What are you reading? - 2019, and beyond.

[Deleted]

I enjoy Dunsany, for sure - but his importance and influence is often overstated, I think. Simply, because he has such a convoluted prose. Now, get where I am coming from - "Meleon", my RPG project starting in autumn, is substantially influenced by Dunsany's "The King of Elfland's Daughter". But still, unless one really digs historical texts, I'd take virtually any famous author from his time over him as a leisure lecture.

[Otto Harkaman]

Time to return to the basics, listening to an excellent unabridged audiobook of "The Lord of the Rings"

[scottenkainen]

T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents Archives vol. 2-3.

~Scott "-enkainen" Casper

[Vile Traveller]

Since I've started teaching full-time I mostly need to use my reading time for work-related subjects. Luckily a lot of it is applicable to gaming!

Jan Gehl: Life Between Buildings

[tetramorph]

Vile Traveller, that looks really cool!

That makes me think of how I am a big fan of Christopher Alexander and read all his stuff and collect as much as I can (architecture books, like art books, are pretty expensive).

His idea of recursive patterns that show up at different levels of scale and across differing media is really important to me both in my own academic career and for gaming.

Rad

[kesher]

AH! tetramorph! I LOVE Christopher Alexander!

A Timeless away of Building is, for my money, one of the great spiritual classics of the last century...

I tried my hand at a generative approach to campaign building a number of years ago...

[tetramorph]

kesher, that is so cool.

I have thought about such a thing, but then my mind reels.

Anything worth sharing?

(If so, we should probably start another thread so as not to derail this one about reading!)

Fight on! (Generatively!)

[kesher]

I'll see if I can dig up the notes. If it doesn't feel painfully bad, I'll start a thread...

[franchise]

I'm reading book 5 in the Rules of Ascension series by David B. Coe. Weavers of War. It's odd because I like the series. I say it's odd because normally I don't like wizard-centric fantasy (though I do like wizards being one or more of the characters, just not the main protagonist.) and even in D&D I'm not really into psionics. and often eliminate them from the games altogether. But these books seem to have what I'm guessing are some things in common with psionics. But I enjoy these books anyway. They have intrigue which I like and suspense. The other characters are also interesting enough that I really like the book and even enjoy the magic in this series. Maybe when I'm done, after I read some other books I'll move on to another of his series which includes one of the same characters.

[Otto Harkaman]

Figured out the "Lord of the Rings" audiobook I am listening to is read by Rob Inglis, its excellent. I just reached Weathertop with Strider and the hobbits. Reading some history of Tolkien it was mentioned that William Morris' book "The Well at the World's End" had some influence on him. So I might read a little of it and see what I think.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morris


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well_at_the_World%27s_End

[terje]

Just finished Earth's Last Citadell by Moore and Kuttner. It was fun to read and conjured a far future dying earth ravaged by alien space gods and inhabited by the mutant remnants of humanity. Have started on Ptath by van Vogt, also far future science fantasy this time from the poit of view of a reincarnated godling.

[Otto Harkaman]

Just starting on this, Dark Valley Destiny: The Life of Robert E. Howard by L. Sprague de Camp

[kesher]

I just finished M.A.R. Barker's first Tékumel novel, The Man of Gold. I think this was probably the 3rd or 4th time I've read it. The Good Professor wan't the greatest prose stylist in the world, but there is no better way to immerse yourself in his creation, at least not since he's moved on to the Isles of the Excellent Dead.

I still have the DAW paperback edition I bought in 1984, though I also just ordered the reprint recently released by the Tékumel Foundation.

Tonight I start in on Flamesong...

[tetramorph]

Well, not really fantasy related, but I just read Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman.

Not sure what the fuss was about. It is not as good as To Kill a Mockingbird, but should we be surprised?

It was fun to read, and her amazing prose style carries you through.

So I am glad I read it.

[Deleted]

Aiming for Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland" next week - I don't know ANYTHING about the novel, plot-wise, so this should be fun.

[kesher]

Well, if it's like his other novels, expect detailed descriptions of meal preparation...

[Deleted]

Going the Ayn Rand route, and familiarizing myself again with "Atlas Shrugged", which I had started before, but had been unable to finish.

Not going to be overly political over here, but, arrrgh, that prose. Whatever her ideological base might have been (which I have not understood quite completely so far), I recommend people to read the Cliffsnotes, instead of the novel itself. Her tone, very reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald, at least how I remember him, but lacking his subtility.

On the bright side, John Steinbeck, "East of Eden". very engaging book, so far.

[Otto Harkaman]

I've been listening to an audio book of Robert Graves' "I, Claudius" I had read the book a long long time ago



Also by the blessing of torrents I've downloaded the old BBC tv series "I, Claudius" which aired around 1976 or something.

Say who is this guy?

[Otto Harkaman]

Sept 14, 2015 4:36:57 GMT -6 @rafael said:

Whatever her ideological base might have been (which I have not understood quite completely so far)

Ideology: Skeptical Realism? definition: Lazy people sponge off of hard working people, and blame everyone else but themselves for their shortcomings.

[Deleted]

Hehe, thanks, I obviously know the basic premise - but how her book is an example for it, I'm not quite sure. The characters are terrible, and the basic plot appears to be more suited for the 1920s than the 1950s, especially with all the steps back into what I - as person with a German education - strongly associate with nazi ideology.

Overall, a pretty shirtty book; similar soap operas of the time are substantially less annoying, and better written.

[krusader74]

The Spider

The Spider first appeared in the pulp magazine: The Spider #1 (October 1933) "The Spider Strikes." He was created by Harry Steeger.

The Spider was originally a rip-off of The Shadow, a hugely successful pulp magazine and radio show that started in 1930. Much of what's true about The Spider is also true of The Shadow. For example, they're both criminologists who use a mask and a gun to fight criminals.

While The Shadow has more name recognition, The Spider seems to have had a greater influence on comic book creators. His villains include characters whose names would later be recycled into heroes like "The Bat Man" and "The Iron Man." Moreover, the biographies of Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are nearly identical to that of Richard Wentworth, the The Spider's protagonist. The Spider's rogues gallery includes recognizable names like The Octopus, The Gargoyle, The Red Mandarin. Most notably, Stan Lee credits The Spider as the inspiration for Spider-Man. He says:

Why Spider-Man? Simple. In the long-dead, practically Paleolithic era when I had been on the verge of approaching teenagerhood, one of my favorite pulp magazine heroes was a stalwart named the Spider. He wore a slouch hat and a finger ring with the image of an arachnid—a ring which, when he punched a foe fearlessly in the face, would leave its mark, an impression of a spider. It was the Spider's calling card, and it sent goose pimples up and down my ten-year-old spine. More than that, I can still remember how the magazine’s subtitle grabbed me. It was called The Spider—but after his name were the never-to-be-forgotten words: Master of Men.... Now, as far as I can remember, the Spider had no superhuman powers. It seems to me he was just a good guy who fought the bad guys. It was his name that grabbed me. But that was enough.

Key characters

Main character: Richard Wentworth

• served as a Major in World War I
• millionaire
• last surviving member of his family
• lives in New York City
• aviator
• plays violin and piano
• drives a Lancia
• speaks fluent Hindustani
• scientist: knows chemistry and electronics
• master of disguise
• amateur criminologist
• later becomes a Lt. in the FBI
• crack shot
• "master of men": has a commanding voice that gets people to do what he says. He can also imitate other people's voices.
• 5'11" tall, grey eyes, scar

Alter Ego: The Spider

• no super powers
• wears a black fedora, black mask, black suit, and a cape, all embroidered with a white web pattern (most recent comic book uses red web embroidery)
• cape is sometimes used as a rope or a net
• thin silk "spider line" for climbing
• net (like a web)
• leaves red spider sign on criminal's foreheads as his calling card. At first this was red ink in a gold ring. Later, a platinum cigarette lighter. Note that Spider-Man also leaves a literal calling card that said "Caught by your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." In Fritz Lang's 1919 film The Spiders, the criminals left spiders as calling cards on their victims. Real-life criminals from Jack the Ripper, to Zodiac, to the Beltway Sniper have also left calling cards.
• uses two Colt M1911 .45 caliber hand guns. Has a silencer. Shoots to kill. But never shoots cops. Note that Batman also used a gun and killed criminals in the earliest comics in 1939.
• gun hidden in one of his shoes
• disguise/makeup kit
• lock pick/thieves tools
• rubber gloves, to defuse electrical traps

Disguises

• Tito Caliepi, a hunchback and later a "vampire" who scares hoodlums
• "Blinky" McQuade, a safe crack and small-time hood. Wears an eye patch and has a gruff voice.
• Rupert Barton, a Scotland Yard detective

Supporting characters

• Nita Van Sloan, Wentworth's longtime fiancé. Knows he's the Spider. Always being kidnapped by the villains.
• Ronald Jackson: Wentworth's chauffeur, and sidekick. Former Army sergeant; served with Wentworth. Still calls Wentworth "the Major." Sometimes dresses up as The Spider, to divert suspicion away from Wentworth.
• Ram Singh: Wentworth's bodyguard. Also knows Wentworth is The Spider. Speaks Hindustani. Deadly knife thrower. Carries knives hidden all over his body, including a Kukri. Originally Hindu, but later retconned to be a Sikh.
• Harold Jenkyns: Wentworth's butler. Elderly (think "Alfred") in the books, but played by a younger actor in the film serials. Knows Wentworth is The Spider.
• Professor Brownlee: inventor. Makes gadgets for Wentworth. Think "Lucius Fox". In 1935 Brownlee is killed and his son takes over.
• Stanley Kirkpatrick, police commissioner. Does NOT know Wentworth is The Spider. Always suspects the villain and The Spider are one and the same. Law enforcement is under orders to "shoot to kill" The Spider.

Notable villains

• The Bat Man, first appears in The Spider v7 #2, Death Reign of the Vampire King (November 1935) by John Newton Howitt . The Bat Man terrorizes the country with hordes of poisoned bats.. This was adapted into a 3-issue comic by Tim Truman called Reign of the Vampire King (1992), published by Eclipse Books
• The Iron Man
• The Red Mandarin
• The Octopus
• The Gargoyle

Film Serials

Columbia Pictures made two Spider film serials, starring Warren Hull. Each is 15 chapters that were originally released in weekly installments in theaters. The first chapter is 30 minutes. The remainder about 15 minutes each.

I saw these on YouTube. I have to confess that I didn't like chapter one of either serial. BUT the remaining chapters were fun and exciting! I like Warren Hull as Richard Wentworth. The weakest link is Ram Singh who has a terrible accent and a lackluster performance.

Anyway, these two films are a good way to start enjoying The Spider franchise:

• The Spider's Web (1938). The villain is The Octopus. Like Doc Ock, he has an extra arm in a manner of speaking. Wants to monopolize industrial production via domestic terrorism.
• The Spider Returns (1941). The villain is The Gargoyle, sabotaging national defense production for the Axis. Calls to mind Yuri Topolov, Marvel's Gargoyle, a Soviet scientist, who was the Hulk's first villain, appearing in The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962).

I would like to see a modern film reboot of The Spider. Hollywood loves comic book heroes right now. And The Spider is the grand daddy of the genre. He deserves a movie deal. I even think it would work today as a 15-part black-and-white serial on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu.

The Golden Age film serial is a lost art. In the future, I may follow up with a post explaining their structure and the common tropes they employ. But here's the condensed version:

• Every week the villain perpetrates some crime, leaves behind clues, and traps the hero
• The clues point to a "candidate" criminal, usually a prominent industrialist or banker. This turns out to be a red herring.
• Each chapter ends with the hero in a death trap, the so-called cliffhanger

(I really enjoy watching Golden Age film serials. Some of my favorites include The Green Hornet (1938), The Shadow (1940), Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) and Gang Busters (1942). If people are interested, I can write detailed reviews of these too!)

Where to buy

• The Vintage Library reprints old pulp magazines, radio shows, and cliffhanger serials. They have an extensive catalog of Spider materials.
• Radio Archives is another source for Spider novels, eBooks and audio books.

Free stuff!!!

Radio Archives currently has some Spider freebies... Over it's publication, The Spider has had many writers, but the one with the greatest impact was Norvell W. Page. You can get a free eBook reprint of The Spider #11 (August 1934) "Prince of the Red Looters" by Norvell W. Page writing as Grant Stockbridge. It's 131 pages. And it's available in PDF, ePub and Kindle formats. To get it, go to the book's web page OR send email with the following address, subject and body, and you'll get back a download link:

address: [e-mail]
subject: Please send me the FREE Spider eBook!
body: Send this email and Instantly download The Spider #11 eBook!


You can also get a link to download a free audio book version of The Spider #69 (June 1939) "Rule of the Monster Men." It is a 386MB zipped set of mp3 files. Again, send an email formatted as follows:

address: [e-mail]
subject: Please send me the FREE Spider Audiobook
body: Send this email and instantly download The Spider #69 Audiobook!


Comics

• The Tim Truman comic books from the 1990s are adaptations of 1930s stories. Unfortunately they seem to be out of print and not available electronically. But used copies are available.
• The Spider (May 2012) by David Liss and Colton Worley. This is a reintroduction of the Spider in the 21st Century.
• Masks (Nov 2012) by Chris Roberson and Alex Ross. A team-up of The Shadow, The Green Hornet, Kato, and The Spider.
• Honorable mention: Spider-Man Noir (Dec 2008) by David Hine, Fabrice Sapolsky, and Carmine Di Giandomenico. While not a "Spider" book, it seems like a homage to the original Spider. It's even set in 1933---the same year The Spider originally appeared. Basically the same costume. In this, Spider-Man has no true super powers. He uses a gun. Only real difference is he's poor Peter Parker, not millionaire Richard Wentworth.

Links and resources

• Fantastic fan site
• List of Pulp Adventures
• List of pulp magazine covers
• More detailed information about the Columbia Pictures film serials

RPG adaptation

Nobody's done an RPG adaptation of The Spider yet, as far as I know.

• I think The Spider would work BEST in Hideouts & Hoodlums by scottenkainen
• It could also work using Rick Krebs' Gangbusters. But that's set in the bloody 20s, so you'd need to advance the setting by a decade. Goodbye "prohibition agent," hello "criminologist." Which reminds me... There is a 15-part Golden Age franchise called "Gang Busters" that I've been meaning to review. It was a 1935 radio show, a 1942 film serial, and a series of DC comics until the early 50s. Post-prohibition, but still very relevant as potential background info for the RPG.
• The Call of Cthulhu RPG might also work, minus the insanity and hocus pocus, and aged 10 years.
• Other super hero RPGs like MSHRPG or Villains & Vigilantes are possibilities---minus the super powers.

Other suggestions?

[Vile Traveller]

For the nonce it's The Landscape of Man by Geoffrey and Susan Jellicoe. Hey, I gotta work to play.

[scottenkainen]

I always appreciate being tagged in a message, Krusader, and I certainly won't argue. The Spider's adventures in particular were the most over-the-top of the pulp heroes, featuring stuff like giant robots to fight, and that's very much like H&H. A H&H campaign based on the Spider would use most of the game as-is, just restricting players to human Fighters and Mysterymen, and modifying or taking some items off the starting equipment list (the list assumes you're using 1939 as your base year.

[Deleted]

Going full fantasy next month, reading the entire "Witcher" series by Andrzej Sapowski, from start to finish. (As opposed to earlier occasions when I had read some of the books out of order.)

Also, how's that much-lauded series by Brian Staveley? - As I've said many times before, I like fantasy, but I don't depend on it as a literary genre. The reviews for this one are pretty much through the roof, and I am finding that I feel slightly interested.

Outside of that, really just business literature, at the moment. Which is why I need a bit of easy reading on the side.

[battlebrotherbob]

This is what I started today.

[Deleted]

WIth a 3D cover?! WOW.

[geoffrey]

I'm reading Moby Dick.

I'm finding it inspirational for D&D.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Sept 21, 2015 21:05:39 GMT -6 battlebrotherbob said:

This is what I started today.

I completed my reading just about a week ago. It wasn't bad at all. I would have liked more details at spots but it might have spoiled the ending. What did you think?

[kesher]

I'm devouring the Penguin Classics selection of Clark Ashton Smith's work (prose and poetry), The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies.

I cannot praise it highly enough.

[stevemitchell]

I'm reading Ghor Kinslayer by Robert E. Howard and many more. This was originally planned as a round-robin serial for the old Howard fanzine Fantasy Crossroads, starting out with one of REH's Jim Allison-reincarnation stories, that only existed as a fragment. Other writers, among them, Karl Edward Wagner, Joseph Payne Brennan, and Richard Tierney, then continued the saga. Regrettably, Fantasy Crossroads stopped publication before the serial was complete, but Necronomicon Press, many years later, collected the published and unpunished segments into a trade paperback edition.

The setting is the Hyborian Age, but after the time of Conan; the Picts are attacking from the west, the Hykanians are attacking from the east, and the Hyborian kingdoms are caught in the middle. Ghor is a Vanir who was cast out by his tribe, was raised by wolves, later joined the Aesir, brought about the destruction of his Vanir family, and is now serving as a mercenary in Nemedia--with many more adventures to come, including, apparently, a meeting with the Hounds of Tindalos!