Miscellaneous Book Haul

Had some books arrive recently, and quite an eclectic selection it is too.

First up are the re-prints of the Malus Darkblade saga, because of course I was going to buy those, and all of which I've read and enjoyed in the past, barring the last one, which concludes that saga... by setting it in the Warhammer End Times.

Needless to say I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to find out exactly how this saga comes to a close.

These are also, I sigh in resignation, mass market paperbacks, rather than the sexy trade paperbacks I was so hoping for. To be fair, on the Black Library site they didn't not say that these were going to be mass markets, but still: at 11 euros a book I do feel I've been led on a bit.

Same for Drachenfels, which actually still looks as delectable as ever, and I'm very pleased to finally have this particular edition of a book I loved so much.

I'll do a re-read and review, as I promised a while back, just to see how well it still holds up.

Not sure when, but the idea's stuck in my head at least, so It's gonna get done.

My order also came with the free Black Library Celebration 2018 booklet, collecting 6 short stories for readers to become acquainted with Games Workshop's three stable universes.

The most interesting of these is undoubtably, for me, Into Exile, a short tale of the Horus Heresy, by the esteemed Aaron Dembski-Bowden, who always seems to be able to provide the darkest shades of melancholy gold.

Not sure when or if I'll even read the Age of Sigmar tales though.

I'm sure they're good, but, well... you know my policy there.

And another re-print of the Warhammer variety:

Darkblade: Reign of Blood is actually the comic that inspired the books.

Black and white artwork that's easy to look at and to follow along.

Here the book's alongside my Hellbrandt Grimm copy, which is actually the same size though it doesn't quite look like it here, and which's artwork is not as easy to look at, or even to follow along with. 

Though Grimm's tales are fun, they do need to be in a larger format to be appreciated,

as the small lettering gave me eyestrain even when I had my good glasses on me.

I was worried that this would be the same case with Reign of Blood, but fortunately that has less dense panelling and a more acceptable equilibrium between art and dialogue.

Now, onto less Warhammer-centric stuff:

Here's Brian Keene' and Steven Shrewbury's Throne of the Bastards, follow-up to the pretty good King of the Bastards.

I enjoyed King quite a bit, for its violence and its bad-ass protagonist but especially for all the bits that hinted at almost Biblical roots.

Which is why when I found out there was a sequel, I didn't wait too long to snap it up.

For those of you worried about cover and size continuity: Here's the two books side by side.

page count 176 to King's 163. Still very short but I'm sure this one'll be just as fun as the first one was.

Artwork by Daniel Kamarudin.

King of the Bastards' artwork was the reason why I picked it up actually.

I'm a sucker for covers like this. I picked up the entirety of Glen Cook's stuff because it had Raymond Swanland art, and that turned out to be some of the best fantasy fiction I've read.

So, no need to change the art policy at this stage yet.

Next one up is The Postman Always Rings Twice.

No idea really what edition this actually is, still.

I'll keep my comments for the next post as I actually already read this one pretty soon after it arrived and I have most of my thoughts written down as well.

Up next is John M. Ford's the Last Hot Time, which is here by dint of it being the only title of this author that I could easily get, and which was not related to tie-in fiction.

At a guess, this one is about fantastical races in a gangster-Chicago?

The late John M. Ford's literary work is largely out of print these days, because of personal animosity between him and his family in the last years of his life. Not having taken care enough to provide for a will that would help keep his work in the hands of those who would care for it, upon his death it ended up in the hands of those ill disposed towards it, which answers for the scarcity and obscurity of Ford's literary work that by all accounts I've read is both complex and rewarding.

I stumbled on this information while I was wondering which Fantasy Masterwork I should be reading next, and as my eye fell on the Dragon Waiting I wanted to dig up some information on this author that I knew absolutely nothing of.

What can one say, really? The world is a sad and petty place and stuff like this happens.

Everyone has their reasons and everyone has their private hurt.

Sometimes this boils over into the public eye.

Sometimes the consequences far outstrip the level of hurt.

Whatever the reasons, the censoring and suppression of quality and dedication is always the wrong answer to pain.

Thomas Ligotti is an interesting writer.

 I've only read his Teatro Grottesco and the first 50 pages or so of his non-fiction; the Conspiracy Against the Human race, and as I've read a few pages from this one already, I can say it matches the ideas and intent of that work closer than it does to Teatro's.

It's not a good book to read during this time though as I'm  trying to stay away from the crippling nihilism for a bit.

I'll keep it for a rainy day, when my pursuits have become less tinted by emotional hang-ups and are more touched by the scholar in me.

And lastly, the three final books I needed to complete my Michael Moorcock collection.

The Collection is now complete and I can finally sho-... Wait... What, there's another one?

Mother London you say?

 Well shit.

Guess I'll have to collect that one before I share any more then.

Don't worry though, I've had something coming in the pipeline for a long time now and when I get that final book too I'll start diving into that. Until then, we'll see how we fill the time.