Reading List (offline post 2 of 3)

With the start of a new month and a new residence, I thought I’d start writing a semi-regular blurb here.

I read. A lot. Actually, sometimes, I don’t read that much –that is usually when I am most unhappy. I primarily read Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as gaming related books.

I usually read one or two books at a time –one for pleasure and one for some form of self-improvement. The last three books I read were:

City of Towers, by Keith Baker.

The short version:
This is Keith Baker’s first novel, and it’s pretty good. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read. The characters are cool (and likeable), and the action keeps moving. I know it was good because more than once I kept reading past my own personal deadline. Any book that will make me sacrifice sleep in order to find out what happens next is good.

As the back cover says, “Experience Eberron through the eyes of its creator!” I find Eberron to be interesting for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was the result of WotC’s setting search. They paid Keith approximately $110,000 to write Eberron up as a campaign world.

I haven’t read the campaign setting book, but from what I have skimmed and read elsewhere, Eberron has some very interesting things going for it. One thing I find very appealing is that most of the world is fairly low level, or uses NPC classes. That means that the PCs are special simply because they’re PCs. It also limits the use of higher-level spells. It’s difficult to get a True Resurrection when the highest level cleric in the known world is 17th level.

Anyway, I didn’t want to dive into the campaign setting itself for a variety of reasons. For one, I’m pretty much completely sold on Arcana Evolved, and the thought of going back to regular D&D is not terribly appealing. So, I picked up the fiction.

Mr. Baker’s first book is pretty good. There are one or two nits I’d pick with it, but overall I really enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to the next two. The most glaring nit is one case of “as you know, Bob” syndrome. That’s where characters say stuff that they already know and would never discuss out loud, for the sole benefit of the reader.

For example (and this specific example is NOT found in City of Towers):
“As you know, Bob, we’re both Paladins; sworn to protect innocents and the realm. Our God helps us by granting us holy abilities. And I’m not wearing pants.”

Anyway, I really enjoyed the book, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy, or wants more information on Eberron itself.

Marked for Death, by Matt Forbeck
Short Version:
This is the second Eberron book, by veteran author Matt Forbeck. In some ways I wish I had read this one first. I’m not sure where I read this (it could have been Matt’s web page, or one of the blogs I check daily), but Mr. Forbeck said this book was basically a western. I used to be a big fan of Deadlands (which Matt also worked on), and the Western fantasy Genre, so this book seemed to be a no-brainer for me.

Like City of Towers, the action keeps this book moving along, and more than once I read past my self-imposed deadline. I give this book two big thumbs up. I will definitely be reading the next two books in this series.

If you’re really hurting for cash and you absolutely had to pick between City of Towers and Marked For Death, I’d recommend Marked. Otherwise, fantasy and Eberron fans should read them both.

The Dharma of Star Wars, by Matthew Bortolin
Short version:
As you can tell by the title, this isn’t a work of fiction. It’s a book about Buddhist themes in Star Wars. Some of my friends and family know that I’ve been quietly pursuing an interest in Buddhism, and this was the latest book in a short but growing line of books I’m read on the subject.

I particularly enjoyed the author’s writing style. It was very relaxed and conversational. He was able to explain some Buddhist concepts that I didn’t yet have a good handle on. I’d recommend this book for anyone with an interest in Buddhism, as well as anyone who ever really, really wanted to be a Jedi.

That’s it for this week’s book list. I will update the book list as often as it changes, which is usually not as often as I’d like. Sadly, I don’t read particularly quickly. Speed-reading is a skill I wish I had kept up with after I learned how to do it in High School.