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Finishing the Farseer trilogy gave me a book hangover for nearly 2 months. Robin Hobb might just be my favourite fantasy author. I'm reading Ship of Magic now and loving it, despite missing Fitz and Nighteyes a great deal. Once I'm done this book I'm planning on picking up Stormlight 5 next. The wife and I are gonna be reading that one together and I'm stoked!

 creeping-deth87 wrote:
Finishing the Farseer trilogy gave me a book hangover for nearly 2 months. Robin Hobb might just be my favourite fantasy author. I'm reading Ship of Magic now and loving it, despite missing Fitz and Nighteyes a great deal. Once I'm done this book I'm planning on picking up Stormlight 5 next. The wife and I are gonna be reading that one together and I'm stoked!

Liveships was such a huge departure in both cast and style of writing from the Farseer series; but its utterly awesome. I really love how she was able to create two (in the end closer to three) very distinct fantasy series in a single world and weave them together so that they fit into both a greater narrative that you don't quite realise is happening, but also with each other with subtle ties here and there. It's something you honestly don't get to see from many authors who tend to have a very singular style to the world and way they write about a world and setting.

Just polished off Goth, A History.

Very interesting read overall, perhaps a little heavy on the memoir aspect. But, that is covered in the Afterward. And it’s not pretending to be an absolute authority, so the memoir styling does work.

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 Jadenim wrote:
I’m enjoying re-reading Watership Down; great low fantasy epic.

Oh, and bunnies.

Yes. The book (and film) never to give to young children.

"Sorry Jimmy, but your Uncle is no longer allowed to give you books anymore."

Eh, the book is largely fine I think except for maybe the story of El-Ahrairah and the Black Rabbit that is told before Bigwig goes to Efrafa (also a segment I am always disappointed isn't in the film as it really speaks to the mindset that Bigwig is in going into the mission, that it may cost him everything, and there are also really neat comparisons between the wounds that El-ahrairah suffers to save his people and those suffered by Bigwig at the claws of Woundwort), which I remember being quite chilling when I first read it.

The language of the book can be difficult for particularly young readers so those too young will mostly bounce off it from that angle, I think.

Problem is people see that it has bunnies and assume it is like Peter Rabbit etc. and just a fun adventure when the themes the book is examining are a lot more adult than in your stereotypical "bunny" story.

The film, however, yes. Though it is still one of my favourite animated movies of all time. The artwork for the English countryside in it is gorgeous, with watercolour-esque backgrounds and skies that suit the story so perfectly, something that the more recent CG miniseries absolutely lacked.

I agree, it is genuinely a fantasy epic, heavily influenced by The Odyssey (as in Ancient Greek literature) and people completely miss out on it either because they think “silly kid’s book about bunnies” or they have PTSD from watching the film when they were kids. Also I love all of the rabbit folklore, which I do not believe has made it into any adaptation, other than the origin of Elahrairah.

I decided to pick up book 2, to a great series, written by one of Games Workshops finest writers... and where I get all my knowledge about the Eldar from:

Back to persevering with Daorhord. But it’s quite heavy going, as whilst educational, I’m having to keep looking up the pronounciation of lost Old English letters.

 Jadenim wrote:

I agree, it is genuinely a fantasy epic, heavily influenced by The Odyssey (as in Ancient Greek literature) and people completely miss out on it either because they think “silly kid’s book about bunnies” or they have PTSD from watching the film when they were kids. Also I love all of the rabbit folklore, which I do not believe has made it into any adaptation, other than the origin of Elahrairah.

Yes! The folklore really makes the rabbits feel like a society with history, their own myths, legends. It's also a major part of Dandelion's character in terms of his place within the group, being the storyteller, effectively the keeper of their mythology, their history.

M.A.C.H. 1 and Canon Fodder

Next two 2000ad Ultimate Collection volumes.

M.A.C.H. 1 comes from the very earliest period, appearing in Prog 1. And it’s somewhere between the 6 Million Dollar Man and Captain America. Very episodic, and done by a number of writers and artists. But, it works. Certainly one can understand why it thrilled 2000ad’s first readers, and for a while was more popular than Judge Dredd.

Second volume coming in the next few months, which I greatly look forward to.

Canon Fodder though is more of an oddity. Definite shades of 40K as we know it (combat mental Priest, attempts to kill god, plus Sherlock Holmes), but very much its own thing. Only ran for two stories, but I greatly enjoyed it. Whilst the 90’s was an uncertain time for the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, it’s the time period I really started reading it.

As Canon Fodder was such a short run, we also get Angel One, a one and done multi-prog story. And it’s kind of cool. There is stuff there to do more with, but definitely one of those oddities quite happy in its singular existence.

Season of the Witch

Another history of Goth. Less autobiographic than Lol Tolhurst’s Goth, A History. So I don’t feel like it’s just the same story in different prose, as Tolhurst’s was through his own lens, and this is of wider scope.

And once I’m done here? Next up on the slate is Dead of Winter, the Demons, Witches and Ghosts of winter, which is arriving in the next hour or two.

Still on the Culture series. At least half way through Excession and I'm still not really sure what it's about... I may take a break from them after this one and do something else...

Something I do want to get on is tracking down copies of the ghost story anthologies I used to read as a kid.

Not Goosebumps, but stuff from the 70’s. The sort I’d randomly find in second hand shops. I’ve got one somewhere, which feels like a good starting point.

I think I know the ones you mean. I think we had a few. Probably still in Mum and Dad's loft...

Edit - after a quick google, was it by any chance the Armada Ghost Books?

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?23949

Reading some short stories by QNTM. They have a dark Black Mirror quality that makes them hard to read in a row, but his story on MMAcevedo is a must read for anyone interested in mind-uploading in Sci Fi.

The new Murderbot omnibus just arrived, so I’ll start that in a moment. I might read some old Star Trek post-DS9 relaunch novels first since watching Lower Decks put me in a classic Trek mood.

I’m also reading Art Deco: The Interwar Period. It’s a history of that period of architecture which could really use a lot more photos to illustrate what it’s talking about. I have to read the book with my phone set to Google (images) the whole time.

Crispy78 wrote:
Still on the Culture series. At least half way through Excession and I'm still not really sure what it's about... I may take a break from them after this one and do something else...

It comes together at the end. My biggest problem with Excession was remembering which sassy-named ship was saying what during their conversation interludes.

I am studying for a self study course... on food safety! that the exam date is 16 January, not 16 February like I thought is a tad worrying though.

I love endless certifications.

Crispy78 wrote:
I think I know the ones you mean. I think we had a few. Probably still in Mum and Dad's loft...

Edit - after a quick google, was it by any chance the Armada Ghost Books?

https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?23949

That’s the sort of thing! I’ll be squirreling that link and it’s handy dandy ISBNs away for a rainy day.

Actually, whilst we’re at it? I feel whichever genius came up with the ISBN system, and those who got it widespread adoption, deserve a heartfelt All Hail.


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I’ve fond memories of those books, and they’re at least partly responsible for, or an early indulgence in, my passion for Folk Horror.

Just finishing Cassiel's Servant . Joscelin's POV of Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey - a fav of mine..

A good read but the original is of course better

Expanding my appreciation of Folk Horror by reading my way through the various Treasury of Folklore books.

Currently on Woodlands and Forests.

Finished Pacific Crucible, Ian W. Toll's entry into his WW2 Pacific theater trilogy. Lived up to the hype. It starts with a bit of history for every naval faction and notable person, goes into detail about Japan's attacks across the Pacific region and ends with the Battle of Midway, which despite being a resounding US victory, was pretty precarious right up to the end.

Last night I moved on to the second entry, which is called The Conquering Tide. Opens with a history of the Solomon Islands and a British civilian spy who has to flee the invading Japanese who are hunting him by name, due to intercepting his radio messages. He gets pretty despondent about his situation, near starving and worried his local entourage will betray him(some already had) then he sights the American invasion fleet on the horizon, ready to kick off the first Allied land offensive against the Japanese.

Pretty awesome stuff.

One thing that really stuck out to me was how racist beliefs led the West to get completely spanked at the start. From the supposed physical limitations of the Japanese soldier to the perceived flawed and limited engineering prowess of Japanese industries. Meanwhile, the Japanese fielded probably the most disciplined and dynamic soldier, and developed aircraft and weapon systems that far surpassed the Allies in quite a few categories for a good portion of the war. The signs were there, particularly since the Japanese whooped the Russians a few times prior to WW2 kicking off, but no one payed attention.

Dan Carlin gets into it a bit in "Supernova in the East" segment of his Hardcore History podcast, which I think he said was inspired by this trilogy.

I'm 76 pages into Erik Larson's The Splendid and the Vile.

It's pretty interesting about Churchill's first year as Prime Minister.

I just wish Mr. Larson wouldn't diverge into the who was dating who bits.

He strays off topic almost as much as I do.


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What should I read next? Titanicus by Dan Abnett or Priests of Mars by Graham McNeill?

Titanicus is fun. Priests of Mars is the trilogy omnibus, right? It’s also good, but one of those books I would take breaks from periodically to avoid burnout.

I went on a hard-boiled kick a while back, reading everything by Raymond Chandler back-to-back. After a little break, I'm starting up with Dashielle Hammet. I'm about 1/3 of the way through Red Harvest, and it's a blast so far.

 JoshInJapan wrote:
I went on a hard-boiled kick a while back, reading everything by Raymond Chandler back-to-back. After a little break, I'm starting up with Dashielle Hammet. I'm about 1/3 of the way through Red Harvest, and it's a blast so far.

For Dashiell Hammet, grab a copy of the Big Book of the Continental Op.

The Op is my favorite detective, who is based on Hammet's Pinkerton Detective Agency days.
You will never learn the Ops real name, because in those days, the Pinkertons never gave out their real names to clients. The Op will occasionally drop a name, but it's just something he made up on the fly and will never use it again.

The omnibus has every Op short story and both of the novels as they were originally published for the pulps. The later novels were edited.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Titanicus is fun. Priests of Mars is the trilogy omnibus, right? It’s also good, but one of those books I would take breaks from periodically to avoid burnout.

Priests of Mars is just one book, about a Rogue Trader, a Cadian Regiment, the Black Templars, and a Magos' Explorator Fleet headed into Halo Stars, where a previous expedition disappeared a long time ago.

 nels1031 wrote:
Finished Pacific Crucible, Ian W. Toll's entry into his WW2 Pacific theater trilogy. Lived up to the hype. It starts with a bit of history for every naval faction and notable person, goes into detail about Japan's attacks across the Pacific region and ends with the Battle of Midway, which despite being a resounding US victory, was pretty precarious right up to the end.

Last night I moved on to the second entry, which is called The Conquering Tide. Opens with a history of the Solomon Islands and a British civilian spy who has to flee the invading Japanese who are hunting him by name, due to intercepting his radio messages. He gets pretty despondent about his situation, near starving and worried his local entourage will betray him(some already had) then he sights the American invasion fleet on the horizon, ready to kick off the first Allied land offensive against the Japanese.

Pretty awesome stuff.

One thing that really stuck out to me was how racist beliefs led the West to get completely spanked at the start. From the supposed physical limitations of the Japanese soldier to the perceived flawed and limited engineering prowess of Japanese industries. Meanwhile, the Japanese fielded probably the most disciplined and dynamic soldier, and developed aircraft and weapon systems that far surpassed the Allies in quite a few categories for a good portion of the war. The signs were there, particularly since the Japanese whooped the Russians a few times prior to WW2 kicking off, but no one payed attention.

Dan Carlin gets into it a bit in "Supernova in the East" segment of his Hardcore History podcast, which I think he said was inspired by this trilogy.

If you want something hardcore from the other direction;

Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941.

Be prepared for lots of heavy detail about financing, logistics, construction, and the history of debates about practice and theory. Despite the date range, the book pays its heaviest attention to the origins of the Imperial Navy and how it came to be, and then on the Interwar years between WWI and WWII and the thinking processes that would guide the Imperial Navy into many of its decisions up to Pearl Harbor.

There's also Stephen Howarth's Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which is one of my favorite histories but is 1) old, and 2) hard to find now since it isn't being printed anymore.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:
I went on a hard-boiled kick a while back, reading everything by Raymond Chandler back-to-back. After a little break, I'm starting up with Dashielle Hammet. I'm about 1/3 of the way through Red Harvest, and it's a blast so far.

For Dashiell Hammet, grab a copy of the Big Book of the Continental Op.

The Op is my favorite detective, who is based on Hammet's Pinkerton Detective Agency days.
You will never learn the Ops real name, because in those days, the Pinkertons never gave out their real names to clients. The Op will occasionally drop a name, but it's just something he made up on the fly and will never use it again.

The omnibus has every Op short story and both of the novels as they were originally published for the pulps. The later novels were edited.

Thanks, I'll see if I can't track that down.

 JoshInJapan wrote:
I went on a hard-boiled kick a while back, reading everything by Raymond Chandler back-to-back. After a little break, I'm starting up with Dashielle Hammet. I'm about 1/3 of the way through Red Harvest, and it's a blast so far.

How would you compare them to Mike Hammer, or later detectives like Spenser? I love Spencer, but couldn’t make it through a book of Hammer stories.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:
I went on a hard-boiled kick a while back, reading everything by Raymond Chandler back-to-back. After a little break, I'm starting up with Dashielle Hammet. I'm about 1/3 of the way through Red Harvest, and it's a blast so far.

How would you compare them to Mike Hammer, or later detectives like Spenser? I love Spencer, but couldn’t make it through a book of Hammer stories.

Sadly, I've never read either. I vaguely remember there being a Mike Hammer TV series from the 80's, but apart from Stacy Keach's magnificent 'stache, I have no real memory of, well, anything. I'll add both to my reading list and see how I feel about them.

Just finished Outlier, another entry in my ongoing 2000as Ultimate Collection.

And it’s pretty good. A fair few twists and turns across the three volumes comprising the tale, but it never gets overly convoluted. And a pretty decent ending which whilst new to me, I’m not sure is exactly original in Sci-Fi. But then…what is these days?

 JoshInJapan wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:
I went on a hard-boiled kick a while back, reading everything by Raymond Chandler back-to-back. After a little break, I'm starting up with Dashielle Hammet. I'm about 1/3 of the way through Red Harvest, and it's a blast so far.

How would you compare them to Mike Hammer, or later detectives like Spenser? I love Spencer, but couldn’t make it through a book of Hammer stories.

Sadly, I've never read either. I vaguely remember there being a Mike Hammer TV series from the 80's, but apart from Stacy Keach's magnificent 'stache, I have no real memory of, well, anything. I'll add both to my reading list and see how I feel about them.

I rate Spencer as well although as with many long running series the author (Robert B Parker) did get a bit self indulgent in later books so while they're fun they're not as good as the earlier ones

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Titanicus is fun. Priests of Mars is the trilogy omnibus, right? It’s also good, but one of those books I would take breaks from periodically to avoid burnout.

Priests of Mars is just one book, about a Rogue Trader, a Cadian Regiment, the Black Templars, and a Magos' Explorator Fleet headed into Halo Stars, where a previous expedition disappeared a long time ago.

He meant Forges of Mars. That is the omnibus trilogy involving the Mechanicus and was an enjoyable read for those with an interest in that faction, and Priests of Mars was the first novel within that omnibus.

Just started on The Book Of Elsewhere, by China Mieville and Keanu Reeves. It's... interesting. Possibly doesn't help that I've not read BRZRKR.

So far, the writing style is not really gelling with me, as far as I'm concerned it's not measuring up to Mieville's normal standard. I'm slightly reassured though by the precis of the LA Times review on the book's wikipedia entry, which says

While she felt doubtful of the "jerky, staccato style" of the book's opener, she was impressed by the rest of the book's "lush prose and [Miéville] and Reeves' melancholy romp of a narrative".

and I think I am still very much in the opener...