Book of the Week: The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.

I pick this one, knowing that I put my life in my hands. Ruth S Noel’s The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth was excellent for its time (1980) as an analysis of Tolkien’s invented languages; but there have been a lot of words and grammar found since then. Some of the people most interested in this topic are kind of, ah, intense on the subject, too. I have yet to find a lexicon on the topic that doesn’t have people screaming about it in the reviews, so I decided to go with my first impulse and just go with the book I’ve had for over thirty years.

I’ll be happy to hear any suggested alternatives, as long as you (generic) don’t scream at me over them. Sheesh.

#commissionearned

Book of the Week: Redliners.

Not an Amazon special, this time: Baen Books has made David Drake’s Redliners a free e-library book. So if you’ve never read it (I haven’t, either), check it out. And pour one out for David Drake, while you’re at it. What he didn’t know about writing military science fiction probably didn’t matter much, anyway.

Moe Lane

PS: Personally, I was a big fan of his collaborations with Eric Flint and S.M. Stirling. As for his own work: the RCN series is what I bought, as soon as new ones came out. I am an absolute sucker for Napoleonic War-era naval fiction… In Space! Balefires is likewise a favorite; the man had a dab hand at horror.

#commissionearned

Audiobook of the Week: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

I picked World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War because a buddy from my Secret World Legends MMO cabal told me this morning that they got a full cast for the audiobook, which means it comes across like a radio drama. While I am not really into audiobooks, I am all about radio dramas. It’s also about eleven bucks right now, so why not?

#commissionearned

Book of the Week: The Mercurian: Three Tales of Eric John Stark.

Can’t remember if I did The Mercurian: Three Tales of Eric John Stark before, and I don’t care because bourbon drink*. This is the stuff, my droogies. Leigh Brackett is one of the people that later hacks are ripping off.

#commissionearned

*There’s jalapeno honey in this one and dang.

Book of the Week: …what’s a book?

Sorry, but I am tired. DoxaCon was fun, but I was on my feet for a lot of it, and the trip back featured things like signs saying ALL LANES ON I-95N CLOSED, just before Google Maps advises you to go over three lanes and start your driving tour of southern Maryland. It wasn’t even all that big a big delay, but my brain is fried.

Hold on. Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond Issue #2. There. That’s a book. I even just bought it.

#commissionearned