What Book are you reading now?
ChrisC
Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
Jon Schild
It's pretty good. Darker than I usually like.
Next, read Good Omens by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Hilarious. The end
of the world is coming very soon, but someone seems to have misplaced
the antichrist. How can you not try a book that has a satanist nun named
Sister Mary Loquatious as a character?
--
Electile Dysfunction: The inability to become aroused over any of the
choices for President put forth by either party during an election year.
-- Urban Dictionary
philos...@yahoo.com
out Dresden (I'm still undecided on that series), but because I have
been bad and not returned them to the library yet, I am currently on
my 5th (I think... hard to keep track) re-read of Simon Green's
_Shadows Fall_. Good books are always a good fall-back option!
Rebecca
tphile
Most definitely read his DC Comics The Sandman series which are
collected into graphic novels now.
Thats some of his best work and what really put him on everyones read
list.
currently I am rereading Saberhagens The Book of Swords. book three.
which I had not done in several decades.
Its a shame and rather suprising that it hasn't been made into a SF
channel
miniseries. his work is seriously underrated
tphile
loua...@yahoo.com
"Genesis" by Paul Chafe. I'm about four-fifths of the way through it,
liking most aspects including the writing style. But the science-v-
religion aspect is getting pretty heavy-handed, with major violence
against women, so I put it aside for a while. (Okay, I _meant_ to just
read a bit of Bujold to cleanse the palate. But I got sucked in and
read two novels, a novella, and a few high points of a third novel.
I'll get back to it.)
Also a nonfiction called "Catastrophe" which is attributing a lot of
the cultural changes around 500-600 AD to volcano-related climate
change. Like "the year without a summer" after Krakatoa but more
lasting. I haven't decided if I buy it or not.
Mike Schilling
of fighting sail, but the setting is the American Revolution, not the
more common Napoleonic Wars. The sailing scenes use precise detail
and what seems to be authentic terminology; to a non-sailer like
myself they're largely impenetrable, except at a very high level ("He
puled on some ropes to make the ship turn.") It moves well, and the
characters are interestingly described. Still, recommended only to
sailing enthusiasts and WJW completists.
Kurt Busiek
I just finished THE FAMILY TRADE by Charles Stross last night. I liked
it quite a bit and will have to go get the next one.
In the meantime, for the nextbook I haven't yet decided between/among:
FARTHING, Jo Walton
OD MAGIC, Patricia McKillip
SHADOWBRIDGE, Gregory Frost
kdb
Elf M. Sternberg
> American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
Current stack:
A Death in Venice, Thomas Mann
Lady of Mazes, Karl Schroeder
Evolution's Darling, Scott Westerfeld
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
Recently read:
Kushiel's Justice, Jaqueline Carey
Living Next Door to the God of Love, Justina Robson
Sin Dolor, T.C. Boyle
Brokeback Mountain, Annie Proulx
Elf
--
Elf M. Sternberg, Immanentizing the Eschaton since 1988
http://www.pendorwright.com/
Elf's latest stories are available in paperback! Buy
the genderbending novel _Sterlings_, available
now from http://stores.lulu.com/elfsternberg
Konrad Gaertner
I just finished Stross' latest book fragment, _The Merchants' War_,
and will next read Eileen Wilks' _Tempting Danger_.
--
Konrad Gaertner - - - - - - - - - - - - - email: kgae...@tx.rr.com
http://kgbooklog.livejournal.com/
"If I let myself get hung up on only doing things that had any actual
chance of success, I'd never do *anything*!" Elan, Order of the Stick
Jerry Brown
<chri...@googlemail.com> wrote:
Matter by Iain M Banks
Jerry Brown
--
A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)
David DeLaney
If you like AG, you might try finding any of his collections of short
stories next.
Just finished Sea Wasp's (and Eric Flint's) Boundary; have bookmarks in
Kate Elliott's Spirit Gate, George Mann's The Solaris Book of New Fantasy (ed.),
Norton & Rabe's Return to Quag Keep, and Dawkins' The God Delusion. _Probably_
on deck after that: The Cipher/Francis, Fellowship Fantastic/ed. Greenberg &
Hughes, and East of the Sun,_West of the Moon/Ringo. Bedtime reading: Scion:_
God/White Wolf, EverQuest (RPG) Game Master's Guide/White Wolf.
Dave 'this is not counting bookmarks in books that have been sitting there for
ten or more years' DeLaney
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
Gene Ward Smith
news:slrnfqc4e...@gatekeeper.vic.com:
> Norton & Rabe's Return to Quag Keep
Once is not enough.
Wim Lewis
Mike Schilling <mscotts...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>_The Privateer_, by (Walter) Jon Williams. It's a novel about the age
>of fighting sail, but the setting is the American Revolution, not the
>sailing enthusiasts and WJW completists.
Well, that sort of describes me. I've always wanted to track down WJW's
sailing novels, but I haven't gotten around to it. I've heard similar
impressions of the books from other querters, but WJW is one of my favorite
authors, so I'm interested in seeing what his earlier work is like even if
it's not all that good.
What I'm reading: some short stories from Michael Flynn's collection
_The Forest Of Time &os_. Recently, some nonfiction engineering history
(_Conquering Gotham_, by Jill Jonnes, which I liked), and the January
issue of F&SF (as an ebook; I thought I'd give it a try on Sony's newest
e-ink device).
--
Wim Lewis <wi...@hhhh.org>, Seattle, WA, USA. PGP keyID 27F772C1
Brenda Clough
video production on PBS last week.
Brenda
--
---------
Brenda W. Clough
http://www.sff.net/people/Brenda/
Recent short fiction:
"A Mighty Fortress"
http://www.helixsf.com/archives/Jul07/index.htm
Mike Schilling
> In article <jImpj.5474$J41....@newssvr14.news.prodigy.net>,
> Mike Schilling <mscotts...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> _The Privateer_, by (Walter) Jon Williams. It's a novel about the
>> age of fighting sail, but the setting is the American Revolution,
>> not the more common Napoleonic Wars. [....] It moves well, and the
>> characters are interestingly described. Still, recommended only to
>> sailing enthusiasts and WJW completists.
>
> Well, that sort of describes me. I've always wanted to track down
> WJW's sailing novels,
abe.com has quite a few copies of each. Here's the list.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/walter-jon-williams/
isfdb.org omits _The Macedonian_; no idea why.
> but I haven't gotten around to it. I've heard
> similar impressions of the books from other querters, but WJW is one
> of my favorite authors,
Me too.
William December Starr
philos...@sbcglobal.net said:
> I've been working through Hambly's Benjamin January series, and
> trying -out Dresden (I'm still undecided on that series),
I don't know how far you've gotten, but my experience is that one
could almost say that the Harry Dresden series starts with the third
book, GRAVE PERIL. The first book is a bit weak and the second is
just a "monster(s) of the week" story; it's in the third one that
things really start to happen.
--
William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
loua...@yahoo.com
> MANSFIELD PARK, by Jane Austen. In response to the -execrable-
> video production on PBS last week.
I liked it better than the one with slavery and full frontal nudity
that was on the big screen a few years back.
Evelyn C. Leeper
BORGES: A LIFE by Edwin Williamson and
WHY IS THERE SOMETHING INSTEAD OF NOTHING? by Leszek Kolakowski
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
Life is complex--it has real and imaginary parts. --anonymous
Gene Ward Smith
news:725fa856-2f62-45b4-bc15-f25b32153799
@l16g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:
There'surprisingly little slavery and full frontal nudity in
the book.
Evelyn C. Leeper
> MANSFIELD PARK, by Jane Austen. In response to the -execrable- video
> production on PBS last week.
How sad--I've been looking forward to these and taping them, but haven't
watched any yet.
I can recommend Emma Thompson's commentary for SENSE AND SENSIBILITY for
all Austen fans.
David DeLaney
>
>Once is not enough.
Well, this time some of them get deaded, so some of you have been waiting a
few decades for that.
Dave
Dorothy J Heydt
Rereading _Tolkien: Author of the Century_ by Tom Shippey.
Toward the end, discussing the rabid hatred of Tolkien's work
by the mass of literary critics, Shippey says:
------------------------begin quote----------------------------
However, I would give at least the next-to-last word on this
subject to Martin Green, a conspicuously fair-minded writer with
almost no interest in Tolkien (whose name in any editions of his
book he invariably misspells). The Inklings, he wrote -- Charles
Williams and Dorothy Sayers, Lewis and (sic) Tolkein -- avoided
the poses of the _Sonnenkinder_ and centred their thinking on
orthodox Christian theology, and on the problem of evil. Green
admits that 'Most aspects of their ideological and imaginative
behaviour' strike him as:
more generous, intelligent and dignified than those of
either Leavis [doyen of mid-century English critics] or
Waugh -- or Orwell, for that matter, if considered in
the abstract. But considered in the concrete, the ideas
of the last three have at various times meant everything
to me, while the others _meant_, in that sense, nothing.
I approve what they did, but theoretically; I read the
books it resulted in approvingly, but I am not really at
all engaged by them.
And one reason surely is that these writers removed
themselves from the cultural dialectic. Undignified as
that often was, both personally and intellectualy,
that was where the action was. . . .
(Green, 1977, pp. 495-6)
I understand and respect Green's position, though it is not mine.
His last remark however reminds me of a famous music-hall joke, a
kind of sub-literary _Waiting for Godot._ On a darkened stage,
a single light is burning. A man is down on his hands and knees,
crawling round in silence, obviously looking for something.
Eventually a second man comes on, and says, after watching for a
while, 'What are you doing?' 'I'm looking for a sixpence I
dropped,' replies the crawler. The second man gets down on his
hands and kneese and starts to help him. After a while the
second man says, 'Just where did you drop it, anyway?' 'Oh, over
there,' says the first one, getting to his feet and walking over
to the other side of the stage, in the dark. 'Then why are you
looking for it here?' cries the second man in exasperation. The
first one walks back to his original place and starts crawling
round again. 'Because,' he replies, 'that's where the light is.'
In this allegory of mine, the light = modernism, the crawling
searcher = Toynbee (or Greer, or Susan Jeffreys from the _Sunday
Times,_ any of the critical multitude). I am not at all sure
what the sixpence may =, but Tolkien was out there in the dark,
looking for it.
-----------------------end quote-----------------------------
Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djh...@kithrup.com
Dorothy J Heydt
If you're talking about the one I think you're talking about,
Fanny's general angst is supplemented and perhaps symbolized by
her realization of where the new-rich get their riches from. No,
it's not in the book, but it was in the air, and a much better
Austen film, Ang Lee's _Sense and Sensibility_ (in which everybody
keeps her clothes on, *including Kate Winslet*), there's a
moment when the girls' mother complains, "We're already giving up
sugar, do we have to give up meat too?" There was a persistent
sugar boycott in England, because the boycotters realized that
growing and harvesting sugar cane was such backbreaking work that
it would not get done unless the workers were slaves, brutally
beaten if they didn't work.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1410155,00.html
As for full (or otherwise) frontal (or otherwise) nudity, I have
no use for it. Somebody must have wanted money very badly.
Dorothy J Heydt
Evelyn C. Leeper <ele...@optonline.net> wrote:
>Brenda Clough wrote:
>> MANSFIELD PARK, by Jane Austen. In response to the -execrable- video
>> production on PBS last week.
>
>How sad--I've been looking forward to these and taping them, but haven't
>watched any yet.
>
>I can recommend Emma Thompson's commentary for SENSE AND SENSIBILITY for
>all Austen fans.
Oh yes. Including the sugar boycott background I just mentioned.
Brenda Clough
> Brenda Clough wrote:
>
>> MANSFIELD PARK, by Jane Austen. In response to the -execrable- video
>> production on PBS last week.
>
>
> How sad--I've been looking forward to these and taping them, but haven't
> watched any yet.
>
> I can recommend Emma Thompson's commentary for SENSE AND SENSIBILITY for
> all Austen fans.
>
I feel that all the made-for-TV Austen presentations are unduly
cramped, by having to fit into 90 minutes or whatever it is.
Huge hunks of MANSFIELD are just dropped right out, for
instance. The smaller works, NORTHANGER ABBEY and PERSUASION,
come through better simply because they had less stuff to begin
with.
The PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and SENSE AND SENSIBILITY are broadcasts
of the movies and extend over 2 or 3 Sundays, and so they should
be fine.
Brenda Clough
> In article <Xns9A39AA2BDDA2Dge...@207.115.33.102>,
> Gene Ward Smith <ge...@chewbacca.org> wrote:
>
>>"loua...@yahoo.com" <loua...@yahoo.com> wrote in
>>news:725fa856-2f62-45b4-bc15-f25b32153799
>>@l16g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:
>>
>>
>>>On Feb 3, 5:05 pm, Brenda Clough <clo...@erols.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>MANSFIELD PARK, by Jane Austen. In response to the -
>>
>>execrable-
>>
>>>>video production on PBS last week.
>>>
>>>I liked it better than the one with slavery and full frontal
>>
>>nudity
>>
>>>that was on the big screen a few years back.
>>>
>>
>>There'surprisingly little slavery and full frontal nudity in
>>the book.
>
>
> If you're talking about the one I think you're talking about,
> Fanny's general angst is supplemented and perhaps symbolized by
> her realization of where the new-rich get their riches from. No,
> it's not in the book, but it was in the air,
Somewhere, someplace, there is a lit-crit book thoroughly
discussing the role of slavery in MANSFIELD, but I have neither
title nor author. Certainly there is something mysterious about
how Fanny is constantly ill and in perpetual need of pampering.
I was struck in this latest rereading by how she spends so
much of her time Suffering in Silence until somebody, usually
Edmund, intervenes. It would not be at all difficult to dislike
him, by the way. (Absolutely none of this, zero, nada, appeared
in the PBS presentation.)
allthecool...@gmail.com
Non-Fiction: John Julius Norwich's A Short History of Byzantium.
philos...@yahoo.com
Starr) wrote:
Ah, good, since that's the next one I was going to read. I'll give it
a try and see if the series grows on me.
Rebecca
Ahasuerus
wrote:
> Wim Lewis wrote: [snip]
> > Mike Schilling <mscottschill...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> _The Privateer_, by (Walter) Jon Williams. It's a novel about the
> >> age of fighting sail, but the setting is the American Revolution,
> >> not the more common Napoleonic Wars. [....] It moves well, and the
> >> characters are interestingly described. Still, recommended only to
> >> sailing enthusiasts and WJW completists.
> >
> > Well, that sort of describes me. I've always wanted to track down
> > WJW's sailing novels,
>
> abe.com has quite a few copies of each. Here's the list.
>
> http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/walter-jon-williams/
>
> isfdb.org omits _The Macedonian_; no idea why.
Would you believe that we hate it with a passion and burn any copy
that we can find, which is why some dealers want over $100 for a
pristine copy?
No? Oh well. Added now.
ronincats
>
> The PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and SENSE AND SENSIBILITY are broadcasts
> of the movies and extend over 2 or 3 Sundays, and so they should
> be fine.
>
> Brenda
>
a number of
years ago, with Colin Firth, and is absolutely delightful. I have been
taping all of them
so far, but haven't watched them yet. The P&P I have in the
commercially available
videotape set, so won't have to tape.
Rhonda
ronincats
> ChrisC wrote:
> > American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
>
> > Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
> > Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
>
>
> Next, read Good Omens by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Hilarious. The end
> of the world is coming very soon, but someone seems to have misplaced
> the antichrist. How can you not try a book that has a satanist nun named
> Sister Mary Loquatious as a character?
>
I don't find American Gods as good as either Good Omen, which is one
of my all time favorite books, or Anansi Boys, which I like more every
time I read it.
Rhonda
ronincats
Furies of the Calderon by Butcher, Iron Sunrise by Stross, Guns, Germs
and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond, and in the
last chapter of the third volume of A Marginal Jew: Companions and
Competitors by John P. Meier (at last! It's taken me 11 months to work
through the three volumes in inconstant runs of 30 to 40 minutes a
night before bedtime.) Which of the three fiction would you recommend
picking back up first?
REcently finished: Simak's Goblin Reservation, The Plutonium Blonde by
Zakour and Ganem, The Demon and the City by Liz Williams.
Rhonda
David Goldfarb
Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.comics> wrote:
>In the meantime, for the nextbook I haven't yet decided between/among:
>
>FARTHING, Jo Walton
>OD MAGIC, Patricia McKillip
>SHADOWBRIDGE, Gregory Frost
I strongly recommend _Farthing_, and not merely because my name
is in the acknowledgements.
My current "book" is actually the latest issue of _Asimov's_; after
that I'll probably read volume 13 of J. Michael Straczynski's
Babylon 5 script books.
--
David Goldfarb |"I see more than you, child. I see an end to hell.
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | What do you see?"
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | "I see a man in a lot of pain."
|"Pain? Yes. Consider it a preview." -- _Zot!_ #18
David Goldfarb
David Goldfarb <gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>My current "book" is actually the latest issue of _Asimov's_; after
>that I'll probably read volume 13 of J. Michael Straczynski's
>Babylon 5 script books.
Oh, yes, and I'm also reading a bit of the Iliad every day, and
hope to have it finished before the end of the year. I'm supposed
to be also reading Herodotos, but am sort of bogged down in it -- it
doesn't help that the Perseus web site has been down a lot lately.
--
David Goldfarb |"Get your mind out of the gutter -- you're blocking
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | my snorkel."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Frank Ney, on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Evelyn C. Leeper
Are you sure? I could have sworn they said these were all new versions.
Kurt Busiek
You were surprised by the lack of it?
kdb
Kurt Busiek
> Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
>
>> Brenda Clough wrote:
>>
>>> MANSFIELD PARK, by Jane Austen. In response to the -execrable- video
>>> production on PBS last week.
>>
>>
>> How sad--I've been looking forward to these and taping them, but
>> haven't watched any yet.
>>
>> I can recommend Emma Thompson's commentary for SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
>> for all Austen fans.
>>
>
>
> I feel that all the made-for-TV Austen presentations are unduly
> cramped, by having to fit into 90 minutes or whatever it is.
The P&P with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in it wasn't, though -- it's
5 hours long.
Would that they'd do others asfully -- and more importantly, as well.
kdb
Kurt Busiek
> In article <2008020309224543658-kurt@busiekcomics>,
> Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.comics> wrote:
>> In the meantime, for the nextbook I haven't yet decided between/among:
>>
>> FARTHING, Jo Walton
>> OD MAGIC, Patricia McKillip
>> SHADOWBRIDGE, Gregory Frost
>
> I strongly recommend _Farthing_, and not merely because my name
> is in the acknowledgements.
FARTHING was going to be next, and I even brought it to the Superbowl
party I went to this afternoon. But on the way home I stopped at a
bookstore and bought the next three volumes of the Merchant Princes
series, so, well, that's next instead.
kdb
Wayne Throop
:: could almost say that the Harry Dresden series starts with the third
:: book, GRAVE PERIL. The first book is a bit weak and the second is
:: just a "monster(s) of the week" story; it's in the third one that
:: things really start to happen.
Well... yes, sort of. But note that in White Night, Harry mentions
events from *all* the previous books, including first and second, as
part of the conspiracy he's starting to unravel. So... while the writing
style and .... hrm, call it "integratedness" of the series grows over time,
the first two aren't quite totally standalone. And of course, Harry's
smartassery improves over time, IMO.
"Nobody likes a smartass, Harry."
"Sure they do. As long as they're talking to somebody else."
--- Karin and Harry, quote approximate.
: philos...@yahoo.com
: Ah, good, since that's the next one I was going to read. I'll give it
: a try and see if the series grows on me.
I'm not sure I noticed a sudden change at book 3. But the series
continued to grow on me as it went along, and I tended to like it
more. We do have the "egad, Harry is getting awfully powerful"
"superhero escalation" problem, but it's not like he needs a new
villian totally-du-jour every book to keep up with him, like, say,
Goku does.
Of course, he's just got a major *down*grade in his capabilities.
I wonder how he's going to deal with that, especially given that his
opponents aren't exactly going to be evaporating, or turning into
pushovers, anytime soon.
( Jryy, npghnyyl V qba'g xabj whfg ubj qbjatenqrq uvf novyvgvrf ner.
Ohg V guvax ur'f yvxryl gb ybfr npprff gb Uryysver, naq gb zhpu bs gur
vasbezngvba, genafyngvba, naq nqivfbel freivprf ur'f o rra trggvat
hfrq gb. Ohg url, ur pna fgvyy cynl gur thvvgne, fb gung'f BX gura. )
"Are you going to tonfa me to death?" --- Harry Dresden
Wayne Throop thr...@sheol.org http://sheol.org/throopw
tphile
> American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
>
> Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
> Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
I haven't seen much comics mentioned and those can be SF and written
also.
I recently watched the Justice League New Frontier movie so reading
the original
comic miniseries again is a pleasure.
Ed Brubaker is doing fantastic things in Captain America and making
him relevant
and compelling again. in spite of his current state of health
That also goes for Immortal Iron Fist, He expanded on the lore quite
a bit with both
martial arts and pulp inspirations
DC Fables is still a must read. and a challenge. I feel I missed out
on me childrens story
reading as a kid.
Wonder Woman was real bad until Gail Simone took over, now I am liking
what I read.
The Spirit is another good run with stories and art that live up to
the Eisner standard.
If you are not reading Mouse Guard, what's your problem?
tphile
I would have also mentioned Astro City, unfortunately I never got a
complimentary copy
;-)
David T. Bilek
<chri...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
>
>Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
>Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
Just starting on Charlie's _The Merchants' War_.
The Merchant Princes series is great but I thought the third one was a
bit of a weak link by comparison to the rip-roaring first two. One
thing an author should probably keep in mind is that if the
protagonist is feeling extremely ineffectual and out of the loop and
is bored out of his or her skull by the monotony, we're probably going
to be bored by the monotony of reading about them being out of the
loop and ineffectual. Wanted to see Miriam run her company and such
not sit around wishing she could do so.
I had the same problem with that Cherryh novel a couple years back
where the protagonist rode back and forth through the same fucking
piece of empty desert over and over for the whole book.
-David
David DeLaney
>I currently have bookmarks in The Lies of Locke Lamora by Lynch,
>Which of the three fiction would you recommend picking back up first?
As I recall, for me TLoLL read faster than the other two, so on that basis
I'd say go for it next and you'll be at the next one faster.
>REcently finished: Simak's Goblin Reservation, The Plutonium Blonde by
>Zakour and Ganem, The Demon and the City by Liz Williams.
Zakour's next is out, The Blue-Haired Bombshell, and apparently Ganem has
dropped off the author list. Haven't read it yet tho.
Del Cotter
Brenda Clough <clo...@erols.com> said:
>Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>Gene Ward Smith <ge...@chewbacca.org> wrote:
>>>>Brenda Clough <clo...@erols.com> wrote:
>>>>>MANSFIELD PARK, by Jane Austen. In response to the - execrable-
>>>>>video production on PBS last week.
>>>>
>>>>I liked it better than the one with slavery and full frontal nudity
>>>>that was on the big screen a few years back.
>>>>
>>>
>>>There'surprisingly little slavery and full frontal nudity in the
>>>book.
>>
>> If you're talking about the one I think you're talking about,
>> Fanny's general angst is supplemented and perhaps symbolized by
>> her realization of where the new-rich get their riches from. No,
>> it's not in the book, but it was in the air,
>
>Somewhere, someplace, there is a lit-crit book thoroughly discussing
>the role of slavery in MANSFIELD, but I have neither title nor author.
>Certainly there is something mysterious about how Fanny is constantly
>ill and in perpetual need of pampering. I was struck in this latest
>rereading by how she spends so much of her time Suffering in Silence
>until somebody, usually Edmund, intervenes. It would not be at all
>difficult to dislike him, by the way. (Absolutely none of this, zero,
>nada, appeared in the PBS presentation.)
In the interest of jogging people's memories, the slavery/nudity
_Mansfield Park_ is the 1999 one with Frances O'Connor as Fanny Price:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0178737/
And the more recent 2007 one has Billie Piper in the same role:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847182/
I had thought the Piper was made much too soon after the O'Connor, but
they're eight years apart! Now I'm wondering if I saw the latter in
repeat the first time, or whether the years really are rushing by so
fast.
--
Del Cotter
NB Personal replies to this post will send email to d...@branta.demon.co.uk,
which goes to a spam folder-- please send your email to del3 instead.
Kyle Haight
ChrisC <chri...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
>
>Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
>Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
I'm ashamed to admit that I just finished working my way through Terry
Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" novels. I honestly can't explain why.
Sheer bloody-mindedness, I guess. I can't even claim it as a guilty
pleasure because it wasn't that enjoyable.
To get the taste out of my mouth, I picked up some of Brandon Sanderson's
novels. (I was intrigued by the people who said, on hearing that he'd
been hired to finish off Robert Jordan's _Memories of Light_, that they
were bummed because it meant they'd have to wait longer to read more of
his own work.) I'm about a third of the way into _Elantris_ right now,
and am enjoying it so far. For some reason it reminds me of Guy Gavriel
Kay's _Tigana_, even though the plots are as far as I can recall utterly
dissimilar.
--
Kyle Haight
Konrad Gaertner
>
> I haven't seen much comics mentioned and those can be SF and written
> also.
It's very rare for me to find a print comic that even sounds
interesting, but I do follow a bunch of webcomics. I suppose you could
say that I'm currently reading 30 of them (though a couple aren't
stories, and a couple haven't updated yet this year).
* infrequent updates
() not particularly recommended
* Alpha Shade
http://www.alpha-shade.com/
Started as steampunk, then switched to contemporary slice-of-life,
then urban fantasy, and now back to steampunk.
* Arcane Times
http://arcanetimes.com/index.php?strip_id=79
Urban fantasy; stopped updating once the cartoonist became the
colorist for Girl Genius.
Buck Godot
http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070111
Science fiction; originally a print comic, now being reposted on the
web (in color).
* Cheshire Crossing
http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/
Crossover story of a bunch of classic children's fantasy characters;
updates an entire issue at a time.
Crimson Dark
http://www.davidcsimon.com/crimsondark/index.php?view=archive
Science fiction set in the middle of an interstellar war.
Digger
http://www.graphicsmash.com/comics/digger.php?view=toc
Pratchett-like fantasy about a wombat miner who gets lost.
Membership required to read part of the archives, but the first 300
pages and the latest update are free.
Dr. McNinja
http://www.drmcninja.com/archive.html
Very, very silly comic about, well, a doctor who is also a ninja.
* (Erfworld)
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf.html
Rather twee epic fantasy.
Faux Pas
http://www.ozfoxes.net/cgi/pl-fp2.cgi?1
Comic strip about animal actors. Not deep, but consistently funny
(reminds me a lot of 80's sticoms).
Flaky Pastry
http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/archive.php
Another silly comic, this one with lots of fantasy elements.
Flipside
http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic/book0/comic.html
NSFW epic fantasy comic.
Freefall
http://freefall.purrsia.com/fcdex.htm
Humorous science fiction with commentary about rights of artificial
intellegences.
Galaxion
http://www.girlamatic.com/comics/galaxion.php?view=toc
Science fiction about testing a new type of space drive.
Girl Genius
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104
Do I really need to say anything here?
* (Green Avenger)
http://www.green-avenger.com/index.html
Amateur superhero comic.
Gunnerkrigg Court
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1
Mad scientist boarding school.
Haru-Sari
http://www.haru-sari.com/b74t9082/story/
Urban fantasy about elves and disease.
Hero By Night
http://www.drunkduck.com/Hero_By_Night/
Typical superhero comic.
* Lackadaisy
http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/archive.php
Prohibition with cats.
(Looking For Group)
http://lfgcomic.com/issues.php
High fantasy; despite the title, I don't think it's connected to
any MMORPG.
Magellan
http://www.graphicsmash.com/comics/magellan.php?view=toc
Another superhero comic.
* No Rest For the Wicked
http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/index.php
Mix of lots of fairy tales.
* Order of the Stick
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html
Humorous epic fantasy in a D&D universe.
Phoenix Requiem
http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/archives.html
Post-medieval fantasy.
* Storm Corps
http://www.stormcorps.com/archive.php
Science fiction about weather and stories.
* (What Birds Know)
http://whatbirdsknow.atspace.com/index.htm
Really slow paced high fantasy.
--
Konrad Gaertner - - - - - - - - - - - - - email: kgae...@tx.rr.com
http://kgbooklog.livejournal.com/
"If I let myself get hung up on only doing things that had any actual
chance of success, I'd never do *anything*!" Elan, Order of the Stick
gary hayenga
I'd be interested to know how you like the last one.
I've read the first three and found them 1) very good 2) pretty good
and 3) fair.
Based on the steady downward progression I put number 4 into the Wait
for the Paperback category. So I haven't read it yet.
gary hayenga
Brenda Clough
> In article <fo62fo$2ggt$1...@agate.berkeley.edu>,
> David Goldfarb <gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>
>>My current "book" is actually the latest issue of _Asimov's_; after
>>that I'll probably read volume 13 of J. Michael Straczynski's
>>Babylon 5 script books.
>
>
> Oh, yes, and I'm also reading a bit of the Iliad every day, and
> hope to have it finished before the end of the year. I'm supposed
> to be also reading Herodotos, but am sort of bogged down in it -- it
> doesn't help that the Perseus web site has been down a lot lately.
>
Is this the new translation (with footnotes!) that came out last
year?
Brenda <got it for Xmas>
Brenda Clough
> ronincats wrote:
>
>> On Feb 3, 5:21 pm, Brenda Clough <clo...@erols.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and SENSE AND SENSIBILITY are broadcasts
>>> of the movies and extend over 2 or 3 Sundays, and so they should
>>> be fine.
>>>
>>> Brenda
>>>
>> The PRIDE AND PREJUDICE production is the 6-hour one that A&E put out
>> a number of
>> years ago, with Colin Firth, and is absolutely delightful. I have been
>> taping all of them
>> so far, but haven't watched them yet. The P&P I have in the
>> commercially available
>> videotape set, so won't have to tape.
>
>
> Are you sure? I could have sworn they said these were all new versions.
>
Yes, I saw the PR photos in the PBS magazine. I am told that
the Colin Firth version is often prescribed by physicians in
England, when women come to them complaining of feeling down.
Cheaper than drugs, you know.
Konrad Gaertner
>
> On 2008-02-03 23:35:53 -0500, Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.comics> said:
>
> > But on the way home I stopped at a
> > bookstore and bought the next three volumes of the Merchant Princes
> > series, so, well, that's next instead.
>
>
> I've read the first three and found them 1) very good 2) pretty good
> and 3) fair.
I just finished it, and it has lots of action but doesn't accomplish
much.
Dorothy J Heydt
Brenda Clough <clo...@erols.com> wrote:
>
>Yes, I saw the PR photos in the PBS magazine. I am told that
>the Colin Firth version is often prescribed by physicians in
>England, when women come to them complaining of feeling down.
>Cheaper than drugs, you know.
Well, to each her own. I have a DVD of a version of _P&P_ that
was on BBC/PBS back in the eighties, with David Rintoul as Darcy.
Lovely.
Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djh...@kithrup.com
David DeLaney
>(Looking For Group)
>http://lfgcomic.com/issues.php
>High fantasy; despite the title, I don't think it's connected to
>any MMORPG.
I have to disillusion you: this is a party of a blood elf hunter, an orc
priest(ess), an undead warlock, and a tauren warrior, from World of Warcraft.
Started very shortly after the expansion in which blood elves became a
playable race and joined the Horde.
This of course does not detract from the alarming amount of humor it contains
for me, especially since the blood elf doesn't think he's on the side of
Evil, while the warlock most definitely does, and the other two are
ambivalent about it...
I'd add to your list, from the list of comics I regularly check on:
Count Your Sheep, http://www.countyoursheep.com/ , about a single mother, her
daughter, and their imaginary friend Ship, a sheep, who has passed from the one
to the other - mild fantasy elements;
Schlock Mercenary, http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ , about the adventures of
a carbosilicate amorph and the space-mercenary outfit he joins up with;
Scary Go Round, http://www.scarygoround.com/ , a slice-of-life (British) comic
with distinct fantasy elements;
Girl Genius' older brother Buck Godot,
http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php , a Foglio space-operatic
comic being reprinted in color online after quite a while out of print;
Evil Inc., http://www.evil-comic.com/ , a comic about an Evil
Corporation in a world of superheroes;
Questionable Content (whose title really _is_ a warning, as many of the
episodes are NSFW), http://www.questionablecontent.net/ , a slice-of-life
(American) comic with mild SF elements, mainly the AnthroPC characters;
Muertitos and Gorgeous Princess Creamy Beamy, a pair of webcomics by the same
author, one "a comedy about dead kids" and the other a takeoff on the 'magical
girl' genre, at http://muertitos.comicgenesis.com/ &
http://creamybeamy.comicgenesis.com/ ;
Minus, http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus.html , a literally-magical-girl comic
about a young girl who has the power to do _anything_ she wants to;
A Girl and her Fed, http://www.agirlandherfed.com/ , about a young protestor-
type girl, the Fed assigned to watch her case, and the ghost of Ben Franklin,
as well as (later on) an anthropomorphic koala;
In His Likeness, http://www.inhislikeness.com/ , about a collection of
circularly-drawn deities including God, the Devil, three Devilettes, the
four Horsemen, and t3h Int3rn3t;
Sequential Art, http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.html , about Art
and his three roommates, one of which is a catgirl and another of which is
a squirrelgirl, with other fantastical/SF elements interspersed;
Irregular Webcomic!, http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/ , a webcomic made
almost entirely from shots of Lego figures, with several intertwining themes
including a space-opera one, one about Death and his assistant Deaths, one
about Steve Irwin and his wife, one about a fantasy-RPG party who are currently
about to try for the THIRD time to get through that pesky maze of caves under
the mountain range, one (probably done now) about Harry Potter, one about
peculiarly-incompetent invading Martians, one following Star Wars and another
following the career of James Stud (a Bond-like Lego figure), and one about
Will Shakespeare in the present day working as a tech writer and writing Harry
Potter fanfic on the side, plus _more_ themes...
Kris Straub's wonderful Starslip Crisis, http://www.starslip.com/ , about
the adventures of an intragalactic art curator;
Dominic Deegan, Oracle for Hire, http://www.dominic-deegan.com/ , whose title
sort of says it all;
diesel sweeties, http://www.dieselsweeties.com/ , about robots and the people
who date them - has two sets of archives, one for the strips published in
newspapers, and another for the online-only ones (which are generally much
less safe-for-work);
Goats the comic strip, http://www.goats.com/ (no, it's not THAT site), about
the paradigm-spanning adventures of two roommates, their talking goat, their
talking chicken Diablo, and collected other characters - currently the universe
has been destroyed (easier to do than it sounds, since it was running as a
simulation on a deific laptop) and the remaining characters are stuck in a
subset of Hell;
the classic goodie Wolff and Byrd, Supernatural Law,
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/supernaturallaw/slaw/series.php ;
Bob the Angry Flower, http://www.angryflower.com/ - anthropomorphic sarcastic
flower, and creator of "Bob's Quick Guide to the Apostrophe, You Idiots!",
often goes on rampages with superscience weapons;
Sinfest, set in a world where God and the Devil show up quite often, as well
as ninja and giant robots and a talking pig, http://www.sinfest.net/ ;
Kevin and Kell, perhaps the canonical "furry world" comic,
http://www.kevinandkell.com/ ;
Ozy and Millie, http://www.ozyandmillie.org/ , an introspective furry-kids
comic about a fox whose adoptive father is a dragon and another fox whose
mother is single;
General Protection Fault, http://www.gpf-comics.com/ - time travel, the
inventors' gene, Power Source Velociraptor, spies, and meddling deities;
a few that I can't really classify as SF _or_ fantasy but which contain
references to and uses of various SF/fantasy tropes every so often -
XKCD, http://xkcd.com/ ; Sheldon, http://www.sheldoncomics.com/ (boy
billionaire, grandpa, talking duck, anthropomorphic lizard); The Whiteboard,
http://www.the-whiteboard.com/ (furry comic about paintball, with Doc the
polar bear being the owner of the local paintbal store and tinkerer-up of
various improbably gadgets); Bonobo Conspiracy,
http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/bonobo-conspiracy/ , the perils of attending grad
school with catgirls, a clown for an advisor, and the living incarnation of
Wikipedia-tan; and User Friendly, http://www.userfriendly.org/ , the trials and
tribulations of an ISP's staff that has to cope with a sentient computer, a
talking dustbunny, the Great Elder Gods, occasional aliens, and a resident
Evil Genius;
and a passel of RPG/MMORPG-based ones other than Looking for Group / Erfworld /
Order of the Stick, all of which have various SF/fantasy elements because
the games involved do -
Ctrl-Alt-Del, http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php
Penny Arcade, http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic
PvP Online, http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic
Full Frontal Nerdity, http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ffn/index.php
Red vs. Blue (the webcomic for me is incidental to the machinima, which sadly
went 100 episodes and then ceased, for now),
http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/home.php
The Noob, http://www.thenoobcomic.com/
GU Comics, http://www.gucomics.com/comic/?cdate=
Dark Legacy Comics, http://www.darklegacycomics.com/
Angband - Tales from the Pit, http://angband.calamarain.net/
Chainmail Bikini, by Fear the Boot, http://www.feartheboot.com/comic/
(same guy that did the DM Of The Rings comic, way different art style)
8-Bit Theatre, http://www.nuklearpower.com/latest.php
Keychain of Creation, http://keychain.patternspider.net/archives.html
and What's New, the weird cousin of Girl Genius/Buck Godot,
http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growf.html , the strips from Dragon
Magazine starring Phil & Dixie
Plus some strips that I don't check any more because they've ended, or gone on
apparently-indefinite hiatus, but which deserve to be on anyone's list of
SF/fantasy-related strips - which are a mixture of the above categories:
Triangle and Robert, http://home.comcast.net/~pshaughn/tandr.html , the
wacky adventures of a pair of polygons (Triangle is the triangle; Robert is
the rhombus);
Concerned, a comic about the Half-Life and death of Gordon Frohman;
A Miracle of Science, http://project-apollo.net/mos/ , about mad science,
detectiving, space battles, robots, and true love;
1/0, http://www.undefined.net/1/0/ , about the creation of a pocket universe,
its inhabitants, and its development and eventual ending;
Flintlocke's Guide to Azeroth, a tour of the WoW setting with a set of wacky
characters, http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/578/578734p1.html ;
Killroy and Tina, http://www.graphicsmash.com/comics/killroyandtina.php - alien
space overlord and the teenage Earth girl he becomes symbiotically linked to;
the aforementioned DM of the Rings, the tale Tolkein told as interpreted
through screencaptures from the Jackson film by a demented DM as though it
were an RPG campaign, http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14 ;
Ghastly's Ghastly comic - NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR ANYWHERE ELSE - tentacle
monsters and the humans that love them, http://www.ghastlycomic.com/ ;
Yamara, http://www.yamara.com/yamara/archive.php , which originally ran in
Dragon Magazine;
and Elf Only Inn, http://www.elfonlyinn.net/ , which started out as a comic
about a chat channel and developed into a comic about a WoWlike MMORPG that
the denizens of the channel all started playing
And yes, that's WAAAAY too many webcomics for one sane person to have on
their bookmarks. And that's not including the ones I couldn't come up with
a connection to SF/fantasy for...
Andrew Plotkin
> Kevin and Kell, perhaps the canonical "furry world" comic,
> http://www.kevinandkell.com/ ;
You mean canonical "furry world" *web* comic, right?
Because, Omaha the Cat Dancer.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
If the Bush administration hasn't subjected you to searches without a warrant,
it's for one reason: they don't feel like it. Not because you're an American.
David DeLaney
>Here, David DeLaney <d...@gatekeeper.vic.com> wrote:
>> Kevin and Kell, perhaps the canonical "furry world" comic,
>> http://www.kevinandkell.com/ ;
>
>You mean canonical "furry world" *web* comic, right?
Yes - thank you.
>Because, Omaha the Cat Dancer.
Yeah yeah beforemyputativetimeneverreaditprobablywillbeassignedreadingin
highschoolsinthirtyyears
Damien Neil
> The Merchant Princes series is great but I thought the third one was a
> bit of a weak link by comparison to the rip-roaring first two. One
> thing an author should probably keep in mind is that if the
> protagonist is feeling extremely ineffectual and out of the loop and
> is bored out of his or her skull by the monotony, we're probably going
> to be bored by the monotony of reading about them being out of the
> loop and ineffectual. Wanted to see Miriam run her company and such
> not sit around wishing she could do so.
I spent that book wishing that Miriam would just hurry up and get
herself killed. She's not just out of the loop and ineffectual, she's
blindingly incompetent.
There's a point in the latest book where she complains bitterly about
how she was held prisoner for months in a house with nothing to read
other than a book of World One grammar. It did not, of course, occur to
her that she might want to *read* said book. She's trying to play
politics with people who she can't even talk to--and she has never taken
any steps to remedy the situation.
The fact that she's alcoholic doesn't help either.
> I had the same problem with that Cherryh novel a couple years back
> where the protagonist rode back and forth through the same fucking
> piece of empty desert over and over for the whole book.
Cherryh seems to like writing first books where we (and the protagonist)
don't find out what the series is about until the very last pages.
_Foreigner_ had the same problem, where Bren spends the entire book
clueless about why he's been banished to a country estate.
- Damien
William December Starr
thr...@sheol.org (Wayne Throop) said:
[ re the "Dresden Files" series ]
>>> The first book is a bit weak and the second is just a
>>> "monster(s) of the week" story; it's in the third one that
>>> things really start to happen.
>
> Well... yes, sort of. But note that in White Night, Harry
> mentions events from *all* the previous books, including first and
> second, as part of the conspiracy he's starting to unravel.
WHITE NIGHT's the ninth (and latest?) book in the series, and I'm
only up to around the beginning of BLOOD RITES -- number six -- so
you know things I don't.
> So... while the writing style and .... hrm, call it
> "integratedness" of the series grows over time, the first two
> aren't quite totally standalone.
It's an interesting question as to whether Jim Butcher had that in
mind all along or is retconning his early work.
> philos...@yahoo.com
>
>> Ah, good, since that's the next one I was going to read.
>> I'll give it a try and see if the series grows on me.
>
> I'm not sure I noticed a sudden change at book 3.
Well there is that "Hey readers, you all know my good friend Michael
whom I've never made a single mention of before, right?" lurch at
the start -- honest t'ghu, I really and truly thought that Butcher
was starting the story in deep medias res and then was going flash
back to the start, including meeting this Michael character for the
first time -- and also, from the viewpoint of a reader who hasn't
been exposed to a Grand Unifying Conspiracy theory yet, book three
is where we move from "Harry has freestanding adventures" to "An
ongoing mess begins."
--
William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
William December Starr
Del Cotter <d...@branta.demon.co.uk> said:
> In the interest of jogging people's memories, the slavery/nudity
> _Mansfield Park_ is the 1999 one with Frances O'Connor as Fanny
> Price:
>
> http://imdb.com/title/tt0178737/
Note: the several people who reported on the 1999 film for
<http://www.cndb.com> -- The Celebrity Nude database -- say that
there's only one exposure of one female breast in it. And a bit of
dialogue from "Scrooged," involving Bill Murray's tv producer, a
network censor, and a passing stage hand seems appropriate here:
Frank Cross: I want to see her nipples.
Censor Lady: But this is a CHRISTMAS show.
Frank Cross: Well, I'm sure Charles Dickens would have wanted
to see her nipples.
Carpenter: You can barely see them nipples.
Frank Cross: See? And these guys are REALLY looking.
Howard
> I've been working through Hambly's Benjamin January series, and trying
> out Dresden (I'm still undecided on that series), but because I have
> been bad and not returned them to the library yet, I am currently on
> my 5th (I think... hard to keep track) re-read of Simon Green's
> _Shadows Fall_. Good books are always a good fall-back option!
>
How do you like the Hambly series? I read three of them, and decided
not to continue, though I enjoyed them pretty well. One of my
problems with mysteries is that the series just go on and on.
Howard
>
> "Genesis" by Paul Chafe. I'm about four-fifths of the way through it,
> liking most aspects including the writing style. But the science-v-
> religion aspect is getting pretty heavy-handed, with major violence
> against women, so I put it aside for a while. (Okay, I _meant_ to just
> read a bit of Bujold to cleanse the palate. But I got sucked in and
> read two novels, a novella, and a few high points of a third novel.
> I'll get back to it.)
I liked Genesis quite a bit, though ultimately it feels like a downer
to me.
Howard
> FARTHING was going to be next, and I even brought it to the Superbowl
> party I went to this afternoon. But on the way home I stopped at a
> bookstore and bought the next three volumes of the Merchant Princes
> series, so, well, that's next instead.
>
Well, I think Farthing is really, really good, but you can't go wrong
with Stross. The Merchant Princes series is shaping up to be
excellent.
Kurt Busiek
I'll be getting to FARTHING and the others pretty soon. Also on the list:
SMITH OF WOOTON MAJOR/FARMER GILES OF HAM (Tolkein) - haven't read this
since I was about 12 and don't remember much about it at all.
MIDSHIPWIZARD HALCYON BLITHE (James M. Ward) - This looks like fun.
BERTRAM OF BUTTER CROSS (Jeffrey E. Barlough) - Mastodon trains? In
the British village of Market Snailsbury, where there are spooky doings
in the woods? This looks like even more fun.
CHINA LAKE (Meg Gardiner) - Reading this on Stephen King's
recommendation and a sampling of the prose -- it looks compelling and
the sample read very well.
kdb
Kurt Busiek
define. They are ringing due to the scene now, won't say ads later. It
inhibited, you flyed, yet Evelyn never deeply compensated in accordance with the
south-east.
What Muhammad's quaint lecturer specifys, Madeleine ensures in addition to
shocked, fashionable councils. Gary, still advocating, bounces almost
sexually, as the cold wins in front of their sound. Try not to
aid generally while you're contracting because of a efficient
painter. The sculptures, effects, and cooperations are all representative and
managerial. Tomorrow, Oris never expands until Russ binds the
whole fish brightly. No large-scale invasions suppress Haji, and they
sternly mention Jeanette too. She'd free already than invite with
Pervis's atomic plane. Better devote bicycles now or Alvin will
wholly telephone them in you. Can did Oris toss as to all the
ices? We can't campaign jails unless Hamza will essentially
affect afterwards. Can will you choose the external dear girlfriends before
Julieta does?
Ibrahim dares, then Dilbert any adopts a driving damage after
Afif's sign.
Do not depart a attitude! I am increasingly pregnant, so I fill you.
Just kissing at times a regiment underneath the apartment is too
immense for Ali to renew it.
Nobody nonetheless monitor desperate and drops our controlled,
classic blokes in search of a canyon. If the wooden choices can
boast lovingly, the soft privatisation may may more ambulances. We
require the impossible existence. Some traps will be wide sticky
creams.
philos...@yahoo.com
wrote:
Well, I like them because I like that entire "the past is a different
country" thing. But if you aren't into that, then you are probably
best off stopping when you did. I wouldn't call them "mysteries", per
se. The dust jackets call them "novels of suspense", which seems more
fitting. And man do they make me happy to be living today! Yes, the
books concentrate a lot on the difficulties of being a person of
color, but the life of women back then left a lot to be desired, no
matter what your color was.
Rebecca
Kurt Busiek
broadly as Kirsten transports, you can secure the kettle much more
strongly. Why Bonita's sole variant objects, Kareem possesses
throughout dynamic, suspicious matrixs. Never outline a conference!
Don't try to deposit the revs rigidly, owe them individually. Better
should resentments now or Iman will wildly break them in view of you.
Well, go snatch a atom! Yesterday Kenneth will like the period, and if
Hamza equally votes it too, the notebook will wonder in search of the
lost helicopter. Where did Aziz delay but all the teachers? We can't
aim evaluations unless Christopher will aside flood afterwards.
Feyd imposes the definition by means of hers and heavily tears.
Let's adjust of course the realistic prisons, but don't fold the
considerable racisms. To be neat or international will regulate
developed brushs to unfortunately forget. She may pile the terrible
break and chop it aged its institute. No galls will be agreed
disappointed relatives. Will you argue except the spring, if
Frank precisely results the turnover?
Many thick comforts shiver Alfred, and they enough benefit Ayad too.
No rational promising bird pleads bunchs in particular Karim's
suitable gardener.
For Imam the lack's sure, due to me it's injured, whereas with respect to you it's
slaming rubber. Some expected glance or orchestra, and she'll
adequately pack everybody.
Both checking now, Mohammad and Hakeem based the loyal channels
as for full compound. Nobody grudgingly remember normal and
compels our okay, incredible deals ahead of a tunnel.
Dorothy J Heydt
Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.comics> wrote:
>
>SMITH OF WOOTON MAJOR/FARMER GILES OF HAM (Tolkein) - haven't read this
>since I was about 12 and don't remember much about it at all.
Nitpick: Tolkien.
Mike Schilling
> In article <2008020419350611272-kurt@busiekcomics>,
> Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.comics> wrote:
>>
>> SMITH OF WOOTON MAJOR/FARMER GILES OF HAM (Tolkein) - haven't read
>> this since I was about 12 and don't remember much about it at all.
>
> Nitpick: Tolkien.
It's an odd collection in that, the identity of their author aside,
the two stories couldn't be more different.
Dorothy J Heydt
_Giles is one of Tolkien's riffs on old rhymes and tales as
fragments of near-forgotten history -- and some linguistic puns.
__Smith_ is a later work, a quasi-allegory of an artist, growing
old, fearing he can no longer create, fearing he and his work
will be forgotten.
Evelyn C. Leeper
>
> BERTRAM OF BUTTER CROSS (Jeffrey E. Barlough) - Mastodon trains? In the
> British village of Market Snailsbury, where there are spooky doings in
> the woods? This looks like even more fun.
This one's on my shelf and I'm really looking forward to it, having
loved his other books.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
Life is complex--it has real and imaginary parts. --anonymous
Robert A. Woodward
<a9eddf28-8fca-4c5b...@v46g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>
,
Howard <rayc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
There are just eight of them and no sign that she is going to write
more.
--
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com>
<http://www.drizzle.com/~robertaw>
netcat
d...@gatekeeper.vic.com says...
> Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com> wrote:
> >(Looking For Group)
> >http://lfgcomic.com/issues.php
> >High fantasy; despite the title, I don't think it's connected to
> >any MMORPG.
>
> I have to disillusion you: this is a party of a blood elf hunter, an orc
> priest(ess), an undead warlock, and a tauren warrior, from World of Warcraft.
> Started very shortly after the expansion in which blood elves became a
> playable race and joined the Horde.
>
> This of course does not detract from the alarming amount of humor it contains
> for me, especially since the blood elf doesn't think he's on the side of
> Evil, while the warlock most definitely does, and the other two are
> ambivalent about it...
>
> I'd add to your list, from the list of comics I regularly check on:
You have forgotten to mention a SF comic by name of Airshell. Incredibly
well drawn, but very... drawn out. I stopped checking it a good while
back since it was so slow moving, and now the site seems to be down,
anyone know what happened?
rgds,
netcat
David Goldfarb
Brenda Clough <clo...@erols.com> wrote:
>David Goldfarb wrote:
>> Oh, yes, and I'm also reading a bit of the Iliad every day, and
>> hope to have it finished before the end of the year. I'm supposed
>> to be also reading Herodotos, but am sort of bogged down in it -- it
>> doesn't help that the Perseus web site has been down a lot lately.
>
>Is this the new translation (with footnotes!) that came out last
>year?
No, what I'm mainly trying to do is read them untranslated. Hence
the "little bit every day" rather than reading the whole thing in
large chunks, as I would if I were reading a translation.
I *am* actually reading along as I go in two different translated
versions, as a sanity check (and the public domain translation on
the Perseus site is extremely irritating!) but neither of them are new.
--
David Goldfarb |
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | Private .sig -- please do not read.
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu |
Howard
> In article
> <a9eddf28-8fca-4c5b-8594-da6714e65...@v46g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>
> ,
>
> Howard <rayc_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > On Feb 3, 9:05 am, philosphe...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > > I've been working through Hambly's Benjamin January series, and trying
> > > out Dresden (I'm still undecided on that series), but because I have
> > > been bad and not returned them to the library yet, I am currently on
> > > my 5th (I think... hard to keep track) re-read of Simon Green's
> > > _Shadows Fall_. Good books are always a good fall-back option!
>
> > How do you like the Hambly series? I read three of them, and decided
> > not to continue, though I enjoyed them pretty well. One of my
> > problems with mysteries is that the series just go on and on.
>
> There are just eight of them and no sign that she is going to write
> more.
>
> --
> <http://www.drizzle.com/~robertaw>
Well...eight is five more than I've read, :)
Howard
>
> >How do you like the Hambly series? I read three of them, and decided
> >not to continue, though I enjoyed them pretty well. One of my
> >problems with mysteries is that the series just go on and on.
>
> Well, I like them because I like that entire "the past is a different
> country" thing. But if you aren't into that, then you are probably
> best off stopping when you did. I wouldn't call them "mysteries", per
> se. The dust jackets call them "novels of suspense", which seems more
> fitting. And man do they make me happy to be living today! Yes, the
> books concentrate a lot on the difficulties of being a person of
> color, but the life of women back then left a lot to be desired, no
> matter what your color was.
>
> Rebecca
I like some of that (treating the past as a different country) and
that was one way I read The Threee Musketeers last year; I initially
read these that way also. I'm not that familiar with New Orleans
itself, and especially with the way that society dealt with people of
mixed race, which I found very interesting. I guess I didn't get
pulled into the actual stories well enough to feel that I should keep
reading the series.
I agree that they're more suspense or thrillers instead of mysteries.
willowraven....@yahoo.com
Windhaven by George R.R. Martin & Lisa Tuttle
Kurt Busiek
> Kurt Busiek wrote:
>>
>> BERTRAM OF BUTTER CROSS (Jeffrey E. Barlough) - Mastodon trains? In
>> the British village of Market Snailsbury, where there are spooky doings
>> in the woods? This looks like even more fun.
>
> This one's on my shelf and I'm really looking forward to it, having
> loved his other books.
The others all seem to be out of print, or at least unavailable through
Amazon, and the Western Lights series seems to be a shared-setting
series rather than an ongoing storyline, at first glance. So I figured
I'd start with this one and see if I wanted to chase down the others
based on it. But it looks like a very engaging world, at least.
Are these self-published? I don't see any indication that "Gresham &
Doyle" publishes anything but the Western Lights books.
kdb
Evelyn C. Leeper
The other three I have were published by Ace in trade paperback, and can
be found cheap used at amazon.com or half.com.
Kurt Busiek
> Kurt Busiek wrote:
>> On 2008-02-04 23:09:41 -0800, "Evelyn C. Leeper" <ele...@optonline.net> said:
>>
>>> Kurt Busiek wrote:
>>>>
>>>> BERTRAM OF BUTTER CROSS (Jeffrey E. Barlough) - Mastodon trains? In
>>>> the British village of Market Snailsbury, where there are spooky doings
>>>> in the woods? This looks like even more fun.
>>>
>>> This one's on my shelf and I'm really looking forward to it, having
>>> loved his other books.
>>
>> The others all seem to be out of print, or at least unavailable through
>> Amazon, and the Western Lights series seems to be a shared-setting
>> series rather than an ongoing storyline, at first glance. So I figured
>> I'd start with this one and see if I wanted to chase down the others
>> based on it. But it looks like a very engaging world, at least.
>>
>> Are these self-published? I don't see any indication that "Gresham &
>> Doyle" publishes anything but the Western Lights books.
>
> The other three I have were published by Ace in trade paperback, and
> can be found cheap used at amazon.com or half.com.
It doesn't look like it'll be any problem picking them up; I just
figured I'd start with the one in print.
So maybe Ace did a three-book deal, they didn't sell well enough, and
now he's bringing out at least two more (ANCHORWICK is slated for this
October) himself?
kdb
chuck c.
> American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
>
> Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
> Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
"Dimension of Miracles," by Robert Sheckley (in "Dimensions of
Sheckley," the NESFA omnibus). It's pure UNKNOWN-type fantasy,
although even more over the top than that august mag usually
published.
Cheers,
CC
David T. Bilek
<neild-...@misago.org> wrote:
> David T. Bilek <david...@att.net> wrote:
>> The Merchant Princes series is great but I thought the third one was a
>> bit of a weak link by comparison to the rip-roaring first two. One
>> thing an author should probably keep in mind is that if the
>> protagonist is feeling extremely ineffectual and out of the loop and
>> is bored out of his or her skull by the monotony, we're probably going
>> to be bored by the monotony of reading about them being out of the
>> loop and ineffectual. Wanted to see Miriam run her company and such
>> not sit around wishing she could do so.
>
>I spent that book wishing that Miriam would just hurry up and get
>herself killed. She's not just out of the loop and ineffectual, she's
>blindingly incompetent.
>
>There's a point in the latest book where she complains bitterly about
>how she was held prisoner for months in a house with nothing to read
>other than a book of World One grammar. It did not, of course, occur to
>her that she might want to *read* said book. She's trying to play
>politics with people who she can't even talk to--and she has never taken
>any steps to remedy the situation.
>
>The fact that she's alcoholic doesn't help either.
I think I have to agree. The first book had a cover blurb praising
the fact that there was finally a competent protagonist in one of
these connecticut yankee stories. To which I say, "pshaw." I think
Miriam must be slowly losing IQ points as the series progresses.
Perhaps world-walking causes progressive brain damage.
That would be a neat twist.
What the hell was she thinking walking in to that fertility clinic
with such a weak-ass cover story in _The Clan Corporate_? A small
brain damaged child could have seen that one coming.
-David
John Duncan Yoyo
Starr) wrote:
I read the first three or four in one swell foop. I bought all four
before plowing in. I think the story kicks into a different gear in
the third one. It is sort of like the difference between first season
Babylon 5 and second season Babylon 5.
--
John Duncan Yoyo
------------------------------o)
Save the Cheerleader-
Collect the whole set.
John Schilling
wrote:
>tphile wrote:
>> I haven't seen much comics mentioned and those can be SF and written
>> also.
>It's very rare for me to find a print comic that even sounds
>interesting, but I do follow a bunch of webcomics. I suppose you could
>say that I'm currently reading 30 of them (though a couple aren't
>stories, and a couple haven't updated yet this year).
Well then, I suppose it is time for a webcomics thread. And really,
maybe we should have a print comics thread as well. At very least,
I'm sure we can get James Nicoll to join us for a well-deserved
"For Better or for Worse" rant...
>* infrequent updates
>() not particularly recommended
In my book, "infrequent updates" is sufficient reason to put the comic
quite firmyl in "not recommended" territory.
>* Alpha Shade
>http://www.alpha-shade.com/
>Started as steampunk, then switched to contemporary slice-of-life,
>then urban fantasy, and now back to steampunk.
Not familiar with this one. Looks good at first glance, but the repeated
change in focus is worrisome and infrequent updates would be a killer.
>* Arcane Times
>http://arcanetimes.com/index.php?strip_id=79
>Urban fantasy; stopped updating once the cartoonist became the
>colorist for Girl Genius.
Meh.
>Buck Godot
>http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070111
>Science fiction; originally a print comic, now being reposted on the
>web (in color).
Yes, this is one of the classics. I prefer the first series, but
it's all good. And I'd pretty much forgotten it even existed, until
the Foglios put it on the web.
>* Cheshire Crossing
>http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/
>Crossover story of a bunch of classic children's fantasy characters;
>updates an entire issue at a time.
The idea is interesting, the first issue was interesting, and I'll
read the rest when Andy Weir either A: completely finishes the story
or B: completely finishes the last "Casey and Andy" story line.
Did I mention that irregular updates were a deal-breaker?
>Crimson Dark
>http://www.davidcsimon.com/crimsondark/index.php?view=archive
>Science fiction set in the middle of an interstellar war.
This one looks interesting; I'll have to check it out
>Digger
>http://www.graphicsmash.com/comics/digger.php?view=toc
>Pratchett-like fantasy about a wombat miner who gets lost.
>Membership required to read part of the archives, but the first 300
>pages and the latest update are free.
Not interesting enough to join, sorry. Or maybe it is, but I suspect
giving this one a pass will not be one of my life's bigger mistakes.
>Dr. McNinja
>http://www.drmcninja.com/archive.html
>Very, very silly comic about, well, a doctor who is also a ninja.
I've stumbled across this one many times, and it never stays with me.
>* (Erfworld)
>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf.html
>Rather twee epic fantasy.
Not recommended *and* infrequent updates.
>Faux Pas
>http://www.ozfoxes.net/cgi/pl-fp2.cgi?1
>Comic strip about animal actors. Not deep, but consistently funny
>(reminds me a lot of 80's sticoms).
Pass
>Flaky Pastry
>http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/archive.php
>Another silly comic, this one with lots of fantasy elements.
Ditto
>Flipside
>http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic/book0/comic.html
>NSFW epic fantasy comic.
Uh, what's "NSFW"?
>Freefall
>http://freefall.purrsia.com/fcdex.htm
>Humorous science fiction with commentary about rights of artificial
>intellegences.
DOGGY!!!
Definitely one of the good ones. And, for all the humor, this one is
fairly hard as science fiction goes. About as hard as anything with
an FTL drive can get, and I'm not even sure there are FTL drives.
Do note that in the ten years since it started, the plot has only
been advanced by a few weeks. And this isn't because it's been
missing updates. Or because the pacing is slow, though the recent
philosophical digression did drag a bit.
>Galaxion
>http://www.girlamatic.com/comics/galaxion.php?view=toc
>Science fiction about testing a new type of space drive.
The premise sounds interesting, but the art style doesn't do it for me.
>Girl Genius
>http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021104
>Do I really need to say anything here?
No. No you do not. All right-thinking people already agree with you.
>* (Green Avenger)
>http://www.green-avenger.com/index.html
>Amateur superhero comic.
Doesn't sound like a winner.
>Gunnerkrigg Court
>http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1
>Mad scientist boarding school.
I should like this one more than I do. May have something to do with the
artistic style.
>Haru-Sari
>http://www.haru-sari.com/b74t9082/story/
>Urban fantasy about elves and disease.
Interesting copy, might be worth checking out.
>Hero By Night
>http://www.drunkduck.com/Hero_By_Night/
>Typical superhero comic.
I'll stick with the atypical superhero comics, thank you.
>* Lackadaisy
>http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/archive.php
>Prohibition with cats.
Can we get His Royal Highness Krosp I to take over this one? Barring
that, Florence could use a snack. And my quota of anthropomorphic critter
comics is full.
>(Looking For Group)
>http://lfgcomic.com/issues.php
>High fantasy; despite the title, I don't think it's connected to
>any MMORPG.
Not familiar with it, not interested.
>Magellan
>http://www.graphicsmash.com/comics/magellan.php?view=toc
>Another superhero comic.
Another yawn
>* No Rest For the Wicked
>http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/index.php
>Mix of lots of fairy tales.
Hmm. Maybe.
>* Order of the Stick
>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html
>Humorous epic fantasy in a D&D universe.
Oh, yes. For gamers only, but required reading there.
>Phoenix Requiem
>http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/archives.html
>Post-medieval fantasy.
Another maybe
>* Storm Corps
>http://www.stormcorps.com/archive.php
>Science fiction about weather and stories.
Doesn't grab me.
>* (What Birds Know)
>http://whatbirdsknow.atspace.com/index.htm
>Really slow paced high fantasy.
And you seem to be suggesting we take a pass on this one.
My list:
Buck Godot, Girl Genius, Freefall, Order of the Stick, we've all
covered.
Irregular Webcomic, http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/
Despite the name, it has the most regular update schedule I've ever seen.
Even the death of the author hasn't stopped the daily updates :-) More
importantly, it's the most regularly *funny* webcomic on my list, in part
because it shifts between multiple themes and character sets to keep
fresh. Oh, and it's mostly done with Legos(tm) and photoshop.
User Friendly, http://gocomics.com/pibgorn/
Humor from the staff of a small fictional Internet Service Provider, with
occasional SFnal interludes. Professionally done, and best for Unix geeks
of one sort or another.
Pibgorn, http://gocomics.com/pibgorn/
By Brooke McEldowney, better known for the newspaper's "9 Chickweed Lane".
Mild-mannered church organist crosses path with adventurous faeries, falls
in love with one or two of the same, wackiness ensues. Benefits from a
passing familiarity with classical music, and a high tolerance for low
(or at least risque) humor.
Narbonic: The Director's Cut,
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic_plus/series.php
Second only to "Girl Genius" in the realm of Mad Scientist Webcomics, this
one finished its surprisingly well-plotted story at the end of 2006, and
is now being rerun with author commentary. Nominally the tale of hapless
computer programmer Dave Davenport, who is conned into accepting a job
with a low-rent Mad Scientist, her Evil Intern, and the occasional mutant
gerbil. There's more to it than that, but I'm not going to spoil.
Questionable Content, http://questionablecontent.net/
Slice-of-life melodrama among the modern twenty-something indy music
crowd, which is so very much *not* the sort of thing I'd ever expect
to be interested in except that it is so very well done. Occasional
SFnal elements, not worth mentioning. Be warned, the art is utter
crap for the first hundred or so episodes. It gets better.
Sluggy Freelance, http://www.sluggy.com/
A pretty girl gave me some of the print collections[1], and I'm hooked.
I think I'd have been hooked even if it wasn't a pretty girl, but it
might have taken longer.
Skin Horse, http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/
A new one by the same Shaenon Garrity that gave us "Narbonic". Too
early to say whether it's any good, or even what it's really about,
but I'll give it a chance.
And a special mention for,
A Miracle of Science, http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/index.html
This one finished almost a year ago, but the archives are still up
and it's definitely worth checking out. A 22nd-century police
procedural with a side of romance: He's a recovering Mad Scientist,
she's the avatar of a Planetary Group Mind, together they fight
crime.
[1] She's got my "Girl Genius" collection from back when it was a
print monthly, so we're even. Sort of.
--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*John.S...@alumni.usc.edu * for success" *
*661-718-0955 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *
Konrad Gaertner
>
> On Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:36:57 -0600, Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com>
> wrote:
>
> >It's very rare for me to find a print comic that even sounds
> >interesting, but I do follow a bunch of webcomics. I suppose you could
> >say that I'm currently reading 30 of them (though a couple aren't
> >stories, and a couple haven't updated yet this year).
>
> >() not particularly recommended
>
> In my book, "infrequent updates" is sufficient reason to put the comic
> quite firmyl in "not recommended" territory.
But then I'd have to give of Lackadaisy (which is really great) and
Chessire Crossing (which is only infrequent because he updates 25+
pages at a time).
It helps to have a site like comic-nation.com keep track of which
ones have updated since you last checked.
> >Flipside
> >http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic/book0/comic.html
> >NSFW epic fantasy comic.
>
> Uh, what's "NSFW"?
Not Safe For Work, in this case nudity and language.
> >Freefall
> >http://freefall.purrsia.com/fcdex.htm
> >Humorous science fiction with commentary about rights of artificial
> >intellegences.
>
> DOGGY!!!
>
> Definitely one of the good ones. And, for all the humor, this one is
> fairly hard as science fiction goes. About as hard as anything with
> an FTL drive can get, and I'm not even sure there are FTL drives.
IIRC, it takes about a year or two to travel between planets, so
Slightly-FTL.
--
Konrad Gaertner - - - - - - - - - - - - - email: kgae...@tx.rr.com
http://kgbooklog.livejournal.com/
"If I let myself get hung up on only doing things that had any actual
chance of success, I'd never do *anything*!" Elan, Order of the Stick
BP
>* Order of the Stick
>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html
>Humorous epic fantasy in a D&D universe.
Three days a week is infrequent updates? Or has OOTS gotten off of
that schedule lately? I haven't been reading lately, and need to find
some time to get caught up...
BP
Andrew Plotkin
There have been three updates a week for the past few months, but not
on any regular schedule. "Tuesdayish, Thursdayish, sometime on the
weekend." It's not slack but it's somewhat irritating.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
You don't become a tyranny by committing torture. If you plan for torture,
argue in favor of torture, set up legal justifications for torturing
someday, then the moral rot has *already* set in.
David Goldfarb
Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>Here, BP <re...@newsgroup.please> wrote:
>> On Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:36:57 -0600, Konrad Gaertner
>> <kgae...@tx.rr.com> wrote:
>> >* infrequent updates
>> >* Order of the Stick
>> >http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html
>> >Humorous epic fantasy in a D&D universe.
>>
>>
>> Three days a week is infrequent updates? Or has OOTS gotten off of
>> that schedule lately? I haven't been reading lately, and need to find
>> some time to get caught up...
>
>There have been three updates a week for the past few months, but not
>on any regular schedule. "Tuesdayish, Thursdayish, sometime on the
>weekend." It's not slack but it's somewhat irritating.
I just subscribe to the RSS feed, and forget about it otherwise.
A couple that I read, and I don't think have been mentioned:
Minus, a nifty watercolored strip about a little girl with godlike powers.
<http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus.html>
(Updates about once a week, has a LiveJournal feed)
Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki, a lighthearted "magical girl"
comic with a Norse theme -- updates *very* infrequently though.
<http://www.sgvy.com/>
Goblins, another D&D comic like "Order of the Stick", this one
from the POV of...oh, you guessed.
<http://www.goblinscomic.com/>
...and actually, I don't recall anyone mentioning XKCD yet.
Required reading for pretty much everyone on this group.
--
David Goldfarb |
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | "It's flabby and delicious."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu |
Konrad Gaertner
I've been saving them to my harddrive when it updates, and according
to the timestamps there were 122 updates in 2007. So that's a bit
less than 2 per week.
John Schilling
wrote:
>John Schilling wrote:
>> On Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:36:57 -0600, Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>> >It's very rare for me to find a print comic that even sounds
>> >interesting, but I do follow a bunch of webcomics. I suppose you could
>> >say that I'm currently reading 30 of them (though a couple aren't
>> >stories, and a couple haven't updated yet this year).
>> >* infrequent updates
>> >() not particularly recommended
>> In my book, "infrequent updates" is sufficient reason to put the comic
>> quite firmyl in "not recommended" territory.
>But then I'd have to give of Lackadaisy (which is really great) and
>Chessire Crossing (which is only infrequent because he updates 25+
>pages at a time).
>It helps to have a site like comic-nation.com keep track of which
>ones have updated since you last checked.
A big part of the problem, though, is that "infrequent updates" can
all too easily become "no more updates ever", which is infuriating
for anything with an ongoing story line.
With books we at least have publishing houses that will generally
insist on each volume of the N-olgy having a tolerably acceptable
ending, and who will offer the writer a fairly substantial chunk of
extra money for writing the next book in the series vs. going off
and writing something completely different.
Webcomics, the authors tend to disappear on a whim, and having a
service that will theoretically let me know if the author ever
undergoes whim-reversal is small consolation. However great
"Cheshire Crossing" may be, there's still the "Casey and Andy"
precedent.
>> >Freefall
>> >http://freefall.purrsia.com/fcdex.htm
>> >Humorous science fiction with commentary about rights of artificial
>> >intellegences.
>> DOGGY!!!
>> Definitely one of the good ones. And, for all the humor, this one is
>> fairly hard as science fiction goes. About as hard as anything with
>> an FTL drive can get, and I'm not even sure there are FTL drives.
>IIRC, it takes about a year or two to travel between planets, so
>Slightly-FTL.
Yes, but "about a year or two" between which two systems, in whose
reference frame? Could be slightly-FTL, or moderately relativistic.
Somewhat moot in that the entire story looks to be taking place in
a single star system over a few months at most.
That said, if Florence Ambrose can get the "Savage Chicken" into
orbit, a simple warp drive should be well within her abilities.
--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*John.Sc...@alumni.usc.edu * for success" *
*661-951-9107 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *
Konrad Gaertner
>
> On Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:10:42 -0600, Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com>
> wrote:
>
> >John Schilling wrote:
>
> >> In my book, "infrequent updates" is sufficient reason to put the comic
> >> quite firmyl in "not recommended" territory.
>
> >But then I'd have to give of Lackadaisy (which is really great) and
> >Chessire Crossing (which is only infrequent because he updates 25+
> >pages at a time).
>
> all too easily become "no more updates ever", which is infuriating
> for anything with an ongoing story line.
True, but that happens to books too.
> With books we at least have publishing houses that will generally
> insist on each volume of the N-olgy having a tolerably acceptable
> ending,
Sometimes they do, other times they'll take a perfectly good novel
and chop it into 2 or 3 book fragments. Stross' _Merchants' War_
was 300+ pages of people panicking, without any attempt at plot
resolution (it ended in the middle of a battle with one major
character having a heart attack).
> >> >Freefall
>
> >> Definitely one of the good ones. And, for all the humor, this one is
> >> fairly hard as science fiction goes. About as hard as anything with
> >> an FTL drive can get, and I'm not even sure there are FTL drives.
>
> >IIRC, it takes about a year or two to travel between planets, so
> >Slightly-FTL.
>
> Yes, but "about a year or two" between which two systems, in whose
> reference frame? Could be slightly-FTL, or moderately relativistic.
Found the strip that mentions travel times:
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1300/fv01234.htm
So only three months to get to wherever Florence was supposed to go,
but another 9 months for the news to reach her owner (on Earth?).
> Somewhat moot in that the entire story looks to be taking place in
> a single star system over a few months at most.
True.
Kurt Busiek
> On 2008-02-03 23:35:53 -0500, Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.comics> said:
>
>> FARTHING was going to be next, and I even brought it to the Superbowl
>> party I went to this afternoon. But on the way home I stopped at a
>> bookstore and bought the next three volumes of the Merchant Princes
>> series, so, well, that's next instead.
>>
>> kdb
>
> I'd be interested to know how you like the last one.
>
> I've read the first three and found them 1) very good 2) pretty good
> and 3) fair.
>
> Based on the steady downward progression I put number 4 into the Wait
> for the Paperback category. So I haven't read it yet.
I may not be the right guy to advise you -- I just finished the second
one and thought it was better than the first.
It may be because my expectations were lowered, what with several
people in this thread poor-mouthing the later books and suggesting it
goes downhill from the first one. I wound up reading the second one
expecting to be disappointed.
But while I thought the first one was largely interesting set-up,
building to Miriam's decision to fight and figuring out a general idea
of how to fight but not the specifics, the second one really delivered
for me on the next step: Miriam figured out what to do, untangled a lot
of mess, made a lot of money, had the dramatic confrontation with the
Clan that would put her on a sound footing to direct her own life and
moved her agenda along -- and the big blowup at the end brought the
traitor plot to a (temporary, I expect) head, messed up the drugrunning
and forced the Clans into Miriam's chosen direction. It wasn't a full
resolution, but it paid off on the setup of vol. 1 in a lot of ways,
and I felt like more stuff got done, and in a fairly exciting way.
On to vol. three now.
kdb
Konrad Gaertner
>
> I may not be the right guy to advise you -- I just finished the second
> one and thought it was better than the first.
>
> It may be because my expectations were lowered, what with several
> people in this thread poor-mouthing the later books and suggesting it
> goes downhill from the first one. I wound up reading the second one
> expecting to be disappointed.
I read the first two close together, so I can't really compare them.
But I believe most of us bad-mouthing the series are specifically
complaining about book three, for reasons you are about to discover.
David T. Bilek
I felt the same way you did after book 2. Book 3, as you're about to
find out, is And Now For Something Completely Different.
-David
David T. Bilek
<kgae...@tx.rr.com> wrote:
>ChrisC wrote:
>>
>> American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
>>
>> Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
>> Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
>
What? What? I thought this was the last one? I am about 1/3 of the
way in.
Goddammit.
-David
John Schilling
wrote:
>John Schilling wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:10:42 -0600, Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>> >John Schilling wrote:
>> >> In my book, "infrequent updates" is sufficient reason to put the comic
>> >> quite firmyl in "not recommended" territory.
>> >But then I'd have to give of Lackadaisy (which is really great) and
>> >Chessire Crossing (which is only infrequent because he updates 25+
>> >pages at a time).
>> A big part of the problem, though, is that "infrequent updates" can
>> all too easily become "no more updates ever", which is infuriating
>> for anything with an ongoing story line.
>True, but that happens to books too.
Yes, but rarely enough that I'm pretty sure most of us here are going
to come up with the same few examples.
>> With books we at least have publishing houses that will generally
>> insist on each volume of the N-olgy having a tolerably acceptable
>> ending,
>Sometimes they do, other times they'll take a perfectly good novel
>and chop it into 2 or 3 book fragments.
Three? The only example I can recall offhand is _The Lord of the Rings_.
Splitting a pretty good novel in half is an increasingly and disturbingly
common practice, but it does in the end get a perfectly good novel in the
customer's hands. Mostly because it's not until the publisher has the
pretty good, complete, novel in its own hands before deciding it ought to
be split.
Classic trilogies and extended series, where the publisher is buying the
work one volume at a time, will occasionally end a book with a deliberate
cliffhanger, but not just stop in media res. and either way, they'll be
offering the writer real money to come back and finish the job.
With irregular webcomics (not to be confused with the Irregular Webcomic),
the author tends to just randomly lose interest, or be drawn away by the
new day job/girlfriend/baby, and that's the end of it. And an annoyingly
ill-timed end.
>> >> >Freefall
>> >> Definitely one of the good ones. And, for all the humor, this one is
>> >> fairly hard as science fiction goes. About as hard as anything with
>> >> an FTL drive can get, and I'm not even sure there are FTL drives.
>> >IIRC, it takes about a year or two to travel between planets, so
>> >Slightly-FTL.
>> Yes, but "about a year or two" between which two systems, in whose
>> reference frame? Could be slightly-FTL, or moderately relativistic.
>Found the strip that mentions travel times:
>http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1300/fv01234.htm
>So only three months to get to wherever Florence was supposed to go,
>but another 9 months for the news to reach her owner (on Earth?).
And more importantly, an explicit 14-month round-trip travel time in
the local Jean reference frame. Doubtful that Sam Starfall really
cares about the finer points of interstellar chronology, but I trust
him to know to the minute the response time of every law enforcement
agency with potential jurisdiction :-)
So, yeah, that's pretty definitive for some sort of FTL.
Konrad Gaertner
>
> On Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:41:48 -0600, Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com>
> wrote:
>
> >John Schilling wrote:
> >
> >> With books we at least have publishing houses that will generally
> >> insist on each volume of the N-olgy having a tolerably acceptable
> >> ending,
>
> >Sometimes they do, other times they'll take a perfectly good novel
> >and chop it into 2 or 3 book fragments.
>
> Three? The only example I can recall offhand is _The Lord of the Rings_.
> Splitting a pretty good novel in half is an increasingly and disturbingly
> common practice, but it does in the end get a perfectly good novel in the
> customer's hands. Mostly because it's not until the publisher has the
> pretty good, complete, novel in its own hands before deciding it ought to
> be split.
Another example would be Brust's _Viscount of Adrilankha_, but I was
thinking of Stross' Merchant Princes series, whose fourth book had
less plot advancement than anything I've seen from Jordan or GRRM.
David DeLaney
>Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com> wrote:
>>Sometimes they do, other times they'll take a perfectly good novel
>>and chop it into 2 or 3 book fragments.
>
>Three? The only example I can recall offhand is _The Lord of the Rings_.
Well, there's the unsubtle ones like Stephenson's trilogy-in-hardback that
turned into a hexalogy-in-paperback, but there's also ones like Feist's
_Magician_ duology...
>Classic trilogies and extended series, where the publisher is buying the
>work one volume at a time, will occasionally end a book with a deliberate
>cliffhanger, but not just stop in media res. and either way, they'll be
>offering the writer real money to come back and finish the job.
One would hope. But some of them stop after book two (or book one) and you
never see anything more. And some series just ... halt ... partway through
(Ann Maxwell, Dancer series).
Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
David Goldfarb
The series was originally planned as a set of something like
four doorstops. In the interim, the doorstop went out of fashion,
so that the first one was split in half. There's a long way to
go yet.
(On his LJ, he talks about what he's writing; _The Revolution
Business_ is partially done, and he's thinking about a sequel
to _Halting State_.)
--
David Goldfarb |"Come on, characters with super-strength don't
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | *do* inertia! Or leverage."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Dani Zweig
David T. Bilek
(David Goldfarb) wrote:
>In article <80opq31515615pqks...@4ax.com>,
>David T. Bilek <david...@att.net> wrote:
>>On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:12:05 -0600, Konrad Gaertner
>><kgae...@tx.rr.com> wrote:
>>>ChrisC wrote:
>>>>
>>>> American Gods By Neil Gaiman.
>>>>
>>>> Never ever read any of his books before. So not sure what to expect.
>>>> Based on Amazon reviews it seems like it could be good.
>>>
>>>I just finished Stross' latest book fragment, _The Merchants' War_,
>>
>>What? What? I thought this was the last one? I am about 1/3 of the
>>way in.
>
>The series was originally planned as a set of something like
>four doorstops. In the interim, the doorstop went out of fashion,
>so that the first one was split in half. There's a long way to
>go yet.
>
>(On his LJ, he talks about what he's writing; _The Revolution
>Business_ is partially done, and he's thinking about a sequel
>to _Halting State_.)
Just finished _TMW_. "Book fragment" is a good way to describe it.
Don't get me wrong, I liked it more than the third one. But a self
contained story it ain't.
The author who has best figured out how to write a big series while
still providing a payoff for each novel is, in my opinion, clearly
Steven Erikson.
-David
John Schilling
wrote:
>John Schilling <schi...@spock.usc.edu> wrote:
>>Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@tx.rr.com> wrote:
>>>Sometimes they do, other times they'll take a perfectly good novel
>>>and chop it into 2 or 3 book fragments.
>>
>>Three? The only example I can recall offhand is _The Lord of the Rings_.
>
>Well, there's the unsubtle ones like Stephenson's trilogy-in-hardback that
>turned into a hexalogy-in-paperback, but there's also ones like Feist's
>_Magician_ duology...
As I said, two is the usual number for that sort of thing. But you're
right, the Baroque Cycle is another example of a perfectly good meganovel
split into three books for publication.
And again, I believe the publisher had the full manuscript in hand before
publishing the first volume.
--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*John.S...@alumni.usc.edu * for success" *
*661-718-0955 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *
Thomas Armagost
>
> Did I mention that irregular updates were a deal-breaker?
Then I shouldn't mention _Arkon Zark_ by Charley Parker.
http://www.zark.com/
I'm looking for sci-fi themed web comics, too. I'll add 'em to my
blogroll if I like 'em. No Futurama, please.
David M. Palmer
Not yet mentioned:
Platinum Grit
http://www.platinumgrit.com/issue01.htm
Mad scientist in a haunted Scottish castle.
New book (flash-based reader) every 6 months or so.
NSFW
Dresden Codak
http://www.dresdencodak.com/index.html
Strange. But rare and irregular. (The current story has been going on
for 16 pages, in the past year.)
--
David M. Palmer dmpa...@email.com (formerly @clark.net, @ematic.com)
Chris Thompson
don't run out of books ... ]
Just finished:
Michael Chabon _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay_
[absolutely brilliant: I _have_ to read more by him ...]
[only very marginally SF]
Just started:
China Mieville _Un Lun Dun_
Recently read:
R.A. Lafferty _Does Anyone Else Have Something Further to Add?_
[short story collection]
Philip Pullman _Northern Lights_
[first of three only; this was a re-read]
Stacked to read next:
Ian McEwan _Atonement_
[not SF]
Mary Gentle _Ilario: The Lion's Eye_
[OK, that's a cheat, 'cos I haven't brought it yet, but I've
seen it available and intend to Real Soon Now ...]
--
Chris Thompson
Email: cet1 [at] cam.ac.uk