home

Author Topic: What literature are you reading?  (Read 85711 times)

Offline Padre

  • Pure of Heart
  • Members
  • Posts: 4301
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #650 on: October 21, 2019, 05:22:23 PM »
I would like that. Thanks for the recommendation!
Photobucket has now re-destroyed my pictures, so the first half of my collected works thread is no longer working again. To see my website version of the campaign thread, with fully functioning pictures, please go to https://bigsmallworlds.com/

Offline Rowsdower

  • Members
  • Posts: 2066
  • Is there beer on the sun?
    • Jesse Cowled
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #651 on: October 24, 2019, 07:47:07 PM »
I started reading Good Omens

Offline Feanor Fire Heart

  • His Royal Highness
  • Members
  • Posts: 4807
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #652 on: October 24, 2019, 08:05:45 PM »
I started reading Good Omens
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  :::cheers:::
Something we as painters and hobbyists should always remember:
“Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”
― Jake the Dog

Offline Rowsdower

  • Members
  • Posts: 2066
  • Is there beer on the sun?
    • Jesse Cowled
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #653 on: October 25, 2019, 12:04:56 PM »
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

Offline Warlord

  • Global Moderator
  • Members
  • Posts: 10563
  • Sydney, Australia
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #654 on: October 25, 2019, 03:05:03 PM »
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.
Quote from: Gneisenau
I hate people who don't paint their armies, hate them with all my guts. Beats me how they value other things over painting, like eating or brushing teeth.

Offline VonOttenheim

  • Members
  • Posts: 246
  • Commander Black Griffon
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #655 on: November 03, 2019, 06:52:11 AM »
"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:
Ulrich von Ottenheim

Commander Black Griffon
Komtur Templar Knights of Taal
"...I want milk in my Khorne flakes..."

Offline Freman Bloodglaive

  • Members
  • Posts: 1033
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #656 on: November 04, 2019, 10:43:29 AM »
At the moment I'm reading the Deathworlders online story.
It's actually pretty good.
"Reason is a thing of God, inasmuch as there is nothing which God the Maker of all has not provided, disposed, ordained by reason - nothing which He has not willed should be handled and understood by reason" Quintus Tertullian

Offline Feanor Fire Heart

  • His Royal Highness
  • Members
  • Posts: 4807
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #657 on: November 05, 2019, 02:41:31 PM »
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:
Something we as painters and hobbyists should always remember:
“Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”
― Jake the Dog

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #658 on: November 24, 2019, 11:18:06 PM »
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 ? 😸
Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline Cčsar de Quart

  • Members
  • Posts: 81
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #659 on: December 20, 2019, 08:04:54 PM »
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.

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #660 on: February 16, 2020, 02:05:54 AM »
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


Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline Il Condottiero

  • Members
  • Posts: 90
  • Crying Havoc since 1992!
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #661 on: March 02, 2020, 03:08:11 PM »
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.

Seeee todo este ouro... for MEU!

Offline Rowsdower

  • Members
  • Posts: 2066
  • Is there beer on the sun?
    • Jesse Cowled
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #662 on: March 03, 2020, 01:19:29 PM »
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.

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #663 on: March 09, 2020, 10:45:41 PM »
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.

Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline Gankom

  • Members
  • Posts: 5148
  • The World Builder
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #664 on: March 10, 2020, 09:37:03 PM »
Nights Watch is easily one of my favorite books. Glad to see you enjoyed it!

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #665 on: June 30, 2020, 12:16:08 AM »
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.
Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline GamesPoet

  • Administrator
  • Members
  • Posts: 23713
  • Happy Spring! : )
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #666 on: June 30, 2020, 01:03:26 AM »
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.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2020, 01:08:02 AM by GamesPoet »
"Not all who wander are lost ... " Tolkien

"... my old suggestion is forget it, take two aspirins and go paint" steveb

"The beauty of curiosity and creativity is so much more useful than the passion of fear." me

"Until death it is all life." Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #667 on: July 05, 2020, 08:24:04 PM »
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.
Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #668 on: July 18, 2020, 02:26:21 AM »
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
« Last Edit: July 18, 2020, 12:16:43 PM by Artobans Ghost »
Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline Padre

  • Pure of Heart
  • Members
  • Posts: 4301
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #669 on: July 18, 2020, 10:25:44 PM »
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!!
« Last Edit: July 18, 2020, 11:33:03 PM by Padre »
Photobucket has now re-destroyed my pictures, so the first half of my collected works thread is no longer working again. To see my website version of the campaign thread, with fully functioning pictures, please go to https://bigsmallworlds.com/

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #670 on: July 18, 2020, 11:23:00 PM »
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
Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline Artobans Ghost

  • Bar Brawlers
  • Members
  • Posts: 4650
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #671 on: August 12, 2020, 11:21:48 AM »
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.
Mathi Alfblut Feb 4,2017 Simple, You gut the bastard with your sword, the viking way.
Questions?


GP Jan 4, 2020
Yes, even W:AoS.

Offline GamesPoet

  • Administrator
  • Members
  • Posts: 23713
  • Happy Spring! : )
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #672 on: August 12, 2020, 11:41:30 AM »
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.
"Not all who wander are lost ... " Tolkien

"... my old suggestion is forget it, take two aspirins and go paint" steveb

"The beauty of curiosity and creativity is so much more useful than the passion of fear." me

"Until death it is all life." Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Offline Feanor Fire Heart

  • His Royal Highness
  • Members
  • Posts: 4807
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #673 on: August 20, 2020, 03:54:39 AM »
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."
Something we as painters and hobbyists should always remember:
“Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”
― Jake the Dog

Offline Feanor Fire Heart

  • His Royal Highness
  • Members
  • Posts: 4807
Re: What literature are you reading?
« Reply #674 on: September 04, 2020, 08:55:38 PM »
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 Bęlit 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 Bęlit'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 Bęlit. Some of Valeria's lines/actions are ported or paraphrased straight from Bęlit'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.
Something we as painters and hobbyists should always remember:
“Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”
― Jake the Dog