Recent Readings (and other literary talk)

[Ancalagon]

As the subject indicates, what have you read recently? Books, magazines, journals, prose, poetry... Good, bad, somewhere in between... Tell us about them!

Are you reading anything now?

[Ancalagon]

A few months ago I picked up Black Death at the Golden Gate by David K. Randall. Its a historical text about the little know instances of bubonic plague present in San Francisco in the early 1900s, the scientific means available at the time to try and combat the problem and causes, and rampant racism and political corruption in society that threatened to derail the efforts which would have resulted in disaster. I'm drawn to most works about plague, etc. due to my interest in history. I enjoyed this book.

Next I started The Fall of Gondolin by JRRT as edited by Christopher Tolkien. I was sidetracked not too far into the book. I need to get back to this one and restart.

The first book that sidetracked me was a biography, Henry II A Prince Among Princes by Richard Barber. Henry II was king from 1154-89. He was also the father of two kings: Richard I (the Lionheart) who reigned from 1189-99 and John, Richard's younger brother, who reigned from 1199-1215. Entertaining read!

The next book that sidetracked me was also a biography, Richard I The Crusader King by Thomas Asbridge. Another entertaining read about a king whose reign has always interested me... especially considering the game setting I'm working on.

Current book, recently started, is The Mabinogion translated and introduced by Jeffrey Gantz. The Mabinogion is a composite title for eleven medieval Welsh prose tales , the result of centuries or oral storytelling. The tales are essentially native in origin, and despite circumstances unfavorable to transmission, they preserve much of the color and energy of the early Celtic world.

[grodog]

I just finished reading A Quantum of Solace, the final Ian Fleming collection of James Bond stories, which ends my run of reading all of the original Bond works.

Pondering what to read next: Melville and CAS have both been scratching at my backbrain, but I think I’m going to dig into House of Leaves.

Perhaps....

Allan.

[Necron 99]

My reading of late has been the series of Piers Anthony's Xanth and still trying to finish up the audio book for The Color of Magic, book one of Pratchett's Discworld series.

Back in my early years of high school, a few friends and I used to read and discuss a lot of books, mostly fantasy and horror. At one point while visiting a Waldenbooks, I picked up a random Xanth novel, The Vale of the Vole. Didn't know a thing about the world of Xanth, but the book seemed interesting so I read it and thought it was really good. It was the 10th book in the series, but I didn't really know it and never pursued any of the previous ones, or any that came after. I probably just skipped on to some other book that caught my attention at the time. I finished book one this past winter and currently working through book two, The Source of Magic.

So, here I am decades later finally reading the series from the first. With Discworld, I knew a little bit but had never read any of the books, so this past summer I decided to give the series a go, too and started in on the audio books, which I can listen to on walks.

When I'm done with Xanth, book two, I'll probably jump over and read Ghost Story, the next book in the Dresden Files series that I need to read to catch up; I heard the latest DF book will be coming out soon.

[Necron 99]

A kickstarter project recently closed for a DCC supplement based on the trilogy, Empire of the East, by Fred Saberhagen.

From my understanding, Saberhagen's work is listed among "Appendix N" of the AD&D DMG as inspirational reading. This isn't a series I'm familiar with but the reviews seem to be favorable so I'm adding it to my back log of books to be read. Some mentions and reviews I've seen say this trilogy is on par with LotR, though judging from page counts, has much less volume. I get the vibe that Ralph Bakshi's Wizards may have loosely been based off of this series, or at the very least, influenced by it.

Some time in the future, a nuclear holocaust is averted by a computer named ARDNEH (Automatic Restoration Director – National Executive Headquarters), which initiates what is intended to be a temporary modification (later called "The Change") to the laws of physics to make nuclear explosions impossible. However, the enemy has a similar device, and when the two expanding wavefronts of The Change collide, the effect unexpectedly becomes permanent.

Following The Change, most technology ceases to function, while magic now works. Magical beings are also created. Demons are born from acts of violence at the time of the change; the most powerful is Orcus, a nuclear bomb caught at the exact moment of exploding. After eliminating potential rivals, it establishes and rules the evil Empire of the East. Eventually, it is tricked and overthrown by John Ominor, its human second-in-command, who then becomes Emperor of the East. However, the tyranny remains the same. Orcus is locked away in a magical dungeon by Ominor and Wood, his most powerful wizard (who goes on to become the main antagonist of the subsequent Swords series set thousands of years further in the future).

On one continent, a resistance movement fights on under the leadership of Duncan, but is gradually being ground down by the greatly superior military and magical strength of the Empire. Rolf, a peasant farmer with an untapped knack for technology, joins the resistance after his parents are killed and his sister kidnapped by soldiers of the Empire. He is contacted by Ardneh (made sentient by The Change and the actual leader of the West) and ultimately becomes the conduit for the computer's plans to bring about the West's salvation.

Written in the 1960s and 70s, the books have a significant Cold War theme and the parallels between the American perspective of the evil east and the west are obvious. The dominance of magic makes for a strong fantasy flavor, but remnants of the advanced weapons and technology of the old world appear throughout the series (the lake of life for wounded soldiers for example).

[Necron 99]

Saw an article that mentioned a new publication coming out from Tolkien.

Full Article: HERE

It has come to light on the Tolkien Collector’s Guide that Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin have plans to publish a new book titled The Nature of Middle-earth in 2021 containing previously unpublished writings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Nature of Middle-earth will comprise numerous late (c. 1959-73) and previously unpublished writings by J.R.R. Tolkien on the “nature” of Middle-earth, in both chief senses of that word: both metaphysical and natural/historical.

I'm sure I'll pick it up, I have pretty much everything else for ME.

[Ancalagon]

Coming not too long after the passing of Christopher Tolkien, I wonder if he opposed such a release by the publisher while alive. I'm also wondering who oversees JRRT's legacy now....

[Captain_Blood]

Well whoever has control over LoTR will only have it for another 23 or 26 years in the US. At least as things stand for now. I'm sure Disney will ram through another extension blocking things from the public domain soon enough.

[Necron 99]

This morning, during my walk, I finished up book three, Equal Rites, of the Discworld series.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not half so bad as a lot of ignorance.
The last thing the wizard Drum Billet did, before Death laid a bony hand on his shoulder, was to pass on his staff of power to the eighth son of an eighth son.
Unfortunately for his colleagues in the chauvinistic (not to say misogynistic) world of magic, he failed to check that the baby in question was a son.
Everybody knows that there’s no such thing as a female wizard. But now it’s gone and happened, there’s nothing much anyone can do about it.
Let the battle of the sexes begin…
The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Equal Rites is the first book in the Witches series.

Having now read listened through the third book, I really like the Discworld universe, really fantastic and some interesting takes on fantasy and magic. The first three books, at least, are very well written and enjoyable, I'm looking forward to the fourth book.

Two weeks back, when returning from deployment, I finished up the second Xanth book, The Source of Magic. I found this one to be enjoyable, but a much slower story. You have to stick with it to get through to the end, then it becomes much more interesting. I'm going to break from Xanth for a bit to pursue other books in my backlog, starting with Empire of the East (which I mentioned previously).

[grodog]

I haven’t read any Discworld, and the only Pratchett I've read was Good Omens, which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.

I bought, but haven’t started yet, Susanna Clarke’s newest, Piranesi. I’ve not read her earlier book (Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell) and related short stories yet. I’m leaning toward reading those first.

I started House of Leaves earlier this summer, but got distracted reading my brother-in-law’s third novel then various other books

Most-recently, I re-read the first two Daevabad Trilogy books by S. A. Chakraborty—City of Brass and Kingdom of Copper—in prep for her third, Empire of Gold which came out last month. I finished the third yesterday, and enjoyed all three.

I also re-read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, this afternoon, and was fairly irked by its deus-ex-machina ending. I assume that’s why I never read more of her stuff over the years.

Not sure what I’ll read next. Many options!

Allan.