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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 2, 2018 5:44:40 GMT -5
I came to the books from the comics, (...) Same here, but with Gil Kane for John Carter, Russ Manning for Tarzan and John Buscema for Conan. I might be the only Conan fan merely neutral about Frazetta.. I appreciate his amazing technique, but that’s it. He never elicited in me the same awe as, say, Barry Smith’s Conan #19-24.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 2, 2018 16:45:38 GMT -5
The Michael Whelan covers are definitive for me, his renderings were the way I pictured Barsoom and all of its denizens in my head when I was reading the books. And much as I like the work by Frazetta, Krenkel and others, I feel the same way about the Neal Adams covers on the Tarzan paperbacks. Frazetta, though, rules the roost on the Conan covers. There was definitely a time when I thought Michael Whelan was THE fantasy artist. I think he's a little too clean and perfect for my current sensibility, but I definitely appreciate his skill. Two Bear Mambo was really, really good... I really need to get to reading more Hap and Leonard one of these days.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 4, 2018 7:04:58 GMT -5
Spook Street Mick Herron
This series shows no signs of petering out after 4 books. Herron seems to have an endless amount of failed spies that he has ready to send to Slough House whenever it's time for a new character. Unlike most series, these newer additions are just as interesting and quirky as the originals.
This book balances quite a few plots flawlessly... River's granddad losing his marbles... an old cold war era issue coming home to roost, and a unique terrorist attack that you read about and almost wish it wasn't in the book because it's SUCH a good idea (if you're a terrorist) one wonders why they haven't thought of it.
Glad Mick Herron is on our side (I think).
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Post by Jesse on Oct 5, 2018 16:02:11 GMT -5
Picked up A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess at the library this morning. Wasn't planning on getting anything but might have to binge read this one this week.
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Post by Jesse on Oct 6, 2018 15:35:50 GMT -5
A Clockwork Orangeby Anthony Burgess I was a huge fan of the Stanley Kubrick film as a teenager but never got around to picking up the novel until now. The weird thing about the book is that it's narrated in that weird sort of cockney that Malcolm McDowell uses in the movie. Being familiar with the film I didn't have a tough time following it. An additional note is that this version of the book includes the final chapter than was for whatever reasons omitted from the original American release and therefore the movie adaptation as well. For anyone unfamiliar with the story it's set in a dystopian future, that doesn't seem to far from the present, where the government has developed a way to brainwash or condition the criminal element into behaving as they deem good. Here the mere thought of violence and other socially unacceptable behaviors makes the protagonist extremely ill. There's a lot of social and political commentary here that features some pretty disturbing situations to examine the importance of choice and freewill in a moral society. Despite the way language is used I found this an interesting read and comparable with some of the other dystopian stories I've enjoyed.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 9, 2018 18:44:06 GMT -5
Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins I was excited to read this one.. I've seen lots of stuff about the Ms. Tree comic, but haven't come across anywhere but in discussions. It's also my first Max Allan Collins book (though I think I've read some of his short Batman run), so I was feeling like it was a bit of a milestone. The book itself is pretty good... it flowed well, and the characters, while not particularly complex, worked for what they were for. I think the only real downside is it felt like it should be a comic.. between the names of the characters to the body count and the action scenes, it all seemed like it would work better with some nice art. I did think this book did a better job being 'modern' that the last one I read... the problems were such that they weren't on google, but yet the character still used computers and such in a reasonable way. What was a little less reasonable was how good the main character was at figuring things out (she wasn't wrong once, and wasted no leads)… not to mention how easy she handled every fight (and there were quite a few of them). It was over the top enough to be fun, but by the last one it started to have a 'enough is enough' sort of feel. The back of the book tells me this was a bit of a re-boot/modernization of the character, but which it seems didn't catch on. While it's better than a lot of books I've read that did become long running series, there was a little something that just made it seem more unrealistic than most. I'm definitely going to check out the comic when I can, though.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 10, 2018 7:48:19 GMT -5
Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins I was excited to read this one.. I've seen lots of stuff about the Ms. Tree comic, but haven't come across anywhere but in discussions. It's also my first Max Allan Collins book (though I think I've read some of his short Batman run), so I was feeling like it was a bit of a milestone. The book itself is pretty good... it flowed well, and the characters, while not particularly complex, worked for what they were for. I think the only real downside is it felt like it should be a comic.. between the names of the characters to the body count and the action scenes, it all seemed like it would work better with some nice art. I did think this book did a better job being 'modern' that the last one I read... the problems were such that they weren't on google, but yet the character still used computers and such in a reasonable way. What was a little less reasonable was how good the main character was at figuring things out (she wasn't wrong once, and wasted no leads)… not to mention how easy she handled every fight (and there were quite a few of them). It was over the top enough to be fun, but by the last one it started to have a 'enough is enough' sort of feel. The back of the book tells me this was a bit of a re-boot/modernization of the character, but which it seems didn't catch on. While it's better than a lot of books I've read that did become long running series, there was a little something that just made it seem more unrealistic than most. I'm definitely going to check out the comic when I can, though. Ms. Tree the comic is awesome. This book while good tried too hard in being an update of the character where it doesn't have the leisure and pacing for multiple issues to let the characterization flow smoothly. More pages would have allowed depth of character and situations to play out better. Part of the problem is that this book was actually a screenplay which will always use short cuts to develop things quicker. If you like this though you really should try out Collin's other books because they are very good. I can fully recommend the Nathan Heller series, the Eliot Ness series and his Disaster/mystery books. I have a few Nolan and Quarry books but as yet haven't begun to dive into those.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 10, 2018 10:06:15 GMT -5
Deadly Beloved was actually the first book by Collins I ever read (I came to him rather late), but I liked it well enough to give his other books a chance. (I still haven't read any of the Ms. Tree comics, but I hope to some day.) I can second the recommendation by brutalis about his other books; at this point, I've read all of this Quarry books, which are thoroughly enjoyable - even though the main character is a more-or-less former hitman for hire. Also, since we're all comics fans here, I highly recommend his Jack and Maggie Starr murder mystery trilogy. They take place in the late 1940s/early 1950s, and are very steeped in the comics history of the time - I did a write-up about them at another site while back, if you need more information.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 10, 2018 10:39:15 GMT -5
Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins I was excited to read this one.. I've seen lots of stuff about the Ms. Tree comic, but haven't come across anywhere but in discussions. It's also my first Max Allan Collins book (though I think I've read some of his short Batman run), so I was feeling like it was a bit of a milestone. The book itself is pretty good... it flowed well, and the characters, while not particularly complex, worked for what they were for. I think the only real downside is it felt like it should be a comic.. between the names of the characters to the body count and the action scenes, it all seemed like it would work better with some nice art. I did think this book did a better job being 'modern' that the last one I read... the problems were such that they weren't on google, but yet the character still used computers and such in a reasonable way. What was a little less reasonable was how good the main character was at figuring things out (she wasn't wrong once, and wasted no leads)… not to mention how easy she handled every fight (and there were quite a few of them). It was over the top enough to be fun, but by the last one it started to have a 'enough is enough' sort of feel. The back of the book tells me this was a bit of a re-boot/modernization of the character, but which it seems didn't catch on. While it's better than a lot of books I've read that did become long running series, there was a little something that just made it seem more unrealistic than most. I'm definitely going to check out the comic when I can, though. Another one of those books I keep meaning to get around to reading. So many books...so little time. I have been getting back to Hard Case of late so who knows...could be sooner rather than later. Ms. Tree (the comic) is an excellent read.
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Post by Calamas on Oct 10, 2018 13:32:48 GMT -5
I loved the Ms. Tree comic and loyally followed it from publisher to publisher. I’ll have to pick up this book.
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Post by Duragizer on Oct 11, 2018 17:13:15 GMT -5
Cthulhu: The Mythos and Kindred Horrors (Robert E. Howard) An alright collection. The best story was probably “The Fire of Asshurbanipal”, but my personal favourite was “The Black Stone”. The rest didn’t floor me, but they were okay. 6/10
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 11, 2018 17:49:53 GMT -5
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Lord Greystoke is back and do to financial set-backs must head with a group of Waziri to Opar to gather up some of that sweet sweet hidden gold. Unfortunately an earthquake caused falling rock gives Greystoke one of his many bouts of amnesia. This causes him to revert fully to Tarzan and while he escapes Opar a group of Arab bandits attack the Greystoke home and kidnap Jane (shocking). There are all sorts of adventures involving La and the Oparians, a Belgian soldier who deserted after killing his superior, a company of Abyssinian soldiers, the aforementioned Arab bandits, a number of mangani and a partridge in a pear tree. This is actually a fairly fun entry if you completely turn your brain off. But you can't think...don't dare. Tarzan's hyper-senses come and go with the dictates of the plot. Burroughs' Africa is clearly not very big because everything in the continent is less than a week's march from anywhere else. And you're almost certainly going to run across everyone you know within a few days time. The Burroughs coincidence meter is turned up close to 11. But it's still fun, though this is getting perilously close to the point where the Tarzan novels begin to hit tedium. I had never noticed before in the paperback Ballantine edition with the cover by Neal Adams that Tarzan's lower right leg and foot are a MESS. Love Adams though I do that extremity is screwed up.
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Post by berkley on Oct 11, 2018 18:06:14 GMT -5
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Lord Greystoke is back and do to financial set-backs must head with a group of Waziri to Opar to gather up some of that sweet sweet hidden gold. Unfortunately an earthquake caused falling rock gives Greystoke one of his many bouts of amnesia. This causes him to revert fully to Tarzan and while he escapes Opar a group of Arab bandits attack the Greystoke home and kidnap Jane (shocking). There are all sorts of adventures involving La and the Oparians, a Belgian soldier who deserted after killing his superior, a company of Abyssinian soldiers, the aforementioned Arab bandits, a number of mangani and a partridge in a pear tree. This is actually a fairly fun entry if you completely turn your brain off. But you can't think...don't dare. Tarzan's hyper-senses come and go with the dictates of the plot. Burroughs' Africa is clearly not very big because everything in the continent is less than a week's march from anywhere else. And you're almost certainly going to run across everyone you know within a few days time. The Burroughs coincidence meter is turned up close to 11. But it's still fun, though this is getting perilously close to the point where the Tarzan novels begin to hit tedium. I had never noticed before in the paperback Ballantine edition with the cover by Neal Adams that Tarzan's lower right leg and foot are a MESS. Love Adams though I do that extremity is screwed up.
Yeah, Adams was prone to do things like that in his comics work too, from time to time. I don't know what effect he was trying to convey but it never works, to my eyes at least.
Apart from the first two entries of the series the Tarzan books are not among my favourite ERB works. Probably not even in the top 25 or more.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 13, 2018 20:21:20 GMT -5
Deadly Beloved was actually the first book by Collins I ever read (I came to him rather late), but I liked it well enough to give his other books a chance. (I still haven't read any of the Ms. Tree comics, but I hope to some day.) I can second the recommendation by brutalis about his other books; at this point, I've read all of this Quarry books, which are thoroughly enjoyable - even though the main character is a more-or-less former hitman for hire. Also, since we're all comics fans here, I highly recommend his Jack and Maggie Starr murder mystery trilogy. They take place in the late 1940s/early 1950s, and are very steeped in the comics history of the time - I did a write-up about them at another site while back, if you need more information. I've seen at least one of those around.. the covers didn't appeal to me.. I'll have to keep an eye out
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 14, 2018 2:11:13 GMT -5
Yeah, Adams was prone to do things like that in his comics work too, from time to time. I don't know what effect he was trying to convey but it never works, to my eyes at least.
Apart from the first two entries of the series the Tarzan books are not among my favourite ERB works. Probably not even in the top 25 or more.
I actually burned out on Burroughs in general when I was about 13, mainly because, as I was reading through the Tarzan books, I finished the fifteenth one, and realized I'd just read the same book about 3 or 4 times at least, just with a few different character names. While Tarzan became by far his best known creation, I think as a whole his Barsoomian books are better - even though I've never gone back and re-read those, either (though I have read the comics more recently, and I loved the John Carter movie).
My advice to anyone who's never read Burroughs and is interested in Tarzan would be to read the first two, and then if they like those, go on to read the next four but then stop after that. Or just the first two, plus the sixth one, Jungle Tales, because as I recall those were always my favorite Tarzan stories.
As for that cover illustration, while I agree that it starts to look a bit odd if you stare at it long enough, it still seems to work.
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