What have you been reading?

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
I'm planning to read all five volumes of The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith over the next week or two. I'll finish this with The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith from the same publisher.
 
Got through about 80 more pages while waiting in the jury lounge. It's very interesting and detailed, beginning with the early 20th Century pre-WW2 jazz scene, though the author doesn't quite grasp the culture of Southern California at least he did his research and gets his facts down. Lots of interesting quotations from key figures. Right now it's the early 1960s with the Beach Boys just starting their thing. Once in a while the author's hipster tastes intrude, but it's infrequent enough to be tolerable. The only real problem is he flings so many names at you at once that it can sometimes be hard to keep track of who's who without re-reading a paragraph and going, "Okay, he's now referring to Phil Spector as 'he,' not Jerry Leiber." Voros Voros, you would probably find this book worth your while.

Cool I have it on my Kindle list, I like Hoskyns but as originally an English writer I find it interesting he writes so much on Southern California and American roots music these days. His writing on the English punk scene is classic. As you say he usually really does his research though.
 
Last night I finished reading a book for the first time in at least a year.
Next up "The Postman"
 
Still waiting on Across the Great Divide, but fortunately I have this to occupy me once I finish Waiting for the Sun. It's sort of a companion to the latter, expanding upon a chapter about the singer-songwriters of the Laurel and Topanga canyons of the late '60s-mid-'70s. Probably will start tomorrow or Saturday.
20190822_164852.jpg
 
I've been in a kind of reading rut for quite a long time now. Whenever I start reading something I tend to fall asleep. At other times I will be about halfway a book and lose interest or motivation to carry on, even if it's been really enjoyable so far. I feel I'm never going to even get close to reducing my pile of books-to-read. This sometimes extends to RPG books as well... If anyone's had a similar experience, any advice would be much appreciated.

tenor.gif


Fortunately I've managed to read a couple of Junji Ito mangas recently and I've now found something light that seems engaging enough that I may succeed in actually finishing it, which I'm currently reading:

In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran by John Taylor (with Tom Sykes)
9780142196946


It's always interesting to me to learn how people lived and what they ate. A historical RPG setting comes alive to me more when I can describe things as simple as what sort of vittles your cowpoke has on his breakfast plate.

Any book you could recommend as a good source about Old West culture and everyday life, something easily referrable that doesn't bury all details in walls of text? Like you say, this is more about bringing to live the setting for my players than it is about getting historical dates and events perfectly correct.
 
Last edited:
Still waiting on Across the Great Divide, but fortunately I have this to occupy me once I finish Waiting for the Sun. It's sort of a companion to the latter, expanding upon a chapter about the singer-songwriters of the Laurel and Topanga canyons of the late '60s-mid-'70s. Probably will start tomorrow or Saturday.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, let us know what you think.
 
Any book you could recommend as a good source about Old West culture and everyday life, something easily referrable that doesn't bury all details in walls of text? Like you say, this is more about bringing to live the setting for my players than it is about getting historical dates and events perfectly correct.
Unfortunately there's no particular reference volume I know of that I would recommend. What little I know and use to present a façade of realism is drawn from dozens of novels, reference books, TV shows, and so on. A couple of decent books for a general overview are these two:
9781629143446.jpg
louis-lamours-wild-west-9781620876534_hr.jpg
I have them both and there is a good deal of overlap since they are covering the same topic from slightly different angles. Either would give you enough little details to insert into a game session to make your setting feel more tangible. Just referring to a weapon as "a Spencer Model 1869 Repeating Carbine" or "a Winchester Model 1873 Sporting Rifle" rather than just "a rifle," or trotting out some authentic food like "she serves you a greasy plate heaped high with cowboy sausage and sweet taters" instead of "you eat at the restaurant," goes a long way:
20190824_095446.jpg
20190824_094724.jpg
Both images are from the John Wayne book
 
Last edited:
I've got a couple of books on the Old West which are good resources, but not particularly practical for quick reference:

The Illustrated Directory of the Old West - William C. Davis
The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West - Candy Moulton
The Look of the Old West: A Fully Illustrated Guide - William Foster Harris
Historical Atlas of the American West - Warren A. Beck & Ynez D. Haase
Historical Atlas of the American West with original maps - Derek Hayes
National Geographic The Old West - Stephen G. Hyslop
National Geographic Atlas of Indian Nations - Anton Treuer
Het Woeste Wilde Westen - G. Schomaekers

And these RPG books:

historical west:
Knuckleduster Cowtown Creator - Forrest Harris
Knuckleduster Firearms Shop - Forrest Harris
Coyote Trail Expanded - Precis Intermedia
GURPS Old West 2nd Edition - Steve Jackson Games
Gunslingers & Gamblers: Streamline Edition - FJ Gaming
Print the Legend - Hawvermale Paper & Pen

weird (but not steampunk!) west:
BRP Aces High and BRP Aces High: New Mexico - Chaosium
Call of Cthulhu: Down Darker Trails - Chaosium
Fistful o' Zombies
- Eden Studios
Pariah Missouri RPG - Decade Brothers Studio

I also own Deadlands Reloaded but I'd rather not talk about that :thumbsdown:.
 
A little more than halfway through Hotel California, set to start Across the Great Divide probably tomorrow or Wednesday, and then perhaps I'll read the only Moby Grape biography that I know of:
20190826_154540.jpg
 
I finished "The Postman". I liked it, but I gotta say when I started reading I didn't expect it to end with a battle between a Cyborg Neohippie and a Cyborg NeoFeudalist.
 
Sheer happenstance, but it's the perfect bookmark for reading Hotel California:

I have spent many nights at Tommys, drunk, wasted, sober. I almost convinced them to let me get into their chili-vat (they wouldn't let me). They once let me scoop a small cup of red-orange oil (it's like two-inches thick) from the top of their chili vat and drink it (on a dare).

I had one of my worst breakups there. I consoled myself with a paper-tub of chili-smothered tamales and my own alcohol-laced tears. I've taken dates there (warning - this should be the place you go AFTER your actual date. Do not go there AS the date, and only if the person is actually cool), gotten into fist fights there with assholes also there after hours. Good times.

And c'mon... Hotel California too? Forget about it. That's the Gods talking to you.
 
Picked these up last weekend in the bargain bin ($1 each or 12 for $10), mainly for the Kevin Maguire artwork, but the first dozen or so issues of the new team were not bad as it was a bit later that the writers started to buy into the hype about how funny they were (they really were just mildly amusing and the humor was not forced in the early issues) and became enamored of themselves and self-referential. Maguire draws a great Captain Marvel even if I disdain the moronic one-note portrayal. His Batman, Blue Beetle (not yet turned into a joke), Martian Manhunter, and Mister Miracle also look great. Pretty much every page is beautiful. I forgot they brought back the 1960s Marvel knockoffs Silver Sorceress, Bluejay, and Wandjina in the second issue. It's too bad Doctor Fate and the new Doctor Light didn't really end up on the team and Captain Marvel quit so early on, as Rocket Red and Booster Gold do nothing for me. The new Captain Atom was okay, but so different from the original Ditko version (different powers, different identity, different origin) that I'm not really sure why they bothered using the name (aside from trademark protection--never mind, answered my own musings). The first few issues are a fun read. Haven't read these in a long time--I used to have maybe the first couple dozen issues before I quit DC because I didn't like the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths mishmash and the way so many characters that I liked (Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, the original Huntress, Wonder Girl) were changed or eliminated. Plus I friggin' hated--and will never accept--the whole idiotic "Batman and Superman don't trust each other" nonsense. Anyway, great art and nice bright colors you don't see in superhero comics anymore. I might even be convinced to run a game of it picking up from issue 6 before they go "international" and continuing a different timeline on Earth-D*.
20190905_201939.jpg
* for Dumarest, of course!
 
Just finished the Mazalan Book of the Dead House of Chains. Good book.

Currently reading Stark's War by Jack Campbell.
 
The only biography/history of Love that I know of, with lots of direct quotes from guitarist Johnny Echols and leader Arthur Lee:
20190907_170238.jpg
love-1967.png
Clockwise from top left: Johnny Echols, Ken Forssi, Arthur Lee, Bryan MacLean, Michael Stuart-Ware

Unfortunately Bryan MacLean died even younger than Arthur Lee and didn't talk much about Love after the '60s so there's little from/about him.
 
I'm reading a mix of comics at the moment. Some are ones I got via Kickstarter or bought on Indyplanet. Others are some public Domain comics I downloaded from the digital comics museum. I'm also reading through some more of my Valiant comics on Comixology, as I'm behind on those
 
In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran
I actually finished a book! I really enjoyed this. Hope to get a hold of Andy Taylor's biography Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran from somewhere and look forward to any biographies the other (former) band members may publish in the future as keyboardist Nick Rhodes hints at this in the forword he wrote to John Taylor's book.

My wife now suggests that I check out the first Witcher book The Last Wish so I'm going to have a go at that.
 
Re-reading to see if I like it as much now as I did when I first read it:
bread_wine.jpg
 
I received a copy of this Marvel Epic Collection:
6114mg-fM5L._AC_SY400_-1.jpg
The storyline starts in 1992, so this would be right after I stopped reading new comic books altogether. I have no idea who the gal in green is on the cover as she hasn't turned up in the story yet, and although I recognized Marvel Boy he apparently goes by the named Quasar now and looks to be an ersatz Green Lantern. I'm surprised by how enjoyable the story is so far. I guess it was a big 20-part Marvel crossover event as the story encompasses several issues each of Avengers, Captain America, Quasar (who knew he ever had his own comic book, let alone that it lasted at least 30-odd issues!), West Coast Avengers, Thor, Wonder Man (again surprised he had his own magazine), and Iron Man. I've only read the first three of the 20 comics but it's pretty good. Some sort of intrigue between the Kree Empire and the Shi'ar Empire, which I know little about since I never really followed the X-Men, involving Rick Jones and so far brings to mind the old Kree-Skrull War from the 1970s. Roy Thomas has a hand in this as well, at least as writer of West Coast Avengers (had no idea he ever wrote that one) and the art so far veers from acceptable to pretty good. I'm hoping it stays at least at this level throughout and doesn't descend into '90s Marvel crudliness.
 
Quasar isn't Marvel Boy; at that point, Marvel Boy was "dead" after fighting the FF (turns out it was a clone). Marvel Boy is now called The Uranian, and is a member of the Agents of Atlas. Quasar was a member of SHIELD who was studying the bands Marvel Boy used, put them on, and the rest is history. Not sure if he has them at that point, but he later gains the cosmic perception power the original Mar-Vell had. The woman in green is Sersi, one of the Eternals
 
I’m reading Sanderson’s Oathbringer. It’s like 1300 pages long. I just finished the first three Black Company novels and Erikson’s Malazan books (I stalled out at the beginning of number 9. I enjoyed house of chains and the Bone Hunters a lot more than the others).
 
Reading The Invaders and my Golden Age Marvel Masterworks reprints, along with Golden Age Captain Marvel comics. Thinking it would be fun to run a Golden Age superhero game if I can get players to buy in and roleplay appropriate to the genre.
2699714-giantsizeinvaders01.jpg
0839095f-1924-4398-b250-771dc317a6cd.jpg
tumblr_inline_pl68zfTlyd1t85zwb_500.jpg
latest-2.jpg
latest-3.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aos
Golden Age Batman starts a little rough, but becomes excellent in relatively short order. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the issues from the later 1940’s. It’s available in reasonably sized HC omnis up into the middle 50’s. I’m considering clearing a shelf exclusively for it. I have 3 book cases full of comics.
 
Golden Age Batman starts a little rough, but becomes excellent in relatively short order. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the issues from the later 1940’s. It’s available in reasonably sized HC omnis up into the middle 50’s. I’m considering clearing a shelf exclusively for it. I have 3 book cases full of comics.
That reminds me I need to start posting in this thread again:
I've only posted up through Detective Comics #35. It doesn't really get good until Robin debuts in #38.
 
Devoured Alastair Reynolds’ Galactic North and Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days — an anthology of tales and two novellas, respectively, all set in the Revelation Space universe — on the flight back home.

Some fantastic stuff there, but then I’m a fanboy.

As a gaming-related side note, I really wish Eclipse Phase wasn’t so complicated; I’d love to play with this genre at the game table.

Next up: either more Revelation Space (never did read Chasm City and The Prefect) or finally looking into The Black Company (hope it goes better than my foray into Malazan).
 
I normally only buy ebooks, but as I couldn't find this in digital format, I sprang the 19+ bucks for this:
51Z%2Bl6uAGrL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Since I'm interested in using The Black Bat in some fiction I'm hoping to write, I figured it was worth the investment. It's the first 3 stories featuring the character, and I tend to like starting from the beginning. I'm actually liking it so far
 
I normally only buy ebooks, but as I couldn't find this in digital format, I sprang the 19+ bucks for this:
51Z%2Bl6uAGrL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Since I'm interested in using The Black Bat in some fiction I'm hoping to write, I figured it was worth the investment. It's the first 3 stories featuring the character, and I tend to like starting from the beginning. I'm actually liking it so far
You'll enjoy the many ways Tony Quinn inspired the writers of the early Batman comic books: the Batcave, Batmobile, relationship with the police, and so on all occur in Black Bat stories before they appeared in Detective Comics or Batman.
 
You'll enjoy the many ways Tony Quinn inspired the writers of the early Batman comic books: the Batcave, Batmobile, relationship with the police, and so on all occur in Black Bat stories before they appeared in Detective Comics or Batman.

I can already see that in the first story; it doesn't surprise me in the least bit. Wikipedia mentions that the fins on Batman's gloves came after Bill Finger mentioned to Bob Kane about the gauntlets Black Bat wears. Daredevil obviously took some cues from Black Bat as well.

I read up a little bit about the character, and saw he debuted around the same time as Batman did. DC almost sued Nedor over it (both sides claimed that the other copied their character). One of DC's editors, Whitney Ellsworth, had previously worked for Nedor. He got both sides to talk it out, and Nedor agreed not to use Black Bat in comics. They did create another character named The Mask (he was originally going to be called The Owl, and his mask looked like an Owl's head) who has the same origin/background as The Black Bat.

My interest in the character came after reading a modern take on the character from Dynamite Comics. Since I'm looking to use the original Black Bat, I wanted to read the original stories. I'm impressed with how well written they are. It's a much easier read for me than some stuff by more well known authors from the early 20th century (Burroughs, Howard, Lovecraft, etc). Except for some terminology from back then (and the lack of advanced technology), this could easily be from a more recent time period
 
I can already see that in the first story; it doesn't surprise me in the least bit. Wikipedia mentions that the fins on Batman's gloves came after Bill Finger mentioned to Bob Kane about the gauntlets Black Bat wears. Daredevil obviously took some cues from Black Bat as well.

I read up a little bit about the character, and saw he debuted around the same time as Batman did. DC almost sued Nedor over it (both sides claimed that the other copied their character). One of DC's editors, Whitney Ellsworth, had previously worked for Nedor. He got both sides to talk it out, and Nedor agreed not to use Black Bat in comics. They did create another character named The Mask (he was originally going to be called The Owl, and his mask looked like an Owl's head) who has the same origin/background as The Black Bat.

My interest in the character came after reading a modern take on the character from Dynamite Comics. Since I'm looking to use the original Black Bat, I wanted to read the original stories. I'm impressed with how well written they are. It's a much easier read for me than some stuff by more well known authors from the early 20th century (Burroughs, Howard, Lovecraft, etc). Except for some terminology from back then (and the lack of advanced technology), this could easily be from a more recent time period
Fun fact: The Black Bat was originally going to be called The Tiger due to the scarring on his face looking like a tiger's stripes.
 
Fun fact: The Black Bat was originally going to be called The Tiger due to the scarring on his face looking like a tiger's stripes.

I saw that too on one of the places I read up on the character. I'm glad they changed it. Another fun fact: When Nedor & DC were claiming they ripped each other off, Bob Kane claimed the only bat dressed character he had ever seen before had been the villain in a film from 1930 called The Bat Whispers (which was based on a play). That movie (and a loose remake called The Bat, with Agnes Moorhead and Vincent Price) are both in the public domain (and available to watch on the internet archive). They were both based on a 1920 play called The Bat. I found that pretty interesting.
 
Last edited:
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top