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Post by stevemitchell on Jul 3, 2021 14:02:42 GMT -6
Forever Is Too Long by Chester S. Geier. An old SF novel from the pulps. A man accidentally becomes immortal, and then over the next century or more, decides that being immortal is maybe not that great after all.
The Three Faces of Time by Frank Belknap Long. A minor SF novel written late in Long’s career, and not among his best works.
In a Glass Darkly by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Generally considered the best single collection of Le Fanu’s supernatural fiction, even though one of the five novelettes and novellas is actually a mystery in the Wilkie Collins tradition.
Dissecting Cthulhu: Essays on the Cthulhu Mythos edited by S. T. Joshi. A good collections of essays covering Lovecraft and the elements of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Heart of Asia by Nicholas Roerich. This includes two long essays, “The Heart of Asia,” recounting Roerich’s explorations in Central Asia in the mid-1920s, and “Shambhala,” on the many legends of this mysterious city or realm.
The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins. And speaking of Mr. Collins—here is one of his tightly-plotted mysteries, with some slight supernatural overtones.
Destruction and Reconstruction by Richard Taylor. Taylor was the son of U.S. President Zachary Taylor. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil War, first leading a brigade under Stonewall Jackson during the Valley Campaign and the Seven Days Battles, then taking command of the Confederate forces in Louisiana west of the Mississippi. His most notable military exploit was probably his defeat of the Union attempt to march up the Red River and invade Texas in 1864; Taylor’s smaller force defeated the Federals in a two-day running battle at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill in northwestern Louisiana. Taylor was a very capable writer, and this is one of the better military memoirs to emerge from the Civil War.
Immortality of the Gods by Nick Redfern. The Anunnaki—the Biblical patriarchs—Gilgamesh—the secrets of immortality, or at least longevity—somehow it’s all connected, but I’m not really persuaded. Nick Redfern has written more interesting books than this one.
Diary of Secrets by Nick Redfern. Mr. Redfern otra vez! This time he pursues the possible connections between Marilyn Monroe, her death, John Kennedy, his death, UFOs, and disinformation about UFOS, both from the USA and the USSR.
Gray Barker’s Book of Adamski by Gray Barker, George Adamaski. Essays by and about George Adamski, a famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) UFO “Contactee” from the 1950s.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2021 17:02:00 GMT -6
I wish I had the free time to read at the pace some of you guys do. When I was a kid I used to really put books away. I'm lucky to do a few dozen a year now.
Anyway, everyone's a critic and apparently a lot of people online don't care for Sophocles, but he was next up on my self-imposed Greek reading list, and I rather enjoyed the three Oedipus plays, although of the three "Antigone" was my clear favorite. It was simply a more compelling tale and IMO better-composed than the other two, at least as far as I can tell by the translator's skill. I've got about a half dozen books left on that reading list, but at the moment I'm taking a detour by reading a book penned by a member of this forum (!) and I'll give more thoughts about that later. (No, it's not Peterson, though that's the obvious guess.)
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Post by jeffb on Jul 15, 2021 17:04:15 GMT -6
Been on vacation back home in VA this week, hit up a couple used bookstores-picked up an old Appendix N classic- The Compleat Enchanter from deCamp/pratt (Harold Shea series). Enjoying it so far.
Also found a FF and DSG in good shape but passed.
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Post by Falconer on Jul 15, 2021 23:05:11 GMT -6
Love those Harold Shea stories! Did a post about editions here.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2021 6:24:28 GMT -6
I'm about 80% through "Dice or Die" by forum member doublejig2 and I've really enjoyed it. It's really a love-letter to his old gaming group, the Brown Chairs, and the milieu of the Witchlands in which they adventured. It's unique among the RPG books I've read, both in authorial voice and in the scope of the things it covers. It's not exactly a theory book, not exactly a setting book or module. It's written very "stream of consciousness" in many places and has a unique and cheeky sense of humor that pervades every aspect of it, but in a delightful way that reminds me of the little jokes and tongue-in-cheek references that veteran players and referees might expect to come across. I'm really thankful that I was chosen to be one of the people on this forum to receive a complementary copy. I've already written down notes for about a dozen things I plan to "yank" from this book and use in the future for a fantasy game, and really, any RPG book that can inspire people to do that is worth the candle, isn't it?
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Post by jeffb on Jul 16, 2021 6:43:40 GMT -6
Love those Harold Shea stories! Did a post about editions here. Excellent work, thanks for the link. The version I picked up is the Doubleday 1976 compilation. It was 86 cents, I think.
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Post by Falconer on Jul 16, 2021 6:56:20 GMT -6
Oh, nice! I only have various paperbacks plus the 2007 NESFA collection.
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Post by jeffb on Jul 16, 2021 12:44:31 GMT -6
Oh, nice! I only have various paperbacks plus the 2007 NESFA collection. crap, I hate being on a phone. I got the pics and descriptors jumbled going back and forth from window to window. Mine is the Blue Hildebrandt cover from 76. Ballantine.
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Post by jeffb on Jul 17, 2021 19:33:08 GMT -6
No spoilers- but as far as The Compleat Enchanter goes I have to say
1) Absolutely loved the initial "book"...obviously a huge influence on Gary and D&D. 2) I am also quite pissed off how the 1st "book" ended! 3) Although not bad, so far I'm not finding the second book nearly as entertaining (or as blatantly influential on Gary/D&D) as the first
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Post by geoffrey on Jul 24, 2021 11:11:24 GMT -6
For the first time in 20 years I am re-reading Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Today I acquired this particular publication thereof: www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=1213I am pretending that I am 12 years old again, and that I know nothing of Tolkien's writings beyond what I had read in The Hobbit. There are a total of 62 chapters in The Lord of the Rings. I plan on reading one chapter per day (ignoring the prologue and the appendices). I read the first chapter today, so I should read the last chapter on July 24. And today I finished the saga.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2021 12:50:16 GMT -6
The Histories by Herodotus. Was not expecting this many fart jokes. Good fodder for setting design, though.
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Post by geoffrey on Jul 31, 2021 9:50:08 GMT -6
I have been reading C. B. Knoepfle's Dice or Die: Investigations into a Fantasy Campaign Milieu: This is the Moby Dick of FRPG books. It is not a "sit down and play" product. It's not a set of rules, or a dungeon, or a town, or a wilderness, or a collection of monsters or of spells or of magic items. It's nothing like that. If you've ever read Moby Dick, you'll know that Herman Melville was obsessed with whales, and with sperm whales in particular. The book even has an entire chapter explaining how the color white is the most frightening color in the world. Well, Dice or Die is parallel to that. It's a volume of personal history, very short fiction, tiny dungeons, lists, reflections and instructions on campaign design, a campaign setting, a campaign module, etc. And sprinkled like gems throughout are casual references to a campaign setting that bears all the marks of decades of development. The author's head has basically blown-up, and someone collected the scattered leaves and assembled them into this book. You can feel the love for D&D permeating every page. The author is clearly not a casual gamer, and this book is best for the dedicated and experienced D&Der.
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Post by doublejig2 on Jul 31, 2021 10:23:34 GMT -6
Awesome!
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Post by doublejig2 on Aug 1, 2021 14:15:21 GMT -6
I read Moby Dick when I was 19. It was the only fiction my father ever recommended to me, so I am extra fascinated and pleased.
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Post by makofan on Aug 3, 2021 18:51:01 GMT -6
The Histories by Herodotus. Was not expecting this many fart jokes. Good fodder for setting design, though. I enjoyed The Histories immensely
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Post by makofan on Aug 3, 2021 18:51:21 GMT -6
I am currently re-reading Le Morte D'Arthur for my Pendragon campaign
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 3, 2021 19:39:20 GMT -6
I just got the entire collection of ERB Mars on Audible. So I'm listening to them all straight through. I'm on Masterminds of Mars at the moment.
I'll be listening to Dune next in preparation for the movie (though I've read it innumerable times).
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Post by plethon on Aug 4, 2021 8:31:39 GMT -6
Just finished the Middle English Siege of Jerusalem, I'll probably continue to peruse it for a while though and going through the appendixes and references.
Currently, I'm reading a few things simultaneously: the Augustan History (or History of the Later Caesars) Merlin by Norma Lorre Goodrich (an attempt at reconstructing the historical Merlin) The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci Unfinished Tales of Tolkien
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2021 12:24:01 GMT -6
Finally got around to diving into The Elusive Shift by our very own Jon Peterson. Enjoying it immensely so far. I'm glad these sorts of scholarly approaches to the early hobby are being compiled while the original material and some of the people involved are still with us. I feel like that will be invaluable in years to come when more in depth academic discussion on this subject appears.
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Post by geoffrey on Aug 14, 2021 17:08:23 GMT -6
Sometime during my 8th-grade year (1983-84) I read The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks. Today I finished my second reading of it. I enjoyed most everything about the book, and I recommend it to anyone wanting a good, solid tale of high fantasy.
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Post by stevemitchell on Aug 24, 2021 18:05:41 GMT -6
Black Bargain and Other Raw Deals by Robert Bloch. A collection of horror, mystery, and science fiction stories by Bloch, mostly minor efforts, but still entertaining.
Landslide by Michael Wolff. This is Wolff’s third book on the Trump presidency, and is focused primarily on the period from the election day in November 2020 through January 6, 2021.
The Alien Agendas by Richard Dolan. The author makes the assumption that alien visitors are behind the UFO mystery, and then speculates on what their motives could be in visiting Earth.
Saucers, Spooks, and Kooks by Adam Gorightly. Another side of the UFO phenomenon—disinformation and deceit by government agencies and other actors.
Reilly’s Luck by Louis L’Amour. The book covers over 20 years in a young Westerner’s life, beginning at the age of 4 when he is abandoned by his mother in a snow storm. But he survives, and grows up to be a capable cowboy, gambler, and gunfighter. He meets some interesting people along the way, including Wild Bill Hickock and Billy the Kid.
The Big Blackout by John Keel. At the same time that he was investigating the Mothman sightings in West Virginia, Keel was also pursuing a group of alleged aliens and contactees operating on Long Island. He began this story in The Big Breakthrough, and it continues here.
Kiowa Trail by Louis L’Amour. A Texas cattle outfit brings its herd up the long trail to a Kansas town. Then one of the cowboys gets shot in the back by some of the townspeople. That starts a war between the cattle outfit and the town—with plenty more cowboys and gunslingers from the Lone Star State showing up to lend the Texans a hand.
The Three Impostors by Arthur Machen. A strange series of interlocking narratives, including two of Machen’s occult classics, “The Novel of the Black Seal” and “The Novel of the White Powder.”
Earth, Air, Fire & Water by Brian Lumley. Four Cthulhu Mythos novelettes from Lumley, all (supposedly) with elemental themes.
Smoke of the Snake by Carl Jacobi. Originally intended as the fourth collection of Jacobi’s supernatural and SF tales from Arkham House, it was published instead decades later by Fedogan & Bremer. A nice group of stories, covering more than 50 years of the author’s career.
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flightcommander
Level 6 Magician
"I become drunk as circumstances dictate."
Posts: 366
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Post by flightcommander on Aug 24, 2021 21:41:11 GMT -6
I recently started re-reading the Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. On a whim I decided to start in medias res with Book 2, continue to Book 3, and then "wrap around" to Suldrun's Garden, which I'm about 1/3 of the way through.
Why? I recalled from my initial reading a few years ago that the first book, especially the first half of it, was rather melancholy compared to the rest of the tale. I wanted to skip that, get way deep into the weeds of the second book, experience the resounding crash of the finale in the third book ... and then re-experience the beginning of the story, but with the conclusion fresh in my mind. So far I'm enjoying this quite a bit!
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Post by geoffrey on Aug 25, 2021 8:39:48 GMT -6
I am re-reading Dracula.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2021 12:15:43 GMT -6
I recently started re-reading the Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. On a whim I decided to start in medias res with Book 2, continue to Book 3, and then "wrap around" to Suldrun's Garden, which I'm about 1/3 of the way through. Why? I recalled from my initial reading a few years ago that the first book, especially the first half of it, was rather melancholy compared to the rest of the tale. I wanted to skip that, get way deep into the weeds of the second book, experience the resounding crash of the finale in the third book ... and then re-experience the beginning of the story, but with the conclusion fresh in my mind. So far I'm enjoying this quite a bit! I read these in order a while back and agree the first half of book 1 seems tonally very different from the rest of the saga. Reminds me of the early chapters of Fellowship of the Ring vs. the rest of that saga, but the inverse. Instead of getting darker, Lyonesse gets more whimsical.
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Post by geoffrey on Aug 26, 2021 8:18:13 GMT -6
Perhaps I should re-try the Lyonesee Saga. Years ago I read about the first 100 or so pages of the first volume, then I stopped, thinking, "Man, this is too sad for me."
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Post by Red Baron on Aug 26, 2021 12:54:23 GMT -6
Perhaps I should re-try the Lyonesee Saga. Years ago I read about the first 100 or so pages of the first volume, then I stopped, thinking, "Man, this is too sad for me." Once you get past the Suldrun portion of the story and into the parts with Shimrod and Aillas, its picks up!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2021 9:46:55 GMT -6
Read "Rise of the Dungeon Master" over one sitting. Entertaining little graphic novel. Very simplified and stylized version of a story I've already read in multiple other sources but the presentation was fantastic.
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Parzival
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Is a little Stir Crazy this year...
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Post by Parzival on Sept 3, 2021 16:10:26 GMT -6
Re-reading Tim Power’s The Drawing of the Dark. A terrific story by a terrific writer.
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flightcommander
Level 6 Magician
"I become drunk as circumstances dictate."
Posts: 366
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Post by flightcommander on Sept 3, 2021 23:00:27 GMT -6
Perhaps I should re-try the Lyonesee Saga. Years ago I read about the first 100 or so pages of the first volume, then I stopped, thinking, "Man, this is too sad for me." And it is. However, I would absolutely recommend that you give it another try! The whole trilogy, seen from the vantage of that final page, is a beautiful work.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2021 17:05:39 GMT -6
I'm not gonna lie. For my tastes, Vance is the standout author from Appendix N. I know opinions widely vary but he's becoming my favorite Fiction author of all time. Every book of his I read just reinforces this opinion.
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