Book Hauls!

[Connavar]

I have refueled on two of my absolute fav authors and an important essay writer

The Dream Castles: Early Jack Vance Volume 2
The Devil (Jack Taylor #8) by Ken Bruen
Head Stone (Jack Taylor #9) by Ken Bruen
Scum Manifesto by Valerie Solanas

I look forward to reading Solanas since she seems like a fascinating writer,person and the other books are my summer pleasure reading.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by nomadman

I wasn't aware that the collection was particularly rare either. But according to the back cover it is!

Jones is more well known as an editor than I writer I believe. He's current managing editor of Black Gate and former editor of Flashing Swords magazine in the mid 2000s. His Dabir and Asim stories, of which The Desert of Souls is a part, are a series of S&S tales set in an alternate version of the medieval Middle East in which magic and the beasts of mythology exist. His works seems to have a more historical flavor than most S&S. The writing is colorful though lean, tending more toward the serious side without totally foregoing humor. The characterization, particularly between the two protagonists, strikes me as knotty and realistic, though I'm only a short way into this particular novel.

Regarding Harold Lamb, I'll admit it, I'm a fanboy. I think he gets far too little attention for the quality of work he produced and on his seminal influences on fantasy and historical fiction as a whole (not to mention his contributions to film and academia...) Reading his works is like unearthing a treasure trove; there's just so much good stuff here, and hardly anyone alive today has ever read it!

I really do recommend you pick up anything you can find by him.

Have you read Lion of Cairo ? A historical S&S inspired by Howard, north african,middle east history. Desert of Souls have been hyped by S&S,REH fans crowd because of S&S modern writer who writes a Thousand and one night setting so to speak. As a fan of Howard,Leiber and co i adore modern S&S with historical feel.

Lamb i have a big short story collection called Swords from the West i got out of respect to Howard and my affection of quality historical adventures. He is not as vivid as Howard but he is very interesting the little i have read. I havent had time to read the collection whole yet.

Harold Lamb is mainstream classic for historical biographies he wrote that is easy to find even here in sweden and his historical fiction is highly acclaimed when i hear about classic historical writers. Not only Howard fans,forums who give him attention. His historical collections are mostly in print with Bison books, other publishers.

[nomadman]

Originally Posted by Connavar

Have you read Lion of Cairo ? A historical S&S inspired by Howard, north african,middle east history. Desert of Souls have been hyped by S&S,REH fans crowd because of S&S modern writer who writes a Thousand and one night setting so to speak. As a fan of Howard,Leiber and co i adore modern S&S with historical feel.

No I haven't. Looks very much the sort of thing I'd enjoy though.

Originally Posted by Connavar

Lamb i have a big short story collection called Swords from the West i got out of respect to Howard and my affection of quality historical adventures. He is not as vivid as Howard but he is very interesting the little i have read. I havent had time to read the collection whole yet.

Harold Lamb is mainstream classic for historical biographies he wrote that is easy to find even here in sweden and his historical fiction is highly acclaimed when i hear about classic historical writers. Not only Howard fans,forums who give him attention. His historical collections are mostly in print with Bison books, other publishers.

Swords From the West is pretty strong, though where Lamb really excelled IMO was in his Cossack tales, which seemed to be his main passion. True, he's generally not as vivid as Howard, though his plotting and characterization are by far the stronger I think. Certainly it's very difficult in advance to see where a story is heading, though when it's all tied up it's often hard to think of a more appropriate ending.

[dask]

Picked up Pirates a few weeks ago at Goodwill for $1.99 and the Hitchcock last week at The Dollar Tree for, what else, a buck. Also last week at Goodwill I found an interesting hardback with no dust jacket to show off, GOTHIC FICTION/GOTHIC FORM by George E. Haggerty, 1989, from The Pennsylvania State University Press. Looks unread and untouched, $1.99 also.

[Fried Egg]

Well I had an unexpected Haul, especially so since I was on a drive not to buy any more books for a while but, when you see a bargain...

I picked up these very cheaply in a charity book shop:

"Cugel's Saga" by Jack Vance
"Rhialto the Marvellous" by Jack Vance
"Planet of Adventure" by Jack Vance
"The Mezentian Gate" by E. R. Eddison

[Grunkins]

Originally Posted by Fried Egg

"Cugel's Saga" by Jack Vance
"Rhialto the Marvellous" by Jack Vance

Not sure if you are aware or not that these are part of the larger Tales of a Dying Earth stories/novels/omnibus.
The publication order: The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga and Rialto the Magnificent.

Cugel's Saga is a direct sequel to The Eyes of the Overworld (later renamed Cugel the Clever).

Jack Vance!

[Fried Egg]

Thanks for the info but yes, I am aware they are the third and fouth parts of the Dying Earth series and I have read the first two already.

[Extollager]

This came in the mail yesterday...This is a Victorian classic.

[dask]

Looks like a winner.

[GOLLUM]

Today I got...

Store of the worlds - Stories of Robert Sheckley *NYRB edn., their latest and although I confess to not being familiar with Mr. Schekley's work as an SF author I;m sure it will be worthwhile given the high standard of this series. Blurb: Robert Sheckley was an eccentric master of the American short story, and his tales, whether set in dystopic cityscapes, ultramodern advertising agencies, or aboard spaceships lighting out for hostile planets, are among the most startlingly original of the twentieth century. Today, as the new worlds, alternate universes, and synthetic pleasures Sheckley foretold become our reality, his vision begins to look less absurdist and more prophetic.

Rock Crystal - Adalbert Sifter *Another NYRB edn. I know that at least one other person on these forums has read and reviewed this book..I can't recall whom though. Sifter was a highly regarded German writer, described by the great Thomas Mann as "extraordinary and enigmatic" Blurb: Two children—Conrad and his little sister, Sanna—set out from their village high up in the Alps to visit their grandparents in the neighboring valley. It is the day before Christmas but the weather is mild, though of course night falls early in December and the children are warned not to linger. The grandparents welcome the children with presents and pack them off with kisses. Then snow begins to fall, ever more thickly and steadily. Undaunted, the children press on, only to take a wrong turn. The snow rises higher and higher, time passes: it is deep night when the sky clears and Conrad and Sanna discover themselves out on a glacier, terrifying and beautiful, the heart of the void.

Small Memories - Jose Saramago *I have collected all of Portugal's late Nobel Prize winner's work and this book represents his final offering..memories of his childhood. Blurb: Shifting back and forth between childhood and his teenage years, between Azinhaga and Lisbon, this is a mosaic of memories, a simply told, affecting look back into the author’s boyhood: the tragic death of his older brother at the age of four; his mother pawning the family’s blankets every spring and buying them back in time for winter; his beloved grandparents bringing the weaker piglets into their bed on cold nights; and Saramago’s early encounters with literature, from teaching himself to read by deciphering articles in the daily newspaper, to poring over an entertaining dialogue in a Portuguese-French conversation guide, not realizing that he was in fact reading a play by Molière. Written with Saramago’s characteristic wit and honesty, Small Memories traces the formation of an artist fascinated by words and stories from an early age and who emerged, against all odds, as one of the world’s most respected writers.

In Praise of Older Women - Stephen Vizinczey *This controversial 1960s novel is a recognised modern classic by Hungarian writer Vizinczey and something I've heard talked about but never read. Synopsis: Growing up in war-torn Hungary, the narrator András Vajda, discovers that the charms of young girls are lost on him, and seeks out the embraces of older women. From his first disastrous encounter with the formidable Fräulein Mozart at a US army camp to his passion for Maya, a married woman, through to his turbulent affair with a reporter’s wife in Canada, he recounts how his amorous adventures with different middle-aged women have taught him about sex, love and the ways of the world.

[Extollager]

I've read several of Stifter's novellas, including Rock Crystal (twice), and liked all of them. Most recently I read this one. I am advised that this translation (David Luke's) is better than another translation of the work (which I think is called The Bachelor). It's not something that I would probably try to read in one day, since it is so slow and dreamy. I read it late in the evening over several days, and am sure I shall want to do so again.

The other Stifter stories I've read (a few years ago) are "Brigitta" and "The Forest Path" in this book:

[GOLLUM]

@Extollager: Thanks for that. I must admit Stifter is not an author I was particularly familiar with, which given my specific knowledge of German literature is a bit of a concern given his obvious reputation but now that I have a copy of Rock Crystal if I like that I will probably seek out at least one more of his works that you have cited here.

[I, Brian]

Just bought:

Joe Abercrombie - Best Served Cold
Joe Abercrombie - The Heroes
Ian Whates - City of Dreams and Nightmare
Ian Whates - The Noise Within
Anne Lyle - Alchemist of Souls

[D_Davis]

The Croning, Laird Barron
Roadside Picnic, Strugatsky Bros.
Streets of Laredo
Camanche Moon
Dead Man's Walk, Larry McMurtry
Dark Souls Design Works, From Software

[creynier]

I know it's not new but Umberto Eco's "Kant and the Platypus" is one of the best books i've ever spent money on and one day I'm sure I'll be able to read it! lol.