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There's a lot of Ascendants without cards, or at least that we've seen: Lady Envy, Sister Spite, Caladan Brood, Silchas Ruin, Edgewalker, Silverfox, Apsalar, Gothos, Greymane, Fisher, and so on. Kallor doesn't have a card until he becomes Reaver of Chains. On the other hand there are lots of mortals with cards: Karsa, Kyle, Lostara Yil, Ublala Pung, Trull Sengar, and so on.
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May 17, 2012 22:24
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oh gently caress me god damnit I just wiki'd Caladan Brood and spoilered my own poo poo SO HARD ARGH.
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May 17, 2012 22:49
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In my brain I like to pronounce it "keychain shemale"
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May 18, 2012 07:06
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I just started reading this a couple of weeks ago, and Jesus gently caress is it hard to get through. I haven't really read any high fantasy, so it is unbelievably jarring to be reading a novel in which every character is: A god Possessed by a god In direct contact with a god (or gods) Something more ancient than a god A wizard A wizard that becomes a puppet A giant talking bird And then there's Whiskeyjack, who as far as I know, is not a god, and is in fact that the only person in the story with nothing magical about him. I'm sure that'll change. I dunno, maybe the series just isn't for me 
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May 19, 2012 02:26
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Might not be but keep in mind that throughout the course of the series, one of the key themes is the power mortals have over ascendants and gods, and while there are many powerful beings in this world, they're just as likely to get their poo poo kicked in e: though it is a very "magical" type of setting so i you really don't like that then you probably won't like the series
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May 19, 2012 02:29
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If raptors with blades for arms, giant flying sky cities, and a world inside a sword that has a wagon pulled by dead people killed by said sword bothers you, you should probably pass. Don't get me wrong though, I liked it.
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May 19, 2012 02:45
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Also book one is confusing as gently caress, might as well register that fact on page 50 as well: if you soldier through Gardens of the Moon, the next two titles, in my opinion particularly Memories of Ice, have some very rewarding treats in store for you.
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May 19, 2012 02:55
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honestly the other books are confusing as gently caress too you just get used to it (and they're better written than book 1)
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May 19, 2012 02:58
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Aggro posted:I just started reading this a couple of weeks ago, and Jesus gently caress is it hard to get through. I haven't really read any high fantasy, so it is unbelievably jarring to be reading a novel in which every character is: I actually haven't read Malazan (yet) but this is a pretty decent description of the Iliad. Not that I'm going to make an argument for parity between ancient Homeric myth and modern fantasy but, yeah, a lot of our Western high literary canon is full of this poo poo.
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May 19, 2012 05:25
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General Battuta posted:I actually haven't read Malazan (yet) but this is a pretty decent description of the Iliad. Not that I'm going to make an argument for parity between ancient Homeric myth and modern fantasy but, yeah, a lot of our Western high literary canon is full of this poo poo. Erikson already confirmed a billion times that Homer influenced his series. He considers his Malazan series an homage to Homer, and is planning the new trilogy as an homage to Shakespeare.
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May 19, 2012 10:06
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Aggro posted:I just started reading this a couple of weeks ago, and Jesus gently caress is it hard to get through. I haven't really read any high fantasy, so it is unbelievably jarring to be reading a novel in which every character is: You forgot the most powerful one: An explosives expert with an odd sense of humor
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May 19, 2012 18:01
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Aggro posted:A wizard I laughed harder than I should have at this. I't completely ridiculous when you look at it from the outside. The image I always had of that character was along the lines of the character Fiddlesticks from League of Legends. Except smaller. And kinda like a marionette. Fiddelesticks' movement in the game is also how I imagined him walking around in the book. And then with his party hat Ultimate he pops out of a bush and yells "SURPRISE!"
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May 20, 2012 05:00
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Leospeare posted:You forgot the most powerful one: And the giant talking bird? She's really more of a big ...moth...
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May 20, 2012 19:29
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Ian C. Esslemont's latest Malazan empire book, Orb Sceptre Throne is out now in the US. I've been looking forward to this one for awhile now, even if it is a mixed bag as his other two are. Stonewielder wasn't as good as Return of the Crimson Guard, but I still enjoy reading about these characters that were minor or disappeared from Erikson's series.
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May 22, 2012 08:23
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Aggro posted:I just started reading this a couple of weeks ago, and Jesus gently caress is it hard to get through. I haven't really read any high fantasy, so it is unbelievably jarring to be reading a novel in which every character is: You forgot a 3000 year old shaman that's like a reanimated mummy. Or something. As someone probably up to a similar point on to you, this is so spot on. But I'm loving it. Kinda in a fantasy nerd mode at the moment though, playing a wizard in Diablo III and reading this. It is drat long though, I'm reading it on Kindle, how many pages is the paper version?
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May 22, 2012 09:51
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Paperbook version I have is around 650 Probably the shortest book of the series
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May 22, 2012 12:24
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Orb Scepter Throne is actually very good, much better than the previous ICE books. It's not perfect but it's on par with the top half of Erikson's books.
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May 22, 2012 21:10
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are all the I.C.E. books related, or are they each their own self contained story?
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May 22, 2012 21:22
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They're mostly self-contained, although the plotline of some characers continue on into later books. I've still not read OST though so I can only speak to the first three.
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May 22, 2012 21:42
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There definitely is an overarching story developing in ICE's novels. It's not always obvious who the big players in the game are, but OST makes things clearer, and sets many interesting elements in motion. I think it's worth reading for Antsy's dungeon crawl alone.
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May 23, 2012 08:07
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Juaguocio posted:Antsy's dungeon crawl Welp, this just sold me on it. Gonna need to pick this up.
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May 23, 2012 08:09
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:Orb Scepter Throne is actually very good, much better than the previous ICE books. It's not perfect but it's on par with the top half of Erikson's books. In the first 5 pages of the prologue (in OST) Kruppe sounds like he went full-retard. He's not Kruppe the long-winded genius, he's Kruppe "Simple Jack" The Retard. Or was that just me? Read Kruppe from Eriksons books when he talks to the Alchemist, then read that conversation from OST. I stopped reading right there for the night. I'll pick it back up tonight and see if it gets better.Edit: These arent spoilers I dont think, the book takes place in
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May 23, 2012 13:28
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Yea, Esslemont's Kruppe wasnt at all like Erikson's Kruppe, but all the other returning characters have been fine so far (about 18% through). Really looking forward to "Antsy's dungeon crawl"  VVVV I agree only for Toll the Hounds 
PlushCow fucked around with this message at 22:10 on May 23, 2012 |
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May 23, 2012 18:27
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Erikson's Kruppe is a long-winded fantasy exposition machine, so I'm not certain it's a real loss.
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May 23, 2012 19:02
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When should ICE's books be read with relation to Eriksons? Also, it took me some time to get into Midnight Tides, but I just started Book 3 and I have to say I'm really really enjoying it. Tehol and Bugg own so hard, I really love reading their passages
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May 24, 2012 07:30
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Yeah I read books. posted:When should ICE's books be read with relation to Eriksons? Night of Knives is essentially a prequel to the whole series, so you could read it before everything. Return of the Crimson Guard occurs almost immediately after The Bonehunters following the story that the main series left behind so to speak. Stonewielder and Orb, Scepter, Throne happen concurrently in different parts of the world with Dust of Dreams and possibly The Crippled God. You can read them before, in between, or after. For my part (based purely on release dates), I read Stonewielder between DoD and TCG and OST after.
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May 24, 2012 14:52
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Oh god no. Read Night of Knives before Bonehunters. You can tell they phoned each other and synched up while they were writing those two. NoK is pretty weak and may put you off the whole series if you start with it. And you won't understand the significance of what's going on either.
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May 24, 2012 16:51
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"Too many words - to have carved all these letters would have taken years, and only a madman would do such a thing." Just got the thread title. I just started House of Chains and I am loving this series. For the 2nd and 3rd books however I fell into this trap of getting stuck and putting the books down for a few months around the 50% mark..hopefully that won't happen this time. One thing that bothers me about Erikson's writing is when he uses an uncommon/archaic word like "susurration" 4 or 5 times within a couple pages. Cool word bro. This seems to happen a lot
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May 27, 2012 02:05
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There is a 2 book span where he just keeps using the word detritus. I'm a Sam and Max fan, and every time he used it, I just pictured them saying it.
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May 27, 2012 03:18
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Pegnose Pete posted:One thing that bothers me about Erikson's writing is when he uses an uncommon/archaic word like "susurration" 4 or 5 times within a couple pages. Just checked. "Susurration" appears: - 2 in MT - 1 time in HoC - 6 in MoI - 2 in DG - Never in GotM You overestimated it a bit, huh?  Dilber posted:There is a 2 book span where he just keeps using the word detritus. I'm a Sam and Max fan, and every time he used it, I just pictured them saying it. That one I've checked too in the past. I think there was only one book where "detritus" appeared 9 times. I guess it's not a big deal if a word is repeated nine times across a thousand pages... Abalieno fucked around with this message at 05:27 on May 27, 2012 |
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May 27, 2012 05:25
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Do me a favor and check for "the smell of rotting ice" or whatever it is.
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May 27, 2012 06:06
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That's my favorite feature of e-readers, the dictionary. When i first started reading this series id kept a notepad and filled it with words id want to lookup later. Sometimes I would, more often i wouldnt, but with an e-reader it is so quick and easy. And in a series like this, if you have a previous book in ebook form, and youre wondering "who the gently caress was this person again" or "what was that part with the special blah blah" the search function makes it so easy to look it up. I had to refresh myself on some of Esslemont's characters in Orb Scepter Throne.
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May 27, 2012 06:35
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angerbot posted:Do me a favor and check for "the smell of rotting ice" or whatever it is. Man I haven't read the books since I finished TCG a year ago and I still know that he says that exactly every time Omtose Phellack is mentioned or used or anything
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May 27, 2012 06:48
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I don't wanna get all defensive but it has a pretty distinct smell so I thought it was rather good.
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May 27, 2012 11:23
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the least weasel posted:I don't wanna get all defensive but it has a pretty distinct smell so I thought it was rather good. Shut up Steven Erikson and write more books about Karsa.
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May 27, 2012 17:19
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I'm going to be starting The Bonehunters tonight after taking a couple month break from the series to read some non-fiction. Looking forward to delving back into the world.
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May 27, 2012 17:36
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Somewhere in this thread there's a line chart of Erikson's favorite words across books. Turgid is one of the most egregious. Every body of water is turgid in BotF.
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May 27, 2012 18:38
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:Somewhere in this thread there's a line chart of Erikson's favorite words across books. Turgid is one of the most egregious. Every body of water is turgid in BotF. Common word enough and adjective. Makes sense it's a bit more frequent: GotM: 5 DG: 6 MoI: 12 HoC: 4 MT: 7 TTH: 7 DoD: 5 TCG: 2
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May 27, 2012 20:32
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the least weasel posted:I don't wanna get all defensive but it has a pretty distinct smell so I thought it was rather good. You know how freezers get after a while if you don't clean them out.
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May 27, 2012 20:32
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A cool thing to do would be to make a wordcloud where the size of the word is related to how much more frequently Erickson uses it than it appears in some other English corpus.
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May 27, 2012 20:33
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