Archives: Reviews

Kai Lung

Last week, both here and on Facebook, I mentioned my love for the works of Jack Vance and my new found appreciation of the Cugel stories, which had left me wanting 8 or 10 years previous.

Now I’m wishing that I hadn’t sold off my Ernest Bramah Kai Lung books. Earlier I had found the tone forced and a little twee — now I’m thinking my tastes have broadened a bit and that I might have missed out on something grand… and rather Cugel-like in some ways. Anyone out there have an opinion on the Kai Lung stories they want to share? I see that the first two collections are available from Project Gutenberg if anyone is truly curious, and I suppose I will turn there myself eventually.

John O’Neill will probably faint in horror, but I’ve actually been downsizing my book collection and getting rid of things I don’t think I’ll re-read (as I get older, the things I’m unlikely to re-read gets longer) and things I’m no longer interested in. Occasionally I regret my choices. It wouldn’t have taken up too much room to hold onto my two Kai Lung books from the old Ballantine Adult Fantasy line. I just thought that they weren’t to my taste. Now, as I’ve discovered that my tastes are widening, I think I’ll be a little more judicious about unloading books going forward.

If Ernest Bramah and Kai Lung aren’t familiar to you, there’s a wonderful essay about the books over at a site titled Greatsfandf.com. Here’s the link.

Tales of the Dying Earth

I’m away from home on a borrowed laptop, so I’ll keep this short. I just wanted to drop in and say how much I enjoyed the wrap-up of Jack Vance’s Cugel’s Saga, a novel contained in the orb omnibus Tales of the Dying Earth. I just finished it about a half hour ago on this mini-vacation, after slowly savoring it during the last month, and it was pretty marvelous… although keeping in line with previous comments I’ve made on my blog, I’m not sure younger Howard would have appreciated it as much.

I’m not sure if I’m ready for more Vance right away or not, but I enjoyed it so much I think I’ll stockpile some more for later reading. I see that there’s an Alastor omnibus, which I should probably explore before I re-read his Planet of Adventure series. I love Vance’s writing, though I usually tackle it in limited doses. I have a few standalones lying around the house, as well as some other series I’ve read or partially read.

Are any of my regular visitors Jack Vance fans? What are some not-miss titles? How do the Durdane books stack up?

 

Thoughts on Copperfield, Bleak House, and Lions

I think the thing that interested me the most about finally reading David Copperfield was how much I enjoyed the novel. As I mentioned in an earlier post, in high school I didn’t much like Dickens. The second or third chapter of Copperfield started to bog down and I almost gave up, but, pushing on, I enjoyed most of the rest of it… until about the final third.

A number of essays at the back of the edition I read mentioned reading and re-reading the novel, but I don’t see myself doing that. But I might re-read various segments. My favorite parts come mostly before Steerforth leaves the narrative as a speaking character. After that the text produces more and more of Macawber. I gather I’m supposed to find Macawber funny, but the deeper into the text I got, the more I groaned when I saw he was to be a central character of a chapter. I disliked his meanderings so much that I began to blip over huge swathes of paragraphs where he was talking. I likewise didn’t find the machinations of Uriah Heep of great interest. Some villains you hate and you long to see when they will get their comeuppance — the Murdstones, for instance. Heep I just found so irritating I wanted to get him out of the narrative. Not necessarily because I wanted to see him get his just desserts but because I was tired of him.

Fields of Glory

This last week I’ve remained hard at work on my secret project, and when not writing I’ve been hard at work playing a computer game titled Fields of Glory.

I used to have almost no willpower when it came to computer games. If it was on my computer, then I played it. That’s why until just this week I’ve stayed away from them for years. Instead, in my downtime, what I did was read reviews of great looking tactical board games, and buy them, and ask for them as presents, and then accumulate them in my closet… and never play them. It was sort of pitiful and ridiculous, really.

I was so far removed from the field of computer gaming I had no idea how excellent tactical ancient games had become. Now that I know, I think I’m giving all of that boardgame accumulation up, and selling most of it off.

Field Commander: Napoleon

I REALLY like this game. The last few evenings, rather than reading, I’ve been conquering various parts of Europe or North Africa in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

Field Commander: Napoleon is a solo war game from Dan Verssen Games. I traded an earlier copy of it away, thinking it wouldn’t be tactical enough for me to enjoy. But I ended up regretting the exchange and traded for another. I’m glad I did. The game simulates both strategy and tactics during the age of Napoleon… which, oddly enough, has never especially interested me. It’s ancient history that I truly enjoy. Yet this game is an awful lot of fun.

There are a lot of adventure novels out there with complex battle scenes that aren’t very well described,or thought out (or simply devolve to a siege — although I should say that there also are  some great novels about sieges). I’ve spent a lot of time over the years reading about ancient campaigns, but reading is one thing. Actually testing out the strategies and moving armies and units around in a system that simulates a battle or a campaign is a pretty nifty way to get an even better grasp of what a story might require, or how a general might marshal troops.

I still mean to write some thoughts about the Dickens novels I read; and soon I’ll probably go into more detail about why, in particular, I enjoy this game. For the next few evenings, though, I”m likely to be busy playing the game rather than writing about it.

Some more details about Field Commander: Napoleon, as well as some reviews (including at least one video review) can be found over at its official Boardgamegeek page.

Various and Sundry

A few weeks back I mentioned my inclusion in a nifty writing anthology, Writing Fantasy Heroes  (where I share a table of contents with some pretty talented and famous writers) and an essay about the book went live this week over at the blog of the talented William King, probably best known in North America for the creation of Warhammer’s famed Gotrek and Felix.

Not only is the essay (by editor Jason Waltz) of interest, there’s an ongoing discussion in the comment section about the nature of heroes that might well be of interest.

In other news, I stumbled onto a new review of The Bones of the Old Ones, this from The King of the Nerds. The majority of reviewers seem to agree with me that the second book is better than the first (and the majority of them seemed to really dig the first as well, which makes that kind of statement even more pleasing to the ear).

Of Deserts and Plagues

Last week I received the newest version of The Desert of Souls from my UK publisher, Head of Zeus. It’s a little smaller in height than the American version which gives it a slightly greater heft. I think it’s a pretty snappy look, and it’s always a pleasure to receive a box of your own books.

Note below that Mighty Max, Norman, and Virgil showed up to admire the books as well.

In other news, Justin Landon of Staffer’s Book Review seemed to dig my first Paizo Pathfinder novel, Plague of Shadows. Amongst other compliments, the one that brought me the biggest smile was “by its conclusion I feel that Jones could write a sporting goods shopping list and I’d be riveted.” You can find the whole thing here.

I don’t often have a sporting goods shopping list, but I could send him a copy of my supply list the next time I head to the lumber yard prior to fence repair. I’m guessing he’d find it less riveting than he supposes. Although, given the kinds of stuff I’ll be picking up, I suppose he could say that I “nailed it.” Hah!

Golden Juicebox

I just learned the other day that I’d been awarded a Juicebox from Staffer’s Book Review, specifically for the best book Justin Landon had read in 2012 that wasn’t FROM 2012. Among other things, Landon wrote this about The Desert of Souls:

By embracing that past, infused with Arabian Nights and early 20th century fantasy, Jones captures what is best about outmoded forms of fiction without any of the of negative trappings. Many will call Howard Andrew Jones a writer of historical adventure fantasy. It’s an accurate description, but one that sells him woefully short. Desert of Souls is a masterful novel that resonates on a meta-fictional level that’s rarely equaled.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The Queen of Thorns

First today I wanted to point everyone to Queen of Thorns, the new book from the pen of the talented Dave Gross.

If you’re already a Pathfinder Tales fan then Dave needs no introduction, because he is the real mainstay of the Paizo Pathfinder Tales novel line. That’s because Dave isn’t just a good writer who hits his deadlines, he also has a gift for bringing characters to life and providing atmospheric spark to every corner of the Pathfinder world (Golarion) where he shines his light.

Media tie-in fiction gets a bad rap from some people, but here and at Black Gate I’ve long said that some tie-in writers will defy your expectations. One of those is Dave Gross            .

The Queen of Thorns is the third novel length adventure of his characters Radovan and Jeggare, although, as with the others, it stands alone. Don’t take my word on the quality of Dave’s writing. Right now you can check out every one of the first four chapter. I’m going to rip the rest of this information right from Dave’s site            :