Benjamin Bauer > Recent Status Updates

Finished City of Saints and Madmen. VanderMeer seems an obvious fan of Harrison's Viriconium tales. He does a fair job of straddling humour, weirdness, and even horror a la Lovecraft or Bierce. I think the standout story for me had to be the Early History of Ambergris. The Strange Case of X felt beholden to Chris Priest's The Affirmation and had a predictable end.

Finished Swords and Ice Magic. Rime Isle and the Frost Monstreme are top-tier Leiber. Right beside The Swords of Lankhmar, this pair of tales most felt like a D&D campaign featuring the Twain. Ther other tales in Ice Magic were also a fun romp, mostly concerning Death and his attempts to claim the Twain. Though Sadness of the Executioner has some questionable bits, to say the least!

Finished [i]Swords and Ice Magic[/i]. Rime Isle and the Frost Monstreme are top-tier Leiber. Right beside [i]The Swords of Lankhmar[/i], this pair of tales most felt like a D&D campaign featuring the Twain. Ther other tales in Ice Magic were also a fun romp, mostly concerning Death and his attempts to claim the Twain. Though [i]Sadness of the Executioner[/i] has some questionable bits, to say the least!

Just finished [i]A Storm of Wings[/i]. So like, is this where the New Weird came from? Continues to be one of my new favourite fantasy cycles. Kinda sad I only have what appears to be three short stories and a novella left!

That moment when you decide to wiki the author of the quaint little book you're reading, only to discover he was not only a Nazi, but that the guy who wrote the introduction was sympathetic to Hitler's treatment of German Jews...yeesh. At this point I may only finish this out of morbid curiosity.

Blazed through "The Deadly Percheron". Weird doesn't begin to describe it. Quite reminiscent of skid row film Noir of 40s and 50s. Even of some of the stranger 1930s flicks out there. At times utterly mundane, while at other times vertiginous in its strangeness.

Finished People of the Black Circle. Possibly my favourite Conan I've read thus far. Van Lente's adaptation does it no justice. Devil in Iron features perhaps the most ridiculous of villain schemes, while also featuring easily one of my fave Howard villains I've yet read. Witch has some great sequences, in particular one of Conan's most iconic. Whereas Gwahlur was a bit slight.

Finished Swords in the Mist. Such a joy to read Lean Times in Lankhmar more than a decade since reading the Mignola adaptation as a kid. Not as lean or mean as Swords Against Death. Still a rollicking time, with some hilarity and wonderful, evocative passages of prose.

At Chapter 46. Rereading before plunging into Vol.8!

Finished Hour of the Dragon. Talk about quintessential Sword and sorcery! Must read for anyone who loves their fantasy brazen and bloody. The debt that Heavy Metal lyrics (Especially those of Doom and Trad Metal) owe to Howard's prose cannot be understated.

Finished Swords Against Death. Easily the most fun I've had reading pulpy fantasy in ages! One of those literary creations that D&D is blatantly indebted to.

Finished Swords and Deviltry. Like when I first read Vance, it's nigh-impossible to not think of D&D when reading Leiber's Lankhmar stories. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are like, the OG D&D duo. Bloody love it. So scuzzy and mercenary, and ruthless in its nastiness. Plus it's so witty!

Finished Fires of Azeroth. An amazing end to the original trio of Morgaine books. The third act of this book was about as pulse-pounding and crazed as Mad Max: Fury Road!

Finished The Riddle-Master of Hed. Crazy ending! I don't know how I could possibly not read the next book immediately after that cliffhanger.

Finished Eyes of the Overworld. Ye gods, Cugel is perhaps the original murderhobo. I sympathize with anyone who finds him too repellent to enjoy his tales. I, on the other hand, was thoroughly amused amidst my outrage.

Taking a much needed pause from this. Volume III is about double the length of the preceding Volumes!

Finished Well of Shiuan. Enjoyed it much more than Ivrel, possibly in part because I was familiar with Vanye and Morgaine at this point. The setting was also very rich, and the cast of characters with their myriad motives really compelling. Ended on an even more open cliffhanger than its predecessor!

Finished Gate of Ivrel. Liked it quite a bit. Sentimental ending got to me.

Just finished On the Last Afternoon. Bleeaaaaaak. Truly apocalyptic. Love it.

Love is the Plan the Plan is Death

Day I actually began is two days prior to today.

Finished Her Smoke Rose Up Forever. Left me wowed. May be the most elegantly written and constructed of all the tales I've yet read in this collection.

Finished We Who Stole the Dream. Reminiscent of Leguin's The Word for World is Forest. Brutally ironic anti-colonial tale with a typically Tiptree-ish sour ending twist. This time though, it felt as though it sadly rang true.

Just finished A Momentary Taste of Being. Not my favourite. A bit overlong. I enjoyed the build-up and tension for the first chunk of it, and a lot of the characters were great. It could just be that the unrelenting cynicism of it turned me off. That said, gotta give credit where it's due. Conceptually it was quite unique.

Finished With Delicate Mad Hands. Beautiful. A lot of feels, painful and lovely, in this one. Maybe my favourite in this collection so far.

Finished The Sword of the Lictor. Bonkers.