The "to be read" pile

I've been trading a lot of "to be read" notes with folks lately, and for fun and lack of anything else to post, I thought I'd examine some of those books that I have not read and want to read someday.

For this I think I will only count books that I own, not any book I might eventually acquire or borrow from the library.

While it is great to see new titles and small press getting along, my reading list is growing exponentially, as I am also trying to catch up on many genre readings from the past that I never read before, either.

This is by no means complete, just off the top of my head.

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Abercrombie's first novel of the First Law trilogy.

Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore. OK, I've read half of them so far. I think I had actually read more than half, but Salvatore went and put out two more trilogies. Also from Salvatore, I have the second Demon Wars novel. I did read the first one, and liked Salvatore getting to play and create his own world, but I didn't feel compelled to rush back.

Elric by Michael Moorcock. Okay, I've read the ACE/(DAW) set (except "Elric at the End of Time".) But I have the reissued Del Reys, and the newer 'between the stories' novels, though I've not heard a lot positive past Fortress of the Pearl.

Star Wars Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn. This was one of the first SW tie-ins after the original film trilogy (not counting Alan Dean Foster's out-of-canon title(s)). It was recommended when I asked for suggestions for good space opera to read.

Crapload of Paizo Planet Stories. I've been getting most of these titles, with exceptions of stuff I already have. I could spend a year reading just these alone.

Along with Planet Stories, I want to read more sword-n-planet. I think with John Carter of Mars movie(s) coming, having some sword-n-planet stories in pocket might be a good idea, so I'd like to learn more and write more (without, obviously, unconsciously aping anyone.) I have Charles G's Talera trilogy on my bookshelf now, having read the first one.

Crapload of Black Library, Warhammer and Warhammer 40K. I can't help it, those damn omnibuses are good deals (see my 'Open Letter' blog entry.)

Ian Fleming's original Bond titles. I've read about half of them. (These I like to savor as they are a finite set.)

Some more Stephen King, particularly his newer story and novella collections. (I have Everything's Eventual and Nightmares and Dreamscapes awaiting.)

Tons of 'lesser' genre titles like Lin Carter's Callisto and John Jakes' Brak the Barbarian.

Fred Saberhagen. I want to read more Berserker tales and I have an omnibus of The First Books of Swords.

And as much as I love Glen Cook, The Black Company is the only series I've read completely. I still have Dread Empire and Garrett novels to read.

Hey, you know. Now that I've written out this list, I see that I've 'sampled' at least a title from most of these series, if not read the entire series.

Maybe later I'll post the other titles I want to read, regardless of whether I have it currently in hand or not....

Resurrection

I am very excited!

Dale Rippke's excellent site, Heroes of Dark Fantasy is being resurrected.

By popular demand, the first page back is the page concerning Karl E. Wagner's Kane.

Dale will be putting back the other pages, when he can.

For those who don't know, this site has everything you need to know about classic dark fantasy, s&s heroes with lots of interesting essays, maps, character studies, bibliographies.

Elric, Kane, Conan, Kull, Brak, Imaro - all this and more!

I can't wait until it's all back, but Kane is a great start!

October reads

I managed to get a bit of reading done recently.


Rage of the Behemoth

Heroic fantasy, geared more toward the sub-genre of sword-&-sorcery, with a theme of giant monsters and those who combat them.

Many people have been saying this, and I’ll say it too – this is a great anthology. If you enjoy heroic fantasy and sword-&-sorcery, Jason M. Waltz has pulled together a wonderful collection here. I won’t bother going into standouts, of which there are many, versus lesser tales. The balance on whole is very strong. If you enjoy Andrew Offutt’s Swords Against Darkness series, then Rage of the Behemoth is right up your alley.

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Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks

It had been a long time since I’d read a Doctor Who novel, and this was my first read of the new hardcover tie-ins with the new series. This novel features the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant’s character) and, naturally, his old enemies, the Daleks. Yes, the Daleks were all wiped out, but like any good time-traveling aliens, they keep altering histories allowing the Doctor to stumble into their past. Or something – time travel is fuzzy, as even the Doctor would testify.

This was a fun read, and a fast read that moved along at a quick clip, as with the pacing of the updated series. If you like the series and/or Dalek stories, this one should be added to your library. Nice Dalek scheming, gains and counter-gains, and Dalek dialog rendered in its own Dalek font. All good stuff.

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Dragonslayer

The epic doom of Gotrek, berserker ‘Slayer’ dwarf continues with human Felix Jaeger at his side. This time out, the duo faces a deadly dragon along with a host of other dangers, including orcs and bandits.

This was solid entry for both the Gotrek and Felix series and Warhammer. A tight tale in and of itself, it also opens threads into bigger things in future novels (such as an impending invasion of the hordes of Chaos.) I liked the lighter use of goofy humor in this one compared to some of the previous entries, though it feels like Warhammer dwarf tales should be read while consuming ale to truly appreciate the effect.

Dear Black Library (open letter)

Dear Black Library,

You can stop now. Really. I just don't have time to follow two universes with multiple self-contained series. I have other books to read. I have too many of your books on my shelf unread, as it is.

Really. Please stop with the interesting cover blurbs and the eye catching art on the new stuff.

Please.

Also, please stop dropping all these damn good-looking omnibuses on me. It's bad enough I'm interested in your new titles. Then you turn around and create opportunities for me to 'catch up' with reasonably priced, three-for-one omnibuses of previous titles which triples my to-be-read pile in an instant.

Insidious.

Then to top it all off, you provide incredible cover art that makes me drool. It is very hard not to buy an omnibus like the Witch Hunter series. I already have the novels, but then you add a bonus story! Please stop.

Now you've gone and done this. And even though I have these novels, well, ... that cover. If there's a bonus story in this one, all is lost.



Damn.

Alien planet?

Alien planet?

No, it's Earth. China, to be exact. I got this from TIME.com

Out of This World
This unique geological phenomenon, known as a Danxia landform, can be seen in several places in China. This example is located in Zhangye, Gansu Province. The color is a result of millions of years of accumulated red sandstone and other sediments that have dried and oxidized.

A little sword-&-planet inspiration, though, eh? ;)

A smattering of movies, misc

I've managed to squeeze in a few movies over the past weeks.

The Last Legion - sword-n-sorcery crammed into a "fall of Rome" tale with ties to Arthurian legend. Yeah, it not only sounds like a mess, it plays like one, too. Might have been better without the Arthurian shoehorning. At least Aishwarya Rai was easy on the eyes.


Last of the Mississippi Jukes - Documentary on the Subway, one of the last original juke joints in Jackson, MS. Good take for a blues fan. Enjoyable performances, though personally I preferred Alvin Youngblood Hart and Chris Thomas King over the smoother electric stuff that dominates the movie. But that's really just personal taste.

The dilapidated hotel that housed the Subway was ultimately demolished after the movie was released, though. :(


Hellboy II: The Golden Army - enjoyable sequel to Hellboy. If anything, the character of Prince Nuada might be an early run of what Elric of Melnibone could look like in a live action movie.


Finally, the direct-to-DVD feature from DC,Green Lantern: First Flight. Don't cringe when you read "direct-to-DVD". These DC Universe animated movies have been enjoyable to outstanding, and this was a solid entry in the series, and a good Green Lantern tale.


On the reading front, still working Rage of the Behemoth. Also checking out the latest Ray Gun Revival (incredible cover!)


And reading some old Jonah Hex (collected Volume 1) for some quick-n-dirty Western fixes.

September update

Not much to report, but I did finish, rewrote, polished and submitted the sword-n-planet story to the editor. I haven't heard back yet, so I hope he likes it.

On the heels of finishing that, we went into house improvement mode with new carpets (our daughter is crawling and the update was long overdue) and painting to match the new carpets before they arrived, etc. So I haven't done any writing, though I am thinking about my next story (a submission for Rogue Blades Entertainment's Roar of the Crowd anthology, I hope.)

For reading, I'm also behind, working my way through RBE's Rage of the Behemoth. Interesting seeing some of the stories from the slush pile (that I read) making it to the final product.

Weather is cooling off already - we barely had a summer. But that means pumpkin ales can't be far away!

Cheers!