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Infinite Jest 
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Oct 18, 2011 22:16
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Abalieno posted:Infinite Jest I really need to read this. I always hear good things.
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Oct 18, 2011 22:21
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Gene Wolfe for sure, Locke Lamora also has a Malazanny feel sometimes.
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Oct 18, 2011 23:25
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Can we add this to the OP?02-6611-0142-1 posted:My take on Erikson was always that he expects you've read all his books at all times. When you read book 1, he expects you're read books 2-10, kinda. It sounds retarded, but it makes it infinitely rereadable. I can't think of a better way to explain the confusion of book 1 to new readers. EDIT: Haha, 02-6611-0142-1 is the OP. Add your quote to your post, buddy! 33rd Degree Idiot posted:Speaking of which, this brings up a good question: Outside of the Malazan series, which novels or series (of any genre) would you say are (even) better on a re-read? Moby-Dick. Every time I read it I find something new.
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Oct 18, 2011 23:27
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I also just started Gardens of the Moon. So far, I've been sort of cheating in that I google certain terms(The Claw, warrens, etc.) to find out what they are. It's helpful in piecing things together but I feel it may be unnecessary and that I'm just spoiling things for myself. So far the first book is pretty good. The spell cast by the two shadow-mages(?) against the convoy of soldiers was especially awesome as I haven't really encountered summoning magic in a fantasy novel before. There are missing plot pieces of course, but I haven't had any trouble connecting the ones given so far.
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Oct 19, 2011 03:02
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Quit googling stuff. Think of it as one of those abstract-ish pictures you look at and kind of unfocus your eyes on and a picture appears. It's worth the effort. "Look, it's a sailboat!"
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Oct 19, 2011 03:19
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33rd Degree Idiot posted:Quit googling stuff. Think of it as one of those abstract-ish pictures you look at and kind of unfocus your eyes on and a picture appears. It's worth the effort. Its clearly a jaghut riding a mule!
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Oct 19, 2011 05:23
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33rd Degree Idiot posted:Quit googling stuff. Think of it as one of those abstract-ish pictures you look at and kind of unfocus your eyes on and a picture appears. It's worth the effort. That's very well put, I've wanted to express a similar sentiment a few times in this thread and haven't been able to find the right words.
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Oct 19, 2011 14:05
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I'm over halfway through gardens of the moon. Just finished the chapter where the assassin mages took out the Darhujistan Guild people who were waiting to ambush Kalam and Quick Ben. Best chapter so far. I'm not finding too hard to follow, the only things I'm confused/not sure about about are Tattersail being reborn again 300,000 years ago (wtf?), the different races and their allegiances, and these God people like Oponn and K'Rul. I'm enjoying it though.
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Oct 20, 2011 10:18
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Might as well chime in. I finished Gardens of the Moon a month or so ago then picked up Deadhouse Gates, and I'm probably 1/4 through it. While the first book was badass, the second book is even more badass, and I expect it will probably just continue. Gotta say, I'm glad I'm alternating this with Wheel of Time, because otherwise it would be difficult trying to get myself through these last few pre-Sanderson books. I get to think "Gotta read through all this poo poo taking forever in WoT so I can get to the next Malazan book!" Thank you SA for introducing me to this awesome series. It might just end up being my favorite epic fantasy series I've read, possibly more than Game of Thrones at times.
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Oct 20, 2011 16:23
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Yarrbossa posted:Might as well chime in. I finished Gardens of the Moon a month or so ago then picked up Deadhouse Gates, and I'm probably 1/4 through it. While the first book was badass, the second book is even more badass, and I expect it will probably just continue. You know, I did the same exact thing you're doing. WoT is a great "palette cleanser" because it was so easy to see what was going on (relatively speaking). I ended up stopping after 3 or so books and just burned through the rest of the Malazan series because I just wanted to know what would happen next. Yeah, you don't go read another series once you've read Memories of Ice, it's just impossible to stop at that point.
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Oct 20, 2011 17:12
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I finished Deadhouse Gates this afternoon, and this book felt like it wrapped up things a little bit more than the last one.Coltaine was reborn, as will be Duiker I assume. I am a little confused as to why Kalam doesn't want to kill the Empress anymore as well as if we will see Apsalar and Crokus some more after they seemingly retired to the fishing village. I still hate Sha'ik (since she's not Felisin anymore. I liked learning about Mappo and Icarium, but I expect a lot more of them later. In short I'm looking forward to when I start the next book.
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Oct 20, 2011 23:45
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dmccaff posted:I'm over halfway through gardens of the moon. Just finished the chapter where the assassin mages took out the Darhujistan Guild people who were waiting to ambush Kalam and Quick Ben. Best chapter so far. Tattersail wasn't reborn 300,000 years in the past - her birth is made possible by the people who met up in Kruppe's dream. One of those people exists 300,000 years before this takes place, but through Kruppe's dream can do this one thing in the present. Also, a wizard did it.
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Oct 21, 2011 00:15
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WeWereSchizo posted:Tattersail wasn't reborn 300,000 years in the past - her birth is made possible by the people who met up in Kruppe's dream. One of those people exists 300,000 years before this takes place, but through Kruppe's dream can do this one thing in the present. Also, a wizard did it. That makes a lot more sense, thank you.
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Oct 21, 2011 01:07
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Lyer posted:You know, I did the same exact thing you're doing. WoT is a great "palette cleanser" because it was so easy to see what was going on (relatively speaking). I ended up stopping after 3 or so books and just burned through the rest of the Malazan series because I just wanted to know what would happen next. Yeah, you don't go read another series once you've read Memories of Ice, it's just impossible to stop at that point. I'll have to show restraint! I've been working on WoT for like, 2 years now and the thought of stopping for too long and forgetting what's going on and having to reread everything is absolutely terrifying. It's good to know the next book is apparently really awesome, good things to look forward to!
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Oct 21, 2011 01:26
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I feel like I have a learning disability after read up to chapter 3 in Gardens of the Moon. I have no idea whats going on, who anyone is, or where its headed.
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Oct 21, 2011 05:19
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Just soldier through it, hopefully soon you'll start picking up names of people and slowly begin to see the picture unfold. Then the book will slam you in your dick and take place in a different location with a completely different set of characters. We've all been through it.
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Oct 21, 2011 05:47
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Vanilla Mint Ice posted:Just soldier through it, hopefully soon you'll start picking up names of people and slowly begin to see the picture unfold. Yeah, Midnight Tides seems like the worst book ever when you start it. Who the gently caress are these people, and why should I care about them? Get me back to the characters I know and love! Then, bit by bit, you start to realise that it's actually one of the best books in the series.
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Oct 21, 2011 12:08
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Then you meet Tehol and Bugg and 
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Oct 21, 2011 16:33
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bobby2times posted:I feel like I have a learning disability after read up to chapter 3 in Gardens of the Moon. I have no idea whats going on, who anyone is, or where its headed. I'm about halfway through the book now, and things are just starting to make sense, I'm actually forming pictures of characters and their relationships and motivations ... a little. Here and there. The 300,000 years of history that apparently begins at the end of an ice age is a little daunting, and I have no loving clue what's up with the 40 different races of giants and undead and giant undead and evil sorcerous birds and smelly warrens and hot fat sorceresses and some floating city thing and how the gently caress is this empire basically taking over the whole world when as far as I can tell they're just a bunch of schmoes somehow wading through the blood of legends. But anyway, it gets good enough that you actually start to care about what happens at around the halfway mark. If it weren't for the glowing recommendation of my fellow goons, I would have put this down about a chapter before it actually started to feel like I was reading a book. Mid-book 1 spoiler: When Tattersail challenges Lorn to a duel, it's stated that because of her anti-magic sword the fight would be grossly unfair to Tattersail. Why? Couldn't she just pick up two tables and squish Lorn between them? Is this explained somewhere?
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Oct 22, 2011 00:32
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Yeah I'm about halfway into Memories of Ice right now (and I'm glad I waited until finding and finishing Deadhouse Gates before starting on it, even if it seems I didn't really have to) and really this whole series owns. I committed to buying the next two books, too. Coltaine is a badass and I hope to see more of him in future books! Pretty much everything about Deadhouse Gates was awesome. I like that all the characters basically just do whatever they immediately have to do, so even though they're wading among pantheons of gods and their underlings who all have their own chemes going, I never feel like the plot extends too far past what the characters are doing. In other fantasy books I sometimes feel like I'm waiting for the author to drag his characters to the next big plot reveal, but with Erikson there's always something happening in the present, and the plot reveals just sort of get discovered by the characters. It took me ages to finish Gardens of the Moon because of some false starts and general apathy toward the confusing first 100 pages of the book, but once I put in the effort and focused on the book I really started getting into the story. Even then it still took me ages, but once I passed the halfway point I was really hooked and marathoned the rest down. I started Deadhouse Gates nearly half a year later so it took me a bit of time to connect with the new characters and setting, but the plot was a lot easier to follow, which made the book significantly easier to read than GotM. With Memories of Ice I'm pretty much getting the full picture of the setting , and it's great. The Ninth Layer fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Oct 22, 2011 |
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Oct 22, 2011 00:44
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wellwhoopdedooo posted:The 300,000 years of history that apparently begins at the end of an ice age is a little daunting, and I have no loving clue what's up with the 40 different races of giants and undead and giant undead and evil sorcerous birds and smelly warrens and hot fat sorceresses and some floating city thing and how the gently caress is this empire basically taking over the whole world when as far as I can tell they're just a bunch of schmoes somehow wading through the blood of legends. quote:Mid-book 1 spoiler:
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Oct 22, 2011 01:39
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wellwhoopdedooo posted:how the gently caress is this empire basically taking over the whole world when as far as I can tell they're just a bunch of schmoes somehow wading through the blood of legends. (edited because I'm not sure if what i just wrote is revealed in GOTM or not) Basically, the old Emperor was a lot better at running an empire. Plus, nobody previously had used Moranth munitions in battle, so when the Malazans did nobody was prepared for it. The reason the current empire seems like a bunch of Keystone Cops is because Empress Laseen is only good at one thing, and that's 'disappearing' anyone who knows what the hell they're doing. They're basically running on momentum by the time GOTM starts. quote:Mid-book 1 spoiler: The extent of what the mages can do is (intentionally) left unclear, especially in the first book. IIRC, I think even being in the same room as the sword would make Tattersail's magic unreliable and more dangerous to herself than anyone else. And Lorn was no slouch as a warrior, she wouldn't sit around waiting to get hit. Leospeare fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Oct 22, 2011 |
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Oct 22, 2011 01:43
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Juaguocio posted:I can't think of a better way to explain the confusion of book 1 to new readers. I AM THE ONE WITH THE BAD NAME WHO RANTS ABOUT WIZARD BOOKS. (added that to the OP) wellwhoopdedooo posted:how the gently caress is this empire basically taking over the whole world when as far as I can tell they're just a bunch of schmoes somehow wading through the blood of legends. Everyone in the Malazan world has swords and magic, but the Moranth munitions turn them from a bunch of fuckups into a bunch of really dangerous fuckups. It's like if you went back in time and gave the Roman Empire a bunch of AK-47s, and then you watch how well those loving Huns do.
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Oct 22, 2011 03:28
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02-6611-0142-1 posted:Everyone in the Malazan world has swords and magic, but the Moranth munitions turn them from a bunch of fuckups into a bunch of really dangerous fuckups. It's like if you went back in time and gave the Roman Empire a bunch of AK-47s, and then you watch how well those loving Huns do. Well, that and their tactics include conquering a place and then instead of occupying and bossing people around, they incorporate the conquered areas into their Empire and often get new recruits from those areas and basically most of the places they conquer end up saying "well hey this is actually kinda better than it was before, they actually have some laws and keep things running" And the army (mainly marines) is extremely versatile and has a bunch of really good commanders. And on top of that, the uber powerful amazing people really spend more time trying to manipulate humans instead of outright ruling them through force
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Oct 22, 2011 04:21
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The Ninth Layer posted:
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Oct 22, 2011 04:59
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savinhill posted:Those plot reveals also get discovered by the reader books later when you realize that some of the stuff that seemed like it just could have been random details to flush out the world building and history actually tie into something that's going on currently. While some of the stuff that seems like important stuff turns out to be inconsequential and in a couple cases almost a waste of time. You just never know.
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Oct 22, 2011 06:51
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I just finished the series. I had read up through book 8 a few years ago, realized I'd completely lost track of what was happening and decided to wait for 9 and 10 to come out before starting the series over. Spent the past 3 months reading nothing but Malazan.. it was really a chore at some points. Particularly 8 and 9. After investing thousands of pages on a horde of interesting characters, is it really necessary to cast them aside and introduce a few dozen new ones in book 8? A few things that disappointed me about the conclusion.. I had really hoped for a better resolution with Mappo and Icarium. Mappo treks across half the planet, and at best serves as a mere distraction so Ublala can take down Calm. I had hoped for more from Karsa as well, he got 1/3 of a book all to himself just to develop him, and only a handful of pages in the finale. Of course it was great seeing some lesser characters play big roles Hood and Roach in the final battle. And if I do another read-through (which will be at least 5 years down the line) I'll have to pay a lot more attention to Gesler and Stormy, as I hardly even noticed as they evolved from bit players to focal points of the story. Also for the record, I liked Felisin's character and wish Erikson would have forced in a "reveal" regarding her in one of the epilogues. I think my favorite scene in TCG was when Tavore almost killed Paran. I was completely convinced she had done it and had to take a minute to think through the consequences.. then read the next sentence after the break and saw he caught the blade.
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Oct 23, 2011 20:41
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The ending of Reaper's Gale is annoying. There's like 10 things happening at once and I'm dying to find out what happens to all of them. And then he switches to this one dead guy who is walking around on the bottom of the sea? What the gently caress does that have to do with anything? Don't answer that. 
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Oct 23, 2011 21:38
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Mog posted:A few things that disappointed me about the conclusion.. I had really hoped for a better resolution with Mappo and Icarium. Mappo treks across half the planet, and at best serves as a mere distraction so Ublala can take down Calm. I had hoped for more from Karsa as well, he got 1/3 of a book all to himself just to develop him, and only a handful of pages in the finale.
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Oct 23, 2011 23:36
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WeWereSchizo posted:There will be more Karsa. 1/3rd of a book isn't enough for him, he needs his own trilogy.  I was browsing through some Malazan wiki's, but is Olar Ethil really Burn?
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Oct 24, 2011 03:56
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Mog posted:After investing thousands of pages on a horde of interesting characters, is it really necessary to cast them aside and introduce a few dozen new ones in book 8? I found this to be more of a problem in books 9 and 10. By that point, we've already become well-acquainted with several groups of characters who have struggled across deserts, and now we're introduced to a whole new group... who are struggling across a desert, with almost no context to relate them to the rest of the story. And then, our familiar friends resume their journey by... struggling across a desert. I swear to Hood, if Erikson writes one more prolonged desert crossing I am going to seriously re-evaluate my opinion of him.
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Oct 24, 2011 04:05
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Juaguocio posted:I swear to Hood, if Erikson writes one more prolonged desert crossing I am going to seriously re-evaluate my opinion of him. This is where that one guy comes in to defend desert-crossing as the epitome of post-modern fantasy literature.
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Oct 24, 2011 04:11
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Lyer posted:1/3rd of a book isn't enough for him, he needs his own trilogy.
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Oct 24, 2011 04:32
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Junk Science posted:This is where that one guy comes in to defend desert-crossing as the epitome of post-modern fantasy literature. The thing is, the Chain of Dogs and the various events centering around Raraku and Seven Cities in general are nothing short of superb, and I think books 2-7 of this series could very well be the epitome of fantasy literature of the epic world-building type. The problem with books 9 and 10 -to me, anyway- is that large portions of them feel like retreads of previous material, and I don't think Erikson was able to match the level of brilliance he achieved earlier in the series.
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Oct 24, 2011 11:13
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I'm halfway through Toll the Hounds and this one is definitely suffering from pacing problems. I'd also love to know more about the two white hounds of shadow. Who are they? Do we get to find out?
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Oct 24, 2011 21:52
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Benson Cunningham posted:I'm halfway through Toll the Hounds and this one is definitely suffering from pacing problems. I'd also love to know more about the two white hounds of shadow. Who are they? Do we get to find out? You'll find out as the book continues.
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Oct 25, 2011 00:25
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Junk Science posted:This is where that one guy comes in to defend desert-crossing as the epitome of post-modern fantasy literature. But it is obviously so. Everything Erikson writes is deliberately "internal landscape" more than strictly secondary world with its own secondary rules. The issue here isn't that one. The issue is whether or not desert-crossing, and whatever it symbolizes, has been too repetitive, and so boring.
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Oct 25, 2011 03:02
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Abalieno posted:But it is obviously so. Everything Erikson writes is deliberately "internal landscape" more than strictly secondary world with its own secondary rules. And it did become boring, especially when the ones crossing the desert are a bunch of cannibal children led by a poet and her greatest fan, a normal kid, and a dead (?) baby. I kid though, the Snake isn't really that bad, its real creepy but it doesn't seem like it was necessary to devote so many pages to it. Same with a lot of the groups wandering across the Kolanse wastes. Maybe someone can fill me in on the purpose of the Snake since I don't remember.
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Oct 26, 2011 08:52
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bigmcgaffney posted:
I thought it was just to build up the  for when they finally reach the city walls.
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Oct 26, 2011 14:40
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