artikid
Level 3 Conjurer
Artist for hire
Posts: 70
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Post by artikid on Apr 19, 2017 1:13:15 GMT -6
True Names by Vernor Vinge
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Post by Falconer on Apr 19, 2017 11:44:39 GMT -6
Nigel Bryant's new translation of The History of William Marshal. It is utterly fun. Nigel Bryant is doing God’s work. |
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Post by foxroe on Apr 28, 2017 21:56:14 GMT -6
Just finished First Lensman, book 2 of the Lensman series. Fantastic. I can't believe that I have put off reading this series for so long - any more "pulpier" and I'd call it fresh-squeezed OJ. I also found it amusing that the author's portrayal of "American" politics and presidential elections in a 50-year old story is uncannily close to the modern perception of such things... the more things change, the more they stay the same! Galactic Patrol is definitely next on the list.
And now I have the growing urge to start a Traveller campaign...
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Post by krusader74 on Apr 30, 2017 14:44:01 GMT -6
Free Comic Book DayNext Saturday is Free Comic Book Day 2017. Check out the website for a list of participating retailers and a list of free comics!  Here are the comics I've read for the past few weeks: Wednesday, April 26, 2017- Batman The Shadow #1 -- Scott Snyder
- Doom Patrol #6
- Man-thing #3 -- R. L. Stine
- X-O Manowar (2017) #2
Wednesday, April 19, 2017- G.I. Joe (2016) #4
- Greatest Adventure #1 -- Bill Willingham
- Wild Storm #3 -- Warren Ellis
- Batwoman #2
- All Star Batman #9 -- Scott Snyder
Wednesday, April 12, 2017- Planet Of Apes Green Lantern #3
- Hellboy And B.P.R.D. 1954 Ghost Moon #2
- Neil Gaiman American Gods Shadows #2
- Vampirella #2
- Dungeons & Dragons Frost Giants Fury #2
- Warhammer 40000 Revelations #2
 (image from Pinterest)
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flightcommander
Level 6 Magician
"I become drunk as circumstances dictate."
Posts: 387
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Post by flightcommander on May 1, 2017 11:31:14 GMT -6
Just now reading Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation — yowza. Gamma World meets Paranoia meets Call of Cthulhu.
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Post by geoffrey on May 2, 2017 8:16:45 GMT -6
I'm re-reading Frank Herbert's Dune, which I haven't read in more than twelve years.
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flightcommander
Level 6 Magician
"I become drunk as circumstances dictate."
Posts: 387
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Post by flightcommander on May 2, 2017 20:01:37 GMT -6
I think Dune rewards re-readings.
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Post by foxroe on May 2, 2017 20:56:48 GMT -6
Murder in the Place of Anubis, by Lynda S. Robinson, book one of the Lord Meren series, was an easy, but likeable read. Think Ellery Queen (in an official capacity) set against a backdrop of intrigue in the court of Tutankhamen. If you have ancient Egyptian elements in your campaign, it's a great source of digestible flavor (the vocabulary is not excessive).
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Post by cadriel on May 4, 2017 8:32:18 GMT -6
I think Dune rewards re-readings. The original novel is a classic that is deeply rewarding on re-reading. The sequels ... not so much. |
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Post by geoffrey on May 5, 2017 9:34:11 GMT -6
I think Dune rewards re-readings. The original novel is a classic that is deeply rewarding on re-reading. The sequels ... not so much. I read all five of Frank Herbert's sequels almost 15 years ago, and I didn't care for them. I recently learned that Dune (published by Chilton in Aug. 1965) was originally serialized in the monthly Analog: "Dune World", part 1 in the Dec. 1963 issue "Dune World", part 2 in the Jan. 1964 issue "Dune World", part 3 in the Feb. 1964 issue "The Prophet of Dune", part 1 in the Jan. 1965 issue "The Prophet of Dune", part 2 in the Feb. 1965 issue "The Prophet of Dune", part 3 in the March 1965 issue "The Prophet of Dune", part 4 in the April 1965 issue "The Prophet of Dune", part 5 in the May 1965 issue The eight-part serial was revised and expanded for its hardback publication in Aug. 1965. Does anyone know any details about how the original serialization differs from the Aug. 1965 novel? |
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Post by foxroe on May 6, 2017 10:59:47 GMT -6
Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique stories (again)... this time I'm taking campaign notes.
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Post by tetramorph on May 6, 2017 12:03:44 GMT -6
Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique stories (again)... this time I'm taking campaign notes. Cool. Yes. I am rereading Fafrd and the Gray Mouser and taking notes. |
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Post by stevemitchell on May 6, 2017 17:54:40 GMT -6
Hi Foxroe: If you haven't run across it before, there is a d20 guide to Zothique floating around the web. Unofficial and unauthorized, but a good start for background on the subject. The file is available at The Eldritch Dark site (along with lots of other Smith-related material).
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Post by foxroe on May 6, 2017 19:27:31 GMT -6
Hi Foxroe: If you haven't run across it before, there is a d20 guide to Zothique floating around the web. Unofficial and unauthorized, but a good start for background on the subject. The file is available at The Eldritch Dark site (along with lots of other Smith-related material). Yep! I have that site bookmarked - it's where I grabbed all the stories and threw together my own "Tales of Zothique" PDF a few years back. I also have that d20 supplement. While I think that it's a great document, and it's clear that the author has a great affinity for CAS, it also seems that a few creative liberties were taken (unavoidable I'm sure) that are not to my taste. My goal is to harvest enough information to eventually create my own version of a map of the Last Continent since there was never an official map (none of the fan based ones seem right to me - even the Lin Carter one). I'd also like to come up with a random Zothique name generator, but that may be too ambitious...  |
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flightcommander
Level 6 Magician
"I become drunk as circumstances dictate."
Posts: 387
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Post by flightcommander on May 6, 2017 22:48:16 GMT -6
I'll just throw this out there — if you haven't read The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz, you should. It's a first-person account of the Cortez expedition against Mexico City, and it's a fascinating historical document rife with scenario ideas. Cortez as NPC is difficult to pin down but obviously puissant as negotiator, diplomat, and general.
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Post by geoffrey on May 7, 2017 15:55:11 GMT -6
Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique stories (again)... this time I'm taking campaign notes. Cool. Yes. I am rereading Fafrd and the Gray Mouser and taking notes. Reading those two sets of stories and taking notes is time well spent. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2017 4:00:17 GMT -6
I'm busy with Paul Harding's "Tinkers" and "Enon". Stephen King's Maine novels brought me there. --- And I find it to be one of the most gratifying reads in a long while.  |
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Post by Red Baron on May 10, 2017 10:13:06 GMT -6
Mistress of Mistresses, again
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Post by Falconer on May 11, 2017 18:13:37 GMT -6
Nice. I have been itching to do the same.
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Post by Red Baron on May 13, 2017 19:21:52 GMT -6
Its giving me some thoughts about the outdoor survival map for sure.
I might add an extra roll to determine if the castle occupant is a hero or a villain, and simply use chaos/law roll to determine which faction they are aligned with. Selfish (neutral) castle occupants would be unaligned.
Picking two castles to be the law faction leader and chaos faction leader would be interesting.
Next in line to inherit castle (1d6):
1. Occupant's son residing in castle
2. Occupant's son, currently residing in castle (1d25)
3. Occupant of other lawful castle
4. Occupant of other selfish castle
5. Occupant of other chaos castle
6. Ranger from the north (castle's steward pro tem)
Occupant of castle is next in line to inherit (1d6):
1. Other lawful castle
2. Other selfish castle
3. Other chaos castle
4. Faction leader's castle
5. Nothing
6. Roll twice
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2017 14:47:53 GMT -6
Terry Brooks: "Sometimes the magic works: Lessons from a writing life." What shall I say, I'm a fan. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 18:22:55 GMT -6
Got inspired, returned to "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara". Hated that one the first time I read it, but the audiobook production is pretty good so far.
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arkansan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 231
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Post by arkansan on May 19, 2017 1:15:49 GMT -6
Just finished the 5th Black Company book, I working on the side story "The Silver Spike". Also picked up a copy of "S.P.Q.R" by Mary Beard, that I plan to get to work on.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2017 9:53:56 GMT -6
Gentlemen, after starting "American Gods", the book, and being somewhat bored, I've now found my series for this year, I guess: The "Paksenarrion" series, by Elizabeth Moon, military fantasy with a (so far) believable female protagonist. So far, pretty engaging - I'm at the end of book one of seven, though, and the series is said to get worse later. Let's see where this leads me...
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flightcommander
Level 6 Magician
"I become drunk as circumstances dictate."
Posts: 387
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Post by flightcommander on May 23, 2017 22:18:01 GMT -6
Just finished the 5th Black Company book Are these any good? Serious question. |
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arkansan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 231
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Post by arkansan on May 24, 2017 0:13:30 GMT -6
Just finished the 5th Black Company book Are these any good? Serious question. I've really enjoyed them. They aren't groundbreaking in terms of the tropes being used, but they are well written, and the sort of low to the ground perspective is interesting. The writing style is a little unusual, it's first person with a real attempt at writing in the spirit of the character. They are fairly cheap if you get the omnibus editions. All in all very good military fantasy. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2017 17:49:12 GMT -6
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Post by geoffrey on May 25, 2017 18:25:23 GMT -6
On this 40th anniversary of the Star Wars film, I am re-reading its novelization (ghost written by Alan Dean Foster in 1976). I will follow this up with his sequel entitled Splinter of the Mind's Eye, also written in 1976 but not published until 1978.
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Post by foxroe on May 26, 2017 1:08:51 GMT -6
On this 40th anniversary of the Star Wars film, I am re-reading its novelization (ghost written by Alan Dean Foster in 1976). I will follow this up with his sequel entitled Splinter of the Mind's Eye, also written in 1976 but not published until 1978. I loved reading these as a kid. I remember watching Empire Strikes Back for the first time in the theater and thinking after the Hoth battle, "Waitaminute! Shouldn't Leia be with Luke right now?" |
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Post by stevemitchell on May 26, 2017 12:17:33 GMT -6
The Evil by Hugh B. Cave. Two Americans contend with the power of an evil houngan in Haiti. First in a trilogy, written by a man who knew Haiti well.
Flying Saucers and Science by Stanton T. Friedman. Although I lean toward the “ultraterrestrial” explanation of UFOS (cf. Jacques Vallee and John Keel), I believe that Friedman does a very creditable job of arguing for the “extraterrestrial” explanation.
Weapons of the Gods by Nick Redfern. Was there an atomic war on Earth in vastly ancient times? Redfern explores the possibility but is mostly skeptical.
Who Fears the Devil by Manly Wade Wellman. The complete stories of Silver John, who confronts folkloric horror in the Appalachian mountain and forest regions. Very well done.
The Knight of the Swords, The Queen of the Swords, and The King of the Swords by Michael Moorcock. The first three novels in the Eternal Champion sequence involving Prince Corum of the Scarlet Robe and his battle with the Lords of Chaos. 45 years after publication (and I hate to think how old than makes both me and Mr. Moorcock), they’re still hugely entertaining.
Kothar of the Magic Sword by Gardner Fox. And then, from the bottom of the fantasy bin, there’s creaky old Kothar, lumbering his way through another uninspired adventure.
The Infernal Buddha by Kenneth Robeson. One of the new Doc adventures written by Will Murray. Doc and the gang head to China Seas to battle pirates, warlords, and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Oh, and they also stop a menace that threatens the entire Earth.
Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff by Matt Kibbe. Subtitled “A Libertarian Manifesto,” but about half of it is actually an attack on former President Obama, Obamacare, and the Democrats in general. I was hoping to learn more about Libertarianism, but I guess I will have to turn to some other source.
The Nightwalker by Thomas Tessier. A century before, he incarnated as a zombie in Guadeloupe. Now he’s an American werewolf in London. I don’t know if Tessier did this consciously, but he’s essentially taken Moorcock’s Eternal Champion concept and turned it into an Eternal Monster theme instead.
Brand of the Werewolf by Kenneth Robeson. And speaking of werewolves--there’s a werewolf on the loose in the great north woods, or so it would seem. Doc Savage and his aides go to investigate, finding a pirate treasure and, for the first time in the series, Doc’s cousin Pat Savage.
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