Books read this Week: 4
Titles:
The Terminus Experiment by Jonathan E. Bond & Jak Koke. Part of the Shadowrun line of books. I made comment about this a few pin another post, apparently the scientific name for vampires in the Shadowrun world is Sanguisuga Europa (to differentiate it from asian vampires, perhaps?)
Down These Mean Streets by Keith R.A. DeCandido. A novel starring Spider-man. I don't usually enjoy books based on comics characters, since the medium doesn't usually translate well without the accompanying illustrations, but this was a good read, being true the characters and with descriptions that conveyed the action as well as any comics could. Reading it, I long for the return of the Peter Parker-Mary Jane relationship. The current Brand New Day setting in the ongoing comics leaves a lot to be desired.
The Incompleat Nifft by Michael Shea. Another compilation of two books previously published as Nifft the Lean and The Mines of Behemoth. It stars Nifft; a thief and tells of his many adventures (the book itself is divided into 5 stories.) It's a great read (except perhaps for the last story, though I'll get to that later,) though a bit wordy (very vivid descriptions, with plenty of words I'm unfamiliar with, and of course me being me, could not bother to look up in the dictionary.) Nifft seems to a superlative thief, though a bit unusual for his size and choice of weapons, for one he is tall, if lean (hence the name) and is more comfortable with the spear, javelin or harpoon. The usual mold for thieves in the fantasy setting is usually small of stature (and just as likely sensitive about the fact) and equipped with short sword or dagger or such similar weaponry. (Some notables are Gord of Greyhawk, Hanse Shadwospawn and the Grey Mouser.)
Anyway the problem I had with the last story was his greed, though perhaps that was meant to be a cautionary tale from the author. Still, I didn't like how his and his friend Barnar Hammer-Hand's (another common theme with thieves, the need for "muscle") allowed their avarice run so much so that it override common sense (it seems out-of-character considering the earlier stories) and their dealing with demons (took advantage is the better term,) most other "hero" characters would have nothing to do with demons or at least dealt fairly with them, once they give their word. His friend (the aforementioned Barnar) was probably correct when he exasperatedly berated his friend; "a thief down to the least lizardly bone of you." Still a good enough story from an author whose work I've only come across for the first time, which means I'll be keeping an eye out for his other works from now on.
Titles:
The Terminus Experiment by Jonathan E. Bond & Jak Koke. Part of the Shadowrun line of books. I made comment about this a few pin another post, apparently the scientific name for vampires in the Shadowrun world is Sanguisuga Europa (to differentiate it from asian vampires, perhaps?)
Down These Mean Streets by Keith R.A. DeCandido. A novel starring Spider-man. I don't usually enjoy books based on comics characters, since the medium doesn't usually translate well without the accompanying illustrations, but this was a good read, being true the characters and with descriptions that conveyed the action as well as any comics could. Reading it, I long for the return of the Peter Parker-Mary Jane relationship. The current Brand New Day setting in the ongoing comics leaves a lot to be desired.
The Incompleat Nifft by Michael Shea. Another compilation of two books previously published as Nifft the Lean and The Mines of Behemoth. It stars Nifft; a thief and tells of his many adventures (the book itself is divided into 5 stories.) It's a great read (except perhaps for the last story, though I'll get to that later,) though a bit wordy (very vivid descriptions, with plenty of words I'm unfamiliar with, and of course me being me, could not bother to look up in the dictionary.) Nifft seems to a superlative thief, though a bit unusual for his size and choice of weapons, for one he is tall, if lean (hence the name) and is more comfortable with the spear, javelin or harpoon. The usual mold for thieves in the fantasy setting is usually small of stature (and just as likely sensitive about the fact) and equipped with short sword or dagger or such similar weaponry. (Some notables are Gord of Greyhawk, Hanse Shadwospawn and the Grey Mouser.)
Anyway the problem I had with the last story was his greed, though perhaps that was meant to be a cautionary tale from the author. Still, I didn't like how his and his friend Barnar Hammer-Hand's (another common theme with thieves, the need for "muscle") allowed their avarice run so much so that it override common sense (it seems out-of-character considering the earlier stories) and their dealing with demons (took advantage is the better term,) most other "hero" characters would have nothing to do with demons or at least dealt fairly with them, once they give their word. His friend (the aforementioned Barnar) was probably correct when he exasperatedly berated his friend; "a thief down to the least lizardly bone of you." Still a good enough story from an author whose work I've only come across for the first time, which means I'll be keeping an eye out for his other works from now on.
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