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Post by stevemitchell on Dec 12, 2015 20:43:39 GMT -6
Pulp-hero related items: Writings in Bronze by Will Murray from Altus Press (a big collection of essays on Doc Savage); The Sinister Shadow by Will Murray from Altus Press (the latest in the series of Doc Savage revival novels, with Doc meeting The Shadow this time); and Enter the Crimson Mask by Norman Daniels from Altus Press (the debut story of this crime fighter from the 1940s).
"In books, looking towards Gogol's 'Dead Souls'; not at all sure what to expect of that one, though." Well, expect 300 pages of rather heavy-handed Russian social satire; your time would be better spent with Dostoevsky or Turgenev.
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Post by stevemitchell on Dec 14, 2015 18:02:08 GMT -6
Doc Savage, The Fortress of Solitude. I've read this before; it's a nice mid-level Doc adventure, but for all the build-up about the Fortress, we aren't shown much of what is inside it. Plus John Sunlight is overrated as a villain.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 14, 2015 19:58:42 GMT -6
I'm on Otis Adelbert Kline's Planet of Peril as a change of pace after Thuvia, Maid of Mars. I'm a quarter of the way through and it's a nice fresh take on ERB-style planetary adventure. I like Kline's Venus so far.
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Post by thegreyelf on Dec 15, 2015 17:07:00 GMT -6
I just finished Star Wars: Aftermath, which is a great read. I'm now back into two different books: Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People who Play It, which I'm really enjoying, and The Maltese Falcon, which is also a great read.
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Dec 15, 2015 21:58:56 GMT -6
Eminence: Cardinal Richelieu and the Rise of France by Jean-Vincent Blanchard  As always when you really look at history, especially when it has been made famous by some fictionalized literature that through its popularity and time has come to be considered fact the reality is so much more interesting and complex. I figured Dumas's villainess Milady de Winter was based on Marie de Rohan, a woman who seems the most extraordinary villainess and conspirator that I have read historically. Not so, Dumas has seemed to have gotten most of his ideas from his source "Mémoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan" (1700), a historical novel by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras. I did find a book "A Fair Conspirator Marie De Rohan, Duchesse De Chevreuse" 1913 about her. She was one of the Queen's ladies but seems to have been constantly conspiring to destroy her and Louis XIII. She is the one who got the Duke of Buckingham to try to seduce the Queen. The Duke of Buckingham doesn't seem historically the nice guy portrayed in the movie and the book also he might have been King James I's lover. By the true historical facts of the situation a Milady de Winter would have actually been a heroine helping to expose the conspiracy against Louis XIII, if she had existed. Marie de Rohan, Duchess of Chevreuse, Duchess of Luynes  Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway) and the Comte de Rochefort (Christopher Lee), villainous agents of the Cardinal Richelieu  Cardinal Richelieu played by Charlton Heston, best portrayal of the Cardinal!  |
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Post by stevemitchell on Dec 15, 2015 23:22:09 GMT -6
There's an old but entertaining biography of the historical prototype for D'Artagnan called D'Artagnan: The Ultimate Musketeer by Geoffrey Hall and Joan Sanders. His real-life adventures took place during the time of Cardinal Mazarin rather than Cardinal Richelieu.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2015 17:19:42 GMT -6
I'm reading a non-fiction book ' How To Plan A Crusade', not a heavy read but full of logistical details that may wend their way into my game, especially if I ever referee ACKS again.
'How to Plan a Crusade is fascinating on diplomacy, communications, propaganda, the use of mass media, medical care, equipment, voyages, money, weapons, credit, wills, ransoms, animals, and the power of prayer.' |
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Dec 20, 2015 9:58:35 GMT -6
I'm reading a non-fiction book ' How To Plan A Crusade', not a heavy read but full of logistical details that may wend their way into my game, especially if I ever referee ACKS again.
'How to Plan a Crusade is fascinating on diplomacy, communications, propaganda, the use of mass media, medical care, equipment, voyages, money, weapons, credit, wills, ransoms, animals, and the power of prayer.'Absolution from Sin was a mighty big factor. The sale of Indulgences financed Rodrigo Borgia's ( Pope Alexander VI) son Cesare Borgia conquest of the Papal States. |
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Post by stevemitchell on Dec 26, 2015 22:55:20 GMT -6
More fabulous adventures from the pulp-hero magazines: Doc Savage in The Devil Genghis and Resurrection Day; The Shadow in Six Men of Evil and The Devil Monsters. Plus the first story I have ever read concerning Dan Fowler of the FBI: Diamonds Across the Atantic.
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Dec 27, 2015 23:10:19 GMT -6
Thinking of the Against the Giants modules I started to want to read some Norse like sagas. I was surprised there was a book by Poul Anderson that I hadn't read, "Hrolf Kraki's Saga"  |
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Post by delverinthedark on Dec 28, 2015 10:50:21 GMT -6
I just finished Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight, and I got a whole mess of sword and sorcery books for Christmas, so it's hard to figure out where I want to start...
I'm probably going to dive into either Leiber's Swords Against Death or Jonathan Jakes' Brak the Barbarian Versus the Mark of the Demons. Together with that, I'm thinking of picking up on Chretien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight with the Lion.
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Post by tetramorph on Dec 30, 2015 13:34:58 GMT -6
Sorry I'm a nonfiction kind of guy.
I got "Simulating War" by Philip Sabin.
A bit dry at first. But it is thoroughly researched and helping me with my rulings and house rules imagining so, win.
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Post by tetramorph on Dec 30, 2015 13:35:32 GMT -6
delverinthedark, Tolkien's Green Knight? Just finished that recently myself. Great stuff.
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Post by delverinthedark on Jan 1, 2016 11:57:12 GMT -6
tetramorph: Nah, just the Penguin edition of the old work. I'm thinking of putting some of my Christmas money towards Tolkien's Beowulf, though, considering how vital he was to restoring the critical reputation of the work in literary circles.
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Post by Porphyre on Jan 11, 2016 8:06:57 GMT -6
tetramorph: Nah, just the Penguin edition of the old work. I'm thinking of putting some of my Christmas money towards Tolkien's Beowulf, though, considering how vital he was to restoring the critical reputation of the work in literary circles. I 've read The Monster & The Critics, of course, but I didn't know that JRRT actually had published his own translation. I had only read Seamus Heaney's. |
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Post by dizzysaxophone on Jan 11, 2016 9:39:42 GMT -6
I'm currently reading E.R. Burroughs, "The Gods of Mars" and the first Conan book from the Ace Books series.
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Post by Maximus on Jan 11, 2016 10:31:00 GMT -6
Just finishing off "We were Soldiers once... and Young". Next up is going back to the beginning and re-reading Howard's Conan. Haven't read them in 35 years or so...
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Jan 11, 2016 21:42:24 GMT -6
I am slowly listening to a 1973 BBC Radio Drama of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. Sort of Dr. Who-ish with great voice actors and sound effects.  I got it elsewhere but it seems to also be available on the Internet Archive Isaac Asimov - The Foundation Trilogy. If you feel morally obligated or have vast sums of money to throw around you can help enrich Jeff Bezos Amazon Foundation Trilogy (BBC Radio) |
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Post by stevemitchell on Jan 11, 2016 22:10:49 GMT -6
Four Queens by Nancy Goldstone. In the 13th Century, the four daughters of the Count of Provence married, respectively, the King of France, the King of England, the Earl of Cornwall (who later became King of the Romans, for which read, Germans), and the Count of Anjou (who later became the King of Sicily). A highly enjoyable narrative history of this important dynasty.
Nimitz by E. B. Potter. The term "a great American" gets tossed around too freely, but in my opinion, Admiral Nimitz really was one.
Wylder's Hand and Checkmate by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Old-time 19th Century mystery novels. Le Fanu is better in his shorter, specifically supernatural work.
The Rise and Fall and Rise of the Cthulhu Mythos by S. T. Joshi. The well-known keeper of the Lovecraftian flame traces the nearly century-long development of the Mythos, while bashing those writers who, in his estimation, stray from his notion of Mythos purity--including Lovecraft, at times!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2016 22:23:07 GMT -6
Michael Connelly, "The Black Echo". '90s crime novel that later served as a base for Amazon's charming "Bosch" police drama. Solid stuff, but nothing otherworldly, at least so far. Eyeing a few books on Hemingway's time in Paris next; watched "Midnight in Paris" over the weekend, loved that movie like few I have watched in recent years.  |
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Post by stevemitchell on Jan 19, 2016 21:35:41 GMT -6
And who can forget Ava Gardner's epic performance in Ghosts on the Loose, an East Side Kids movie from 1943, co-starring Bela Lugosi?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2016 21:56:00 GMT -6
Gentlemen! Not sure if I brought this up here, already: www.goodreads.com/book/show/1414722.The_Lost_PrinceIs this worth a look? - I had the book's cover as a poster in my room for many years, and that kind of got me curious. At the same time, no time for bad books.  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2016 3:55:44 GMT -6
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Post by krusader74 on Feb 3, 2016 20:38:56 GMT -6
I am a comic book junkie. Here's what I'm reading now... Back issues I'm catching up on... | Title | Writer/Art/Cover (if different) | Publisher | Pub. Date | Notes |
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| The Invincible Iron Man #149-150 | David Michelinie, Bob Layton/John Romita Jr. | Marvel | August-September 1981. | "Doomquest": See Dr. Doom lead an army of skeletons to clash with Iron Man, King Arthur and the knights of the round table! You can skip issue #149 if you're not interested in how Dr. Doom and Iron Man time-travelled back to Camelot. | | The Shadow #100 | Matt Wagner/Francesco Francavilla | Dynamite | June 2015 | "What evil lurks in the hearts of men?" The Shadow knows. The original pulp hero. Just a guy with a gun and no super powers. Great collection of stories. 48pp. | | Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham #1-3 | Mike Mignola, Richard Pace/Troy Nixey | DC | November 2000-January 2001 | Batman versus Lovecraftian Horrors! |
 (Image from Sideshowtoy.com)Jan 20, 2016: Stuff I read two weeks ago... | Title | Writer/Art/Cover (if different) | Publisher | Notes |
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| Lucifer #2 | Holly Black/Lee Garbett/Dave Johnson | Vertigo | Great comic. I only wish the new TV show on FOX were this good. | | Astonishing Ant-Man #4 | Nick Spencer/Ramon Rosanas/David Nakayama | Marvel | Stars the real-life comedian Paul Scheer!!! | | Captain Marvel #1 | Tara Butters/Kris Anka | Marvel | Kept me interested enough to pick up #2 this week. | | Hercules #3 | Dan Abnett/Luke Ross/Jay Anacleto | Marvel | Strong series so far. | | Patsy Walker A.K.A. Hellcat #2 | Kate Leth/Brittney Williams | Marvel | 10/10 -- My new favorite comic!!! I will buy this in hardback when it comes out and re-read it! | | Silver Surfer #1 | Dan Slott/Mike & Laura Allred | Marvel | Laura Allred's colors are AMAZING/Psychadelic. "Woh woh woh woh my love she comes in colors." | | Uncanny Inhumans #4 | Charles Soule/Steve McNiven | Marvel |
| | Will Eisner's Spirit #7 | Matt Wagner/Dan Schkade/Eric Powell | Dynamite | Classic character from the 1940s. And Wagner gives us a fitting classic story! |
 (Paul Scheer)Jan 27, 2016: Stuff I read last week... | Title | Writer/Art/Cover (if different) | Publisher | Notes |
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| Hellboy Winter Special 2016 #1 | Mike Mignola/Michael Walsh/Tim Sale | Dark Horse | Fun collection of stories. | | Suicide Squad Most Wanted Deadshot And Katana #1 (Of 6) | Brian Buccellato/Viktor Bogdanovic/Cary Nord | DC | Promo for the upcoming movie, but surprisingly good. I'll definitely get #2. | | All-New All-Different Avengers #4 | Mark Waid/Mahmud A. Asrar/Alex Ross | Marvel | I like Waid. I didn't like the first two issues in this arc. But I'm glad I stuck with it. Issues #3 and 4 were really good. | | All-New Inhumans #3 | Charles Soule/Stefano Caselli | Marvel | Lots of plot twists. | | Daredevil #3 | Charles Soule/Ron Garney/Ron Garney | Marvel | Ditto. | | Extraordinary X-Men #6 | Jeff Lemire/Victor Ibanez/Humberto Ramos | Marvel | I'm not sure who's the hardest working writer in comics now: Soule or Lemire? They both have so many titles... | | Old Man Logan #1 | Jeff Lemire/Andrea Sorrentino | Marvel | 9/10 -- @#$%&!'ing awesome, bub! Next Month: Wolverine vs Hulk, harkening back to the introduction of Wolverine in Hulk #181 (Nov 1974), which of course I now need to go read... |
 (Wolverine first appeared in Hulk #181)
Feb 03, 2016: Brand new stuff I'm going to read this week... | Title | Writer/Art/Cover (if different) | Publisher | Notes |
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| Swamp Thing #2 | Len Wein/Kelley Jones | Vertigo | Len Wein created Swamp Thing...or at least he lifted it from Stan Lee's Man-Thing? I loved Alan Moore's run. The first issue of this reboot was really great, and set up a fight between Swamp Thing and a zombie. Can't wait! | | Captain Marvel #2 | Tara Butters/Kris Anka | Marvel |
| | Deadpool Mercs For Money #1 | Cullen Bunn/Salva Espin/Declan Shalvey | Marvel | Promo for the upcoming movie? Probably. I like Deadpool. And this issue has a free copy of Spidey #1 included for the same price, so how can I lose? | | Doctor Strange #5 | Jason Aaron/Chris Bachalo/Kevin Nowlan | Marvel | One of my favorite stories of the all new, all different Marvel. Why aren't there more Magic-Users in comics? | | Rocket Raccoon And Groot #2 | Skottie Young/Filipe Andrade | Marvel | I HATED issue #1, but I'm going to give this title one more try. I can dump it on my nephew if its stock continues to drop. | | Scarlet Witch #3 | James Robinson/Steve Dillon/David Aja | Marvel | Last story was awesome (9/10): Scarlet Witch versus the Minotaur! (Gave me flashbacks to B2!) I liked Robinson's run on the Fantastic Four. David Aja's covers are a 10/10! | | Spider-man #1 | Brian Michael Bendis/Sara Pichelli | Marvel | I'm a big fan of Spider-man whether he's Miles Morales, Peter Parker, Doc Ock or whoever. |
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Post by krusader74 on Feb 9, 2016 22:09:41 GMT -6
Now that I've had a chance to read last week's comics, I wanted to provide a brief rating/review: Feb 03, 2016: Stuff I read last week... | Title | Rating* | | Review |
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| Swamp Thing #2 | 8/10 | Great | | | Captain Marvel #2 | 7/10 | Good | Better than #1. Better than expected. | | Deadpool Mercs For Money #1 | 5/10 | Mehh | I expect Deadpool to be more funny/absurd/meta. | | Spidey #1 | 5/10 | Mehh | This was included for free with Deadpool Mercs for Money #1. This is an updated version of Peter Parker as a high school aged Spider-man, but now he has Twitter and a crush on Gwen Stacy. Sorry, I'll stick with reprints of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko comics from the 60s, when the love of Peter's life was still Betty Brant. | | Doctor Strange #5 | 9/10 | Amazing | | | Rocket Raccoon And Groot #2 | 2/10 | WHY?! | This title is officially outta my pull list. | | Scarlet Witch #3 | 5/10 | Mehh | Issue #2 was really good, but #3 was a disappointment. The art in #2 (Vanesa Del Rey) was better than #3 (Steve Dillon). Insofar as the story in #3, I felt James Robinson was just phoning it in. | | Spider-man #1 | 6/10 | Decent | |
* I like the rating system used by the ComicBookCast2 on YouTube: - Disaster
- WHY?!
- Bad
- Awful
- Mehh
- Decent
- Good
- Great
- Amazing
- Masterful
Feb 10, 2016: Stuff I plan to read this week... | Title | Writer/Art/Cover (if different) | Publisher |
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| James Bond #4 | Warren Ellis/Jason Masters/Dom Reardon | Dynamite | | All New Hawkeye #4 | Jeff Lemire/Ramon K. Perez | Marvel | | All New All Different Avengers #5 | Mark Waid/Mahmud A. Asrar/Alex Ross | Marvel | | Old Man Logan #2 | Jeff Lemire/Andrea Sorrentino | Marvel | | Weirdworld #3 | Sam Humphries/Mike Del Mundo | Marvel |
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Feb 16, 2016 7:08:33 GMT -6
I've been having fun reading some history of the Vikings. When I was very young I was lucky to visit Lindisfarne, the Anglo-Saxon monastery where the first Viking raid was considered to have taken place. "The Viking Blitzkrieg AD 789-1098" by Martyn Whittock and Hannah Whittock  Clare Downham, "Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ivarr to A.D. 1014"  Ian Howard - Swein Forkbeard's Invasions and the Danish Conquest of England, 991-1017  |
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Post by krusader74 on Feb 16, 2016 20:47:12 GMT -6
Feb 10, 2016: Stuff I read last week... | Title | Rating | | Review |
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| James Bond #4 | 9/10 | Amazing | Jason Masters draws amazing fight scenes! | | New Romancer #3 | 7/10 | Good | Offbeat horror, starring Lord Byron and Cassanova | | All New Hawkeye #4 | 7/10 | Good | Best installment of this series so far | | All New All Different Avengers #5 | 8/10 | Great | A story that gets better and better each month | | Old Man Logan #2 | 10/10 | Masterful | Old Man Logan vs the totally awesome Hulk! Lemire's writing and Sorrentino's art really click together to make a perfect story! | | Totally Awesome Hulk #3 | 7/10 | Good | The totally awesome Hulk, Amadeus Cho, vs Fin Fang Foom | | The Incredible Hulk #181 (1974) | 6/10 | Decent | Introduction of Wolverine in a battle vs Hulk | | Weirdworld #3 | 6/10 | Decent | Boring story (car breaks down, replacement part needed, fight ensues), but really great art by Mike Del Mundo. Last two issues were better, and hopefully the story (like the car) gets back on track next month. |
: Stuff I plan to read this week... | Title | Writer/Art/Cover (if different) | Publisher |
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| Lucifer #3 | Holly Black/Lee Garbett/Dave Johnson | DC | | Extraordinary X-men #7 | Jeff Lemire/Humberto Ramos | Marvel | | Power Man And Iron Fist #1 | David Walker/Sanford Greene | Marvel | | Silver Surfer #2 | Dan Slott/Mike Allred | Marvel | | Squadron Supreme #4 | James Robinson/Leonard Kirk/Alex Ross | Marvel | | Uncanny Inhumans #5 | Charles Soule/Brandon Peterson | Marvel |
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Post by krusader74 on Feb 16, 2016 20:51:54 GMT -6
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 17, 2016 5:38:37 GMT -6
I've been reading poetry the last couple of days. My father owned a copy of this book. I got my own copy a few years ago. |
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Post by krusader74 on Feb 24, 2016 23:43:24 GMT -6
Feb 24, 2016: Comics for sale starting today that I plan to read... | Title | Writer/Art/Cover (if different) | Publisher |
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| Dark Knight III Master Race #3 | Frank Miller/Andy Kubert | DC | | Suicide Squad Most Wanted Deadshot Katana #2 | Brian Buccellato/Viktor Bogdanovic/Cary Nord | DC | | All New All Different Avengers #6 | Mark Waid/Mahmud A. Asrar/Alex Ross | Marvel | | All New Inhumans #4 | Charles Soule/Stefano Caselli | Marvel | | Astonishing Ant-man #5 | Nick Spencer/Annapaola Martello/Mark Brooks | Marvel | | Daredevil #4 | Charles Soule/Ron Garney/Ron Garney | Marvel | | Hercules #4 | Dan Abnett/Luke Ross/Jay Anacleto | Marvel | | Karnak #2 | Warren Ellis/Gerardo Zaffino/David Aja | Marvel | | Patsy Walker Aka Hellcat #3 | Kate Leth/Brittney Williams | Marvel |
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