Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is also on my list and waiting on the shelf and I have not read more from Mieville apart from Perdido Street Station, so many books, so little time.
There are other people in the world who've read Glass Books of the Dream Eaters? It's actually not that good.
Anyways, it's been a long time since I read a fantasy series that really enthralled me. aSoIaF never really held my interest, and I hate Gene Wolfe with the fire of a whole bunch of suns. I discovered China Mieville some time ago, and that's the most recent thing I remember that I found really amazingly good. Guess I just have overly-high standards. I really should get to work on that epic fantasy novel* I mean to write one day... nah.
*will have lots of sniffs, snorts, smoothings of dresses and braid pullings, but all spankings will be 100% plot-necessary.
The Malazan books are very much like Greek/Roman myths. The Gods have got their hands deep in the game. Their petty and powerful and very human (in some ways). They've got no problems throwing their weight around when they need to, or just when they feel like it really. It's very much about mortals caught up in the games and schemes on the Gods.
Of course, one of the big themes of the series is that the Gods are, in many ways, subject to the whims and expectations of mortals as mortals are to those of the Gods.
shryke on
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Tiger BurningDig if you will, the pictureRegistered User, SolidSaints Tuberegular
edited June 2008
I too would recommend the Prince of Nothing trilogy. They are better written than any of the other books discussed here so far, excepting Gene Wolfe (just one guy talkin', of course). They are a little annoying to read until you get used to the fact that you are not supposed to like or sympathize with the protagonist through whose eyes most of the story is told. But the characters are well-conceived and executed (even the unlikable), the world is deep and interesting, and the story develops nicely. It also comes to a satisfying conclusion that still sets the stage for a future series. It's the best complete fantasy series I've read since Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. (again, just one guy's opinion)
The Malazan Series is like lasagna, with each book another layer. If you stop after the first, you're just eating noodles.
I'm about 2/3 through The Blade Itself, and loving it. It's a shame the third book won't be out for a while though.
Re: Prince of Nothing series
spoilered for those who haven't read the series
I enjoyed the books, but was pretty disappointed in how it was wrapped up. Maybe it just went over my head, but I couldn't see what the point of it all was. Yes, Kellhus and his brother are sort of emperor/caliphate figures with massive control over the known world, but why? Pretty much everything Kellhus did with his manipulation was toward some purpose, wasn't it? So now that he has this power what is he going to do with it?
Mostly it felt like a half-finished series with a ton of loose ends left hanging.
1. The main protagonist, whatshisname, the Gnostic sorceror. He's been tossed out on his ass, so what now?
2. Kellhus/his brother. What are they going to do with their newfound power?
3. What the hell is the deal with the whole "ancient evil menace" thing? I know it's somewhat discussed in the books, but it's the main thing the sorceror really cares about, and the author just left it out there.
These are things that you have in the middle of the series, and should be somewhat resolved by the end of the series. I don't really see the merit of ending a series on a cliffhanger, barring something tragic happening to the author.
Sorry for not having all the names of characters, but it's been a while since I read the books. Also I agree with whoever said the men in the series are all unlikable assholes and the women are all either rape victims or whores.
nosnibor on
When you're a spy, it's a good idea to give away your trade secrets in a voiceover on a TV show.
I'm about 2/3 through The Blade Itself, and loving it. It's a shame the third book won't be out for a while though.
Re: Prince of Nothing series
spoilered for those who haven't read the series
I enjoyed the books, but was pretty disappointed in how it was wrapped up. Maybe it just went over my head, but I couldn't see what the point of it all was. Yes, Kellhus and his brother are sort of emperor/caliphate figures with massive control over the known world, but why? Pretty much everything Kellhus did with his manipulation was toward some purpose, wasn't it? So now that he has this power what is he going to do with it?
Mostly it felt like a half-finished series with a ton of loose ends left hanging.
1. The main protagonist, whatshisname, the Gnostic sorceror. He's been tossed out on his ass, so what now?
2. Kellhus/his brother. What are they going to do with their newfound power?
3. What the hell is the deal with the whole "ancient evil menace" thing? I know it's somewhat discussed in the books, but it's the main thing the sorceror really cares about, and the author just left it out there.
These are things that you have in the middle of the series, and should be somewhat resolved by the end of the series. I don't really see the merit of ending a series on a cliffhanger, barring something tragic happening to the author.
Sorry for not having all the names of characters, but it's been a while since I read the books. Also I agree with whoever said the men in the series are all unlikable assholes and the women are all either rape victims or whores.
You didn't like Achamian? You have no soul!
Anyway, remember that it's the first of 3 series. It was originally (we're talking like 15 years ago or something) conceived as a trilogy, but upon sitting down to actually write it, Scott ended up expanding the first volume into a trilogy to fit everything in. It goes:
The Prince of Nothing
The Aspect-Emperor
<Unrevealed and Apparently Spoilertastic>
It follows Kelhus along his path to .... wherever he's going.
The Prince of Nothing details his rise to power.
Anyway, Kellhus' aim was/is, apparently to fight The Consult, who are coming to wipe out all life. That's what the Thousand Fold thought (the concept, not the book) was all about. Uniting mankind under one Empire in order to make it capable of surviving the Second Apocalypse.
What his actual goals may be, what he believes himself to be, etc. are left deliberately vague. You'll actually notice that we get less and less POVs from Kellhus as the series goes on. It's to make him a more and more mysterious figure. We know what he WAS (he was Dunyain), but not really what he's BECOME.
What Akka is up to will come up in the next series. Although, we know(from the info released on the next book) that:
Ok I lied I actually do like Achamian(now that you reminded me of his name), but the poor bastard is just so pathetic! He verty rarely busted out his badass Gnostic sorcery, and spent most of the series being shit on by everyone.
Now that I know the story is continuing, it makes more sense. I had thought it was just a trilogy because that's how it was presented, and so I was pretty disappointed with how the third book ended.
nosnibor on
When you're a spy, it's a good idea to give away your trade secrets in a voiceover on a TV show.
Ok I lied I actually do like Achamian(now that you reminded me of his name), but the poor bastard is just so pathetic! He verty rarely busted out his badass Gnostic sorcery, and spent most of the series being shit on by everyone.
Now that I know the story is continuing, it makes more sense. I had thought it was just a trilogy because that's how it was presented, and so I was pretty disappointed with how the third book ended.
Yeah, the endings a bit ... abrupt.
And Achamian's supposed to start off kind of ... pathetic. He's a washed up middle aged man at the start. Sort of a play on the "Merlin" motif of the older, wiser wizard teaching/training the young hero.
Of course, after his capture, he gets much nastier. And him tearing the Nansur army apart single-handed at the end is bad-ass.
We have a separate Malazan thread for those who want to argue its merits, to prevent it from taking over another thread. Just do a quick search for Malazan and it should pop up.
On the topic of other recent, relatively easy reads which are finished and worth reading - Robin Hobb is right up towards the top of the list. Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, and Tawny Man Trilogy. All in the same world, all disjoint arcs which can be read separately, and all individual novels which stand alone, but all of which fall in line chronologically and with the first and third trilogies sharing many of the same characters (one in the second appears in the third, and one in the first appears in the second, otherwise they're completely unmixing).
She's done with that world and I'm reading her most recent trilogy right now. Still establishing the world, but quite good.
I work in a bookstore, so I see a lot of series that look pretty good, but I don't have time to read them all. I just finished Orphans of Chaos - it was a little confusing and very abrupt (the books have mere minutes between the end of one and the start of the next), but I really liked the characters. Also, I have to point out how excellent Acacia is, even though I'm pretty certain I already did that in the last fantasy thread.
Acacia is pretty good, but I'm very cautious in my optimism.
Spoiler for ending and also some Song of Ice and Fire spoilers
I'm seeing parallels to ASOIAF here, what with the royal kiddies (like the Starks) getting separated, the oldest daughter being in enemy hands (like Sansa), the others becoming badasses in their own way (like Robb, Jon, Bran, Arya), and then the oldest presumptive heir getting killed rather abruptly (like Robb). I'm pretty sure there are more parallels here, but I can't quite remember them. Something about Stockholm Syndrome with the eldest girl in Acacia being a lot like Sansa.
nosnibor on
When you're a spy, it's a good idea to give away your trade secrets in a voiceover on a TV show.
Acacia was decent, but in my opinion nothing great. Like nosnibor said the story has a lot of parallels to ASoIaF and I think that kind of wrecked it. Maybe if you haven't read ASoIaF it would be better, but I kept making comparisons and GRRM is much better writer than Durham is. I'll probably end up reading the second book to see if it gets more interesting.
Ah. Well, I haven't read ASoIaF, so I guess that's part of it. I have a hard time picking up books that look like a significant time investment (generally any series that is wider than it is tall after 2 books).
Has anyone read the Awakened Mage books? Are they any good?
I've never seen what the big deal was about Robin Hobb.
Her books are very character driven, which is good, except that I don't care about her characters at all. I've read one book of the Farseer trilogy and one of her latest, the Solder's Son trilogy. Man, that last one was really bad.
Tell me, do any of her books greatly deviate from the following plot?
Fairly generic boy with no distinguishing markers is born to a prominent family and discovers within him a power that makes him the special-est. He goes through daily chores that are fairily mundane while bigger things brew in the background (which he is too dimwitted to spot). He is pushed around, which he takes passively and without resistance. Finally, at the climax, something dramatic and the protagonist is forced to make a decision all on his own, usually to take a stand and decide on a side he wants to join. He does so and it works out for him, though it changes him and sets him up for the next book in the trilogy.
Title of "Like ASoIaF but from a writer who blah blah blah"
And they come out once every year, and theres only 8 of them, several of which can be read independently of the others.
Malazan's way way too much into magic for me to like. I typically hate most fantasy because of this. Conversely, this is why I love GRRM- it's brutal, and no one can Deus Ex Machina their way out of getting killed (or at least, very bad things happening).
Your OP says low magic, which interests me. I may have to look into this.
now, I'm not going to try to deny that Malazan has a shit ton of crazy magic shit in it.
but the bolded part above leads me to believe that you have not read much of the series
You are correct in that I haven't read much of it (mostly because I don't like the way it's written), but Deus Ex Machina has happened. The part that sticks out in my mind was
Ganoes Paran getting his ass stabbed in the alleyway, but then gods intervening for the hell of it. If you don't want to treat death as something that can't happen to the main characters, don't do that
Edit: I should also clarify that Deus Ex Machina isn't the only reason I don't like heavy magic. The rest of it has to do with it feeling pretty hokey most of the time (and perhaps good writing can save this, but I've yet to see it).
I like Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series. Heavy Magic, but still kinda gritty.
We have a separate Malazan thread for those who want to argue its merits, to prevent it from taking over another thread. Just do a quick search for Malazan and it should pop up.
On the topic of other recent, relatively easy reads which are finished and worth reading - Robin Hobb is right up towards the top of the list. Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, and Tawny Man Trilogy. All in the same world, all disjoint arcs which can be read separately, and all individual novels which stand alone, but all of which fall in line chronologically and with the first and third trilogies sharing many of the same characters (one in the second appears in the third, and one in the first appears in the second, otherwise they're completely unmixing).
She's done with that world and I'm reading her most recent trilogy right now. Still establishing the world, but quite good.
Stop. Stop now.
I too, ignored the warnings, figuring the first book wasn't bad for setting a foundation. Unfortunately, each book becomes progressively less interesting. I wound up skipping the last third of the last book and just reading the end to know how it worked out.
The first book is fairly entertaining, but it should never have been a trilogy. Once you've read it you've learned basically everything about the world, and the main character just cannot hold any sane person's interest for very long on his own. He's a giant wet blanket, and his character arc consists mostly of becoming more and more hapless until finally *poof* - magic gives him a happy ending.
I've never seen what the big deal was about Robin Hobb.
Her books are very character driven, which is good, except that I don't care about her characters at all. I've read one book of the Farseer trilogy and one of her latest, the Solder's Son trilogy. Man, that last one was really bad.
Tell me, do any of her books greatly deviate from the following plot?
Fairly generic boy with no distinguishing markers is born to a prominent family and discovers within him a power that makes him the special-est. He goes through daily chores that are fairily mundane while bigger things brew in the background (which he is too dimwitted to spot). He is pushed around, which he takes passively and without resistance. Finally, at the climax, something dramatic and the protagonist is forced to make a decision all on his own, usually to take a stand and decide on a side he wants to join. He does so and it works out for him, though it changes him and sets him up for the next book in the trilogy.
Yeah. Farseer trilogy doesn't really work out for Fitz. He's the whipping boy in that trilogy, moreso than any other character I've ever read except for Alain in Crown of Stars (also an above average series, if you ask me, and finished - 7 novels, if memory serves). He doesn't get his "happy ending" until the very, very end of the ninth novel, and even then it's pretty bittersweet.
Liveship Traders doesn't follow the same plot progression, aside from the characters being from a prominent family (in this case a trading family which has a liveship - fancy that :P Can't get too much into details without delving into spoilertown). I'm currently in the middle of the first novel of Solder's Son, and if what I suspect what you're talking about concerning him being the "special-ist" is right, I don't know if you can really consider it to be the same sort of scenario as in Farseer - it's not like it was born into him or anything.
But anyway, the attraction of Hobb is that she manages to find a balance where she has better writing and storytelling abilities than most pulp fantasy, while still being an easy pickup and read instead of having to deal with having an encyclopedia to remember who everyone is.
We have a separate Malazan thread for those who want to argue its merits, to prevent it from taking over another thread. Just do a quick search for Malazan and it should pop up.
On the topic of other recent, relatively easy reads which are finished and worth reading - Robin Hobb is right up towards the top of the list. Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, and Tawny Man Trilogy. All in the same world, all disjoint arcs which can be read separately, and all individual novels which stand alone, but all of which fall in line chronologically and with the first and third trilogies sharing many of the same characters (one in the second appears in the third, and one in the first appears in the second, otherwise they're completely unmixing).
She's done with that world and I'm reading her most recent trilogy right now. Still establishing the world, but quite good.
Stop. Stop now.
I too, ignored the warnings, figuring the first book wasn't bad for setting a foundation. Unfortunately, each book becomes progressively less interesting. I wound up skipping the last third of the last book and just reading the end to know how it worked out.
The first book is fairly entertaining, but it should never have been a trilogy. Once you've read it you've learned basically everything about the world, and the main character just cannot hold any sane person's interest for very long on his own. He's a giant wet blanket, and his character arc consists mostly of becoming more and more hapless until finally *poof* - magic gives him a happy ending.
Well that's disappointing. I enjoyed Farseer and found it to be a good, albeit very easy, read. Liveship Traders took a while to grow on me but I ended up really liking it. Tawny Man took until the second half of the second book to hit its stride and it was rather good quality after that.
You guys are making Soldier's Son sound like three books akin to the first book in Tawny Man, which is.....sad, really.
I've never seen what the big deal was about Robin Hobb.
Her books are very character driven, which is good, except that I don't care about her characters at all. I've read one book of the Farseer trilogy and one of her latest, the Solder's Son trilogy. Man, that last one was really bad.
Tell me, do any of her books greatly deviate from the following plot?
Fairly generic boy with no distinguishing markers is born to a prominent family and discovers within him a power that makes him the special-est. He goes through daily chores that are fairily mundane while bigger things brew in the background (which he is too dimwitted to spot). He is pushed around, which he takes passively and without resistance. Finally, at the climax, something dramatic and the protagonist is forced to make a decision all on his own, usually to take a stand and decide on a side he wants to join. He does so and it works out for him, though it changes him and sets him up for the next book in the trilogy.
Fitz is not passive; he's a child for most of the first book. His issue is that he constantly devotes his energy and initiative to the wrong things. That said, the things that annoy people about characters are personal, and if you find him an annoying character there's no sort of analysis that can change that. Best just move on. Do try the Liveship trilogy though; it's entirely different, and has one of the most interesting villains of any series I've read, and has nothing like the character of Fitz or Neville.
Soldier Son isn't that great. Opinions range from: "Ok, but a bit boring" -> "Shit"
The other 3 trilogies are good though, although I think they go down in quality as they go along. It's a personal preference thing between Farseer and Liveship imo, but Tawny Man is quite a bit weaker then either of those.
And Fitz isn't passive, he's just young and makes some dumb choices (cause he's young). He does, however, get the shit kicked out of him. ALOT.
I finished A Shadow in Summer over the weekend. It was the bees knees.
It's low magic, though a god is central to the plot. Mostly, however, his powers are just overgrown plot devices.
The story is about several characters drawn in a plot by a god to kill his summoner. The way magic works is, poets (more like monks) are able to create beings by way of poems, conceptualizing an idea in a way that has not been done so before. Then they hold that idea in their head for the rest of their lives and put it in human form.
Real, plot-related spoilers
Because the poet needs to fill in the blanks (after all, who decided that the concept of water needs to be female or partial to strawberries), this can go horribly wrong when the poet in question is a self-loathing mess. The fun in the story lies in the way Seedless is characterized. He's almost completely amoral, willing to manipulate and backstab to gain his freedom and lapse back into an unthinking idea.
It was especially good because I got the ebook for free in Tor's "Watch the Skies." For signing up (giving them your email) at the beginning, they'll give you links to free ebooks such as Mistborn, Old Man's War, (hugo award nominee) Spin (which won a bunch of rewards), and the above mentioned book. Other books too, but I felt these were the most note-worthy.
The books are still online on Tor's website for anyone with the right link to grab. I'm relatively certain it's legal to download, especially since they're just handing it out, but I'm not so certain about Penny-Arcade forums' policy on this, so I won't post them.
[Edit] Oh yes, also, grab as copy of Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town. He's a newish writer who writes mostly science fiction (believable, very near future/now) though this book is fantasy-ish. It's about a man called Adam. Or Albert or Alan or Asshole, or anything beginning with an A. His father was a mountain and his mother a washing machine. Literally. Doctorow releases everything he writes in print and the creative commons liscence, meaning everyone can download and read it.
Get it from his website.
TeaSpoon on
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Tiger BurningDig if you will, the pictureRegistered User, SolidSaints Tuberegular
edited June 2008
Also re:Hobb (what was this thread about?),
I understand what she is trying to do with her characters (I'm thinking of Fitz and Neville here) in continuously torturing themselves. It is an important observation that we are often responsible for our own worst problems, but Hobb makes it pathological, and there are only so many hundreds of pages of the main character wallowing, just wallowing in self-pity, paralyzed with self-doubt, that one can stand before you start to root for the villain. It was almost cathartic when Fitz got the shit kicked out of him - I wanted to kick the shit out of the lugubrious little bastard. It also makes it hard to get invested in the novels' struggles when the main source of conflict could be resolved by the main character spending five minutes with Dr. fucking Phil.
Hey now, let's not put Fitz and Neville on the same level here. Fitz is kinda emo. Neville is possibly the whinniest bitch of a character I have ever read.
Also, more reqs (some already mentioned above):
- Daniel Abraham's stuff: A Shadow in Summer, A Betrayal in Winter, and 2 more not yet out
- J.V. Jones Sword of Shadows series is good. It starts with A Cavern of Black Ice. Her earlier trilogy is ok, as is the stand-alone Barbed Coil. But she's definitely stepped it up a notch with the new series.
- Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars is pretty good. Although, yes, it has some whiny emo pansies going on.
- Brian Ruckley’s Winterbirth and onward has been recommended to me a few times. I haven't tried it yet, but I've been told it's pretty good.
- Scott Lynch's Locke Lamora series. It's Ocean's Eleven as a fantasy novel and darker. Great read.
This isn't normal fantasy, but Catherynne M. Valente's The Orphan's Tales are extremely good. It about a girl telling a young boy interconnected fairy tales, that are written in a way where as you come across different people you get to hear their story as well. It made the book pretty interesting and I don't think I've seen anyone else really try and tell stories that way.
I don't think he's been mentioned yet, but Patrick Rothfuss' first novel The Name of the Wind was pretty good. It has a pretty interesting magic system and the main character is likable though somewhat annoying at times.
With the hype surrounding it, I expected something new and shiny. It wasn't. It was epic fantasy; bad epic fantasy. The setting might be different, but you've probably read the basic plot a dozen times before.
Real spoilers, but I wouldn't worry about it since the book is shit anyway.
Bad guys are invading. Princeling sees his castle invaded, takes flight as his daddy and buddies are cut down like so much wheat. Runs around in the wilderness for the rest of the book, escaping and whatnot. Runs into a village of elfs (or what passes of elfs there) and finds shelter. Runs some more with the help of two elf siblings; one a woman he's into, the other a dark mysterious, silent loner.
Oh yes, there is a Gandalf figure too. A half elf with magic because his half-elfishness. He was a mentor figure and taught the princeling all about herbs and shit.
There some stuff about a city under siege too. And the whole invasion is religiously motivated.
Actually, I take back what I wrote earlier: It's not bad as far as epic fantasy goes. Just don't expect anything new or original
TeaSpoon on
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Bloods EndBlade of TyshallePunch dimensionRegistered Userregular
- Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars is pretty good. Although, yes, it has some whiny emo pansies going on.
If you're talking about Alain, he's only that way for the first novel and a half tops, and he gets dealt a shittier hand than anyone in any other series, ever. And makes the best of it.
If you mean Sanglant or Liath, I'd not say they're emo so much as self-absorbed.
Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series (starts with The Lies of Locke Lamora) is huge fun. Interesting setting, low on magic (I, too, can't deal with lot's of magic in my fantasy), lots a humour and snappy dialogue. The first book has no quests, no threats on the world, no prophecies, no chosen ones, no magic swords, and no elves. It does have some clever heist action, some nice twists, and some good old fashioned revenge. It's also self contained, with every loose plot thread dealt with, and only the slightest little hint of what the next books might be about.
I just finished the first book, after having put it off for too long, and now I'm getting a little annoyed that after visiting a dozen bookstores on the weekend I still can't find a copy of book 2.
It doesn't really need to be said, but I'd steer well clear of the Sword of Truth series. Even my boss, who actually bought, read and enjoyed all 10 books, hated the ending and the 2+ page long monologues about Randian philosophy that started to show up half way through the series. I tried reading the first book, which is supposedly the best in the series, in the hopes that it would at least be horribly entertaining, but it's nearly unreadable, and way too long; the person who edits these books obviously doesn't exist.
Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series (starts with The Lies of Locke Lamora) is huge fun. Interesting setting, low on magic (I, too, can't deal with lot's of magic in my fantasy), lots a humour and snappy dialogue. The first book has no quests, no threats on the world, no prophecies, no chosen ones, no magic swords, and no elves. It does have some clever heist action, some nice twists, and some good old fashioned revenge. It's also self contained, with every loose plot thread dealt with, and only the slightest little hint of what the next books might be about.
I just finished the first book, after having put it off for too long, and now I'm getting a little annoyed that after visiting a dozen bookstores on the weekend I still can't find a copy of book 2.
The paperback comes out the on July 28th or you can order the hardback online if you can't find it. The second book isn't quite as good as the first but both are extremely good and Lynch is one of the few new authors that lived up to the hype surrounding his releases.
Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series (starts with The Lies of Locke Lamora) is huge fun. Interesting setting, low on magic (I, too, can't deal with lot's of magic in my fantasy), lots a humour and snappy dialogue. The first book has no quests, no threats on the world, no prophecies, no chosen ones, no magic swords, and no elves. It does have some clever heist action, some nice twists, and some good old fashioned revenge. It's also self contained, with every loose plot thread dealt with, and only the slightest little hint of what the next books might be about.
I just finished the first book, after having put it off for too long, and now I'm getting a little annoyed that after visiting a dozen bookstores on the weekend I still can't find a copy of book 2.
The paperback comes out the on July 28th or you can order the hardback online if you can't find it. The second book isn't quite as good as the first but both are extremely good and Lynch is one of the few new authors that lived up to the hype surrounding his releases.
I was actually looking for the trade paperback, which is the version of the first book I bought, and I've seen it on shelves before, I just didn't buy it because I hadn't finished the first book yet.
I hated the Tawny Man trilogy. It felt like she hated being such a bastard to Fitz in the first Farseer books and wanted to go easy on him for a while instead.
I hated the Tawny Man trilogy. It felt like she hated being such a bastard to Fitz in the first Farseer books and wanted to go easy on him for a while instead.
It lacked focus too. It was basically "Fitz's life: the not-so-shitty edition". No overall story really.
Also, it features the Wayne's-World-style "Mega Happy Ending!!!!".
I started reading the first Tawny Man book and it really put me off how it was like "hey remember that musician chick from the last book that was kind of cool?
well turns out she's a huge raging cunt hahahaha!"
Balefuego on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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Bloods EndBlade of TyshallePunch dimensionRegistered Userregular
edited June 2008
Goddamn. I just finished "Red Seas Under Red Skies"
Damn
The Republic of Thieves can't come out soon enough.
Man, Caine Black Knife isn't nearly as long as it should be, given the wait for it.
Seriously people, go pick up Heros Die, and see what Caine is all about.
Also, I highly recommend both the Gentlemen's Bastard sequence, and Codex Alera. Book 5 for Codex Alera comes out in 2 weeks, and book 6 will be the final novel in the series.
If I recall right, Thieves Rebuplic should be coming in February with The Wise Man's Fear.
Oh! I also highly recommend The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan, and Across the Face of the World (Fires of Heaven trilogy) by Russel Kirkpatrick. Both are trilogies, and are complete. Very good reads.
There is a lot of magic in The Magician's Guild (obviously) but it isn't overplayed and it really well done.
The Fires of Heaven books are entertaining, fairly low magic, and throw in a nice mix of religious philosophy. Really, really good. Also, the world is very well constructed, since this guy is also a mapmaker in real life, heh.
Posts
There are other people in the world who've read Glass Books of the Dream Eaters? It's actually not that good.
Anyways, it's been a long time since I read a fantasy series that really enthralled me. aSoIaF never really held my interest, and I hate Gene Wolfe with the fire of a whole bunch of suns. I discovered China Mieville some time ago, and that's the most recent thing I remember that I found really amazingly good. Guess I just have overly-high standards. I really should get to work on that epic fantasy novel* I mean to write one day... nah.
*will have lots of sniffs, snorts, smoothings of dresses and braid pullings, but all spankings will be 100% plot-necessary.
Of course, one of the big themes of the series is that the Gods are, in many ways, subject to the whims and expectations of mortals as mortals are to those of the Gods.
The Malazan Series is like lasagna, with each book another layer. If you stop after the first, you're just eating noodles.
Re: Prince of Nothing series
spoilered for those who haven't read the series
Mostly it felt like a half-finished series with a ton of loose ends left hanging.
1. The main protagonist, whatshisname, the Gnostic sorceror. He's been tossed out on his ass, so what now?
2. Kellhus/his brother. What are they going to do with their newfound power?
3. What the hell is the deal with the whole "ancient evil menace" thing? I know it's somewhat discussed in the books, but it's the main thing the sorceror really cares about, and the author just left it out there.
These are things that you have in the middle of the series, and should be somewhat resolved by the end of the series. I don't really see the merit of ending a series on a cliffhanger, barring something tragic happening to the author.
Sorry for not having all the names of characters, but it's been a while since I read the books. Also I agree with whoever said the men in the series are all unlikable assholes and the women are all either rape victims or whores.
You didn't like Achamian? You have no soul!
The Prince of Nothing
The Aspect-Emperor
<Unrevealed and Apparently Spoilertastic>
It follows Kelhus along his path to .... wherever he's going.
The Prince of Nothing details his rise to power.
Anyway, Kellhus' aim was/is, apparently to fight The Consult, who are coming to wipe out all life. That's what the Thousand Fold thought (the concept, not the book) was all about. Uniting mankind under one Empire in order to make it capable of surviving the Second Apocalypse.
What his actual goals may be, what he believes himself to be, etc. are left deliberately vague. You'll actually notice that we get less and less POVs from Kellhus as the series goes on. It's to make him a more and more mysterious figure. We know what he WAS (he was Dunyain), but not really what he's BECOME.
What Akka is up to will come up in the next series. Although, we know(from the info released on the next book) that:
Now that I know the story is continuing, it makes more sense. I had thought it was just a trilogy because that's how it was presented, and so I was pretty disappointed with how the third book ended.
Yeah, the endings a bit ... abrupt.
And Achamian's supposed to start off kind of ... pathetic. He's a washed up middle aged man at the start. Sort of a play on the "Merlin" motif of the older, wiser wizard teaching/training the young hero.
On the topic of other recent, relatively easy reads which are finished and worth reading - Robin Hobb is right up towards the top of the list. Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy, and Tawny Man Trilogy. All in the same world, all disjoint arcs which can be read separately, and all individual novels which stand alone, but all of which fall in line chronologically and with the first and third trilogies sharing many of the same characters (one in the second appears in the third, and one in the first appears in the second, otherwise they're completely unmixing).
She's done with that world and I'm reading her most recent trilogy right now. Still establishing the world, but quite good.
I think I'm a little in love with Locke Lamora.
Guess that's what happens when ctrl-C doesn't take and you already have a url on the clipboard.
http://www.amazon.com/Acacia-Book-One-War-Mein/dp/0385506066
Spoiler for ending and also some Song of Ice and Fire spoilers
Has anyone read the Awakened Mage books? Are they any good?
Her books are very character driven, which is good, except that I don't care about her characters at all. I've read one book of the Farseer trilogy and one of her latest, the Solder's Son trilogy. Man, that last one was really bad.
Tell me, do any of her books greatly deviate from the following plot?
Fairly generic boy with no distinguishing markers is born to a prominent family and discovers within him a power that makes him the special-est. He goes through daily chores that are fairily mundane while bigger things brew in the background (which he is too dimwitted to spot). He is pushed around, which he takes passively and without resistance. Finally, at the climax, something dramatic and the protagonist is forced to make a decision all on his own, usually to take a stand and decide on a side he wants to join. He does so and it works out for him, though it changes him and sets him up for the next book in the trilogy.
I like Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series. Heavy Magic, but still kinda gritty.
Stop. Stop now.
I too, ignored the warnings, figuring the first book wasn't bad for setting a foundation. Unfortunately, each book becomes progressively less interesting. I wound up skipping the last third of the last book and just reading the end to know how it worked out.
The first book is fairly entertaining, but it should never have been a trilogy. Once you've read it you've learned basically everything about the world, and the main character just cannot hold any sane person's interest for very long on his own. He's a giant wet blanket, and his character arc consists mostly of becoming more and more hapless until finally *poof* - magic gives him a happy ending.
Yeah. Farseer trilogy doesn't really work out for Fitz. He's the whipping boy in that trilogy, moreso than any other character I've ever read except for Alain in Crown of Stars (also an above average series, if you ask me, and finished - 7 novels, if memory serves). He doesn't get his "happy ending" until the very, very end of the ninth novel, and even then it's pretty bittersweet.
Liveship Traders doesn't follow the same plot progression, aside from the characters being from a prominent family (in this case a trading family which has a liveship - fancy that :P Can't get too much into details without delving into spoilertown). I'm currently in the middle of the first novel of Solder's Son, and if what I suspect what you're talking about concerning him being the "special-ist" is right, I don't know if you can really consider it to be the same sort of scenario as in Farseer - it's not like it was born into him or anything.
But anyway, the attraction of Hobb is that she manages to find a balance where she has better writing and storytelling abilities than most pulp fantasy, while still being an easy pickup and read instead of having to deal with having an encyclopedia to remember who everyone is.
Well that's disappointing. I enjoyed Farseer and found it to be a good, albeit very easy, read. Liveship Traders took a while to grow on me but I ended up really liking it. Tawny Man took until the second half of the second book to hit its stride and it was rather good quality after that.
You guys are making Soldier's Son sound like three books akin to the first book in Tawny Man, which is.....sad, really.
Fitz is not passive; he's a child for most of the first book. His issue is that he constantly devotes his energy and initiative to the wrong things. That said, the things that annoy people about characters are personal, and if you find him an annoying character there's no sort of analysis that can change that. Best just move on. Do try the Liveship trilogy though; it's entirely different, and has one of the most interesting villains of any series I've read, and has nothing like the character of Fitz or Neville.
Soldier Son isn't that great. Opinions range from: "Ok, but a bit boring" -> "Shit"
The other 3 trilogies are good though, although I think they go down in quality as they go along. It's a personal preference thing between Farseer and Liveship imo, but Tawny Man is quite a bit weaker then either of those.
And Fitz isn't passive, he's just young and makes some dumb choices (cause he's young). He does, however, get the shit kicked out of him. ALOT.
It's low magic, though a god is central to the plot. Mostly, however, his powers are just overgrown plot devices.
Real, plot-related spoilers
It was especially good because I got the ebook for free in Tor's "Watch the Skies." For signing up (giving them your email) at the beginning, they'll give you links to free ebooks such as Mistborn, Old Man's War, (hugo award nominee) Spin (which won a bunch of rewards), and the above mentioned book. Other books too, but I felt these were the most note-worthy.
The books are still online on Tor's website for anyone with the right link to grab. I'm relatively certain it's legal to download, especially since they're just handing it out, but I'm not so certain about Penny-Arcade forums' policy on this, so I won't post them.
[Edit] Oh yes, also, grab as copy of Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town. He's a newish writer who writes mostly science fiction (believable, very near future/now) though this book is fantasy-ish. It's about a man called Adam. Or Albert or Alan or Asshole, or anything beginning with an A. His father was a mountain and his mother a washing machine. Literally. Doctorow releases everything he writes in print and the creative commons liscence, meaning everyone can download and read it.
Get it from his website.
I understand what she is trying to do with her characters (I'm thinking of Fitz and Neville here) in continuously torturing themselves. It is an important observation that we are often responsible for our own worst problems, but Hobb makes it pathological, and there are only so many hundreds of pages of the main character wallowing, just wallowing in self-pity, paralyzed with self-doubt, that one can stand before you start to root for the villain. It was almost cathartic when Fitz got the shit kicked out of him - I wanted to kick the shit out of the lugubrious little bastard. It also makes it hard to get invested in the novels' struggles when the main source of conflict could be resolved by the main character spending five minutes with Dr. fucking Phil.
Also, more reqs (some already mentioned above):
- Daniel Abraham's stuff: A Shadow in Summer, A Betrayal in Winter, and 2 more not yet out
- J.V. Jones Sword of Shadows series is good. It starts with A Cavern of Black Ice. Her earlier trilogy is ok, as is the stand-alone Barbed Coil. But she's definitely stepped it up a notch with the new series.
- Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars is pretty good. Although, yes, it has some whiny emo pansies going on.
- Brian Ruckley’s Winterbirth and onward has been recommended to me a few times. I haven't tried it yet, but I've been told it's pretty good.
- Scott Lynch's Locke Lamora series. It's Ocean's Eleven as a fantasy novel and darker. Great read.
I don't think he's been mentioned yet, but Patrick Rothfuss' first novel The Name of the Wind was pretty good. It has a pretty interesting magic system and the main character is likable though somewhat annoying at times.
With the hype surrounding it, I expected something new and shiny. It wasn't. It was epic fantasy; bad epic fantasy. The setting might be different, but you've probably read the basic plot a dozen times before.
Real spoilers, but I wouldn't worry about it since the book is shit anyway.
Oh yes, there is a Gandalf figure too. A half elf with magic because his half-elfishness. He was a mentor figure and taught the princeling all about herbs and shit.
There some stuff about a city under siege too. And the whole invasion is religiously motivated.
Actually, I take back what I wrote earlier: It's not bad as far as epic fantasy goes. Just don't expect anything new or original
If you're talking about Alain, he's only that way for the first novel and a half tops, and he gets dealt a shittier hand than anyone in any other series, ever. And makes the best of it.
If you mean Sanglant or Liath, I'd not say they're emo so much as self-absorbed.
I just finished the first book, after having put it off for too long, and now I'm getting a little annoyed that after visiting a dozen bookstores on the weekend I still can't find a copy of book 2.
It doesn't really need to be said, but I'd steer well clear of the Sword of Truth series. Even my boss, who actually bought, read and enjoyed all 10 books, hated the ending and the 2+ page long monologues about Randian philosophy that started to show up half way through the series. I tried reading the first book, which is supposedly the best in the series, in the hopes that it would at least be horribly entertaining, but it's nearly unreadable, and way too long; the person who edits these books obviously doesn't exist.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
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The paperback comes out the on July 28th or you can order the hardback online if you can't find it. The second book isn't quite as good as the first but both are extremely good and Lynch is one of the few new authors that lived up to the hype surrounding his releases.
I was actually looking for the trade paperback, which is the version of the first book I bought, and I've seen it on shelves before, I just didn't buy it because I hadn't finished the first book yet.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
It lacked focus too. It was basically "Fitz's life: the not-so-shitty edition". No overall story really.
Also, it features the Wayne's-World-style "Mega Happy Ending!!!!".
well turns out she's a huge raging cunt hahahaha!"
Damn
The Republic of Thieves can't come out soon enough.
Man, Caine Black Knife isn't nearly as long as it should be, given the wait for it.
If I could lime that picture, I totally would.
Seriously people, go pick up Heros Die, and see what Caine is all about.
Also, I highly recommend both the Gentlemen's Bastard sequence, and Codex Alera. Book 5 for Codex Alera comes out in 2 weeks, and book 6 will be the final novel in the series.
If I recall right, Thieves Rebuplic should be coming in February with The Wise Man's Fear.
Oh! I also highly recommend The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan, and Across the Face of the World (Fires of Heaven trilogy) by Russel Kirkpatrick. Both are trilogies, and are complete. Very good reads.
There is a lot of magic in The Magician's Guild (obviously) but it isn't overplayed and it really well done.
The Fires of Heaven books are entertaining, fairly low magic, and throw in a nice mix of religious philosophy. Really, really good. Also, the world is very well constructed, since this guy is also a mapmaker in real life, heh.
See how many books I've read so far in 2010