[June] What are you reading?

Yraen said:
I've just finished Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. Okay, but could have done with less padding. Is J.K. trying to be the new J.R.R. Tolkien?

Based on comments from people around here the more current comparison might be Jordan.
 

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After bouncing around to three or four books, reading the first 20 pages and deciding 'not now', I think I've settled down with The Devil in the Dust by Chaz Brenchley. The first of six (!) Outremer books, but they're short books. I understand that when originally published in the UK it was a trilogy; wish they'd done that with the American imprint as well.

So far it's pretty enjoyable; young monk-to-be Marron has come to the great fortress Roq de Rancon to learn to be a knight of the God (they refer to him in that manner; 'the God' instead of just 'God' - his symbol is an infinity sign) like his father. He has a gift for swordsmanship and incredible endurance for someone who has only been in one real fight; this attracts the attention of one of the young knights, who takes Marron under his wing. Marron is also haunted by the ghastly acts his group performed at a village of heretics while journeying to the fortress. Meanwhile, Julianne de Rance, daughter of the King's Shadow (not exactly sure what this is, yet, but he's a very powerful man) has come to Roq de Rancon to wed. The plot threads are just now beginning to come together.

So far, Outremer seems like a nice setting for a campaign, as well. Hopefully I can find a map somewhere.

Edit: Aha. And a home page.
http://www.outremer.co.uk/index.html
 
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Just re-read the five Harry Potter books; next up is Devil in the White City; after that, probably an Amelia Peabody mystery. :)
 

A Place Called Dagon - by R. Gorman - set in a small town in Massachusetts, the story is about witches. No relation to HP Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" stories, but what is it about small towns in Massachusetts? ;)

Shadows Over Innsmouth and Tales Out of Innsmouth - tales concerning one of HPL's favorite Massachusetts towns. Between the two books you get the original story (The Shadow Over Innsmouth), as well as an alternate version from HPL's original notes (The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth), and several original mythos stories concerning Innsmouth.

Escape From Innsmouth - a Call of Cthulhu setting/scenario book.

Guess I've got Innsmouth on the brain lately.... Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!
 

Over the weekend, I read Agyar and The Book of Jhereg, both by Steven Brust; I've been on a Brust jag lately :).

The Book of Jhereg comprises the first three Vlad Taltos novels, and I was pretty disappointed in them. It seems that it really was the florid writing style that made me love The Phoenix Guards so much; these were written in a pedestrian, clumsy fashion that did very little for me. Granted, they're among his first works, so I can forgive them as early efforts; still, I was hoping for something as delightful as Phoenix Guards and didn't get it.

Agyar is pretty good, however; in fact, it approaches Joyce Carol Oates' Zombie in terms of being a creepy book about a sociopath.

Daniel
 

"The Lost"

Just finished reading "The Lost" by Jack Ketchum. Fast moving, highly enjoyable horror/suspense. The 400 pages absolutely flew by.

This is the first Ketchum book I've ever read, having picked it up based on glowing recommendations Stephen King has given the guy. I agree with his assessments completely. If you like King, by all means try Ketchum.

"The Lost" is set in the late 1960's and centers around an unsolved murder mystery in a small New Jersey town. Two disillusioned detectives know who the murderer is, but lack the evidence to bring him in. The killer is a young, twisted but highly charismatic kid very reminsicent of Charles Manson, and the book addresses the social changes in the U.S. in the late 1960's that came with the Manson murders, Vietnam and the hippie/drug revolution. Fascinating stuff.
 


Well I am still trying to get through book 10 in the WoT series, but just picked up Elminster's Daughter and and for something other than fantasy I am starting Deception Point by Dan Brown.
 

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