Winter is almost over

Posted on February 27, 2015 by J

And I have decided to stop whining. Well, it’s a little bit more complicated than that actually.

I was reading a thread on the Dragonlance Forum, where people were talking about how they’ve stopped reading. Either they didn’t have the time, or they were unable to stay focused because they had lost the ability to concentrate on reading. This was mostly due to the use of social networks.

So anyway, I have not read for a long time, and I was beginning to fear that I lost the ability to read anything that wasn’t work related. When reading the newspaper on my way to work, I found myself skipping through the articles, which seemed to support my suspicion.

Last weekend the wife and I talked about getting rid of the desk in our living room and instead make a reading corner with bookshelves, chairs etc. So, to check what damage the Internet had done to my brain I went to the shed and got out the first book in the pile: Night of Blood.

Well, a week later I have finished the book, and it turned out I had no problem whatsoever focusing on reading. I even shut off the phone and the PC and just read. That was freedom – complete freedom in my mind.

So, now I will bring in all my books and reread them like there is no tomorrow, because I just realized how much I miss reading and how much I detest constant notifications on my phone.

Reading Warhammer 40k

Posted on October 13, 2013 by J

Since Dragonlance novels died a few years back I have been looking for something new to read. I read Eisenhorn some time ago, and I have now started the Horus heresy.
So far it’s pretty good, but doesn’t seem to keep as focused as Dragonlance. Let’s see how it develops.

Speculation

Posted on September 8, 2013 by J

I just saw the remark from from Margaret Weis over at Dragolance forums, where she states that Tracey Hickman and her have an idea for dragonlance. Could it be that that we will see a new series of books? Or has the ship finally sailed for us poor ans of the setting. I guess all we can do is stay calm and prepare for more waiting.

Getting the elven itch

Posted on November 10, 2012 by J

I have been reading the Elven Nations trilogy for a couple of days now, and I am really enjoying it so far. Actually, I am enjoying it so much that I am considering buying The Elven Exiles trilogy.

I always felt the elves in Dragonlance were portrayed as being terribly weak and passive, but it seems like they are portrayed a little differently here. Of course, the books are all about elves, so it makes sense that they are better described, and therefore a lot more interesting than what we normally see in the books.

New book

Posted on November 8, 2012 by J

Since there are no new Dragonlance books coming anymore, I have decided to read the ones I never got around to read in the first place.

Yesterday, Amazon delivered the Eleven Nations Omnibus, which I am looking forward to reading. I like the work of Tonya C. Cook, Douglas Niles and Paul B. Thompson a lot, hopefully this book will live up to the expectations.

Currently reading: JRR Tolkien

Posted on June 20, 2012 by J

So, I finally found the time to catch up on my reading, and my first book this summer is The Children of Hurin by J.R.R Tolkien.

The book has been edited by Tolkien’s son, since the author himself never finished it, however, that Tolkien feel is definitely there.

The book takes place during the Morgoth days and follows primarily Turin the son of Hurin and his life from cradle to the grave. I don’t want to give any spoilers, so you will just have to go read it yourself.

The book is quite dark and has some pretty horrendous aspects that rival that of the most know Greek tragedies, however, it is rather nice to be back in Tolkien’s Middleearth once again among orcs, elves and dragons.

The Children of Hurin

Currently reading

Posted on July 24, 2011 by J

Well, I have finally gotten my filthy hands on a variety of Dragonlance rulebooks for the 3.5 D&D system, and I have also read them faster than you can say Black robed wizard. So what does an RPG geek do?

I have stated looking into Warhammer 40K. My sister’s boyfriend works for Games Workshop, so he got me a couple of novels, so I have started reading the Eisenhorn trilogy. The Warhammer universe is pretty new to me, and I have never played the game either, which is pretty nice, since I am discovering everything for the first time.

As far as I can tell, the timeline is not quite as developed as the Dragonlance world, but it has a lot of really cool aspects, such as Space Marines, Daemonhosts etc.

For the time being, I am sticking to the books I have burrowed, but I just might have found myself a new addiction.

New Chronicles cover

Posted on March 16, 2011 by J

I was surfing Amazon the other day in search for Dragonlance books, when noticed a new cover for the Dragonlance Chronicles. As far as I can tell, this is the cover for the omnibus edition, which apparently is being rereleased.

It seems that there is still money to made off of Dragonlance, and that gives hope. Maybe one day Wizards will start producing new material. Or even better, maybe Margaret Weis will be able to acquire the license. One can always hope

Summer classics

Posted on July 27, 2010 by J

So, I just finished the Dark Disciple trilogy the other day, and of course I started yearning for another Dragonlance fix right away. The sad thing of course, is that there are no new books to read, so I had to go to my stash and see if there was anything that tickled my fancy.

I am a big fan of the Lost Chronicles series, and since I recently read Dragons of the Dwarven Depths I decided to read Dragons of the Hourglass Mage for the third time in a year. It dawned on me, that Hourglass Mage is my fast becoming my summer book, meaning I have to read every summer. I am not really sure why that is the case, but when I look at my reading habits, I can tell that Chronicles are my winter/Christmas books, Legends are summer books as well and I always read The Legend of Huma after finishing either Chronicles and Legends.

As it is, I have a few days off this summer, so I am planning one last trip to my book pusher, so I can get my sticky hands on the last book in the Ogre Titans series The Gargoyle King. I have already read the spoilers over at the Dragonlance Forums, so there won’t be many surprises for me, but true to my collective nature, I have to have the last book of the last Dragonlance trilogy. I am a huge Richard A. Knaak fan, so I am sure it will be a pleasurable read nonetheless.

As for future books, I think I need to broaden my horizon just a tiny bit, in order to still have a steady flow of books coming into my office. However, principles of software development does not have any black robed wizards or dragons in them, so maybe I should look for a new fantasy series.

I guess I could also get around to actually redesign this blog as I have been talking about for eons and eons.

Recommendations are more than welcome.

Reading list: What to do now

Posted on February 7, 2010 by J

So, I never got to finish the War of Souls trilogy second time around. Work has been killing me for the last couple of months, and to be honest, that trilogy never fully agreed with me.

So anyway, I started rereading Hourglass mage, even though I read it last summer. However, when I am done with that one, I have no idea what to read next. Perhaps I should go get the Gargoyle King and read that, despite having read all the spoilers already over at the Dragonlance Forums.

It is such a downer that Wizards of the Coast killed off Dragonlance, now that I have money burning a hole in my pocket. Alas, I will have to spent it somewhere else I guess.