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

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

And, having finished Treece (which was excellent) and a couple of shorter pieces, I'm revisiting Dark is the Sun by Philip José Farmer for the first time in, well, decades. Not S&S, but maybe at least associational by way of Gamma World?

I've read a fair bit -- the first three Bison Press collections, several of his shorter (YA-ish) novels (Durandal, Three Palladins, etc.), and at least a couple of his nonfiction volumes. I don't think I've read any of the biographies yet, though.

I agree that he's great, and excels at creating a sense of place in his stories, as well as bringing the adventure. Hmmm ... Probably need to get to the fourth Bison Cossack book sooner rather than later ...

Just started The Golden Strangers by Henry Treece, which is historical (or prehistorical) fiction set in Britain -- written in the 1950s, but the sort of thing that REH probably would've grooved on.

And I'm sure I discovered Treece because of an article posted on Black Gate.

Richard wrote: "I got a Lancer edition of The Dying Earth by Jack Vance for only $0.75 tofay. Printed in the '50's and coming from a thrift store it:s in awesome shape."

Nice!

I have a Lancer copy that's autographed, although it wasn't autographed to me or anything -- was already signed when I got it.

One good thing that happened last week: On Friday I received a giant shipping box that contained my Kickstarter pledge of the Conan boardgame:

http://www.monolithedition.com/conan-en/

Haven't had a chance to actually play it yet, but so very, very, very many plastic miniatures ... And it's been getting generally positive reviews, although apparently the rulebook leaves somewhat to be desired.

I'm now feeling the strongest urge to revisit my Del Rey Conan books; although I suppose I could switch to a pastiche instead, for the sake of the group read ...

Finished Poisoned Blade, which did have swords and at least a glimmer of sorcery in it, and started The Vagrant by Peter Newman, which seems to be some kind of far-future post-apocalyptic thing, but whose eponymous hero does carry a big-ass sword.

And let's see ... The Man in the High Castle, which didn't have any actual S&S in it, needless to say, and have now started Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott, which probably has swords and might or might not have any sorcery, but I really enjoyed Court of Fives, the first in the series.

Spartacus was the show for people who watched Game of Thrones and said to themselves, "Well, that didn't have nearly enough decapitations or nudity."

(Which said, I did enjoy the show.)

I'd also point to the History Channel's series Vikings as something that could, with very little tweaking, be turned into something more S&S. And yes, Centurion was a great movie (as was Doomsday by the same director) and I really wish they would've given the Conan movie to him. Ah, well.

Nice! I had some of those Ganley editions of Lumley back in the day (stupid flood); I should look into possibly reacquiring them.

I finished Cleopatra (which did have at least a couple of swords and some handwavy occultism) and started A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson, which is set in the same world as his The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps. Not quite S&S at this point, but I'm enjoying it.

I read it last year -- great stuff -- but this probably means I should work at least something else by Brackett into the rotation ...

For any doubters, a brief passage from the book:

Carse walked beside the still black waters in their ancient channel, cut in the dead sea-bottom. He watched the dry wind shake the torches that never went out and listened to the broken music of the harps that were never stilled. Lean lithe men and women passed him in the shadowy streets, silent as cats except for the chime and whisper of the tiny bells the women wear, a sound as delicate as rain, distillate of all the sweet wickedness of the world.

Started my Egypt book (well, it's more historical than swords & sorcery; but still): Cleopatra by H. Rider Haggard.

That [the Stygia connection] is news to me as well! Fascinating information about one of my favorite books.

I'm still weighing options -- I'm kind of tempted to go with the The Rise of Nagash omnibus, which will undoubtedly last me well past the end of the month ...

Richard wrote: "I've read the first three books in the omnibus and really enjoyed them. I only wish that the last two books of the series were put into an omnibus. "

I think they were, but just in a UK edition, maybe?

For myself, I've been reading Rachel Aaron's Eli Monpress books (The Legend of Eli Monpress is an omnibus of the first three novels, of five in total), which aren't S&S, but which are a lot of fun and which do feature some impressive swords and feats of sorcery.

A Cruel Wind, the first of Glen Cook's Dread Empire collections, is currently $1.99.

https://www.amazon.com/Cruel-Wind-Chr...

As is Hrolf Kraki's Saga, one of Poul Anderson's Viking fantasies.

https://www.amazon.com/Hrolf-Krakis-S...

And I just got my copy of Servant of the Jackal God: The Tales of Kamose, Archpriest of Anubis and was amused to see that the cover art was by George Barr, who also did the cover for the Ballantine Adult Fantasy The Broken Sword.

Greg wrote: "How do The Tales of Dunk and Egg compare with GoT?"

Well, they're on a much smaller scale. (For anyone who's not familiar with Dunk & Egg -- Martin has written a series of novellas set about 100 years before current GoT that follow the adventures of a hedge knight, Duncan, and his squire, Egg; they've all been initially published in great, big anthologies like Robert Silverberg's Legends.) I liked them a lot; they're a reminder that Martin is a really good storyteller, especially in a context that's more focused like this. And it's fun to read them in close proximity to the main GoT books just to see the connections.

They're much more focused on the hedge knight way of life -- plenty of jousting & tourneys, and sleeping rough, but the only times Dunk & Egg get caught up in politics or intrigue, it's because they get drawn in kind of by accident.

So I'd definitely recommend them, and they won't cause any dissonance with the TV series. And the illustrations are lovely.

S.E. wrote: "Phew, close call Joseph!"

Yeah, it would've been a shame if I had to buy the newest, greatest model ...

Oh, and when I got home sans Kindle, the first thing I had to do was finish George R.R. Martin's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and I have to say the illustrations are much more effective in the hardcover than in the eBook version.

Had a bit of a glitch Friday evening -- I went to a concert to see some Tuvan throat singers and when I got home, I discovered I'd left my Kindle behind. So I spent the weekend reading actual paper books -- Beyond the Golden Stair by Hannes Bok, and now The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson, both from the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.

And fortunately, my Kindle was found at the venue, and I'll pick it up tonight when I go there to hear some Hungarian music.