Whats everyone reading?

[Frank]

Re Lovecraft Anthology 2- im about halfway through, and am finding it a bit hit and miss. Best so far is From Beyond, yes, but i have a feeling (from flicking forward) that the mick mcmahon-drawn 'the picture in the house' is going to be the one to beat. Anyone who perhaps thinks mcmahon's newer stuff is not to their taste is advised to at least have a look at this. It may change your mind a bit. SBT

http://tuggingyourcoat.com/2011/08/16/at-last-something-new/  Fuckin' awesome.

I'd always assumed that McGann and Ecclestone's characters were one and the same.

[TordelBack]

Re Lovecraft Anthology 2- im about halfway through, and am finding it a bit hit and miss. Best so far is From Beyond, yes, but i have a feeling (from flicking forward) that the mick mcmahon-drawn 'the picture in the house' is going to be the one to beat. Anyone who perhaps thinks mcmahon's newer stuff is not to their taste is advised to at least have a look at this. It may change your mind a bit. SBT

http://tuggingyourcoat.com/2011/08/16/at-last-something-new/  Fuckin' awesome.

Oh my word.

[Craig Daley]

Lost it with Marvel due to age, restricted to early Essentials mainly, I can't get passed the fact that Reed Richards and Tony Stark should be over a 100 by now, always wished they had gone with real time development. Otherwise superheroes mainly restricted to flashback WWII narratives, that's where they belong for me.
Love Mignola's stuff, reminds me slightly of the old EC Comics with more research, but the macabre twists are sometimes missing, not quite Twilight Zone.
Had enough Walking the Dead, 28 days ago, but I suppose Zombies are Survivors, pretty sure they are using dialogue from Soaps, give me Romero or EC Comics every time.

[O Lucky Stevie!]

So far this year Stevie has been reading either comics (most recently all of Zombo to date –is Stevie the only squaxx who prefers the second series to the first?-- & a SBT-inspired revisit to Alan Merkin's run on Damp Thong), weighty tones (11/22/63. Blue Remembered Earth, excellent as always Robert Charles Wilson's Darwinia)  or abandoning Campbellian Golden Age SF partway through (neither Heinlein nor Van Vogt were what Stevie is currently looking for: clearly  the middle initial  'C').

So Heads by Greg Bear really hit the spot.

This mere slip of hard SF, practically a novella, with it's mix of Lunar politics, cryogenics & speculative physics resulting in a far  more successful ghost story than Bear's contemporary horror novel Dead Lines.

[SmallBlueThing]

Glad to see Anal? More!'s run on Stink Wang getting a reread over at oh lucky stevie's gaff- i've been dilligently buying a single issue of Stinky per week (sometimes two) inorder to complete the set. As of yesterday, im missing 68 issues across the five volumes, and it's been great fun reading the various versions. While the obvious is the best written and most worthy, my favourite is absolutely the original run, and volume 1, #24 is the comic i would most happily own at the moment. Still, birthday's a-coming.

After The Shat's appearance on hignfy the other night, and subsequent viewing of 'the doomsday machine', i went a bit mad and bought a brand new star trek novel- something called 'the rings of time'. It promises saturn, and fish-out-of-water kirk stuck in the 21st century, orbiting said planet in a nasa spacesuit. An initial dive after eurovision suggests it may be quite fun.

SBT

[judgefloyd]

I read The Forever War ages ago - vaguely remember it being a good read.
  I'm reading all of The Boys that I can get my hands on.  It's Ennis at the absolute top of his game, for mine. 

[Mardroid]

I just finished Stephen King's new Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole.

It didn't disappoint. Not so much one story as 3 in one, all set within each other. Interesting that it actually contradicted some of the historical stuff that Robin Furth set up in her 'History and legends of Mid-World' prose piece in the back of the Dark Tower comics. (Or not really. It just means that stuff is now more in the legendarythan historical category.)

If I had any complaints it would be that I'd have liked more material in The Skin Man sections of the book. It was still a decent story though.

I'm currently reading the second Mistborn novel The Well of Ascension. I was introduced to the author Brandon Sanderson when he too up The Wheel of Time novels after Robert Jordan's death. He's doing a good job on those stories so far and I enjoyed the first Mistborn novel. I'm not over taken on the writing style (but that might just be after reading King) but it's an interesting world and story he's created. Still early days yet but it's good so far. The Mistborn novels also have a couple of the most original magic systems I've come across in fantasy novels.

[Mikey]

Glad to see Anal? More!'s run on Stink Wang getting a reread

I don't know if this be typos or I've genuinely missed a classic somewhere.

M.

[TordelBack]

Gary Spencer Millidge's Alan Moore: Storyteller.  An unexpected treat courtesy of the library (really must find out who their buyer is and shake his/her hand), this is a fantastic book. 

A quick peruse of the 'further reading' at the back confirms that I have all-bar-one of the other Moore-o-graphs on my Mooreshelf, so this should all have been old hash-smelling hat, but it's beautifully structured and illustrated (including loads of things I've never seen before - his sacrificial painting of Asmodeus has to be seen to be believed), and best of all it had an unscratched ungummed CD in the back! 

To my amazment I really enjoyed Moore's music and performances - I mean, I always liked 'March of the Sinister Ducks', but I wasn't sure I wanted to hear any more in the same vein, and TBH I always found his readings of his own work on TV faintly embarrassing.  But this, this is quite brilliant stuff that has moved straight to my MP3 player in its entirety.  His 'Asmodeus' track is some freaked-out stomm and no mistake. Current favourite however is the hilarious 'Dorothy Parker'. 

This book is a must-buy.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Just finished my first Neil Gaiman text novel, Anansi Boys, today.  Douglas Adams has a worthy successor, I'm pleased to say.

Also just started Shaun Ryder's autobiography - Jesus, but my childhood was lame.

Both books were found in Thai guesthouses.  People leave good shit behind sometimes

[TordelBack]

Just finished my first Neil Gaiman text novel, Anansi Boys, today.  Douglas Adams has a worthy successor, I'm pleased to say.

Hadn't made that connection, but you're not wrong with the comparison - I was surprised how much I enjoyed Anansi Boys.

[Mardroid]

Just finished my first Neil Gaiman text novel, Anansi Boys, today.  Douglas Adams has a worthy successor, I'm pleased to say.

Hadn't made that connection, but you're not wrong with the comparison - I was surprised how much I enjoyed Anansi Boys.

Yes, it's a good read. And Mr Nancy is a great character. I enjoyed American Gods too.

[Frank]

Gary Spencer Millidge's Alan Moore: Storyteller.  An unexpected treat courtesy of the library (really must find out who their buyer is and shake his/her hand), this is a fantastic book.  This book is a must-buy.

This has been in my basket for a while, but you've convinced me to stop with the dithering, Tordel. I'm glad someone else shares my feelings about Moore's bloody awful Rorschach voice; but just typing that feels like telling my Mum she's got a shite haircut.

[Rog69]

Just finished my first Neil Gaiman text novel, Anansi Boys, today.  Douglas Adams has a worthy successor, I'm pleased to say.

Hadn't made that connection, but you're not wrong with the comparison - I was surprised how much I enjoyed Anansi Boys.

Yes, it's a good read. And Mr Nancy is a great character. I enjoyed American Gods too.

American Gods is great, my favourite Gaiman novel. He's planning a sequel to it and there is a TV series in development too.

[SmallBlueThing]

Twisted Tales! And Alien Worlds, and Corben Special: House of Usher (Fall of, not our floppy-haired brethren) and various other Pacific Comics from the start of the eighties. Bruce Jones was really on a roll, wasn't he? But there was quite an overuse of Richard Corben, an artist i run hot and cold on. Some times i look at his work and become convinced the man can't even draw competently, let alone with any great style... and others, i fall in love with his stuff completely. The House of Usher adaptation is notable here for the magnificent breasts throughout. It's no exaggeration to say this particular comic is probably the most-thumbed thing i owned as a young teenager. Well, maybe the second most-thumbed.

Also found 'Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and other growths', from 2003, which may have been what i was misremembering as the bit of the neonomicon i thought i might have. It seems i don't, so i can buy that with a clear conscience. Especially as Trout said it was filthy.

SBT