I found, in my teen years, I preferred more "space opera" stuff than hard sci-fi, apart from stuff like Ellison or Asimov, were it was not so much the Sci part, as the Fi.  I got badly burnt out on fantasy, by the end of my college days.  It all boiled down to a few types:  the Conan sword & sorcery stuff, the Arthurian stuff, the Quest novels, and the Burroughs' pastiches.  Everything seemed mostly a variation on that.  If you are lucky, then you got someone who wrote great character stuff or someone who did it with an original twist, like Glen Cook's Black Company books, where they are military fiction, in fantasy drag.  I tend to read more of the Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett fantasy, where there is a lot of satire and commentary, as well as some interesting philosophical discussions and some darn good pulpy fun.

For a while, I got on a kick of "I should read this..." which led to a lot of unfinished and disappointing things, to where I just decided to stick with the things that interested me or sounded really cool and have rarely gone wrong with that.  I knew enough about classic literature and reference books to be able to recommend things to customers, and be conversant, without actually reading them.  I haven't read Plato's Republic; but I know the basics, can catch references and can discuss the ideas.

I have wanted to read the Dortmunder novels, though, as I have been reading more humorous stuff for the last , oh, 20 years, ever since deciding I had to stop watching the news and getting angry because of it.  Greg Hatcher recommended those; but, I haven't gotten around to picking some of them up.  I was about to when things went sour with B&N and I left and kind of stayed out of bookstores, for a while (plus no one is stocking much backlist, anymore).  I should probably hit the library for them, as I prefer not to accumulate any more new books , unless they are special.  Maybe a digital option.

I read the first two Dortmunders, The Hot Rock and Bank Job, as a kid in the early 1970s, around the time when the Hot Rock movie was popular. I still haven't seen the film. I liked both books, but they remain the only Westlakes I've read. But I plan to get into the Parker series soon, and then probably some of the Dortmunders.

Yup. Just earlier this month I found myself re-reading The Long Goodbye instead of moving on as I had intended to the only Chandler/Marlowe book I haven't read, Playback (unless the unfinished Poodle Springs counts). But I enjoyed the re-read and Playback is relatively short so what odds, I'll get to it soon enough.

That reminds me, I've been reading Mike Ripley's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, an overview of British thriller writing from post-WWII through the 1970s and beyond. Anyone recommend a similar book on American hard-boiled or crime fiction? I have a pretty good idea of which writers I want to sample up to the 1960s but after that my ideas are very hazy. I have a bunch of names I've heard about over the years but some kind of guide or overview might help me narrow it down.

The Word Hord: Daily Life in Old English by Hana Videen



Shakespeare's English is archaic. It can be difficult to understand, but many parts are still perfectly clear and some are quite eloquent. A few centuries earlier, the Middle English of Chaucer is much harder to read. Some of it is incomprehensible. A few centuries earlier still is Old English, which is a completely foreign language.

This book surveys different areas of life and shows examples of the Old English vocabulary for each. Every chapter ends with a word list showing pronunciation and meaning of a few dozen Old English words that were mentioned in the chapter. It isn't a comprehensive dictionary; it's meant to be read. The words are chosen for their ability to illuminate the world as seen by speakers of Old English. There is necessarily some amount of speculation; the amount of surviving Old English texts are few enough that it's very possible for a scholar to read all of them. Some of the words in the book appear in only one manuscript. There are letters used in Old English that were dropped from the modern English alphabet, like thorn (Þ þ), eth (Ð ð), wynn (Ƿ ƿ), aesc (Æ æ), and othal (Œ œ), and runes that were still in use. It's a fascinating look at a half-vanished world.

I'll keep thinking about it, but I'm not sure I have anything for you.  I can recommend the Thrilling Detective website.  In particular their Hall of Fame can be helpful.  But that's mostly just hardboiled detective fiction and doesn't delve in to literary noir too much (though a little bit).  

Yeah. I put together a run from used book stores and Amazon.

I wouldn’t imagine many, if any, libraries having copies of these books.

The Trouble Twisters
Poul Anderson






I have to say, David Falakyn is no Nicholas van Rijn... I'm a bit sad he seems to be home enjoying his retirement instead of having more adventures for me to read.

This is not really a novel, but 3 novellas that document David's rise from Journeyman trader to his first big mission. The first story was the best of the 3 (it involved the good guys figuring out how to move spare parts for repairs 1000 kms across medeval level roads with no wheels. Wheels were against the planet's religion). The other two were not particiular interesting or clever.. and in fact the 3rd one was kinda a mess.. the crew (which changed every story other than David), got involved in a three way war and each was captured by different factions.

I think if the crew in the last story stuck together additional stories about them might be decent, but David himself just isn't very interesting, just a generic young, ambitious guy trying to make his fortune. And of course he's good at everything. This was not nearly as good as the other League books, but not terrible.