The Book Lair - all book talk ITT

[ResidentSeagull]

Started reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea recently. might build a submarine and escape from society like captain nemo he's pretty based

Ahh that takes me back...

Now there's a Certified Hood Classic.

[Cypher Attic]

I've been trying to finish Peppermint Wizard, one of the Boogiepop and Others books. The only reason I haven't is because it is hard to get myself to read anything.

You can guess what other author based on my profile picture, if you are cultured enough.

[Sesto]

Reading "The Once and Future King"

We civilized people, who would immediately fly to divorce courts and alimony and other forms of attrition in such circumstances, can afford to look with proper contempt upon the spineless cuckold. But Arthur was only a medieval savage.

prior to this it actually paints arthur as too good and innocent to hold jealousy in his heart but this line was still made me laugh. why you gotta do that to him bro...

[pinetree]

I didn't remember that line lmao
T. H. White doesn't hold back.

[Sesto]

Finished The Once and Future King. It was really great. My experience with Arthurian stuff was pretty much just Wikipedia browsing (and random anecdotes brought up in Fate discussions...) until this point so it was very fun to see things play out for real. Granted, it doesn't really cover everything and tends to skip seemingly important details sometimes, but that's understandable given the scale. Besides that my only real complaint was the first book is kinda slow, although it was made up for by having the most Merlin. I think my favourite moments were either during Merlin/Arthur's final moments together where Arthur is so adamant about trying to help Merlin from his fate, or the ending with Arthur and the page. It's fucking sad bros...

Given where we are it was also interesting to see classical depictions of the Arthurian characters to contrast the Fate versions. Granted The Once and Future King is basically still like fan fiction so it's not completely true to the original. Still, it actually made me appreciate a lot of the characterizations of the Fate versions of the characters. A lot of them feet completely appropriate; I especially like Gawain and Gareth because at times I could honestly just picture the Fate depictions in the novel.

One of my favourite moments is when the Gawain siblings use their kitchen-maid as bait to lure a unicorn to capture it. When the unicorn finally comes, Agravain just fucking murders it brutally. Gawain is pissed and calls him a traitor (although calms around eventually; mostly just annoyed Agravain disobeyed him), and Gareth is crying because s(he) can't believe Agravain would do such a horrible thing. Meanwhile Agravain mentions they should just kill the kitchen-maid too. it's just like my japanese animes

That said given the focus the novel has on Lancelot it kinda irks me how fucking boring Lancelot (Saber) is. At least Lancelot (Berserker)'s depiction is still good.

[Bloble]

Started reading Conan.

It's pretty good.

[Five_X]

The boy detective manga??

[Bloble]

The man barbarian stories.

[Five_X]

I assume you've watched the 1982 Schwarzenegger movie? I haven't read the books, but I've felt a fantasy itch for a while recently.

[SpoonyViking]

If you're looking specifically for something in the veins of Howard's Conan stories, I'd actually rec his own King Kull and Solomon Kane stories; the Conan ones suffer from Howard so often rebranding other stories as Conan tales, in my opinion. The Stormbringer and Lankhmar stories are also rightfully classics in that genre. I'd also rec the Chronicles of Prydain and the Saga of Erik the Viking, and if you're looking for something more quasi-historical, I'd recommend a lot of Bernard King's, Poul Anderson's, and Henry Treece's oeuvre.
Plus, you can't go wrong with Discworld. My personal favourite is the Death sub-series, but there are a lot of good choices available.

[Bloble]

I'll take a look at all those! Planning on watching the 1982 movie ASAP, haven't yet. I'm currently chewing through all of the Conan stories that weren't written by someone else, then planning on expanding to read Kull and other swords and sorcery fantasy stuff afterwards.

Can definitely see where serial numbers were filed off and protagonists were replaced with Conan. The Black Stranger in particular feels like it could've been the plot to a Pirates of the Carribean film.

So far the Scarlet Citadel is my favourite. It's like Evil Dead invaded a Lovecraft story.

[Mattias]

I'd also suggest Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series, which is basically Lupin III in a low fantasy world.

[Random]

hahaaaaaaa dont mind me i didnt fuck up anything at all nope

uhhhhhh so yeah, Maxwell's Demon by Steven Hall. Confusing as all hell, but absolutely worth reading if you're into magic tricks. It's probably the best example of "simple story told in a complicated way" I've come across in a long time, the first book I've managed to read cover to cover without getting up and doing something else for a long time, and I don't know if there was ever actually a book involved.

[BladeOfEden]

Yusuke Kishi’s “From the New World” is very good. No official English translations yet, but I do have a pdf fan translation if anyone’s interested.

Probably one of my favorites stories I’ve read in a long time. It was adapted into a manga and anime a while ago, but the original definitely adds more depth to the story.

[Deathhappens]

From the New World = Shinsekai Yori?

[Maedhros]

I enjoyed the anime, though it was a while ago. I'd be interested in the original, for sure.

[BladeOfEden]

From the New World = Shinsekai Yori?

Yep

[Formless Creature]

I'm finally reading Le Morte d'Arthur after putting it off for literal years and I think it is just supremely funny how, unlike most media which depicts taking the sword from the stone as this huge epic moment, Arthur is just like "oh my brother Kay forgot his sword, no one's at home to fetch me it. Well I can't let my brother Kay go without a sword today, that would be super sad! So I'm just going to go in this courtyard and pick up this sword!",
and then he comes back and Kay is like "hey dad look, I'm KING OF ENGLAND"
and Ector is like
"uh... where did you get that??"
"oh, I got it from Arthur"
"Arthur, where'd you get that?"
"my brother needed a sword so I grabbed it"
"and you didn't get it from some other knight?"
"nah I just took it off the stone, why"
"Congratulations on becoming KING OF ENGLAND"
"what??? WHY???"
And then he puts it back, and Ector and Kay can't pull it off. Then he pulls it off again, and both Ector and Kay kneel, and he's like "why are you like this??" and Ector explains everything and he's all sad because Ector isn't really his dad and then Ector's like "WILL YOU BE MY LORD WHEN YOU ARE KING" and Arthur goes "I'll do whatever you want because you are my dad (who's not really my dad) : DDDDD" and Ector just says "well all I want.... my lord...... is that you make Sir Kay steward of all your lands...." and Arthur is just like "OKAY, AND BECAUSE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, I'LL MAKE HIM STEWARD FOREVER, SO LONG AS THE BOTH OF US LIVE : DDD"
And then he does the whole "putting the sword back in the stone and then pulling it out again" thing several times to a bunch of nobles just to prove he can do it, and they keep going "nah that wasn't legit, we'll just do it again uh, next holiday" because they don't want this dumbass kid to be their king, and he just keeps doing it, and eventually the peasants get fed up and go like "OKAY, WE'RE TIRED OF YOU PUTTING THIS OFF CONSTANTLY, HE'S OUR KING, CROWN HIM AND IF ANYONE SAYS HE ISN'T KING.... well we'll kill them"

It's hilarious. Kid Arthur is such a dumbass.

[SpoonyViking]

For a book touted as such a classic in the fantasy genre, Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword" was a huge disappointment. Even aside from that, it's just... Not very good.

Mind, the Brazilian translation didn't do it a lot of favours - it's clear the translator wasn't used to the register Anderson was emulating -, but most of the problems were in the writing, not the translation, which I could confirm after getting ahold of an original. The book reads like it's written by someone who loved the Norse sagas and myths and thought that just paying tribute to them without understanding *why* they work, or at least *how*, was enough to write a compelling story. The result is, frankly, rather boring.

I still have other Anderson books in my list, but I'm taking a break. A friend got me interested in checking out Sarah Waters's "Affinity".

[tsugumi]

I'm about... 75 pages from the halfway point of Wolf Hall. I have begun to Perceive Anne Boleyn's waifu qualities.

To simplify greatly: I love a good bitch.

- - - Updated - - -

Feeling lightheaded with how much I like her. Filling up the bingo squares like crazy. "He was a fool. People must say whatever will keep them alive, till better times come. That is no sin. Would not you?" I'm being wooed. This attitude is my weakness. I completely understand why alt-j wrote deadcrush about her.