Monday, February 28, 2011

Visiting with Old Friends

As my to-read pile dwindles, I've been compiling a list of books that I intend to re-read in 2011.
  1. The Dark Tower series - A long time favorite of mine, I've been thinking about re-reading the Dark Tower off and on for years.  I've read and re-read the first four countless times.  In April, I'll be walking the long road to the Tower once again.
  2. The Elric saga - Michael Moorcock's albino with the soul-sucking sword is another series that I've been dying to re-read.  In fact, I discovered it during the long drought between Wizard in Glass and Wolves of the Calla.  I'll be re-reading the original books, not Fortress of the Pearl or any of the lesser Elric books that followed.
  3. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville's new weird masterpiece has been begging for a re-read almost since I closed it the first time.  Like the other books on this list, I'm anxious to write a review on Goodreads while it's still fresh in my mind instead of being blurred by the passage of years.
  4. The Earthsea Trilogy - Ursula LeGuin's tale of a young man's journey through his magical career is a book I wish I would have read a decade before I actually did.  Ged's passage through life is one I'm eager to experience for the second time.
Those are the volumes I've identified so far.  Others that I'm considering are Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, and Dashielle Hammet's Red Harvest.  We'll see how things go down.
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4 comments:

  1. TrishaMarch 1, 2011 at 1:38 AM

    I totally want to read those Ursula le Guin books. I have read the Dark Tower series (only in 2009-2010 as a matter of fact), and loved it, even though the ending was a bit much for my poor little heart to handle. lol

    Haven't heard of the other books!

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  2. Dan SchwentMarch 1, 2011 at 5:43 AM

    I'm hoping Earthsea holds up under a re-read. I've read the first four Dark Tower books five or six times each but the final three only once. I thought the ending was okay but thought the final battle with the Crimson King was too much like a video game.

    The Elric books are about the sickly albino emperor of a decadent empire who needs a demonic soul-sucking sword to survive. Perdido is a steampunk/new weird book with all kinds of crazy shit going on. I highly recommend both.

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  3. BrandonMarch 1, 2011 at 7:02 PM

    I still need to read Dark Tower III-VII..I'm guessing they're pretty excellent considering you're reading them again.

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  4. Dan SchwentMarch 1, 2011 at 8:03 PM

    I'd say the third one, Wastelands, is my favorite of the series. It has the most action and really gets the series going.

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