Nov-Dec 2017 (a) William

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Any William: author or cover artists. Bonus street cred goes to folks who pick books that have both cover artists and author sharing names.

How about some classics by William Hope Hodgson or William Morris?

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

I'll be reading The House on the Borderland....finally....

Check out your TBR list, look for any cover artist or author with WILLIAM...and getting reading.

Trollslayer or Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus work too (William King), if you feel like something more modern than the classics mentioned.

[Mary]

hmm. I tackled Morris in my omnivorous teens, but even then I could see how slow going he was.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Maybe it's time to finally go back to Gotrek and Felix. Or King's Kormak books.

Or if I'm feeling like a real glutton for punishment, Hodgson's The Night Land is always waiting.

[Mary]

The Night Land, a Story Retold by James Stoddard might pass muster, since it's only retold.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Mary wrote: "The Night Land, a Story Retold by James Stoddard might pass muster, since it's only retold."

I read that and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it, although I really liked the first two of Stoddard's The High House trilogy (which were filled with references to Ballantine Adult Fantasy books). Really need to read the third one of these days.

[Mary]

Well, it was, after all, aiming to be a modernization of language and clearing up a few plot problems. One would hope that it wouldn't turn into his own work in the process.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Mary wrote: "Well, it was, after all, aiming to be a modernization of language and clearing up a few plot problems. One would hope that it wouldn't turn into his own work in the process."

Yeah, I appreciate what he did, and it was certainly a million times more accessible than whatever the heck Hodgson thought he was writing.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

I'm finally tackling William Hodgson's House on the Borderlands. I'm mostly impressed. More accessible than I predicted. He has some nice language, but is starting to repeat a bit too much.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Joseph, you seemed to like HPLs Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, which seems arguably as unfocused os House on the Borderlands. I could never finish Kadath, but am almost done with House.

Any thoughts on comparing weird, rambling quests?

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, you seemed to like HPLs Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, which seems arguably as unfocused os House on the Borderlands. I could never finish Kadath, but am almost done with House.

Any though..."

I did finally read House on the Borderland in The Collected Fiction, Vol. 2: The House on the Borderland and Other Mysterious Places a few years ago and I enjoyed it. It did have a bit of a Lovecraftian feel to it, as I recall, but it was more of the gothic/cosmic horror thing and, TBH, I did kind of prefer Kadath, which is weird and dream-like and a quest through bizarre & sometimes nightmarish realms.

[Phil]

S.E. wrote: "I'm finally tackling William Hodgson's House on the Borderlands. I'm mostly impressed. More accessible than I predicted. He has some nice language, but is starting to repeat a bit too much."

It is something of a 'monolith', but like eighteenth century novels you do eventually tune in to the rhythm. Repetition isn't so much a problem as the protagonist's attitude to his rescued love for modern readers I would suspect. If the length daunts Hodgson did reduce the 200,000 words to some 20,000 words for a version entitled 'The Dream of X'. For me it cuts too much, but that's perhaps only because I'd read the bigger version beforehand.

[Robin]

I’m a die-hard fan of William Hope Hodgson. I think I like The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' and his nautical stories best, but for all it’s clunkiness, The Night Land is an absolute classic. The Carnacki stories are fun, too.

I think I’ll read The Collected Fiction, Vol. 3: The Ghost Pirates and Other Revenants of the Sea for the group read. I read the title novel about a dozen years ago, but the included short stories should be new to me.

[Richard]

I read Carnacki, the Ghost Finder awhile ago and really enjoyed it. Wish he had written more of those stories.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

I've been reading on of Wildside Press's The William Hope Hodgson Megapack: 35 Classic Works.

In the US, the Kindle is only $0.99, and conveniently organizes 33 of William Hope Hodgson with introductions from Darrell Schweitzer and Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

Finished the House on the Borderlands and will review that soon. Glad to have had this groupread to prod me into finally trying out Hodgson.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Phil wrote: "I’m a die-hard fan of William Hope Hodgson. I think I like The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' and his nautical stories best, but for all it’s clunkiness, The Night Land is an absolute cl..."

I read Collected Fiction v.3 a couple of years ago; it was good, but possibly a bit much to take all on one go.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Richard wrote: "I read Carnacki, the Ghost Finder awhile ago and really enjoyed it. Wish he had written more of those stories."

(My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

BTW, this Megapack has 6 Carnacki:

THE GATEWAY OF THE MONSTER (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 1)

THE HOUSE AMONG THE LAURELS (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 2)

THE WHISTLING ROOM (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 3)

THE HORSE OF THE INVISIBLE (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 4)

THE SEARCHER OF THE END HOUSE (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 5)

THE THING INVISIBLE (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 6)

[Richard]

Thanks, Seth

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

OK, yep, it's Gotrek & Felix time with William King's Trollslayer.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Joseph... you are a reading machine! Somehow you crank out meaningful reviews too. You read rock

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

S.E. wrote: "Joseph... you are a reading machine! Somehow you crank out meaningful reviews too. You read rock"

Thank you! Conveniently, I've been able to work a little more reading time into my current schedule; also, they weren't very long books. Which is a nice change of pace from, e.g., the Tad Williams books I was reading earlier in the year (and which, to be sure, I also enjoyed).

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

And I continued on to Skavenslayer. Great stuff, but not sure if I'll continue past this, at least immediately -- I also have some Expanse books burning a hole in my Kindle ...

[Robin]

A little late, but I finished reading William Hope Hodgson's "The Collected Fiction, Vol. 3: The Ghost Pirates and Other Revenants of the Sea." Here's my review.

This particular volume has some great weird tales but it's not particularly sword & sorcery-oriented. Still a great read, and I wholeheartedly recommend William Hope Hodgson to everyone with an interest in old school supernatural fiction and adventure stories.