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Feb 4, 2005 18:10:03 GMT -5
Post by Ken on Feb 4, 2005 18:10:03 GMT -5
I always loved the Dragonlance books. They were one of my first introductions to the fantasy genre and the cover art was just fantastic. Were some of the original covers done by Larry Elmore? This guy did the original and first Drizzt cover as well.
I like brooding, introspective characters, and Tanis definitely fits that bill. He is a troubled man, battling with his human and elven heritage, and struggling with being the leader of a band of people that have agendas and personalities that are as different as possible. He is the consumate compromiser, trying to keep everyone happy, on track and away from each other's throats. Imagine characters like Sturm Brightblade and Raistlin Majere in the same traveling company and having to deal with them. Throw in an ignorant barbarian, a stupid fighter and a stubborn dwarf and you have quite a mix.
Of course, Raistlin is just the ultimate character in these novels. He is so mysterious and so potentially powerful and out for himself. His story is forever intriguing.
The best aspect is that the stories have a high re-readability score.
Check this out. I just bought this paperback in Barnes and Noble the other day. I haven't actually read it yet but I thought it might merit a posting. It's called Frankenstein: Prodigal Son. It's by Dean Koontz. I have never read the guy, but this story so intrigued me I had to pick it up. Check out the synopsis.
"Every city has secrets. But none as terrible as this. His name is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who's traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O'Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself—and that just may be where this case ends up. For the no-nonsense O'Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more—and less—than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn't merely a homicidal maniac—but his deranged maker."
Sounds intriguing huh? Has anybody read Koontz? Have an opinion of him? Know a story about him? His work? What is his style?
FYI: Also, "The Rite" by Richard Lee Byers came out. He wrote Dissolution from The War of the Spider Queen Series. This the second novel in The Year of Rogue Dragons series. The one with the character who is half human, half iron golem.
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Feb 4, 2005 18:20:02 GMT -5
Post by Rob G on Feb 4, 2005 18:20:02 GMT -5
Ken, It always astounded me that you found some interrest in Tanis. I always kindof felt like he was there as a decoy. The obligatory lead character who kindof serves only as a central point by witch to gauge the other charcters. I never liked him.
And in contrasst i always loved Tasslehoff alot. And i know you hate him. You suck Ken nasi
I thought all the authors from the Spider Queen series sucked. Though Byars was one of the better ones.
I never read Koontz but people hail him as the comtemport talent to Steven King. They say he is great. Without a doubt you have seen some movies based on his novels. I know he wrote Phantoms with Ben afleck and watchers with Corey Haim. But those movies sucked for reasons having nothing to do with the story itself.
Did anyone ever read "Spectre of the Black Rose" The sequel to "Knight of the Black Rose"
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Feb 4, 2005 18:30:52 GMT -5
Post by abisai on Feb 4, 2005 18:30:52 GMT -5
If you read one Koontz book you have read them all. I read three or four in a row a few years back and could not distinguish anything about the characters of plotlines when I was done. I thought Steven King was head and shoulders better.
Oh, and I liked Tasslehoff a lot and not into Tanis really either. I don't get Flint really at all. But mostly, Raistlin is THE SHIT. I practically read the story as he depicted it. He is just going in the same direction as Tanis so they travel together. Me too. I am just going in the same direction as Raistlin, so I follow the story of Tanis and co. And I totally second the artwork thing, that is great stuff. It was all I really knew about Dragonlance for a good time until we played it in second edition and I was intrigued by the art very much. I prefer that glorified style over the third edition realism trend.
I tend to give these books a lot of leeway because they bring things I think are great to the table. Dragons. Draconians. Dragon-riders. Dragon orbs. Knights. Three moons. Three mage robes. The test of the mages. Kenders. I love all this shit. So when they constantly have every character involved in a loveline and men repeatedly crying (jeez, can Sturm ever bite his freaking lip when it comes to the knighthood), I metaphorically look the other way for a few pages until they get back to the point again.
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Feb 4, 2005 18:59:41 GMT -5
Post by ROb G on Feb 4, 2005 18:59:41 GMT -5
Oh yeah, The art was awesome and yes all the ORIGINAL covers were Larry Elmore. He is by far the best fantasy artist He has a webage were you veiw all his work for free. Awesome stuff. www.larryelmore.com/
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Mar 8, 2005 19:56:00 GMT -5
Post by Rpb G on Mar 8, 2005 19:56:00 GMT -5
I'm currently forcing my way through Spectre of the Black Rose. The sequel to Knight of the Black Rose concerning Lord Soths adventures in Ravenloft. Next i will read Gary GYgax's greyhawk books about gord the rogue which were written ten thousand years ago in the days of yore.
Whats everyone else reading. People should treat this thread like the GIVE UP THE GOOD SHIT thread.
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Jul 9, 2005 2:41:05 GMT -5
Post by Rob G on Jul 9, 2005 2:41:05 GMT -5
RA Salvatore is not giving up. Apparently Servant of the Shard was the first of a trilogy they are now calling "The Sellsword Trilogy". Book two comes out in a few months. Now Entreri and Artemis are on the road and their travels take them into The Bloodstone lands where they learn that an ancient witchking is not dead. For any of you NON D&D Geek masters this may mean nothing. But Rob G can tell you that the bloodstone lands are infamous as they were the site for the highest powered modules ever written. H1-H4 modules. The last of which was for character levels 25-100. The saga dealt with Orcus and The Witchking of Vaasa, Years later D&D released a regional book called the Bloodstone lands to accompany the 4 series module. And guess who wrote that book. RA Salvatore. He is invoking some hard core shit in this new novel. I will read it even though i thought the last few Salvatore novels were total garbage. www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/frnovel/95015720
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Jul 9, 2005 6:48:13 GMT -5
Post by Darth Deucedropper on Jul 9, 2005 6:48:13 GMT -5
I am reading Shadows of the Empire which is a star wars book that deals with events between Empire and Return. During the first few chapters I was not impressed buy as I kept reading there was some interestinf stuff. They give Vader hi shines in at as well as luke. They tell your how the Emperor allowed the death star plans to get into the rebel scum's hands. They tell you about the Bothans how the many died. Not bad stuff. I never read but I will have to finish this book.
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linearone
Ill tempered Jedi
MR.T IS THE MAN
Posts: 70
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Jul 21, 2005 8:17:13 GMT -5
Post by linearone on Jul 21, 2005 8:17:13 GMT -5
hey robg, I never even heard of Larry Elmore until i read this thread. Man his tuff IS cool. i really like it. its not as super duper far off alien fantasy like some stuff I have seen. it looks great and is beleivable. awesome.
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Jul 21, 2005 8:31:29 GMT -5
Post by Ken on Jul 21, 2005 8:31:29 GMT -5
Who is linearone?
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Jul 23, 2005 7:16:09 GMT -5
Post by Darth Deucedropper on Jul 23, 2005 7:16:09 GMT -5
I finished Shadows of the Empire and thought it was pretty good. I think it holds true to the movies which i can appreciate. Revealed many missing aspects as the time between Empire and Return was pretty empty for the fan.
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Jul 24, 2005 3:34:19 GMT -5
Post by Rob G on Jul 24, 2005 3:34:19 GMT -5
Spectre of the Black Rose: This is the sequel to Knight of the Black Rose which was dope. Its a D&D Ravenloft novel featuring Lord Soth from Dragonlance. This book sucked ass and only served to A) Establsih the new domain for the D&D book B)Get Soth out of Ravenloft so he could be featured once again in Dragonlance. (Note: Margetet Weis Chose to ignore Soth's time in Ravenloft)
Amber & Ashes: So this somehow the new ongoing story of Dragonalnce told by Margeret Weis but without Tracy hickman. It features the character of Mina from the War of Souls. And tells the story of the gods struggling for domination in the aftermath of the war of souls. Remember how that ended. Chemosh of the Undead is the cheif villain here. Somehow Dragonalnce is now like Forgotten realms with Greek like gods who completely interfere with everything. I did not like this book. No theres no raitstlin or other characters from the old shit. Though they do reveal the lost tower of high socerery which is cool. I will read the next in this trilogy but i am unimpressed.
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Jul 28, 2005 8:58:42 GMT -5
Post by Ken on Jul 28, 2005 8:58:42 GMT -5
I just finished the fourth installment of the John Rain series by Barry Eisler. This set of books is basically about the character John Rain, a killer for hire. These books focus on the espionage end of the spectrum instead of the battered wife coming into a bar and hiring someone to kill her abusive husband.
John Rain is a man of two countries but at home in neither. A Japanese-American, he was raised in both cultures and has learned to effectively become a chameleon, able to blend into many societies and become almost invisible. Spending most of his time in Tokyo, Japan, he has learned many forms of self-defense, since acquiring a gun can be very hard in Japan and presents it's own form of complications. As a result, he has become a very adept killer. He also has an extensive collection of ancient, and illegal, books that focus on the killing aspects of his many self-defense styles, thus he has deadly knowledge not available to most karate experts and Yakuza killers.
But John Rain's specialty is not killing with his hands, but making his targets appear to die by natural causes. This makes his services highly valuable and when the CIA or any other nation-state is in need of his services, he gets the call.
The first couple of books center around his adventures in Japan, where is is doing some freelance work, and eventually gets into a power struggle with Japan's most powerful crimelord and political figure. Aided by a friend of his from Japan's Keisatsucho, the equivalent of the American FBI, Rain attempts to restore order to Japan's corrupt political landscape.
These books aren't totally action-packed, but are filled with vivid descriptions of Japan's landscape, the political reality of Japan, and the painstaking details that Rain must employ to set-up his targets and then eventually kill them. The action scenes are vivid and the fights are very detailed and accurate. Rain winds up getting himself into some serious shit all the time, and the fun is to watch him figure his way out and save his own skin.
The first couple of books by Barry Eisler are in paperback:
1. Rain Fall 2. Hard Rain 3. Rain Storm 4. Killing Rain - the newest version in hardcover on the shelves as we speak.
By Barry Eisler
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Oct 17, 2005 18:43:40 GMT -5
Post by abisai on Oct 17, 2005 18:43:40 GMT -5
I am reading Jack Vance heavily. He is good shit, very imaginative. In particular, the Dying Earth series is literally DnD before DnD existed. I liked his collections of short stories very much. All futuristic settings, but most every story brings a different theme or idea to light. I dig it very much. High adventure!
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Jun 20, 2006 22:07:48 GMT -5
Post by abisai on Jun 20, 2006 22:07:48 GMT -5
I highly recommend Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. You want Dnd before the game was invented, that is for sure it.
In other knews, I read some guy Chambers "King in Yellow" which influenced Lovecraft and King and Howard. Nowhere near as good. Not bad, but just first. Not best. Give me those later guys over this ass clown any day. Most reads like Lovecraft without the talent or depth of horror.
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Jan 3, 2007 10:42:17 GMT -5
Post by spiderfate on Jan 3, 2007 10:42:17 GMT -5
world war z, by max brooks
this is a collection of interviews of politicians, generals, presidents, cab drivers and many others details the dark years of the zombie apocalypse that almost wipe out humanity and wipe out 90% of all human life on earth. i love itits treuly art. it tells the bigger story of rameros living dead mythology. it make those movies mmake alot more sence. it can be downloaded via audiobook or pdf file.
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