Joseph’s Comments (group member since Oct 24, 2012)

Joseph’s comments from the Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" group.

Yep!

Oh, and the ERB estate has started putting out eBooks of these editions, but so far it's just the first four. I'm hoping numbers 5-8 come out in eBook format, maybe after they (soon) release the third set of hardcovers (9-12).

Decided to dip into some nonfiction -- Great Cities of the Ancient World. But I'd say it's at least S&S-adjacent because it was written by L. Sprague de Camp, has illustrations by Roy G. Krenkel, and could easily be mined for inspiration if you're in a writing mood.

Jason wrote: "Joseph wrote: "Started Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons. Bonus points for having an actual AD&D-style blue ink dungeon map on the endpapers!"

Oooh! Sometimes ..."

Same!

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, you have the Deluxe edition? I think Jason Waltz did. I'm waiting on the standard one."

Yep, I splurged.

Started Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons. Bonus points for having an actual AD&D-style blue ink dungeon map on the endpapers!

On to Crown of Stars, the concluding volume in Kate Elliott's series of the same title.

Yeah, myself, I think I might have liked The Scar better than Perdido Street Station, but Iron Council was definitely a step or two down, not least because it was the one where the political subtext really started to become just text.

Oh, wait, I was confused -- I was thinking of a different round-robin story, "The Challenge from Beyond". But I expect my comment still applies.

Did he participate? I'm trying to remember where I actually read it -- I don't think it was the standalone publication.

It's more interesting as an intellectual exercise than as an actual, finished product -- just a bunch of great authors kind of goofing on each other.

Malazan and Krynn -- that's quite the dynamic range ... :)

I figure it kind of averages out over the course of the year -- right now, I'm reading a series with multiple 7-900 page books, and later I'll be reading some standalone novellas or some such.

I didn't read many books in December, but I think I read about 1800 pages, give or take.

Continuing on from last year, I'm starting The Gathering Storm, fifth in Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series.

Yes, welcome!

And reminds me that I really need to dive into Bujold's Vorkosigan books one of these years.

Jason wrote: "Penric's Demon byLois McMaster Bujold"

I need to read more of those -- the ones that I have read were lots of fun.

Want to read all of Gardner F. Fox's stories about Niall of the Far Travels, originally published in Dragon Magazine back in the late 70s/early 80s, for free?

https://www.gardnerfrancisfoxlibrary....

Or how about other sword & sorcery fiction, including his Kyrik and Kothar novels?

https://www.gardnerfrancisfoxlibrary....

Note that in the second link, it's images of the actual vintage paperbacks they deconstructed to create the eBook versions. Of course, everything is also available in .mobi format for a very reasonable fee ...

Steve wrote: "I suspect they might have both been written by the same writer..."

Shades of Lin Carter! Who in at least one of his Year's Best Fantasy Stories anthologies included not only a story under his own name, but one that was apparently him being pseudonymous.

Yes, as always a great banner; for myself, I'll probably be going with Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons, although the timing might get tricky because first I need to finish the last four volumes of Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series.