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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 13, 2016 12:48:21 GMT -5
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar The internet says the cover is Neal Adams... anyone know if that's true or not? there's a signature in the corner, but it doesn't look like Adams to me. (definitely says Neal something) The internet is correct. That is definitely Neal Adams. He did a series of covers for Ballantine in the 70s.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 13, 2016 19:10:23 GMT -5
Cool... he does a nice job doing a Frazetta-ish style without it being exactly like him.
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 13, 2016 19:21:25 GMT -5
That's a typical Adams signature, a lot like this one:
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 13, 2016 19:24:42 GMT -5
Ahh... I see now..he makes both 'A's big.. that's what threw me off
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 16, 2016 10:29:29 GMT -5
A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch
This is #4 of 10 books in a series of books about Detective Charles Lenox... a bit before Holmes-era (this book is set in about 1865 or so).
I think perhaps I would have enjoyed this more if I'd read the 1st three and been invested in the characters.. the is alot of interpersonal stuff between Charles and his new wife, his Butler/Secretary/Watson, being a new MP, his protege, etc.
The mystery itself was pretty pedestrian, they dropped a hint right at the beginning as to who it was, which I had hoped was a red herring, but turned out to be that person, after alot of spinning in circles. I think what the author is going for is 'What if Sherlock Holmes was a member of Society', but Charles Lenox just isn't that good of an investigator... his main positive trait is that he doesn't believe in the polite lies people tell, which carries him through in this case.
I might check out one of the earlier ones if I'm desparate for a mystery, but I wouldn't really recommend it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2016 9:24:51 GMT -5
Yesterday I finally got around to reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time. It was ... solid, but I fear I can't really see what all the fuss is about. For 1961, though, I suppose it was quite something.
Did remind me a fair amount, though, of growing up in the nominal South (the Ark-La-Tex is really its own thing), albeit some 30 years after & about 400 miles northwest of the novel's setting. I did have one first-grade classmate who didn't have shoes to wear, at least at the beginning of the school year.
I've got Go Set a Watchman to start today.
Now, as to why my most memorable dream from last night involved trying to escape from a vampire, I have no idea ... Boo Radley gone really, really weird, perhaps?
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 17, 2016 14:04:03 GMT -5
A used book sale at Powell's Books:
Once upon a midnight dreary, if you've grown both weak and weary Of your own quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore- If you're browsing, nearly buying, waiting for a used book sale We have many books to offer: cookbooks, fiction, even memoir. And for only three short days, buy them all and spread the tale: Quoth the raven, "Used book sale!" Enter coupon code POE during checkout to receive 25% off of all used books*. * Offer good on used books at Powells.com only (not in our Portland-area stores) with orders using the coupon code POE and placed before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, October 19th. Rare books and items shelved at our partner warehouses do not qualify for the discount. Cannot be combined with other offers. www.powells.com/used-book-sale
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 17, 2016 16:14:29 GMT -5
Yesterday I finally got around to reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time. It was ... solid, but I fear I can't really see what all the fuss is about. For 1961, though, I suppose it was quite something. Did remind me a fair amount, though, of growing up in the nominal South (the Ark-La-Tex is really its own thing), albeit some 30 years after & about 400 miles northwest of the novel's setting. I did have one first-grade classmate who didn't have shoes to wear, at least at the beginning of the school year. I've got Go Set a Watchman to start today. Now, as to why my most memorable dream from last night involved trying to escape from a vampire, I have no idea ... Boo Radley gone really, really weird, perhaps? To me Atticus Finch is a hero and a role-model. Someone I aspire to be and know that I can't. One of my all-time favorite books and movies. I've avoided Go Set a Watchman. I really don't like the way it came to publication and everything I've heard from fans of Mockingbird lead me to believe I won't enjoy it.
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Post by Calamas on Oct 17, 2016 18:53:25 GMT -5
Yesterday I finally got around to reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time. It was ... solid, but I fear I can't really see what all the fuss is about. For 1961, though, I suppose it was quite something. Did remind me a fair amount, though, of growing up in the nominal South (the Ark-La-Tex is really its own thing), albeit some 30 years after & about 400 miles northwest of the novel's setting. I did have one first-grade classmate who didn't have shoes to wear, at least at the beginning of the school year. I've got Go Set a Watchman to start today. Now, as to why my most memorable dream from last night involved trying to escape from a vampire, I have no idea ... Boo Radley gone really, really weird, perhaps? To me Atticus Finch is a hero and a role-model. Someone I aspire to be and know that I can't. One of my all-time favorite books and movies. I've avoided Go Set a Watchman. I really don't like the way it came to publication and everything I've heard from fans of Mockingbird lead me to believe I won't enjoy it. [Emphasis Mine]It’s not what I normally read but I have to agree with Slam. I came across a paperback copy while sorting through some stored boxes for family, started flipping through it while taking a break, and before I knew I had to finish it later that night. I still have that book because the owner had read it for school, had forgotten about it, and did not read for pleasure. I’ve since reread it more than once.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 17, 2016 19:15:38 GMT -5
I've never really been moved to read it.. maybe I should one of these days. We, the Maurauders By Robert Silverberg The set up here reminded me very much of the Space Merchants, with a big marketing corporation trying to control the masses. In this case, an executive gets the idea to set up a fake colony on Ganymede, so they can kill the pesky natives and strip mine it without any fuse. He grows a conscious, though, and sets upon a course to change things. Not a particularly original story, but a fun one that blends a few classic sci fi elements in a fairly interesting way.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 17, 2016 19:47:09 GMT -5
I've never really been moved to read it.. maybe I should one of these days. We, the Maurauders By Robert Silverberg The set up here reminded me very much of the Space Merchants, with a big marketing corporation trying to control the masses. In this case, an executive gets the idea to set up a fake colony on Ganymede, so they can kill the pesky natives and strip mine it without any fuse. He grows a conscious, though, and sets upon a course to change things. Not a particularly original story, but a fun one that blends a few classic sci fi elements in a fairly interesting way. We, the Maurauders..I never read this story. It was published in 1958 during Silverberg's first phase in his career when he was producing a ton of work and more concerned that it followed the popular trends and sold rather than being creative and original. His work then was decent, sometimes more so. In 1959 he took an SF sabbatical, rethought the way he should write and returned as one of the best ones. In 1968 he expanded and improved that story and re-titled it Invaders From EarthForgive me, I had become a Silverberg aficionado after reading about 4,000 pages of his stories the last few years
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 17, 2016 21:23:09 GMT -5
Hmm.. interesting that it got expanded.. it seemed like a pretty complete story as is. I mean, sure, there could be a sequel of sorts, but still. Interesting that the James Blish story it shares this book with also got expanded (I have and read the expanded version a while back).
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2016 9:25:33 GMT -5
Yesterday I finally got around to reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time. It was ... solid, but I fear I can't really see what all the fuss is about. For 1961, though, I suppose it was quite something. Did remind me a fair amount, though, of growing up in the nominal South (the Ark-La-Tex is really its own thing), albeit some 30 years after & about 400 miles northwest of the novel's setting. I did have one first-grade classmate who didn't have shoes to wear, at least at the beginning of the school year. I've got Go Set a Watchman to start today. Now, as to why my most memorable dream from last night involved trying to escape from a vampire, I have no idea ... Boo Radley gone really, really weird, perhaps? To me Atticus Finch is a hero and a role-model. Someone I aspire to be and know that I can't. One of my all-time favorite books and movies. I've avoided Go Set a Watchman. I really don't like the way it came to publication and everything I've heard from fans of Mockingbird lead me to believe I won't enjoy it. Watchman, which I read a couple of days ago, turned out to be rather more eventful than Mockingbird, though the fact that the last, I dunno, 20 percent or so of the book is devoted to diatribes by major characters is a definite weakness. Nobody really comes off looking all that great, but (a) real life is like that, pretty much, so I've never really been bothered by such things, whether in fiction or cinema, & (b) at this late date I'm a little too self-aware to ever stand any sort of chance of joining the Cult of Atticus anyway.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 27, 2016 22:20:33 GMT -5
The Windup Girl by Paul Bacigalupi
About 1/2 way through this book, I was disappointed... it seemed like another in a long stream of prettily written books where nothing much happens. The author sets out an interesting future world where the economy has collapsed through overuse of fossil fuels and too much genetic engineering, setting it almost back to turn of the century level technology. But it's all just setting and character bits. some of them are pretty interesting, but overall, too many ideas and too little done with them.
Then, Gibbons appears, and business picks up.. alot. I'm not sure why I liked him so much, but he totally made the book for me. What I thought was just going to be another diatribe against the authors chosen devil (GMOs) turned out to be far more interesting. There's revolution and counter-revolution... there's betrayal, loyalty, and surprises. Just when I thought the ending was sort of clever, it totally changed, and became more clever still.
Don't give up on this one, it's totally worth the ride in the end!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 29, 2016 19:24:39 GMT -5
For those unfamiliar, Kim Newman is a British writer of film criticism, history and essay, as well as fantasy and horror. he's also a friend and contemporary of Neil gaiman and there are similarities in their style, though Newman is a bit pulpier. This book is an expansion on a story previously published in his Mysteries of the Diogenes Club. It tells the tale of young Amy Thomsett, a new student at Drearcliff Grange School. The school is a place for extraordinary girls and Amy is that, she can float on air. She makes friends with her fellow unusuals, a group with even more special abilities than the other girls. Over the course of the novel, she and her friends face off against the school bullies, masked kidnapper cults, a fascist regime, and Amy begins her journey to becoming the hero, Kentish Glory, while her friends and classmates will go on to be noted scientists, police detectives, athletes, and criminal masterminds. It's loads of fun, filled with all of Newman's homages to film, tv, and literature. I'm a particular fan of his Diogenes Club stories (investigators of paranormal events, in a cross between the Avengers and Doctor Who) and Anno Dracula, his tales of Dracula, post-Stoker, such as becoming Prince Consort to Queen Victoria, and, becoming a figure in 1970s/80s New York and Hollywood (in Johnny Alucard). He also has a new one: This includes two chapters that appeared in the Tales of the Shadowmen anthology series (Black Coat Books) and feature a trio of female agents, ala Charlie's Angels; except, Charlie is the Phantom of the Opera. In one story, the agents are Irene Adler (A Scandal in Bohemia), Christine Danae (Phantom of the Opera) and Trilby O'Farrell (Trilby). In another, they are Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady/Pygmalion), Gigi (the same) and Rima the Jungle Girl (The Green Mansion), who take on Charles Foster Kane (Citizen Kane) and his casino, at Euro-Xanadu (with a surveillance system, created by Dr Mabuse, as in Fritz Lang's 1000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse). I haven't strated it yet; but, the earlier two stories are fantastic. It also features Kate Reed, a character from an early draft of Dracula, who features in the Anno Dracula books.
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