August 2019 Recommended Reading/Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

August already - four more months until the end of the year! In the meantime, I'll admit that I haven't really been reading much speculative fiction lately, but I still have a couple things in mind for this month. I hope they can hold you over.

Reading: Legend (1984) by David Gemmell

The Drenai Empire suddenly finds itself under attack by the tribal Nadir people, united under an ambitious warlord, and the main entrance to the realm - the fortress of Dros Drelnoch - is critically undermanned. Still, they find themselves caught in a three-month siege, into which the fates of two men in particular are intertwined: a former berserker soldier who finds himself called to greater purposes, and an aging warrior, the greatest in the land, called out of retirement for one last glorious battle. Gemmell's debut novel remains his most popular work, a forerunner of such future grim works as those of George R. R. Martin, and spawned ten further entries, both prequels and sequels.

Mass Market: https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Drenai-Tales-Book-1/dp/0345379063/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1564679294&sr=8-1
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Drenai-Saga-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00513F9S4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1564679294&sr=8-1



Viewing: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)

This legendary film further cemented Spielberg as one of the greatest directors of his age and a revolutionary in pop culture. While aircraft and ships long since vanished begin appearing in seemingly random places in the world, a struggling family man and a mother both experience strange flying objects which cause them to undergo subliminal messages and, in the man's case, growing obsessiveness with the incident. Meanwhile, a French scientist is trying to decipher the mystery of the encounters, and the events eventually lead to Devil's Tower, where the alien mothership makes contact with the human welcoming party, in a sequence of musical communication and spectacular special effects. It's one of Spielberg's most classic films, a hallmark of science fiction, and everyone should experience it at some point in their life.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Third-Widescreen-Collectors/dp/B00006ADD4/ref=tmm_dvd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1564680666&sr=8-4
Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Third-Kind-Blu-ray/dp/B004HZY8OS/ref=tmm_blu_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1564680666&sr=8-4
4K: https://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Third-Directors-Blu-ray/dp/B073LWR8XD/ref=tmm_frk_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1564680502&sr=8-5
Amazon Video: https://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Third-Kind-Directors/dp/B000PNCETC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QM8CEGM5H3AO&keywords=close+encounters+of+the+third+kind&qid=1564692557&s=gateway&sprefix=close+encounter%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-1

I hope that's enough. I admit that I'm currently having a bit of a problem trying to get ideas for the series, but I should have more to work with in the future when I get back into it again. See you next month!