Just finished Runes...

[lylanthwol]

As in The Runes of the Earth by Donaldson. Of course he still likes to fall in love with certain words, but he's tightened up quite a bit since the Gap crap.

Started Gaiman's American Gods last night (yes, I know I'm a bit behind in my current reading, but there isn't a whole lot out there these days that tickles me and I'd rather read Doc Smith) and this one had me hooked on the opening line. It ranks up there with, "It's a pain in the @$$ waiting around for someone to try to kill you..." and "Ctuchik was dead, he was more than dead."

Still waiting on Glen Cook to push out that monster he's supposedly working on. Martin, well he's alright but I dunno what to say about him. Jordan I'll maul through just because I have to see if he actually says anything besides, "The curtain was green with golden filigree" and Goodkind, well he's still sick enough to enjoy from time to time.

What else is everyone reading these days?

[foster1941]

Lost Illusions by Balzac, and it's a slog and a half. The end is finally in sight, though (I've just begun the 3rd (and final) chapter!)...

Before that was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which was, of course, very easy to read and a lot of fun.

[northrundicandus]

I'm currently reading,

Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson

Red Nails and other tales, REH

Return of the King, JRRT.


Cryptonomicon's WWII parts are a hell of a lot more interesting than the stuff that takes place in the modern era. I wish he would have cut all the 90's crap out.

REH always rocks.

I liked the movie, but re-reading Return of the King reminds me of what a pale shadow the film is compared to the source.

[bonesmccoy]

I don't read any more. Too many big words and sh!t. Besides, I don't want to turn into some kind of Ballsac like Foster.

[lylanthwol]

He said Balzac not Ball Sack! ;D

foster you're a brave soul. I probably would have gone with A Harlot High and Low myself <EG>

For Non SF/Fantasy I'll usually go for Herman Hesse or Shakespeare myself.

I've read the whole Potter series. It gets even better and darker as it goes along.

I've not gone for Crypto as of yet though it's sitting on a shelf. Snowcrash and Diamond Age were excellent though. REH is a hoot.

As far as JRRT goes, it's really difficult to pull of something that literary on film, but I think Jackson did as good a job as possible. I can only imagine the hack job others would have done.

[foster1941]

BonesMcCoy said:

I don't read any more. Too many big words and sh!t. Besides, I don't want to turn into some kind of Ballsac like Foster.

Did you ever see an SNL skit from a few years back where it was a bunch of stuffy scholars discussing books (like the kinda crap they show on C-SPAN when congress isn't in session) -- at first the joke was that all the authors they were discussing had names like I.P. Freely and Seymour Butts, but then one of them said "enough with all these modern authors, what about the classics? what about Ballsac?" to which one of the women (I think it was Ana Gasteyr) responded "I love Ballsac! Nothing's better to me than cuddling up at night with a musty leathery Ballsac right up in my face!" Pretty funny stuff (at the time, even if it's not funny reading about it now), obviously from the same writer who came up with Alec Baldwin as Pete Schwetty (maker of the famous Schwetty balls and Schwetty weiner). Anyhow, I've been thinking of that the whole time I've been reading this book, even before you brought it up.

[bonesmccoy]

See, that's why you're cool. In spite of all those brains and education and stuff, beneath it all you're just an immature dweeb who laughs at fart jokes like the rest of us.

Foster's da man!

[PapersAndPaychecks]

I just started rereading the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

It's an oldie (early 1980's) but it's up there with LOTR and the Earthsea stuff as classic quality fantasy.