Books Fantasy Reads

[Revan]

Even though I don't like the series as much as you and @akash02 do, I can see your points. I got really tired of the way none of the men could ever get along with the women in almost the entire series. Aes Sedai women disagreed with men about fighting the dark side in the long long ago and throughout most of the series most men keep whining about not understanding women and vice versa. That part was quite childish and apparently based on the women Jordan met in his life. I don't relate to that at all based on my experiences in life. That probably explains our different points of view regarding the female characters in the book. I wasn't saying that they're poor characters as I actually love strong female characters, but most people in the book seemed quite immature and unable to get along with the opposite sex. Too many petty arguments all the time for my liking.

The repeated phrases are easy to tolerate in a trilogy, but 11 books full of them just gets a little too much. I started reading this series after seeing numerous recommendations everywhere and I actually found myself intrigued by what happened to Lews Therin and in that time than the current story. Every time Rand had one of those memory leak episodes, I really loved the story of the long long ago.

Spoiler

Also that last chapter in Winter's Heart was really good. But I felt bad for those island folk (forgot their name) who lived near the big statue which broke. That mass suicide was quite sad. Was also disappointed that the Seanchan and their dog-leashes weren't eradicated in the series.

Spoiler

You have to understand though that in that world, the power of genders has been swapped. The most powerful empire - The Saenchan Empire - is ruled by an Empress. The Shara - who likely are the second most powerful - are ruled by the female channelers. The Aiel - the third one - are ruled from chief clans (males) but the Wise Ones are as powerful (if not more). Then in the main continent, The Aes Sedai rule, and most of the monarchs (including the most powerful one, Morgase of Andor) are females.

Male channelers going crazy pretty much made this swapp possible. Until then, arguably the males were more powerful (the likes of Lews, Ishamael and Demandred seesm to have been the most important people of that age).

When you accept this swap (from the real world, especially the middle ages), then it isn't as annoying.

Fun fact (also for @akash02 , @Edgar Allan Pillow : did you knew that the world of WoT is actually our world? We are now in the irst age, while they are in the third one. There are a few Eastern Eggs whch hint at this.

 

[Raptori]

Fun fact: did you knew that the world of WoT is actually our world? We are now in the irst age, while they are in the third one. There are a few Eastern Eggs whch hint at this.

I do like me some Eastern Eggs

I'm not too bothered about the descriptions or the fascination with certain aspects of clothing. Most authors suffer from it, even the best ones. Tolkeinn spent half of LotR describing the scenery and that was just a trilogy. George Martin seems to have a morbid fascination with rape scenes and describing food. It's part of the ride and not something that overly bothers me. The Lore and the world building is every bit as important as the overall story imo as long as it doesn't drag the book down (i.e the entire book 10).

Completely disagree. Too much exposition is a bad thing because it destroys immersion. I like it when I can completely forget that I'm reading a book, because it's vivid and real and feels like it's happening right in front of me. I'm definitely in favour of Orwellian prose ("Good prose is like a window pane"), which can include beautiful metaphors and subtle language without hitting you in the head with big blocks of exposition. I haven't read WOT or ASOIAF, but the fact that even people who like the books say there's a huge amount of description puts me off picking them up. LOTR is a perfect example: I loved them as a kid, but nowadays I just can't bear to read them even though I'd like to experience it again. It's a brilliant story set in an incredibly detailed world, but it's badly written by modern standards.

tl;dr description is like strong spice: a little goes a long way, too much and you spoil the meal

 

[Nighteyes]

Completely disagree. Too much exposition is a bad thing because it destroys immersion. I like it when I can completely forget that I'm reading a book, because it's vivid and real and feels like it's happening right in front of me. I'm definitely in favour of Orwellian prose ("Good prose is like a window pane"), which can include beautiful metaphors and subtle language without hitting you in the head with big blocks of exposition. I haven't read WOT or ASOIAF, but the fact that even people who like the books say there's a huge amount of description puts me off picking them up. LOTR is a perfect example: I loved them as a kid, but nowadays I just can't bear to read them even though I'd like to experience it again. It's a brilliant story set in an incredibly detailed world, but it's badly written by modern standards.

tl;dr description is like strong spice: a little goes a long way, too much and you spoil the meal

What are you disagreeing with? I'm not saying I like excessive description but just that it often comes with the package of a fantasy book, even from the best writers. It's their imagination and creativity that make them the writers they are, so I don't think it's surprising that the imagination often manifests intself in long winded descriptions of mundane things. As long as the rest of the book and story is gripping enough, it's not something that deters me. And you really should read both especially ASOIAF if you're a fan of fantasy. Trust me

 

[Revan]

I do like me some Eastern Eggs


Completely disagree. Too much exposition is a bad thing because it destroys immersion. I like it when I can completely forget that I'm reading a book, because it's vivid and real and feels like it's happening right in front of me. I'm definitely in favour of Orwellian prose ("Good prose is like a window pane"), which can include beautiful metaphors and subtle language without hitting you in the head with big blocks of exposition. I haven't read WOT or ASOIAF, but the fact that even people who like the books say there's a huge amount of description puts me off picking them up. LOTR is a perfect example: I loved them as a kid, but nowadays I just can't bear to read them even though I'd like to experience it again. It's a brilliant story set in an incredibly detailed world, but it's badly written by modern standards.

tl;dr description is like strong spice: a little goes a long way, too much and you spoil the meal

Both ASOIAF and WoT have far superior story compared with LOTR. Also, both have less description that it.

I would say that they are a far easy reading, although from a technical point of view, LOTR is superior. Completely disagree that LOTR is badly written. It isn't probably as fast paced as the new fantasy books, but it is brilliantly written. It's like fantasy meets Russian classics.

 

[Raptori]

What are you disagreeing with? I'm not saying I like excessive description but just that it often comes with the package of a fantasy book, even from the best writers. It's their imagination and creativity that make them the writers they are, so I don't think it's surprising that the imagination often manifests intself in long winded descriptions of mundane things. As long as the rest of the book and story is gripping enough, it's not something that deters me. And you really should read both especially ASOIAF if you're a fan of fantasy. Trust me

The bolded bit - the best authors to me are the ones who don't suffer from that problem. They're pretty rare but I enjoy their writing a huge amount more than those who do suffer from it

I completely understand the impulse to put in every minute detail when you're writing, but it's usually more effective to pare it down to a handful of details. It ends up being more vivid to the reader that way, because it fits with our mental limits. If you describe three key details about something or someone, the reader can create a clear mental picture of them that feels real; if you describe dozens then it's incomprehensible because (most) human brains cannot merge too many details into one picture. You can tell a great story without making it evocative, but if you can do both then why would you not?

Yeah I might read them some day, but there are just so many books... since I know that there are a lot of things in ASOIAF that I'd dislike, I'm inclined to read other stuff before I get around to trying it out

Both ASOIAF and WoT have far superior story compared with LOTR. Also, both have less description that it.

I would say that they are a far easy reading, although from a technical point of view, LOTR is superior. Completely disagree that LOTR is badly written. It isn't probably as fast paced as the new fantasy books, but it is brilliantly written. It's like fantasy meets Russian classics.

Myeah, I didn't explain it right. What I mean is that I think Orwellian prose is the standard that authors should aim for, and in places LOTR is almost the opposite of that. It's well written of course in terms of sentence structure, metaphor, description quality, etc; it's just not transparent prose. Obviously it could do that for some people, but I'm pretty sure they're uncommon

 

[Nighteyes]

The bolded bit - the best authors to me are the ones who don't suffer from that problem. They're pretty rare but I enjoy their writing a huge amount more than those who do suffer from it

I completely understand the impulse to put in every minute detail when you're writing, but it's usually more effective to pare it down to a handful of details. It ends up being more vivid to the reader that way, because it fits with our mental limits. If you describe three key details about something or someone, the reader can create a clear mental picture of them that feels real; if you describe dozens then it's incomprehensible because (most) human brains cannot merge too many details into one picture. You can tell a great story without making it evocative, but if you can do both then why would you not?

Yeah I might read them some day, but there are just so many books... since I know that there are a lot of things in ASOIAF that I'd dislike, I'm inclined to read other stuff before I get around to trying it out

That's fair enough.

For me, if the series has a good story backed up by good prose and worldbuilding, I can ignore the self indulging bits from the authors. No amount of good writing can make up for a lack of a good storyline though.

 

[Raptori]

That's fair enough.

For me, if the series has a good story backed up by good prose and worldbuilding, I can ignore the self indulging bits from the authors. No amount of good writing can make up for a lack of a good storyline though.

Oh yeah definitely, I enjoy a lot of stuff that doesn't tick all the boxes, but story is the one that a book can't live without.

 

[Gorefest]

Disagree as well. First of all, Tolkien is not a good writer. He was innovative and LOTR is great plotwise, but the writing really is rather poor. Second, ASOIAF is actually partly enjoyable because it does -not- spend ages trying to flesh out unimportant little details of the world, you get your information mainly from character interactions and observations on the history and cultural exchanges. Personally I really don't see how you can use ASOIAF as an example of overlong obsession with details. It's almost the opposite of WoT in that respect.

 

[Revan]

That's fair enough.

For me, if the series has a good story backed up by good prose and worldbuilding, I can ignore the self indulging bits from the authors. No amount of good writing can make up for a lack of a good storyline though.

Same here. In fact, I like long descriptions (especially if they have been written in a good way).

On the other side, I don't like much books which are written poorly. Mistborn for example, has a fantastic plot with a few great characters. But the book is written quite poorly and it was clear that Sanderson had just learnt some words (like lavish). I liked the books, but a better writter would have made that plot (and that system of magic) a true classic of fantasy.

Disagree as well. First of all, Tolkien is not a good writer. He was innovative and LOTR is great plotwise, but the writing really is rather poor. Second, ASOIAF is actually partly enjoyable because it does -not- spend ages trying to flesh out unimportant little details of the world, you get your information mainly from character interactions and observations on the history and cultural exchanges. Personally I really don't see how you can use ASOIAF as an example of overlong obsession with details. It's almost the opposite of WoT in that respect.

He definitely was a great writter on LOTR. On the other hand, I thought that The Hobbit was written quite poorly.

Anyway, LOTR is the benchmark how a fantasy book should be written from a technical point of view IMO. On the other side, I thought that the plot there was average, if not minimal. WoT and ASOIAF are superior in plot and characters IMO, but LOTR had a better writting.

 

[Nighteyes]

Oh yeah definitely, I enjoy a lot of stuff that doesn't tick all the boxes, but story is the one that a book can't live without.

Any recommendations? Looking for some light stuff to read after WoT.

 

[Raptori]

Any recommendations? Looking for some light stuff to read after WoT.

That depends what you're in the mood for really, if you haven't tried it then maybe the Farseer Trilogy? A couple of times reading those books my partner was trying to talk to me and I was so engrossed that I had no idea she was even in the same room. The second trilogy in that world (Liveship Traders) is even better imo, but it's very different to the first one. A lot of people who would like it never read it because they dislike Farseer, and a lot of people who liked Farseer hate it.

Though I'm not sure a series that contains three complete trilogies, a quadrilogy, and a new trilogy that's 1/3 complete should really count as "light"... though you could treat each trilogy/quadrilogy as separate?

Stand-alone fantasy books are really rare, come to think of it...

 

[harshad]

Finished the Farseer Trilogy.

Really enjoyed reading it. The relationship between Fitz and Nighteyes was really well done.

Spoiler

Any idea who the lady was with whom Chade was discussing Regal's plan to attack the Mountain Kingdom. They figured that the placement of the troops seemed to be a ploy to distract the Mountain Army and have a smaller force move inside the Mountain Kingdom through the alternate route and catch King Eyod unaware. The lady mentioned that she had already sent a message to King Eyod but Regal's men still ended up reacheing the Skill Road and the skill village

I read somewhere that the next trilogy - Live Ship Traders Trilogy - has different characters and not related to Fitz's story? Is it any good? Can I safely skip it and move to the Trawny Man Trilogy?

Currently reading the Broken Empire Trilogy and so far Honorous Jorg Ancarth appears to be a Grade A asshole.

 

[Raptori]

Finished the Farseer Trilogy.

Really enjoyed reading it. The relationship between Fitz and Nighteyes was really well done.

Spoiler

Any idea who the lady was with whom Chade was discussing Regal's plan to attack the Mountain Kingdom. They figured that the placement of the troops seemed to be a ploy to distract the Mountain Army and have a smaller force move inside the Mountain Kingdom through the alternate route and catch King Eyod unaware. The lady mentioned that she had already sent a message to King Eyod but Regal's men still ended up reacheing the Skill Road and the skill village

I read somewhere that the next trilogy - Live Ship Traders Trilogy - has different characters and not related to Fitz's story? Is it any good? Can I safely skip it and move to the Trawny Man Trilogy?

Currently reading the Broken Empire Trilogy and so far Honorous Jorg Ancarth appears to be a Grade A asshole.

Re: spoilery bit, in which book? Not sure when exactly you're talking about

Liveships is completely different - it's third person, multiple viewpoints, including some who disagree with each other. It's amazing if you're not expecting it to be just like the Farseer trilogy, it's my favourite fantasy trilogy by far. If you're desperate for more Fitz you can safely skip it, you just won't get a few references thrown into Tawny Man, and you'll spoil one thing that's a secret in Liveships if you do read it later. I'd recommend reading Liveships first though, it's the best of the lot.

 

[Gorefest]

Not sure either. I recently re-read Farseer trilogy, but I cannot recall such a conversation taking place.

 

[harshad]

Re: spoilery bit, in which book? Not sure when exactly you're talking about

Liveships is completely different - it's third person, multiple viewpoints, including some who disagree with each other. It's amazing if you're not expecting it to be just like the Farseer trilogy, it's my favourite fantasy trilogy by far. If you're desperate for more Fitz you can safely skip it, you just won't get a few references thrown into Tawny Man, and you'll spoil one thing that's a secret in Liveships if you do read it later. I'd recommend reading Liveships first though, it's the best of the lot.

Thanks mate. Will get read Liveships after I finish the Broken Empire Trilogy

Re: the Spoiler

Spoiler

Its in the Assassin's Quest, during one of Fitz's vision on his way to Verity. he sees Chade in one of his 'visions', Chade is talking to some lady and trying to figure out Regal's plans as the attacks by Regal's army isn't leading to any substantial gains to Regal and Chade is trying to figure out the true intention of Regal. He then figures out that there is another road which is no longer used by the Mountain people and may have been completely forgotten by them and Regal's intention would be to use that road and catch King Eyod unawares at Jhampe. Regal probably uses that road to send his men to the Dragon City and kill Verity

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I read somewhere that the next trilogy - Live Ship Traders Trilogy - has different characters and not related to Fitz's story? Is it any good? Can I safely skip it and move to the Trawny Man Trilogy?

Yes, Farseer and Tawny Man are related. Liveship Traders is standalone. I skipped it and went straight to Tawny Man. From what I read, I'm not that convinced to start Liveship anytime soon...

 

[harshad]

Re: spoilery bit, in which book? Not sure when exactly you're talking about

Liveships is completely different - it's third person, multiple viewpoints, including some who disagree with each other. It's amazing if you're not expecting it to be just like the Farseer trilogy, it's my favourite fantasy trilogy by far. If you're desperate for more Fitz you can safely skip it, you just won't get a few references thrown into Tawny Man, and you'll spoil one thing that's a secret in Liveships if you do read it later. I'd recommend reading Liveships first though, it's the best of the lot.

Not sure either. I recently re-read Farseer trilogy, but I cannot recall such a conversation taking place.

Spoiler

Its in Chapter 27

 

[Gorefest]

Not entirely standalone, there is one fairly major character that appears in all those books. But the story arcs are completely separate.

Regarding this 'lady',

Spoiler

I can only assume it is either Patience or KEttricken, as I cannot remember the specific scene. But asaik there are no other women of note that Chade communcates with about such things.

 

[Raptori]

Thanks mate. Will get read Liveships after I finish the Broken Empire Trilogy

Re: the Spoiler

Spoiler

Its in the Assassin's Quest, during one of Fitz's vision on his way to Verity. he sees Chade in one of his 'visions', Chade is talking to some lady and trying to figure out Regal's plans as the attacks by Regal's army isn't leading to any substantial gains to Regal and Chade is trying to figure out the true intention of Regal. He then figures out that there is another road which is no longer used by the Mountain people and may have been completely forgotten by them and Regal's intention would be to use that road and catch King Eyod unawares at Jhampe. Regal probably uses that road to send his men to the Dragon City and kill Verity

No probs, hope you enjoy them

Spoiler

I think I remember the bit you're talking about, I always assumed it was Kettriken I think. Doesn't seem that there's anyone else he would be talking to about stuff like that from what I can remember.

Yes, Farseer and Tawny Man are related. Liveship Traders is standalone. I skipped it and went straight to Tawny Man. From what I read, I'm not that convinced to start Liveship anytime soon...

The people who dislike them are generally disappointed that there's no Fitz. Some one-star reviews on goodreads highlight things that are examples of good writing as things that the reader hated, for example one character being seen as an antagonist from one person's perspective, and then that "antagonist" character being given a viewpoint chapter where it turns out she's trying to act in the best interests of everyone. That was seen as bad by that reviewer, whereas actually it's an accurate picture of how people interact. Couldn't recommend those books more

 

[Raptori]

Spoiler

Its in Chapter 27

/gets book off bookshelf...

Definitely not Kettricken or Patience, maybe Hod? Not sure really, could just be a random unnamed character.

 

[harshad]

No probs, hope you enjoy them

Spoiler

I think I remember the bit you're talking about, I always assumed it was Kettriken I think. Doesn't seem that there's anyone else he would be talking to about stuff like that from what I can remember.

The people who dislike them are generally disappointed that there's no Fitz. Some one-star reviews on goodreads highlight things that are examples of good writing as things that the reader hated, for example one character being seen as an antagonist from one person's perspective, and then that "antagonist" character being given a viewpoint chapter where it turns out she's trying to act in the best interests of everyone. That was seen as bad by that reviewer, whereas actually it's an accurate picture of how people interact. Couldn't recommend those books more

Spoiler

Couldn't have been Kettriken as at the end of his vision Fitz sees Chade pulling the lady in question to himself

 

[Revan]

How is the Farseer Trilogy? Like hearted like Mistborn and co, or more serious?

I don't know what to read after I finish 'Emperor of Thorne'. The first two books in the saga were disappoinments IMO and after this I think that I will be done with Mark Lawrence. Was thinking to start the Black Company (which is pretty much as long as ASOIAF), but probably something shorter and more easy to read would be better. Still fatigued from WoT despite have finished it two months ago.

 

[Nighteyes]

That depends what you're in the mood for really, if you haven't tried it then maybe the Farseer Trilogy? A couple of times reading those books my partner was trying to talk to me and I was so engrossed that I had no idea she was even in the same room. The second trilogy in that world (Liveship Traders) is even better imo, but it's very different to the first one. A lot of people who would like it never read it because they dislike Farseer, and a lot of people who liked Farseer hate it.

Though I'm not sure a series that contains three complete trilogies, a quadrilogy, and a new trilogy that's 1/3 complete should really count as "light"... though you could treat each trilogy/quadrilogy as separate?

Stand-alone fantasy books are really rare, come to think of it...

Wel, yeah, 16 books definitely does not count as light

I'll probably go with First Law or Mistborn for my next read.

 

[Raptori]

How is the Farseer Trilogy? Like hearted like Mistborn and co, or more serious?

I don't know what to read after I finish 'Emperor of Thorne'. The first two books in the saga were disappoinments IMO and after this I think that I will be done with Mark Lawrence. Was thinking to start the Black Company (which is pretty much as long as ASOIAF), but probably something shorter and more easy to read would be better. Still fatigued from WoT despite have finished it two months ago.

Really hard to describe in terms like that. It's very well written, in many ways it's serious, but it's a breeze to read.

Wel, yeah, 16 books definitely does not count as light

I'll probably go with First Law or Mistborn for my next read.

Hehe yeah. If you haven't read any Sanderson, try The Emperor's Soul first. It's a stand-alone novella, so pretty much the definition of "light".

The reason Farseer sprang to mind is that it's just so easy to read, sucks you in so you don't even realise how big the series is until you really think about it.

 

[Gorefest]

How is the Farseer Trilogy? Like hearted like Mistborn and co, or more serious?

Well, imagine being a kid growing up in a world where everything and everyone will try to put you down or screw you over, non-stop. For three books.

Spoiler

And then again for another three books.

It's pretty serious stuff.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I'll probably go with First Law or Mistborn for my next read.

If you haven't read it yet, I'd recommend Bartimaeus Trilogy. One of the best and a welcome refresher from the usual fantasy. I still haven't read a story that is just as 'fun'.
A bit offbeat, yet highly entertaining book would be Johannes Cabal, Necromancer.

 

[Gorefest]

Or Feist's 'Magician'.

 

[Krovv]

Spoiler

You have to understand though that in that world, the power of genders has been swapped. The most powerful empire - The Saenchan Empire - is ruled by an Empress. The Shara - who likely are the second most powerful - are ruled by the female channelers. The Aiel - the third one - are ruled from chief clans (males) but the Wise Ones are as powerful (if not more). Then in the main continent, The Aes Sedai rule, and most of the monarchs (including the most powerful one, Morgase of Andor) are females.

Male channelers going crazy pretty much made this swapp possible. Until then, arguably the males were more powerful (the likes of Lews, Ishamael and Demandred seesm to have been the most important people of that age).

When you accept this swap (from the real world, especially the middle ages), then it isn't as annoying.

Fun fact (also for @akash02 , @Edgar Allan Pillow : did you knew that the world of WoT is actually our world? We are now in the irst age, while they are in the third one. There are a few Eastern Eggs whch hint at this.

Yeah that last bit I kind of figured out. Shocking though how far behind civilisation falls due to the war.

Regarding the balance, my favourite boys were all when both genders cooperated to make their world a better place. That's why I liked the last three books a lot.

 

[Krovv]

Or Feist's 'Magician'.

Gave this a shot but I didn't like it at all. Nowhere near Wheel of Time or Malazan Book of the Fallen. I have my issues with long series of books but even then found WoT and Malazan enjoyable. Magician got boring real quick and by the second book I was yawning. Didn't work for me sadly.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Fun fact (also for @akash02 , @Edgar Allan Pillow : did you knew that the world of WoT is actually our world? We are now in the irst age, while they are in the third one. There are a few Eastern Eggs whch hint at this.

Didn't know that. Where are these?

Magician got boring real quick and by the second book I was yawning. Didn't work for me sadly.

mmm. I liked Magician. Apprentice/Master were the best. The Silverthorn series were OK and the finale (Magician's End) was a good end to the story. I skipped most in between yet did not leave much holes when reading the final book. I liked the Pug character.

 

[Revan]

Didn't know that. Where are these?

There are references of a Mercedes sign, of men landing in Moon, of Russia-US cold war etc. The references are vague but definitely intended. They are also almost exclusively in the first book. Also the geography may be similar to our world with the main continent being Europe, Saenchan being in America, Aiel probably in Arabia and Shara in China. The land of the Madmen geographically looks to be Africa but could also be Australia. Of course, they are at the end of the third age, so not much is known from the first age and what is known is more like a myth. And obviously the geography has changed when male Aes Sedai went mad and broke the world.

http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/node/162

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

There are references of a Mercedes sign, of men landing in Moon, of Russia-US cold war etc. The references are vague but definitely intended. They are also almost exclusively in the first book. Also the geography may be similar to our world with the main continent being Europe, Saenchan being in America, Aiel probably in Arabia and Shara in China. The land of the Madmen geographically looks to be Africa but could also be Australia. Of course, they are at the end of the third age, so not much is known from the first age and what is known is more like a myth. And obviously the geography has changed when male Aes Sedai went mad and broke the world.

http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/node/162

Very dicey. More like some of our world events mirrored in the fantasy, rather than the other way around. For me, the only real life link I thought of was Arthur Hawkwing comparison to King Arthur. I actually found it surprising that Uther Paendrag was a character in David Gemmell books.

 

[Revan]

Very dicey. More like some of our world events mirrored in the fantasy, rather than the other way around. For me, the only real life link I thought of was Arthur Hawkwing comparison to King Arthur. I actually found it surprising that Uther Paendrag was a character in David Gemmell books.

I think that Jordan made those references just for fun on the first book. They aren't even as big as in Abercrombie's Half a King.

Names of the characters and many other things have been inspired from characters on real life. Even the main antagonist, Shai'tan is basically the Hebrew/Muslim devil. Almost all names of the Forsaken are from real religions too (with some changes).

 

[Nighteyes]

Those forums are quite incredible really. The nerdiness is off the charts. I'm envious

Also, I hadn't realised that it was Robert Jordan himself who provided the cover quote for Game of Thrones which GRRM credits for boosting sales figures. Genius! Those Wheel of Time references in the books make a lot more sense now.

 

[Revan]

Those forums are quite incredible really. The nerdiness is off the charts. I'm envious

Also, I hadn't realised that it was Robert Jordan himself who provided the cover quote for Game of Thrones which GRRM credits for boosting sales figures. Genius! Those Wheel of Time references in the books make a lot more sense now.

THe Wheel of Time main forum (dragonmount) is pretty much dead now. I registered there when I finished the books but there isn't much discussion there. On the other side the main ASOIAF forum is giant and is incredibly active. And yep, there are nerds there who have read ASOIAF in double digits time, and others which have read pretty much every fantasy book ever written. And a lot of authors, some trying to make their way, and some already with millions of copies sold (like Abercrombie - who btw replied in a post of mine - , Mark Lawrence, in the past Sanderson and probably a few others).

A very nice place for fantasy fans.

About your second point yep. It is the cover quote in the book, and GRRM mentioned it as one of the reason for ASOIAF boom in fantasy world when he wrote an article for Jordan (a few days after Jordan's death). Interestingly, even cause the show has increased the popularity of the books, WoT has still around twice as mnay copes sold as ASOIAF (although that can be explained by it having 15 books while ASOIAF has only 5).

 

[Nighteyes]

THe Wheel of Time main forum (dragonmount) is pretty much dead now. I registered there when I finished the books but there isn't much discussion there. On the other side the main ASOIAF forum is giant and is incredibly active. And yep, there are nerds there who have read ASOIAF in double digits time, and others which have read pretty much every fantasy book ever written. And a lot of authors, some trying to make their way, and some already with millions of copies sold (like Abercrombie - who btw replied in a post of mine - , Mark Lawrence, in the past Sanderson and probably a few others).

A very nice place for fantasy fans.

About your second point yep. It is the cover quote in the book, and GRRM mentioned it as one of the reason for ASOIAF boom in fantasy world when he wrote an article for Jordan (a few days after Jordan's death). Interestingly, even cause the show has increased the popularity of the books, WoT has still around twice as mnay copes sold as ASOIAF (although that can be explained by it having 15 books while ASOIAF has only 5).

Not surprising given the series is finished now. The place must have been great though given there are about ten times more prophecies and viewings in WoT to sink your teeth into than in ASOIAF.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I have a high dislike for ASOIAF since I just can't see a purpose to the story. In WoT, we know Rand will fight Shai'tan at the end. In ASOIAF, characters just come and die and story plods on with no end in sight. I don't like books like that.

 

[celia]

What annoys me more in ASOIAF is the many POVs. Few I like, but more I don't care, or worse dislike or despise. Really annoying when I leave a character I like in a critical/interesting scene and then going with the problems of someone I dislike.

I have started His Majesty's Dragon.

 

[Nighteyes]

I have a high dislike for ASOIAF since I just can't see a purpose to the story. In WoT, we know Rand will fight Shai'tan at the end. In ASOIAF, characters just come and die and story plods on with no end in sight. I don't like books like that.

Jon or Dany or perhaps both will fight the others. Hope that helps!

 

[Melvyn]

I read the Farseer trilogy when I was about 14 so I don't remember the specifics of the story except that for a 14 year old just beginning her fantasy genre journey, it was a really weird story. I think I might reread it again but I'm currently doing a reread of the Kingkiller Chronicles (so good).