Fantasy/RPG Novels

[comrade]

Originally Posted by troutman

It is very complicated, and you will never feel like you understand entirely what is happening. Neither do the characters. I often refer to the glossary and dramatis personae to remind myself what is what. There are on-line summaries available. Things start to come together the further you get ino the series, but you don't need to understand the big picture to appreciate individual chapters. This is the best written series (fantasy or otherwise) I have ever read.

I'll second that, for fantasy at least. I first heard of the books when this thread started and have downed the first six so far.

One question though, I'm planning on starting into the Esslemont books and interleaving them with the remaining Erickson books, does anyone have any thoughts on those books?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by comrade

I'll second that, for fantasy at least. I first heard of the books when this thread started and have downed the first six so far.

One question though, I'm planning on starting into the Esslemont books and interleaving them with the remaining Erickson books, does anyone have any thoughts on those books?

I will be reading Night of Knives soon; reviews that I read are positive.

www.malazanempire.com

http://www.malazanempire.com/forums/...splay.php?f=41

[llama64]

I recently read the first two books of Otherland (Tad Williams). I found he suffered a bit from dragging things out a bit too long. When it takes 3/4 of the novel just to feel like the setup is done and things are starting to happen, I feel like I just got ripped off.

So I picked up the 6th book in the Wheel of Time only to remind myself 50 pages in how bored I was with every character. Jordan had a knack of taking 300 pages to describe a single conversation between two characters. Not too mention his female characters being borderline offensive. Too many plot lines killed this series for me.

I was able to read Goodkind's Sword of Truth series until the 4th book when his characters started going off on really weird rants about politics and personal liberties. When the author's philosophical opinions start upstaging the plot, I ditch the book. Was really disappointed with this as up to that point it was a really engaging series.

So, I took a break, read a few stand alone novels (everything written by Neil Gaiman is gold), read a couple non-fiction books and am now looking at diving back into the Fantasy genre again.

I think I'll checkout this malazan empire stuff to see if I can get into it. If not, it's probably off to Discworld for me (Terry Pratchet).

One series I read from start to finish and loved every book was David Eddings "The Belgariad". I'd recommend those books to anyone and everyone.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by troutman

I will be reading Night of Knives soon; reviews that I read are positive.

www.malazanempire.com

http://www.malazanempire.com/forums/...splay.php?f=41

Don't forget Toll the Hounds was released at the beginning of this month.

I picked it up last week, and just started on it.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Amazon has some different book covers based on printing dates. Just wondering if there a specific printing date we should look for.

Also, any idea if the hardcover is worth it?

I'm not certain hardcover is ever worth it, myself. If they want to publish books in hardcover or trade paperback as collectors editions, fine, but I don't want to waste space on my bookshelf for over sized books. Give me paperback right from the start!

Anyway, I'm about two thirds of the way through Memories of Ice, and definitely agree, fantastic series! I still put it below Martin, but not far below. If you are working on Gardens, I say finish the book, at least. Deadhouse Gates is where I really began to get into the series, and the third book has been even better.

Finished reading Ed Greenwood's Band of Four series too... that one ended disappointingly. The first two and a half were very good, though not great, but the third ended oddly, the fourth seemed tacked on and disjointed, while The Silent House was interesting, but choppy.