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Post by paulmc on Jul 19, 2016 11:24:09 GMT -5
The Return of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. For some reason, this seemed like a good time to revisit this. ;-) Reading Pirates of Venus. Need to rev my sword-&-planet engine. Need to pick up Tarzan again soon after. |
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Post by KiramidHead on Jul 19, 2016 23:01:40 GMT -5
I'm rereading the Dark Tower series at the moment, plus peripherals. My rough reading order is:
Gunslinger->Drawing of the Three->Wastelands->*The Stand*->Eyes of the Dragon-The Talisman->Wizard & Glass->Insomnia->Everything's Eventual (for the title story and Little Sisters)->Black House->Wind through the Keyhole->Wolves of the Calla->Song of Susannah->Dark Tower.
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Post by dolphy76 on Jul 20, 2016 10:14:58 GMT -5
I am about half way through "Scavengers" by Christopher Fulbright and Angelique Hawkes. A Zombie Apocalypse novel with a twist. Also takes place in the Dallas area where I live so it's kind of cool to know all the places the authors write about.
I just finished "Night Wraith" by the same authors. A very fun Supernatural Horror" read. Highly recommend for those who like that type of story.
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Post by almuric on Aug 2, 2016 10:50:59 GMT -5
A Darkling Sea, by James Cambias. Really good Hard SF debut. On the icy moon of Ilmatar, a vast ocean warmed by volcanic vents is home to a race of aquatic aliens who see by sonar and have no idea of the worlds beyond their waters. The Ilmatarans are being watched by a team of human scientists, who are in turn being overseen by aliens known as the Sholen, who regard humans as a potential threat. After a human scientist is accidentally killed by Ilmatarans, the situation begins to spiral out of control, as the agendas of all three species clash.
This is SF the way it used to be. Despite toggling between the POVs of three species, Cambias keeps their viewpoints distinct and it's never confusing. I'll definitely be checking out this guy's other work.
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Post by almuric on Aug 7, 2016 20:28:03 GMT -5
The Beasts of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's easy to see the influence this novel had on the recent movie (starts out of Africa, Jane kidnapped, pursuit up a river, Akut). Tarzan's enemy Nicholas Rokoff escapes prison and kidnaps Jane and young Jack, intending to have Jane raped (implied, because this was written 100 years ago) and Jack to be raised by a tribe of cannibals.
That's pretty messed up.
This is one of the more realistic Tarzans, in that there's no lost cities or dinosaurs, at least. It flows better than a lot of ERB's early work, with the only real hiccup being the ending where we have a double climax and a new set of villains introduced and defeated at the last minute. Still, definitely one of the best Tarzans.
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Post by andys on Aug 10, 2016 16:15:30 GMT -5
The Beasts of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's easy to see the influence this novel had on the recent movie (starts out of Africa, Jane kidnapped, pursuit up a river, Akut). Tarzan's enemy Nicholas Rokoff escapes prison and kidnaps Jane and young Jack, intending to have Jane raped (implied, because this was written 100 years ago) and Jack to be raised by a tribe of cannibals. That's pretty messed up. This is one of the more realistic Tarzans, in that there's no lost cities or dinosaurs, at least. It flows better than a lot of ERB's early work, with the only real hiccup being the ending where we have a double climax and a new set of villains introduced and defeated at the last minute. Still, definitely one of the best Tarzans. That's one of my favorites. I especially like how Tarzan escapes being marooned by training the apes how to row a boat while he's got his lion buddy in the boat, too. He takes this motley collection of wild animals and turns them into a well-organized hit squad. |
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Post by thedarkman on Aug 29, 2016 13:47:30 GMT -5
Finally got my copies of The Invaders (aka The Golden Strangers) and Pagan Queen (aka Red Queen White Queen) by Henry Treece. This completes my collection of the 4 book Celtic cycle written by Treece in the Fifties. I wanted to read them in chronological order, so now I finally can.
Also got my copy of Silver Leopard by F van Wyck Mason, and another, Brothers of the Sword by T V Olsen, should be here by tomorrow. I seem to be favoring old-school historical pulp adventures right now...
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Post by thedarkman on Sept 1, 2016 17:46:34 GMT -5
Just starting Brothers of the Sword by T.V. Olsen, a Viking adventure around the end of the Viking age. It starts in Norway, off to Iceland and finally Greenland. It starts off with one of the main characters killing a bear with spear and arrows; a good start, I'd say! There is essentially no info online about this novel, published in 1962 by Berkley. Olsen was best known as a writer of Westerns, and it looks like he wrote a few. Morgan Holmes said its a good tale, so I snapped it up for cheap.
I'm really getting into these pulp historical and adventure paperbacks from back in the day; fun stuff.
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Post by paulmc on Sept 7, 2016 14:14:21 GMT -5
The Beasts of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's easy to see the influence this novel had on the recent movie (starts out of Africa, Jane kidnapped, pursuit up a river, Akut). Tarzan's enemy Nicholas Rokoff escapes prison and kidnaps Jane and young Jack, intending to have Jane raped (implied, because this was written 100 years ago) and Jack to be raised by a tribe of cannibals. That's pretty messed up. This is one of the more realistic Tarzans, in that there's no lost cities or dinosaurs, at least. It flows better than a lot of ERB's early work, with the only real hiccup being the ending where we have a double climax and a new set of villains introduced and defeated at the last minute. Still, definitely one of the best Tarzans. That's one of my favorites. I especially like how Tarzan escapes being marooned by training the apes how to row a boat while he's got his lion buddy in the boat, too. He takes this motley collection of wild animals and turns them into a well-organized hit squad. Just wrapped up the audiobook version of that last week. I enjoyed it a lot. But yeah, the double climax really felt like ERB was reaching for a wordcount (or, installments of the serial, more likely.) |
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Post by KiramidHead on Sept 12, 2016 11:31:25 GMT -5
Just got started on The Lost City of Z.
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Post by deuce on Sept 12, 2016 13:09:53 GMT -5
Just got started on The Lost City of Z. A good book! The follow-up Fawcett rescue mission (including Teddy Roosevelt) was pretty interesting as well. |
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Post by thedarkman on Sept 14, 2016 18:27:03 GMT -5
Anybody here read Garry Jennings' works? I have Aztec, Raptor and Journeyer. All three are huge, intimidating historical epics; a challenge for a slower reader like myself. Any thoughts, recommendations or warnings? Let me know what you think...
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Post by deuce on Sept 19, 2016 13:12:39 GMT -5
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Post by andys on Sept 19, 2016 16:15:20 GMT -5
Just got started on The Lost City of Z. I liked that one. Very interesting, and it pretty well ensured that I can do without ever visiting the Amazon (which could theoretically happen as my wife has relatives there). I just finished The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski, which is a short story collection that introduces the Witcher. I've seen that Polish speakers are deeply unimpressed by the English translations of his work, as Sapkowski is famed for his clever wordplay, but I wouldn't say they read badly in English. The translation is smooth and easy to breeze through. What I like about Geralt is that he's a professional. Whether he's dealing with peasants or nobility who want monsters dealt with, his main priority is just to get paid for his work. I think the books are still not fully translated but I still wish I had read at least some of them before playing the games because there are many things here that the games refer back to and it would have been nice to have had that background. Oh well, something to keep in mind for a future replaying. |
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Post by deuce on Sept 19, 2016 22:31:20 GMT -5
Just got started on The Lost City of Z. I liked that one. I just finished The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski, which is a short story collection that introduces the Witcher. I've seen that Polish speakers are deeply unimpressed by the English translations of his work, as Sapkowski is famed for his clever wordplay, but I wouldn't say they read badly in English. The translation is smooth and easy to breeze through. I've thought about reading a Witcher book for a long time, but I keep hearing about "bad translations". You make things sound a bit more inviting and interesting. |
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