What I've Read This Year, Part III
The fantasy fantastic!
First, I read the second through fourth Lankhmar novels (Swords Against Death, Swords in the Mist, Swords Against Deviltry). I read the first one a year or two back. It was odd, but good. It seems that these are really short stories from over a long period of time which have been reorganized into chronological order with extra bridges added. This explains the inconsistant format and style of the series. If you want to make an old school D&D game, I recommend reading these. Stuff like the two main characters (Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser) selling gems seperately and each getting swindled fit right in with D&D's ideas. Indeed, it was on the recommendation in the old Dungeon Master's Guide that I picked these up, and the author, Fritz Leiber even wrote a bit for Dragon magazine early on. The two main characters are a hoot, as they are close friends, but they constantly bicker while sounding very polite. Fafhrd is a huge barbarian who is idealistic and naive, while the Grey Mouser is a thief who is cynical and distrustful. They each have a sort of mentor: weird alien wizards who are rivals to each other and who send the two on various odd quests. The writing never quite sat right with me, but there is a lot of good stuff in there.
Kull, by Robert E. Howard -- Kull was sort of the prototype for Conan. Indeed, after the last Kull short story was rejected, Howard rekajiggered it into the first Conan short story. Still, Kull stands as his own character; he thinks in larger terms than Conan and is perhaps more philisophical. I enjoyed these stories, but be warned: like Solomon Kane, very few of the Kull stories were actually published (2!). Thus, most of the stories included in this set are rejected stories or even unfinished drafts. What's good is good, but it feels like a lot of it is filler.
A Fine and Private Place, by Peter S. Beagle -- As a kid, I watched The Last Unicorn a good many times and greatly enjoyed it. I often wanted to read the book, but only got around to it about five years ago. Since then I've desired to read more by Peter S. Beagle, and this last year I finally read another one. This was his first novel, written when he was seventeen. It is a strange, fanciful story of a man who can talk to ghosts who lives in a graveyard, avoiding the outside world. Ghosts retain their memories for a while, but slowly fade away, within the story. One vows to hold on as long as he can, and becomes a friend to the protagonist. Later a young woman is buried there who wishes to fade out as quickly as possible. In the outside world a widow fears becoming like the other women she knows who only speak in empty pleasantries, with nothing substantial to say. While visiting her husband's grave, she meets the protagonist. Thus we have two dichotomies, which push against each other in interesting ways. It was a quiet, thoughtful, people story which made we want to read more by the same author!
One more to go... The weird stuff. :)
First, I read the second through fourth Lankhmar novels (Swords Against Death, Swords in the Mist, Swords Against Deviltry). I read the first one a year or two back. It was odd, but good. It seems that these are really short stories from over a long period of time which have been reorganized into chronological order with extra bridges added. This explains the inconsistant format and style of the series. If you want to make an old school D&D game, I recommend reading these. Stuff like the two main characters (Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser) selling gems seperately and each getting swindled fit right in with D&D's ideas. Indeed, it was on the recommendation in the old Dungeon Master's Guide that I picked these up, and the author, Fritz Leiber even wrote a bit for Dragon magazine early on. The two main characters are a hoot, as they are close friends, but they constantly bicker while sounding very polite. Fafhrd is a huge barbarian who is idealistic and naive, while the Grey Mouser is a thief who is cynical and distrustful. They each have a sort of mentor: weird alien wizards who are rivals to each other and who send the two on various odd quests. The writing never quite sat right with me, but there is a lot of good stuff in there.
Kull, by Robert E. Howard -- Kull was sort of the prototype for Conan. Indeed, after the last Kull short story was rejected, Howard rekajiggered it into the first Conan short story. Still, Kull stands as his own character; he thinks in larger terms than Conan and is perhaps more philisophical. I enjoyed these stories, but be warned: like Solomon Kane, very few of the Kull stories were actually published (2!). Thus, most of the stories included in this set are rejected stories or even unfinished drafts. What's good is good, but it feels like a lot of it is filler.
A Fine and Private Place, by Peter S. Beagle -- As a kid, I watched The Last Unicorn a good many times and greatly enjoyed it. I often wanted to read the book, but only got around to it about five years ago. Since then I've desired to read more by Peter S. Beagle, and this last year I finally read another one. This was his first novel, written when he was seventeen. It is a strange, fanciful story of a man who can talk to ghosts who lives in a graveyard, avoiding the outside world. Ghosts retain their memories for a while, but slowly fade away, within the story. One vows to hold on as long as he can, and becomes a friend to the protagonist. Later a young woman is buried there who wishes to fade out as quickly as possible. In the outside world a widow fears becoming like the other women she knows who only speak in empty pleasantries, with nothing substantial to say. While visiting her husband's grave, she meets the protagonist. Thus we have two dichotomies, which push against each other in interesting ways. It was a quiet, thoughtful, people story which made we want to read more by the same author!
One more to go... The weird stuff. :)