red_bus wrote:I think Hemingway can run close to self parody sometimes . Especially read today. But the romantic in me does like the Sun Also Rises. I would also recommend, A Moveable Feast. On fantasy (or perhaps, mythology), I recently re-read some of the Ulster Cycle. A good collection is in Marie Heaney's, Over Nine Waves. Really great inspiring D&D stuff Also nostalgic for me. We had it in school for the first year! Happy times.
FormCritic wrote:In order to make the storyline work and make any sense, Hermione becomes a logistics genius. She literally pulls plot devices out of her sleeves.
FormCritic wrote:WARNING! NO SPOILERS, BUT SOME DISCUSSION OF THE LAST HARRY POTTER BOOK!Finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.Overall, I rate it at a 4 out of 5.Rowling ended the series well. Good thing, too, because she was repeating plot devices, re-hashing storylines and recycling old situations throughout the book. She was clearly out of ideas.
Badmike wrote:Second, what the hell ever happened to editors? Do they spell check and nothing else nowadays? There seems to be an unwritten rule, once you make the best seller lists editors keep their hands off and let you put out the most awful, over padded dreck ever.
Badmike wrote:I keep thinking back to Cap Shaw and Black Mask magazine. He would mercilessly chop the word count in the detective tales, both saving money (writers got paid per word in those days)
Badmike wrote:First, it will in interesting to see if Rowling is a one hit wonder (Harry Potter Series) or can do something else. Writers like Katherine Kurtz, for example, get little respect in the community because all their written literature takes place in one selected milieu. Stephen King has needed a decent editior for almost 30 years now. Read a nifty tome like The Shining or Salem's Lot and compare it to overblown and bloated stuff like It or the interminable Dark Tower series.
FormCritic wrote: I respect Rowling. Her Potter series is a seven-book juggernaught...even if she never writes anything else. I think the respect of critics is overrated. She has the respect that matters...book sales. It and the Dark Tower series are great examples of the need for an editor. King meanders around It like he can't decide what story to write. The book is actually irritating to read. I have never been able to get through it all and I keep losing my place...which doesn't matter since the storyline is a wadded up mess. King's main characters are so transparently autobiographical that they get a bit hard to sort out....although King never hesitates to kill his literary self. (In The Stand, I suspect that King is Larry, the one hit wonder pop star. The Stand is one of the 50% of King books in which the main character is not a writer. However, even Johnny, the psychic in The Dead Zone is autobiographical in a different way.) For King at his best, read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. My favorite part of King's writing is his writer's notes that often open and close his stories. King's On Writing is one of my favorite books.
megnelwil wrote:http://www.travellermap.com - very slick indeed.
gyg wrote:WOW - now that is a wonderful thing indeed!!
red_bus wrote:First Bergman, now Antonioni is dead http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6923785.stmA shame. A great director is no more. My Acaeum sig. (before Orwell) was from Zabriskie Point - my favourite of his films.
FormCritic wrote:For instance, would Unearthed Arcana be a good thing or a bad thing? Or, would the DM use parts of Unearthed Arcana while disallowing other parts?
red_bus wrote:I am a big fan of UA weapon specialisation - it gives fighters an advantage that paladins and rangers don't have - and also against the rising relative advantage of spell using classes as levels rise. It is a sizeable advantage - but not too difficult for the DM to adapt to.UA had some sensible new spells too. I wasn't too happy about the Barbarian - most people managed to play Barbarians by tinkering with fighters (you can do a lot of what it is intended to do with some simple homebrew adaptations). And the Cavalier was banned by everyone I played with.
killjoy32 wrote:i think if Rob was DMing it would be along the lines of OD&D rules imo....Al
FormCritic wrote:How do guys who like the old game deal with different interpretations and iterations of AD&D?