What are you currently reading? Showing 1,801-1,850 of 3,143

[Forest]

I just finished "I call him HIM" by Scott W. Kimak. It's AMAZING!

[Mary]

Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn by Amira El-Zein

[[deleted user]]

"Elak King Of Atlantis" by Adrian Cole. Was a big fan of the Henry Kuttner's Elak stories and am looking forward to reading new tales by Cole.

[Al]

It's a decent Lovecraft-style novel. Lighter in tone though.

[Richard]

Sigyn of Asgard: Volume Two: The Howler in the Waste and Other Tales

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Back to the source primeval with The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian.

Relatedly, I'm starting to think I need to replace some of my Lancer Conan paperbacks with the Ace editions (and by "replace", of course, I mean, "keep both versions" -- not that I plan to reread them, necessarily, but I just love those covers, especially if I could find reasonably-priced copies of the black-spined versions.

[Richard]

The Great Die Slow and Other Tales of Dark Adventure

[Mary]

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

[Richard]

Agent Of Byzantium

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

After Conan, I blew through Bone Silence (which is quasi-Victorian far-future space pirates, not sword & sorcery, but I loved it very much) and started Walter Jon Williams' Quillifer, which is at least getting back into the neighborhood.

[Al]

and

[W E]

Joseph wrote: "Back to the source primeval with The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian.

Relatedly, I'm starting to think I need to replace some of my Lancer Conan paperbacks with the Ace editions (and by..."

Seeing all those covers brings back such vivid memories of killing time in the mall Waldenbooks while my sisters and mom finished up their shopping.

[[deleted user]]

Swords Against Cthulhu II published by Rogue Planet Press. Book was just released as an ebook at a very reasonable price.

[Mary]

Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World by Larry W. Hurtado

[Jason]

I'm currently reading *Tales of Attluma* by David C. Smith. The fourth story, "Dark of Heart," is so compelling. It is sword and sorcery that explores themes of horror, absurdity, and nihilism. Definitely recommended.

[Clint]

I too just started Smith’s Tales of Attluma. I’m hoping to find time to finish it before the end of the month.

[Al]

Just finished Genghis: Birth of an Empire, which was terrific. Also reading Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, which is a fun read.

[Utopicdrow]

I'm currently reading Pyresouls Apocalypse by James T Callum. Not your typical sword and sorcery. Starts off with a great hook of a knight traveling through time.

[Mary]

Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar by Robert W. Lebling

[Mary]

Destroyer of Worlds by Larry Correia

[Christian]

Currently reading a few books, sort of dipping in and out when the mood catches -

Coven by Edward Lee
The Secret Kings by Brian Niemeier
The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

[[deleted user]]

I am reading Hammer of the Gods: Viking Sagas of Sword and Sorcery by Rogue planet press. I am about half way through this amazing anthology which features stories by E W Farnsworth, Stephen Hernandez, and others. Just released in ebook.

[Al]

Reading and listening to

[Richard]

The Mad Throne

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Since ERB, Inc. is reissuing all of Burroughs' books in new, uniform hardcovers and since I'm planning on reading Farmer's Opar books for the current group read, I decided to begin with Tarzan of the Apes and, assuming all goes well, continue on to Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar just to kind of set the stage.

First time I've read Tarzan in 30 years, plus or minus. This should be ... interesting.

[S.wagenaar]

Joseph wrote: "Since ERB, Inc. is reissuing all of Burroughs' books in new, uniform hardcovers and since I'm planning on reading Farmer's Opar books for the current group read, I decided to begin with [book:Tarza..."
I recently purchased a mint, compete run of the Tarzan novels; the black Ballantine editions with cover art by Boris and Neal Adams. I used to own all these books as a kid, but they were lost over the decades. I have not read a complete Tarzan novel in about 35 or so years, so I am due for sure. I recall liking The Beasts of Tarzan, Son, Jewels of Opar, Untamed and Terrible. Tarzan at the Earth's Core was probably my favourite.

[The Joy of Erudition]

So you're doing what I considered too daunting, and you're even starting from the beginning. I already read the first Tarzan book earlier this year, but I thought reading four more of them to properly introduce myself to Opar before reading Farmer's take would burn me out on Tarzan too quickly.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

S.wagenaar wrote: "I recently purchased a mint, compete run of the Tarzan novels; the black Ballantine editions with cover art by Boris and Neal Adams..."

Nice! I do have them all in paperback, but it's a mishmash of different, mostly Ballantine, editions, mostly the black covers.

When I was growing up, I had to content myself with whatever random titles I could find on the shelves at the library. Particular favorites were Tarzan and the Golden Lion and Tarzan and the Lost Empire. Tarzan at the Earth's Core (Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, #13) was always kind of a white whale -- I think it had spotty availability because Ace had publishing rights for Pellucidar.

(And then, years later, when I did get a copy, it was complicated to figure out how to read it -- I ended up reading all of the preceding Tarzan books, then switching gears to Pellucidar. Even harder to deal with than Michael Moorcock's occasional Eternal Champion crossovers.)

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

The Joy of Erudition wrote: "So you're doing what I considered too daunting, and you're even starting from the beginning. I already read the first Tarzan book earlier this year, but I thought reading four more of them to prope..."

Yeah, it's not entirely inconceivable that I'll give up earlier than that; and there's no way that I'd ever try to read all 24 Tarzan novels straight through these days, but I did reread all 11 Barsoom books last fall.

[The Joy of Erudition]

Joseph wrote: "When I was growing up, I had to content myself with whatever random titles I could find on the shelves at the library."

Fond memories, there! I remember well the spinning racks of paperbacks in the SF/fantasy section of the local library, and sampling whatever looked interesting.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Same! So many Alan Dean Foster paperbacks ...

And these two in particular were extremely influential on me:

[Richard]

Necromancy in Nilztiria

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

And blew through Tarzan of the Apes in about 24 hours and immediately progressed to The Return of Tarzan: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library #2 .

[Cindy]

The Son of Tarzan is a cracking read.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Cindy wrote: "The Son of Tarzan is a cracking read."

Yep! Although it's also the one that breaks the timeline irreparably.

[Cindy]

I hadn't realised that. In what way? I had not gotten into the timeline, I just assumed Tarzan was pretty busy at times!

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Well, per the original book, Tarzan was born in 1888 or 1889 and he met Jane in 1908 or 1909, and I think it was another year or two before they actually tied the knot; and in Son of Tarzan (published around 1915), their son is born, runs away at age ... 10? and is not reunited with his parents until he's fully grown; and in later books he's mentioned as spending time on the front lines in the Great War. So there was something wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey going on there.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Which isn't to say it's not a great read if you just don't pay too much attention to the dates.

[Cindy]

Well, there was the whole world as myth theory which I believe had Tarzan/The Darcys/Holmes etc all related so it would not surprise me if The Dr was somehow involved!

I thought Beasts of Tarzan was great, a story line that just doesn't rest.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

You could probably fix the whole thing if you assumed 1888 was a typo for 1868, but I don't know what other parts of the story that would invalidate -- it nothing else, Monsieur Jean Tarzan could not be driving a powerful motorcar across Wisconsin at the end of the first book.

The Beasts of Tarzan is one I don't remember as vividly as some of the others, possibly because it wasn't one of the ones they had at the public library when I was young, so I didn't read it as much? For me, the standouts are Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, Tarzan the Terrible (dinosaurs!), Tarzan and the Golden Lion (Jal-Bad-Ja!), and Tarzan and the Lost Empire (Romans!). Plus that lengthy sequence in which every book involved either Tarzan getting conked on the head and getting amnesia, or someone else getting conked on the head and thinking he was Tarzan.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Oh, and if anyone is interested, the first four volumes in the Authorized Library edition of Tarzan are now available for preorder on Kindle at a mere $3.95 each, supposed to be released next Tuesday.

Which yes, I know that most or all of Burroughs' stuff is floating around in an assortment of free or inexpensive eBook editions already, but these should be less error-ridden than your average "we ripped this from Gutenberg" editions on Amazon.

And it'll be the first good official Burroughs eBooks -- when the John Carter movie came out, Disney did a three-volume compilation of all 11 Barsoom books, but they were fatally flawed because some ignoramus decided they didn't need to include all of Burroughs' Introductions and Forewords, which are actually integral parts of the framing story of how ERB first laid hands on Carter's manuscripts.

(Yes, I'm still upset about that.)

[Cindy]

I don't have a full set of Tarzan, I stopped collecting when a teenager as all I could find had ugly covers, as I loved the ballantine editions. I regret that now, as they are hard to find.

I can understand why you are upset. I feel the same about abridged Verne books.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

I had a complete set (a mishmash of various editions) and then lost most? all? of them (along with the bottom couple shelves from all of my bookcases) when my parents' sump pump failed in the floods in 1993 and they got a foot of water in the basement (where my room and most of my stuff was, although I personally was off in grad school at the time). I did manage to replace them all eventually.

The one that I really regret was one of those 1950s Grossett & Dunlap hardcovers



although it didn't have a dust jacket or anything and was pretty beat up.

Happily, all of my Barsoom books survived -- I think they were on a shelf just above the waterline? Or maybe they were part of the books I'd taken with me to grad school?

[Phil]

Joseph wrote: "Oh, and if anyone is interested, the first four volumes in the Authorized Library edition of Tarzan are now available for preorder on Kindle at a mere $3.95 each, supposed to be released next Tuesd..."

A great pity about the removal of those introductory materials in the books - some of them were wonderfully eerie and really added to the Carter mystique.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Phil wrote: "A great pity about the removal of those introductory materials in the books - some of them were wonderfully eerie and really added to the Carter mystique."

Yeah, I'd say they were actually pretty integral to the stories, and were probably removed by someone who didn't actually read them, but just made assumptions based on the fact that they were called "forewords" -- other books kept the framing devices if they were just included as part of the first numbered chapter or something. Hoping that ERB, Inc., will give us good versions of the Barsoom books as well as the Tarzan books.

Speaking of which, finished The Return of Tarzan last night and will be starting The Beasts of Tarzan today.

[Mary]

Beyond the Clouds, Tome 2 by Nicke

[[deleted user]]

Keeping in my Viking sword and sorcery mood. Ultima Thule: The Pale Lady.
https://www.amazon.com/Ultima-Thule-P...

[Richard]

The Scattered King: Book 1 of The Nine Fold Gate



The Mad Throne

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

My Tarzan journey has taken me to Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, which strikes me as a good stopping point -- these days, four or five Tarzans in a row starts to approach overload, although I'm still enjoying them.

[Mary]

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 6 by Kamome Shirahama