAphas????? The A and I are flip flopped! There were other spelling mistakes too, this was just more glaring. Especially since they didn't explain it as a nick name. If they called him Cia or Ciaph I could understand but I had to reread the Cai part twice before I realized it was suppose to be his last name Cain. It made it more jarring that it was the only time he was called Cai in the whole book, even by the person who called him Cai only called him Cain afterwords.
w/e I think I'm spoiled since I just got off a kick of reading classic literature. Its like drinking nothing but water for a year and a half only then to drink a soda and feel sick because of how sugary and sweet it is (this happened to me IRL).
edit after reading you edit: I have only read that introductory story so far and someone (may have been you) mentioned Jurgan in another post in reply to one of my memes so I only know of him and wasn't sure I was in the correct Valhalla regiment yet since its an artillery regiment.
Also Eagle Ordinary is a must read. I can't wait until the hiatus is over. I was already spoiled on some of the stuff that is going to happen because I ventured to the artist's deviant art site. I really want them to cover how it will get to that point and the aftermath.
additional edit: Maybe the spelling mistake in the first story became so infamous that when they reintroduced the character that said it in a later story it was a nod to the fans who caught the mistake?
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Maybe the spelling mistake in the first story became so infamous that when they reintroduced the character that said it in a later story it was a nod to the fans who caught the mistake?
Once again this strikes a half memory in me, but I'm not sure. I tried to pull out my Omnibus but I forgot which box it's in.
He meets Jurgen for the first time in that short story, and then when Cain get's transferred to his next regiment he brings Jurgen with him.
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Just started the story where he joins that regiment you are talking about. The first chapter was amazing and I couldn't help but think of Commissar Talon again. "Get a Broom!" hahaha.
I feel like I have to be nick picky since my first post; so I will say the author is missing some much needed commas in their sentences, but to help end this nit pickiness, the author's notes at the beginning of the book did say they started their authorship and developed their writing skill by writing these stories. I am sure I will see an evolution in Sandy's writing as I continue on, which in itself is rather fun.
:::cheers:::
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I'm often sympathetic to editors who occasionally misspell things as I'm a little bit dyslexic and tend to misspell things A LOT. If it weren't for spellcheck, pretty much everything I type would be incomprehensible nonsense.
Also, for a while I thought Jurgan's name was a sort of play on words for 'Jerkin'. Guess I was wrong
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I'm 7 chapters into "For the Emperor" (still noticing some grammatical errors :icon_wink: ) but I am now getting the distinct impression Cain and Jurgan are basically Blackadder and Baldrick from Blackadder goes forth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGxAYeeyoIc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGxAYeeyoIc) :engel:
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I'm reading the Kal Jerico novels, to get in the moot for Necromunda 2017.
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I'm 7 chapters into "For the Emperor" (still noticing some grammatical errors :icon_wink: ) but I am now getting the distinct impression Cain and Jurgan are basically Blackadder and Baldrick from Blackadder goes forth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGxAYeeyoIc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGxAYeeyoIc) :engel:
Funny you should say that. Sandy Mitchell is quoted [somewhere] with saying "Cain is of Blackadder and Jurgen Baldrick"
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To be fair Jurgan did have a cunning plan about dealing with those tau-loving mob in front of the tau compound...and it worked!
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The Mayflower by Nathanial Philbrick
The first part of the book seemed very good overview of the circumstances and story of the Mayflower, very well worth reading.
The second part involved the King Phillip's War, primarily regarding a descendant from the Mayflower voyage Benjamin Church's involvement, although other events covered from a big picture perspective.
The transition between the two seems to leave something to be desired.
I'd say this provides a good general place to start on these topics though, and the first part was very good.
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David Eddings' Malloreon.
I've just read the Belgariad and am finishing the first book of the Malloreon, Guardians of the West. It feels a lot more 'adult'-oriented than the previous works, maybe because now we are dealing mostly with an adult protagonist [assuming Garion remains the main character and POV hero.]. All in all, I really like Eddings' works!
I hear the Ellenium and the Tamuli are again a little bit more adult in its themes. I'll have to find out!
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I finished the most recent Cornwell book in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles called War of the Wolf. Still good. Though there are times I wonder if Cornwell accounts as much for Uhtred's age in all of the shenanigans that occur.
I just picked up a super cheap Kindle version of Anglo Saxons at War (800-1066) by Paul Hill. Been wanting to read this one for a while.
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I'm waiting for the same book to arrive. Isn't Uhtred in his 50's or something by that point? He's got to be getting pretty old.
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Yeah, 50s at least. I'm picturing him in his 60s, but I could be wrong. That's a hard life to live.
Edit: I just found out through some maths that Uhtred was probably born around 857 or so in story. Aethelflaed's real life death was in 918. War of the Wolf is after that point, I'm not sure by how much, but that would put Uhtred in his early 60s assuming it was only a couple of years or less.
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Just finished The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin. Part 1/3 of the trilogy, won the Hugo in 2015 (and parts 2 and 3 won in 2016 and 2017)
I liked it enough to want to finish the series but I didn't love it. The worldbuilding is really cool and I love the concept though.
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My wife has gotten me to start reading Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.
I am also reading Firefly - A celebration
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Huzzah for the spreading Pratchett addiction!
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Halfway through Blood for the blood god. There are some pretty disturbing creatures in the chaos wastes
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Halfway through Blood for the blood god. There are some pretty disturbing creatures in the chaos wastes
I really like how the Chaos Wastes are described, really make all the crazy/gaudy and colorful, Oldhammer Chaos Warriors come alive for me as creatures out of trippy nightmares!
I picked up Le Morte D'Arthur. Holy shit there are a lot of neighboring kings when Arthur is crowned. :-o
Wish there was a map. I cannot find a decent one from google.
As all good little Tardo-roman Barbarian kingdoms should have!
I'm currently through Sorceress of Darshiva, the second-to-last book of the Malloreon, by David Eddings. Boy, it's real nice. I was quite into the Belgariad despite how 'juvenile' the literature seemed sometimes (given all villains get twarted so... easily). The Malloreon is quite a big more gruesome and adult in its themes, and I really like it!
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I'm currently through Sorceress of Darshiva, the second-to-last book of the Malloreon, by David Eddings. Boy, it's real nice. I was quite into the Belgariad despite how 'juvenile' the literature seemed sometimes (given all villains get twarted so... easily). The Malloreon is quite a big more gruesome and adult in its themes, and I really like it!
Been at least ten years since I read Eddings, but I still recall liking the Polgara books (written with his daughter iirc) the best.
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Speaking of King Arthur. Whenever I clean my house I say to myself "What a medieval muddle; time to modernise it"
Also; In regards to the chaos wastes. There was one paragraph that describes a legless stag that moved around on a slug-like lower half and other horrible things. Just like in those John Blanche artworks that were in the old chaos rule books.
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Finished Pratchett - Interesting Times - very good. Really like Rincewind. Thanks to a storyline image from another site, I now know the proper timeline.
Got the beginning of that Rincewind arc. - The Color of Magic
(https://artobansghost.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/img_0002.jpg)
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i've read Mort and Guards! Guards!
I liked Mort a lot. Thought G!G! was just ok.
I actually liked the chosen peasant king hidden in dwarfs who you think is the main character better than the captain guy who is actually the main character.
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Everybody liked Captain Carrot. That's his thing.
The first few Guard books really show the evolution of all the crew. They all get a lot more development.
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That is an interesting chart above.
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Just read the first thirty pages of Blood Gorgons. The civil populace is trapped between the chaos marines and the dark elder.
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Terry Pratchett's Color of Magic.
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Terry Pratchett's Color of Magic.
Just finished it. Really fun book. I’m continuing the arc with the light fantastic as Rincewind and Twoflower are quickly becoming favourites of mine.
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Terry Pratchett's Color of Magic.
Just finished it. Really fun book. I’m continuing the arc with the light fantastic as Rincewind and Twoflower are quickly becoming favourites of mine.
Time for me to watch my annual Christmas movie, Hogfather
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Working on my reading project as I don’t have any other projects able to go.
Only started reading Sourcerer. Got carried away with the pen
(https://artobansghost.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/img_0001-1.jpg)
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Interesting.
I'm over 75 pages in reading "The Island at the Center of the World" by Russell Shorto.
It is about the history of Dutch Manhattan, and a view of how it came to be.
Also, it is partially based on research being done by Charles Gehring who is director of the New Netherlands project, and has been in the process for over 30 years translating Dutch records from the era of the colony at the NY State Library in Albany.
Good stuff! :icon_cool:
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My wife managed to introduce me to Terry Pratchett and his novels of the Guards.
We use to read aloud in the evening for each other. So far I have read Guards! Guards! and Men-at-Arms. We are more than halfway through Feet of Clay.
I love old and grumpy Captain Vimes. He is more interesting than Carrot, but Carrot is also interesting because he seems to be so simple and is most often simple. And EVERYONE likes Carrot. But he also have a very shrewd side when he feel it necessary to be so.
And Corporal Nobby Nobbs and Sergeant Fred Colon. What an intrepid duo! Or not. But I would not want to meet Nobby in a dark alley of Ankh Morpork and get a kick in the Nutts from his steel caped boot.
Spoiler alert! I almost cried when Cuddy died. I really loved how the relationship between him and Detritus evolved and then he fell in the line of duty. :icon_cry:
And Angua really rock. A werewolf with attitude but with the heart in the right place. But do not piss her off.
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I also bought and read Serentiy "No power in the ´Verse". Really good. I loved how the images did the characters justice and how they really felt like they should feel and acted true to how one expected them to be, and Jayne still getting the best lines. Damn, I guess you cannot beat The Hero of Canton. :icon_mrgreen:
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This is probably the first year I didn't get Pratchett for Christmas, but its because I'm swimming in other books. So I'm looking forward to reading a bunch of things. Currently I'm reading through a fantastic two part biography of Elvis. Its amazing what a freaking dweeb he was, and yet how he just exploded into popularity.
I've also got the new rivers of London book, a massive Jules Verne Omnibus and several books on Thousand and one Nights stories. Some are different versions of the tales (Including a Western & Arabic version) and some are more academic books based on the stories. Get hyped!
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About Pratchett. His sense of humour leaves me with the belief he is one of the funniest writers that was. Almost every page makes me laugh at something. He has the human nature of things completely. Pompousness, pride, greed, beliefs, preconceptions and he just rips them all. Utterly brilliant.
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I read Lud-in-the-mist on Neil Gaiman's recommendation and it was excellent
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Crime & Punishment; a convict storey.
Its a reproduction of the only known and surviving journal kept by a convict. Ward; the fellow who kept the journal seems [or should I say 'seemed'] to suffer from the same sort of entitlement and victim blaming seen so much on modern day police shows. Whenever he does something horrible its 'society's' fault.
Ward was nothing more than a waste of skin. Yet without him this insight into convict life wouldn't exist.
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Just finished Eric/Faust. Was a short story that seemed to just end in the middle of a story. Was very funny until I ran out of story and book. Very weird.
Now to find troll bridge.
(https://artobansghost.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/img_0001-2.jpg)
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Sigvald
What's the deal with Slaanesh enthusiasts and depraved snake demons?
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The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston.
Also West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776 by Claudio Saunt
Fiction about the French and Indian war:
The Constable's Tale by Donald Smith
World War II:
The Thirty-One Kings. A Richard Hannay Thriller by Robert J. Harris
An interesting thing about this one is that the author is credited as the author of the game Talisman....not sure which version.
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Oh, he's the original creator of Talisman back in the old old days. He was some sort of contractor or something and wrote the rules. Eventually GW bought him out All the unique concepts are his. The collaboration of artwork and theme that into Talisman went a long way to fixing GW's style that is still around today.
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Thanks. I foolishly sold my copy of the game a couple of moves ago...
Also read The Judge Hunter by Christopher Buckley. Excellent historical novel in which the hero searches New England for the last surviving 'judges' of Charles I.
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Did a last surviving "judge" of Charles I actually live in New England?
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Reading more Pratchett. This time the second novel about Tiffany Aching - A hat full of sky
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More Pratchett as well.
The Last Continent
The Last Hero
Unseen Achademicals
And also the new gaunts ghosts - The Anarch
The last hero turned out to be a audible book. The first time I’ve had that experience. Would but it on going to sleep and at least half a dozen times fell asleep maybe 10 mins in. Would have to find the spot again and try again.
(https://artobansghost.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/img_0001.jpg)
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What did you think of ones like Last Continent or Last Hero? Last Hero is a bit different considering its a picture book usually.
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The Last Hero is glorious! Illustrations are ever welcome, and it's Pratchett narrative through and through. Most inspiring book. :)
I've just finished reading Ammianus Marcellinus' Res Gestae in English and am following up on it by reading this densely detailed exposition (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/the-rise-of-the-sasanians.1058552/) of Sassanid Persia versus Rome.
Got Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel and Guy Haley's Dark Imperium awaiting a resuming of reading on the bedside table.
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Did a last surviving "judge" of Charles I actually live in New England?
John Dixwell, Edward Whalley and William Goffe, did in fact flee to New England and evaded capture. The book includes some place names that are associated with legends of the hiding places used by the fugitives. The Judge Hunter only deals with Whalley and Goffe.
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What did you think of ones like Last Continent or Last Hero? Last Hero is a bit different considering its a picture book usually.
Loved last continent
Last hero is an audio book. I wasn’t paying too much attention when I bought it but have enjoyed it. I think feanar listens to them in the car sometimes so I think I will try that. Fell asleep a lot listening and finding the spot were I left off was hard
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Eric Idle's book Bright Side of Life
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I just picked up 'Choose your enemies'. Looking forward to it :smile2:
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Books with the word 'red' in the title, read in the last few months
The Red Ribbon by H. B. Lyle--Sherlock Holmes and the birth of the British Secret Service
Red Sky at Noon by Simon Sebag Montefiore--WWII Russian cavalry
Red Winter by Dan Smith--1920 Russian revolution
Something Red by Douglas Nicholas--werefoxes!
I googled books with the word 'red' in the title and none of these books appeared in the search...
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Nearly finished Choose your enemies
Ciaphus and Amberly have been arguing over uniform colours [white and black or blue and gold] I guess even by the 41st millennium the internet hasn't forgotten anything
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Speaking of those two, I just finished "For the Emperor" and it was quite the treat! :::cheers:::
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Reading "Caves of Ice" another Cain novel in the volume I have. I came across this paragraph at the very end of chapter 3:
'I haven't a clue' I admitted, scooping up my laspistol up from the floor where I had fallen. As I did I noticed a thick smear of ichor on the ice. The sight cheered me remarkably, not least because if I'd managed to wound the creature it was unlikely to come back for a while. 'But it bleeds.' I thrust my sidearm back into the holster on my belt with a sense of grim satisfaction. 'And if it bleeds, we can kill it.'
(http://www.quickmeme.com/img/5d/5daa2c2d9a5ddd58062a123a8026a8aa3b9076e2c9448a10c014e86aa38d1724.jpg)
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Been listening to The Blade Itself on audiobook. A lot of witty characterisation and Gilliam-esque imagery.
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i loved that series.
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Question about the Cain series. All of the cover art shows him with a bolt pistol. The novels always says he has his trusted laspistol. Does he ever upgrade to the bolt pistol or is it like a permanent thing for the artists to give him the bolt pistol?
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Finished the first Cain series collection "Hero of the Imperium" with the 3rd book in the Cain series "The Traitor's Hand" and it was fantastic! Also, fuck Commissar Beije!
I just ordered the second Cain collection "Defender of the Imperium" with should arrive this Tuesday.
I hope Death Or Glory, Duty Calls, and Cain's Last Stand keep up the great quality the others have been.
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Finished the first Cain series collection "Hero of the Imperium" with the 3rd book in the Cain series "The Traitor's Hand" and it was fantastic! Also, fuck Commissar Beije!
I just ordered the second Cain collection "Defender of the Imperium" with should arrive this Tuesday.
I hope Death Or Glory, Duty Calls, and Cain's Last Stand keep up the great quality the others have been.
I think Traitors hand is my favourite Cain story
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I just finished the 4th book in the Cain's series (1st in the second Omnibus titled "Defender of the Imperium") "Death of Glory" where we travel back before the events of the first Omnibus' novels, to the event that made Cain famous. "Death of Glory" is where he saves the planet of Perlia from an Orkish invasion. Boiling the story down, it was essentially a mix of Mad Max: Fury Road, Von Ryan's Express, and Brigadier Gerard. Great story telling with wonderful characters told from the point of view of Cain along with a few others of his exploits on Perlia that inadvertently made him a legend (which Cain regrets considering he would be involuntarily put into more dangerous situations because of his legend created here).
All in all great fun! :happy:
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I've been derelict in my audio-books and have 5 free credits on audible. Can anyone recommend a light hearted adventure tale or fun book?
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I started Honourkeeper the other day. I'm amused by the dwarf wedding ceremonies
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I started Honourkeeper the other day. I'm amused by the dwarf wedding ceremonies
I've got that on my bookshelf. I need to get the rest of the series.
I just started reading Reiksguard. Finished Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Wanted to start Dracula but wanted something a bit lighter first.
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Finished Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Wanted to start Dracula but wanted something a bit lighter first.
OOO! What did you think about Frankenstein?
Also Dracula is pretty dark so its probably good that you're reading something lighter first. I listened to the audio book and they had different voice actors voice the different PoV chapters. Tim Curry was Van Helsing. My dad tried reading it while working graveyard shift at a hotel but never finished it because the book started bleeding into his dreams. So you know its good.
:happy:
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To elaborate on what I said earlier. I had a chuckle when I read the dwarf marriage ceremonies require the groom to wrap his beard around the bride [as though he's trying to mummify her with it] and the bride is literally worth her weight in gold. As dwarf's prefer 'big' girls; this can be very expensive.
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Just finished the The First Law trilogy. Not a terribly original setting, but a tight story neatly wrapped up with deep characters and a cynical, amoral tone throughout it. Not a hint of sloppy, expedient, or lazy writing.
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OOO! What did you think about Frankenstein?
It's so different to any movie adaptation I've ever seen. It was kind of slow in parts, but I think it fit the theme of Victor being the wiener he was. He was a pretty despicable character. Felt bad for the monster for a while and then he too turned despicable. Only people I felt for was the family in the end.
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Now the dwarves are tossing anvils. What next? round bombs with large fuses?
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A Brightness long Ago released today. I have two copies and going to writers conference next week and can't wait for Guy Gabriel Kay to read from it. I'm actually going to wait to read it so I can hear him first.
I'm probably more excited for this than is healthy. Favorite author-new book.
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Sigvald
What's the deal with Slaanesh enthusiasts and depraved snake demons?
I have never understood that stuff. I guess its inspired by Japaness Octopus fetishes?
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I finished "Duty Calls" which is the second book of the second Cain volume "Defender of the Imperium." It was pretty good. Felt like it started weak and I had a "here we go again" attitude at first what with the beginning seeming to be a bit like "For The Emperor" until the second assassination attempt and the Sisters showing up. I quite liked it and Kasteen's concern and reserved affection of Cain is rather adorable. It was also cool to see Cain do some investigating. If I was to rate the Cain books so far I'd rate it thusly:
The Traitor's Hand
Death Or Glory
For The Emperor
Caves of Ice
Duty Calls
Although I'd rate Duty Calls and Caves of Ice about the same, Caves of Ice had a certain claustrophobic air to it that I liked. The short stories sprinkled around in the first volume do really help fill you in to the stories too and I understand why they structured the volumes that way.
In the way of Audiobooks: I am putting down Le Morte D'Arthur for now as I need a break from it. I picked up 1984 yesterday and listened to the first chapter on my way in to work today. Great stuff. The first chapter seems like a short story in and of itself. I may want to re-listen to it as my mind was tuning it out and racing off on its own as I was dozing off on the train (not out of boredom, I just don't sleep well as of late). I rewound it a few times but still want to re-listen to it before I continue. I am fascinated by the world Winston lives in and although I have heard Orwellian and 1984 thrown around a lot and understand their meaning, along with watching videos talking about the book, the first chapter is just full of excellent prose and story telling.
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I've basically finished 1984, just getting through the appendix right now. Its really good and quite sad. I found myself being paranoid while walking through the city streets to and from work while listening to it. I did have a question about the ending though. We see 2 endings simultaneously for the protagonist. Is this just narrative doublespeak on what happened to him? Both endings are happening at the same time (or so it seems narratively) but cannot both happen at the same time since they would be contradicting themselves which is doublespeak right?
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Really dived back into Pratchett. These last two weeks I've read Thief of Time, Guards Guards and am now busy devouring Monstrous Regiment.
Thief of Time has an excellent piece of Pratchett wit somewhere at the start, where the humble sweeper monk reflects on the head monk (the one directly below the abbot who is responsible for the day to day running of the monastery). It goes something like:
"Every enterprise needs to be organized, but it goes wrong when those in charge believe it's the organization that needs to be organized."
As I've been outsourced to loads of different companies and institutions (and seen what goes on there) the truth of that observation really struck home. :icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
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I finished Good Omens yesterday by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The book was very funny and the story intriguing. The premise is simple. The end is nigh...but an angel and demon kind of like earth the way it is and do not want it all to end, so they team up to stop the end of the world. The characters are perhaps the best thing about the book, also the narration. The interpretation of good and evil and how humans seem to do it better than angels or demons was pretty fun. At some point I will try and watch the Amazon Prime show. The ending wasn't what I expected but made sense in retrospect considering the philosophy and rules set up for the world and story.
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A Brightness long Ago released today. I have two copies and going to writers conference next week and can't wait for Guy Gabriel Kay to read from it. I'm actually going to wait to read it so I can hear him first.
I'm probably more excited for this than is healthy. Favorite author-new book.
Guy Gabriel Kay is one of my favorite authors, and i have only read Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan. I would like to read The Last Light of the Sun, and A Song for Arbonne, perhaps even the two books of the Sarantine Mosaic. I imagine A Brightness Long Ago might be good too.
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A Brightness long Ago released today. I have two copies and going to writers conference next week and can't wait for Guy Gabriel Kay to read from it. I'm actually going to wait to read it so I can hear him first.
I'm probably more excited for this than is healthy. Favorite author-new book.
Guy Gabriel Kay is one of my favorite authors, and i have only read Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan. I would like to read The Last Light of the Sun, and A Song for Arbonne, perhaps even the two books of the Sarantine Mosaic. I imagine A Brightness Long Ago might be good too.
I've ordered A Song for Arbonne. :icon_cool:
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I’ve been feasting on ‘The Beast Arises’ series. On book 9 of 12 now and loving the series. Just found out how the Deatheatvh came to be and now looking for the Sisters of Silence. Also had the return of Vulkan as well. Recommend the series highly.
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Read another 4 Pratchetts: Going Postal, Thud, Making Money and Unseen Academicals
Now busy with R. Scott Bakker's 4th and final book in the Aspect Emperor series. Loving it.
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Just finished Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life by Gary John Bishop. Its very direct and being that I listened to him narrate it via audio-book, it came off as quite the pep-talk. I found it to be quite helpful.
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Enjoying Song for Arbonne ... not quite as good as I liked Tigana, yet still worth reading.
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Finished ‘The Beast Arises’ series. Really enjoyed it and wish there were another 12 in the series.
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I'm reading a book on the history of Venice, by looking at a number of the famous people and personalities that were associated with the republic to various degrees. It's a really interesting book, especially when you see the extent Venice or Genoa will go to for profit.
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Ghost Ship from Clive Cussler. What else do you want with such a hot weather.
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40k - The Hollow Mountain - inquisitorial sequel to The Carrion Throne
40k - Celestine
Pritchett - Mort
All good
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Your motoring through the Discworld series pretty good Artoban!
I just finished a really interesting book on the history of Venice from about 1200CE to it's fall to Napoleon in the 1800's. It's incredible some of the schemes and plans the merchant republics were doing. All vying against each other and everyone else.
I'm also rereading The Path of Heaven Horus Heresy book on the White Scars. Chris Wright is definitely one of my favorite warhammer authors.
Next up is Leviathan Wakes, the first book in the Expanse series.
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I picked up Soldiers in the mist again. I tried to read it a few years ago but put it down and forgot about it. Then I saw a documentary about the Crimean war and picked it up again. I guess you could call it 'fitting' that the most famous event of the war is a disaster as the entire conflict was a huge fubar from the beginning
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Started "Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus" by Robert E. Howard and compiled by Finn J. D. John. So far its pretty interesting. After the author's notes the first few stories has nothing to do with Conan. The first one is a Kull story (Shadow Kingdom) and the 2 following are Solomon Kane stories (Red Shadow and Rattle of Bones), followed by an Essay Howard wrote explaining the Hyborean age where Conan takes place. Finn J.D. John did this to help show Howard's evolution in writing and it does help you get a taste for what you're in for. The Conan stories are then presented in the order they are published so it leaps from different points in his life. For example, the first Conan story "The Phoenix on the Sword" takes place when Conan is now king of Aquilonia (like a mix between the Roman Empire and Carolingian Empire) so he's a bit older than his other adventures. I've only now gotten to this story but so far its pretty good. A lot of cloak and dagger game of thrones stuff going on.
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Men at Arms - Pritchett
The more I read of this series, the more impressed I am of JAK’s undertaking of building the Watch’s characters. What an amazing project that I will be revisiting.
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I think I misread something in the Souldrinkers omnibus. Did they just befriend a dark elder kabaal?
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Not a younger one?
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Started "Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus" by Robert E. Howard and compiled by Finn J. D. John. So far its pretty interesting. After the author's notes the first few stories has nothing to do with Conan. The first one is a Kull story (Shadow Kingdom) and the 2 following are Solomon Kane stories (Red Shadow and Rattle of Bones), followed by an Essay Howard wrote explaining the Hyborean age where Conan takes place. Finn J.D. John did this to help show Howard's evolution in writing and it does help you get a taste for what you're in for. The Conan stories are then presented in the order they are published so it leaps from different points in his life. For example, the first Conan story "The Phoenix on the Sword" takes place when Conan is now king of Aquilonia (like a mix between the Roman Empire and Carolingian Empire) so he's a bit older than his other adventures. I've only now gotten to this story but so far its pretty good. A lot of cloak and dagger game of thrones stuff going on.
(https://media.giphy.com/media/zbnLunUBlNrVu/giphy.gif)
I really like every one of Howard's Conan stories, specially because the character slightly matures from one tale on to the next.
The Phoenix on the Sword/The Hour of the Dragon is great! It is inspiring stuff really, specially to set a young wargamer on to the next project! :)
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Was looking for a new fantasy series, and wanted to try
The series Seven Virtues by Jacob Peppers, accidentally read the last book was okay. Felt a like it was missing something, and then I realized my mistake and decided to check the first of the series. Way better characters more complex, still not a 10/10 but different enough to worth reading.
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Reading Farsight now.. bit of a messy start of the book sofar..
And finished up City of Secrets, was a very good read!
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Quote SKS: And finished up City of Secrets, was a very good read!
Really liked this as well
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Read Pratchett’s Jingo- the watch go to war. Very good.
Goulslayer - took awhile to recognize Gotrek but he eventually came thru. Looking forward to more.
Bought The Horusian Wars: Divination - then noticed it wasn’t ready for download till the 19th !!!!!!
Downloaded The Lost and the Damned - the drive of terra book 2!!!!
Can’t read that till I get the Solar wars - book 1 but I cleaned out the resources i allocated for book reading. Everything is budget conscience so I have to wait till next batch of cash for a percentage to use. Crap
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The Expanse books are pretty good.
Great attention to detail when it comes to worldbuilding, good dialogue, cool characters, and a good sense of when to drop the punch which makes the reader go "wait... what?... whoa man, that's nuts".
Leviathan Wakes is a great read.
Caliban's War is good, but didn't wow me.
Abbadon's Gate is when the series begins to delve away from plausible future tech and gets into the realm of alienware. It's ok.
Cibola Burn was, to me, an exhilarating read. Although some people have found it drab or slow.
Nemesis Games is divisive, to me it was exciting and very impactful, to others the level of violence was cartoonish. But what I like about the authors is that they're not afraid to smash their carefully constructed world and explore the plausible consequences. This makes it look a bit like real history.
I'm currently reading Babylon's Ashes and I'm finding it a tad boring, but every two or three chapters something happens that gets my attention. Some characters are fun to follow, others not so much.
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Just a little twist. What were your inspirational authors from young reader to teenage? I think books helped to influence us later for good or bad. As a young reader 9-12 maybe I was really influenced by Thornton Burgess and his animal stories. Later the Narnia series and into sci fi. Asimov and his foundation series, Phillip Jose Farmer and the river world series, Alice and wonderland and Through the looking glass, Mark Twain, Larry Niven and the Ringworld series. I found all these writings left an indelible stamp on my make up. Lovecraft as well. These would be the main writers before I was 17. Herge and the Tintin Series from the time I was 10. I still love all the collected works of these guys and have most of their books still. Except Twain, Niven, and the Tiintin/ asterix stuff.
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One of my most inspirational books was the American Heritage History of the Civil War. I recall when I was maybe 5 or 6 walking into the library of where my father was taking college courses, and finding this book opened up to one of the maps with all the soldiers showing one of the battlefields. And I also from the same age range recall going to the back of a bookmobile and finding a book on the battle of Gettysburg. After this I was always going to libraries and reading biographies and books on military history.
From a fictional standpoint, having my 5th grade teacher read The Hobbit on Friday afternoons was quite the experience. As was picking up the Lord of the Rings trilogy sometime after that. Those books were very foundational to my interest in fantasy.
Other inspirational writers from my youth included Poe and Shakespeare, these two were really enjoyable in my high school years.
And although not literature per say, the adventure module called The Village of Hommlet was a huge factor in my early role playing days, as was the World of Harn in my college days.
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I had forgotten the reading of the hobbit about the same time by a teacher. Loved it but could not get through the LotR that followed.
I had forgotten the Shakespeare and Poe during my high school. Had almost all the main Shakespeare plays. Lovecraft brought me to Poe as well. Only read about half the Shakespeare but all of Poe. Gustav Dore’s The Divine Comedy was an awesome read as well. Got my brother a coffee table copy and one for myself later. I think I still have that. All the military history as well. Mostly from SPI magazines and games in mags. A real wealth of knowledge.
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Tolkien, especially the Silmarillion. He was my go-to book to read when I didn't know what to read. Spanish adventure writer Vázquez-Figueroa was also one of my favourites.
Also, the poetry of Francisco de Quevedo, Becquer and Machado. It wasn't until I was older and could handle English better that I discovered Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson and Whitman.
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Ah yes! The Silmarillion was a book I didn't attempt to finish in my younger days, but when I picked up a second time in my college years, and it was excellent.
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Just started Gormenghast for the third time. Wonderfully tortuous language.
BTW, Artobahn, I too loved Larry Niven and Asimov as a youth, then, for a while, Orson Scott Card. Whose name reminds me ...
Other books I finished recently: "The Discoverie of Witchcraft" by Reginald Scot, published in the 1580s. A book pointing out that witchcraft was pure fantasy, and which was thus ordered burned by James VI of Scotland, being James I of England, who believed in witches and had written his onw book about them.
Also recently finished Daniel Defoe's "Journal of a Plague Year." Such fun!
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@Padre : you might like this diary/history of a Nuremberg executioner 1554-1634. Called the The Faithful Executioner” (FSG), author Joel F. Harrington , I read this when in hospital. Great piece of non-fiction about how he kept a detailed ledger of about 394 executions and the powers/place he held in society. It’s not a gore fest but how he wound up in the business and how he approached it.
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I would like that. Thanks for the recommendation!
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I started reading Good Omens
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I started reading Good Omens
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :::cheers:::
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I started reading Good Omens
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :::cheers:::
I had a good laugh at the Thundercats and Transformers referance
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I just finished a really interesting book on the history of Venice from about 1200CE to it's fall to Napoleon in the 1800's. It's incredible some of the schemes and plans the merchant republics were doing. All vying against each other and everyone else.
I read something like that a while back. Very interesting read. The excommunication with Rome and poltics around that is pretty interesting too, from how the situation developed with the independant Patriarch in the first place. I would suggest also reading about Florence and the Medici’s would be right up your alley.
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"Ash: A Secret History" by Mary Gentle is an ok read.
As a 12-year old The Hobbit and later The Lord of the Rings triology opened the doors to a secret world, into which I could escape whenever, where ever just by opening a book. Silmarillion came later.
Earthsea cycle was a great experience when starting to explore the fantasy genre.
The Wheel of Time….the series that seems/seemed to go on forever…..I could never stop reading it...even it felt like the plot/s spiralled all over the place.
Magician-Riftwar…..
Icewind Dale triology… (while playing the computer game...)
Ahhh so many memories… so many worlds to explore :smile2:
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At the moment I'm reading the Deathworlders online story.
It's actually pretty good.
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I finally read Fahrenheit 451. It was required reading in high school but I didn't read it. Go figure.
Reading it now with the gusto of wanting to read, just wow! It was a great story that I don't think my younger self would have appreciated. Everyone likes to cite that its about book burning and censorship, but thats just what you get from reading the back of a book and maybe the bit of the beginning. Its about so much more than that! Dumbing down media for something thats easier to consume, keeping people happy/distracted at all times, growing apathy in society, and the dumb persecuting the intellectual because they feel inferior. God this feels relevant today as I am sure it was back in the 50s when it was written.
I swear I work with someone that is just like Montag's wife. :ph34r:
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Finished the Solar Wars and The Lost and the Damned. First 2 (!) in the drive of terra, the last of the HH series. I liked the Lost better but both are really good. Won’t give it away but I thought this was the last book lol. The big fight is yet to come but the actual siege was awesome.
Now to wait for the big fight! Wonder how it will turn out ? 😸
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I finally read Fahrenheit 451. It was required reading in high school but I didn't read it. Go figure.
Reading it now with the gusto of wanting to read, just wow! It was a great story that I don't think my younger self would have appreciated. Everyone likes to cite that its about book burning and censorship, but thats just what you get from reading the back of a book and maybe the bit of the beginning. Its about so much more than that! Dumbing down media for something thats easier to consume, keeping people happy/distracted at all times, growing apathy in society, and the dumb persecuting the intellectual because they feel inferior. God this feels relevant today as I am sure it was back in the 50s when it was written.
I swear I work with someone that is just like Montag's wife. :ph34r:
That's the problem with mandatory reads. On the one hand, sometimes you really get into a mandatory read you might not have come across with (That's how I came across the South American magical-realism writers). But you can also hit a wall with a book you're not ready to appreciate.
I'm in favour of directed reading. If the reading of a chapter comes with commentary and discussion, the book seeps into you even when you hadn't connected with it at first, and by the time you keep reading, the themes and ideas are already present in your mind. I've seen that even complex writing like Shakespeare, or difficult text because of the language, like Chaucer, are made enjoyable to teenagers if the reading and the debate go hand in hand.
Of course, your mileage may vary. All we did as children, in my case, was read the books and face a test at the end of the term.
As for good reads, I've read SPQR by Mary Beard. One of the most insightful and enjoyable works of historical divulge I've seen. If you're interested in Roman history, especially Republican, and it's not your first foray into the field (maybe you've read Rubicon by Tom Holland, or some well researched novel set in Ancient Rome, like Graves' "I, Claudius" or Lindsey Davis' crime stories, give SPQR a go, I think it's quite remarkable.
Mind you, it's not a "history" in the simplest sense, it's more of a rumination on how Roman history has been studied, and the change in perspectives in the last 30 years.
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Since last time I’ve read 2 40k - Honourbound and Mark of Faith.
2 Pratchett - Jingo and The Fifth Elephant
Just bought The Night Watch. I’ll get thru them all eventually
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I've been reading the Chronicles of the Black Company series.
Awesome stuff. As a Myth series fan [the tactical combat games from Bungie], which draws heavily from the Black Company, I'm very glad I took the plunge. I'm currently in Bleak Seasons.
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I finally managed to find a book on John Franklin in my region. Its hard to read as its blind praise and hero worship.
And for those of you who have been watching the TERROR tv series; there is no mention of the Tuunbaq in the book.
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Just finished The Night Watch. This is without a doubt my favourite book of the series so far. The time travel and story line are fantastic. I won’t give any more away.
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Nights Watch is easily one of my favorite books. Glad to see you enjoyed it!
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Just finished Gloomspite by Andy Clark. Really captured the horrible nature of the night gobbo’s buthe has written better books.
Before that, I reread the 5 novel series Riverworld. Dated for sure but still I really liked it
Still on a nostalgia trip, I downloaded Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Funnier than I remembered. A science fiction writer dies, winds up in Dante’s hell with Mussolini to guide him thru to escape. Very good read.
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Thanks for calling this up again! :::cheers:::
Been reading Peter Wilson's book called Lutzen. It skewer's the amount of effort that has been made to make King Adolphus Gustavus look good for reasons of national identity through propaganda and even miss information. It shows how militarily on the battlefield that day that although often considered a Swedish victory, and sometimes told as if it was Swedish tactics that did the job, today's new archaeological information, and what we know about how Albrecht Wallenstein fought the battle in a much different way that Gustavus, it's quite likely that he won the day on the field and Swedish tactics weren't all they've been made out to be. The problem was that casualty rates were so high on both sides, that Gustavus died that day and Wallenstein didn't know it, that neither army followed up the fight with a credible plan to finish the other off. Then afterwards a huge effort was made to keep the fighting going for another 16 plus years, much of that initially based off of Gustavus' death, and many different players seeking to gain from it, while at the same time, having the Swiss seek their own legitimacy as a foreign power rightfully, where and when it no longer had the King available to lead.
The book is under 200 pages, if ya don't count the 45 pages of notes at the back, and that is much shorter than Wilson's monster one volume book on the 30 Years War that I also have.
A fascinating book, well worth the read.
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Finished Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Highly recommend this very funny book about a modern day escape from Dante’s Hell. Great read.
Continuing Thud by Terry Pratchett and preordered Dan Annette siege of terra addition called Saturina. Anything by him is a good read as far as I’m concerned.
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Got wrapped up in some nostalgic reading after inferno. Put down pratchet’s ‘thud’ for the 4 th time. Really like it but not in the mood type of thing. Re-read the Tripod trilogy by John Christopher - the White Mountains, city of Gold and Lead ant the Pool of Fire. Aimed at a younger audience but I loved them when a teenager. Kind of like Narnia. Earth has been enslaved by aliens and in one of the cities, human slaves are brought to serve the masters, because of the air and extra gravity - conditions of the city , the humans die after a couple of years and they are all brainwashed to believe they are serving gods and its an honour and all that. The part I really like is ‘the place of happy release’ where a slave is to worn out to continue serving, decides its better to be ‘released’ and shortly after incinerated. Some days make you feel like this is a good idea 😺
The good thing is, I’ll go to bed and wake up feeling better. Moral of this story is to avoid nostalgia at all costs.
Edit:Morning
feel good enough to continue this charade. Mission accomplished
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I loved John Christopher's Tripods trilogy when I was a little lad. I am sad to say I had forgotten about it and had given it no thought for at least 30 years!!
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I loved John Christopher's Tripods trilogy when I was a little lad. I am sad to say I had forgotten about it and giving it no thought for at least 30 years!!
I really had the same experience. I can’t even quite remember what triggered the recall. I think it was about something to do with the white mountains of New England and one thing led the another
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Just finished Saturnine by Dan Abnet. I know, unusual for me to read 40K but there it is.
2nd book in the the Terra Siege series I think. Great book by I think my favourite 40K writer. Lots of fluff explanation on who the Emperor is, the sigillite, John Gramaticus and that unusual group of humans.
Don’t want to give anything away but this was really well written and covers so many big and small events with lots of Easter eggs in it as well.
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Currently in the midst of reading Blood Cries Afar by Sean McGlynn.
It is about the Magna Carta War and the Invasion of England from 1215 to 1217. It has given quite the lead up for the first 122 pages, only 120 more to go, except for 33 pages beyond that of appendixes. The latter includes one on Robin Hood, William of Kenshaw, and a translation of the Magna Carter. The last I have never read, so that ought to be interesting, when I get to it. The book is a bit heavy in text, some might say academic, but so far worth the read, especially when my knowledge of this era has been so limited previously.
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Just finished another Robert E Howard Conan story: Shadows in the Moonlight
It was pretty good and had some mystery elements to it. Not in my top 5 Conan stories, but it was interesting to say the least. Conan, escaping to a remote island with a girl (Olivia) he unintentionally rescued, encounters pirates, strange iron statues, and something is stalking them in the trees. I liked that Olivia actually did something and had a bit of an arc compared to some of his previous traveling companions.
The next one on my list I have been lead to believe is one of, if not the, most popular stories along with a favorite character among fans and artists. "Queen of the Black Coast."
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Finally finished Robert E Howard Conan story Queen of the Black Coast.
I have the collection as an audiobook so I had to listen to it in installments over the course of a week or so since I drive less now. Honestly I think it was to the stories detriment that I broke it up. I thought it was great but I think I would have received it well if I read it instead of listened to it. It also had a few things going against it.
1) The narrator gave Bêlit a soft pleading sounding voice which seemed counter to her dialogue and personality. It should have been more of a commanding fierce voice, but when it comes to feminine voices his (the narrator's) range isn't all that diverse. It probably would have been better if I read it instead of audiobook this story.
2) There is a lot of hand waving in the beginning of the story to get Conan aboard the Bêlit's ship and as part of her crew. Before and after that moment the story was pretty good.
Barring those issues, it was pretty good. I can see why its generally in the top 5 original Conan stories for some. (I think when I get through all these, I'll rate them all myself). Certain parts of the story is definitely dated, and if I was to bring this to a visual medium, I would probably give the Tigress crew a bit more "screen time" but other than that, it would translate pretty well as an episode on Netflix or some other streaming service. Maybe an hour long episode like Star Trek tends to do, but I am not sure it would work as a movie, unless you expand or pad it a bit more.
I also noticed that Valeria from the Arnold movie draws a lot of inspiration from the character Bêlit. Some of Valeria's lines/actions are ported or paraphrased straight from Bêlit's in this story. Compared to some of the other Conan stories, this one was pretty grim, but its a nice change of pace instead of the freeze-frame endings of the last few stories.
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Didn’t know a sequel to Larry Niven/Jack Pournelle’ s book Inferno existed. It does.. 2007 and I just finished it. Escape from Hell was as fun to read as the first.
Also just finished The First Wall in the Siege of Terra series. Again, loving this series. Got the order mixed up. This one should have been before dan abbeys one but what the heck.
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I finally managed to find a copy of the old Machine gunners novel. It was something I had to read many moons ago, in high school. I discovered something whilst reading it. The protagonist is a 5th columnist
Chas McGill discovers a downed Dornier and doesn't tell anyone about it
He lies to a policeman about it
He and his friend steal tools in order to pinch the machine gun
He steals supplies to build a tacky bunker
He helps a German pilot escape
Someone contact the Home guard. There is an enemy agent on the loose DONT PANIC
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I just finished the Henry IV biography by Ian Mortimer. Really good read. I really like Mortimer's work.
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I finally finished "Treasure Island." It was a good pirate adventure and I can see why there have been so many adaptations of it. I guess now I have to watch "Black Sails."
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Just finished Mortis by John French. 5th book in the seige of Terra series. Love how all the history’s and rumours are getting sorted. Loving this series
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Found a 'loved' copy of Pyramids today. I read the first 30 pages whilst at the doctors
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I am looking for an immersive and atmospheric cyberpunk story. Any recommendations? I have an idea for a cyberpunk story but other than visualizing it in my head, seeing a couple of art pieces, and playing a couple of games, I am not terribly familiar with the genre and need to do some research.
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While on my trip to NYC in late July I read Neuromancer by William Gibson which has collectively been called the "Cyberpunk Bible." After reading it, I can understand why. Everything cyberpunk that came after that novel directly pulls from this novel. Whether its the Matrix, Ghost in the Shell, Johnny Mnemonic or the Dues Ex and Cyberpunk 2077 games. They all seem to borrow from it. Its pretty good, its essentially a heist story. A former hacker that was chemically forced into retirement is hired by a mysterious man to infiltrate a space casino and steal the corporation's shackled AI. The mysterious man isn't all what he seems and his crew consists of a mercenary girl with surgically implanted sunglasses, a sociopathic holographam illusionist, and a Rastafarian pilot. They do some globe trotting before going into space and visiting a few floating colonies. Some stuff are dated, like payphones going off while the protagonists walks by, but its part of the charm.
I am currently halfway through the novel Drachenfels by Kim Newman (writing as Jack Yeovil). Its a Warhammer Fantasy book (which is rare to find these days, especially in audiobook form) about the vampire Genevieve who teamed up with the son of an Elector Count and an adventuring party that goes to kill the infamous enchanter and daemonologist, Drachenfels. The prologue unfolds like a D&D campaign or a mission from Darkest Dungeons and right at the climax it skips to 25 years later and we meet the famous playwright and actor Detlef Sierck (our other protagonist aside from Genevieve) whom is released from debtor's prison by the elector count's son to put together a play of the events that made him famous and it will be performed on location at castle Drachenfels for the emperor and many other big wigs in the empire. Those that survived the adventure come out of the woodwork to give their accounts of what happened, including Genevieve herself. Strange things start to happen and one of the actors starts to behave in a rather shady way as we try to uncover what really happened 25 years prior when the battle against the evil enchanter occurred. Its up to Genevieve and Detlef to figure it out what happened and what is happening. Its defined as a horror story and with all the gore and crazy stuff that has happened so far, it does feel that way.
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Is this the one where he put on a play including hiring goblins to play goblins in Sigmar's victory
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Is this the one where he put on a play including hiring goblins to play goblins in Sigmar's victory
Yes! That's how he ended up in debtor's prison. He tried to put on the grandest show ever of his own work on the life of Sigmar. He wanted to have real goblins to play themselves but no one wanted to work with goblins so he had halflings and dwarfs in elaborate costumes. Unfortunately some of the extras contracted plague and everyone pulled out of the production last minute. The Elector count of Middenland forced him to take full responsibility at knife point which is why he ended up in debtors prison. His fellow inmates couldn't fathom the amount of money he owed and would repeat it all the time which really ate at him. "119,255 gold crowns, 17 shillings and 9 pence." It was pretty much a life sentence since it would be impossible to pay off at the prison. But then the Elector Count's son from Ostland paid his debt in exchange that he put on the play that made the EC's son famous, him taking down Drachenfels, and on location!
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Seems like some twists and turns to that one. :icon_eek:
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I finished Drachenfels and it was great! Some of the lore surrounding Ostland is dated but its still a fun time, no alcohol required.