Book Hauls!

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Nesacat

Thank you GOLLUM. Morpheus is visiting so I could haul him along down to the new Borders store. And Christmas is around the corner.

Hint, hint....

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Lovecraft - Rodionoff & Breccia *Supposed to be a reasaonably acccurate biographical look at Lovecraft's life, thought it may be interesting to check out in comic book format.

Well..... On this one, I have to strongly disagree. It is anything but an accurate biographical look at his life -- about as far from it as possible. Even where certain events are based (very loosely) on fact -- which isn't often -- the chronology of events are completely off. Mostly I'd say it's very much based on a careless and inattentive reading of De Camp's biography coupled with a lot of the "myths" that have grown up about Lovecraft since. So I'd advise not going into it looking for anything resembling the man himself.

However, as an "alternative universe" HPL, it can be quite interesting at times, and some of the artwork is evocative, to say the least. I just wish they'd marketed it as a Lovecraftian vision or "a tale of H. P. Lovecraft and his mythos" rather than playing on the completely erroneous idea that it in any way resembled the man's life or personality. When it comes to the popular media -- especially graphic novels -- we have yet to see anything even vaguely approaching that aspect.....

Nesa: yes, they are beautiful volumes, and the contents are well worth getting. They don't just repeat things from the previous volumes of the set, but bring in all sorts of tales, from his fantasies to his horror to his westerns to his humorous regional stories to his tales of the crusades, as well as a nice selection of some of his verse. They don't contain all his best (which is actually a surprisingly large amount of work), but they're a very good sampling, and well worth the price.

[Adasunshine]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I received a £15 Waterstones voucher for winning a quiz (my friends know me so well) and saw this and from the blurb it sounds great, it's his debut novel and I must say I'm really looking forward to reading it.

xx

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Well..... On this one, I have to strongly disagree. It is anything but an accurate biographical look at his life -- about as far from it as possible. Even where certain events are based (very loosely) on fact -- which isn't often -- the chronology of events are completely off. Mostly I'd say it's very much based on a careless and inattentive reading of De Camp's biography coupled with a lot of the "myths" that have grown up about Lovecraft since. So I'd advise not going into it looking for anything resembling the man himself.

I gathered that speaking to Nesa. I'm now about half way through the book and there are few aspects that are factual and it is very loosely based on his life. I don't mind it per se but I had hoped for something a bit more scholarly.

[HoopyFrood]

My friend and I went on an epic tour of Exeter today, searching for independent bookshops (she's writing an article for the student magazine about them) and managed to find five before running out of steam (it was epic trek). Yet despite going into five different bookshops, I surprisingly only bought one book: 65 Great Spine Chillers (authors include Stephen King, H.P Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, John Wyndham, Roald Dahl, Ambrose Bierce, Saki, Bram Stoker, Evelyn Waugh (woop, big fan of him) and many others).

[gully_foyle]

I just got back from a holiday with the family down in Melbourne (aka Gollum Town) and didn't get to as many book shops as I would have liked, but managed to haul enough to get a "more bloody books" comment from the cheese and kisses. All lovingly secondhand bar one.
Timescape by Gregory Benford
Fairyland by Paul J McAuley
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Mockingbird by Walter Tevis
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
and
The Goldilocks Enigma: Why the Universe is just right for life by Paul Davies, which was a gift (I used to read alot of books like this).
and I almost picked up Zelazny's Damnation Alley, but the cover was a really cheesy movie tie in. I'll look for an older version.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

My friend and I went on an epic tour of Exeter today, searching for independent bookshops (she's writing an article for the student magazine about them) and managed to find five before running out of steam (it was epic trek). Yet despite going into five different bookshops, I surprisingly only bought one book: 65 Great Spine Chillers (authors include Stephen King, H.P Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, John Wyndham, Roald Dahl, Ambrose Bierce, Saki, Bram Stoker, Evelyn Waugh (woop, big fan of him) and many others).

Ah, yes, one of the Mary Danby volumes.... Nice set, those:

65 Great Tales of the Supernatural (1979)
65 Great Spine Chillers (1982)
65 Great Tales of Horror (1981)
Realms of Darkness (1985)

Despite some flaws, they are very meaty compilations from throughout the genre....

She also edited several of the series of the Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories as well as the Armada Ghost Books....

[Fahim]

Got in the mail just now by kind courtesy of Connavar of Rigante:

The Black Company - Glen Cook

Thanks, Conn

[Connavar]

No problem, i hope you enjoy it more than i did

[quidscribis]

Connavar, I'll be reading it first - I finished my latest book series last night - and I go through books way faster than Fahim does, so... I'll let you know. Thanks for the book.

[j. d. worthington]

Post came today, with the following:'

Science Fiction by Gaslight: A History and Anthology of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines, 1891-1911, ed. by Sam Moskowitz
The Late George Apley, by Jonn P. Marquand
Lands Beyond, by L. Sprague de Camp and Willy Ley

[mortbury]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Ah, yes, one of the Mary Danby volumes.... Nice set, those:

65 Great Tales of the Supernatural (1979)
65 Great Spine Chillers (1982)
65 Great Tales of Horror (1981)
Realms of Darkness (1985)

Despite some flaws, they are very meaty compilations from throughout the genre....

She also edited several of the series of the Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories as well as the Armada Ghost Books....

A friend of mine had a tale in one of those.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by quidscribis

Connavar, I'll be reading it first - I finished my latest book series last night - and I go through books way faster than Fahim does, so... I'll let you know. Thanks for the book.

It will be interesting to see how you feel about it.

Hope you love it havent sent it on a trip across the world

[GOLLUM]

Today...

Omnibus edition of Black Company Books I - III - Chronicles - Glenn Cook
The Eagle - Jack Whtye *Fnal volume.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by mortbury

A friend of mine had a tale in one of those.

Nifty! I'd be interested in knowing who and which one; that sort of thing is always a bit of a plus when reading (or rereading) something....