# [June] What are you reading?



## Krug (Jun 1, 2004)

Still working my way through *Curse of Chalion*; hope to finish it this week.


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## Halivar (Jun 1, 2004)

I'm on hiatus from the WoT series (see May edition), because I picked up Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I commented in the May thread that I wanted to read _The Baroque Cycle_, but wasn't sure if I would like it; some folks said I should read this first to see if I like his writing style (and I do). It is absolutely great. Well, some parts I could do without; but by and large it is a great book.

    It's a must read if you like math or cryptography. It's also given me inspriation for a new quest idea.


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## Mark Chance (Jun 1, 2004)

On my list for this month:

Imajica by Clive Barker
Lourdes: A Modern Pilgrimage by Patrick Marnham
The Ball and the Cross by G. K. Chesterton
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis

I still haven't finished The Black Book of Communisn or Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago. I was thinking about trying to finish up Mircea Eliade's Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy.


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## Hand of Evil (Jun 1, 2004)

Swords of Haven by Simon Green 

I need to get by the book store this week.


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## Mog Elffoe (Jun 1, 2004)

I'll probably finish up _The Last Detective _ by Robert Crais tonight and then I've got a stack of books to choose from.  I don't know if I'll jump into some Flashman books by George MacDonald Fraser (I have about six of them just lying around), _Lullaby_ by Chuck Palahniuk, or start the _Black Company_ series by Glen Cook next.


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## cignus_pfaccari (Jun 1, 2004)

Currently reading Atlantis in America, which is really annoying.  I enjoy Lost Ancient Civilizations and such, but the authors aren't nearly as fun to read as Graham Hancock.

After that, I have the two Garrett, P.I. novels I was missing, Old Tin Sorrows and Deadly Quicksilver Lies.  Next, the Tower of Fear (all three by Glen Cook).

Then, John Keegan's Intelligence in War and The Second World War.  Then I'll need more books, but hopefully John Ringo's Emerald Sea will be out.

Brad


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## Heretic Apostate (Jun 1, 2004)

*Cincinnatus and the Citizen-Servant Ideal: The Roman Legend's Life, Times, and Legacy* [font=verdana,arial,helvetica][size=-1]by Michael J. Hillyard[/size][/font] 

I've been trying to find books on Cincinnatus for years, now I finally found one.  Unfortunately, it's on its way, so I can't read it yet. 

Now, if I could just find a book on Vauban, Napoleon's siege engineer.


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## Rabelais (Jun 1, 2004)

*This month's books*

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox  by Barry Hughart  I can't recomend this enough.  It's an exciting adventure story  (actually 3 separate novels together in one volume) set in 7th Century CE China.  It's brilliant, exciting, funny and romantic.  Everything that good Fantasy should be.


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## Rabelais (Jun 1, 2004)

*This month's books*

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox  by Barry Hughart  I can't recomend this enough.  It's an exciting adventure story  (actually 3 separate novels together in one volume) set in 7th Century CE China.  It's brilliant, exciting, funny and romantic.  Everything that good Fantasy should be.


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## Pants (Jun 1, 2004)

Still chugging on _The Stand_.
I plan on reading _Gardens of the Moon_ by Steve Erikson once my order comes in.


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## Rabelais (Jun 1, 2004)

*This month's books*

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox  by Barry Hughart  I can't recomend this enough.  It's an exciting adventure story  (actually 3 separate novels together in one volume) set in 7th Century CE China.  It's brilliant, exciting, funny and romantic.  Everything that good Fantasy should be.

This is the blurb from the jacket

Barry Hughart once remarked that he was inspired to write fantasy when he noticed that the characters of ancient Chinese fiction tended to finish their careers as gods in the Chinese pantheon, which is certainly as good a reason as any.

His Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox (Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen) are rollicking, witty and original romps, intelligently written and engagingly funny in all the best ways, (meaning they aren't only funny). Now The Stars Our Destination brings all three books together into one omnibus volume, for the benefit of discerning readers everywhere. The award-winning Bridge of Birds introduces us to Master Li Kao,

Hughart's aged scholar with a "slight flaw in his character"; we see this remarkable old man through the eyes of his assistant, Number Ten Ox, the orphaned young man from the village of Ku-fu, whose most noble attributes are his strength, his purity of heart, and his lust...for life. Together, the two embark on a series of quests set against China's mythical landscape, and on the road they encounter gods, goddesses, demons, vampire-ghouls, puppeteers, poets and ghosts. To succeed in finding the truth, they steal, scheme, deceive, and generally cause mayhem for the ungodly. Master LI's penchant for plotting elaborate hoaxes is matched only by Ox's determination and loyalty, and in the end Right does defeat Might, Good triumphs over Evil and the innocent are indeed redeemed--if not quite in the manner that the reader might have expected


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## Rabelais (Jun 1, 2004)

Ladies and Gentlemen... May I present to you the dreaded Triple Post... Reflect and Dispair!


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 1, 2004)

Still Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (about halfway through).


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## Pants (Jun 1, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Still Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (about halfway through).



What do you think of it so far?


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 1, 2004)

Pants said:
			
		

> What do you think of it so far?




Pretty good.  Didn't like it at first, but it's grown on me.  How's Gaiman's other stuff?


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## Pants (Jun 1, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> Pretty good.  Didn't like it at first, but it's grown on me.  How's Gaiman's other stuff?



_American Gods_ and _Good Omens_ are fantastic.  _Good Omens_ is especially hilarious.


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## Welverin (Jun 1, 2004)

The Book of Taltos by Brust
Exalted the Abyssals
And I picked up my comics on the weekend so I'll be reading those as well.


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## Tetsubo (Jun 1, 2004)

The Discovery of Time. It looks at how time is measured by man, how it effects us biologically and the physics of time.


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## Datt (Jun 1, 2004)

I am now in book four of the Saga of Recluce.  The twelth book in the series was just released last month, but it will be a while before I get to that.  Each books seems to be getting bigger.  The last two have been around 600 pages and it is taking me about a week to read each.  So I should be ready for it about August.


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## Yraen (Jun 1, 2004)

*What You Reading?*

I've just finished Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. Okay, but could have done with less padding. Is J.K. trying to be the new J.R.R. Tolkien?

I'm reading at the "City of" Angel book, but mainly because my group has just started the Angel RPG.


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## Welverin (Jun 1, 2004)

Yraen said:
			
		

> I've just finished Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. Okay, but could have done with less padding. Is J.K. trying to be the new J.R.R. Tolkien?




Based on comments from people around here the more current comparison might be Jordan.


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## WayneLigon (Jun 1, 2004)

After bouncing around to three or four books, reading the first 20 pages and deciding 'not now', I think I've settled down with _The Devil in the Dust_ by Chaz Brenchley. The first of six (!) Outremer books, but they're short books. I understand that when originally published in the UK it was a trilogy; wish they'd done that with the American imprint as well. 

So far it's pretty enjoyable; young monk-to-be Marron has come to the great fortress Roq de Rancon to learn to be a knight of the God (they refer to him in that manner; 'the God' instead of just 'God' - his symbol is an infinity sign) like his father. He has a gift for swordsmanship and incredible endurance for someone who has only been in one real fight; this attracts the attention of one of the young knights, who takes Marron under his wing. Marron is also haunted by the ghastly acts his group performed at a village of heretics while journeying to the fortress. Meanwhile, Julianne de Rance, daughter of the King's Shadow (not exactly sure what this is, yet, but he's a very powerful man) has come to Roq de Rancon to wed. The plot threads are just now beginning to come together. 

So far, Outremer seems like a nice setting for a campaign, as well. Hopefully I can find a map somewhere.

Edit: Aha. And a home page.  
http://www.outremer.co.uk/index.html


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Jun 1, 2004)

Rereading the Avatar Series from the Realms here and there. In between them I've been also reading the M.Y.T.H. Inc books.


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## drnuncheon (Jun 1, 2004)

Just finished _Fat White Vampire Blues_ and am now working my way through _Memoires of an Invisible Man_.

 J


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## Wombat (Jun 1, 2004)

Just re-read the five Harry Potter books; next up is Devil in the White City; after that, probably an Amelia Peabody mystery.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Jun 1, 2004)

A Place Called Dagon - by R. Gorman - set in a small town in Massachusetts, the story is about witches.  No relation to HP Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" stories, but what is it about small towns in Massachusetts? 

Shadows Over Innsmouth and Tales Out of Innsmouth - tales concerning one of HPL's favorite Massachusetts towns.  Between the two books you get the original story (_The Shadow Over Innsmouth_), as well as an alternate version from HPL's original notes (The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth), and several original mythos stories concerning Innsmouth.

Escape From Innsmouth - a *Call of Cthulhu* setting/scenario book.

Guess I've got Innsmouth on the brain lately.... _Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!_


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## Pielorinho (Jun 1, 2004)

Over the weekend, I read *Agyar* and *The Book of Jhereg*, both by Steven Brust; I've been on a Brust jag lately .  

*The Book of Jhereg* comprises the first three Vlad Taltos novels, and I was pretty disappointed in them.  It seems that it really was the florid writing style that made me love *The Phoenix Guards* so much; these were written in a pedestrian, clumsy fashion that did very little for me.  Granted, they're among his first works, so I can forgive them as early efforts; still, I was hoping for something as delightful as *Phoenix Guards* and didn't get it.

*Agyar* is pretty good, however; in fact, it approaches Joyce Carol Oates' *Zombie* in terms of being a creepy book about a sociopath.  

Daniel


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## replicant2 (Jun 2, 2004)

*"The Lost"*

Just finished reading "The Lost" by Jack Ketchum.  Fast moving, highly enjoyable horror/suspense. The 400 pages absolutely flew by.

This is the first Ketchum book I've ever read, having picked it up based on glowing recommendations Stephen King has given the guy.  I agree with his assessments completely. If you like King, by all means try Ketchum.

"The Lost" is set in the late 1960's and centers around an unsolved murder mystery in a small New Jersey town. Two disillusioned detectives know who the murderer is, but lack the evidence to bring him in. The killer is a young, twisted but highly charismatic kid very reminsicent of Charles Manson, and the book addresses the social changes in the U.S. in the late 1960's that came with the Manson murders, Vietnam and the hippie/drug revolution. Fascinating stuff.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 2, 2004)

Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> as well as an alternate version from HPL's original notes (The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth)




How's this different from the usually-seen version?


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## Taelorn76 (Jun 3, 2004)

Well I am still trying to get through book 10 in the WoT series, but just picked up Elminster's Daughter and and for something other than fantasy I am starting Deception Point by Dan Brown.


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## Liminal Syzygy (Jun 3, 2004)

Still working on Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson. BTW, anyone who likes their fantasy dark and grim with complex, coherent, and facinating world building in the background, Gardens of the Moon is just being released in hardback in the states. In another thread Pants was saying it's available on Walmart's site for about $15. I think Black Company fans will especially enjoy Erikson's work.

Was hoping to finish it before my business trip to NY next week, but looks like that won't be happening, especially with D&D planned for the Sunday before I leave. 

Need to decide on a travel book... I have Stephenson's The Confusion ready to go but it's also too big to be lugging around. Hmm... Maybe Snowfall.


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## Rabelais (Jun 3, 2004)

*The Bad Popes*

I'm also reading a book called "The Bad Popes"  by Russell Chamberlain.  It's a very well written (not boring) history of the Church, during the reign of seven different popes, during three distinct periods.


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## mojo1701 (Jun 4, 2004)

Finally finished *The Last Command*, the third and final book in the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 5, 2004)

Lud Heat: and Suicide Bridge by Iain Sinclair
About the Hawksmoor churches, the Ripper murders, the Ratcliffe Highway murders, Egyptian protector goddesses, and a lot more.  A very weird book that resembles a rambling drunken conversation.  If you know the chapter of _From Hell_ where Jack takes Netley on a tour of London, that's what the first 40 pages or so are like.


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## Pielorinho (Jun 5, 2004)

Based on *Piratecat's*recommendation in last month's (?) thread, I picked up a couple Donald Westlake novels about the master burglar Dortmunder.  _Don't Ask_ was funnier than _What's the Worst That Could Happen?_ while the latter is probably more audacious than the first.  I enjoyed the hell out of both of them, however, and now I really really really want our intermittent Spycraft game to involve some high-stakes heists.  I think I'm going to make my GM see the movie of _What's the Worst That Could Happen? _as inspiration.  

Thanks for the recommendation!
Daniel


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## Pielorinho (Jun 5, 2004)

Oooh.  Just read some reviews of that movie, and they're not pretty.  Maybe I'll find a different one to be inspiration.

Daniel


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## NiTessine (Jun 5, 2004)

Looks like I can finally get to reading what I want instead of what the teachers tell me, now that the summer vacation has started.

First on my list is Tolkien's biography by Humphrey Carpenter. Then I'll try and tackle Edward Bolme's _The Alabaster Staff_, and the _Mammoth Book of Future Cops_. After those, the last two parts of the Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb.


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## CCamfield (Jun 5, 2004)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> After bouncing around to three or four books, reading the first 20 pages and deciding 'not now', I think I've settled down with _The Devil in the Dust_ by Chaz Brenchley. The first of six (!) Outremer books, but they're short books. I understand that when originally published in the UK it was a trilogy; wish they'd done that with the American imprint as well.
> [/url]




Bwahaha, just wait till you find out what happens to marron in book 2. 

I have the UK/Canadian paperbacks... if you end up wanting the whole series you might get them cheaper from amazon.ca.  Tower of the King's Daughter,  Feast of the King's Shadow, and Hand of the King's Evil.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Jun 5, 2004)

Andrew D. Gable said:
			
		

> How's this different from the usually-seen version?




The differences between "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and "The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth" are substantial.



Spoiler



In the alternate version, Obed Marsh often traipses around town with Ephraim Waite, who is a very powerful (and evil) wizard from another HPL story (see "The Thing on the Doorstep.")

The dreams the narrator has focus more on Waite than the Deep Ones.

At the end of the story, he realizes that Waite intends to displace the narrator's mind and steal his body, trapping the narrator in Waite's current body (which will, of course, be killed).

Unlike the original story, where the narrator comes to embrace his change into a Deep One and plans to return willingly to Innsmouth, in this one he will be overwhelmed by a force he can not accept.



Or something like that.


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## dreaded_beast (Jun 5, 2004)

Unfortunately for me, there are only 3 books I've been reading lately:

3.5 PHB
3.5 DMG
3.5 MM

 

I love to read, but I don't have the time for it lately. 

I enjoy "thick" books that go beyond being a trilogy. I tried to start on the Wheel of Time series, but didn't get very far, the first 10 pages or so. I know it's a good series, but I guess I wasn't in the mood to read it at the time.

*On a side note, I just noticed I got quoted above! Thanks!


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## theburningman (Jun 5, 2004)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> After bouncing around to three or four books, reading the first 20 pages and deciding 'not now', I think I've settled down with _The Devil in the Dust_ by Chaz Brenchley. The first of six (!) Outremer books, but they're short books. I understand that when originally published in the UK it was a trilogy; wish they'd done that with the American imprint as well.




I liked this one well enough to read the others when I have the time.



			
				Cordo said:
			
		

> Still working on Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson. BTW, anyone who likes their fantasy dark and grim with complex, coherent, and facinating world building in the background, Gardens of the Moon is just being released in hardback in the states. In another thread Pants was saying it's available on Walmart's site for about $15. I think Black Company fans will especially enjoy Erikson's work.




I just got _Gardens of the Moon_ for my birthday today.  Been looking forward to this since January, but I just couldn't stand bear to shell out $15.00 for a paperback on Amazon.  Too bad about the sucky Tor cover art, though.  Hmm, "sucky Tor cover art."  Is that redundant?


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## LizardWizard (Jun 5, 2004)

_The Devils_, _Idiot_, _ Crime and Punishment _ by Fedor Dostoyevsky.
_ Anna Karenina _, _The Resurrection _ by Lev Tolstoy.
_ The Seagull _, _ Uncle Vanya _ by Anton Chekhov.
_ The Adventures of Joseph Andrews _ by Henry Fielding.
_Moll Flanders_ by Daniel Defoe.
_ Tristram Shandy _ by Laurence Sterne.
I'm not kidding, I'm just getting ready for thorough exams in Russian and Foreign Literature   
As for fantasy and sci-fi, I'm reading the _Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser_by Fritz Leiber and _Conan_ stories by Robert Howard and L. Sprague de Camp...


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## Zappo (Jun 5, 2004)

I've just finished the _Mage: the Ascension_ novel _Penny Dreadful_, which you may find for free here. It's quite good.


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## Pants (Jun 6, 2004)

Dropped _The Stand_ in favor of _Gardens of the Moon_.
It's pretty good so far.


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## Flexor the Mighty! (Jun 6, 2004)

I'm re-reading Goblet of Fire as I go back through the Harry Potter series.


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## haiiro (Jun 7, 2004)

Finishing up The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett (the only Discworld book I hadn't read yet).

I usually don't do this, but I've also got two other books on the go: Leonardo's Mountain of Clams & the Diet of Worms, by Umberto Eco (long essays on natural history), and The Confusion, by Neal Stephenson. Confusion, like Quicksilver before it, is so dense and so caught up in explaining things at length that I find I can't spend much time with it. 

On the gaming side of things, I'm reading GRR's Thieves' Quarter in bits and pieces (I love it!). Complete Divine, BoED and Monte's Legacy of the Dragons should be arriving from Amazon tomorrow, along with the indie Sorcerer RPG -- I can't wait to tuck into them.


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## frankthedm (Jun 8, 2004)

Artemis Fowl; books 1 to 3
Men in Black: green saliva blues
Doom: Knee Deep In the Dead


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## Desdichado (Jun 8, 2004)

I just finished re-reading all the Harry Potter books.  Unplanned, yes.

Also, just an hour or two ago I finished reading Elizabeth Barber's _The Mummies of Ürümchi_.  I expect to read next _The Tarim Mummies_ on the same subject by Victor Mair and J.P. Mallory.  After that, I picked up a Stephen Brust book at the library, but the title escapes me.

And I'm listening to _The Servants of the Twilight_ by Dean R. Koontz from Books on Tape at my library in the car.  I'm only a tape or two into it so far, but it seems to be developing nicely into a weird, creepy thriller.

I'm also still working on _The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian_ which I just pick up from time to time, read a story or two and then put down again for weeks at a time.  I really enjoy the informal format of it, to be honest with you.


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## Krug (Jun 9, 2004)

Raymond Feist's _Talons of the Silver Hawk_ and _Herobear and the Kid_.


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## National Acrobat (Jun 9, 2004)

*Books...*

Reading and recently read:

'Christians and Pagans' by Gus Dizerega
'History of the Devil' by Gerald Massadie
'Xenocide' by Orson Scott Card


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## Desdichado (Jun 9, 2004)

Does anyone besides me read non-fiction for fun?  I rarely see that type of stuff on the "What are you Reading" threads.  National Acrobat, you can disregard.


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## Viking Bastard (Jun 11, 2004)

I'm currently reading Seamus Heany's translation of Bewoulf.

I really like Seamus Heany's prose style.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 12, 2004)

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> Does anyone besides me read non-fiction for fun?  I rarely see that type of stuff on the "What are you Reading" threads.  National Acrobat, you can disregard.




On occasion, I do.  When something strikes my fancy.  Usually it's something about Jack the Ripper.  The last thing I was reading, the first part of _Lud Heat: and Suicide Bridge_, was more or less non-fiction.  

_White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings_ again by Iain Sinclair, a strangely compelling novel which seems to be saying that Whitechapel and the East End has its own underlying spirit (think a DnD genius loci), and that things like Jack the Ripper and the Elephant Man are caused by people sensitive to this spirit (Mr. Merrick's more or less a golem here).  Lotsa weird imagery.


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## MonsterMash (Jun 12, 2004)

Currently reading - _The Thousand and one nights._

Just finished: Robert E. Howard's Cthulhu mythos/horror stories - very different to H.P. Lovecraft as you'd expect
_Role Playing Mastery _ by a certain Gary Gygax

Also a couple of techinical books for work.

I'm a big fan of Iain Sinclair, Scarlet Chappel, White Tracings is good, but Downriver is better in my opinion.

Reading non fiction for fun is something I do, largely history or popular science books.


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## Chimera (Jun 13, 2004)

_Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

Have never read any of the HP books before, but decided I'd read this one after seeing PoA in the theater and reading (here) what was in the book but wasn't in the movie.  GoF is a mighty big book, so obviously a lot of it won't make it to the screen.

For my trip next week;

Raymond Feist _Talon of the Silver Hawk_
Terry Pratchett _Night Watch_ 
Dobson/Miller _Aikido in everyday life_


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## Ibram (Jun 13, 2004)

Right now I'm reading Paying the Piper by David Drake.  Its the first new Hammers Slammers novel hes written in a LONG time (and one I've been expecting eagerly).  From what I've read David Drake is still the Grand Master of Millitary SF.

I'm waiting on The Savage Tales of Soloman Kane which is supposed to come out this month.  Its a compalation of all the Soloman Kane tales written by Robert E. Howard.  After reading the compalation The Comming of Conan the Cimmerian I've been on a MAJOR REH kick.


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## Krug (Jun 19, 2004)

Finished _Talon of the Silver Hawk_ and found it rather blah. Nothing in there beyond standard fantasy. 

Started playing some of the Lone Wolf gamebooks over at Project Aon. Man it's still fun and what a great gameworld. Joe Dever really made an engrossing, original world and he made full use of the gamebook genre.


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Jun 19, 2004)

haiiro said:
			
		

> Finishing up The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett (the only Discworld book I hadn't read yet).




The second book, A Hat Full of Sky, is even better.


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## drothgery (Jun 19, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> Over the weekend, I read *Agyar* and *The Book of Jhereg*, both by Steven Brust; I've been on a Brust jag lately .
> 
> *The Book of Jhereg* comprises the first three Vlad Taltos novels, and I was pretty disappointed in them. It seems that it really was the florid writing style that made me love *The Phoenix Guards* so much; these were written in a pedestrian, clumsy fashion that did very little for me. Granted, they're among his first works, so I can forgive them as early efforts; still, I was hoping for something as delightful as *Phoenix Guards* and didn't get it.
> 
> Daniel



Have you read _Five Hundred Years After_ (the sequel to _The Phoenix Guards_) and/or the Viscount books (_The Paths of the Dead, Lord of Castle Black, _and _Sethra Lavode_) yet? They're the other Paarfi books, though it's probably worth noting that some of _Sethra Lavode_ may be a little confusing if you haven't read _Issola_ (the newest Vlad book). I'm not entirely sure whether I prefer the quasi-Victorian Romance style of the Paarfi books or the dry sarcasm of the Vlad Taltos books, myself.


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## PieAndDragon (Jun 20, 2004)

Currently reading Elric of Melnibone by Micheal Moorcock.

Was skeptical at first, but quite enjoying it.


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## John Q. Mayhem (Jun 20, 2004)

I just finished Dragonlance's _Annotated Legends_. I started _Wealth of Nations_, but just couldn't get into it.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Jun 20, 2004)

Started _Tigana_ by Guy Gavriel Kay a few days ago.


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## Tetsubo (Jun 21, 2004)

The Gay Metropolis.


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## JoeGKushner (Jun 21, 2004)

I started reading Ed Greenwood's second novel in the Band of Four, something like the Vacant Throne. Man, I thought since it was short I'd be able to finish it quickly but I forgot how much his writing style doesn't mesh with me. Unfortunately, I'm one of those dummies who has to finish a book once he starts it.

I'll have to clean my brain afterwards by reading the novellas of George R.R. Martin in the two Legends books!


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## CCamfield (Jun 21, 2004)

theburningman said:
			
		

> I just got _Gardens of the Moon_ for my birthday today.  Been looking forward to this since January, but I just couldn't stand bear to shell out $15.00 for a paperback on Amazon.  Too bad about the sucky Tor cover art, though.  Hmm, "sucky Tor cover art."  Is that redundant?




Wow... they didn't use the original art.  What idiots!  What they used is... staggeringly bad.

Anyhow, as far as non-fiction is concerned, I am... still... STILL... reading The Ancient Near East 3000-330 BC by Amelie Kuhrt (I think I've been reading it off and on for about 4 months, maybe more), but I'm the second of the two volumes, and reading about late Egypt, around the time when the Egyptian ruler hired a bunch mercenaries, including some from Greece, who left graffiti carved on various monuments.  Very interesting.

I was at a used bookstore the other day and came away with some neat  books about Egypt, mainly 2 of 3 small books titled Ancient Egyptian Literature, by Miriam Lichtheim.  These are collections of translations of Egyptian inscriptions, proclamations, stories, love poems, etc.  I read one of them, a later folktale about a prince who tried to get ahold of a cursed magical tome written by the god Thoth.  It included a series of games of checkers, essentially, with the spirit of a dead prince, in order to get the book... the ghost won each of the three games, and pushed the living prince further into the ground with each game.  (Then the living prince's assistant arrived with his magical amulets, and he freed himself.)


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## Pielorinho (Jun 21, 2004)

drothgery said:
			
		

> Have you read _Five Hundred Years After_ (the sequel to _The Phoenix Guards_) and/or the Viscount books (_The Paths of the Dead, Lord of Castle Black, _and _Sethra Lavode_) yet?



No, although I plan to sometime; I'm somewhat limited by my crapy public library.  I should start haunting the used bookstores, see if I can find them.

However, his author's notes expressing his indebtedness to Dumas inspired me to read, at long last, _The Count of Monte Cristo_.  At nearly 1500 pages, it's the longest book I've ever read, and it's totally and completely gripping.  I've never had so much fun before with a pre-twentieth-century author.

Well, except for Mark Twain, but Twain's just a god.

Daniel


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## Pants (Jun 21, 2004)

Finished _Gardens of the Moon_ by Erikson.  Very much an excellent book at some points, the characterization was pretty weak though.

Going back to plodding through King's _The Stand_.  
*Sigh*  At the pace I'm going, I'll finish it by the time either _Deadhouse Gates_ or _A Feast for Crows_ is out.


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## diaglo (Jun 21, 2004)

i don't particularly care for the hardcovers. so i held off on reading The Lone Drow until it came out in paperback. i just started it late last night.

this month i've finished:

Dissolution, Insurrection, and Condemnation
Complete Divine
and Eberron Campaign Setting


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## myrdden (Jun 21, 2004)

Pants said:
			
		

> I plan on reading _Gardens of the Moon_ by Steve Erikson once my order comes in.




I highly recommend this series.  For those wondering how high-magic, epic level storylines could evolve - this series is for you.  The plot is well thought out and coherent focusing on the expansion of an empire (like the the Roman Empire) in a world where magic and gods exist.  I found the characterization to be supurb (perhaps not George R. R. Martin supurb, but pretty damn good) with lots of shades of grey.

I really can't recommend this book enough.  I think it is book one of (so far) a 5 book series.  I haven't had a chance to read beyond book one yet so I can't comment on how the rest of the series is.


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## MonsterMash (Jun 21, 2004)

Nearly finished Lost Continents by L. Sprague de Camp about the Atlantis myth. Coming up lots of other stuff including the 1000 and one nights.


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## Pants (Jun 21, 2004)

myrdden said:
			
		

> I highly recommend this series.  For those wondering how high-magic, epic level storylines could evolve - this series is for you.  The plot is well thought out and coherent focusing on the expansion of an empire (like the the Roman Empire) in a world where magic and gods exist.  I found the characterization to be supurb (perhaps not George R. R. Martin supurb, but pretty damn good) with lots of shades of grey.
> 
> I really can't recommend this book enough.  I think it is book one of (so far) a 5 book series.  I haven't had a chance to read beyond book one yet so I can't comment on how the rest of the series is.



I just finished it


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## JoeBlank (Jun 22, 2004)

Just started *Idlewild* by Nick Sagan, for the EN World Book Club.

Next up is *Wolves of the Call*a by Stephen King.

In between books I am reading a story or two from *Wildcards*, edited by George R. R. Martin.


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## Michael Tree (Jun 22, 2004)

I'm currently reading my double post.  :\


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## Michael Tree (Jun 22, 2004)

Viking Bastard said:
			
		

> I'm currently reading Seamus Heany's translation of Bewoulf.
> 
> I really like Seamus Heany's prose style.



It really is quite good.  If you can, get a copy of the CD or book on tape of Seamus Heany reading it.  It's abridged, but it's wonderful to hear the cadence of his storytelling, and his voice and accent fit it perfectly. 


I'm currently reading Grendel by John Gardener.  (Plus Eberron, law texts, and several law articles about Brown v. Board of Education).  Next up is the Canadian case that made gay marriage legal, and probably Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay.


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## Michael Tree (Jun 22, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> *The Book of Jhereg* comprises the first three Vlad Taltos novels, and I was pretty disappointed in them.  It seems that it really was the florid writing style that made me love *The Phoenix Guards* so much; these were written in a pedestrian, clumsy fashion that did very little for me.



I had much the same reaction to them when I first read them. However, once I got over the shock of them not being written in the same style as The Phoneix Guards I began to enjoy them on their own rights.

They are his first books, so the writing is a bit crude, but they get better IMO. Yendi is Brust's least favorite book.  

Have you read Gypsy? It has a similar tone to Agyar, but slightly more mythological.


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## Welverin (Jun 25, 2004)

JoeGKushner said:
			
		

> Unfortunately, I'm one of those dummies who has to finish a book once he starts it.




You too, eh? I can only think of two books I've ever started reading and not finished.

As for what I'm reading now, I think I'll go with Manta's Gift By Zahn, now that I've finished the Exalted novels.


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## jester47 (Jun 25, 2004)

I am still reading the Vol 2 of Tales of Lankhmar by Fantasy Masterworks.  I will stay with that until I finish Rime Isle.  Then its on to the WW edition of Farewell to Lankhmar.  However as Fritz ages (that is as the stories become more recent), Fafhrd and the GM are suffering due to his change in style.
I am also reading Mozarts Brain and the Fighter Pilot.

I blew through Ill Met in Lankhmar no prob (favs: Ill Met, Thieves House, Claws, Price of Pain Ease, Bazzar of the Bizarre)
Was eating through Lean Times in Lankmar really well until I got to Adepts Gambit (the middle was good but overall the story really draggen in places).  (favs: Cloud of Hate, Lean Times, Witches Tent, Stardock, Two Best Thieves, Quarmall)
Even though I am reading the FM version I am about finished with Return to Lankhmar.  OMFG "The Swords of Lankhmar" rules.  (Favs: Swords, Sadness, Beauty, The Bait, Under the Thumbs)

After that I am not too crazy about the stories centering around the cosmology of Nehwon and the stories involving Rime Isle.  But I will finish them eventually.

Then its on to the Color of Magic, Hunters Blades Trilogy, The Black Company, and possibly Gardens of the Moon. 

Aaron.


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## Desdichado (Jun 25, 2004)

I finished what I put up earlier, and am now reading _Jhereg_ by Stephen Brust and _The Winter King_ by Bernard Cornwell.  Actually, the second is by Books on Tape.


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## Iron_Chef (Jun 25, 2004)

I'm reading Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer novels... first person private eye thrillers. Mike Hammer is not the world's greatest detective; he uses his fists more than his brain. He often simply kills criminals in cold blood rather than turn them over to the cops. A one man judge, jury and executioner --- hard drinking, hard loving and always in trouble with the law and the underworld.

Just read THE GIRL HUNTERS (1962) and am finishing up its sequel, THE SNAKE (1964). These books are astonishingly violent, sleazy and cruel for their time (1950s/60s), but written so well as to be compulsively page-turning. I went out and bought almost the entire series at my used bookstore for a couple bucks each. 

Am noticing that with some obvious tweaking, these books might translate well to a medieval fantasy game, particularly one concerned with politics, corruption and crime... 

Mickey Spillane's MIKE HAMMER series
I, THE JURY (1947)
MY GUN IS QUICK (1950)
VENGEANCE IS MINE (1950)
ONE LONELY NIGHT (1951)
THE BIG KILL (1951)
KISS ME DEADLY (1952)
THE GIRL HUNTERS (1962)
THE SNAKE (1964)
THE TWISTED THING (1966)
THE BODY LOVERS (1967)
SURVIVAL... ZERO (1970)
THE KILLING MAN (1989)
BLACK ALLEY (1996)


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## janta (Jun 26, 2004)

I'm slogging hastily (or is that an oxymoron?) through _Killing Time_ by Caleb Carr.  Next up is a re-read of _A Civil Campaign_  by Bujold, because I'm currently obsessed with Miles Vorkosigan.   

There's a sequel to _The Wee Free Men_ ?  Outstanding!  I think Pratchett is my absolute favorite author; his command of the language is just brilliant.

--Janta


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## d4 (Jun 26, 2004)

i just finished re-reading Olaf Stapledon's _Last and First Men_. it was written in the 1920s, and is a "future" history of humanity from his own time to a time several hundred million years in the future, detailing the evolution and cultures and catastrophes of eighteen different human species. a lot of it is quite dated nowadays, but i still find it fascinating.

i'm just starting its sequel of sorts, _Star Maker_. after that, i still need to finish _Heretics of Dune_ (i'm about halfway through) and then start on the nonfiction biography _The Saga of Billy the Kid_.


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## Psychotic Dreamer (Jun 26, 2004)

Slowly, but surely I'm working through the Harry Dresden novels.  Although after I see Spider-Man 2 those are going to be put on hold for a few days while I dig into the Spider-Man 2 novelization by Peter David.


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## John Q. Mayhem (Jun 26, 2004)

I just read Hellsing 3 and am in the middle of a Dave Barry book.


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## WmRAllen67 (Jun 27, 2004)

In between the stuff for summer classes, I just finished Robert Silverberg's _The Longest Voyage_, about circumnavigations in the age of sail...

And I read _Wicked_ by Gregory McGuire on Thursday (it was a *very* boring day at work...)


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## Nighthawk (Jun 27, 2004)

Fiction: The Bastard King by Dan Chernenko. I just started reading this book.

Non-fiction: The Oxford Companion To Classical Civilization.


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## Morpheus (Jun 27, 2004)

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by REH
Sagas of Conan by L. Sprague de Camp and others
Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly
Various math textbooks in prep for school
Ah...summer...


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