What are you reading?

[TRP]

I also read Revenge of the Rose and don't really remember much about it except that I thought it was overwritten, slow, and boring.

"Endured" is the word that comes to mind when I recall the experience of reading the book.

[grodog]

A lot, maybe most, writers have only a couple of good stories in them and my feeling is that Michael Moorcock is one of them. His best stuff is genuinely good in my opinion, both well written and clever. Unfortunately, he's written far more mediocre, ponderous, and self-indulgent stuff and, for reasons I've never quite understood, gets praised far more for that than his early, genuinely groundbreaking writings.

FWIW, if you're only judging MM by his Elric stories (or even more broadly, his Eternal Champion cycles), you're missing out on a number of other excellent novels and short stories.

[maghelm]

Been reading Aickman's Painted Devils. The Collected Stories of Karl Edward Wagner is coming out later this year--a massive tome of nearly every story Wagner ever wrote. Terrific stuff.

[Flambeaux]

Reading Beatrix Potter stories to the boys now that we've finished The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

All my personal reading is on hold until I get a bunch of other projects done: some editing, prep for NTRPG Con, some stuff related to my fraternal organization, etc.

[Flight Commander Solitude]

Reading Eyes of the Overworld again ... so hilarious.

[Benoist]

Right now I'm finishing a re-read of I, Claudius, and will go on with a re-read of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Gaming-wise, I'm deep into G1-3, D1-3, Q1 as I re-read key elements of Ptolus: City by the Spire to make all these elements work in my current campaign milieu (i.e. AD&D Ptolus) and launch a PBP game from there.

[tacojohn4547]

My wife picked up a book for me at the library last week, and I just get started reading it this weekend. It's ERB's Princess of Mars.

I wasn't really much of a Si Fi fan growing up. Didn't care for the original Star Trek series when it ran in the 60's and early 70's, and didn't go see Star Wars until it was re-released right before Empire Strikes Back. So while I read lots of fantasy works at the same time I was learning D&D, I didn't read hardly any Si Fi during those same years. My interest in Si Fi didn't take root until college, probably around 1984 or thereabouts.

I have not ever read the John Carter Mars stories before, so doing so now is kind of a guilty pleasure.

[Kellri]

A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin about the Apollo Project and Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism by John Spong about gardening

[foxroe]

I have not ever read the John Carter Mars stories before, so doing so now is kind of a guilty pleasure.

Nuthin' guilty 'bout it! Among my favorites!

[Welleran]

The Carnelian Cube....finally getting around to it!

[ThirstyStirge]

(My favorite Holmes actor is Jeremy Brett.)

I'll second that!

From WENN news:

Actor Hardwicke Dies

4 hours ago

British actor Edward Hardwicke has died, aged 78.

The star, best known for playing Dr. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes on U.K. TV in the 1980s, passed away on Monday.

Hardwicke appeared as the detective's sidekick in The Return of Sherlock Holmes for eight years, before moving on to beloved British shows Lovejoy, Agatha Christie's Poirot and Shameless.

The actor also more recently appeared in movies including Love Actually and Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist.

He is survived by two daughters, Kate and Emma. »

RIP. The Brett-Holmes were pretty much the best yet done. Basil Rathbone's, although not true to the stories, were very entertaining in their day.

[Philotomy Jurament]

I bogged down during Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Picked up Clarke's Songs of Distant Earth, instead.

Oh, and I'm reading the Havoc: Tactical Miniature Warfare rule book (although I picked up the physical book from Amazon, rather than the linked PDF). Seems like a pretty cool system, so far.

[Juju EyeBall]

Oh, and I'm reading the Havoc: Tactical Miniature Warfare rule book (although I picked up the physical book from Amazon, rather than the linked PDF). Seems like a pretty cool system, so far.

Dangit, Bert! You didn't tell me you got that. What do you think so far?

[foxroe]

(My favorite Holmes actor is Jeremy Brett.)

I'll second that!

From WENN news:

Actor Hardwicke Dies

4 hours ago

British actor Edward Hardwicke has died, aged 78.

The star, best known for playing Dr. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes on U.K. TV in the 1980s, passed away on Monday.

Hardwicke appeared as the detective's sidekick in The Return of Sherlock Holmes for eight years, before moving on to beloved British shows Lovejoy, Agatha Christie's Poirot and Shameless.

The actor also more recently appeared in movies including Love Actually and Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist.

He is survived by two daughters, Kate and Emma. »

RIP. The Brett-Holmes were pretty much the best yet done. Basil Rathbone's, although not true to the stories, were very entertaining in their day.

That really sucks. RIP, Edward.

[Philotomy Jurament]

Dangit, Bert! You didn't tell me you got that. What do you think so far?

Well, it looks very promising. It seems to be a very playable set of rules. The rules are fairly simple, as wargames go, but it looks like there would be a lot of tactical decisions and depth to play -- simple, but with depth is a good combination.

It's seems to be designed with skirmish-level battles in mind, but there's no reason the rules couldn't be applied to larger scales. There are some cool elements I haven't really got to in the rulebook, yet, that would apply to fantasy battles: magic, heroes, cut-scenes, single-combat challenges, and the like.

Reading the rules makes me want to play it. I think it has a shallower learning curve and less set-up overhead (and required playing time) compared to a game like Field of Glory.