The Books/Reading Thread

[Zephyrus]

Just finished Works of Hesiod & the Homeric Hymns today. Good to have some fundamental lessons on Greek mythology.

Just started the Histories of Herodotus. Can't wait to read the part about what really happened at Thermopylae.

 

[Einherjar86]

What do you mean? Xerxes was a twelve foot tall giant, he had tribes of goat-headed minstrels serenading him and he used big fat bastards with axes for hands as executioners.

Geez

 

[Zephyrus]

It's merely a few pages in an 800-page work. I'll probably leave Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War to the end of the summer.

 

[DarkBliss]

I've finished reading Peter James' Denial. Very disappointing. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're a casual fan of the thriller genre. A piss-poor imitation(of sorts) of Stephen King's Misery.I found it lacking in suspense, and just extremely poorly written, in general.

Now reading Elizabeth George's A Suitable Vengeance

 

[ramses]

I keep suggesting Ian Irvine out of Australia. He blends sci-fi with fantasy, and blurs the lines between which characters are good or evil, or just simply jerks. He doesn't write in any kind of cliched way. He's very detailed with the geographies, cultures, and characters, but always keeps the story moving. And my favorite thing about him, is that his books rarely have a happy ending...much more realistic.
A Shadow on the Glass- is the first one from A View From the Mirror Quartet.

 

[cookiecutter]

I am reading Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett which a friend got me. I'm only one chapter in but it's good so far.

 

[Einherjar86]

I keep suggesting Ian Irvine out of Australia. He blends sci-fi with fantasy, and blurs the lines between which characters are good or evil, or just simply jerks. He doesn't write in any kind of cliched way. He's very detailed with the geographies, cultures, and characters, but always keeps the story moving. And my favorite thing about him, is that his books rarely have a happy ending...much more realistic.
A Shadow on the Glass- is the first one from A View From the Mirror Quartet.

I'll check him out eventually. I've got so much shit to read. After I finish R. Scott Baker's Prince of Nothing trilogy, I want to read Cormac McCarthy's The Road and then Matthew Pearl's The Poe Shadow.

His second book, The Dante Club, was awesome, especially if you're a fan of the Inferno.

 

[Ender Rises]

I've heard a lot of people on this forum having hard-ons for HP Lovecraft, so let's hear it. Good? Bad? Should I bother? Am I a horrible person for never reading one of his books? Where should I start?

 

[skeptik]

Get the Penguin compilations. Start with The Call Of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories, then get The Thing on the Doorstep... and The Dreams in the Witch House....

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Cthulhu-Stories-Penguin-Twentieth-Century-Classics/dp/0141182342/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211327420&sr=8-7[/ame]
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Thing-Doorstep-Stories-Penguin-Classics/dp/0142180033/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b[/ame]
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Witch-House-Stories-Classics/dp/0142437956/ref=pd_sim_b_title_1[/ame]

 

[Einherjar86]

He's good if you like that kind of low fantasy "weird fiction" stuff. He's basically a modern, more science-fiction version of Edgar Allen Poe. If you like Poe, you'll probably like Lovecraft.

I've read a few of his stories, he's fun.

Nothing like Poe though...

 

[skeptik]

I'm not comfortable calling it 'low'.

 

[Einherjar86]

Yeah, I guess it isn't really part of that movement; but it shares some similarities.

Lovecraft is definitely more influential than most low fantasy stuff; actually, he was probably a major influence on that genre.

EDIT: and by "low" I don't mean bad; it's just a term for a subgenre of fantasy. It has nothing to do with the material being less important or intelligent.

 

[unknown]

the proper term is "Weird fiction", fyi

 

[Ender Rises]

Is it just weird? Does it have any kind of depth or is it just him masturbating his imagination?

 

[Einherjar86]

the proper term is "Weird fiction", fyi

I actually mentioned Weird Fiction in my original post as well.

 

[unknown]

*shifty eyes*

I see that...now

Ender: There isn't anything "weird" by the regular definition of the word. Weird Fiction generally is a blend of supernatural, fantasy and horror literature that was written mostly between the late 1800s up to the 1930s. Supposedly there is now a revival called "New Weird" fiction being spearheaded by Jeff Vandermeer and his wife, Ann, who put out an anthology on said New Weird fiction, but I have yet to check it out

 

[Ender Rises]

Thanks, Unknown, but you didn't answer my question. Is it just fantasy for fantasy's sake (nothing wrong with that) or is there anything deeper to it?

 

[skeptik]

Bro, search Lovecraft on wikipedia, you can read some of his stories online and get an idea for yourself.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Get Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Occult.

 

[Ender Rises]

I'll check it out. In the middle of The Fountainhead still, but after I finish I'll give Lovecraft a look.