Tony’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2018)

Tony’s comments from the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

I have started reading Spear Of Destiny which, despite the title, doesn't seem to be SFF. Easterman writes Dan Brown-style thrillers, although it could be said than Dan Brown writes Easterman-style thrillers, as Brown started some 15 years after Easterman.

I finished Dragonlance Classics - Vol 1. It featured a number of characters from the original trilogy by Weis and Hickman, but it's been too long since I read them for me to say where it fits in with them.

I also finished The Boats Of The "Glen Carrig", which is a nicely moody, atmospheric "weird" fiction story. Fairly slow-paced, but reasonably engrossing. Well worth a read, and it fills the pre-1945 slot in my Bingo.

I have started reading The Boats of the Glen Carrig

I have finished Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth. It has a wealth of Tolkien lore, it's just frustrating that these aren't complete stories. I quite enjoyed it, but it won't be for everyone - probably best avoided by those who struggled with The Silmarillion, although I found this easier to read.

I have started Dragonlance Classics - Vol 1.

I also found Dracula to be a somewhat boring read. I much prefer the other Stoker novels I have read - The Jewel of Seven Stars and The Lair of the White Worm.

There is a constant war going on between the 7 cats that live around my apartment block - whom I feed every morning - and the local ibis population. For those unaware, an ibis is a large wading bird, its body is the size of an average cat, and its wingspan makes it a lot larger. The birds are constantly trying to chase the cats away from their food, so they have an easy meal, and I usually have to stand guard until the cats have finished eating - the ibises aren't quite brave enough to try and scare off a human 😁

Andrea wrote: "Will be interesting to see both how the novel connects to the short story that inspired it, and to the overall Shannara series."

In the preamble to the short story, Brooks does mention that "Most of what I wrote in the shorter version was changed entirely in the longer" which would indicate to me that the version in Running with the Demon (which I haven't read yet) will be pretty different.

My understanding is that the Word and the Void trilogy is supposed to show how Earth became Shannara, or at least was set on that path. But again, that's just speculation based on stuff I have read online - but we all know that anything online must be 100% accurate 😆

Continuing to make progress on Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, which I am finding a frustrating read because the stories are .... well, unfinished 😆 There's a lot of good stuff in here, but I want more.

I also read the short story Imaginary Friends.

I have learned that when I go to search for my cat, calling her is counterproductive - she just ignores me. But if I just wander from room to room without talking, she will come to see what I am doing 😃

Welcome to April. Anyone involved in any good April Fools jokes?

I started Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, which I have had sitting on my shelves for at least a quarter-century, possibly longer.

I have finished The Doomfarers of Coramonde and quite enjoyed it. It presents a different take on the modern person transported to a fantasy world story.

There are a number that I would not have included on that list, and others that I think should be there, like Fahrenheit 451. I would have had War of the Worlds in place of The Time Machine for the H.G. Wells book, and I would have found a place for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

An interesting list, put together by the people at Discover Sci-Fi in consultation with their Facebook readers - it doesn't seem to have a ranking, and they recognise that there will be a lot of disagreement 😄

https://discoverscifi.com/sci-fi-book...

I've read 14 of the 21

The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
1984 - George Orwell
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller Jr
Dune - Frank Herbert
2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Startide Rising - David Brin
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu
Leviathan Wakes - James S.A. Corey
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

I don't get anywhere near 50,000 pages a year these days - and haven't since probably the early part of the 90s - which was pre-internet and pre-streaming services 😄

Jim wrote: "An oldie, but goodie. I liked the sequel, too."

It has been sitting in my bookshelves for a very long time 😁

I have started The Doomfarers of Coramonde

I finished Rise of the Morrigan: The Queen of Samhuinn, which I struggled to get into, although I see how it provides a lot of background for some of the author's other series.

I also read a few graphic novels - Who Framed Roger Rabbit: The Official Comic Adaptation (an adaptation of the movie), The Dreamwalker, and Ax.

I have started reading Rise of the Morrigan: The Queen of Samhuinn

I have started Vietnam At War: The History 1946-1975 which is definitely not SFF. It is a chunky tome - trade paperback size and over 800 pages - I don't think I will be carrying it around in my backpack.