S.E.’s Comments (group member since Nov 01, 2012)

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

Witcher Giveaway
Looks like The Last Wish will be a May-June groupread...

Note this link: http://www.orbitloot.com/us/

ENTER FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN
The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher. (Plus a Witcher mug.)

Steven wrote: "To celebrate the release of The Taesian Chronicles trilogy in paperback, I am making book one, Ohlen's Arrow, available for free (Kindle) for a limited time. From Saturday April 16 through Wednesda..."

Free is hard to beat. I got a copy. My review list and TBR list are ridiculous, but at least I have it in my library,

Dan wrote: "Hi I am new to the group, I love reading Fantasy, Historical adventures and Sci-Fi and have been a fan of swords & Sorcery since my teens, my old favourites, include Conan, Fathrd and the Gray Mous..."

Welcome Dan. You'll fit right in here,

Mary, thanks for sharing that. From the reviews, it seems to be only moderately entertaining, but with a 1979 printing it does seem to be the first tie-in rpg. Nice perspective.

J. wrote: "Hello all. New here today. I may have stumbled into the wrong group. Is there a narrow definition of what constitutes a sword and sorcery genre and little interest in other fantasy genres here? Cha..."

Welcome J. Great question. Many in this group like both epic/high-fantasy as well as traditional sword-n-sorcery...so there are differences and commonalities. Some works fall in both camps.

The group has a whole folder on this topic:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

The discussion you may like is the below one that defines the sub-genres:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

For RPG-philes...note this new podcast:

Richard A. Knaak (author of many RPG boos from Warcraft, The Legend of Huma, Diablo, and many more) just released his Black City Saint and is interviewed live on teh Grim Tiding's Podcast:

http://thegrimtidingspodcast.podbean....

Interview with Richard A. Knaak
Apr 7th, 2016 by thegrimtidingspodcast
We’re joined by New York Times bestselling author Richard A. Knaak! Richard drops by to talk about his latest novel BLACK CITY SAINT, an urban fantasy noir set in 1920’s Chicago. We’ll discuss Richard’s prolific career writing novels and short stories set in various shared worlds, including Dragonlance, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Age of Conan, and more. With nearly 50 novels and something close to five million published words, Richard has close to three decades of experience. And be sure to listen in for your chance to win a copy of BLACK CITY SAINT, courtesy or PYR Books! Find Richard online at RichardAKnaak.com, or on Twitter @RichardAKnaak!

Jack, that's a great review. It looks like it will be next months groupread topic too, so this may fuel the momentum to check it out.

For RPG-philes...note this new podcast:

Richard A. Knaak (author of many RPG boos from Warcraft, The Legend of Huma, Diablo, and many more) just released his Black City Saint and is interviewed live on teh Grim Tiding's Podcast:

http://thegrimtidingspodcast.podbean....

Interview with Richard A. Knaak
Apr 7th, 2016 by thegrimtidingspodcast
We’re joined by New York Times bestselling author Richard A. Knaak! Richard drops by to talk about his latest novel BLACK CITY SAINT, an urban fantasy noir set in 1920’s Chicago. We’ll discuss Richard’s prolific career writing novels and short stories set in various shared worlds, including Dragonlance, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Age of Conan, and more. With nearly 50 novels and something close to five million published words, Richard has close to three decades of experience. And be sure to listen in for your chance to win a copy of BLACK CITY SAINT, courtesy or PYR Books! Find Richard online at RichardAKnaak.com, or on Twitter @RichardAKnaak!

Rick wrote: "New Blog Post from Knights of Writ -- Fiction Musings
Taming the Muse
https://knightsofwrit.wordpress.com/2..."

Nice encouragement. Thx for sharing.

The quote "The Muse goes by another name—Excuse" is provocative.

Great advice from Charles. I tried for years to delve right into a novel but could never write faster than the "world rules" would change.

I had to do baby steps as Charles mentioned. By concentrating on a short story only, I made progress. Subsequent stories I'd keep true to the previous ones. Eventually a coherent world emerged.

With the world rules (history and characters) set, I could then tackle a novel much easier.

Dan wrote: "Sounds pretty damn cool actually."

Dan, totally agree. For me, part of the damn coolness comes from not knowing the comics existed. I think I learned about the Kickstarter via Milton J. Davis 's sword & soul facebook page. The art was awesome, so I bit. The kickstarter just enabled a compilation be made.

Now I encouraged to get more...but the other spin offs are still piecemeal comics or novellas. I may wait for another compilation.

Just wrapped up The Untamed: A Sinner's Prayer, an omnibus graphic novel that I had backed on a whim via Kickstarter. Awesome Sword & Sorcery,... fresh spin on things and beautifully brutal. Anyone else into Stranger Comics?

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Scott wrote: "If there's enough people who are going to do Gardens of the Moon I'll take the plunge."

Scott, I just edited/posted more instructions above. Feel welcome to make a "new topic".

Dan wrote...Great series, though the first, Tombs of the Blind Dead and the last Night of Seagulls were the best.

I don't disagree. Too funny you've seen them..

BTW, the Buddy Read folder is set up ....and it seems you just found it. Well, for those who have not found it yet:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Spawning from Group Reads, let's test out "buddy reads." These could apply to any book in which 2-3 people want to read a book on their own timing.

This should work particularly well for those thicker books/series (i.e. Prince of Thorns, Gardens of the Moon, A Game of Thrones, The Illearth War, etc.).---these often do not fit into the larger groupreads.

This folder would not be moderated officially (well, the "book read" logistics would not... but moderators would always be present to police the boards if necessary). These posts would be self-run by interested parties.

Please use as a Bulletin Board (i.e. post topic...seeking buddy for book XYZ) Duration and sharing would be up to you.
Please use < spoiler > tags if you get into sharing plot details :).

To Post A Request;
1) Click on the main Buddy Read folder list:
https://www.goodreads.comhe "/topic/group_folder/306688?group_id=80482

2) Click on NEW TOPIC.

3) In the "This topic is about" line, you can identify the book's name

4) Identify the book's name and timing in the comment area

5) Need help? i.e., too many (>3) people respond and you want to make it a bigger group read? Or just need help working out a plan? Ping a moderator.

Dan wrote: "Scott wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I'm currently reading throne of glass the first book in the series of the same name. The 6th book will be out later this ..."

I'm wondering if there may be some way to help members here tackle series (from Prince of Thorns....Gonji: Red Blade from the East....Gardens of the Moon).

Perhaps Buddy reads? i.e. small pairings of 2 or 3 who try to read together?

Joe wrote: "I heartily recommend a group read of Ted (T.C.) Rypel's 5-volume series of Gonji Sabatake, recently revised and republished by Wildside/Borgo Press. IMHO, one of the best heroic fantasy series of t..."

Duly noted, Joe. Gonji: Red Blade from the East: The Deathwind Trilogy, Book One and the series are a worthy set.

I added that option to the Poll:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...--

Jason M wrote: "as for what I'm reading right now, I am thrilled to be reading a long anticipated title, Ian C. Esslemont's Dancer's Lament. I cannot adequately express just how much I was looking ..."

I've never read any of the Malazan books. Their number and length per volume intimidated me a bit. I need to look into those.

Tell us more about Direk. What stories does he appear in?

Jason, side bar... Ever hear of the Blind Dead b-horror films regarding the Knights Templar? I watched a few. Dated for sure (1970s I think) but unique.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombs...

Looks good. Thx for sharing.

Warhammer has open submissions:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/Home/writ...

Focused on "the Imperium of Man"