Knights & Knaves Alehouse

DungeonDork wrote:I liked them when I was younger. Been reading The Hobbit with my 4 year old but its been a bit too scary for her.

I'm reading Joyce's Ulysses to my 3-year old. I don't think it's connecting with him like I had hoped . . .

- Wheggi

I'm in the mood to tackle some more epic / high fantasy ... guess I need to finish book 1 of the Wheel of Time series. I'm only planning on going to book 3, then calling it quits. I heard by book 4 or 5 it begins to slide downhill anyways.

Glgnfz wrote:
btw: the cover pic of my "sword" is the worst fantasy pic i've ever seen!!!!




shudder!!!!

You must have never seen any 3e art.

Seriously, you think that Hildebrant is the worst?

Marriat the Ranger wrote:I'm in the mood to tackle some more epic / high fantasy ... guess I need to finish book 1 of the Wheel of Time series. I'm only planning on going to book 3, then calling it quits. I heard by book 4 or 5 it begins to slide downhill anyways.

1-3 makes a decent trilogy. After that, the Waste of Time series truly begins to earn its name.

Gentlegamer wrote:

Glgnfz wrote:
btw: the cover pic of my "sword" is the worst fantasy pic i've ever seen!!!!




shudder!!!!

You must have never seen any 3e art.

Seriously, you think that Hildebrant is the worst?

Dude I love that art .... even though the book was mediocre, I did like that cover art.

I'll say it again: That guy on the left looks like Legolas with an Oompa-loompa's head.

And so does that Aragorn-like dude behind him.

I think I'll just refer to the short guy as "Dwarfy Crockett."

threadjack

I'm a huge Hildebrandt fan, which might be why I like Elmore so much. That might also explain why Otus and many of the other early artists don't ring my bell. Hmph...I'll have to think on this.

Going waaay off topic but, have any of you ever seen the Pin-up art the Hildebrandt's did? Only one of them is still working, the other having died a few years ago...good stuff. Not Elvgren-quality, and some of it is very modern...but still very good pin-up work.

/threadjack

Flambeaux wrote:threadjack

I'm a huge Hildebrandt fan, which might be why I like Elmore so much. That might also explain why Otus and many of the other early artists don't ring my bell. Hmph...I'll have to think on this.

Going waaay off topic but, have any of you ever seen the Pin-up art the Hildebrandt's did? Only one of them is still working, the other having died a few years ago...good stuff. Not Elvgren-quality, and some of it is very modern...but still very good pin-up work.

/threadjack

/double jack

I didn't know about this stuff. Very '60s Playboy salad days stuff.

/end program

I recently just finished ripping through Cook's Black Company books #s 1-6, and I'm expecting the last 4 books as a Christmas present. I'd already mentioned this at DF, but considering how much I enjoyed these books, I can't believe they've been under my radar for 20 years.

I don't think they're great in the way that CAS or REH are great, but for just good ol' plain rollicking, action-packed fun, they definitely deliver.

While waiting for Christmas, CAS's The End of the Story compilation and Osprey Books' Rome and Her Enemies are satisfying my reading needs. I'd started both of these before launching on my Cook tear and had put them aside.

I'm currently making my way through the second Black Company book, Shadows Linger, after having read the first one this summer. I very much like them but for whatever reason I'm not able to tear through them at the same speed I am a lot of other books, which is a bit frustrating since I'd set a goal of reading 50 books in 2008 (and am on pace, or rather was until now). I can normally read a 300 page paperback in no more than a week, but I've already been on this one that long and am only about a quarter of the way through. The first book was the same.

Just finished the appalling Temple of Elemental Evil novel Wizbro put out a while back. I only paid $1 for it, and that was way too much. Very forgettable book.

I highly recommend China Mieville's Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council.

The novels are fantasy, but include a mix of magic and steam-punk elements is an almost victorian-era city populated by a variety of human and demi-human species. If you like the idea of a man in chainmail enchanting his a flintlock rifle before going into battle, you'll like these books.
The first two novels are better than the third, but all three are worth reading.

Just finished "H.P. Lovecraft: A Life," by J.T. Joshi. All I can say at the moment is wow...that book is detailed. So detailed it's sometimes tedious, but very interesting.

Flam: "I'm a huge Hildebrandt fan, which might be why I like Elmore so much. That might also explain why Otus and many of the other early artists don't ring my bell. Hmph...I'll have to think on this."



Hildebrandt is hit or miss (some of it looks very 2E). The technical skill is awsome, as is the technique, composition, lighting-mood, etc. Stick 3 other heads on these bodies, perhaps make them less posed (doing something) and it would have been an good cover (though not anywhere near a favorite). It really depended on the models and their depictions (their sketches were superior to their paintings often). I remember not caring for some of their TLR stuff...halflings for instance (huge heads on infant like bodies, looked a bit retarded). They had great skill, and their work was very moody, but often seemed a bit too designed/staged/stiff (almost illustration rather then fine art, which I guess it was). Yeah, I hated Elmore's direction despite his talent.

The Hildebrandt Bros were all about high fantasy, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Their stuff really stoked by teenage imagination