[Printed Media] What are you currently reading?

I recently exchanged my The Vampire Lestat for a friend's Rainbow Six, which I just start reading.

I'm reading The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. It's about a man who decides to base his decisions in life, both grand and trivial, on the fall of the dice. But it's not just a method of resolving indecisiveness: he includes options that his normal self wouldn't consider, and through being compelled to carry out these options by the law of dice, hopes to destroy that idea of 'the self', or the self preserving ego, and all the restricting habits and inhibitions that go with it.

I don't read books often enough, but I haven't been able to put this one down.

I'm currently reading After Dark by Haruki Murakami, my favourite author.

Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver finally managed to pull me in. Tried reading it some years ago, but it was just a wee bit too... I dunno, just not my thing back then, but right now I think it's the bomb.

Lawhead wrote a series, I forget the name of, and I've been tearing through the first few books. Hood and Scarlet. As one might glean from the titles, they're a take on the Robin Hood myth (a personal favourite of mine), done in a sort of gritty fashion that really catches my interest. It doesn't neglect the original stories, just gives them a nice new coat of paint. The paint, in this case, being glue and sandpaper. A nice follow-up after a quick re-read of the Corwin books of the Great Book of Amber.

Originally Posted by Denicalis

Lawhead wrote a series, I forget the name of, and I've been tearing through the first few books. Hood and Scarlet. As one might glean from the titles, they're a take on the Robin Hood myth (a personal favourite of mine), done in a sort of gritty fashion that really catches my interest. It doesn't neglect the original stories, just gives them a nice new coat of paint. The paint, in this case, being glue and sandpaper. A nice follow-up after a quick re-read of the Corwin books of the Great Book of Amber.

I've read a couple of things by by Lawhead. I read the Song of Albion trilogy so long ago(eighth grade) that I really could not tell you much about it. I've read Taliesian, Merlin, and Arthur, which were a decent take on you know what. Though not as good as Mary Stewart in my opinion. The most memorable book that I've read by Lawhead is Byzanitiam which is about a monk that gets captured by pirates while transporting an ornate rendition of the Book of Kells to Constantinople.

Originally Posted by Kyndig

I've read a couple of things by by Lawhead. I read the Song of Albion trilogy so long ago(eighth grade) that I really could not tell you much about it. I've read Taliesian, Merlin, and Arthur, which were a decent take on you know what. Though not as good as Mary Stewart in my opinion. The most memorable book that I've read by Lawhead is Byzanitiam which is about a monk that gets captured by pirates while transporting an ornate rendition of the Book of Kells to Constantinople.

I thought Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle was a fantastic series. I guess my only gripe was that they used the Celtic names for dudes like Lancelot, so at the time, I wasn't quite sure who was who aside from the more obvious names. My senior year English teacher recommended it to me, and I have yet to go back and thank him for recommending the series to me, because it's what got me back into reading after blowing it off for so long. I just hope he still works at that school.

I've been (re)reading some of the Conan books, mostly the ones Robert E. Howard and/or L. Sprague de Camp did, and those have been fantastic reads. The book I'm close to finishing is not written by Jordan though. It's called Conan the Valorous written by John Maddox Roberts. I think he's done a pretty good job with Jordan's Hyborian Age.

Anyway, the story here is that Conan is tasked with bringing a parcel given to him by the Stygian sorceress, Hathor-Ka, to Ben Morgh before the autumnal equinox. Normally, he'd never have anything to do with sorcery if he can help it, but he was tricked into swearing by Crom that he would do the job he was hired for before he learned all the details behind it, and Cimmerians are not known for giving their word lightly.

What follows is action, adventure and asskicking in only the way Conan can deliver. It's not a Robert E. Howard story, but it's shaping up to be a pretty good one.

I had been meaning to read The Chronicles of Narnia ever since "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" premiered in theaters, even more so with the approach of "Prince Caspian", but I never quite got around to it for the longest time. I found a solution: I rented a CD audiobook of the series from the local library so I could listen to it on my iPod during a good chunk of my workday. I've been going chronologically, and I'm about halfway through The Last Battle now. Interestingly enough, this one is read by Patrick Stewart. Hearing him imitate the "hee-haw" of a donkey was hilarious. And I'm liking the books, too.

Originally Posted by Josiah

I had been meaning to read The Chronicles of Narnia ever since "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" premiered in theaters, even more so with the approach of "Prince Caspian", but I never quite got around to it for the longest time. I found a solution: I rented a CD audiobook of the series from the local library so I could listen to it on my iPod during a good chunk of my workday. I've been going chronologically, and I'm about halfway through The Last Battle now. Interestingly enough, this one is read by Patrick Stewart. Hearing him imitate the "hee-haw" of a donkey was hilarious. And I'm liking the books, too.

You know, I never was able to make it through Chronicles. I just don't like the way C.S. Lewis writes. Didn't dig the movies, either. The BBC lion the witch and the wardrobe has a special place in my heart, but man... do I not care for average joe English kid goes through a wardrobe and then becomes a brilliant military strategist and great warrior stories.

I've been tearing through George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series lately (I've been on a fantasy kick, can you tell?) and am just finishing up with Feast for Crows. I'm thinking after that, it might be time to dig into a few of the Philip K. Dick works I haven't gotten to yet.

I had to put down Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I was about to beat my head endlessly into a brick wall until my brains spilled out.
Unless you've got a penchant for an overload of philosophical bullshit, I wouldn't recommend this one; but that's just me.

I read Dante's Inferno in a poetic translation, and mildly enjoyed it...somewhat. It's hard to read something when you have to read the footnotes every 5 lines. I'm not sure whether or not I'll attempt Pergatory or Paradisio, but if I do, I'll pick up prose copies.

I picked up a new release, Borne in Blood, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Apparently part of some Count Saint-Germaine series about a Vampire. I like it, and the setting placement and the structure of the story is good, but I'm 1/3rd of the way through it, and the only action I've seen is some dude falling off a wagon. And there was a sex scene in the second chapter. A bit premature if you ask me.

And since I haven't read any classics, I've got The Gunslinger and Stranger in a Strange Land on the backburner.

Originally Posted by Garr

I thought Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle was a fantastic series. I guess my only gripe was that they used the Celtic names for dudes like Lancelot, so at the time, I wasn't quite sure who was who aside from the more obvious names. My senior year English teacher recommended it to me, and I have yet to go back and thank him for recommending the series to me, because it's what got me back into reading after blowing it off for so long. I just hope he still works at that school.

I've been (re)reading some of the Conan books, mostly the ones Robert Jordan and/or L. Sprague de Camp did, and those have been fantastic reads. The book I'm close to finishing is not written by Jordan though. It's called Conan the Valorous written by John Maddox Roberts. I think he's done a pretty good job with Jordan's Hyborian Age.

Anyway, the story here is that Conan is tasked with bringing a parcel given to him by the Stygian sorceress, Hathor-Ka, to Ben Morgh before the autumnal equinox. Normally, he'd never have anything to do with sorcery if he can help it, but he was tricked into swearing by Crom that he would do the job he was hired for before he learned all the details behind it, and Cimmerians are not known for giving their word lightly.

What follows is action, adventure and asskicking in only the way Conan can deliver. It's not a Robert Jordan story, but it's shaping up to be a pretty good one.

I have read the Second Chroicles of Conan by Jordan, which was quite enjoyable. Nowhere else have I seen the word callipygian used.

I have never read any Conan books other than that particular collection, though I have read some of the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series by Fritz Leiber, which are in the same vein.

Originally Posted by Denicalis

I've been tearing through George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series lately

How is it? I read Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings when those were the only two published and I loved them, but resolved to wait until the entire series was finished before I read any more.

Originally Posted by Cellius

How is it? I read Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings when those were the only two published and I loved them, but resolved to wait until the entire series was finished before I read any more.

They're good, I still vote the first two were the best of the four so far, but they certainly aren't massive disappointments or anything. Definitely worth the read. The grit factor is there, they just lose some of the cohesion as the series goes on. Lots of hope for the fifth book, though.

i just finished a series by Terry Goodkind, The Sword of Truth. Pretty good books, I enjoyed that imensely. Now it's onto an American literature book, Microeconomics, and intro to astronomy

I finally got around to re-reading Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha earlier this week. When I originally read it in sixth or seventh grade, I didn't fully grasp all of the philosophical implications being thrown around, so I really enjoyed revisiting it. Hesse's prose, too, was wonderful. He managed to pull so much power out of very simple dialogue and vocabulary, along the lines of a McCarthy or Hemingway novel. It was impressive. For all the vast cosmological overtones, I enjoyed reading it thoroughly, and look forward to reading more of his works.

Currently, I'm working my way through William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, Haruki Murakami's collection of short stories Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales for my high school English class.

Originally Posted by mscbutterfly

i just finished a series by Terry Goodkind, The Sword of Truth. Pretty good books, I enjoyed that imensely. Now it's onto an American literature book, Microeconomics, and intro to astronomy

Goodkind? Really? I would chalk that up as the worst fantasy series I've ever read any of. Worse than the Wheel of Time. Terry is just... awful. I always found his stuff horridly formulaic. Oh hey, Kahlan got kidnapped. Again. Oh, here's the portion of the book that we get to see how Goodkind's wife clearly won't let him have rough sex with her, so he'll get it out on the page. Oh, so this is the point that his self inserted character gets to be Superman. Or how about the part where he topples communism by building a statue to FREEDOM? He had some good ideas in there, or at least some I didn't hate, but at the end of the day, the man was on a soap box thumping his chest and writing diatribes about politics thinly veiled as fantasy. And Richard was just so bloody infallible, making him, by far, the least interesting hero I've ever seen. He's the only Seeker, AND the last war wizard, AND the only male confessor, AND the only man able to survive a confessor's touch etc... etc... And Kalahn was just so bloody useless. She was the Princess from Super Mario. All she was good for was getting kidnapped to further the plot.

What I'm trying to say is Goodkind is a shoddy author. Seriously, go read some Scott Lynch.

I've personally been derailed in my readings lately by T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars. Great book. Sure, the guy was lying about the majority of it, but the philosophy and depth of language used makes it worth the read.

Lately I've been all wrapped in reading Hunter S. Thompson's two collections of correspondence, The Proud Highway and Fear And Loathing In America. I'd strongly recommend them both if you've read and enjoyed a good deal of his other material.

Add Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, 1972 to that list. His coverage of that year's pivotal presidential election for Rolling Stone is alternately hilarious and dispiriting, but, as always with Thompson, highly entertaining.