Books I've Acquired Recently

As I've said before, when it comes to free or dirt cheap ebooks, or any book for that matter I don't download them or purchase them unless I know this is a book that I really want to read.

A book that I've been searching for some time now I found yesterday on Amazon in ebook form - Gargantuan and Pantagruel. It's actually a series or collection of stories written by a French Renaissance author, Francois Rabelais. It's about two giants who go on a number of different adventures and there is a lot of satirical humor in these stories. I finally have it on my kindle and I'm excited about reading it! I must say that I even bought some music years ago, songs inspired by Villon and also Rabelais. I love music from the Renaissance and the middle ages. I also ran across some of Sir Isaac Newton's religious writings, specifically is his writings on the prophecies of Daniel - one of my favorite Bible books and I am currently reading The Last King's Amulet by Chris Northern, which is an excellent fantasy story. I'll definitely be getting the sequel to that book!

I think that as a fantasy writer it is important to read the early masters of the craft. Tolkien and Lewis, Howard,* etc. However, there are fantasy writers who came before them and to reach back and read and to become inspired by their works I feel can add depth and to my own work. I would like to add Milton to this list as well but technically he was not a fantasy writer but authors that I admire respected his work.


*Edited Moorcock out. I have never read Moorcock's work and after having read what he thinks of Tolkien and Lewis - who are masterful writers in my opinion, I felt that to include him in this post with such men would be an insult to their work and to them.