anything else?

[Sir Wolf]

so when not a knight, is there anything else you guys like to do? any cool hobbies, past times, etc?

[Sir James A]

I play video games where the main character is a knight

[Sir William]

I'm a gamerhead, so I spend a lot of time doing that.  I've been on a completion bent of late...running thru AC2 now- realized I'd never played it on the 360 like the rest of the ACs so, what the hell, right?  Its the only set of games that I don't feel wrong hunting Templars.  Usually, I'm the knight.  Touche Sir James!   

Also an avid reader- been scarfing down a lot of medieval fiction of late; I like to cook as well - none of these are things you'd call "cool" but they do give me pleasure.  I also like horseback riding, when I can get up on one and enjoy it- I don't consider that part of my 'knightly routine' since I haven't learned to joust, just the simple pleasure of a trailride.

I also work on cars, albeit a lot less than I used to- now its just general maintenance as opposed to aftermarket tuning or cosmetic upgrades.  I do more stuff, just nothing that comes to mind right now.  LOL

[Thorsteinn]

Love RPG's, books, and food. So want to get back to that after I move (then move again) and get good cash flow.

[Ian]

My other hobbies are computers (gaming and building them), photography, I've played guitar for about the last 15 years (favorites to play are anything be zeppelin, sabbath, other classic rock, and more modern metal), and of course rotary wing aviation!  I guess I like fixed wing aviation too, but that's for the less skilled aviators out there   Star Wars, other sci-fi of course, reading... most nerdy endeavors.  Sitting on aircraft carriers for extended periods of time being bored to death (yes I'm on duty again right now)

Sir William, there's a new novel out there called Shield of Honor written by a guy who posts on MyArmoury.  You might be interested.  I'm about half-way through.  It's about a knight set to the backdrop of the Agincourt campaign.

[Sir William]

Sir Ian, my thanks- I'm currently re-reading The Red Knight for like the 4th time (I'm still wrapping my head around how the magic works in this book, very intriguing to me); having burned through A Song of Ice and Fire (again) and a number of other medieval-themed books, I'm wanting something new.

How does it stack up to Bernard Cornwell's Azincourt?  That was the book I'd read thru most recently before TRK; Cornwell is probably my favorite author for medieval fiction, followed closely by Elizabeth Chadwick, Tolkien, Martin and others...aside from the Sharpe series, of which I've only read a couple some 15 years ago, I've read pretty much everything else he's written that has a medieval flair to it.  I love his style of writing and the depth of the characters...his take on the Arthurian Legend was probably my favorite of all the ones I've read thus far.

Let me ask you something- what's your take on the cover image?  Is that armor historical in origin?  Just wondering...

[Ian]

I wouldn't compare it to any big name authors.  It's got it's quirks and things, but it's an entertaining read so far.  The armor on the cover doesn't appear historical at all, but I'm guessing the artwork was commissioned by the publisher.  The author clearly has a good working knowledge of arms and armor in period, so it's cool to see that in there.  This book isn't really about the history of the events, but more about the individual characters that just happen to be living at the time of those events.  It's worth the 3 or 4 bucks it costs on Amazon.

[Sir William]

Great; added it to my wishlist to pick up on my Kindle as soon as I finish Dance of Dragons (and TRK upstairs lol).

[Ian]

The further I get in the book, the more I'm getting annoyed by the typos and silly things like using the wrong 'to' and even character's names are spelled differently in different paragraphs.  The author also seems to think the word 'cannon' refers to the religious contextual word 'canon' but I digress.  The story's holding my interest, but this needed to be proofread a couple more times.  A published author should have command of the language he writes in.

My other favorite is the word ordnance and ordinance.  I haven't come across that in this book, but I giggle when I see people use the word ordinance to mean explosives and artillery ammunition... that's ordnance.  Unless of course you fire city ordinances at people, but I don't think it would be as effective in war to get hit by a piece of paper with laws on it.

[Sir William]

Ah, a grammar-phile...I'm similarly afflicted; typos, misspellings and grammatical errors are all like fiery pin pricks on my subconscious- it actually hurts the immersive effect books normally have on me.

But, if you take into consideration that its probably a debut, and the publisher did it on the cheap (which means rudimentary copy-editing, if at all) then it isn't so bad.  You might be surprised at how many books available on the Kindle suffer from similar maladies.

For example, the hard copy of The Red Knight doesn't have those issues, but the Kindle copy does to a certain extent.  It can be very vexing.

LOL @ ordnance...I never gave it much thought really, but you've a good point.  The misuse of 'their' and 'there' gets to me as well.  'Irregardless' is like Kryptonite to me.  lol

[Ian]

Sir William,

I finished that book.  Here are my thoughts on it:

**MINOR SPOILERS**

So, the typos and grammatical errors aside, there were some things that made the story less than satisfying.  One thing that ripped me out of the story was a detail when the author describes the French line at Agincourt.  He's talking about the various troops, and then illustrates a couple of Scottish mercenaries fighting for the French.  Right down to the tartan kilts, and blue face paint... /facepalm  As soon as I read that I was just like "c'mon, seriously.... " 

My biggest complaint with the book is the female characters though.  Their so unbelievably flat and one dimensional, and their motivations really don't make any sense.  Claire, the 'love interest' is scheming to bed Sir Edward one second, and then lusting after his squire the next, and then seemingly risks everything for Sir Edward by threatening his mother... it's just so scattered it's not believable at all.  Sir Edward's mother is equally as flighty and one-dimensional, and there's no real resolution to the female character's story-arc. 

If he left them out entirely or at least gave them some more depth, erased the silly braveheart style highlander Scots and fixed the unnecessary typos and grammar errors, the book would have been a good 4/5 star read, but I would give it a solid 3 as is.  Light entertainment but not much more.

I'm interested in reading Bernard Cornwell's 1356 now.  I've never read Cornwell and have heard all kinds of good things.  I didn't realize he did medieval, I only knew of the Sharpe's series of novels.

[Sir William]

Sir Ian, thanks for the review...I'm going to read it- soon as I finish Goodkind's First Confessor; I've had it on the wishlist since it came out and I finished the Red Knight (that book...such a good read) so I figured, lets see what the prequel to the Sword of Truth series is like.  If you're a student or believer of Objectivism, you'll love this book.  If you're a fan of the mythos, you'll like this book.  I don't want to color your impresssions should you ever decide to read it so I'll leave it at that.

1356...Bernard Cornwell is perhaps the best or maybe slightly second-best medieval author I've ever read and I've read my share of both good and bad.  1356 is actually the 4th of the Archer series (Archer's Tale, Vagabond, Heretic) - I found it to be an engrossing, riveting read.  He seems to have done his research w/regard to archery and its use on the medieval battlefield; you might find his ideas of period armor leave something to be desired (not that it is out and out wrong, but well...you be the judge) but all in all, interesting characters, good pacing and the denouement to a story that has spanned 4 novels, 1356 is a good read.  You could, ostensibly, pick it up right now and you'd still enjoy the book, although the references to earlier novels might leave you somewhat in the dark.  I heartily suggest reading the first three- not only to get the background, but each one is similarly entertaining in their own right.

Cornwell has also written a trilogy on the Arthurian legend (probably my favorite of all the Arthur tales) as well as a series of Saxon tales featuring Alfred the Great set during the 9th century.  I think there might be 6 books to that one, starring a figure from history, but with some creative licensing.  I couldn't tell you which was the greater story...all of them are equally compelling.  I'm also a fan of his Sharpe series, having read several of those some decades back- but I did not put two and two together until I read his bio.  I'm also a Ken Follett fan, for his two epics, 'Pillars of the Earth' and 'World Without End' - but not necessarily for his suspense novels.  They're good...but not really my area of interest so I'm not the guy to talk to about novels of that nature.

[Sir Vander Linde]

Pastimes :

shoot trap (very fun)

make things (usually shields)

Draw (cartoons)

Other:
a friend of mine makes mascot costumes ( her 2d  job when she is not a veterinarian)  and every once and a while when I'm in her part of town we would do a stop by the hospital and try to cheer up some kids. makes you feel good.