[Nov] What are you reading?

[CCamfield]

Next, I read Blaylock's The Last Coin. The thirty peices of silver that were payment for Jesus' betrayal are themselves potent magical artifacts, and very evil. The Wandering Jew has been keeping them apart from each other for 2000 years, since if they are ever all in one place, they would grant tremendous power, power enough to re-write the world. One man has 29 of the coins, and this is the story of the 30th...

Weird book. I read it back in university for a fantasy fiction course. I'd be interested to know what you thought of it.

Have you read Bridge of Birds (Hughart)? Mythago Wood (Holdstock)? Someplace to be Flying (de Lint)?


Earlier this month I re-read Scaramouche, one of the classic swashbucklers, by Raphael Sabatini. That got me interested in the French Revolution (an incredibly dramatic period in history... what great potential for gaming!) and some people recommended a book called Citizens to me. I got that from the library yesterday and Aieeeeee! It's another 1000-page history book. But fortunately in a rather narrative style, so I hope it will go faster than the Islamic history book I struggled with for months.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I had to put down The Fifth Sorceress so I could read the Silmarillion , then I will go back and finally finish TFS, move on to The Black Company, then I'm going to re-read the whole LOTR trilogy + The Hobbit.

After that...hopefully I'll get the new Stephen King novel in hardcover for Christmas.

 

[Pielorinho]

Krug, Joshua, you guys gotten into Perdido Street Station yet? Whaddya think?

Blood Meridian

Holy crap, but this is a creepy book! Although Cormac McCarthy isn't everyone's cup of burnt Texas joe, some of his stuff gives me nightmares. The wedding party scene early in this book is unforgettable.

I just finished reading a book that's making the rounds in my family, and I can definitely recommend it: The Secret History. Normally there's nothing I hate worse than stories about the troubles of the very rich, but this book is deeply unsettling and very well written. My brother-in-law, halfway through the book, called my sister to tell her he'd put the book in the freezer.

Daniel

 

[Viking Bastard]

I've been reading the Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. I had never heard
of him before I happened upon this book in the library but appearatnly he has
written a bunch of books. The cover blurb didn't sound all that riveting, but I
read a couple of the first pages and there was just something about his style of
writing that really grabbed me so I picked it up.

It's absolutely great. I'm only half way through it, and I've just started to see
the first pieces of mystery, but the characters are just so damn real. They
really feel like people I'd really know. A cousin or next door neighbour. And yet,
they're not boring.

Also picked up Night Watch by Terry Prachett. Readin' that next.

 

[Pielorinho]

I've been reading the Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. I had never heard
of him before I happened upon this book in the library but appearatnly he has
written a bunch of books. The cover blurb didn't sound all that riveting, but I
read a couple of the first pages and there was just something about his style of
writing that really grabbed me so I picked it up.

For some reason I have the hardest time remembering anything about any Jonathan Carroll book I read: within a couple weeks, the characters, plot, language, and even title have deserted me completely. Nonetheless, I know I've loved everything by him that I've read. He's awesome, the closest I've read to an English-language magical realist author.

Daniel