Just finished Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell (yes, yes, I know I'm sad. I like his stuff, ok? Airport heroic fantasy, yes. But Morningstar had some pretty complex ideas about time. Alright, no excuses, but his books are often fun to read, and I am basically lazy.). It's ancient Greek fantasy, basically. Finally lots of pretty damn gay characters, an orientation which he only really briefly touches on (mentions that a v. minor male character is in love with a less minor male character in Stormrider) or hints at (has a couple of blokes in, I think, Quest For Lost Heroes who are fairly obviously life partners in more than just a friendly way) in his 'straight' (i.e. non-historical) fantasy. Next book, 'Dark Prince' deals with Alexander the Great, so, hopefully, Gemmell will finally have a gay main character. This book, however, was depressing as hell - kinda like the most recent series of Buffy. No one gets to be happy for very long, and there is always someone playing something in minor key in the background (metaphorically speaking).
I've started Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig and Peter Carroll's Liber Null and Psychonaut. Haven't read enough of the Carroll book to form an opinion, except that he expects people to be able to achieve a lot. The DMK, however, I am wanting to chuck across the room very regularly. I started reading it on the train, and even thought about getting rid of it entirely, as it hardly seemed worth the minimal effort of carting it about London. I hate his smug, patronizing tone. I hate his style, I hate his exclamation marks. He is sooooo condescending. I also hate his interpretations of the cards of the Major Arcana of the tarot. A straightforward manual without regular injections of his 'personality' would have been far preferable. I think I am DMK intolerant. "Black magic is bad, mmmkay?" He is sooo an even more annoying version of that guidance counsellor in South Park.
For fun, I am reading Voyage of the Dawn-Treader by C.S. Lewis for the first time. |
