Zelazny wrote a fantastic short story called For A Breath I Tarry, and I wanted to read more of his work since then but only recently got the chance.

I just finished reading Foreigner, by CJ Cherryh, which I thought was a fantastic book about first contact and understanding vs communication between alien races, though the main character can sound more than a little petulant as he gets jerked around, then because he can’t relax he whines (a lot) about not having his human-goods catalogues so he can at least see a human face once in a while. Dude had a lot on his mind, so you know, I get it. For the book bingo I went with one book per square, and to be honest that was my free square because I bought almost all the books in the series and wanted to get reading them. Glad I did.

Before that I read By the Sword, by Mercedes Lackey; I’m lukewarm on it. Interesting world, great action-adventure stuff, and the main character is a likable, emotionally-mature woman leading a mercenary life in a rough world - it has its good points, but the overall tone of the story itself felt flat for me. I didn’t know it’s one of a bajillion books in the same world that Lackey wrote in, so IDK, might try another book from that pile sometime. For the bingo it satisfied the “Orange Cover Art” square due to lots of yellow leaves and hair in the art. Kind of a stretch, but I really couldn’t find something more orange-y in my collection.

I’m currently reading Nine Princes in Amber, by Roger Zelazny. It’s a really creative take on modern faerie-realm stuff that feels more like it pulls “modern day” back into European mythology rather than the way urban fantasy feels like it pulls fantasy into a more modern realism. The plot is fairly simple so far, but it’s the first in a series of relatively short novels, so I might just read a few more of them in a row and see where it goes. For the bingo, this was the “Title with a Number in It” square.

This has been such a fun way to cut into my oversized library of books I haven’t actually read yet.

Man, those books were my jam back in grade school. I gotta pick them up again sometime.

I started reading that series recently as well, and I’m quite enjoying it, and I’m taking the same approach to reading them in publication order. I’ve got Witches Abroad on my to-read list for the bingo, for the “Cozy” square. I didn’t enjoy Pyramids or Eric, though, those gave me weird vibes; I found Eric pretty dismissive of women, and Pyramids was weirdly insulting towards middle eastern contributions to science and math, but to be honest there were still parts of those books that were creative and worth reading, even if they didn’t meet Pratchett’s usual standards.

Perhaps controversial opinion, but I recently re-read The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and I found the core message to be something of a mixed message. Being responsible for what you domesticate isn’t a bad takeaway, but I felt like domestication also extended to friendship and relationships in a problematic way. No spoilers, but it has an ending that can be read as a bittersweet faerie-tale or a deeply troubling message about failure and regret. It meant a lot to me when I read it as a teenager, and now I’m not sure what I think about it, at least not yet.

I am just under halfway through By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey. I’ve never read any of her stuff before, and I didn’t realize this was part of a much larger, ongoing setting, but I’m enjoying it as a lighter read about a woman rejecting courtly roles for women and going full mercenary, with magic and psychic stuff for which I don’t know the rules, and a magic sword with a mind of its own.

I only did one book per bingo card square, so this one is actually the the orange colour square - lots of orange leaves, and yellow-ish hair on the cover art.

I just finished reading Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood, which I really enjoyed. I wrote a review on bookwyrm about this being a really insightful book on storytelling itself.

I only read the first Kushiel’s book but I really enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on more. How do you find the series holds up as it goes along?

Oo, I just finished reading the 4th book in that series for this year’s book bingo. It was a blast and a half, and dense but so rich. I’d love to hear what you think when you finish that one. Are you reading Citadel of the Autarch as well, or are you reading the series in between other books? I wrote a spoiler-free review on bookwyrm here. Anyone else read this series?

Alternate laundry cat?

I’m currently reading Sword and Citadel, which is an omnibus of two books by Gene Wolfe; The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch. They are the 3rd and 4th books in his series the Book of the New Sun.

It tells the odyssey of a man named Severian, traveling a world which is very old, very new, and utterly strange, on an evolving spiritual quest surrounding a mythical figure called the Conciliator. It’s a dense book, and the way Gene Wolfe writes makes you feel like the text is undulating in your hands while you read it, so a passage you read a moment ago may have shifted since you last read it. Not unlike the way you can feel a snake move when you hold it. It’s steeped in biblical and historical references, has wildly imaginative fantasy and strange-technology elements, and while I have needed to regularly look up a lot of new words, it’s been a fascinating adventure.

This looks lovely, I’m so down.

12

I came across a philosophical take on Morrowind that not only stuck with me, it pulled me deeper into the game. I don’t know the origin of this take, but essentially it’s that all the versions of this main character that you play, infinitely varied as played by everyone in the world, have all co-existed in the same infinite cross-dimensional slice of time, which the daedric prince Azura has locked in a time loop. This has resulted in stories of what actually transpired being vague, and most of Morrowind being obliterated after the events of TES III.

There is something both moving and creepy about feeling like I’m contributing to the machinations of this seemingly benign daedra, whose aim is ultimately one of the pursuit of perfection and humanity, which is so impossible to achieve, it can only be expressed like a chronological equivalent of a math equation that approaches infinity, but with the lives of those poor people of Morrowind, and the never-ending reincarnation of Nerevar.

My partner recently got me started playing AoE II - it’s a beautiful game. I’ve never been a big RTS player, but I dig this one.

I absolutely love Morrowind, but I’m torn whether to call it timeless. It’s got a clunky interface, but that interface is also so much a part of the feeling that grips you when you play it.

I have a few answers, but I agree that Chrono Trigger is one of those games you come back to again and again. I think there are many excellent games which wouldn’t qualify because they are too firmly rooted in their time, or perhaps don’t feel timeless due to the limitations of their interface, but here are a few titles that are not just my favorites but I also think compare boldly across systems, genres, and time. I may have got carried away :|

edit: formatting, I’mma Lemmy newb

Sega Master System

• Columns: the best iteration of this tetris-esque game series imo
• Choplifter: what a brutal, unforgiving game, and you feel so horrible when you crush people you’re trying to save

Sega Genesis

• Samurai Showdown (Genesis): A fighter oozing with personality, weapons, and a good balance of combos, strategy, and special moves that reward you just enough to want to learn that next move without feeling like you can just mash buttons

PC Engine / Turbografx 16

• Ninja Spirit (PC Engine): hard as hell, but also cool as hell
• Devil Crush: ultra-stylish, demonic pinball
• Blazing Lasers: OK, this one might be an easier title, but it’s so much fun to cause so much carnage, and the layered parallax backgrounds are lovely

NES

• Ninja Gaiden: I still haven’t beat it, but I can’t not keep trying
• Kirby’s Adventure: what a charming, vibrant world

SNES

• Super Street Fighter 2 series: gold standard fighter
• Earthbound / Mother 3: a unique, unusual, and psychedelic RPG
• Zombies Ate My Neighbors: wacky, stylish top-down mayhem with an excellent responsive control and fun music
• ActRasier: Interesting cross of management and platform game where you play a deity manifesting to take care of its people against monsters and famine alike

PSX

• Castlevania, Symphony of the Night: Beautiful gothic horror metroidvania-action-rpg with great music
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2: killer moves, combos, wipeouts, and soundtrack

PS2

• Guitaroo Man: Wacky superhero/superrockstar rhythm game supreme
• Katamari Damacy: obsessive, rainbow-splashed fun and mayhem
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: my favorite title in this series

Xbox

• Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2: Bioware RPG storytelling and environments at their finest
• Psychonauts: a stylish and funny masterpiece by Doublefine (except that fucking meat circus, ugggggh)
• Jet Set Radio Future: a vibrant, cell-shaded wonder in unmistakable sega style
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay: a surprisingly tight, atmospheric, and narratively compelling stealth game

PC

• Doom 1 and 2: well yea
• Minesweeper: man, I sill get sucked into this game
• Grim Fandango: a heartwarming and funny point-and-click noir adventure about death and a life worth living, beautifully styled after Mexican day-of-the-dead visuals and themes
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: you may think you know what a text adventure game is, but this game will expand your mind
• Minecraft: OK, there are a LOT of versions and updates to this game, and it has become so complex, but whether OG vanilla or latest edition, there is nothing like loading up a clean, new world to explore, survive, and shape in new and exciting ways####___