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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 24, 2020 15:09:36 GMT -5
Definitely sounds like it would make a great comic.. kinda what I wanted X-Men 2099 to be. Especially with that cover and the chapter illustration you posted. Goblin Slayer v. 2 by Kumo Kagyu I like the order of event much better here than in the anime... things make more sense from a character development standpoint. Also, I love the alligator, and the gods using 'gygax' as a swear... great stuff. I wonder if the author can continue to come up with fun and interesting ways for the characters to attack, but attacked by, and defeat goblins, but so far so good. There's also enough hints of a wider plot that make it worth proceeding. As long as the character to veer too much into the 'harem' set up (it could definitely go there with a wrong turn), I'll definitely continue the series
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2020 1:39:59 GMT -5
Just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora (The Gentleman Bastards Book 1) by Scott Lynch. This was Lynch's debut novel in 2007. Locke Lamora is an orphan and a gifted con man, and leads a small band of thieves known as the Gentleman Bastards. They become in embroiled in several plots as a war for control of the city's underworld breaks out and endangers their long term grift plans against the city's nobility. Lots of twists and turns, engaging well-developed characters and rich world building characterize this epic fantasy. In many ways it is also a crime novel, just a crime novel set in a fantasy world. Not quite fantasy noir, but not far from it. If Brubaker wrote Criminal in a fantasy setting, it might read something like this. It falls under what I have come to call modern fantasy (not fantasy set in the modern world but modern as opposed to classic fantasy-with classic fantasy being fantasy in the mold of Tolkien and his followers and modern fantasy beginning with the likes of Robert Jordan and George RR Martin who moved away from the Tolkienesque tropes and styling sometime in the 90s). This came out in 2007 when I was taking a break form comics and epic fantasy and began exploring other things. This book came to my attention through Warren Ellis' newsletter a few years back, but I never got to fully give it a chance until recently (I had checked it out of the library and read a few chapters just before I ended up in the hospital for emergency hernia surgery a few years back but never got back to it until earlier this month-I liked what I had read but my TBR pile was so full of books and comics I was focusing on stuff I owned rather than library borrows for a while-I read this form the library and liked it quite a bit, so will continue with the series and add these to my own shevles eventually, but I am reading a few fantasy series now so will likely alternate books form series and intersperse non-fantasy books for a while). The book tells the story in two time periods, the present featured in numbered chapters details Locke and his gangs plans and exploits, and interludes between chapters set in the past when Locke was a boy as we meet him, see his training as a thief, meet his compatriots, and learn more of the world they live in. The book is well written, well paced for the most part (a few parts here and there drag a bit, mostly detailing small capers that take way too long to pay off though they are important to the larger story as a whole), but it also has a sense of fun and adventure amidst the deadly serious business the gang is about-something I rarely find done in a way I like-comic fantasy for the most part irritates me, but Lynch finds the right balance much the way Fritz Lieber does in the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser tales. The world building is rich, but not overwhelming, adding tot he story rather than distracting from it the way some modern fantasists do when they go overbaord with such material. Overall, I quite liked it an recommend it to this who like fantasy adventure with an element of crime fiction, or are looking for something a bit different. -M
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Post by berkley on Jun 26, 2020 4:52:19 GMT -5
The Book of PhoenixNnedi Okorafor, 2015 Some of the chapter headings also contain lovely illustrations by Eric Battle, which made me want more illustrations throughout the book, or even a comic book adaptation of the story. I agree, his style looks like it would translate well to comics (see example in original post).
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 26, 2020 14:02:19 GMT -5
I remember greatly enjoying that first book, but the 2nd one being a total change in tone for the main character, which annoyed me.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 28, 2020 13:38:05 GMT -5
Cradle of LifeLouis Adamic, 1936 ( cover with and without dust jacket) Finally decided to dust this one off and give it a read. Set in Croatia in the late 19th and early 20th century, the novel tells the story of a man named Rudolf (or Rudo) Stanka, from his early childhood, through his adolescence and early adulthood. He was born to a young noblewoman out of wedlock, so - as per the practices of the time - after his birth in Zagreb he was sent away to a small village north of the city to be cared for by a dirt-poor peasant family. Then, at the age of about 10, his maternal grandfather found out about him and, after visiting him in the village, arranged to have him taken to an estate elsewhere in Croatia to be raised by a governess and several teachers. As Rudo grows, he begins to learn about his past, including the rather startling secret of who his father was. However, he also ponders the harsh lives led by the peasants and the injustices of the still extant feudal system in the Habsburg Monarchy - first and foremost the parasitical nature of the hereditary landed nobility. This was more of an endlessly interesting rather than good book, with plenty of descriptions of life in Croatia in waning years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as considerable socio-political commentary woven into the narrative. One of the major themes of the book is how the aristocracy but also the urban bourgeoisie dealt with the problem of babies born out of wedlock - for many, this involved infanticide. Louis Adamic was otherwise a pretty fascinating character. He was a Slovenian immigrant to the US, where he eventually became a journalist and author, mainly writing about immigrant communities, but also the labor movement in the US, as he was a committed socialist. A few of his non-fiction books were bestsellers, but after his death in the early 1950s (he committed suicide) he was pretty much forgotten by the general public. I first heard about him in high school, because you inevitably encountered his books when looking for stuff on Yugoslavia, the Balkans and East European immigrants in America in any public library. This is one of his only works of fiction, and he based part of the story on real-life details from the life of Croatian painter Maksimilijan Vanka, to whom the book is dedicated.
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Post by berkley on Jun 28, 2020 18:26:04 GMT -5
Cradle of LifeLouis Adamic, 1936 ( cover with and without dust jacket) Finally decided to dust this one off and give it a read. Set in Croatia in the late 19th and early 20th century, the novel tells the story of a man named Rudolf (or Rudo) Stanka, from his early childhood, through his adolescence and early adulthood. He was born to a young noblewoman out of wedlock, so - as per the practices of the time - after his birth in Zagreb he was sent away to a small village north of the city to be cared for by a dirt-poor peasant family. Then, at the age of about 10, his maternal grandfather found out about him and, after visiting him in the village, arranged to have him taken to an estate elsewhere in Croatia to be raised by a governess and several teachers. As Rudo grows, he begins to learn about his past, including the rather startling secret of who his father was. However, he also ponders the harsh lives led by the peasants and the injustices of the still extant feudal system in the Habsburg Monarchy - first and foremost the parasitical nature of the hereditary landed nobility. This was more of an endlessly interesting rather than good book, with plenty of descriptions of life in Croatia in waning years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as considerable socio-political commentary woven into the narrative. One of the major themes of the book is how the aristocracy but also the urban bourgeoisie dealt with the problem of babies born out of wedlock - for many, this involved infanticide. Louis Adamic was otherwise a pretty fascinating character. He was a Slovenian immigrant to the US, where he eventually became a journalist and author, mainly writing about immigrant communities, but also the labor movement in the US, as he was a committed socialist. A few of his non-fiction books were bestsellers, but after his death in the early 1950s (he committed suicide) he was pretty much forgotten by the general public. I first heard about him in high school, because you inevitably encountered his books when looking for stuff on Yugoslavia, the Balkans and East European immigrants in America in any public library. This is one of his only works of fiction, and he based part of the story on real-life details from the life of Croatian painter Maksimilijan Vanka, to whom the book is dedicated. This is a new one on me and sounds like something I might want to look for. Fin-de-siecle Europe and the period leading up to WWI is an interesting time and place, sort of the end of a world, in a way.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 2, 2020 12:18:33 GMT -5
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan Saga #8)
It was nice to see Miles again.. between reading a couple of the book where he was not the star, and the lack of library access, it's been a while.
I was looking forward to this one, as I like 'Admiral Naismith' far more than Lord Vorkosigan, and was hoping to see some more of the Dendariis. Sadly, I was mostly disappointed. The focus was on new characters that I suspect set up future books, but as a result the main action in this one was pretty bare... we get a bit of spy-stuff at the end, but no space battles or intrigue with the Dendarii (other than the struggle to pay their bills). I don't really like Elli Quinn enough to have her the focus of another book... I would have greatly preferred others.
I did like Captain Galeni alot, and hope he re-appears.. perhaps the 'Komarr' novel?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 2, 2020 16:31:35 GMT -5
Split Decision by Jack Tunney (Eric Beetner) Fight Card #3 This is the first Fight Card novella that I've read. I partly went with this one because I am well aware of Eric Beetner and his status in the neo-noir community, so I expected something good. Fight Card is a series of novellas/short novels about the fight game that hit an interesting area that previously was filled by paperback originals, pulp boxing stories and men's adventure series'. Split Decision is set in Kansas City, 1954, and focuses on Jimmy Wyler, a middling middle-weight who really just wants to make enough money fighting to finish paying for a ring for his girl and marry her and start a life together. He's still coherent enough that he knows he's never going to make the big time and he needs to strike now before he's punch-drunk and unable to move on to a different phase in life. There's a lot here that runs to the expected in a neo-noir boxing tale. Wyler gets afoul of rival mob factions that are trying to run the fight game and fix fights. Luckily Beetner is a skilled enough writer that he's able to navigate what could be a hoary tale in an interesting manner and with a few turns that aren't 100% expected. Beetner also does a great jobs with the fight scenes. It's a good short read. Unfortunately, browsing around the net it looks like Fight Card has gone the way of my late lamented Thuglit. The hey-day of neo-noir short fiction and net-fiction has clearly passed, though the continued life in Switchblade magazine and the re-birth of Pulp Modern is encouraging. Luckily a lot of that content is still available and is well worth seeking out.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2020 12:44:55 GMT -5
That's a pretty good list; nice to see Butler, Okorafor and Hopkinson getting so much love. By the way, I'd strongly recommend reading Butler's Parable of the Sower (and its sequel, Parable of the Talents). The dystopian future (in 2025) seemed merely plausible when she wrote those books in the 1990s; now, given the most recent events, it seems like she may have been looking into a crystal ball (of note is that, among other things, there's a demagogic leader who uses the slogan 'make American great again'). I actually just started reading the recently released GN adaptation of the Parable of the Sower with art by John Jennings (of BlackKirby fame) adapted by Damien Duffy. The same pair did an award winning adaptation of the Kindred a few years ago (but I haven't read that). Oddly, my local library had the GN, but not a copy of Butler's novel. -M I just finished the Kindred GN last night and rote my thoughts on it in the modern comic thread here-M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 6, 2020 9:40:25 GMT -5
Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud I've had this series on my radar for a long while, and it suddenly appeared in my house (my wife sent out a call on facebook for COVID reading material... and lots of books appeared.. thanks, friends!), I figured it was time, especially since she actually read the whole trilogy, which she almost never does. I really like the magic system, it was unique and well thought out (mostly). The problem is it's also pretty inherently evil, so it was hard to cheer for even our standard coming of age hero. The Djinni (Bartimaeus) was definitely more likeable, but still also evil... life is cheap in the book overall, which isn't great, and it seems to be implying that human civilization as a whole is evil, which I don't really want to believe . I also found the switching point of views rather disconcerting... not for the switching, but because the Bartimaeus chapters were in the first person, and the Nathaniel chapters mostly in the 3rd. ..which brings me to my big issue with the system, which overall I liked. If you're going to make it so your name is the most important thing, do give away the main characters name right away, and worse, don't make it have almost no reprecussions. I did enjoy it overall, I'll probably read the rest of the trilogy at some point, if only to see how they manage to make the bad guys be little kids too (which seems to be where it's heading).
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 7, 2020 10:26:31 GMT -5
Copper Mountain Champ by Jack Tunney (Brian Drake) I've been suffering from some severe reader's block. The cure this time has been short hard-boiled boxing tales. This time around we had the added bonus of the tale being set in Butte, Montana, a city I visited not super long ago and that has a very interesting history. Alex Slayton spent W.W.II as a marine in the Pacific. It's now 1951 and he's in the copper mines in Butte trying to escape his head. There's labor strife in the offing as the large mine owner has started skimping on safety as the mines are starting to play out. This is all loosely based on the Anaconda mine's changeover to open pint mining in the early 50s (very loosely). Slayton gets pulled into the labor strife and ends up in the boxing ring with the boss' son who has been the town champion boxer for a number of years. But those fights haven't all been legit. And this one will be...if Alex makes it in to the ring alive. I wasn't familiar with Drake's writing. His bibliography seems to be heavy on political thrillers. Here he does a good job of mixing a hint of real history with the fiction to evoke the flavor of Butte in the 50s. It's a short work and it's just what the doctor ordered to get the pages turning (even if they are metaphorical e-pages).
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 7, 2020 12:32:52 GMT -5
I might have to check those out... I liked the boxing story that came with the Cash Laramie book. Ebooks though, meh. I got one in progress from my last night time road trip, but those are pretty few and far between right now. Quest through Time and Space (Perry Rhodan #9) I knew time travel was coming... I hate time travel. This wasn't too bad though...it was the 'this has already happened and we can't change it' sort of time travel, and they never went down the road of changing the present, so that's good. It was fun seeing Perry and his space buddies fight in a medieval castle, but it was WAY too easy.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 7, 2020 12:51:13 GMT -5
At this point I much prefer e-books. The sole exception is if it's something that's very graphic intensive like art books or comic book histories (the type from Twomorrows).
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Post by Duragizer on Jul 8, 2020 17:45:52 GMT -5
Stargate: Rebellion (Bill McCay) As a tie-in novel, and a tie-in novel to a movie as flawed as Stargate, no less, Rebellion certainly isn't a masterpiece. Character development for the returning characters from the film is nonexistent; the terrestrial villains are all one-dimensional and interchangeable; and continuity with the movie is sloppy (Having read the film novelization, I can tell McCay had, too, but hadn't watched the film itself prior to writing this book.). On the plus side, Hathor is a decent villainess (a little shortsighted, perhaps, but still far more effective and intimidating than her SG-1 counterpart); the insight into the inner workings of Ra's empire was refreshing; and I much prefer McCay's cynical depiction of the US military to the naive depiction of SG-1 & its spinoffs. I highly recommend it to fans of the movie who don't care for SG-1/are interested in a more film-faithful continuation. 7/10
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2020 3:52:38 GMT -5
Took me a while to get through this one, not because I didn't like it, but it sat in my car for a while as my stuck in line/waiting on something book and only got read a few pages at a time after I went back to work post-shelter in place. Triplanetary, the first book in E.E. Doc Smith's Lensman series. Lensman has always been a series that intrigued me, and I was always curious about its role as an inspiration for the Green Lantern Corps, but I never got around to tracking down the books and reading them. I finally tracked down the books in 2018 and 2019, and dove in to the first book, which provided exactly zero insight into the connections with the GL Corps. The first half of the book sets up a conflict between two superior alien intelligences, one good, one evil (I suppose the good ones could be prototypes for the Guardians of the Universe) and a secret war they wage through eons of different world's developments, and has several episodes set in different periods of earth's history (fall of Atlantis, Rome, the World Wars before setting up earth's future civilization in the Triplanetary stage in the second half of the book, and the Triplanetary scientists and agents who wage a war against both an alien civilization (who eventually became allies after a stalemate and a treaty is signed) and a band of renegade space pilots guided by one of the evil alien intelligences who has assumed a corporeal form. IT all comes off as a bit disjointed. Some interesting ideas, but mostly stock characters (square-jawed heroes, noble men of science, damsels in distress, dastardly villains, etc. keep it form reaching its potential. Still a somewhat fun read, but I am in no hurry to dive in tot he second volume (though I do believe that is the one where the GL connections will become more apparent). Maybe I will return to it later this year, but I have a stack of other things I want tot get to first. -M
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