So what are you reading this year 2021?

[Richards]

I finished Birth of the Blade and it was a good read. I realized fairly early that this was a novel somewhere in the middle of a long line of novels by the same author set in the same world, but it was fairly standalone so that didn't bother me too much. And there were two young maidens who shared a habit I absolutely adored: when one was upset, she'd say "Oh, foof" and the other would instantly respond, "Skeek." (I gather this was something along the lines of, "Oh drat!" and "Oh drat right back at you.") I don't know why I like that as much as I do, but I do. So while I won't necessarily go out of my way to try to hunt up all of the other books in the series, if I ever stumble across one at a book sale I'll be sure to pick it up.

Anyway, now I'm moving on to an old classic I've never gotten around to reading: The Fellowship of the Talisman by Clifford D. Simak. It takes place on an alternate Earth, where the 20th century looks a lot like the Middle Ages, in part because every 500 years or so an army of "demons" shows up somewhere on Earth and burns everything they can to the ground, these incursions rarely lasting less than a decade at a time. Also, mythical creatures like goblins, fairies, banshees, and griffins exist and it sounds like the European civilization has yet to discover the Americas. I'm about 40 pages in and I'm enjoying it.

Johnathan

 

[Matthew Popkes]

Still reading Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow.

Still reading Night of the Hunter by R. A. Salvatore.

Still reading Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire.

Still reading The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray.

Still reading The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor.

Still reading Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson.

Still reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Still reading The Immortal Game: A History of Chess by David Shenk.

Still reading Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb.

Still reading Changes by Jim Butcher.

Still reading A Lone Habitation by Seanan McGuire.

Finished reading My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas. This was amazing.

Still listening to Lux by Brandon Sanderson.

Still reading Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl.

Still reading The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan.

Still reading Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished Hardy's Master of Five Magics. It's aged better than I expected. Part of the fun is that it feels a bit like someone transposed an 80s John Cusack movie into a fantasy novel.

Now I'm reading the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series' Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy. It was enjoyable, though at times it gave me flashbacks to my undergrad philosophy requirements.

One thing of note is that it was written in early 2014, and even then, pegged biologically always evil beings as a problem.

Now I'm reading L. Sprague DeCamp's The Goblin Tower.

 

[Alzrius]

I'm currently about halfway through Ethan Gilsdorf's Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks.

 

[Richards]

I finished up Clifford D. Simak's The Fellowship of the Talisman - and he was doing the "not all members of so-called evil races are evil" thing back in 1978, considering his fellowship included a good witch, a good goblin, a good ghost, a good banshee, and even a good demon!

I brought as my back-up book (I was away from home for the past four days) The Year's Best Science Fiction from 1997, edited by Gardner Dozois. I picked it up from where I had last left off, two stories in, and have progressed by another three short stories. I'll probably keep reading it (mostly at bedtime) until next Monday, when I go on a business trip for four days, as it's a hardcover book and I prefer paperbacks for airplane flights as they take up less room.

Johnathan

 

[Nellisir]

I brought as my back-up book (I was away from home for the past four days) The Year's Best Science Fiction from 1997, edited by Gardner Dozois.

These were must-buys for me until Mr. Dozois passed away a couple of years ago. I reread a bunch of them a few years ago, and found my memory was not deceiving me; I really did absolutely loathe a LOT of SF in the late 90's.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Currently: The Diamond Age
Then waiting for me at the library are Klara in the Sun and Convenience Store Woman
Then I'll read about 8-9 Zinequest games from all 3 of the Zinequest campaigns.

 

[Zaukrie]

Gatherer of clouds..... It's interesting to think about how differently Guy Kay writes Chinese vs Sean Russell...... Russell feels like he's telling a western story, moreso than Kay did. Both are good, just different feeling.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I enjoyed it, though I think the pervasive idea within that playing D&D was somehow childish hampers it, especially over a decade later when D&D is considered cool. Still, at it's best, it's quite emotionally affecting.

I'm currently about halfway through Ethan Gilsdorf's Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks.