reading through Wolfe's new sun thingamabob. It rarely happens but in this case failsafeman does actually know what he's talking about; Gene Wolfe is a fantastic writer. I love the way it blends all this melancholic, very literary stuff with a cracking fantasy tale. It can be as deep as you want or as entertaining as you want. Other than that the main thing seems to be Mennonite theology, which is pretty cool. I might have to buy a big hat, a pitchfork and find a farm to toil in.

Glad you're enjoying it, man. Even though I just read through the whole thing somewhat recently I kind of already want to read it again. I get a feeling you could read that series a shitload of times and keep uncovering new stuff.

Oh yeah, the one where the panels turn 3D is just insane, with the close-up panels becoming these really messed up giant heads that the people from the normal panels are terrified of haha.


Haha fuck off. Gene Wolfe is like 95% of your dream author, except that he's a devout Catholic instead of Austrapalian or whatever backwards denomination you are. The good news for us cool smart atheists is, like Tolkien, Wolfe's not a big proselytizing dickhole about it. Honestly, after reading 17 novels and 3 short story collections, I disliked only 1 of those novels (An Evil Guest), and even then it still had a lot going for it. So yeah, he's my #1 favorite author (tied with Vance and Tolkien).

Okay so I need to check out that Kago Shintaro stuff as soon as I have drugs again. That sounds fantastic.

So I recently went through Laird Barron’s The Beautiful Thing that Awaits Us All. It’s a fairly decent collection overall, but I found myself irritated to no end. The guy can write a great ripping yarn in Lovecraft & co.’s tradition laced with awesome hard-boiled fiction like The Men from Porlock, and The Redfield Girls did actually scare the shit outta me.
On the other hand, some of the other tales are so bloody underwhelming. Hand of Glory is the main offender here: it’s the longest piece featured, has a great background, good characters & respectable plotline (in the beginning), and yet still somehow managed to botch up by having simultaneously too much *and* not enough things happening.

Basically the book is a sin-wave in terms of quality – or maybe just my enjoyment of it, anyway. Which brings me to the question, to any of you guys who are familiar with Barron: is it worthwhile to pursue his other works? I saw someone many pages ago mentioning The Croning in a very positive light & that’s on my list, but what about his other short story collections?

Also recently had a stab at Caitlin Kiernan’s The Drowning Girl, but abandoned the attempt halfway through. Good god, it’s the most self-important, pretentious, broom-up-the-arse pile of shit I’ve read in a long time. Boorish/obnoxious characters, rambling monologues that go nowhere, gratuitous references to shops & small businesses in Providence like a shitty commercialised AAA video game, you got it all. What an utterly pointless mass of 300+ pages. I’ll stick to my Gormenghast if I want an actual gothic/dark fantasy masterpiece, thank you very much.

I've a question fellas: are any of these worth a read? I'm interested but hesitant as I know literally none of the authors listed (yet I see a mention of Kiernan that Biggie hates) and the reviews I've read are much too ambiguous. Just in case, I usually stick close to weird fiction/horror works but I'm open to other genres.

Tortured Souls is good, but short. Horror-fantasy.

To be fair, for me Kiernan's short fiction is far better than her novel, & her ability to adapt to different genres is rather amazing. I dare say her short story collections are worth a go, but steer clear of her longer works.

Re other authors in the list I'm familiar with:
- Ligotti should definitely be on your list if you're into Lovecraft & so on. His prose is drier than HPL, but if you can get past that then he's a blast.
- Clive Barker is okay. His stuff is enjoyable while it lasts, but not exactly memorable.

Sweet, thank you, guys. I'll see how these fare and come back with my impressions. Any further thoughts on the books in the link is much appreciated.

I think Ligotti is awesome and Clive Barker sucks donkey balls. Weaveworld was such a disappointment after all the positive word of mouth and reviews.



I really liked The Croning and praised it in this thread some time ago. I generally like everything I've read by Barron - which is The Beautiful Thing..., The Croning and The Imago Sequence. Like you I don't think his works are perfect, and I have some specific gripes with his style and some of the stories in his collections are hit'n'miss, but he is one of the few guys who can be genuinely scary and not just unsettling or whatever. I say go for it, though I'm an admitted fan.

I finished Mistborn and have started Under the Dome by Stephen King. Here's a copy paste of my Mistborn review.





Mistborn takes the familiar theme of a small resistance fighting against a large empire and delivers its own unique story.

In many fantasy books, certain concepts like magic are taken for granted as an infinite source of plot devices, ready to be called upon at the author's whim in order to tell a tale. With concepts like Allomancy and Feruchemy, magical abilities are given physical limitations much like our real life finite sources of energy. This better serves to create a set of rules and logic in how magical powers are implemented as well as offering the reader a constant sense of tension.

On top of creating an internally consistent world of magic, Sanderson creates an immersive world with believable characters. His sense of pacing propels the plot in a manner that always engages the reader and offers fulfilling character development. My personal favorite being the evolution of Vin and seeing the change in her behavior and internal dialog. As of now, she is one of my all time favorite female fictional characters.

Being the first part of a trilogy, the book ends on a satisfactory note while acknowledging the remaining threats that loom and mysteries yet unsolved. Regardless of what emotions the book evokes, you're content with how it ends but you want to know more. This is an ideal model for writing connected stories.

Without giving spoilers, the best way I can explain the appeal of this book would be to describe it as being like a blend of Game of Thrones and Star Wars. That isn't to say this book is highly similar to books in the series, A Song of Ice and Fire, just that it satisfies similar tastes.

In short, Mistborn is a highly enjoyable and well written book that surpassed my expectations.

Final Grade: A+

I just finished re-reading Atomized (aka the elementary particles) by Michel Houellebecq. Depressing as hell but also very funny in a scabrous sort of way. The author desperately wants to be Celene though. I've never read any of his other books, really should rectify that. As an antidote to the bleakness/pesimism of that one I'm reading "Flashman on the march". I've been a fan of George McDonald Frazer's Flashman books since I was a lad. They really are very well researched and always make me smile.

So I finished The Crippled God last night. The ending was extremely well done, I thought. And even though I have all the Esslemonts left and Erikson's Kharkanas and Toblakai trilogies I still can't help but feel there's a void in my life now.

My girlfriend and I have been listening to the audiobook of Greg Sestero's The Disaster Artist, Sestero's memoir of his involvement in The Room and his relationship with Tommy Wiseau. It's fucking hilarious so far, made all the better by Greg's excellent imitation of Tommy's voice and delivery, which makes each scene so vivid and uncomfortable. I don't normally dabble in autobiographies/memoirs, but this is a lot of fun.

I actually met Sestero at a writers summit in... gah... Milwaukee I think it was? Nice, smart guy. Maybe a bit more full of himself than he had any right to be, but nice, smart guy. Obviously this was well before his novel was even completed, much less published.

R.I.P. Terry Pratchett

https://twitter.com/terryandrob/status/ ... 6046646272

I might actually check this out! I'm reading the book right now and it's fucking fantastic. Really hilarious stuff. Haven't had much drive or time to read lately but I can't put it down.

^ wholeheartedly recommend that - also to do it the exact same way Starmere is doing. The audio book is absolutely stunning. First book I ever bought on Audible.

Sad sad news, Tweet before that one had me welling up

Yeah, it's a lot like that. Esslemont's writing is not as good, but his stories are generally on par with Erikson's. He expands on a lot of characters and concepts that were originally developed by him, even if Erikson used them as well (examples: Crimson Guard, Seguleh, Dassem, Tayschrenn). He does tone down a lot of the philosophical musing and inner monologue quite a bit, but it's still good. And as a major bonus, he fills most of Erikson's "plot holes" (read as: loose threads that Erikson intentionally left for Esslemont to finish).

Kharkanas so far is some of Erikson's best writing and it really ties into some of those major arcs that started coming up in the last 3 books. I'm really looking forward to Fall of Light later this year. Then, on top of the forthcoming Toblakai trilogy, Esslemont will also be coming back with an Early Empire series about the Old Guard members in their prime. So there's still much to look forward to even if the "main" series is done, there's a lot more Malazan world to explore.

I've only read the Night of Knives, but it really didn't encourage me to go further into his books. His writing and plot development on that one was fairly hamfisted. I'm also a fan of mystery in writing. Sometimes it's just better to leave things to the reader's imagination. Nothing you can come up with would be as cool or amazing as what the reader will imagine. Myths and legends would have better been left as such rather than be dragged out and exposed as the clunky things they ended up being in Esslemont's hands.

Night of Knives is significantly different than any other Malazan novel. It is intentionally smaller in scope because it only takes place over a 24 hour period in one location. It is probably the least interesting of his novels and not the best representation, but I still enjoyed it. That said, Esslemont's other novels, especially Return of the Crimson Guard and Stonewielder, feel very much like the rest of the Malazan series. He is still worthy of some criticism, his prose isn't as strong as Erikson, he doesn't really get into any deep philosophical musing, and he has a few grammatical errors here and there, but I read Malazan books to be absorbed in the world and the story, and for that he does a nice job. He isn't Erikson, but he is half of the Malazan equation. Every Malazan fan should read his series at least once, if for nothing else he fills many of the plotholes left by Erikson. The series was designed with this in mind, if you don't read ICE, you haven't finished the series.

Looking forward to the Esslemonts even more then, cause if there's one gripe I had about the main sequence it's that sometimes the philosophizing went on for way longer than it needed to.

In that case you'll probably like Esslemont. I also think Erikson can get a bit heavy handed at times, but it works for him. Esslemont is a lighter read.

Kharkanas on the other hand actually ups the philosophizing above and beyond even Toll the Hounds. It's still a good read, but it can be taxing when it sometimes takes 3 pages of inner monologue to describe a character strolling down the street.

Picked up some horror novels (well, they were in the horror section) recently. Anyone read them? Enjoy?

'Deadhead' by Shaun Hutson.
'The Rats' by James Herbert.
'Jaws', 'Beast' and 'White Shark' by Peter Benchley.
'All Fall Down' by John Saul.
'The Count of Eleven' and 'The Long Lost' by Ramsey Campbell.
'The Hunting Season' by John Coyne.
'Strangers' and 'Watchers' by Dean Koontz.
'The Troop' and 'The Deep' by Nick Cutter.

Been stocking up, as you can see.

Been looking at getting 'Off Season' by Jack Ketchum and some Richard Laymon books, too. Any opinions on the best Laymon books? He's got quite the bibliography.

Heh, I actually bought The Count of Eleven myself fairly recently, though I haven't read it yet. I do enjoy Ramsey Campbell in general - I find him much more competent than Stephen King, even though he sometimes fails to quite deliver on the promise of the premise.

Recently I've been listening to audiobook versions of Robert Aickman's short story collections, and I have to say they've only served to cement his status as my favorite horror author. At their best, his stories are just horribly unsettling and disturbing, and even at their worst they're still pretty good, which is more than I can say for any other horror author. Even my other favorites, like Thomas Ligotti or Lovecraft or Ramsey Campbell, are very hit or miss, while Robert Aickman is a case of hit or...weaker hit. I suppose that may be a question of his stories being a bit "formulaic", falling generally into one of two categories: the shorter ones are generally very straightforward "mood/atmosphere" pieces, which focus on building up one single scene or relationship with relatively little character building or plot. The longer ones tend to have extended introductions for the main characters, detailing their profession, personal history, point of view, and so on. They then go on to establish the setting at length, usually some remote, isolated area that is far removed from the protagonist's home (usually London or a similar city) - then weird shit starts to happen, it builds to a head, and results in an ambiguous climax.

Neither format is really superior, and while they may seem rather dull when their structure is laid bare like that, Aickman has honed them to a razor edge, with great pacing, injecting creepy details just at the right time, building things up perfectly. Also, I don't think a single one of his stories ever has a concrete explanation for the weird shit happening - at best there are hints, which I think works perfectly.

Anyway, go read some Robert Aickman, is what I'm saying.

What, you're arguing that Aickman is the superior horror writer and then saying we should read Campbell? Slip o the tongue maybe.

I haven't read horror in a while, which is quite bad. I used to read it quite a lot. Maybe this can kick start it again. Where to start with Aickman?

Uh yeah, that's what I meant. Honestly any short story collection from Aickman is a good place to start, but they tend to be somewhat rare/expensive, so I'd just go with whatever you can find for a good price. The Unsettled Dust is excellent, as is Painted Devils, but they're all fine. He's not like Thomas Ligotti where if you get the wrong collection, 50% of the stories will be boring if you're not already super into the guy.

I've been in crazy psychology/philosophy grad school mode, reading Deleuze & Guattari, Manuel de Landa, Steven Shaviro, Mari Ruti etc etc.

Buuuut tonight I realized I want more Gene Wolfe, and I'm slightly bored with The Wizard Knight (near the beginning of the second book), so I'm starting on Fifth Head of Cerberus. I'm looking forward to some beautiful mindfuckery.

I'm also in the middle of Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven, which is good and I love her to death but I haven't felt like continuing for a bit. Same deal with Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland...ALSO, started Zelazny's Lord of Light last year and got a decent ways in...for some reason despite my interest in Buddhism/Hinduism it never quite hooked me, although I did enjoy some sections.

I'm becoming a really terrible reader, starting and never finishing things.

Yeah if I decide to not finish a book, I force myself to finish the next one I read, even if it ends up being worse. Because until roughly two years ago I would go to read a book, get through the exposition and then stop reading. Didn't matter how long/short, I always ended up stopping once I got to the actual plot.

Finished Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic last night. With his recent passing, I figured I'd give it a shot and man that was probably the most fun I've ever had reading a book. Will certainly be looking into rest of the series once I have money to spend.

And before that I read Neal Asher's Dark Intelligence which, for reasons not wholly tangible, was not my cup of tea. The writing was fine, the plot was fine but I just didn't care about what was happening.

Yeah man, they're great. I find that the early books are a lot more whimsical and fantastical, while the later books are somewhat more serious, but still utterly charismatically told stories. My favorite is Monstrous Regiment, but every one I've read so far has just been so great. It's a pretty crushing feel when you're reading Mort just as Pratchett dies.

Unrelated, I semi-recently (about a month ago) finished The Fifth Head of Cerberus, and beyond the most superficial level, I can't even begin to make sense of it. Like, at least with The Book of the New Sun I cold come to some conclusions and follow the discernible narrative that takes place, but with 5HC I'm just utterly mentally destroyed by the whole thing. (I guess shows how much of an idiot I am) It's been kind of funny as I go back into more... thematically conventional stories, (I'm reading The Final Empire now) they almost seem kind of mundane and monofaceted because of how comparatively easy to fully comprehend they are. Still though, it's nice to not have to have a working knowledge of obscure 1600s thief's cant in order to understand all the words getting used. I'll certainly reread 5HC at some point, but after 3 solid months of Moby Dick and Gene Wolfe, I think I want to have a break from really dense literature for a while...

Any avid comics/graphic novel readers here? I just finished Scott McCloud's brand new 500 page graphic novel, The Sculptor, and really loved it. I'd only read his Understanding Comics before this one so it was cool to read a work of fiction by him. What a talent. At first I thought the story and writing itself was a bit unoriginal, but it's pulled off so god damned well that I never really saw that as a detriment. Probably the best "serious" graphic novel I've read since David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp.

As for novels, I just started re-reading Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano which I've been meaning to re-read for a while since it's one of my favourite books. Certainly the most tragic novel I've ever read but with some of the most beautiful prose. If you're ever feeling too happy and want something relentlessly depressing to trudge through, look no further.

Discworld is indeed fantastic. Laugh out loud hilarious.

It's on my to read-buy list, but I guess I pretty much forgot about it. Tell me more!

Just about to start reading Lanark: a Life in Four Books for the second time. There's something extraordinary about that combining of a traditional realist narrative with the fantastic/grotesque.

Well, basically I couldn't recommend it any more highly. It's one of those books that stays with you and I find myself thinking about it a lot, hence why I decided to re-read it. The narrative takes place during one day, the Mexican Day of the Dead in 1939, and follows the protagonist as he drifts through town drinking himself to the grave and thinking about his failed life. It includes lines like "My secrets are of the grave and must be kept. And this is how I sometimes think of myself, as a great explorer who has discovered some extraordinary land from which he can never return to give his knowledge to the world: but the name of this land is hell."

If you want to know more about the tortuous life of its author, then I can recommend the documentary, "Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry", which is kind of a weird arthouse/documentary film that I found pretty disturbing (but enlightening) in itself.

I haven't read the book, but the novel was made into an excellent movie of the same name directed by John Huston and featuring an amazing performance by Albert Finney in the main role. I'm sure it takes a lot of liberties with the source material, as I don't think it all takes place on a single day, but it's great for what it is.

Oh really? I've actually avoided watching the film adaptation, as I usually do for books that I love, in case it changes the way I think of them. I'll keep that in mind and maybe one day get around to it.

People still talking about wolfe on here, i still think the books i read of his were very average.

At the moment i'm reading "dark matter" by Michelle Paver. A trio go to an island north of norway for the dark season in the 1930's, one is left there after one gets sick. Stange things start to happen in the dark land, the place seems to have some bad history. Great read so far.

Also just read "the ritual" by Adam Nevill. Three reunited friends go for a tramp and get lost in swedish woods and get hunted by an unseen monster.

A bit of paganisim and history involved, awsome read.

Also read "the keeper" Sarah langans first book recently, pretty good, nothing amazing

I could understand not liking Wolfe, but "average"? What?