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Whats everyone reading?

Started by Paul faplad Finch, 30 March, 2009, 10:04:36 PM

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TordelBack

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 03 May, 2017, 09:53:28 AM
Ah yes but H2G2 is quite different in all its formats

True dat. My own progress through the media went Radio Phase 1>TV>Books>Game>Radio Phase 2 and then the rest, and I've enjoyed them all for what they are, even if the movie was a nice-looking exercise in missing the point. My favourite incarnation is still the TV series with its extraordinary visuals and transitions (the BBC's finest SFX hour),  but they all have something to offer.

Theblazeuk

Confused the hell out of me when I first listened to the radio series as an adult after reading the books about a thousand times as a kid. That's not the way it happened!

positronic

TordelBack experienced H2G2 the way it happened. Same here. The radio series came first, then the TV series (good SFX for its time, excepting that unfortunate bit with Zaphod Beeblebrox's head), then the books. I didn't bother with the movie after seeing the previews.

Taryn Tailz

Just read the first issue of Titan Comics new Penny Dreadful series. I was surprised at how dense the comic was, it immediately felt a lot thicker than the Doctor Who comics Titan puts out, and as a result seemed to cram a good amount of reading into its pages. It seems this run of Penny Dreadful is going to be based around the concepts which were laid down for a potential fourth series of the TV show, so if you enjoyed the show then it's well worth picking up. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Next on my to-buy list is the first issue of Kim Newman's 'Anno Dracula' comic, though I'm not sure if this is an adaptation of his series of novels, or an entirely new storyline set in the same universe.

positronic

Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 04 May, 2017, 01:01:01 AMNext on my to-buy list is the first issue of Kim Newman's 'Anno Dracula' comic, though I'm not sure if this is an adaptation of his series of novels, or an entirely new storyline set in the same universe.

It's an entirely new work. Interestingly enough, it contains a chronological timeline which places all the various books in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula universe in order. It's quite good (as a neophyte to this world) and I'd give it my highest recommendation. Both issues #1 and 2 are out now.

Taryn Tailz

Quote from: positronic on 04 May, 2017, 01:30:57 AM
Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 04 May, 2017, 01:01:01 AMNext on my to-buy list is the first issue of Kim Newman's 'Anno Dracula' comic, though I'm not sure if this is an adaptation of his series of novels, or an entirely new storyline set in the same universe.

It's an entirely new work. Interestingly enough, it contains a chronological timeline which places all the various books in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula universe in order. It's quite good (as a neophyte to this world) and I'd give it my highest recommendation. Both issues #1 and 2 are out now.

Ah, good. I would have picked it up anyway, but it's even better if it's an entirely new story. Looking forward to it. :)

positronic

#6111
Yesterday I finished JUDGE DREDD: THE GARTH ENNIS COLLECTION, which was much better than Garth Ennis' JUDGMENT DAY. The stories collected here that stood out were mainly the Emerald Isle/Judge Joyce stories, which I found interesting (the John Burns-illustrated story, "Raider" was also quite good, as was the return appearance of Dink Jowett). It always interests me to read the stories taking place in other cites elsewhere in Dredd's world. Prior to that I'd finished a few days earlier HONDO CITY LAW, and am looking forward to finding the sequel to that, HONDO CITY JUSTICE. Any other notable "international" stories that have their own collections that I should be aware of?

Today I read about half of STRONTIUM DOG: TRAITOR TO HIS KIND, and that (the title story which takes up about the second quarter of the collection) was a cracking good story, very dramatic with a poignant if darkly real-worldish conclusion. It's funny how SD can have so much range, although that's true of Dredd as well. It's just that it seems somewhat more pronounced to me in Strontium Dog. The more comedic ones are almost in that Robo-Hunter or Ro-Busters vein of light-hearted comedy, while "Traitor to His Kind" was really pretty heavy. I just become more and more impressed with Carlos Ezquerra with every new story I read of his which I've never seen before. He was always one of the best in black & white, but full color really makes his work come alive in a special way. Can't wait to read the rest of this collection, and then it's on to BLOOD MOON. I'm already starting to draw up lists of collected editions that are mainly or solely Carlos' work, including some from other publishers like Dynamite.


TordelBack

Quote from: positronic on 03 May, 2017, 06:31:20 PM
TordelBack experienced H2G2 the way it happened. Same here. The radio series came first, then the TV series (good SFX for its time, excepting that unfortunate bit with Zaphod Beeblebrox's head), then the books.

I'm not sure you're right there. I think H2G2 and RATEOTU were out a couple of years before the TV version, I was at least aware they existed when I was watching the original broadcast, and read them and I think possibly LTUAE  shortly after.

positronic

Quote from: TordelBack on 04 May, 2017, 09:05:12 PM
Quote from: positronic on 03 May, 2017, 06:31:20 PM
TordelBack experienced H2G2 the way it happened. Same here. The radio series came first, then the TV series (good SFX for its time, excepting that unfortunate bit with Zaphod Beeblebrox's head), then the books.

I'm not sure you're right there. I think H2G2 and RATEOTU were out a couple of years before the TV version, I was at least aware they existed when I was watching the original broadcast, and read them and I think possibly LTUAE  shortly after.

Ah, okay. The radio play first aired on BBC4 on March 8, 1978. The first two books were published in 1979 and 1980, before the television series first aired on BBC2 in January 1981. The first hardback edition of H2G2 was published in the US by Random House in October 1980, followed by a US paperback edition in 1981. Therein lay my confusion, as I didn't see the first US paperback until after the TV series.

Wikipedia revealed an interesting tidbit about the TV adaptations that I wasn't aware of:
QuoteA second series was at one point planned, with a storyline, according to Alan Bell and Mark Wing-Davey that would have come from Adams's abandoned Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen project (instead of simply making a TV version of the second radio series). However, Adams got into disputes with the BBC (accounts differ: problems with budget, scripts, and having Alan Bell involved are all offered as causes), and the second series was never made. Elements of Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen were instead used in the third novel, Life, the Universe and Everything.

TordelBack

Never knew that!   Very interesting. I do think Adams was a bonafide genius, so much of his relatively small body of work is wonderfully visionary. Shame he didn't have a more successful run with Dr Who, really.

positronic

Just finished Strontium Dog: Blood Moon. Apart from the obvious flashback in the first half of the Blood Moon story taking place before the young Alpha had become a S/D agent, I was wondering when this story (and the following one, "The Mork Whisperer") was taking place relative to Traitor To His Kind. Some time after the death of Wulf obviously, but prior to The Final Solution. Great stories, both of them.

Has anyone tried to figure out approximately when Traitor To His Kind and Blood Moon take place relative to the stories collected in The S/D Agency Files? Unless I miss my guess, Blood Moon would the first chronological appearance of Precious Matson.

Bolt-01


The Adventurer

Pretty sure Precious was indeed introduced in Blood Moon, I suspect as a way to reintroduce her into Life and Death of Johnny Alpha as a 'long time' friend/confidant/lover.

It's a retcon, but a pretty smooth one IMO

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Tjm86

Just finished Stephen Baxter's Voyage.  An alternative history of Nasa's first mission to Mars.  The mashed up chronology style works really well for it but I found the last few chapters incredibly poignant.  Exploring the psychological impact of such a powerful achievement, that realisation that everything that had been striven for is achieved.  How much do we truly appreciate how much we have sacrificed in pursuit of our dreams and ambitions?

For me it was quite interesting, particularly in light of how nihilistic I find some of Baxters writing, a real sense of entropy.  His Space, Time, Origin trilogy is as fires I found quite depressing and the end of Ultima is in a similar vein.  It felt at times like this aspect of his writing existed as an undercurrent in the Long Earth series as well.

positronic

Quote from: The Adventurer on 06 May, 2017, 03:15:20 PM
Pretty sure Precious was indeed introduced in Blood Moon, I suspect as a way to reintroduce her into Life and Death of Johnny Alpha as a 'long time' friend/confidant/lover.

It's a retcon, but a pretty smooth one IMO

Well, I've not read The Final Solution yet, but I presumed that Precious had appeared in that as well as The Life & Death of Johnny Alpha. Is that not the case?

I got the impression Wagner was retconning in an appearance (chronologically-prior to The Final Solution)  of Precious (in Blood Moon) as a way of leading into The Life & Death of Johnny Alpha.

That's what I get for reading these things out of order, I guess. The plan for me is to go back and read all four S/D Agency Files volumes and then The Final Solution, but first I need to read all four volumes of ABC Warriors: The Volgan War, and The Complete Nemesis the Warlock Vols. 1 & 2, ABC Warriors: The Black Hole, and The Complete Nemesis the Warlock Vol. 3, so I can finish off those series.

Meanwhile I've been working on sorting through what stories are reprinted in the various Judge Dredd collected editions, trying to decide what I need to read. 28 Case Files is a lot of reading and expensive, so I need to pare that down somehow. I think I've decided to concentrate on getting Case Files volumes 4 through 14 (having already gotten some earlier collections like The Cursed Earth, plus the IDW hardcover reprints), and (apart from anything to do with Judge Death and the Dark Judges, about half of the collected editions which I already have) will just cherry-pick some of the other more recent Rebellion Dredd collections after that, like Brothers of the Blood, and the Tour of Duty and Day of Chaos collected editions.