#as in it would just be a regular non YA fantasy series I mean

[alicelufenia]

We finally have a release date for the Guide's official publication

The ebook edition at least.

Also HOLY SHIT THE COVER ART

AAAAAAAAAH

I'M LOSING MY MIND OVER THIS SHE LOOKS SO COOL 😭

Only minor gripe I have is the boobplate but I mean, discounting that

I love those gauntlets! And there's the cloak too! And the Tower goddamn the TOWER

The flames! Is that goddamn GOBLIN FIRE, hmmm I do believe it might be some good ol' goblin fire. Though what's with the green flame torches? Meh a minor detail, green is also the color of Evil in the Guideverse anyway, or is that just for Black? Either way, it works for me.

And I LOVE this design for Catherine, the hair, the expression, the pose! Like how often do you see fantasy covers this accurate, be honest.

But also? Something important to me personally?

She's got a nose bump! You have no idea how important this is to me lol sorry I sound insane but for real 😭😭😭

I'm so looking forward to these coming out, and having this series in print on my shelf.

From what's known about it, the official publication should be 15 books in total, which divides most of the original web novel into 2-3 books each, at least one (new book 3) will include be a totally new addition to the story taking place between the original book 1 and start of book 2.

Ugh gonna get confusing when trying to reference what's what, might end up adopting what the author does and call the new books volumes.

Gonna be chewing on this series for at least a few more years guaranteed now :DDDDD

[libertyreads]

Books that are worth the hype-

Here are just five books that I think are completely worth the hype. We hear a lot about these books on BookTube and across the internet and they are so worth it.

1. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson-- This is a YA Sci-Fi novel about a girl named Spensa who wants to be a pilot one day, but faces problems getting into the school thanks to her father’s past. I rated this one a full 5 stars upon finishing it the first time. I don’t know if that rating would stand upon a reread and looking back on it now. But I doubt I could ever rate this lower than a 4.5 stars. I loved the characters, the world building, and the twist at the end was so shocking. It’s also got some sassy AI and if there’s one thing we know about me it’s that I love some sassy AI.

2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo-- A YA/New Adult Fantasy novel, this was my first foray into the Grishaverse (whoops) and I loved every second of it. This is the first book in the second series set in this world. Six outcasts come together to complete an impossible heist. This includes a gritty world, morally grey characters, and a found family. I rated this one a full 5 stars upon finishing it the first time and I think that rating stands upon rereads. I want to be Inej Ghafa when I grow up. Or at least have the self confidence and wit of Nina Zenik.

3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater-- When I tell you that this first book had me up past my bed time I mean that I was marathoning this book at 2 a.m. with red eyes, blurry vision, and a damaged heart. This book spoke to the weird little girl inside of me who needed something like this growing up. And that’s not even the point of the story--the regular family and the found family in this completely stole my heart. And it’s so hard to explain the premise of this book to someone who’s never heard of it before. Blue is the only non-psychic in a family of psychics and she just wants to fit in, but when she sees something one night that she shouldn’t she has to have answers. I rated this 4 stars the first time I read it but I think knowing what I know now that I would have to change it upon a reread. It’s so good.

4. Vicious by V.E. Schwab-- In this Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel, Victor and Eli are two college roommates who work together to figure out how ExtraOrdinaries happen and maybe they experiment on each other along the way. And ten years after the fact one is hailed as the local hero while the other has been behind bars. What has caused this rift in their relationship? And who’s really the good guy here? I love Schwab’s exploration of morally grey characters and the questionable lines between right and wrong. I rated this 5 stars when I read it originally and I still stick with that rating after several rereads. This is one of my favorite books of all time.

5. The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty-- An Adult desert, high Fantasy novel about a woman named Nahri. She’s a con woman in 18th century Cairo who doesn’t believe in magic. But when she accidentally summons a warrior djinn there are suddenly a lot of questions that need to be answered. She’s forced to enter a magical world she never believed was real. I rated this one 4.25 stars when I originally finished the novel. I’m not sure how that would stand up now, but since I’ve completed the series and I know how everything ends I feel like I’d have to bump up the rating at least a quarter star. There were so many things placed in book one that make a huge difference in the rest of the books. The plotting, the planning, was just so good.

[princelee-chang]

tagged by @padmesgreene!!! thank you so so much :D

Rules: answer the questions then ask 11 of your own!

My questions:

1. If you were to write a book right now, fiction or non-fiction or whatever, what would it be about? i love this question so much. i’d probably write something fiction. hopefully i could conjure a world as amazing a westeros or middle earth

2. What’s your go-to Starbucks order (or if not Starbucks then wherever you get your caffeine fix)?

i never stuck to one order. i’d eliminate all the drinks on the board haha. usualy it’d be a mochaccino or frappe though because i love those. but i’d drink anything thats at home im not too pick.a

3. Absolute favorite Star Wars character (you can only pick one) (if not Star Wars, then just absolute favorite character ever (only one!))?

i love ahsoka tano so so so so so much omg 4. Favorite US state? (Is that a weird question? Idk…if you don’t have one, then just favorite city in the world? Is that weird? Idk…)

i’ve only been to 2 states but i’ll say minnesota bec i grew up there 5. Most favorite recent book series? (Like not of all time but favorite series you’ve most recently read) (This is me shamelessly looking for book series recs, preferably some sort of YA fantasy or sci-fi.)

i’ve just started anne of green gables and oh my god it’s so good!!!!!!!!!! :Di highly recommend 12/10 6. If you could suddenly known an entire new language, which one would you pick?

i have thought about this and i want to learn either spanish or german 7. If you could marry any celebrity right now, who would you choose?

oh my god if you asked me this like 3 years ago i would have said patrick stump, no hesitation hahaha right now though???? all my celebrity crushes are dead :( maybe cillian muprhy??? i mean have you seen his eyes???????? 8. If you could study any subject at all right now without having to worry about getting a job or getting paid in the future because it was somehow taken care of, what would you study?

id study film, art history, music theory, psychology, there’s so much to learn friends

9. Beach or forest or mountain or desert or city?

ahhhhhhhhh this is hard but i’d say the mountains or the city 10. Can you bake? If so, what’s your favorite thing to bake? If not, but if you could, what would be the first thing you baked?

yES. i just learned recently and it’s so addictive. i dont even like sweet stuff but my favorite thing ever to bake is probably blueberry cheesecake haha

1. How are you? Just if in case no one asked you that today. i am fine thank you haha i am just so psyched for life because i like where i am at the moment

2.Favorite Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire house? okay okay i love house baratheon for so may reason i wont say here bec it’ll get too long but yes house baratheon all the waaaaaaaaaaaay

3. Favorite DC character? Favorite Marvel Character? i dont know that much about DC, but i love the Batman of christian bale and christopher nolan a lot. my favorite marvel characters are natasha romanoff and karen page

4.What’s your fav subject on school or college? my favorite subjects are history, media, social anthropology and english :D

5.How many TV shows are you watching? wow. okay. so haha i dont watch all religiously but yeah there’s sherlock, doctor who, the 100, daredevil, jessica jones, luke cage, brooklyn nine-nine, new girl, parks and rec, narcos, stranger things, game of thrones, friends, chicago med, lucifer, clone wars, 13 reasons why, atla, teen wolf, regular show, the crown, victoria and the big bang theory

6.Where do you want to live? I like where I am haha

7.Movies or TV shows? aaaaagh this is hard but i guess i have to say tv eries because i just love overarching plots and character development

8.Do you a pet? If the answer is yes, what’s her/his name? yes i do!! i have 2 dogs back home who are Kofi (belgian malinois) and Sandy (poodle) and Momo (ginger tabby cat)

9.Did you watch Avatar:The Last Airbender? I have watched the whole series and I am actually watching it again with my friend @idefinesass hqhqhq qnd omg memories

10.Do you like Prince Zuko? Do I like Prince Zuko??????????? WTF is that even a question??? he has unquestionably one of the best character developments i have ever seen in my life i have yet to see anyone top that

11.What do you want to eat? i’d love tacos or a quesadilla rn tbh MY QUESTIONS :) 1. What mutant powers would you choose? 2. Cardigans or hoodies? 3. Top 5 OTPs? 4. Best rom com  you’ve ever seen? 5. If you could suddenly be a main character of any tv show what would it be? And who would you be? 6. Song stuck in your head atm? 7. If you had a time machine, would you go forwards or backwards in time? The catch is that you stay permanently wherever you choose 8. Watch your life like a movie from your perspective or from someone else’s? 9. What’s one thing you want to be good at? 10. One thing you wish you had? 11. One thing you wish you could get rid off? tagging:  @onceuponasuperlittlevampire @mimoitei @rielpenji

[givencontext]

Coyote Ate the Stars

I loved this book! My last blog post was about books that don’t make you care about the characters. This was not problem with Coyote Ate the Stars. As a person recovering from obesity and food addiction, I was a little concerned that this book might be triggering for me, but I really wanted to read it. I regret nothing! I hate to say “breath of fresh air,” because it sounds so cliche, but after being up to my neck in non-fiction and the aforementioned I-don’t-care-about-these-characters books, Coyote was, in fact, refreshing. I mentioned in this post that I wanted to read more fantasy, and this was a fun way to take myself up on that offer.

Mom Feels

First of all, we have a protagonist whose name is Coyote. Is there a cooler name? I don’t think so. I have always been simultaneously fascinated by and terrified of coyotes. As a kid and young adult, when I stayed with my grandparents on the farm there was a good chance of hearing coyotes howling at night. Knowing there is a dangerous wild animal nearby can be thrilling when you are tucked safely inside. I have also seen coyotes not far from my current home. They look so smart! I just love them! But I also don’t trust them. So… what prompts a mother to name her son Coyote? As of right now, I still don’t know. That’s okay. I definitely want to know, but I am also totally on board with this book pretending that this is a perfectly normal name and no explanation should be necessary.

Coyote is eighteen. I have an eighteen year old right now. I also have vivid memories of being eighteen. Some serious identity crisis stuff hit me at that age. There’s a lot of pressure to feel like you have it all figured out. There’s a lot of pressure about everything. I felt a strong connection to Coyote and wanted to give him a hug. When my kids are in pain I just want to fix it. Usually I can’t. Sometimes I try to say something helpful and I just make it worse. But I can always give them a hug. That’s the kind of hug I wanted to give this young man. The I-can’t-help-but-I’m-here hug. This book definitely made me care about the characters. Hazel is Coyote’s younger sister, and I really liked her too. Even some of the characters that maybe I wasn’t supposed to like much had a lot of appeal. The end of the book left me wanting to see more of each of them. #Sequels!

World-Building

Fantasy means world-building, right? Do you ever read fantasy and feel like the author set the book in Middle Earth but slapped a new name on it? Middle Earth is awesome, but I like discovering new fantasy worlds. I really enjoyed visiting the crepuscular world of Adumbrate. And yes, I geeked out when I came upon the word “crepuscular” in the text. Many thanks to Kathy for my love of that word!

I liked the fact that our world is part of this universe. It’s reminiscent of A Wrinkle in Time or Narnia where the story starts in our regular old world and then our heroes are whisked away on an adventure. I have to admit, there were a few anachronisms that made me want to be judgy. Would someone really have the last name Valentine on this other world? Would a native Adumbrite (Adumbration?) use the word “Jesus” as an expression? However, there is the clue that other people have crossed between our two worlds before, so I have to suspend my judgement and assume that these words could have squirreled their way into their language through those connections. This was really the biggest of very few bones I could find to pick with this story, so I decided to focus on the positive.

There’s a troll with a very scary bridge. Come to think of it, all of the bridges in this story are terrifying. But mostly that troll’s bridge. I am certain we will see him again… which scares me more than a little. I have a ton of books on my TBR list, but I fully intend to bump everything and read the sequel as soon as it’s available. That’s saying a lot because I have read the first book in so many series. Thank you book clubs! But can I please find out what happens to Coyote and Hazel next? And revisit all of their new friends!

Royal AF

Another tried and true fantasy trope – secret royal lineage! I like the spin on this one too. I especially like the internal dialogue that takes place with the main characters as they contemplate how they fit into this new world and how people treat them in this setting versus how they are used to being treated at “home.” Their own assumptions about themselves are repeatedly called up for examination as are the assumptions they make about others. Maybe these aha moments seem a bit contrived, but this is YA lit, and I sincerely hope that young adult readers are occasionally having this sort of internal conversation with themselves.

How would your life change if you found out the truth about your secret royal lineage? What if you find out you are royal but also find out that you were conceived for one very specific purpose? Does this give your life purpose or make you feel like a pawn?

I recommend Coyote Ate the Stars for anyone looking for a new YA fantasy. Do you have any favorite new fantasy books?

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[legalist217]

Grisha Trilogy: in defense of That Ending

My hottest take: the end of Ruin and Rising, while shocking in the moment, is fully consistent with the themes of the book and the Grisha Trilogy as a whole. Further, to feel as though Leigh Bardugo did not tell the story she meant to tell from the outset (for whatever reason, be it executive meddling or chickening out at the last minute) is doing her narrative a disservice at minimum and might at most be missing the point of the series.

This is the part where my good sis @alskaichou and I disagree to disagree and I accept that. Also this essay thing is by and large directed at Tara, and is just being written out longform for efficiency’s sake. So if you disagree with it, it’s not personal. (Unless you’re Tara. And even then, it’s not personal; I just… disagree… with you...) I’d also like it known that I’m only consulting the text, my own notes, and my own thoughts for this analysis... so if these end up being common Hot Takes, welp. 

Also, mass spoilers directly ahead.

To make sure there’s zero ambiguity in what I mean, I’m saying that both the part where Alina gets depowered and the part where Malina is endgame feel like they were intended right from the start, and to argue that the author intended otherwise may be missing a thematic point.

Okay, so, where do I get off with this flaming hot take? There are two keys, in my opinion: Alina’s narration, and the character of Ilya Morozova.

When I was recapping these books, I spent a lot of time bemoaning Alina’s lack of ambition. Here’s this girl with all this OPPORTUNITY, and yet she keeps going for the lowest-hanging fruits of dangerous power, and that’s when she’s even bothering. But… here’s the thing. I’ve been reflecting ever since reading the ending on what Alina was actually saying in her narration. And I realized something: I am pretty sure Alina wasn’t looking for power, or even opportunity.

The problem for Alina is that for most of the series, she’s faced with two extremes. She can smother her Grisha gift and be extremely weak even for an otkazat’sya, or she can accept her Sun Summoner status… which comes with a ton of prestige, prominence, and responsibilities she never asked to have. For her, the options are being a saltwife or being a queen. And Alina just wants to be normal. Just wants to be physically unhampered and able to pursue the life an otkazat’sya may have.

I realize that’s disappointing. It does tend to go against not only what we want from our protagonists (which is in fantasy often “start ordinary but end up extraordinary”), but even more specifically it goes against what we want from a YA protagonist, particularly a female one. We want role models. We want strong female protagonists. We want them to make the right choices. But therein may have lain a trap we set for ourselves.

When I was reading the first book, I fully expected Mal to be killed off within the first fifty pages. I then fully expected him to become the Gale to Alina’s Katniss--the childhood friend who isn’t extraordinary like the protagonist and just can’t keep up with the life she’s destined to lead. The books do lean into this, with the pair of them breaking up over the course of Siege and Storm due to him being unable to understand the person she’s become and resenting that she’s no longer the girl he grew up with, and by the middle of Ruin and Rising, both of them seem committed to a permanent separation so that Alina can be the best Alina she can be and Mal won’t hold her back. 

But... here’s the thing: the reason Mal wouldn’t be a good match for Alina is, by and large, rooted in societal factors which insist that otkazat’sya will never bother to understand Grisha, so trying to build a life together is foolish. I mean, set aside all the prestige that Alina gets for being this unique Sun Summoner, and even then, there’s this artificial divide which the Darkling smugly predicted would occur between them. But if that hadn’t been there, would Mal have been deeply in love with her and likely an unambiguously suited match?

According to the books? Yep. Mal has never had eyes for any girl that isn’t Alina, and that’s something that started even when they were still living at the orphanage, which he suppressed because, well hey, that’s his best friend, he can’t be like that towards her. And when Alina asks him the question I had, which was whether their bond had been falsely forged by the amplifier inside him, the two of them end up having a very sweet conversation about all the human reasons why they love each other regardless of that magnetic draw. 

Does Mal have some growing up to do? Oh, hell yes. But so does Alina. And like it or not (and I know where you are on this, mate), I think they’re a couple who have the foundation and moreover the willingness to grow together. To weather those shitty arguments and those periods of maturation. Because they both care deeply for one another, and they share common interests and goals in the endgame, which lend them a common purpose beyond twu wuv.

I haven’t forgotten all those other aspects of Alina and this ending which I brushed off--not just her powers, but her prestige. How can I so quickly go from “wtf is this ending” to “nah you know what I’m happy for them”?

Enter Ilya Morozova. Him and his obsessive, ultimate love of “ordinary” people, the characters that we readers on a meta level are somewhat trained to disregard and to hope our protagonist ascends well past. I agree with what Alina posits on (of all pages) pg 394; Morozova probably did expect the amplifiers to be united by a Grisha older than memories of memory. And that would be because it would mean they could rest at long last. 

More of this is coming into focus as I sit here and write. Of course Ilya Morozova never finished what he started. He wanted to. Baghra knew him well enough to get that right. But she didn’t understand his love of otkazat’sya, be it his wife or his daughter, even if she pays lip service to believing he felt it for them. She doesn’t understand that feeling her father had because she never felt anything of the sort for them, and why would she after all the persecution, after seeing her father and sister thrown into the sea? 

Baghra understood that he wanted to finish his project. What she failed to realize was that it was not about creating the amplifiers. It was about uniting them. And how could this man do that to his daughter, or her child, or her grandchild? How long before he took his life rather than contemplate this non-choice, I wonder?

Morozova wanted a world where he and his wife would understand each other, where his family would not be cast out by the village. Hence the amplifiers. Hence their ultimate effect. Baghra’s Grisha gift, if you think about it, almost feels like a Newton’s Third Law situation: the darkness brought into being to counteract the newly created light. Balance, as the Darkling would constantly harp on about. But balance is a regular diurnal cycle. Neither Fold nor weird merzost angels (which never happened, boo). I wonder whether any Sun Summoners will have Darkling children. Balance.

I’m veering off my intended track here: by uniting the amplifiers, Alina at once loses her gift and grants Sun Summoning to what’s described as being all the otkazat’sya in range. I don’t think that ended up eliminating the concept of otkazat’sya, unfortunately, but it does two things:

it levels the playing field and likely kicks open the door to Grisha becoming citizens (because how are otkazat’sya supposed to argue that they’re abominations or whatever when the gift can just randomly get flung onto you well past the standard age? actually don’t answer that im sure humans can find a way)

it sets Alina free

I feel like that second one is going to cause Objections, but refer to earlier when I mentioned she was trapped between the two extremes. Saltwife or queen. And while she’s spent three books psyching up to ascending some form of throne or another, she still... really doesn’t want it. And that? Matters. 

To throw down a kind of low blow here, I’m linking a post you enthusiastically reblogged about a young person who, when told they can be anything they want to be, confidently replies they want to be a secretary. Not a CEO, not a scientist, not a lawyer, not a doctor. A secretary.

Alina visibly misses several things over the course of this series. Occasionally it’s cartography. Often, it’s Mal. But mostly, and despite all the trauma that she endured there, she misses her childhood home at Keramzin. I didn’t realize until the ending just how many of her thoughts stray back to the Duke’s house, to lessons from Ana Kuya, to the grounds and the rooms. It may not have been particularly happy, but Alina’s childhood was important to her. And the fact that it wasn’t happy shapes her motivation as she looks to the future, once there’s a future to be had. 

Of course it isn’t something she ever considers in the series, but then again, when would she have had the opportunity to imagine taking over the orphanage? She was the weakest link in the regiment, then training to be the Most Important Grisha, then preparing for all-out war with the Most Dangerous Grisha, then preparing to be a Queen while maintaining appearances as a Saint. She wasn’t really allowed to have her own idea of her future at any point (that I can recall--my brain is still very fuzzy on book one), and the few times that she’s fleeing all these responsibilities, it’s to do nothing more specific than live with Mal, because to survive is all she dare dream of doing. 

Other people want her to be a queen. Including us readers, because it would be a satisfying end to her arc. But, at the end of it all, I think she really doesn’t want to be a queen. And if it weren’t for how the power is so intimately tied to her life force that not using it makes her sickly, I get the sense she would give up the Grisha gift as well. Of course she misses it once it’s gone, because using Grisha power feels good and encourages further use. It’s self-fulfilling. But it was something that kept her separated from her favorite person (because like it or not Mal sure is that for her), and that made her unhappy. 

Sure, we want stories that encourage girls to do what’s best for them and not just to settle for whatever gross man just because. But I think enough happens with Alina where settling down with Mal isn’t, in her case, “settling.” Girl had options. She also knew what made her happy. In the end? No accounting for taste.

[swipestream]

Sensor Sweep: Gardner Fox, Manitou, Lost Race novels, Sagas of Midgard

Fiction (Gardnerfrancisfox.com): This is the first volume collected and illustrated by Kurt Brugel. The short stories collected in the volume are from Mr. Fox’s earliest (1944) to his last story published (1982). There are all types of stories being told. They range from 2 spooky/creepy (The Weirds of the Woodcarver and Rain, Rain, Go away!), 3 sword & sorcery (The Return of Dargoll, The Holding of Kolymar, and Crom and the Warlock of Sharrador), 4 cosmic adventures (Heart of Light, The Rainbow Jade, Temptress of the Time Flow and The Man Who Couldn’t Die) and 1 history lesson (Cleopatra).

    Cinema (Eldritch Paths): Hard Boiled and the Rule of Cool

I’ve been noticing a trend toward “realism” recently. I see this a lot in fantasy circles where many demand “realism” in their fantasy or complain about the lack thereof. I never understood this. If I wanted realism, I’d just go outside.

Now, I’m not necessarily against realistic fiction. I’ve read classic British novelists like George Eliot and Thomas Hardy. They’re great authors, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I’m against the idea that “realistic” fiction is somehow intrinsically better than non-realistic fiction.

  RPG (RPG Pundit): I think that after a few hundred years to consider, it might still be too soon to tell, but it’s starting to look to me like the invention of the modern novel was, in the final balance, a big mistake. And it’s hilarious to see articles being published (like this one here) suggesting that somehow modern literature is better because in pre-modern literature heroes just went and did stuff, and you didn’t get a lot of information by the author (like you would in a novel) explaining what they were feeling or how their inner monologue was going or what their motivation was.

  Fiction (Wasteland and Sky): Welcome to the third part of this mini-series covering volume 27 of the Pan Book of Horror Stories. In the first part we covered a set of odd shorts that were vaguely horror-ish but more in the vein of satire (at least, I hope so), and in the second part we went over three stories that each had their own weaknesses. Halfway through this book and I’ve started to question just how this once vaunted series had fallen so far. I keep hoping the back half will improve in quality.

  Fiction (Adventures Fantastic): Today, October 15, marks two more birthdays.  James Schmitz (1911-1981) and E. C. Tubb (1919-2010).

Schmitz wrote space opera in the 1950s and 1960s, although he sold his first story, “Greenface” to Unknown in 1943.

Most of Schmitz’s work is set in the Hub.  While there are a variety of characters, the two principle recurring characters are Telzey Amberdon, a young woman with psi powers who tends to find herself in a jam on a regular basis, and Trigger Argee, an agent for the government.

  Art (Tellers of Weird Tales): Boris Dolgov did not exist. The man who bore that name may have existed, but there never was a man in the United States with that name until 1956, too late forWeird Tales. At least that’s what public records say. Search for Boris Dolgov or Dolgoff or Dolgova or Dolkoff or any other permutation you can think of and you’re likely to come up empty . . . except for a Russian-American farmer who now lies buried in a Jewish cemetery in Washington State.

  Fiction (Locus Magazine): Does any genre of fiction ever actually become extinct? And if a genre does go extinct, does that mean that its subject matter, its core material and reason for existing, has no relevance or holds no interest any longer for a contemporary audience?

Most long-time readers can adduce a few genres that, if not extinct, have decidedly gone out of fashion. Westerns once seemed on the verge of disappearing entirely, but while they are certainly not produced in the vast numbers of yore, they do persist at some level. What about “nurse novels?” Fiction about the medical profession continues, and such novels might include nurses.

        RPG (Black Gate): It��s been awhile, and not because there’s been any shortage of Norse-themed role playing games! In this time, we’ve had the  derivative Dragon Heresy, a d6 system called Vikingr, older campaign settings such as Hellfrost and systems such as Trudvang

Chronicles, and many others. Our topic on this Odin’s Day, however, is the latest of these: Sagas of Midgard.

Honestly, I had kind of retired from investment in Viking-age rpgs. My home game hasn’t involved the Norse-specific setting for more than a year, my pocketbook doesn’t drip nine golden rings as Odin’s Draupnir does, and there isn’t much utility in owning much more, since I doubt I’d be able to wrest my gamers from my tabletop version of Fourth Age Middle-earth anytime soon.

  Fiction (James Reasoner): I always try to read some horror fiction for the Forgotten Books post closest to Halloween, and this year it’s THE MANITOU, the debut novel from prolific horror, mystery, and historical novelist Graham Masterton. This book was published in 1976 and was very successful, selling enough copies that they turned up in used bookstore overstock well into the Eighties. When I owned a used bookstore during the era, I always had multiple copies on my shelves. I never got around to reading it until now, though. (There’s also a movie adaptation from 1978 that I’ve never seen.)

        Fiction (Woelf Dietrich): Last week I blogged about accepting the Pre-Tolkien Challenge. You can read that post here. Other blogs taking part in the

challenge can be read here and here. And you can find the originating post that started this challenge here.                                    In short, I have to identify three short stories published before Lord of the Rings. That is to say, three stories published before 1954. And in my review, I have to look at the differences and/or similarities with Tolkien’s world. Today’s my first entry in this exciting challenge so let’s get started.

I grew up reading Conan stories.

    Art (Davy Crockett’s Almanac): Gallery of Famous Fantastic Mystery pulp magazine covers.

  Art (Lawrence Person): Here’s two unusual Robert E. Howard-related items I picked up off eBay relatively cheaply. I think both of these were originally freebie giveaways to promote fancy illustrated editions of Howard’s work.

        Fiction (Grave Tapping): A three-man strike force accustomed to rescuing prisoners of war in the jungles of Vietnam is stateside on a rogue mission in Los Angeles. Mark Stone, known as the MIA Hunter, is asked by an old war buddy, now a deputy chief with LAPD, to help rescue Rick Chavez from a Colombian drug cartel. Chavez is a Pulitzer award winning journalist who has been writing a series of hard and insightful articles about the drug trade in L. A. The articles have enough detail that the LAPD and the drug gangs—Crips, Bloods and their Colombian suppliers—want to know where his information is coming from.

        Fiction (Frontier Partisans): Thanks to a tip from Italian Front scout Davide Mana, I picked up the first Dark Horse Conan Omnibus for $2 on Monday. The first story is Born on a Battlefield, depicting the Cimmerian’s youth. The art is by Greg Ruth and I like it very much.

Ruth also illustrated the Ethan Hawke Apache Wars graphic novel, Indeh, which was a disappointment — but not because of the art. I liked that very much, too.

So, I started scouting out the interwebs for more of Ruth’s work and stumbled upon an intriguing trail. Ruth illustrated a series of YA novels titled The Secret Journeys of Jack London. How can I resist a tale of Jack London that involves the Wendigo? It’s on it’s way up from the Bend Library…

      Calendar (Mens Adventure Magazines): In recent years, I’ve had the pleasure of becoming friends with actress model Eva Lynd.

I started writing posts about her on this blog before I met her several years ago, when I learned that she was a favorite model of Al Rossi and Norm Eastman, two of the great artists who did illustration art for the men’s adventure magazines I collect and focus on here.

In this post, I’m happy to announce the Authorized 2019 Eva Lynd Calendar is now available.

  Sensor Sweep: Gardner Fox, Manitou, Lost Race novels, Sagas of Midgard published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames