Anyone reading any fantasy novels?

[grodog]

Nabbed some good books on my last trips to CA and have been reading them while flying:

• Gardner Fox - Kothar of the Magic Sword: I've never read Fox before, and decided to pick up a few titles (also got Warrior of Llarn, Kyric and the Lost Queen, and Kyrik Fights the Demon World; haven't started them yet). Kothar was good, well-written stuff (very much in that ornate prose style CAS has, though a bit less baroque).
• Lin Carter - Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria: I've never been much of a fans of his pastiche stuff in any genre, but the Throngor book's pretty good so far. It's pretty REH-like, of course, but it's definitely more patalable than his Conan fiction. The Lemuria stuff feels like it's tied into both HPL and REH's myth cycles, which is cool. (I guess the only other original Carter stuff I've read was Thief of Thoth, which I don't recall any details about as I read it more than 20 years ago).
• Philip Jose Farmer - first 5 World of Tiers books: I've read these before and still love them, but wasn't aware until recently that a sixth and seventh books were published; great stuff, very useful for my Maure Castle campaign planning/inspiration.
• Neal Stephenson - The Confusion: the last big book that I finished recently, it took more effort than Quicksilver did to get through, probably in part because I wasn't able to keep up the momentum.
• 1776 - David McCoullough: The first of his books that I read, inspired in part by Stephenson's series. I enjoyed it, but was expecting a bit of a broader picture than this book provided, so I'm likely to dig up some of the history of the Revolutionary War books that he cites as very good.

I'm hoping for some good Moorcock (Vengeance of Rome was published in January, at long last), Gaiman, and HPL tomes for Xmas, but we'll see....

Semi-relatedly, Gygax's Appendix N materials were originally published in The Dragon in some early issue. Anyone recall offhand which one? There were some differences in the listed entries IIRC and I wasn't able to find it doing some quick googling and DF searching....

[T. Foster]

The Fox Kothar books are great, and I heartily echo your recommendation. I also recently read Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria and wasn't much impressed -- it starts off decently but IMO gets worse and worse as it goes along. I just finished the fifth World of Tiers book as well, which wasn't the best of the series (which is, IMO, the second one -- The Gates of Creation) but was still better than about 99.9% of the other "imaginiative fiction" (can't really call it fantasy, can't quite call it sf either) out there. I can't recommend this series highly enough. I too am currently seeking the sixth book (which I didn't realized existed until recently) -- your post is the first I've heard of a seventh book, but now I'll obviously have to look for it too!

My current fantasy reading is The Moon of Skulls, a collection of Robert Howard's Solomon Kane stories published in the 60s with cool Jeffrey Jones covers. So far all I've read is the title story (which ran about 80pp), and it was very good, reminiscent perhaps of some of A. Merritt's books but with more action. It was also, if I can admit it here, refreshing that the supernatural/fantastic elements of Howard's Conan stories (and their many, many imitators) were almost entirely absent here -- there was a particular supernatural twist that I was expecting, and was glad when it didn't occur (if you've read the story you can probably guess what I'm thinking of). I look forward to reading the other two stories in this volume (and, eventually, the other two volumes of Kane stories I bought at the same time as this one).

[T. Foster]

Sorry to follow myself, but I just looked back and saw that as of my last post in this thread (before today) I was only partway through A. Merritt's Dwellers in the Mirage, and wanted to go back and single it out for additional praise -- this book starts out amazingly good and just continues to get better and better as it goes along. This is probably my favorite Merritt novel (which, if you've been following my Merritt-praise since I first read The Moon Pool a couple years back, you'll realize is really saying something). I'm torn, though, whether to recommend people start with this one because it's so darn good, or start with his earlier, very good but not quite as good as this one, books -- The Moon Pool, The Face in the Abyss, The Ship of Ishtar, Seven Footprints to Satan -- and work up to this one, because I fear those other books might seem a little disappointing by comparison if you've already "started at the top" with Dwellers.

Sadly, though, I'm nearing the end of the Merritt canon -- all I've got left are two horror novels (Burn Witch Burn and Creep Shadow Creep) a book of stories (Fox Woman and Other Stories) and an unfinished novel that was completed after Merritt's death by another author (The Black Wheel). I've so consistently enjoyed reading these books over the last couple years (with the semi-exception of The Metal Monster, which isn't terrible but isn't even close to the level of the others) that it's a little bittersweet to think that soon I won't have any more A. Merritt books to look forward to and will have to find a new "new favorite author."

[Deogolf]

I recently finished Redwall. I loved it. It would be interesting to base an RPG in the AD&D style around it (considering it hasn't been done already). I plan on reading the entire series, but for now I picked up Jack Vance's "The Dying Earth". TDE influenced Gary for some of the spells we see in D&D such as Prismatic Spray. I'm sure a lot of you already know that. Anyway, just wanted to see what, if any books are being read by any of you in the fantasy genre.

I did just that over the last couple of years. I've been working on an anthropomorphic (heavily influenced by Redwall) setting using the C&C rules. But have thought about submitting it to DF to see what they think. I test played it some months back and it went very well. The guys that helped me out had a lot of fun with it too!

I plan on starting THE LONG PATROL shortly - a great series of books! I do believe there is another Redwall book coming out in 2007 or early 2008. Can't remember the name it off-hand.

[grodog]

The Fox Kothar books are great, and I heartily echo your recommendation. I also recently read Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria and wasn't much impressed -- it starts off decently but IMO gets worse and worse as it goes along.

Having just finished it, I agree completely: it became pretty lame with a lot of deus ex machina to make the plot come together. Oh well, it was only $2

I just finished the fifth World of Tiers book as well, which wasn't the best of the series (which is, IMO, the second one -- The Gates of Creation) but was still better than about 99.9% of the other "imaginiative fiction" (can't really call it fantasy, can't quite call it sf either) out there. I can't recommend this series highly enough. I too am currently seeking the sixth book (which I didn't realized existed until recently) -- your post is the first I've heard of a seventh book, but now I'll obviously have to look for it too!

The sixth is Red Orc's Rage, and is an interesting divergence from the narrative model from the first five books. It's hard to explain without spoilers, but it's basically told from two points of view, one Earth/modern and on a Lord (Red Orc). The seventh book is titled More than Fire, and looks like it pickes up from where the fifth leaves off (based on the Amazon editorial reviews; I don't own this one yet).

My current fantasy reading is The Moon of Skulls, a collection of Robert Howard's Solomon Kane stories published in the 60s with cool Jeffrey Jones covers. So far all I've read is the title story (which ran about 80pp), and it was very good, reminiscent perhaps of some of A. Merritt's books but with more action.

I haven't read much Kane, though I did receive the recent republication as a gift (last year for Xmas I think).

[T. Foster]

I haven't read much Kane, though I did receive the recent republication as a gift (last year for Xmas I think).

I've since finished this book (which isn't saying much, it was only 127pp) and enjoyed it very much (though I spoke much too quickly in praising the absence of the supernatural, which only applied to that one story). Kane is inferior in story-craft to Conan (not surprising, since the stories were written earlier in Howard's career) but makes a fun and interesting companion-piece since Kane in many ways comes off as a more reflective Conan -- his fighting mixed with a healthy dose of philosophical musing. One passage in particular seems so key to the entire Howardean (by way of HPL) cosmology that I feel it's worth quoting:

Again the realization swept over him ... that human life was but one of a myriad forms of existence, that worlds existed within worlds, and that there was more than one plane of existence. The planet men call the earth spun on through the untold ages, Kane realized, and as it spun it spawned Life, and living things which wriggled about it as maggots are spawned in rot and corruption. Man was the dominant maggot now -- why should he in his pride suppose that he and his adjuncts were the first maggots -- or the last to rule a planet quick with unguessed life.

[grodog]

Sorry to follow myself, but I just looked back and saw that as of my last post in this thread (before today) I was only partway through A. Merritt's Dwellers in the Mirage, and wanted to go back and single it out for additional praise -- this book starts out amazingly good and just continues to get better and better as it goes along. This is probably my favorite Merritt novel (which, if you've been following my Merritt-praise since I first read The Moon Pool a couple years back, you'll realize is really saying something). I'm torn, though, whether to recommend people start with this one because it's so darn good, or start with his earlier, very good but not quite as good as this one, books -- The Moon Pool, The Face in the Abyss, The Ship of Ishtar, Seven Footprints to Satan -- and work up to this one, because I fear those other books might seem a little disappointing by comparison if you've already "started at the top" with Dwellers.

Oh good, I did recall the title properly: I picked this up while in London's last sci-fi speciality bookstore (The Fantasy Centre), but I wasn't sure if I was remembering the book title properly or not. I haven't ready any Merrit, though I own the Moon Pool and Face in the Abyss, and I'm sure our local used bookstore has Ship of Ishtar too. I'll have to look for the others. Thanks for the recommendation, Trent!

I was also able to score seven CAS books, a few Farmer titles (though alas, not the 7th World of Tiers book), as well as the first of Gardner Fox's Kyrick series (I had 2-4 already, but haven't read them yet since I wanted #1 first), and a smattering of others.

[grodog]

Well, I just finished reading Fox's last two Kyrik books on my flights home from CA today, and I definitely enjoyed all four Kyrik novels in general (and the Kothar tomes, for the record!). I think a single, slim setting book detailing Fox's worlds of Kyrik and Kothar would be a fun project to do based on his works (something akin to the 1e Lankhmar City of Adventure supplement, perhaps, though such a Fox book may not even be as large as Lankhmar was, since none of Fox's novels are particular large and the settings are not well-developed, in general).

I was also able to pick up several other Appendix N titles/authors, including Pratt's Blue Star and Well of the Unicorn, Anderson's Broken Sword (apparently I could only find the latter, revised version, though---has anyone done the A/B comparison between them yet?), Fox's Thief of Llarn, several more Farmer titles, Lanier's Hiero's Journey and sequel, and Bellairs' The Face in the Frost, which will keep me occupied for awhile, I'm sure.

[stranger]

I won't get to read them until they arrive next week but my wife just ordered me several hardcover Howard books:

01. THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN

02. THE BLOODY CROWN OF CONAN

03. THE CONQUERING SWORD OF CONAN

04. KULL EXILE OF ATLANTIS

05. THE SAVAGE TALES OF SOLOMON KANE

06. BRAN MAK MORN THE LAST KING

Now i just have to decide where to start.

Did I mention I love Ebay, she got all 6 new for $80. Barnes & Noble wanted $30 each.

[grodog]

I finished Anderson's Broken Sword this week, and am nearly done with Face in the Frost, too.

BS was interesting, but while I enjoy Anderson's writing---in particular his rich vocabulary and descriptive style---I find that I don't really attach to the characters much. That's my (very vague) recollection of Three Hearts and Three Lions too, FWIW.

I've also enjoyed FitF too---quite a bit of fun humor, interesting magical details and monsters, and what seems to be the Voynich Manuscript.

[TRP]

I like your list, stranger, in fact, I just finished that list, but in a slightly different order than you've arranged. I read all those Conan's in order, then Bran Mak Morn, Kull and Solomon Kane last. I'm glad I kept Kane til last, cause after Conan, he's my favorite. In some ways, I like him even better.

Now I'm stuck. I've enjoyed that spell so much, that everything now looks kinda meh to me.

I've got Dying Earth sitting by my bedside, but have only read the first couple of tales. I'd say why, but ya'll would probably disable my account.

Most recently, I've been reading gaming material to quench my fantasy thirst.

[T. Foster]

Not fantasy, but related, I'm currently reading The Palace of Love, the third volume of Jack Vance's "Demon Princes" series. It's awesome. I've been enjoying this series so much that I'm a little sad there are only two more books to go after this one.

The last fantasy book I read was The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, which I'm deeply ambivalent about. Great writing and storytelling, very dubious philosophical subtext. I wonder if parents who let their kids read this book realize what it's actually about, and what approach the upcoming movie adaptation will take.

Not sure what will be next up -- due to a recent discussion on ENWorld I've now got all the books I own but haven't read from Gygax's "Inspirational Reading" list in the DMG stacked on a shelf together (there are currently 28 of them), but I've also just acquired a bunch of books from the old Ballantine Adult Fantasy series that are calling out to me, and I also want to read Harry Potter 6 before HP7 is released this summer...

[dcs]

The last fantasy book I read was The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, which I'm deeply ambivalent about. Great writing and storytelling, very dubious philosophical subtext. I wonder if parents who let their kids read this book realize what it's actually about, and what approach the upcoming movie adaptation will take.

Is that part of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy? I've heard about that and I can't imagine letting my kids read it. My understanding is that Pullman wrote it sort of as a response to the goody-two-shoes fantasy of C. S. Lewis etc.

Speaking of Lewis, I don't know if I've mentioned it in this forum, but I've just finished reading That Hideous Strength (for the second time), the last book in his "Space Trilogy." Unlike the other two, it doesn't take place on another planet, and Ransom is more of a peripheral character. But it is very satisfying as a conclusion to the series, and Lewis brings a lot of mythology together -- Mythic England, Atlantis, etc., even shades of Narnia (Ransom becomes almost an Aslan-like figure).

[TRP]

The last fantasy book I read was The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, which I'm deeply ambivalent about. Great writing and storytelling, very dubious philosophical subtext. I wonder if parents who let their kids read this book realize what it's actually about, and what approach the upcoming movie adaptation will take.

Is that part of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy? I've heard about that and I can't imagine letting my kids read it. My understanding is that Pullman wrote it sort of as a response to the goody-two-shoes fantasy of C. S. Lewis etc.

Speaking of Lewis, I don't know if I've mentioned it in this forum, but I've just finished reading That Hideous Strength (for the second time), the last book in his "Space Trilogy." Unlike the other two, it doesn't take place on another planet, and Ransom is more of a peripheral character. But it is very satisfying as a conclusion to the series, and Lewis brings a lot of mythology together -- Mythic England, Atlantis, etc., even shades of Narnia (Ransom becomes almost an Aslan-like figure).

I breezed through That Hideous Strength, once, many moons ago, and didn't quite get it. It's very different from the first two books, and not only that it takes place on earth, but in that the writing isn't as transparent. If that makes any sense to you. I enjoyed the first 2 books so much, though, that I'll probably have to give book 3 another chance. After all, I'm much older and wiser than when last I read it.

[T. Foster]

The last fantasy book I read was The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, which I'm deeply ambivalent about. Great writing and storytelling, very dubious philosophical subtext. I wonder if parents who let their kids read this book realize what it's actually about, and what approach the upcoming movie adaptation will take.

Is that part of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy? I've heard about that and I can't imagine letting my kids read it. My understanding is that Pullman wrote it sort of as a response to the goody-two-shoes fantasy of C. S. Lewis etc.

Yeah, it's the final volume of that trilogy. Whereas the first two (The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife) are more straightforward fantasy-adventure (with bad "church-people" and good "witches," but that's hardly unique) the third book really ratchets up the anti-religious rhetoric, to the point of flat-out declaring God and religion the source of all the world's ills, and that it's the duty of good/enlightened people to struggle against and destroy them. Not an earth-shaking sentiment, but surprising/troubling in a book ostensibly intended for children -- all the moreso because the plot (which is really quite good) would've worked just as well or better without this "anti-sermonizing."