Books Fantasy Reads

I read the first three Malazan books, they are a bit abstract at times. There's very little explanation you just kind of have to wrap your mind around a lot of stuff that you will struggle to make sense of. I didn't find them bad, just odd. I keep meaning to go back to them but get distracted by other books.

Sometimes I end up reading two books at once as sometimes I'm in the mood fantasy stuff and sometimes sci-fi. Currently reading Red Country which is pretty good so far, although blatantly obvious who Lamb is and I'm reading book two of The Expanse Calibans War. Which I'm very much enjoying so far, it's speeding along nicely.
 
Art Vandelay said:
I read the first three Malazan books, they are a bit abstract at times. There's very little explanation you just kind of have to wrap your mind around a lot of stuff that you will struggle to make sense of. I didn't find them bad, just odd. I keep meaning to go back to them but get distracted by other books.

Sometimes I end up reading two books at once as sometimes I'm in the mood fantasy stuff and sometimes sci-fi. Currently reading Red Country which is pretty good so far, although blatantly obvious who Lamb is and I'm reading book two of The Expanse Calibans War. Which I'm very much enjoying so far, it's speeding along nicely.
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I don't think that Joe ever meant to be a surprise who Lamb is. It was more showing him from some other point of view, and that point of view not knowing his true identity.
 
Revan said:
So, anyone read Dune? This will be my new sci-fi/fantasy saga I am starting. The first book is generally mentioned as the best sci-fi book ever.

@Akash , at what part of Malazan you are? I have been planning to read it since Finished Wheel of Time, more than a year ago, and even read The Chronicles of the Black Company to be prepared for that. In my list, I was planning to start it after I finish Dune, but your critic (combined with others) is making me reconsider that.

Is it too hard to read, or it just sucks?
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First books in the Dune series are excellent stuff. The latter books go too deep into philosophical ramblings for my taste to be considered top notch, at least in memory. 10 years or so since I read them.
 
Revan said:
I don't think that Joe ever meant to be a surprise who Lamb is. It was more showing him from some other point of view, and that point of view not knowing his true identity.
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Damn! I thought I was really clever. I suppose it would have been the worst attempt ever at hiding who a character is if he'd actually been meaning it as a surprise. :lol:
 
Kristjan said:
First books in the Dune series are excellent stuff. The latter books go too deep into philosophical ramblings for my taste to be considered top notch, at least in memory. 10 years or so since I read them.
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Yeah, that seems the general consensus. Dune and God Emperor of Dune (book 4) seems to be the most highly rated books there, and everyone hates the books written by Herbert's son.
 
Revan said:
Is it too hard to read, or it just sucks?
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I'm on the fifth book and have been for about 2 months now.

It's not shit by any means but it can be very heavy going for the most part. If you have time to devote then I'd say go ahead and give it a try.
 
Looking for some reccomendations for my brother. He is not much of a reader, but I managed to convince him to read the whole song of ice and fire series, which he loved. Next I gave him the first law trilogy (by Abercrombie) which he also enjoyed. Not sure what to suggest now. I think he will find more traditional fantasy boring. Any suggestions?
 
Revan said:
Yeah, that seems the general consensus. Dune and God Emperor of Dune (book 4) seems to be the most highly rated books there, and everyone hates the books written by Herbert's son.
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I haven't read the Herbert/Anderson books and I have no intention to :)
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
In no particular order...

Black Company
Mistborn
Farseer
Kingkiller
.
and if he prefers a classic epic fantasy, Stormlight Archive.


Revan recommends Long Price Quartet..which is my next read too.
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Thank you for the reccomendations. I know a couple of those and do not think that they will fit him well.

Black company - I read some of those and found the story a bit flat. Not sure that the characters were as three dimentional as those of Game of Thrones, or the first law. The story telling is also less engaging. I fear he will lose interests.

Mistborn - Again, the motivation of characters is a bit simplistic. But this is an option.

I am not familiar with either the Farseer, or the Kingkiller series. Since you reccomend them I will check them out. Hopefully they will also fit my brother.
 
DoctorEvil said:
Black company - I read some of those and found the story a bit flat. Not sure that the characters were as three dimentional as those of Game of Thrones, or the first law. The story telling is also less engaging. I fear he will lose interests.

Mistborn - Again, the motivation of characters is a bit simplistic. But this is an option.
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Well ofc it's up to your preference..but imo Mistborn has a fantastic set of characters and Black Company is a pioneer of the dark fantasy genre. Maybe The Broken Empire Trilogy will suit you better. Another one with a stellar cast would be Malazan.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
@Revan started on Malazan? I just browsed through it and am still amazed about the cast. So many interesting characters and literally a joy to read up on.
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Nope. I wasn't planning to start now (though likely I'll start it in a few months).

Just finished the first Dune book, and I am going to continue with this saga.
 
Finished Calamity, the Reckoners #3 final book. Decent read.

One of those books where the plot is just awesome but quite watered down to fantasy beginner reads category. I wish he wrote a adult version of the same.

Rating:
6/10 (this book)
7/10 (full series)
 
Finished reading the Bartimaeus Trilogy

Amulet of Samarkand 7/10
Golem's Eye 7.5/10
Ptelemy's Gate 8/10

Ring of Solomon 8/10

Absolutely loved it. It's a strange mixture where in there's plenty of dark stuff happening but the narration at the best of times makes it a very enjoyable and fun read. The writing is very good and the humour is top notch. I thought the first book lacked the depth and plot of the rest of the series but the other two books more than made up for it. Loved the Ptolemy/Bartimaeus Chapters in the 3rd book. Oh and the Ring of Solomon is an excellent read as well. I hope Stroud writes a lot more on Bartimaeus. Such a brilliant character.

I needed that after the draining reading experience of Malazan.
 
I finished The Expanse: Calibans War last week. It was quite excellent. Hoping Bobbie and Avasarala are sticking around for the rest of the series. Holden remains an insufferable dick and idiot.
 
A Shadow in Summer (Long Price Quartet)
Daniel Abraham

Quite a different flavour of fantasy here. The magic is quite elusive. I still find it difficult to wrap my head around poets and concepts given life theme. The writing is excellent, but I kinda find the pace to be uniform and doesn't move with the tone of the book. World building is superb.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
A Shadow in Summer (Long Price Quartet)
Daniel Abraham

Quite a different flavour of fantasy here. The magic is quite elusive. I still find it difficult to wrap my head around poets and concepts given life theme. The writing is excellent, but I kinda find the pace to be uniform and doesn't move with the tone of the book. World building is superb.
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It is a series that gets better with each book.

You will get more info on poets in the other books. It is really a novel concept in fantasy books though.
 
Finished the Dragon's Path, first book in the Dagger and Coin Series. 7.5/10.

A book centered around a world of medieval banking and politics (thus far). The characters are well written, diverse and engaging if not particularly likeable. Magic is quite low to non-existent so far but one gets the feeling that's going to change in the coming books.
 
Art Vandelay said:
You read Joe Abercrombie's stuff?
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Nope! Pretty much the only other fantasy author I've read in recent times is Deborah Harkness, who I found tedious.

You think Abercrombie will be up my alley, based on the three I name checked? Any particular book I should start with?
 
Jed I. Knight said:
Nope! Pretty much the only other fantasy author I've read in recent times is Deborah Harkness, who I found tedious.

You think Abercrombie will be up my alley, based on the three I name checked? Any particular book I should start with?
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Abercrombie is arguably the closest author to Martin. His books are even darker and the line between good and evil is completely in-existent (in Martin's books, it is very thin), while at the same time his books have the best humor in fantasy genre. World building is decent, while characters are excellent, although a bit repetitive (basically, all are pricks of the highest order).

So, far he has two sagas. The First Law trilogy which then continues with three standalones set in the same world and which share many characters with the trilogy. And The Shattered Sea trilogy which is a bit more juvenile, but still it is very Abercrombie-style. The Shattered Sea has a better writing and it is significantly shorter, but The First Law is better. In fact, it is easily one of the best things in the fantasy genre.
 
Jed I. Knight said:
Nope! Pretty much the only other fantasy author I've read in recent times is Deborah Harkness, who I found tedious.

You think Abercrombie will be up my alley, based on the three I name checked? Any particular book I should start with?
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What Revan said basically. If you like Martin you will probably like Abercrombie. He's my favourite author by a distance at this point and I'd recommend him to anyone. Start with The First Law trilogy.

Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy is pretty good too, but might be a bit of a departure from the authors you mentioned.
 
Art Vandelay said:
What Revan said basically. If you like Martin you will probably like Abercrombie. He's my favourite author by a distance at this point and I'd recommend him to anyone. Start with The First Law trilogy.

Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy is pretty good too, but might be a bit of a departure from the authors you mentioned.
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Yep, Joe's my favorite author too.

Saying that, I hope he starts changing a bit and starts making characters a bit more diverse. I love his characters and their humor, but they are all pretty much the same character.
 
Revan said:
Yep, Joe's my favorite author too.

Saying that, I hope he starts changing a bit and starts making characters a bit more diverse. I love his characters and their humor, but they are all pretty much the same character.
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He does know how to write a good bastard though. I think it's an issue with shades of grey in general, they often blur into the same shade of grey.

I'm near the end of Red Country and will need something to tide me over until the short stories come out, need a break from Abercrombie and maybe try something with a bit more adventure to it.
 
Revan said:
Abercrombie is arguably the closest author to Martin. His books are even darker and the line between good and evil is completely in-existent (in Martin's books, it is very thin), while at the same time his books have the best humor in fantasy genre. World building is decent, while characters are excellent, although a bit repetitive (basically, all are pricks of the highest order).

So, far he has two sagas. The First Law trilogy which then continues with three standalones set in the same world and which share many characters with the trilogy. And The Shattered Sea trilogy which is a bit more juvenile, but still it is very Abercrombie-style. The Shattered Sea has a better writing and it is significantly shorter, but The First Law is better. In fact, it is easily one of the best things in the fantasy genre.
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Art Vandelay said:
What Revan said basically. If you like Martin you will probably like Abercrombie. He's my favourite author by a distance at this point and I'd recommend him to anyone. Start with The First Law trilogy.

Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy is pretty good too, but might be a bit of a departure from the authors you mentioned.
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Thanks to both of you, I'll pick up Abercrombie tomorrow, and start with The First Law. I see the entire thing is just $17 bucks on Amazon.

And different is not necessarily bad. In fact I'd say that Martin, Rothfuss and Gaiman aren't all that similar. Well, Gaiman definitely stands out from the other two at least, and Rothfuss is much more of a dreamer than Martin.
 
A Betrayal in Winter - Long Price Quartet bk 2

A book which is better and worse than the 1st book at the same time. The writing is far better and the plot pulses with enough anticipation to keep you engrossed. Far less magic than I liked but more intricate plot. Feels more like a GRRM book with political family drama than actual fantasy. Still a lovely read and I liked this better than bk 1.

@Revan comments on below?

Why are the poets left unprotected? If you know the fate of your Kingdom lies on one person the I presume he'd be better protected. Heshaikvo wanders into soft quarter unprotected... Why don't the Galts just assassinate him instead of the elaborate plots? Maati nearly gets killed and Cehmai can be poisoned far easier imo.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
A Betrayal in Winter - Long Price Quartet bk 2

A book which is better and worse than the 1st book at the same time. The writing is far better and the plot pulses with enough anticipation to keep you engrossed. Far less magic than I liked but more intricate plot. Feels more like a GRRM book with political family drama than actual fantasy. Still a lovely read and I liked this better than bk 1.

@Revan comments on below?

Why are the poets left unprotected? If you know the fate of your Kingdom lies on one person the I presume he'd be better protected. Heshaikvo wanders into soft quarter unprotected... Why don't the Galts just assassinate him instead of the elaborate plots? Maati nearly gets killed and Cehmai can be poisoned far easier imo.
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Because Galts wouldn't dare to do so. A single poet is enough to completely destroy Galts, so the only way to survive getting annihilated would be if they manage to strike all poets at once.

For that reason, they have been planning and scheming to somehow getting rid of some poets without getting suspected that they are after it. In case of Heshaikvo, while it would have been very easy to kill him, then one of the other state-cities that have a poet would had completely destroy Galts. For that reason they made the plot to make Heshaikvo want to die after what he did, instead of just killing him.

At the same time, no-one from the state-cities would want to kill the poet considering that they're entire existence is based on poets, and it is an even bigger crime than killing the king of a city. So, if a poet gets killed, Galts get blamed. And then destroyed.
 
I finished Red Country last night. I haven't quite worked out what I think of it. I do enjoy a good western, in fact it's one of the things I like about Star Wars. While it was nice at times here, a lot of it seemed too pervasive like trying to be part western and part fantasy became too much western. Like it was fantasy characters playing dress up in a western. It didn't always fit together.

The whole Shivers thing annoyed me like it did in The Heroes, he feels shoehorned in even more here. Spends the whole book hunting Logen then when he finds him just goes home while Logen rides off into the sunset. I get the general theme of the past catching up and all that, but it was a bit meh.

I did enjoy it overall though even though it was far from Abercrombies best.

I got a free sample of Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind and read about half the first chapter. I'll probably buy the whole book I think.
 
Akash said:
Finished reading the Bartimaeus Trilogy

Amulet of Samarkand 7/10
Golem's Eye 7.5/10
Ptelemy's Gate 8/10

Ring of Solomon 8/10

Absolutely loved it. It's a strange mixture where in there's plenty of dark stuff happening but the narration at the best of times makes it a very enjoyable and fun read. The writing is very good and the humour is top notch. I thought the first book lacked the depth and plot of the rest of the series but the other two books more than made up for it. Loved the Ptolemy/Bartimaeus Chapters in the 3rd book. Oh and the Ring of Solomon is an excellent read as well. I hope Stroud writes a lot more on Bartimaeus. Such a brilliant character.

I needed that after the draining reading experience of Malazan.
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I just saw this post. I had no idea there was a book outside the trilogy. Is it set in Solomon's time?
 
I'm beginning to struggle with The Name of the Wind. It was quite good for the first few chapters, but as soon as he started recounting his life story he turned into a bit of a Mary Sue that seems to be overly good at everything. Which I find hard to get into, as if I wanted that kind of tale I'd just read my own life story and revel in my own glory.
 
Art Vandelay said:
I'm beginning to struggle with The Name of the Wind. It was quite good for the first few chapters, but as soon as he started recounting his life story he turned into a bit of a Mary Sue that seems to be overly good at everything. Which I find hard to get into, as if I wanted that kind of tale I'd just read my own life story and revel in my own glory.
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Aye Kvothe is full of himself, but still a good read.

I just finished Assassins Apprentice, loved it, although the end seemed to be a bit rushed imo. Fitz is a good character and is the polar opposite of Kvothe.

Read the first chapter of the second book of the farseer trilogy and I hope it gets a bit better, I was hoping it would flow on from the second, but fitz seems to be a wolf n hes calling barruch top of the pack or some other silly name. Feels completely like a different set if characters, but like I said Im just into the first chapter.
 
Art Vandelay said:
I'm beginning to struggle with The Name of the Wind. It was quite good for the first few chapters, but as soon as he started recounting his life story he turned into a bit of a Mary Sue that seems to be overly good at everything. Which I find hard to get into, as if I wanted that kind of tale I'd just read my own life story and revel in my own glory.
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If you don't like Name of the Wind (which I think is an excellent book) then I wouldn't bother with the next one. It's far worse and about a 3rd of the book is him talking about the mind blowing sex he has.

RamblingRebel said:
I just finished Assassins Apprentice, loved it, although the end seemed to be a bit rushed imo. Fitz is a good character and is the polar opposite of Kvothe.

Read the first chapter of the second book of the farseer trilogy and I hope it gets a bit better, I was hoping it would flow on from the second, but fitz seems to be a wolf n hes calling barruch top of the pack or some other silly name. Feels completely like a different set if characters, but like I said Im just into the first chapter.
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You'll love it. 2nd book is the best of the series and introduces one of the best characters in the series.
 
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