What are you reading?

[Philotomy Jurament]

Started Contamine's War in the Middle Ages.

[Simon W]

James Nelson - just finishing the last book in the The Revolution at Sea Saga. If you're into Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, you ought to look into these.

[Silk Spectre]

I am almost done rereading The Chronicles of Amber. Then I am going to read the new Discworld book - Snuff. I don't have any reading plans after that.

[T. Foster]

I am almost done rereading The Chronicles of Amber. Then I am going to read the new Discworld book - Snuff. I don't have any reading plans after that.

Are you reading all ten Amber books or only the first five? I loved the first three books of the "second chronicle," in some ways even more than the first series, but the last two left me flat

I'm reading the Discworld books in order, got a very late start, and only read about 3-4 of them a year mixed in with other stuff, so it will be many years (and, alas, Terry Pratchett will be long dead) before I get to Snuff (it's #34 in the series, the last one I've read was Men at Arms, which is #15...).

(FWIW I'm currently reading The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions by H.P. Lovecraft and a host of co-authors; alas these stories generally aren't as good as "real" Lovecraft, but at least they're better than his "posthumous collaborations" with August Derleth)

[Mudguard]

I didn't get the Chronicles of Amber, it started off well enough...but soon became a lot of posery IMO and I stopped at about the third book.

As for Discworld, kind of a funny story. My parents gave me Sorcery for my Christmas present. But I'd discovered the present beforehand. I kept taking the thing out and ogling the cover, I must have been 13.... Then, on the day when I unwrapped it I was not convincing enough in my WOW...and had to admit that I'd seen it before. Parents were not impressed...I'm sure you're getting a better picture of what kind of reprehensible bastard I am.

[Chainsaw]

Nothing highbrow here - just barbarians, carnage, evil serpent queens, invading hordes and the like.

So.. I'm a couple of hundred pages into Prisoner of the Horned Helmet and the re-read's not holding up quite as well as it did for Dune or Karl Edward Wagner.

Sure, there's PLENTY of flesh ripping, bone crunching, blood curdling sword and sorcery stuff, but.. the writing's just not that great and the story feels a little cliched and contrived. I know - shocking! I know we all thought James Silke was a master storyteller..

[Kellri]

So.. I'm a couple of hundred pages into Prisoner of the Horned Helmet and the re-read's not holding up quite as well as it did for Dune or Karl Edward Wagner

Wagner just absolutely rocks. I'm going home today to re-read some Kane. And maybe pull out his short story Sticks too.

[Chainsaw]

Starting Silke's Death Dealer book two - Lords of Destruction. Maybe he'll pick up some steam in book two.

[T. Foster]

A few pages away from finishing The Horror in the Museum, which was pretty dire -- the stories generally came off as pretty weak Lovecraft pastiches (even if the man himself did read and "revise" them) and only the title story felt like it could have been an actual Lovecraft story (but even it would count as a distinctly minor one). I've got another volume of these "revisions" (The Loved Dead and Other Revisions) but I'm not in any hurry to read it. Next up is the seasonally appropriate The October Country by Ray Bradbury, which I hope/anticipate being a lot better

[rogatny]

Just finished Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, a collection of short stories. It's obviously most famous for its titular story which is an absolutely horrifying statement on thoughtless adherence to ritual and tradition.

However, if you're looking for more stories like that, or anything like Jackson's classic The Haunting of Hill House this isn't where to go. Of the 24 other short stories, maybe 4 of them approach anything like "The Lottery," with most of the others what one might call comedies of manners. Now, these others are all very well written, with wry commentary on racism, the battle of the sexes, and the sort of mundane, every-day cruelties we all have to face.

In some ways that makes the horror in "The Lottery" all the more palpable. I'd read it before, so I knew what was coming. But for a first time reader... "Mundane, mundane, mundane, a bit freaky, more mundane, that was weird, mundane, mundane, mund... They're going to do what to her? Her little kid is going to do it, too!"

EDIT: And when I say "mundane," I don't mean bad, I mean normal in the respect that there aren't any ghosts or random, senseless murders.

[Mudguard]

Can anyone help me ID this story...It was Sci-Fi I think, by one of the greats, and my English teacher read it to us when I was about 14...I still remember it.

Basic plot is that a dude ends up on this mysterious island, and is pursued by a slug like creature(description may be off) which is completely immune to any of his attempts to destroy it...he keeps running and finds a bunch of creatures lined up...dinosaurs all the way through to men(I think...), still alive but completely paralysed.

[TRP]

Just started Follett's Pillars of The Earth, and it's so far so good. We've been watching the mini-series, but I need answers to what the series hasn't covered. Books are always better anyway.

I wouldn't be surprised to find this book on Martin's bookshelf. Soon after beginning viewing of the mini-series, I thought, "Wow, this is a much better Game of Thrones."

Pillars of The Earth: 1989
A Game of Thrones: 1996

[Matthew]

Just got a copy of Chronicles of the Black Company; looking forward to giving it a whirl.

[Mudguard]

I've been keeping an eye out for those in bookshops too. Haven't spotted a complete set yet...

[TRP]

I've been keeping an eye out for those in bookshops too. Haven't spotted a complete set yet...

FWIW, and at least for first three books, getting them as a set isn't necessary. Each book stands on its own and possesses a satisfactory ending. They written in a long ago, forgotten age before *everything* had to be EPIC!!!