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As a summer storm's thunder is rumbling outside, its officially the midpoint of the year. Time to check your progress on your reading goals to see if you're on track!

With Twitter going down the drain, I'll probably read book from my TBR rather than adding to it. :D

Just started Karl Edward Wagner's Dark Crusade and am thoroughly enjoying it so far. K.E.W.'s brand of brutal and bloody Sword and Sorcery is one I enjoy way too much. Kane is beyond badass.

Seems like a small but passionate Wagner fanbase out there so I always try and talk about his work, he really wrote some great stuff.

Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything by Kelly Weill

Weill traces the Flat Earth movement (which is a REAL THING) from its beginnings in the 1800s to current times, when Flat Earthers tend to get tangled in additional conspiracy theories.

Fascinating book. 4 stars

My review: /review/show...

Reading The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn and re-reading The Well of Ascension.

Connor wrote: "Just started Karl Edward Wagner's Dark Crusade and am thoroughly enjoying it so far. K.E.W.'s brand of brutal and bloody Sword and Sorcery is one I enjoy way too much. Kane is beyond ..."

I have read the Kane series a few times. I do enjoy his writing.

I started on the second book in the Tomb of Malevolent Evil series - Cast of the Die

Finished Howey's Across the Sand. I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did the first in the series. It lagged for me and took me a long time to finish. Also reading Helix. This author is new to me, but I'm really enjoying the book.

Reading the Belvedore series. I’m enjoying this series and I’m on the second book. Was happily surprised to find the author is a person of color and writes a rainbow of characters. Belvedor and the Four Corners

“The Battle of Kings�� by MK Hume.

@Yrret, is that book enjoyable? I've always been partial to stories about Merlin. I particularly liked Jack Whyte's.

Michelle wrote: "@Yrret, is that book enjoyable? I've always been partial to stories about Merlin. I particularly liked Jack Whyte's."

My favorite is The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

One of these days I need to read the rest of the series, I think because I liked the first one so much I'm afraid to be disappointed by the rest.

Finished:

Tourney of Terror...made a mistake there, that was book 2 in the series and it heavily references book 1 (still on reserve at the library). I presume there will be a book 3 since the story clearly isn't done yet.

Finished Moomin Deluxe: Volume Two, I'd heard of Moomin (Mumintroll) but never actually read it (same deal for other really famous things like Where the Wild Things Are and The Phantom Tollbooth...one of these days I'll catch up just for the sake of claiming I'd read them!)

This was a massive book containing half of all the comics. Took me a bit to catch up on the cast of characters (it was vol 2 again...) but once I figured out what was what it was pretty cute. Gonna tackle the novels soon, even though they came first...

Now I'm reading:

Shannara, need to make sure I keep up so I don't get left with too many at the end of the year!! Jarka Ruus by Terry Brooks starts off the next trilogy.

And I'm looking forward to Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation, Vol. 1 that tells how Jareth becomes the Goblin King (now I know why he doesn't actually look like a goblin...)

Andrea wrote: "Michelle wrote: "@Yrret, is that book enjoyable? I've always been partial to stories about Merlin. I particularly liked Jack Whyte's."

My favorite is The Crystal Cave by [author:Mary ..."

I liked that, too.

Connor wrote: "Just started Karl Edward Wagner's Dark Crusade and am thoroughly enjoying it so far. K.E.W.'s brand of brutal and bloody Sword and Sorcery is one I enjoy way too much. Kane is beyond ..."

I recently put Night Winds on my TBR list, but I am scratching my head as far as the current choices to read it. If you like ebooks (I kind of don't), it's available on Amazon with a cover that makes it look like fantasy romance. If you want a print version, those are all used and they're rare. Good luck finding a printed copy in decent condition for less than $40.

I really have to wonder what's going on with whoever owns the publishing rights. Do they not want people to read the books or something?

KEW's books have always been tough to find, even those about him. I found Exorcisms and Ecstasies for $5 at a remainder store new & bought 1 copy because that's all the money I had. I went back the following week to get another but it was sold out. Years later I managed to get another copy for my son, but I paid $60 for it.

It's tough to even find many of them. I spent years looking & finally got them all, but some are battered library copies. Finally, Jared at Centipede Press put together the best collections. KEW's short stories are collected in 2 volumes & the first is really worth buying. The second is OK, but he was declining as his alcoholism brought him down. They are Where the Summer Ends: The Best Horror Stories of Karl Edward Wagner, Volume One & Walk on the Wild Side: The Best Horror Stories of Karl Edward Wagner, Volume Two.

There are 5 volumes of the Kane stories, I think. 2 have short stories & 3 are stand alone novels. That is the only full collection of them that I'm aware of. They're long sold out, but available used for decent prices the last I saw. Not cheap - no Centipede Press book is cheap - but they're well worth it.

I was about to pop in a say OpenLibrary has all kinds of really hard to find out of print books (of course not the same as owning your own copy but sometimes the only way to actually read it)...but even they have almost nothing by KEW.

I finished The Well of Ascension and Final Girls. Started Alias Emma.

Yeah KEW is tough to find for sure, and Night Winds is a great book, my favourite of his so far. Dark Crusade was good but Kane takes a backseat role in this one and it feels like a different book almost.

I managed to find all Wagner's Kane stories from a collector locally for a great price, and found an original copy of his horror book In a Lonely Place, which goes for even more than Night Winds. Definitely wont happen again anytime soon with how rare they are lol.

Robert McCammon's earlier physical books are outrageous, too. I saw one going for several hundred dollars.

Just finished The Space between Worlds

Georgann wrote: "Just finished The Space between Worlds"

I read that last year. It's different.

I just finished the Dragonlance Preludes novel Kindred Spirits. It was all right enough, fun to spend time with younger versions of Flint and Tanis after all this time.

Now I've moved on to Dance of the Dead from the Ravenloft series I deliberately ignored as "too spooky" as a closeminded teen =D

@ Audrey - it was different, but I did find it intriguing. Not sure if that's the word I'm looking for. It kept me interested, for sure! A 4 star read for me.
@Robert - I read the first Dragonlance novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight for one of my BINGO slots. I am the odd guy out, as I didn't care for it. But I'm still glad I gave it shot. I may have loved it. like so many others!

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, while foundational, really was the weakest of those original Dragonlance novels in my view. That makes it kind of tricky to recommend the trilogy these days I feel but if one is willing to take the plunge Winter Night and Spring Dawning are pretty solid and then the LEGENDS trilogy really soars.

I only have about 50 pages left in Cast of the Die, the second book in the Tomb of Malevolent Evil series, so I should finish that tonight. I have finished The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye and have started The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us. I was surprised to find how quickly the TV show diverged from the source material, although I can understand the reasons for some of the differences.

Currently reading McDevitt's Omega. I don't usually read his "Hutch" books so I'm a little lost. So many characters! But it's been a good sci fi read so far.

Robert wrote: "Dragons of Autumn Twilight, while foundational, really was the weakest of those original Dragonlance novels in my view. That makes it kind of tricky to recommend the trilogy these days I feel but i..."

Its one of the reasons I'm reading fantasy today. I recall borrowing it from my high school library and kind of sneaking it out since it was a "boy" book. At the time I was coming off reading things like Babysitter's Club and anything that happened to have a horse in it. Though I read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by this time.

My high school reading list also helped out with a variety of things like Dune (I got that as a gift from my brother but I got around to reading it due to the summer reading list) and Xanth yeah...not sure how that got on the list, hehe, but it is a pretty thick book but with silly humour, maybe makes kids read pages more that way? Plus the early books actually aren't that bad.

I still have those lists. I was a kid that actually enjoyed doing that summer homework. And of course what books were on the list depended on what grade you were in so A Spell for Chameleon was maybe grade 7 with Dune for 10 or 11 :)

Finished the Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation, Vol. 1 trilogy, a cute prequel as to how Jareth becomes the goblin king. There are more Labyrinth graphic novels which I can borrow as ebooks from my library so will probably look into those this weekend. Even my Mom and Dad are reading these since we all love the movie.

Read the first Moomin novel, the shortest one, in one sitting - The Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jansson

Also finished La Malédiction de Freyja by Bryan Perro, fourth in a series that I've been calling the French Percy Jackson in my head.

And finished Jarka Ruus, have to see if I'm in fact halfway through the entire Shannara yet or not, since we're halfway through the year. The pile of unread ones is still pretty darn big.

Now I'm reading The Folk of the Air by Peter S. Beagle which I realize now has nothing to do with fairies but hey, it won the Mythopoeic Award and I need it for my BINGO :)

And starting the next Moomin - Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson

My review of The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

/review/show...

Andrea wrote: "Finished the Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation, Vol. 1 trilogy, a cute prequel as to how Jareth becomes the goblin king. There are more Labyrinth graphic novels which I can borrow ..."

There is a Kickstarter currently on for a reprint of the complete Labyrinth graphic novel collection -

I finished Cast of the Die. It's a solid middle book in the trilogy and I will be going on to the third book. Also, as one of the characters in the party is a bard, it fills the Musician slot in my bingo.

Tony wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Finished the Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation, Vol. 1 trilogy, a cute prequel as to how Jareth becomes the goblin king. There are more Labyrinth graphic novels whic..."

Interesting, since I picked it up at the library I didn't realize it wasn't in print :) I have access to most of the other graphic novels through ebook library loans ("Coronation" were physical copies) but there were some things like the novelization that aren't available at the library.

Finished Comet in Moominland, now if only a comet headed to Earth just misses the surface, skimming between two mountains and then shooting right off into space again!

Starting on Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson

I finished Lords of Uncreation, last volume in the Final Architecture series. I am now starting Horus Rising by Dan Abnett.

I'm relistening to Dark Age in preparation for the new Pierce Brown book, and also reading Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade which is proving a nice return to the Prequels era so far.

Pierre, is Horus Rising your first foray into the Warhammer universe? Its on my TBR shelf and I'm debating jumping into it next, I've never read Warhammer and heard that one is a good starting place

Started reading Nova the other day

I finished an essay by Kevin Hart It Will All Work Out: The Freedom of Letting Go. I always liked him, and this was offered as a free read this month by amazon's prime reading. I enjoyed it!

I'm happily back to reading Marko Kloos, #2 in the Palladium War series:Ballistic.

Sword of Sorrow, Blade of Joy by J.F. Lee

How is that, Mary?

Connor wrote: "Pierre, is Horus Rising your first foray into the Warhammer universe? Its on my TBR shelf and I'm debating jumping into it next, I've never read Warhammer and heard that one is a good starting place"
Yes, Connor, this is my first foray into the Warhammer universe. According to some comments found here on ŷ������, Horus Rising is a good introduction to it. I'll see whether I find it sufficiently interesting to warrant reading more in the Horus Heresy very large series.

Michelle wrote: "How is that, Mary?"

I like it thus far.

I have finished The Walking Dead, Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars. There are 19 volumes in the collected series, plus several spin-offs, so I will probably take a break for a while before I continue.

Going to start on Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed! by Madeleine Roux. I've already read the second book and was a bit confused since I hadn't read the first one, now I can fill in the gaps.

Thanks Pierre, I'm in the same boat as you.

I just finished The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. Incredibly well written and relevant thematically, but I found it rather boring. Thought I was going to like it more than I did.

I finished Mickey7. It was fun.

My review of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker

/review/show...

Faith wrote: "My review of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker

/review/show..."

I've been wanting to read that.

Just finished Marked for our B3 BINGO slot. Thoroughly enjoyed it!