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Everyone posted:I'd been considering giving this series a shot, but I think no at this point. There's apparently 24+ books and counting to this series. The main series is 10,you can read and enjoy that without even knowing the other books exist. The thing with Malazan that's almost unique in epic fantasy, is each book is a solidly contained story in itself. They all connect and some of them lead into later books more than the others, but it's not like WoT where you have multiple books of the same characters treading water to line things up for the next book. I realise this is less an endorsement of Malazan, and more a damning indictment of the rest of fantasy
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Jun 1, 2022 10:19
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That doesn't sound particularly unique to Malazan, unless you're only comparing it to Wheel of Time.
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Jun 1, 2022 10:24
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I just finished the Malazan Book of the Fallen series recently after having spent the last 6 or so months reading through them all (plus a few of the Esslemont ones in between) and really enjoyed it a lot! Lost a bit of steam for me at the end but there were still a lot of awesome moments! Don't regret going all the way through. I definitely recommend at least just reading the first few since the stories are well contained enough and feature some really cool setpieces and characters. I think in the end the 5th book (Midnight Tides) might be my favourite. I love the Bridgeburners but the change in setting and pace was refreshing and a good mixture of serious story and comedy.
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Jun 1, 2022 10:48
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Malazan is the thing I love most that I know I can't in good conscience recommend to other people. I feel like if Erikson wasn't as good writer as he is, the books would be utterly unreadable, as evidenced by Malazan books written by anyone other than Steven Erikson.
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Jun 1, 2022 10:56
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Kchama posted:That doesn't sound particularly unique to Malazan, unless you're only comparing it to Wheel of Time. WoT is the worst for spinning its wheels, but so much of fantasy spreads their story over multiple books, because that's just the way things are done. Fantasy is written as a trilogy/quadrilogy/massive series, not as a novel. It wouldn't make sense to talk about the themes and arcs in The Final Empire because it's not a complete story, it's Mistborn Part 1 (i even had to look up the title). I'd put Locke Lamora in the same field as Malazan - you see lots of people saying to just read the first book, because it stands on its own as a really good novel. Yes there are later novels, but they're the further adventures of Locke, not the second half of Locke's first adventure. There's a finality and resolution to the end of the book that you don't get with (and I'm just scrolling through my kindle here): Licanius Trilogy, Ninefox Gambit, Blacktongue Thief, Traitor Son Cycle, Bone Ships, Daevabad, Bone Ships, First Law, Prince of Nothing, Prince of Thorns.
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Jun 1, 2022 11:03
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Strom Cuzewon posted:WoT is the worst for spinning its wheels, but so much of fantasy spreads their story over multiple books, because that's just the way things are done. Fantasy is written as a trilogy/quadrilogy/massive series, not as a novel. It wouldn't make sense to talk about the themes and arcs in The Final Empire because it's not a complete story, it's Mistborn Part 1 (i even had to look up the title). I mean as bad a WoT is, it doesn't actually get to being that for several books in. The first few books are fairly self-contained novels, much in the same way you talk about Malazon. My experience with Malazon is that while it doesn't spin its wheels endlessly like WoT does later on, it does quickly become completely incomprehensible if you have not read the preceding books.
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Jun 1, 2022 11:44
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cptn_dr posted:Malazan is the thing I love most that I know I can't in good conscience recommend to other people. This!! I really enjoy the series (well love and hate things about it, but i guess that's where my fascination with it comes from) but i find myself wondering all the time if i should recommend it to anyone. The length and d&d high fantasy trappings are a immediate barrier. And then the writing is not innovative or structured enough for my "literary" leaning friends, and it feels verbose and aimless to the fantasy fans. Personally i love the writing and "meaningless" wanderings of the series, and tried but could't read the esslemont books.
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Jun 1, 2022 14:58
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Kchama posted:I mean as bad a WoT is, it doesn't actually get to being that for several books in. The first few books are fairly self-contained novels, much in the same way you talk about Malazon. My experience with Malazon is that while it doesn't spin its wheels endlessly like WoT does later on, it does quickly become completely incomprehensible if you have not read the preceding books. Yeah, I think it's fair to say that each book is a "self-contained story" in the sense that each book has a complete arc with a defined ending, but it's definitely not "self-contained" in the sense that you can pick up a book halfway through the series and have any idea what the gently caress is going on the way you can with, say, the Legends of Ethshar.
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Jun 1, 2022 15:01
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ToxicFrog posted:Yeah, I think it's fair to say that each book is a "self-contained story" in the sense that each book has a complete arc with a defined ending, but it's definitely not "self-contained" in the sense that you can pick up a book halfway through the series and have any idea what the gently caress is going on the way you can with, say, the Legends of Ethshar. Midnight Tides you probably can pick up having not read Malazan before, and Deadhouse Gates is often recommended for reading before Gardens of the Moon. The others, not so much, although you can probably appreciate most of Memories of Ice and House of Chains without reading the preceding books.
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Jun 1, 2022 15:24
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The books are definitely flawed but i think i love them because of all the "chaff". In my opinion if the books were heavily edited ( as in trimmed down) they might be decent, if formulaic, fantasy, but would lose everything unique about them. ( but, as i said in my previous post, i also hate plenty of plot-related things, and the first part of your spoiler is one of the things i could't stand).
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Jun 1, 2022 15:43
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Coraline by Neil Gaiman - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC1192/ There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FHHQRM2/ Will Wight's Traveler's Gate trilogy is all - Free House of Blades (#1) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D52X58Y/ Crimson Vault (#2) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EV12PH0/ City of Light (#3) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JL6JMR6/
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Jun 1, 2022 22:59
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Remulak posted:This is a good one, I read it years ago and literally, that’s correct, literally yelled ‘Holy poo poo’ when the Powers-style plot escalations kept coming. I saw like half of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie and it sucked. They didn't really use anything from the book other than "Blackbeard is looking for the Fountain of Youth". Can confirm that the book owns though.
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Jun 2, 2022 10:01
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https://twitter.com/maxgladstone/status/1532352807369691136 New Craft book coming next year!
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Jun 2, 2022 21:56
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How is Ruin of Angels? I got kind of burnt out on the Craft books and forgot there was a sixth one I hadn't ever read.
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Jun 2, 2022 22:03
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MockingQuantum posted:How is Ruin of Angels? I got kind of burnt out on the Craft books and forgot there was a sixth one I hadn't ever read. A lot of the same characters from full fathom five (book 3), the priestess/banker is the main character. I remember enjoying it but it was also a bit of a slog despite a complex plot and a lot happening. I'm glad he's returning to the alt collum and Tara Abernathy, the first twobooks were the ones I enjoyed the most. branedotorg fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Jun 3, 2022 |
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Jun 2, 2022 22:10
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branedotorg posted:A lot of the same characters from full fathom five (book 3), the priestess/banker is the main character. I remember enjoying it but it was also a bit of a slog despite a complex plot and a lot happening. Hmm I may skip Ruin of Angels then, Full Fathom Five was hands-down my least favorite, I think "a bit of a slog despite a complex plot and a lot happening" describes Fathom pretty well too. Overall the series felt like a bit of a rollercoaster ride to me. Three Parts Dead blew me away, Two Serpents Rise was fine but nothing special, Full Fathom Five was overly long and had some really interesting ideas but felt really meandering, Last First Snow was really good but IMO was better because of the context from Two Serpents Rise, and I honestly don't remember a ton about Four Roads Cross other than I enjoyed it and was really happy that it went back to Tara and Abelard, so I'm also down for book 6. Honestly I appreciate what he was doing by weaving in these different narratives and characters and locations, and created a really rich and interesting world, but honestly Tara and Alt Coulumb felt way more unique and fleshed out than a lot of the rest of the series, to the point that the other books without her as a central character felt a little second-tier.
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Jun 2, 2022 22:45
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branedotorg posted:A lot of the same characters from full fathom five (book 3), the priestess/banker is the main character. I remember enjoying it but it was also a bit of a slog despite a complex plot and a lot happening. It's definitely a little slower in spots than some of the earlier books, but it's got basically my favorite scene from the series (from a series full of good scenes) in it. Spoiler for a medium important plot point later in the book: One of the other main PoV characters, Raymet is stuck in prison alongside Gal who is basically a super-charged Paladin. Gal could, in theory, break them out of prison in a heartbeat but refuses for technical Honor and Knighthood reasons. While stuck, they finally have a conversation about their feelings where Raymet finally tells Gal that she's in love with Gal. quote:“We will have to talk,” Gal said. “I have apologies to make. Zeddig told me I should speak with you, but I expected—no, that would be a lie. I thought to spare you entanglement with my condition, with my quest. I was wrong.” Edit: It's also worth noting that you get some good context about the God Wars from Ruin of Angels.
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Jun 2, 2022 22:49
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In case I do read book 6, is anybody able to give me the cliff notes of Four Roads Cross and Full Fathom Five, at least any bits that are relevant to Ruin of Angels? I remember bits and pieces of both books but my memory is spotty as to the actual plots.
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Jun 2, 2022 22:53
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I don't know if there's anything critical. You can pick up what you need to know via context and it'll gently nudge you for anything you need to know.
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Jun 2, 2022 22:56
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Finished The Library at Mount Char, whoa. Fun ride. Had a lot of what I liked about American Gods. I was happy when I saw I had 20% left (kindle) after thinking I was at the ending.
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Jun 2, 2022 23:58
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Danhenge posted:I don't know if there's anything critical. You can pick up what you need to know via context and it'll gently nudge you for anything you need to know. Good to know, thank you!
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Jun 3, 2022 02:27
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Just finished Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Don't think I liked it quite as much as the first novel, Shards of Earth, but overall this is some of the best space opera sci-fi I've read in awhile and probably eclipses The Expanse.
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Jun 3, 2022 03:43
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I'm reading Tchaikovsky's Doors of Eden now (after loving the spider book but bouncing off, I think it was Cage of Souls) and it's fine but I'm actually loving the exposition interlude chapters about alternate evolution pathways on Earth more than I am the main narrative so far. Definitely feels like his niche. Dude is incredibly prolific, gotta give him that.
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Jun 3, 2022 07:46
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Just made my local bookstore very happy by picking up Someone Like Me and the Koli trilogy, all by Mike Carey. That'll keep me in reading matter for a while after I finish re-reading the Felix Castor series.
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Jun 3, 2022 13:51
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freebooter posted:I'm reading Tchaikovsky's Doors of Eden now (after loving the spider book but bouncing off, I think it was Cage of Souls) and it's fine but I'm actually loving the exposition interlude chapters about alternate evolution pathways on Earth more than I am the main narrative so far. Definitely feels like his niche. I was pretty disappointed with Doors of Eden after the spider/octopus power combo. It kind of reads like an airport thriller and I agree that the interludes are the most interesting part.
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Jun 3, 2022 13:59
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Jedit posted:Just made my local bookstore very happy by picking up Someone Like Me and the Koli trilogy, all by Mike Carey. That'll keep me in reading matter for a while after I finish re-reading the Felix Castor series. I don’t know why I never put two and two together before and realized that Mike Carey and M. R. Carey are the same guy.
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Jun 3, 2022 14:25
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Huh, don't feel bad, never thought of it either. Are his protags in the other name as miserable as castor?
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Jun 3, 2022 16:35
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newts posted:I don’t know why I never put two and two together before and realized that Mike Carey and M. R. Carey are the same guy. his comic book output is top notch as well
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Jun 3, 2022 18:06
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Huh, don't feel bad, never thought of it either. Are his protags in the other name as miserable as castor? The protagonist of Fellside is worse. I can't remember too much about the ones from the two novels he wrote with his wife and daughter.
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Jun 3, 2022 18:39
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Huh, don't feel bad, never thought of it either. Are his protags in the other name as miserable as castor?
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Jun 3, 2022 19:16
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I feel like Adrian Tchaikovsky is quickly becoming of my favorite sci-fi writers. I'm almost through Shards of Earth and it's just some really solid rear end space opera.
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Jun 3, 2022 20:51
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bovis posted:Lost a bit of steam for me at the end but there were still a lot of awesome moments! Don't regret going all the way through. Tavore's arc just about killed me. Her speech about being unwitnessed as well. It's one of those speeches where if you haven't read the preceding books, is just a long list of namedrops, but if you have, it hits very hard.
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Jun 4, 2022 00:21
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A Proper Uppercut posted:I feel like Adrian Tchaikovsky is quickly becoming of my favorite sci-fi writers. I'm almost through Shards of Earth and it's just some really solid rear end space opera. I thought he lost it when the Apt series spun out of control but after that he started doing shorter stuff, standalones and "only" a trilogy here or there and it's working out great so far. Although I'd like more stuff from the Tiger & the Wolf world.
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Jun 4, 2022 02:41
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Sue Lynn Tan's Daughter of the Moon Goddess is $1.99 in a bunch of places today: https://www.bookbub.com/books/daughter-of-the-moon-goddess-by-sue-lynn-tan?ebook_deal This will probably be my next read after I finish The Priory of the Orange Tree.
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Jun 4, 2022 03:37
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Leng posted:Sue Lynn Tan's Daughter of the Moon Goddess is $1.99 in a bunch of places today: This book for me from page one.
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Jun 4, 2022 10:41
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Threw in the towel on the RCN series by David Drake. 60% through book 7, just got too bored to continue with the lower stakes. Scrolled back dozens of pages of purchased-but-unread books on my Kindle and started The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut) by Mary Robinette Kowal. Ended up completely engrossed and not going to sleep until super late! Didn't really know what it was about going in but very compelling still by the half way point.
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Jun 4, 2022 17:01
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Scrolled back dozens of pages of purchased-but-unread books on my Kindle and started The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut) by Mary Robinette Kowal. Ended up completely engrossed and not going to sleep until super late! Didn't really know what it was about going in but very compelling still by the half way point. That's some good stuff right there.
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Jun 4, 2022 17:33
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anilEhilated posted:Koli... develops, I guess? The first book of the trilogy is non-stop making GBS threads on him, he gets better as the story goes on. He's a dipshit pretty much the whole time but I never hated him outright I guess. I was way more interested in the other characters and really wanted to see stuff from their perspective instead.
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Jun 4, 2022 20:37
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Was shocked Daughter of the Moon Goddess wasn't on my wishlist, I must have skipped it when I added a bunch of other books I had taken photos of to add, but happy to have picked it up for $2!
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Jun 4, 2022 20:47
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Finally got around to Ninefox Gambit and I'm halfway through book 2. Really enjoying that.
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Jun 5, 2022 00:34
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