The Books/Reading Thread

[no country for old wainds]

"Swords of Steel" is a paperback anthology of fantasy and horror adventure stories written by heavy metal musicians. Authors include members of such bands as Manilla Road, Bal-Sagoth, Cauldron Born, Twisted Tower Dire, Solstice, Borrowed Time, Eternal Champion, and Gatekeeper. 254 pages.

http://dmrbooks.storenvy.com/products/11974566-swords-of-steel

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yeah, I just read the "Riddle Master" story on there. Awesome. I was supposed to be a part of this anthology but I failed to finish my story in time because I am lazy.

 

[unknown]

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Like, that hurts dude. Don't rub it in...

 

[unknown]

finished reading Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke and goddamn was that good. It's probably my favorite novel I've read of his (the other two being 2001 and Rendezvous with Rama). His characters are still really weak and not fully fleshed out, but the language is much more poetic and the ideas are vastly more interesting. It still revolves around Clarke's central idea of how humans interact with the other, but this one is different. Definitely recommended for scifi folks

 

[Einherjar86]

I'm throwing this out there because I think there might be some people here who would find it interesting.

I definitely think there could be some rewarding stuff in it, but I'll admit that I won't spend money on it.

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Oh cool, thx dude

 

[unknown]

So for those of you interested in weird fiction and True Detective, Penguin Classics is re-printing Thomas Ligotti's first two collections of short stories in one book: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Dreamer-Grimscribe-Thomas-Ligotti/dp/0143107763/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1427861150&sr=8-4&keywords=thomas+ligotti"]Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe[/ame]. It's available for pre-order right now through Amazon for only $12, which is huge considering what I've paid for previous editions of both. What's especially significant about this is Ligotti is only one of SEVEN living authors out of the over 600 authors printed/published by Penguin Classics (the others being Paul Auster, William Gass, S.E. Hinton, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Thomas Pynchon, and WIlliam Trevor). Plus the fact that he's considered a "genre" author makes it an even bigger deal. I highly recommend you guys jump on this

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Wow you guys keep delivering. Awesome stuff

 

[Master_Yoda77]

I may have to pre-order this. I have yet to watch True Detective, but I've heard nothing but good things. And I love supernatural horror so...

 

[The Ozzman]

What's a good place to start for Lovecraft?

 

[Einherjar86]

I may have to pre-order this. I have yet to watch True Detective, but I've heard nothing but good things. And I love supernatural horror so...

Just a disclaimer, True Detective doesn't technically fall under the rubric of supernatural horror; but it's consciously concerned with the question of the supernatural, so in that sense it's definitely worth your time.

What's a good place to start for Lovecraft?

Others might have varying opinions, but I started with At the Mountains of Madness and loved it. If you'd prefer to start somewhere shorter to get a taste, I'd check out this collection:

 

[Zephyrus]

My first Lovecraft tale was the short story "The Temple," one of his lesser known ones, and I was hooked.

 

[unknown]

I usually recommend the following as starting places for Lovecraft: "The Colour Out of Space," "The Music of Erich Zann," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Doom That Came to Sarnath," "The Statement of Randolph Carter," and "Pickman's Model."

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

The first two stories I read was The Outsider and Dagon and like Zeph said, I was hooked. Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft is definitely worth owning


I'm slowly getting into this and liking it

 

[unknown]

LOVE The Great & Secret Show. That and Weaveworld are my two favorite Clive Barker novels

 

[The Ozzman]

If anyone is interested, archive.org has Lovecraft's complete works there for free.

 

[no country for old wainds]

i always remember this great nin chan journal entry defending lovecraft from the usual criticisms.

 

[Cronopio]

So for those of you interested in weird fiction and True Detective, Penguin Classics is re-printing Thomas Ligotti's first two collections of short stories in one book: Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe. It's available for pre-order right now through Amazon for only $12, which is huge considering what I've paid for previous editions of both. What's especially significant about this is Ligotti is only one of SEVEN living authors out of the over 600 authors printed/published by Penguin Classics (the others being Paul Auster, William Gass, S.E. Hinton, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Thomas Pynchon, and WIlliam Trevor). Plus the fact that he's considered a "genre" author makes it an even bigger deal. I highly recommend you guys jump on this

That's a top quality book series. Have the collections as part of The Nightmare Factory, but that omnibus omits two stories from SOADD, so I'm probably going to get this. Very nice cover artwork too.

 

[unknown]

Yeah it's supposed to be the complete versions of SoaDD and Grimscribe. Hopefully they'll do Noctuary and Teatro Grottesco, but I guess that's asking for too much