Ramble post with some books
So I had to redo my system for a Linux upgrade. Turns out, I didn't back up my Obsidian Vault correctly? I lost all my ODnD campaign notes. That's okay I guess. I didn't have anything prepped and what was written is all published anyway. In a way, this is a little of a fresh start. Some of my old files are still around. But all that is mostly me just messing around.
I guess I'm trying to consider what I want this space to be. Like, is it just a place for my DnD session reports? Or can it be other stuff as well. The best advice I read, make the blog an everything blog. Making it just one thing can make things a little stale. Maybe there is a recipe I really like and I want to share that here. Or, my reaction/thoughts on a book that I've read. That seems like a good idea.
Some of my recent reading has brought up a lot of feelings in me. Like when I finished the Earthsea cycle for the first time. I cried a bit. I loved Ged, I loved Tenar, and I loved the archipelago. The fact I will not be able to keep experiencing new Earthsea saddens me greatly. But I'm still happy that the books are easily available. Every copy, except for the first copy, I borrowed from the Library. I love dead tree media. I struggle greatly with reading on my phone or on a kindle. I probably would still be reading off my kindle if it didn't break on me. It was a second gen paperwhite so I'm happy it lasted this long. Anyway, I guess this is a book post now.
Overall "review" of Earthsea. Thumbs up. Highly recommend. Go read it. Cry like me at the end of the cycle. And have a want to read it all again. Bonus points if you use your local resources, like a library!
I'm going to group Blacktongue Thief and Between Two Fires together. Mainly because they are written by the same author. Good dark fantasy. Thumbs up. Running a dark fantasy table top game? Have a curiosity for fucked up shit? Then these books are a must read. Trigger warning though, they have some heavy themes that are not suitable for everyone. I recommend approaching these books with caution if you are easily disturbed or are sensitive to SA(nothing explicit, some implied), torture, gore, and overall grossness. Those warnings apply mostly to Between Two Fires. Blacktongue Thief is mostly vulgar prose, but a fun read.
Roadside Midnight is a book I purchased. The writer is a YouTuber who's videos I've watched in the past. It was more of a "I want to support someone trying a creative endeavor" kind of purchase. The book was entertaining enough for me to want to finish it. It's a casual read and nothing critical. It's one of those 'bad' books I'd recommend anyone to read.
Iliad. This was a tough book. In a good way. I'm so glad I took the effort to finish this read. At parts it became a test of my reading endurance. And other times, my eyes were glued to the page. For anyone interested in reading classic literature, this is a good one. I don't have much else to compare to, but for a story that survived today from the age of antiquity, I'm impressed. Homeric prose does take some getting used to, but try to imagine that you are listening to the words being spoken. It helped me get through some parts. Admittedly, my eyes did gloss over two parts of the Iliad. The chapter dedicated to naming the ships, and when Hephaestus was crafting a new shield for Achilles. To me, these were the most uninteresting parts of the story. Maybe in your read, you won't have that problem. But if you share in my pain, you're not alone. Highly recommend, thumbs up from some guy on the internet.
Anyway, thanks for reading my rambling. It has been a little while since I ran a DnD game. So the feeling of not being creatively satisfied has been getting to me. I'm considering trying to write my own material, instead of just using what it already published. Weird Writer had a fantastic post here about making a sandbox. I should take it as a creative writing challenge. It has been a while since I've done one of those. There is also this project to make a hex a day. I'm lazy and just wanted something like this printed for me, so it's another thing I'm looking forward to.
Thanks again for your time and stay safe out there!