So anyone who has visited this blog knows that our host, OLDAFSarge himself, is a bit of a bookophile. Ma n loves him some books, he does. Lots of stuff on the Napoleon era, from hard histories to picture books to, I guess, painting guides for figures and stuff.
Me? Though I like history, a lot, my mind tends to wander to less hard core stuff and more fantastical of nature. So I read a lot of stuff that is an escape from the real world.
Don't judge me, it is what it is.
I mean, I have read a couple of the US Army Green Books, which detail the US Army's history of WWII, called the Green Books because hard cover versions are... green covered. Army green in fact. Assembled by historians hired by the US Army after the war to detail exactly what happened using papers, film, photographs and interviews (they actually tracked down people to get their interviews.) Apparently, after WWII the US Army decided that it was rapidly losing, one way or another, key information as to how to do warfighting the WWII way and what the heck happened, so said historians were dispatched.
The books are somewhat boring, as they detail everytthing, from logistics to training to staging to action to afteraction to what the hell went wrong (and what went right.)
U.S. Army in World War II Series - U.S. Army Center of Military History
There's even one book dedicated to pictures for those people like juvat. (See? I can hit back once in a while too!)
But, yes, fantasy books and such.
The Borderlands Series by Lorna Freeman is an excellent series that, unfortunately, the author stopped writing before finishing. Only three books exist, but the world and character building is fantastic. Imagine a 'normal' kingdom of non magic existing next to a very magical kingdom, in fact where the non-magic kingdom invaded and pushed back the magical kingdom. All centered around one human named 'Rabbit' and his life starting as a guard on the borderlands between the two kingdoms. Sounds lame, no? It isn't and the actions and reactions are great.
Book 1 is "Covenants." 2 is "The King's Own." And 3 is "Shadow's Past." Excellent reads and will leave you wanting more, but you ain't gonna get it. Still worth it.
The Myth Adventure series, by Robert Lynn Asprin are an interesting look at 'magic' and 'fantasy' taken a bit tongue-in-cheek, revolving around a surly magical apprentice named 'Skeeve' and how he grows, along with the people around him. Funny and doesn't take the standard sword and spell approach to the genre. Even better if you can get your hands on the Starblaze Publications versions that are illustrated by Phil Foglio as the illustrations follow the story perfectly and are a hoot to look at.
MythAdventures - Wikipedia - yeah, lots of books, too lazy to list for you all, go read them.
As to a different take on Fantasy, Christopher Stasheff wrote Christian fantasy. Like, fantasy, but from the viewpoint of Christianity. For instance, prayer works, evil exists, God works in mysterious ways, and you can destroy evil by hitting it with holy bells, books and candles (what, you thought that was a wiccan thing? Who do you think they stole it from?) Again, too many books to list, but here's his wiki page.
Christopher Stasheff - Wikipedia
Specifically, the 'Warlock of Graymayre' and 'A Wizard in Rhyme' are the two series specifically. Pretty good stuff if you ask me.
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For those keeping score from home, Mrs. Andrew is doing better. She just got one heckufa stomach bug and that's enough of that.
And now for your musical sampling, Alan Parson's Project's last studio album before the breakup was "Gaudi," based on Antoni Gaudi and the Barcelona cathedral La Sagrada Familia. Which is one fantastical cathedaral that is expected to finally be completed sometime in 2050 or so (thanks to delays from Gaudi getting run over by a trolly car, the Spanish Civil War, losing a lot of key research papers and models thanks to jerks and the aforementioned Spanish Civil War and such)
The whole album is great, but the first and the third songs are especially good.
The first is... "La Sagrada Familia"
Asprin's M.Y.T.H. books are a hoot!!
ReplyDeleteHis 'Phule's Company' ones aren't bad either.
DeleteI second Beans' recommendation of Phule's Company series: https://www.thriftbooks.com/series/phules-company/40527/
DeleteSeconding Scott, Asprin's efforts are worth reading, oh yah.
ReplyDeleteAsprin was very hit and miss with me. I enjoyed the early M.Y.T.H. books, but then there was a gap when he went on to the Phule series, which was a different version of the same idea. I had the same issue with the Wheel of Time: Love the early books (bought each version as it came out), then there was a break in them coming out and I lost interest (also, Jordan started putting things in after the fact, which I am never a fan of).
ReplyDeleteI understand. When it broke into the individual stories it got not so funny, but it picked up later.
DeleteArmy green-Used to be called (Dark) Olive Drab. I can imagine that today, military paint colors are named "transgender ?".
ReplyDeleteCletus
Bah on modernity. And worse that we're sending 85,000 troops to eastern Europe.
Delete"Bell, Book, and Candle."
ReplyDeleteSetting the stage: our parish has two churches on the property, the original built in 1936 (Protection of the Holy Virgin, short form Pokrov) , and the larger one founded in 1996 (St. Seraphim of Sarov). Around 2000 we were having some work done behind the iconostas (altar area) of St. Seraphim, so we had moved various items, including the reserved Sacrament to Pokrov. Work done and it was time to move everything back. The Deacon and I had vested in Pokrov, went to St. Seraphim to get a few necessary items for transfering the reserved Sacrament back to St. Seraphim - censer, processional candles, and Priest's Service Book #2. As we were walking out of St. Seraphim the Deacon quipped, "All we need is Kim Novak."
Who says Christians don't have a sense of humor?
We have an excellent sense of humor.
DeleteAnd as an altar boy who did get smacked by The Book for futzing with The Candle while doing Stations of the Cross, I can attest to the power of The Book as a hand-to-hand weapon against the forces of Evil (or stupid little children playing 'who can make his candle flame dance without putting it out' while doing said Stations of the Cross (for those not in the know, that's where priest and altar boys go from each station of the cross which represents a portion of the whole 'Jesus being condemned and dragging cross to where he gets nailed and dies' thing.))
You needed Pywackett, too!
DeleteI was doing a post-grad in NYC and not wanting to study that evening, happened to accidently pick up "The Warlock in Spite of Himself" sometime in very early '70; confused the author's name with the artist, Boris Artzybasheff (https://flashbak.com/boris-artzybasheff-machinalia-anthropomorphic-art-436922/).
ReplyDeleteMy opinion (for whatever it's worth): a copy (of at least his first novel) belongs in everyone's library
They are not 'Wheel of Time' style books, in that no 12 yo child is raped and no long sex scenes nor graphic death and dismemberment scenes occur. Just good 'clean' murder and mayham. Very old school. I liked them when I was a teenager and still like them today.
DeleteI first met the Green Books in hardcopy at a Federal Depository Library. With the reference, I am either in Heaven or Hell (the latter because I know I can't read all of them in my remaining lifetime).
ReplyDeleteThey aren't the same level of prose as our noble host, but they are good. And, yeah, wish I had the interwebs when I was a kid, I'd have read the living doggie doo out of those back then.
DeleteLate to the party, it's been a bear of a week (no, not A Bear, just a bear). I need to look into these books you speak of!
ReplyDelete