Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I have created two more mead making videos and they address a couple of important things about mead making. The first video shows you how to correctly rack a one gallon batch of mead and the second video emphasizes the importance of sanitation in mead making. Your brew of honey and water is a perfect environment for bacteria and yeast to thrive. You only want the yeast you choose to grow so you have to make sure everything is sanitized. Here are the two videos. And if you want more of my videos I have a whole series of Mead Making vids on my youtube channel. You can go directly to the list of mead making videos here: Mead Making Videos (There are currently 20 Mead Making vids!)

Popularity: 8% [?]

I have completed the tutorial on how to make a foam diorama. In the tutorial I make a wizard on his tower battling a dragon. But I have taken this project to a whole new level by also creating a video game based on the diorama. Fun project and you can see the video and the tutorial here. The Diorama Video Game

Popularity: 5% [?]

I have been getting some lucky finds lately when it comes to fantasy books. Here are some of the books and some interesting information and thoughts about them. I will be reviewing all of these books as I make my way through them. If not on this blog then on my Fantasy Guide Website.

The Period after WWII in Great Britain was a remarkable time for Fantasy. A couple of names that come to mind are JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. But there are other fantasy authors that were part of this beginning of the new genre of fantasy and one of these is Mervyn Peake. His Gormenghast Trilogy of books is one of the most remarkable fantasy series ever written yet he isn’t as well known as others. If you are a big fan of fantasy you really should look into snagging a copy of this series. The books are Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Alone. Much like JRR Tolkien Peake’s creativity wasn’t just limited to writing. He was also an artist and the book copies I picked up are illustrated by him. I don’t think the cover you see is his work but there is no attribution inside.

I am a big fan of Robert E. Howard’s Conan (who isn’t?) and I am also a big fan of Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time) and I have known that he has done some authorized Conan writing but have never read any of it. Well, here is my chance. It is Conan The Invincble written by Robert Jordan. It will be interesting to see how Jordan handles the Barbarian and the world of Aquilonia.

The Charwoman’s Shadow by Lord Dunsany - Lord Dunsany is one of the originators of the modern genre of fantasy. He wrote in the late 18th an early 19th century. This book was originally published in 1926 and just about everybody in the world of fantasy pays homage to him by openly acknowledging him as an influence. These include Robert Howard, HP Lovecraft, Ursula K. LeGuin, Neil Gaimon and even filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro. This book will be an adventure to the roots of modern day fantasy.

If you are a fan of fantasy you are no doubt familiar with the sub-genre of Arthurian Fantasy and of course you know the book “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White. It is the ultimate Arthurian legend book. But did you know that it is not complete? There was a whole new section that White wrote and it is called “The Book of Merlyn”. It contains Arthur’s final lessons from Merlyn before his death. If you have read The Once and Future King you should read this final addition.

Lots of books to read and I have some more great finds that I want to talk about but I will save them for a future post. And I will be writing reviews of these books either on this blog or my Fantasy Guide site.

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Snagging these books from Amazon.com

The Gormenghast Novels

Conan the Invincible (Conan #1)

The Charwoman’s Shadow (Del Rey Impact)

The Book of Merlyn (Once and Future King)

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