What are you reading?

Ooops! Now I see that the Hyperion books already had extensive coverage here. Sorry for the waste of bandwidth.

Read "Pool Of Radiance 2 : Ruins Of Myth Drannor" within the last three days.

It entertained me, and ignited in me again the wish to play the game through ... There are a few things in the book which are different from the game, most notable the death of a party member you'll find within the dungeons.

Finished Goblin Quest by Jim Hines recently based on some comments here. Not great, but not bad. In several instances, it seemed like the events were ripped right out of a p-n-p D&D session. It was kinda funny.

Currently working on Storm Front by Jim Butcher, again from a recommendation here. I'm enjoying it so far.

I just finished with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and starting on Requiem for a Dream.

Reading the last book in the opening trilogy of the Warhammer 40k "Horus Heresy" series of books, Galaxy in Flames. The last one wasnt as good, as Horus begins to question the motivations of the Emperor of Mankind, and ultimately decides to strike out on his own, so to speak. For such a pivotal moment in the Warhammer lore, this was handled quite poorly in my opinion. You have these beings who have given their entire lives and very purpose for existence over to an ideal - almost at the drop of a hat they make a stark 180. It could have been handled wayyyyy better.

The damage done, now we are heading toward the actual rebellion taking place and we can move on. This book is way better as well, in the quality of the writing. On my way out the door, gotta go! lol ='.'=

xSamhainx said:

For instance, one of the main thrusts of the Imperial belief system at the time of the tale is that the universe is completely natural and scientific, there is no supernatural world at all. No angels, demons, ghosts, whatever… everything can be explained by science and reason. Theirs is a totalitarian atheism and anti-mysticism outlook, wherein the mere mention that you may believe in any sort of spiritualism at all could very well be your death. Entire cultures, indeed entire worlds themselves are literally destroyed for this sort of thing. On top of that, non-human also equals death, this is mankind at his supposed pinnacle. By the way, these are the "Good Guys" we're supposed to be rooting for, to show you how fucked-up the wh40k universe is!

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Haven't been to this thread in ages (don't know why I just ignore stickied threads ) Great to hear another fanatic in the making. I haven't read these books, but after your mini reviews I think I'll have to pick them up.

Your appraisal of humans in the Warhammer 40k world is about the same in Fantasy Battle as well. Part of the reason I love my little rats so much is that I love the thought of them tearing apart the supposed "good" guys in the Warhammer world. Sorta makes my rats the good guys

Thanks for the info on the books. I love the lore, but didn't think they could make an good novel out of it. Glad to know I was wrong. It's too bad about the Horus Heracy book. Ever since the beginning Warhammer 40k has had little bits of info on Horus. More and more was given over the years, but the greatest event in the 40k world is Horus splitting with the emporer and if it was handled as bad as you say then I'm surprised someone from Games Workshop didn't say WTF??? and get a new author or at least improve it.

skavenhorde said:

(...)the greatest event in the 40k world is Horus splitting with the emporer and if it was handled as bad as you say then I'm surprised someone from Games Workshop didn't say WTF??? and get a new author or at least improve it.

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Because they knew they'd make money with it no matter how bad or good it was. I mean, which gamer actually needs a new edition of the rules every 3 months, along with a new army that makes all others look like poop?
Some of the WH and WH40k novels and anthologies are good, some are decent, some others are bad. A healthy mix, so to say, but the point is that some of the authors who wrote the bad novels are still in the GW business, so their stuff must have sold well, and that's what counts.

Yea I know, still I love the world and love my rats. Can't help myself, they're just too darn cute

That's also another reason I stick with Skaven. They're on the whole ignored by GW. Only just recently did they upgrade their codex and offer a few new units. They still haven't changed much in all the time I've been collecting them. The only major change that pissed me off is that they did was they got rid of my Doom Wheel. Man, I loved that little sucker. Even had rats in the wheel to make it go

Now if your talking about humans or orcs well those are upgraded at the drop of a hat.

A friend of mine always was (and probably still is) a huge Skaven fan, so you're not alone. I'm not the WH Fantasy Battle/Roleplay type, but even if I was, the Skaven would not be among my favorite races.
As for WH40k novels: I really like the Ciaphas Cain books. For one thing, he's a Commissar, and I have all commissar figures that came out during the time of the 2nd 40k edition... and Cain is funny in a Harry Flashman way .

Jaz said:

A friend of mine always was (and probably still is) a huge Skaven fan, so you're not alone. I'm not the WH Fantasy Battle/Roleplay type, but even if I was, the Skaven would not be among my favorite races.

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Blaspemy, they so cute and adorable as their clan Eshin assisns sneak up behind you and make you feel the taste of their weeping blade. What's not to love about that Just pulling your leg a bit Jaz, but my point still holds. GW might upgrade and change rules at the drop of a hat, but who say you have to chage along with them? Who cares? Stick with the old rules and still grab the new units to use, but use them with the old rules set. Same as any P&P game. If you like D&D more then ingnore all the AD&D or D&D +40000. It's easy to do

Anyways, I don't want to derail this thread, I was just surprised that the books were getting such high praise from you and sammy. Truthfully I thought it would be just blood and guts and not much of a story to go along with the war. Thanks for giving me the heads up on that.

Oh, one last thing, my skaven could beat anything the emperor or other aliens threw at them. They maybe bigger and stronger be we got numbers, lots of mutated bests, assassins, of course warpstone and many many tunnels. You never know when a skaven city could be lurking in the underbelly of the empire

So, I flipped to the "Afterword" section of my Robert Asprin book last night and discover that Bob dropped dead a year ago. What a bummer! This is getting ridiculous!

Asprin- dead
Pratchett- Alzheimers
Jordan- dead
Gemmell- dead
Eddings- might as well be dead

Outside of Modesitt, I'm not going to have any of my favorite authors left.

That's what's surprising me, Skaven - the warfare sequences of the book really arent front and center. It's more character studies of different people as the event occurs - scribes, orators, poets (really!), and of course the warriors themselves. The last bit is most surprising to me, as the foot soldiers of the Imperium have always been, in my mind at least, nameless faceless automotons of the Emperor. Here, they are finally characterized and have surprising depth. Theyve been for their entire lives solely dedicated to their galaxies-spanning conquest for the good of mankind as they see it - yet here the focus is brought in on a few captains who start to question it. Their humanity starts to flicker again, thoughts of mercy, even reverence for their sworn foes... it's so alien to them, and their inner struggles at this new found humanity among those supposedly most-human is a compelling read.

Then of course the Chaos gods come in and throws the whole thing in a cosmic blender, good times indeed!

"The Ruins Of Dathomir", a Star Wars Novel.

I'm currently reading "No Greater Love" by Danielle Steel
and Otaku Magazine

Just finished Big Red Tequila, by Rick Riordan--about Tres Navarre, a tequila-swigging Texas private investigator with a cranky cat and tangled up past. Good storyline, characters and hilarious dialogue at times( in the John Sandford tradition, but not as gory.) Good entertaining read.

I read an excellent fantasy trilogy by a new author called Brent Weeks.
The three books formed a saga called "The Night Angel trilogy".

The books were mainly about a boy called Azoth who was apprenticed to a bad-ass assassin right at the beginning of the book. Tons of twists and turns and it had many subplots too told from various perspectives. It never got boring. Hard to put down stuff.

It was an excellent and satisfying read in many ways. There were no elves or dwarves.. only various races of men. It had some high magic thrown in, though.
The theme and tone was dark and gritty but it had this.. how would i put it… warm-hearted noble undercurrent in there too. The books featured extreme violence, rape, torture, incest and lots of sex scenes… so maybe not for everyone…

To continue my newfound thirst for epic fantasy adventures I finally picked up a classic I've been wanting to read for a long time...

"The Magician" by Raymond E. Feist. I knew to expect standard old-school elves & dwarves Tolkienesque from-rags-to-riches-farmboy epic high fantasy stuff. I'm about 60% through the tome (the release that has both parts of the magician story in one) and I'm loving it. It pulled me in right from the start, every praise the book has gained over the years are deserved, I feel. Great stuff.
Already bought the followups to the riftwar saga, too.

Zakhary said:

"The Magician" by Raymond E. Feist.

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Best feel and description of magic ever (rivaled and maybe surpassed only by the Wheel of Time). The Riftwar Saga and all the other sequels are great too, in the Kelewan cycle I believe there are also interesting defensive magic weavers.

Anyone getting one of the Barnes & Noble Nook ereaders? First lot just shipping now, most folks getting them in January.

I'm just finished with "Mugabe" by David Smith & Colin Simpson (1981).

Just started Pride & Prejudice and Zombies. It's a hoot so far