Pre-Tolkien Fantasy discussion
What Do We Want to Read. And When?
Why not just try to get a monthly group read going? As for what to read, perhaps we should try (at first at least) to work our way through the pre-tolkien greats of fantasy. One way we could go about it:
1) Get everyone to nominate their list of pre-tolkien fantasy author greats.
2) Once an author has been nominated by at least three times, he gets on the list.
3) Put up a poll each month with a selection of recommended books by the next author on the list.
4) Which ever book wins becomes our group read the following month.
That should keep us going for a while...
I can read anything that people vote for. Most of these authors are classic and i have books of or easy to find.I would read and discover Eddison,Peake etc
I'll be honest here - I'm terrible at joining in with group readings. It's just that I am incredibly fickle with my tastes, and usually when I say I want to read something I end up reading something else.
I'll try to join in when I can, but I won't make any promises beyond simply trying to read something in the genre at hand once a month.
With that said, I will be reading The Worm Ouroboros in March.
I'll try to join in when I can, but I won't make any promises beyond simply trying to read something in the genre at hand once a month.
With that said, I will be reading The Worm Ouroboros in March.
I'd say either The Worm or something by William Morris are pretty foundational and would make good candidates. Also, of course, Dunsany.
I'm open. I may or may not be able to participate, but I will definitely try if I have access/can get access to the book and have enough prior notice.I like the idea of both group reads and buddy reads.
I've read The Worm Ouroboros & didn't care for the style at all, although the story was interesting. After several tries, I never made it 1/4 of the way through the first of Mervyn Peake's bricks, so I'll leave Titus Alone, too. Otherwise, I'll see if I like it & will join in if I do.
I'm starting Fifty-One Tales, by Lord Dunsany today.
And I'll also be tackling Gormenghast this year.
And I'll also be tackling Gormenghast this year.
D_Davis wrote: "I'm starting Fifty-One Tales, by Lord Dunsany today.And I'll also be tackling Gormenghast this year."
I've also got Gormenghast on my plate in 2012.
good luck on Gormenghast! Titus Groan & Gormenghast are two of my favorite things. Titus Alone, not so much.
Wasn't Peake suffering from dementia by the time he started writing Titus Alone?
yep, and sadly, it shows. i think the book is an utter failure.
mark wrote: "yep, and sadly, it shows. i think the book is an utter failure."Maybe I'll pretend Titus Alone doesn't exist. I heard there are fragments of a fourth book called Titus Awakens or something similar.
Here's a fun fact. Michael Moorcock's Arioch, one of the Chaos gods, is based partly on Milton's Lucifer and partly on Peake's Steerpike.
i knew Lucifer but did not know that about Steerpike. wow! that evil kid is probably the best character in the series.
mark wrote: "i knew Lucifer but did not know that about Steerpike. wow! that evil kid is probably the best character in the series."I read Titus Groan about ten years ago and Steerpike is about all I remember.
Got _Titus Alone_ on my to-read-someday list too. I've toyed with doing it in 2012. Maybe if we get a group/buddy read for it here I will have an excuse.
Dan wrote:
I read Titus Groan about ten years ago and Steerpike is about...
Same here. Wasn't into it at the time.
I read Titus Groan about ten years ago and Steerpike is about...
Same here. Wasn't into it at the time.
Mod
Dan wrote: "D_Davis wrote: "I'm starting Fifty-One Tales, by Lord Dunsany today.And I'll also be tackling Gormenghast this year."
I've also got Gormenghast on my plate in 2012."
I dont have classes between between march-april and i will try and give alot of room, time for Gormenghast. Something tells me he is that kind of author you have let it sink in, get in the mood. I tried Eddison looking for direct prose stylist ala Vance and got stuck. Never the same mistake.
I like the idea of group reads based on nominations and poll voting. I often participate depending on the book. I don't have a desire to re-read Gormenghast. I would like to do Ouroboros again; it's been a long time and I have had a lot more experience with peculiar styles.
I have Gormenghast on my to read list too, along with William Morris' work.
Mod
So if people could be sure to nominate what they want to nominate!
does that mean i can't nominate Dunsany? confused a wee bit. if i can, i'd love to nominate The King of Elfland's Daughter. if not, well, i guess i'll just go to the corner and cry.
Mod
Yep, of course you can. I was just messing about :D
Okay, if we're just going to fling some nominations at you, I would like to suggest the following classics:Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber.
The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' by William Hope Hodgson.
A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay.
The Abominations Of Yondo by Clark Ashton Smith
I will vote for The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' by William Hope Hodgson since i have it brand new in nightshade volume.
I'd like to read the Hodgson book as well.
I'll throw my vote in for _The Abominations of Yondo_. For those, like me, who don't have a copy of the text in question, all of CAS's stories can be found online (legally) here.
I'm for Peake's Titus Groan, which I own already. Worm Ouroboros sounds interesting but I won't have access to a copy to read.
Im up for any book that wins the poll, the people choose :)
For my Pre-Tolkien reading this month, I'll be reading The Wood Beyond the World, by William Morris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wood...
It's a free e-book if anyone wants to join me. I'll be starting it later this week, after I finish When We Were Executioners.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wood...
It's a free e-book if anyone wants to join me. I'll be starting it later this week, after I finish When We Were Executioners.
Ooh, I'd love to join you reading The Wood Beyond the World: I really want to read some William Morris and soon.
I may do...I just need to see if I can get hold of it (I don't like reading electronically).
Simon - you've got to get an e-reader. Almost all of this pre-Tolkien stuff is in public domain, and completely free.
Trust me dude - I dug my feet in for a long time, and opposed the e-reader trend. But now, well, I'll never look back. So much stuff available for free, and tons of exclusive stuff from authors we love, like McDermott.
Trust me dude - I dug my feet in for a long time, and opposed the e-reader trend. But now, well, I'll never look back. So much stuff available for free, and tons of exclusive stuff from authors we love, like McDermott.
If you get an e-reader with e-ink, you can't even tell you're reading something electronic. No back light. I actually find it easier on my eyes because I can adjust the font size any time I want to.
What D_Davis said. I have loaded my Kindle down with older speculative fiction, most of it free!
I agree, I love reading on my ereader (for anything I don't have to annotate, anyway).
Just look at all of the quality genre fiction you can get for free with an e-reader:
Horror
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/HOR
Ghost Stories
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/GHO
SF
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/SFC
Fantasy
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/FAN
I mean, you could probably read for the rest of your life, and never have to buy another thing again. It's amazing.
Horror
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/HOR
Ghost Stories
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/GHO
SF
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/SFC
Fantasy
http://www.manybooks.net/categories/FAN
I mean, you could probably read for the rest of your life, and never have to buy another thing again. It's amazing.
Yeah, I was dubious myself at first, but am now a confirmed eReader. It's awesome!
Maybe one day, if only to avoid running battles with my wife over whether we can get another book case.
Simon wrote: "Maybe one day, if only to avoid running battles with my wife over whether we can get another book case."
Ha. True enough. I just moved, and I seriously wished I could turn all of my p-books into e-books. If I could, I don't think I'd miss much at all.
Ha. True enough. I just moved, and I seriously wished I could turn all of my p-books into e-books. If I could, I don't think I'd miss much at all.
I've had an ereader (old Sony) for a couple of years & I agree they're handy & nice. I read on mine a fair amount, but I still prefer paperbacks. The big disadvantages I find are that I can't read as fast. Not quite as many words fit to a page & there's a slight delay in turning a page. Also, maps aren't always rendered well & are tough to get to. I usually mark any maps in a paperback & flip quickly back to them. My Sony requires a couple of seconds & several button presses to get back to a book mark for the map.
The last disadvantage is DRM & Amazon. Amazon is really squeezing authors to only publish their books there & that means the proprietary Kindle format. Calibre will convert that, if there isn't any DRM. Still, with what they've done to GoodReads & authors, I don't buy their ebooks.
Mod
Otherwise yeah, I used to love William Morris, though possibly more as a craftsman than an author, his work can drag a little bit.
He made the most beautiful books with the Kelmscott Press and I've actually held this - his edition of Chaucer - in my hands and played with it, woo hoo! it's incredibly beautiful.
http://www.morrissociety.org/morris/a...
David, why don't you start a thread for each of your pre-Tolkien fantasy reads and then maybe people will join you in reading and discussing them?
Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "What D_Davis said. I have loaded my Kindle down with older speculative fiction, most of it free!"I know what you e-reader mean with free books that way. Only time i was tempted to become e-book reader was when i saw classic supernatural,classic fantasy was easy to get unlike paper book versions. Thankfully library system here has many of the books, rest i got for pennies as second hand books.
Right my copy of The Wood Beyond the World is on order so I should be joining in on the read of this shortly.
Pre-Tolkien Fantasy
Books mentioned in this topic
The King of Elfland's Daughter (other topics)The Charwoman's Shadow (other topics)
Who Fears The Devil? (other topics)
The Wood Beyond the World (other topics)
The Abominations of Yondo (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Clark Ashton Smith (other topics)David Lindsay (other topics)
William Hope Hodgson (other topics)
Fritz Leiber (other topics)
Mervyn Peake (other topics)
a) Do we want to have a group read
b) Do we want to have a buddy read (and how the hell does that work.
and if either a) and/or b) how would we like to approach that?
There's already some interest in reading Worm Ouroborous in March, which is pretty great because IMO it's the seminal pre-Tolkien fantasy text and the perfect place to kick off the group.
I'm also, personally keen on reading through some more Dunsany, since I'e only really read King of Elfland's Daughter and a few short stories, so I'd like to bring his name to the table!
Daniel Davis has also mentioned that he's going to be reading Journey to the West, but it is pretty long and might not be to everyone's tastes, I dunno!