I'd second that, it's an absolutely brilliant book. Morveer is almost as good a character as Logen Ninefingers. Loved the book and just started The Heroes which I'm kind of struggling to get into at the minute, it's a bit hard keeping track of all the different bands of Northmen when you're shit with names.
Books Fantasy Reads
- Thread starter Alock1
- Start date
Yep, he was creepy. And funny. Well, every character Abercrombie has ever made is funny.
Monza and Cosmo were my favorites though. When it comes to my favorite characters from Joe, I would say Glokta and Bayaz, with Yarvi, Logen, Cosma, Monza and Thorn following them. Really, only Martin might have made more interesting characters than Abercrombie.
Have yet to read the other two standalone books but will definitely do so before his next book.
I never warmed to Bayaz, the shifty bastard.
Morveer was just brilliant though, you'd be feeling sorry for him and understanding why he is the way he is, then 2 minutes later he'd reveal what a psycho he is. He was hilariously written. Monza and Cosca were excellent, Shivers was good then went downhill, Logen remains top of the lot for me though I think he's my favourite literary character.
Bayaz was awesome. A scumbag of the highest order. Him schooling Jezal and telling him that he bought him from a whore, and while she wanted 20 currency, he got the deal for 6 cause he likes a bargain, remains the highlight of the trilogy for me.
Logen was interesting and is generally accepted as Abercrombie's best character, but I liked a few others ahead of him.
Glokta as his self-pity monologues were the best part of the trilogy. Really loved that character. It is quite interesting that Yarvi in The Shattered Sea started exactly as Glokta but by the end of the trilogy he had become:
As a powerful power driven maniac as Bayaz
I agree with you on feeling sorry for Morveer. When he killed his assistant and then started mourning him I really felt sorry for him. Then he immediately forgot it and started planning to get into the service of the Grand Duke Osro and kill Monza and co. Him hoping that he'll get remembered as the greatest poisoner ever was brilliant.
In some aspect, he won. Monza decision to mention him as the guy who killed the king and other Dukes and so cement his place in history was all he ever wanted. To get recognition that he was the greatest poisoner.
The Mad Ship - second book in Liveship Traders. Like in most trilogies, it sets the stage for the next book rather than have much developments. The ending was interesting and leaves you want more.
Been reading the new trilogy by Robin Hobb.
Takes a while to get going with a pretty slow start but I really enjoyed it.
Love how she squeezed nighteyes back into the world.
@Revan
Think that was my favourite book by her. Paragon is kind of brilliant.
Takes a while to get going with a pretty slow start but I really enjoyed it.
Love how she squeezed nighteyes back into the world.
@Revan
Think that was my favourite book by her. Paragon is kind of brilliant.
Really? I found this weaker than the first book in the trilogy. It has good character developments, but until the end of the book, not much happens.
I dunno, the overarching story of a lot of these books doesn't interest me THAT much.
The character development is often what'll sell the book to me.
Ship of Destiny - it was alright. Not as good as the first one, but still a nice reading. At times, things happened too fast although for majority of book, they went slow.
A nice conclusion to the trilogy.
I had a couple of strong suspicions from the second book, both turned to be true:
.
Some general thoughts for the ending:
A nice conclusion to the trilogy.
I had a couple of strong suspicions from the second book, both turned to be true:
1) Amber being the Fool.
2) Paragon being Kennit's ship
2) Paragon being Kennit's ship
Some general thoughts for the ending:
While Kennit was easily the best character in the trilogy, I think that he got ruined a bit by raping Althea. Saying that, it was always going to happen. My suspicion was that he'll rape Wintrow, which would have probably been even worse, considering that Wintrow was still a child.
I think that part of the reason for that raping (bar his childhood) was to demonize him a bit before killing him.
I don't think that Kyle needed to die. He got severely punished, so a redeemed broken Kyle getting back home would have been more satisfactory than a dead Kyle.
I am not convinced that Vivacia preferred Wintrow to Althea. For all the time she had with Wintrow, in some way we saw that she was still Althea's ship. We saw that when both of them were almost dying, they helped each other to turn back to life. Althea saved Vivacia, not Wintrow. On the other side, it was the only possible way to make Althea and Trell together in the end. Trell wasn't going to leave Paragon alone, so if Althea took Vivacia, her romance with Trell was going to happen anyway.
Anyway, it works this way. Maybe they'll swap the ships when Kennit's son will grow up.
Politics was done very badly, but that always happens in fantasy if the writer isn't GRRM. Also, Malta's transformation from a young stupid girl to a wise mastermind who thinks for the greater good was as unbelievable as possible.
I think that part of the reason for that raping (bar his childhood) was to demonize him a bit before killing him.
I don't think that Kyle needed to die. He got severely punished, so a redeemed broken Kyle getting back home would have been more satisfactory than a dead Kyle.
I am not convinced that Vivacia preferred Wintrow to Althea. For all the time she had with Wintrow, in some way we saw that she was still Althea's ship. We saw that when both of them were almost dying, they helped each other to turn back to life. Althea saved Vivacia, not Wintrow. On the other side, it was the only possible way to make Althea and Trell together in the end. Trell wasn't going to leave Paragon alone, so if Althea took Vivacia, her romance with Trell was going to happen anyway.
Anyway, it works this way. Maybe they'll swap the ships when Kennit's son will grow up.
Politics was done very badly, but that always happens in fantasy if the writer isn't GRRM. Also, Malta's transformation from a young stupid girl to a wise mastermind who thinks for the greater good was as unbelievable as possible.
How do you think it stacked up against her other trilogies so revan?
Read only it and Farseer so far. Bar not having Fitz, I think that Liveship Traders is better in pretty much every aspect. It has so many complex characters, almost GRRM-like in that aspect. Kennit, Althea, Wintrow, Malta, Trell, Vivacia, Paragon, Amber are all very written characters with really great development.
Will I ever see those characters? I know that The Rain Wild Chronicles continues the story of Liveship Traders, but does any character bar Amber returns? Would really love to see them again.
It's mostly new characters. Malta and Reyn are minor characters, Althea, Brashen, and Paragon have a couple of cameos, I don't remember Wintrow and Vivacia turning up at all.
Great!
This way they hopefully won't get ruined regardless of what happens, but the reader will still meet them.
Then, I recommend you don't ever read Red Country.
Definitely a must read for any fantasy fan. Brick of books, lots of descriptions and in middle of series story sometimes drags out a bit. But if you are a fast reader,you'd end up skipping through those and it'll all be good. Amazing series as a whole despite everything else.
Agreed,
I do really like fitz though. I love the random blind spots he gets when you read him thinking something and failing horribly to put something obvious together.
I like the idea of the main character being a bit of an idiot.
Anyway
I never read Rain Wild Chronicles so dont know.
From what ive been told its set a fair bit up the river and doesn't really have much connection to the liveship traders beyond being in the same world.
I was kind of burned out on Robin Hobb after the tawny man trilogy, haven't really been tempted to go back till recently and it didn't seem like a good place to try get back into the world as its considered pretty weak series by a lot of people.
I'm enjoying the new series though.
Don't waste time reading Rain Wild Chronicles. See if there are summaries available and read those.
They seem to be short though. All four of them combined seem to be around as long as half of Liveship Traders. I think that I'll eventualy read them, but for the moment I am taking a slight break from Hobb (and well, I have Fitz's second trilogy to read before I'll read them).
Yeah they are pretty short but I found them to be a bit boring. Tawny Man Trilogy was good fun reading.
Could someone tell me what the correct order of the Hobbs books is? I am nearly done with Assassins Quest now and I am really enjoying the writing and stories and would like to continue with the story afterwards. The internet is giving me some conflicting answers, so I'd rather trust you guys.
Farseer Trilogy ---> Liveship Traders Trilogy ---> Tawny Man Trilogy ---> Rain Wild River Chronicles (4 books, can be skipped)---> Fitz & Fool Trilogy
It depends if you want to stay with Fritz or don't mind seeing more of this world.
Nearly finished Mad Ship. So far I really liked better this serie than the first one. I will probably read the last book in December with The Dread Wyrm.
Nearly finished Mad Ship. So far I really liked better this serie than the first one. I will probably read the last book in December with The Dread Wyrm.
I like the set up of the world in general, and my to read list only includes 5 books right now, so it's alright. Liveship Traders is the next one then?
Yep. And it is significantly better than Farseer, though very different.
harshad order is the correct one.
Cheers, thanks guys!
Five books only?! I am not sure if I am envious or not.
I have finished Mad Ship. Great book even if one of the title probably hints too much. I started a light book instead, a YA dystopia, the Book of Ivy, went one with a kind of fairy tales book I thought I would DNF because I disliked the style of the author, too purple prose IMO. I may start too The Second Half.
Well, with 2 books from Hobb and a last missing part from a Star Wars series I'm up to 8 and still missing 2 more, so it got better (or worse).
Very debatable, that. Down to personal taste although I certainly wouldn't say significantly better at all.
It definitely have better and more complex characters, while I would also say that it has a more interesting story.
I liked liveships more but i wouldn't say significantly better either.
I enjoyed the slow middle of the farseer books more than most though it seems
I enjoyed the slow middle of the farseer books more than most though it seems
Farseer is just Fitz and Fool. The antagonist(s) are as cartoonish as possible.
Liveship has so many great and complex characters.
Liveship has so many great and complex characters.
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Fitz in particular is a brilliant character though. I liked Chade (at least initially), Verity and though very rarely referenced Chivalry a lot too.
And nighteyes ... and the original king ... Just?
Theres a lot of great characters in it tbf.
The antagonists aren't great, have to give you that.
The bad guy / darker shade of grey guy having his story told from his PoV helps an awful lot in Liveships.
He probably would have been a bit catoonish without it too.
Edit: Burrich had his place too, i didn't love him but his character worked well with the story imo.
Fitz is brilliant, no doubt about that.
I thought that Verity had a lot of potential, but wasn't used correctly. You see Fitz praising him, but you rarely see Verity doing something. I'll give you Chade, he was quite good in the first book. The old king was a shitcnut.
Agree about your last point. That is why I prefer books with multiple points of views. You see things from different perspectives.
Just started Alloy of Law. Let's see how this goes. As good as original Mistborn trilogy?
Nope, it is quite weak IMO. It's sequel in the other hand is around the same level as Mistborn trilogy.
However, keep it in mind that it is a more personal story, rather than 'good heroes saving the world against the evil forces'.
OK, finished this. Was quite different from the original series.
As you said, this is more like a Bruce Willis Die Hard story with Allomancy. Cop retires, gets involved unwillingly in a big plot and emerges hero. Wax even does the hurt yet never dead spirit thingy quite well.
Still worth a read, I believe!
Got back to Asimov, and read his 'Galactic Empire' trilogy.
I must say that I was quite dissapointed on it. While it is still probably worth reading cause it tells the story how he Empire was formed, I thought that the writing, and the characters were relatively poor. Stars, like Dust is the best book from the three, and there there is a character who can easily seem to be an unpolished version of Detective Elijah.
Anyway, the first book tells the struggle of some planet after being occupied from an another planet who is trying to make a small Empire. At that stage, there were only a few thousands worlds. On the second book, Trantor has already occupied around half of the galaxy and has a large Empire (the galaxy has around half a million of planets), but it is in a stalemate position with the other part of the galaxy. The third book is a few thousands years later, and Trantor is the ruler of the entire galaxy which now has around 200 million planets. In each of the books, the position of Earth is bad and becomes worse.
After my dose of sci-fi, time to go back to fantasy. The Tawny Man trilogy from Robin Hobb is on line, hoping to start it today.
I must say that I was quite dissapointed on it. While it is still probably worth reading cause it tells the story how he Empire was formed, I thought that the writing, and the characters were relatively poor. Stars, like Dust is the best book from the three, and there there is a character who can easily seem to be an unpolished version of Detective Elijah.
Anyway, the first book tells the struggle of some planet after being occupied from an another planet who is trying to make a small Empire. At that stage, there were only a few thousands worlds. On the second book, Trantor has already occupied around half of the galaxy and has a large Empire (the galaxy has around half a million of planets), but it is in a stalemate position with the other part of the galaxy. The third book is a few thousands years later, and Trantor is the ruler of the entire galaxy which now has around 200 million planets. In each of the books, the position of Earth is bad and becomes worse.
After my dose of sci-fi, time to go back to fantasy. The Tawny Man trilogy from Robin Hobb is on line, hoping to start it today.
Fool's Errand - Back to Hobb and Fitz. Continuing the story of Farseer Trilogy, but 15 years later. Is Fitz the person who has suffered most in any fantasy saga?
Anyway, the book was quite good, despite that one third of it was just catching up with the events. A nice ending.
Anyway, the book was quite good, despite that one third of it was just catching up with the events. A nice ending.
Nighteyes 
Just finished Fool's Quest
Was good, again wasn't very eventful and i missed Bee quite a bit, who didn't have much involvement this time around.
The third book will have quite a bit to get through i suspect. Enjoyable though and its a good Fitz story.
Was good, again wasn't very eventful and i missed Bee quite a bit, who didn't have much involvement this time around.
The third book will have quite a bit to get through i suspect. Enjoyable though and its a good Fitz story.
The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1)
- Jim Butcher
Halfway through this now. Jim Butcher creates a marvellous world of people living in tall spires after the surface of world was shrouded by harmful mists due to an yet unexplained event. It's a mix of old and new, airships propelled by sail, mist monsters and power crystals it has been quite a nice read till now. Airship battles and to spy missions...I'm liking this book.
- Jim Butcher
Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.
Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.
And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake…
Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.
And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake…
Halfway through this now. Jim Butcher creates a marvellous world of people living in tall spires after the surface of world was shrouded by harmful mists due to an yet unexplained event. It's a mix of old and new, airships propelled by sail, mist monsters and power crystals it has been quite a nice read till now. Airship battles and to spy missions...I'm liking this book.