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Strom Cuzewon posted:Yeah, if there'd been some kind of actual resolution or closure it could have been a pretty ballsy ending, but it leaves pretty much everything unanswered and having it be because the smartest man in the world made a mistake is just boring. The smartest and most contrived. I still don't get why he went back for Esmenet; it's hinted that the sranc meat changed him, but it's very poorly established and vanishes as soon as it appears, so it seems Bakker just wanted to have all the main characters together for the big ending and didn't care much about how it happened. I think one of the reasons the author leaves so much in the dark is that it would seem dumb and forced if it was part of the narrative.
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Oct 10, 2018 23:00
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It's probably because Bakker spent 25 years writing the first trilogy and it was pretty darn good, but then once he couldn't reskin a real historical event any longer and had to rely on his own imagination - he had no loving clue what he was doing and fell back on the modern hack cliché of ripping off Tolkien and filling in the gaps with snuff scenes. The worst part is that he wasn't even good at either of these: so the blatant ripoffs are bad and the snuff is laughable and we're all just left wishing he hadn't rushed these out the door quite so hard and fast. 
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Oct 11, 2018 04:08
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Rime posted:It's probably because Bakker spent 25 years writing the first trilogy and it was pretty darn good, but then once he couldn't reskin a real historical event any longer and had to rely on his own imagination - he had no loving clue what he was doing and fell back on the modern hack cliché of ripping off Tolkien and filling in the gaps with snuff scenes. Ripping of Tolkien summaries 50% of all fantasy writers, the other 49% are writing a book about their latest rpg session.
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Oct 11, 2018 20:31
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Writing about their sexual fantasies summarises 100% of them.
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Oct 12, 2018 07:17
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ChubbyChecker posted:Writing about their sexual fantasies summarises 100% of them. Now now, there's no weird sex in Brandon Sanderson. Although...mormon, so maybe his kinks are just really mild.
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Oct 12, 2018 13:51
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Strom Cuzewon posted:Now now, there's no weird sex in Brandon Sanderson. Or so unspeakable and vile that any page or screen would catch fire then melt into sulphur is he ever put them down.
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Oct 12, 2018 14:14
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Kinky poo poo is fine for Mormons as long as the people involved are married. No sin if everyone involved is consenting and sealed for all eternity! 
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Oct 13, 2018 02:32
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Rime posted:It's probably because Bakker spent 25 years writing the first trilogy and it was pretty darn good what was good about it.
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Oct 13, 2018 13:05
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:what was good about it. The part with the holes in the ground
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Oct 14, 2018 11:36
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various cheeses posted:The part with the holes in the ground Not really.
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Oct 14, 2018 11:41
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:what was good about it. The magic theory and system of the setting is legitimately cool and interesting. Sure, it makes everyone else pointless and pretty much necessitated that Kellhus had to -also- be the bestest mage evarrr, but it had punch and depth. The dragons were kind of cool, even if they really don't fit the setting. The nonmen were done decently. Mekeritrig was a fun rear end in a top hat to watch, and among the series of anti-climaxes of the conclusion, him being offed like a punk was one of the lamest. Even Maithanet was interesting. A flawed instrument that still managed to subvert a whole faith. I felt it was kind of bullshit that he just faded into the background for the second trilogy. He'd have made a very cool POV character. And....well, that's pretty much it.
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Oct 14, 2018 17:41
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the homo barbarian was cool e: and i like zisek too
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Oct 14, 2018 18:07
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Still mad that helicopters weren't a thing in this series. That was the raddest theory to read about.
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Oct 14, 2018 19:53
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Sephyr posted:The magic theory and system of the setting is legitimately cool and interesting. Sure, it makes everyone else pointless and pretty much necessitated that Kellhus had to -also- be the bestest mage evarrr, but it had punch and depth. that's lame
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Oct 14, 2018 23:10
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*very nasal voice* The magic theory and system of the setting is legitimately cool and interesting.
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Oct 15, 2018 01:27
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I greatly enjoyed enjoyed the idea of alien shock troops crash landing in a medieval world and loving poo poo up, and the slow reveal of it. sci-fi and fantasy is very rarely blended, and very rarely blended well when it is.
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Oct 15, 2018 01:49
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Rime posted:I greatly enjoyed enjoyed the idea of alien shock troops crash landing in a medieval world and loving poo poo up, and the slow reveal of it. sci-fi and fantasy is very rarely blended, and very rarely blended well when it is. i think that it was done best in he-man
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Oct 15, 2018 07:26
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It's actually done best in the Mahābhārata, closely followed by Might and Magic 7.
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Oct 15, 2018 10:31
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:It's actually done best in the Mahābhārata, closely followed by Might and Magic 7. Thank you.
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Oct 15, 2018 13:37
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:It's actually done best in the Mahābhārata, closely followed by Might and Magic 7. And at 1.2 million words it's positively light-weight by the standards of epic fantasy!
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Oct 15, 2018 13:58
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I read this series because the book barn told me Malazan and Black Company were both good, really long fantasy series and I felt like reading something new. Both of those were p good and fun even with their idiosyncrasies. This thing was just hosed. E: so book barn is batting 2/3, that’s good
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Oct 17, 2018 02:17
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Malazan, Black Company, and Prince of Nothing all share turning into unreadable trash near the end, Bakker just saw how long it took the other two to get there and went "hold my beer".
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Oct 17, 2018 02:26
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Rime posted:Malazan, Black Company, and Prince of Nothing all share turning into unreadable trash near the end, Bakker just saw how long it took the other two to get there and went "hold my beer". This is p accurate actually. But I didn’t ever regret buying the Malazan or Black company series even when they got to wtf land. Bakker on the other hand, I kept forcing myself to read because surely it gets better? Oops.
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Oct 17, 2018 03:12
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I don't get why people don't like the second series. The second trilogy is a comedy..... right?
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Oct 17, 2018 04:07
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The Second Aristocrats
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Oct 17, 2018 05:01
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The mirth came swirling down.
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Oct 17, 2018 05:15
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Rime posted:Malazan, Black Company, and Prince of Nothing all share turning into unreadable trash near the end, Bakker just saw how long it took the other two to get there and went "hold my beer". guess what pal: they're unreadable trash at the start too!!!
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Oct 17, 2018 06:23
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Sephyr posted:The mirth came swirling down. Both Bakker and Erikson overuse "preternatural" to an irritating degree. There are no sub-continents in PoN, which is a blessing. Just lots of people with dodgy corneas.
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Oct 17, 2018 10:42
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Suck my marmoreal dick
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Oct 18, 2018 08:43
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Oct 18, 2018 09:12
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Just popping into this thread to mention that finishing this series was one of the bigger regrets of my literary life. Thanks guys!
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Oct 18, 2018 10:18
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Jarvisi posted:Just popping into this thread to mention that finishing this series was one of the bigger regrets of my literary life. Thanks guys! That says more about how much you have read than anything else.
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Oct 18, 2018 10:29
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Jarvisi posted:Just popping into this thread to mention that finishing this series was one of the bigger regrets of my literary life. Thanks guys! I see you haven't picked up The Expanse yet.
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Oct 18, 2018 14:08
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I also saw the Malazan recommendation in the OP and thought sure but honestly I'm not sure I'm going to make it through the vowel soup that is every loving name in this first book to really enjoy it. I hate when authors do this poo poo because it's fantasy.
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Oct 18, 2018 19:03
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Orv posted:I also saw the Malazan recommendation in the OP and thought sure but honestly I'm not sure I'm going to make it through the vowel soup that is every loving name in this first book to really enjoy it. I hate when authors do this poo poo because it's fantasy. Characters' names don't make a book bad.
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Oct 18, 2018 20:12
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ChubbyChecker posted:Characters' names don't make a book bad. No but that plus the thesaurus driven pseudo Glen Cook prose makes it sort of a chore to read. The actual world that's being explored seems cool so I've kept reading, just shy of half done now and I don't hate it but it's not gripping me terribly tight. To be fair I don't suppose Gardens of the Moon did either at first, very much a back third kind of book.
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Oct 18, 2018 21:00
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PoN is better as an audiobook, not only because the narrator is great but also because it helps greatly to hear someone pronounce the alphabet soup names.
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Oct 18, 2018 21:53
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The Ninth Layer posted:PoN is better as an audiobook, not only because the narrator is great but also because it helps greatly to hear someone pronounce the alphabet soup names. Yeah.
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Oct 18, 2018 22:07
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Plus you can do something useful at the same time.
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Oct 18, 2018 23:14
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ChubbyChecker posted:Characters' names don't make a book bad. They really do.
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Oct 23, 2018 06:35
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