Fiction reading

I've talked a lot about my reading trawls lately, which are all gamebooks of a certain theme; I've also been trying to read a lot of fiction. Some of this is audiobooks; older stuff from Librivox that I listen to while driving (recently did Scaramouche and Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini, and just yesterday finished At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I've actually read read those, so doing them as audiobooks was a reminder rather than a new one.) In fact, I haven't even remembered to put the latter on my read list yet.

Here's the cover of my physical copy. Of course, it's not nearly as cool as the Frazetta cover, but y'know. It's the one that I have. I think I bought it at Half Price Books back in the later 80s. It was obviously a reprint to tie-in with the release of the movie in the 70s.

I also have the next book in the Pellucidar series, Pellucidar, queued up to play in the near future, but probably not until I listen to A Princess of Mars and Tarzan of the Apes. The Mars book was ERB's first big hit, published under the alternate title as serialized stories as Under the Moons of Mars. The first Tarzan book was published in 1912, and the first Pellucidar book was published in 1914. I should also throw The Mad King on, although I do have a recently acquired paperback copy of that too. And, incredibly, I haven't ever read the Moon series, I don't think, so I should get that too. Probably as audiobook. Older public domain books on audiobook are great, because you can get them, and usually for free. I've also got Polidori's The Vampyre downloaded, and some of the longer Lovecraft stories: "Call of Cthulhu," "At the Mountains of Madness," "The Dunwich Horror," and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." Before I'm done with him, I might also get a few more, but maybe not. I have a new physical copy omnibus of his stuff to read anyway.

I'm still undecided what else to "read" in audiobook format for the remainder of the year, but since I'll continue to commute to and from the office most days, and I'll have to do at least three out of state road trips before the end of the year, I've got plenty of time to listen to plenty of audiobooks.

My Kindle app is one that I don't necessarily spend lots of time on, but I'll still read, I hope, the last book of Rich Wulf's Ashen Legacy trilogy; I've read the first two earlier this year. I'd also like to read Lin Carter's Pellucidar Pastiche; I bought a Zanthodon megapack years ago and still haven't read it. It has all five books of the series included. I have lots more to read, but I doubt I'll get beyond those before the end of the year.

In physical books, I just started my omnibus copy of the Dark Elf prequel trilogy which followed the Halfling Gem trilogy, which I read a couple of years ago again. I haven't ever re-read the Dark Elf prequel trilogy, but I've had a copy for a couple of years or more that I've been meaning to read. I just started last night, and I'm at about 60 pages in, or almost 20% of the first novel. I should finish the first novel this week easily, and all three of them within a couple of weeks tops, even while also reading other stuff. I also have a Black Library Von Carstein trilogy, which I've had for quite a bit longer but also still haven't read, other than the new segments that preceded the actual novels. And then I also have the Arkham Horror Dark Waters trilogy, which I've had out of my boxes for a while and meaning to read, and the original Timothy Zahn Star Wars trilogy too. And then I have the four-book James Silke Horned Helmet series. Although some of those are bundled in anthologies, that's still sixteen novels just by itself, not counting some of the other material, like Dracula, The Mad King and my Solomon Kane collection, which I also want to read this year.

In non-fiction, I have a few books here and there I'd like to read too, so I continue to be quite busy. With my wife out of town between now and the end of the year helping with the birth of my son's twin daughters (she's mostly helping with the three existing small kids) I've got more free time for reading than I'm used to, so I should get a lot of this done. But my to-read list is certainly longer than my likely capability, even so. For one thing, I can only read so much before I get antsy and have to stop and do something. Even if it's just watch a TV show or a movie or something, or get out and take a walk around the neighborhood. 

And let's not even get started on movies I want to watch or TV shows. At least the first seasons of Supernatural and The X-Files. And more. Sigh.

I've also been asked, after I soft-volunteered, to run a Halloween themed one-shot for some guys. I'm not even sure who it will be participating, or what I'll run. I'm seriously thinking of adapting "Exit 23" because, of course, I've run that at least three times in the past, and I know it pretty well. Even though it's been years since I've run it. But a haunted house D&D-like game might go well too, or even the opening to Darkness in the Hill Country. Or something out of my d20 Call of Cthulhu book; it has two interesting one-shot adventures included. Or a Dread game. I've run that before as a Halloween one-shot before.

It'll probably "Exit 23", maybe fleshed out and made a bit longer.