The Guardian's Books Blog proposes some first stops on a literary pub crawl, including a mention of the numerous watering holes to be found in the fantasy genre:

Okay, who slipped us all a vellocet in the Milk Bar? We seem to have turned the wrong corner ... and things have all gone a bit odd. Ah, we must be in fantasy land. You can say what you like about fantasy fiction, but those writers certainly know how to dream up a good pub. Take The Vulgar Unicorn, for example, the hub of the "shared world" anthology series created by Robert Asprin, who died earlier this year, and the setting of stories from the brightest lights of the science fiction and fantasy firmament. Speaking of which, you could have a fairly hefty pub crawl through the imaginary inns and taverns of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. One of the most popular in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is The Green Dragon at Bywater. It's a Hobbit pub, mind, so the biggest serving you'll get is a half a pint. I kid you not.

This short paragraph barely scratches the surface, of course.  Out of professional curiosity, what are your favorite fantasy public houses (besides the Accidental Bard, of course)?

We're pretty busy at the Accidental Bard right now, not only with the unfortunate necessities of real life, but with an ever-expanding reading list. 

Right now, for instance, I'm in the middle of finishing Stephen Hunt's The Court of the Air and halfway through (at long last) the final book of Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy, Last Argument of Kings.

CJ (being a faster reader than I am) has gone through a formidable number of books since last posting. 

Please continue to hold.  An operator (innkeeper?) will be with you shortly.

We've been a bit preoccupied for the past couple of weeks with annoying real life obligations, we admit.  But stay tuned for new reviews and news.  The past couple of weeks have been heavy with real life obligations and distractions, leaving little time to tend to the Bard. 

I've also been experiencing ongoing difficulties with our commenting system and with Movable Type in general.  Speaking of which, thank you to Mulluane Lonewolf for her persistence and help with beta testing the comments.  Reader feedback is invaluable.  If anyone has tried to comment on a post and encountered errors of some kind, please do not hesitate to e-mail us at theaccidentalbard@gmail.com and let us know.  I'm working on stabilizing the system.

In the meantime, take a look at Suvudu's report on the debut of Neal Stephenson's Anathem and The Clock of the Long Now.

Continuing in our Legend of the Seeker coverage, here's an article from Cinema Blend concerning the most recent casting updates for the series, which premieres on ABC on November 1, 2008. 

Cinema Blend was one of the many sites covering the Seeker panel at Comic Con, and summed up the theme rather wryly: "If you're a fan of the books, prepare to be miserable. If you're a fan of Sam Raimi or Xena: Warrior Princess, get ready to relive the syndicated television fantasy magic of the mid-90s."