Wyvern Forums

Review Wyvern Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Arcade
Go Back   Wyvern Forums > Archive > Wyvern Forums Archive > Off Topic
Home Register FAQ Members List Calendar Chatbox Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Off Topic Discuss anything unrelated to Wyvern here, within reason.

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #21  
Old 04-17-2013, 12:12 PM
Lanterra's Avatar
Lanterra Lanterra is offline
 

Join Date: May 2007
Lanterra has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

I read alot, here's some of my faves:

My all time favorite book is The Secret of Dragonhome.
I also like:
Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series
Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and Kane Chronicles series
Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld and Darkest Powers series
Leadership and Self Improvement books
Historical Romance
The Wheel of Time series
Star Wars
Star Trek
Redwall series
Ringword (actually most Niven works I've read are awesome)
Clan of the Cave Bear and sequels
The rulebooks for D&D, GURPS, World of Darkness.... any other RPG I can get my hands on.

I also read webcomic exessively, mainly I keep up with regularly:
xkcd
Eerie Cuties
Magical Chicks
Menage a 3
Sticky Dilly Buns
Something Positive
Questionable Content
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Darths & Droids
Punch & Pie
Our Little Adventure
Order of the Stick
Misfile
Real Life Comics
Sandra and Woo

I've read all the archives for those ones and keep current with them. I've also read:

Dreamland Chronicles
Wayfarers Moon
Wandering Ones
Goblins
Marry Me
Last Blood
Abby's Agency
Neko the Kitty
Irregular Webcomics

but don't keep up with them, I tend to read them in long spurts and then ignore them for a few months or so.

I also like these comics that have finished their runs:

DM of the Rings
Queen of Wands
Catharsis (now only available via Wayback Machine, sadly)
__________________
The butterflies are evil, we must declare war on the NV butterflies!

Last edited by Lanterra : 04-17-2013 at 12:18 PM.
  #22  
Old 04-17-2013, 12:23 PM
Odolf's Avatar
Odolf Odolf is offline
 

Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Ohio
Odolf has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

I believe that if you can pick one book as your favorite, you haven't read nearly enough. :P If you like Larry Niven, you should definitely read Heinlein and Clarke, if you haven't already.

Heinlein tends to be extremely preachy and some of his world views are a little questionable in my opinion, but you can't deny that he's a terrific writer. Clarke is just... amazing. I can't remember a single story of his i've read and not enjoyed.

Another sci-fi author i like that you may not have heard of is CJ Cherryh. She tends to reuse the same set pieces for many of her stories, but to be fair they're good set pieces, and she's a pretty dang good author. The Faded Sun trilogy is a really good one of hers.

On the lighter side of things, there's always Alan Dean Foster, and he really is an excellent author. He's written a LOT of stuff, but the only stuff i've read is the Flinx series (which is very enjoyable) and like i said, it's a lot less heavy and a lot more light hearted (mostly!) than a lot of hard sci-fi. Holy heck that was a long sentence.
  #23  
Old 04-17-2013, 02:09 PM
Lanterra's Avatar
Lanterra Lanterra is offline
 

Join Date: May 2007
Lanterra has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Odolf View Post
I believe that if you can pick one book as your favorite, you haven't read nearly enough. :P If you like Larry Niven, you should definitely read Heinlein and Clarke, if you haven't already.

Heinlein tends to be extremely preachy and some of his world views are a little questionable in my opinion, but you can't deny that he's a terrific writer. Clarke is just... amazing. I can't remember a single story of his i've read and not enjoyed.

Another sci-fi author i like that you may not have heard of is CJ Cherryh. She tends to reuse the same set pieces for many of her stories, but to be fair they're good set pieces, and she's a pretty dang good author. The Faded Sun trilogy is a really good one of hers.

On the lighter side of things, there's always Alan Dean Foster, and he really is an excellent author. He's written a LOT of stuff, but the only stuff i've read is the Flinx series (which is very enjoyable) and like i said, it's a lot less heavy and a lot more light hearted (mostly!) than a lot of hard sci-fi. Holy heck that was a long sentence.
I can name Secret of Dragonhome as my favorite because I've had the book for like a decade and a half now and I still find myself reading it at least once a year, if not 3-4 times (it's only a day or two to read it through, so....) even though I know the book by heart. No other book has had that sort of endurance for me. (it helps that when I first read it one of my thoughts was "I'd totally go for a girl like the main character", but above that is the fact it's a very good and basic fantasy story, but with nice plot twists and great dialogue and well made characters.)
__________________
The butterflies are evil, we must declare war on the NV butterflies!

Last edited by Lanterra : 04-17-2013 at 02:14 PM.
  #24  
Old 04-17-2013, 04:34 PM
Odolf's Avatar
Odolf Odolf is offline
 

Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Ohio
Odolf has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

I have a book like that too, it's Wasp by Eric Frank Russel. A thoroughly enjoyable, and rather short sci-fi novel about the power of espionage. I've read it through probably 8 or 9 times, and i always find myself going back to it when i want to enjoy a quick read.
  #25  
Old 04-17-2013, 04:53 PM
Lanterra's Avatar
Lanterra Lanterra is offline
 

Join Date: May 2007
Lanterra has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Odolf View Post
I have a book like that too, it's Wasp by Eric Frank Russel. A thoroughly enjoyable, and rather short sci-fi novel about the power of espionage. I've read it through probably 8 or 9 times, and i always find myself going back to it when i want to enjoy a quick read.
I tend to tip more in the direction of Fantasy than Sci-Fi, so my book is fantasy. Not sure what you define as short. Secret of Dragonhome is somewhere in the 250-300 page range.
__________________
The butterflies are evil, we must declare war on the NV butterflies!
  #26  
Old 05-20-2013, 08:44 PM
banichi's Avatar
banichi banichi is offline
 

Join Date: Aug 2008
banichi has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

Recently I have been reading a lot of Brandon Sanderson. He is writing some of the Wheel-Of-Time books, but I just read his stand alone stuff.
The Mistborn trilogy in particle is quite good, and a very different system of magic for a fantasy series.
  #27  
Old 08-02-2013, 12:13 PM
Arilou's Avatar
Arilou Arilou is offline
Forum Admin
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Arilou has disabled reputation
Default

Anyone want to earn some brownie points by helping Arilou find a copy of "Mazaris' Journey to Hades?" I've been looking everywhere; I can't even find a used copy and Google lists only 25 libraries that have it (all of which are run by universities). Naturally, most are nowhere near me and the only one that is wants a $500 donation to allow non-students access so I am stumped at the moment.

I don't expect anyone to have an answer to my dilemma, I just thought I'd use this as an excuse to rant about how hard it can be to find Byzantine works. It's the fault of the stupid education system that mostly ignores them in history classes. As a result, whenever I tell people that I have an interest in Byzantine history, I get blank stares. Then, when I tell then it's the East Roman Empire after the "fall of Rome," they have no idea that the eastern portion of the empire continued for another thousand years. It's a disgrace and you should all be ashamed of yourselves because your disinterest is the reason why important texts like this are so difficult to get a hold of.
  #28  
Old 08-03-2013, 01:11 PM
Odolf's Avatar
Odolf Odolf is offline
 

Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Ohio
Odolf has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

It's even more ironic, because you can find any number of copies of "The Golden ***". I'm sure that's how the Romans would have loved to have been remembered.

Edit: Sheesh, Donkey then.
  #29  
Old 08-06-2013, 09:08 PM
Arilou's Avatar
Arilou Arilou is offline
Forum Admin
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Arilou has disabled reputation
Default

It's not just that; anything labeled as "Ancient Roman" or "Ancient Greek" tends to be readily available because people are so much more aware of those "brands." You'd think with how much people eat up such titles they'd be interested in a "Medieval Roman/Greek" mix, but I somehow doubt it would help all that much if people could be made to understand that that's what we're talking about when we refer to the Byzantine Empire. People just aren't exposed to it like they are with the Ancient Romans/Greeks and it's sad because they know Constantine and they know the Crusades but they don't know what happened after Constantine or what led up to the Crusades. I bet most people have no idea who Alexios I is and that his call for help from the West is the whole reason for why they happened (even if he had something completely different in mind when he did that).

Anyway, I have one last hope to find my book. Hopefully I will find success because if I don't there will be hell to pay... hell to pay indeed. *glares angrily at you all*
  #30  
Old 08-07-2013, 08:56 PM
Andron's Avatar
Andron Andron is offline
 

Join Date: Jul 2007
Andron has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

Is "Mazaris' Journey to Hades" a pop-up book?
  #31  
Old 06-27-2014, 12:04 PM
Arilou's Avatar
Arilou Arilou is offline
Forum Admin
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Arilou has disabled reputation
Default

From 08-19-2013, 02:27 PM:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arilou View Post
Yes, a 15th century work of political satire is a pop-up book. How in the world did you guess?

New post:


To all, um... one of you still lurking here, what's on your summer reading list? I am still in the process of building my list, but so far I have three books by David Foster Wallace; of which, two are short story collections ("Brief Interviews With Hideous Men" and "Oblivion") and the other is his ~1000 page opus "Infinite Jest," which is among Time's 2005 list of a 100 best English-language novels written since 1923.

Following that I have "Bright Lights, Big City" by Jay McInerney, which is a well known novel written in the second person and "Tales of the Dying Earth" by Jack Vance, which is an omnibus of all four novels in the series including one with a namesake in its title that you all know all too well: "Rhialto the Marvelous."

These I selected for research purposes as last year I started writing a serial using second person narrative that I was planning to buckle down and write in full last summer and then... didn't. I want to get back to it, but the narrative choice has made me increasingly nervous as it's a bold (although I think significantly important given what I am trying to do) choice. So I am trying to expand my sphere of second person literature beyond those Choose Your Adventure Stories that I ate up when I was a wee lad (as an interesting aside to no one but myself, there's actually a short second person bit in the beginning of "Brief Interviews...").

Likewise, I am trying to see how classic serials were structured. For me, it's about how I think the overall story works better if it is made up of different self contained stories. So I have been looking into how much of serial writing is set up like that and how much of it is just an actual novel broken up into sections and then published in full later on. For now, Jack Vance seemed like a good jumping off point (and it happens to share a quasi-similar setting to my story so that doubly peeked my interest).

Moving on, I also have Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy ("Assassin's Apprentice," Royal Assassin," and "Assassin's Quest") which is apparently a well regard fantasy series. Because of that and because they were on Barnes and Noble's list of three for the price of two books during a promotion awhile back, they earned a spot in my to-read pile. Due to the length of time they've spent there, I decided to commit to reading them this summer.

Beyond that, I am kind of at a loss. I was thinking moving my copies of the Lord of the Rings onto the list as I think I might appreciate Tolkien's trilogy more now than I did when I first started reading fantasy all those years ago. So maybe I'll do that, but I still need to get serious and put together a real list in the very very near future. Therefore, if that one person who is still here has any suggestions, let me know.
  #32  
Old 06-27-2014, 04:10 PM
Salkand's Avatar
Salkand Salkand is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: The dark marshes of the southern swamps
Salkand has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Send a message via AIM to Salkand
Default

Like always I suggest the Wheel of time, by Robert Jordan, and finished by Brandon Sanderson.

Also, from Brandon I suggest: The Stormlight archive. He is only 2 books in, and I know that you prefer to wait for the whole series to be finished. The Mistborn Triligoy, although I loved the first book I was a bit let down with the other 2, and Elantris was a solid read. I've heard he is doing a sequel, but it's good by itself and doesn't really require one to enjoy.

Robin Hobbs's farseer trilogy was ok. A decent read although I wouldn't rank it anywhere near my top.
__________________
“You put the Devil on the other side, and I will come to fight.” - Royce Gracie
  #33  
Old 06-27-2014, 06:33 PM
Lanterra's Avatar
Lanterra Lanterra is offline
 

Join Date: May 2007
Lanterra has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Salkand View Post
Like always I suggest the Wheel of time, by Robert Jordan, and finished by Brandon Sanderson.

Also, from Brandon I suggest: The Stormlight archive. He is only 2 books in, and I know that you prefer to wait for the whole series to be finished. The Mistborn Triligoy, although I loved the first book I was a bit let down with the other 2, and Elantris was a solid read. I've heard he is doing a sequel, but it's good by itself and doesn't really require one to enjoy.

Robin Hobbs's farseer trilogy was ok. A decent read although I wouldn't rank it anywhere near my top.
I loved the wheel of time series, but felt massively conflicted about the ending.
__________________
The butterflies are evil, we must declare war on the NV butterflies!
  #34  
Old 06-28-2014, 01:56 AM
Salkand's Avatar
Salkand Salkand is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: The dark marshes of the southern swamps
Salkand has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Send a message via AIM to Salkand
Default

Yes, in my opinion the finale book is the only weak point in the series. The book itself is well written. But I feel that it wasn't what it was suppose to be.

However, I feel this is more a slight on RJ's part than Brandon's. Sometimes you need to not try and do a big surprise, and just give a solid ending.
__________________
“You put the Devil on the other side, and I will come to fight.” - Royce Gracie
  #35  
Old 06-30-2014, 06:03 AM
binsenkind's Avatar
binsenkind binsenkind is offline
Player Mod
 

Join Date: Apr 2007
binsenkind has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Default

terry pratchett, christopher moore, neil gaiman, paul auster, stanislaw lem, stephen king, jostein gaarder and every compilation of sci-fi short stories i can get.

oh, and of course phillip k. d-i-c-k, he´s the best !!!

and so much more

and actually bob the street cat by james bowen together with my son
  #36  
Old 11-20-2014, 10:36 PM
Arilou's Avatar
Arilou Arilou is offline
Forum Admin
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Arilou has disabled reputation
Default

Happy days and jubilation! Columbia University holds the book I once mentioned seeking, but I had given up all hope because they demand a tribute of $500 for non-pupils to gain access to their dispensary of tomes. However, now a ray of light shines brightly before me and has revealed an alternative path to securing my treasure. It turns out that there's a little thing called the Manhattan Research Library Initiative (MaRLI). With a New York Public Library card and an ability to demonstrate that there is a need for access to resources that I would otherwise not be able to have, I can obtain entry to both the NYU and Columbia collections without having to pay their high fees.

Now, sources tell me that demonstrating said ability is as easy as claiming you're an MA student working on a thesis in the application process. If this is so my long quest may soon be nearing an end. *dances*
  #37  
Old 11-23-2014, 04:57 PM
Logwad's Avatar
Logwad Logwad is offline
 

Join Date: Apr 2007
Logwad has just set foot in the Tutorial Tower
Send a message via AIM to Logwad Send a message via MSN to Logwad
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arilou View Post
Anyone want to earn some brownie points by helping Arilou find a copy of "Mazaris' Journey to Hades?" I've been looking everywhere; I can't even find a used copy and Google lists only 25 libraries that have it (all of which are run by universities). Naturally, most are nowhere near me and the only one that is wants a $500 donation to allow non-students access so I am stumped at the moment.

I don't expect anyone to have an answer to my dilemma, I just thought I'd use this as an excuse to rant about how hard it can be to find Byzantine works. It's the fault of the stupid education system that mostly ignores them in history classes. As a result, whenever I tell people that I have an interest in Byzantine history, I get blank stares. Then, when I tell then it's the East Roman Empire after the "fall of Rome," they have no idea that the eastern portion of the empire continued for another thousand years. It's a disgrace and you should all be ashamed of yourselves because your disinterest is the reason why important texts like this are so difficult to get a hold of.

You may also look into this
http://classics.buffalo.edu/arethusa/ (toward the bottom)

Quote:
Arethusa Monographs

The following monographs are available:
...
V. MAZARIS, Journey to Hades. Greek Text with Intro., Transl., Notes, and Index by Seminar Classics 609, 1975, ***viii + 134 pp. Price,$8.00
...

Prices are postpaid for book rate in the U.S. For mailing or overseas shipment, postage is additional. Please make checks payable to ARETHUSA MONOGRAPHS, and mail to: Arethusa Monographs 
Department of Classics 338 MFAC Buffalo, NY 14261 Enquiries should be addressed to Madeleine Kaufman via email at mkaufman@acsu.buffalo.edu or at the above address, or by phone at (716)645-2154 ext. 114.
Seems like it's worth a shot.
  #38  
Old 11-23-2014, 08:24 PM
Arilou's Avatar
Arilou Arilou is offline
Forum Admin
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Arilou has disabled reputation
Computer Mouse

Logwad! You are my new best friend! *callously flings Binyamin aside and puts my arms around Logwad's shoulders* I'm going to try MaRLI first since I've already started proceedings and there are tons of other rare books I can access with a MaRLI card (just do a search at Columbia for the keyword "Byzantine" [ http://clio.columbia.edu/?q=byzantine&datasource=quicksearch&search_fi eld=all_fields&search=true ] - Is that 7,897 figure not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?). However, if that doesn't work out, UB option looks plenty viable.

So, as new best friend, how many millions of kisses do you want me to shower you with today?
 


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
In the event of a banishment (read before requesting to be unbanished) Arilou Announcements 0 09-20-2010 04:23 PM
You guys should sit down and read this. Trayr Wyvern Development 21 03-26-2010 02:55 PM
The use of certain spells in Wyvern (Must Read for Mages) Salkand General 16 06-22-2009 06:29 PM
Anyone here ever read.... Ter Misc 0 03-28-2007 10:01 AM

Wyvern Forums
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:05 PM.

Forum: Contact Us - Archive - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.