feck sake. I love a good bit of death. Say one thing about Art Vandelay, say he loves a good death. I might need to take a break from the series after this one and read something else to avoid the Song of Ice and Fire issue where the later books are all blurred into one book in my memory.
Books Fantasy Reads
- Thread starter Alock1
- Start date
Forever Mat! Such a fantastic character... The only one who actually rebels against responsibility that he didn't choose. Wit, humour and reluctant heroism personified! I was actually browsing thorough Crown of Swords today and the Mat/Tuon interaction is still fun to read.
It definitely is. It's become a kind of passive aggressive hobby to me to link characters, events and plot their history. Currently reading the history of Anomander Rake, series with final book yet to be published. There is also a Kellanved/Dancer history also work in progress. The world is that big that despite so many novels it still has so much unexplored potential.
Best world ever. Most epic story ever. Best character set ever.
Wouldn't recommend that. The world is too complicated to wait too much between books. Even if you binge-read them, you will still have troubles remembering many characters.
About deaths, I completely agree. Deaths are the best things in the books. It makes you feel miserable, but still it powers the story. And Wheel of Time has a lack of deaths. Saying that, our favorite author (Abercrombie) doesn't kill many of his characters (in fact, pretty much no-one important in the First Law, though it hints that days of one of the main cast are numbered, a couple in the standalones, and one important character in The Shattered Sea). Glen Cook kills everyone, Martin and Hobb occasionally kill, Sanderson kills in the end, but others don't kill that much.
Mat's and Tuon's banter are one of the highlights. I disliked Tuon initially, but then really liked her.
She might be the only character in the saga who is more crazy than Rand and Ishamael.
Mat is probably my favourite fantasy character.
I keep wanting to go back to them, but they are daunting so I end up going to something else from my backlog instead. They are really good, but I can see why some people are put off by them. I'll probably get back to them some time after WoT. I'm predicting early next year.
I found Mat only behind Rand in the least likeable stakes in the first book, but then he didn't really get to do much. They both had a snobby "no one is as good as people from Two Rivers" streak in them. I'm assuming they get better because the pair of them were idiots. Nynaeve was kind of a douche nozzle too. So was Egwene actually, the gypsy dancing tart. I liked Perrin though, he didn't get up to any real random twattery and just sat back judging the rest of them while occasionally winding them up.
Mat starts as the worst, but after a few books, he becomes the best. Rand also improves near the end.
Nynaeve is similar to Mat, starts as annoying but improves. I liked Egwene for the entire saga though some people hate her for being very self righteous (similar to Danny in ASOIAF). Perrin is consistently good but a bit repetitive. Elayne is the anti Nynaeve, starts good but becomes bad.
Moiraine is my absolute favorite. Obi-Wan Kenobi with tits.
I hope I didn't give too much on this, and take it as my opinion not as absolute truth.
I dunno if it's just the kindle version or what's going on, but WoT book 2 is a fecking nightmare to read with the way it's formatted. It will switch POV without even a space between paragraphs. So you're in the middle of reading a paragraph about Moiraine, it finishes and you're halfway through the next paragraph wondering how she's suddenly on a horse before realising this is a completely different POV character. It almost feels like parts of a different chapter have accidentally been added in the middle of the current chapter it's so jarring at times. Sometimes it can feel like two people are supposed to be having a weirdly disjointed conversation, but in fact no, it's a switch of POV with no warning.
So this happens with legit downloaded books too? Gotta admit I get all my books from a dodgy ebook site, and sometimes the formatting is terrible.
I have just finished "The Dread Wyrm" by Miles Cameron. Fantastic stuff.
Next one is the first book of Angus Watson "Age of Iron" trilogy. Also really great. Fans of Joe Abercrombie take notice.
Next one is the first book of Angus Watson "Age of Iron" trilogy. Also really great. Fans of Joe Abercrombie take notice.
To be honest it's the first time it's happened to me from a legit book. You get the odd mistake, but nothing like this. Even the Witcher fan translations were formatted better.
mmm, It switches by paras iirc not in the middle of one. Must be a formatting issue.
The way I remember it, aside from prologues and epilogues most pov switches were with the change in chapter in wot.
Just bought the full Malazan series on Kindle...the little bottom left reads: 157 hours left in this book. Cripes.
That maybe cover book 1. What about the rest?
Oh dear.
Good problem to have!Oh dear.
Just make sure you get the novellas too. Proper reading order calls for some of them to be read interim in the series.
Guys, I'm not really a reader and I feel this genre could be something that really pulls me into the world of books. So, what would you recommend as your favorite of the genre?
Read stand alone fantasy novels from Neil Gaiman, Guy Gavrial Kay. If you like the genre you could venture into series. If you find the genre is not to your liking, you can always quit.
Or if you are feeling adventurous, read ASOIAF. Since you have already watched the show, getting into the books would be more easier as you are already familiar with the characters and story. I started reading A Game of Thrones after watching the first season and read A Clash of Kings in tandem with watching season 2.
Thanks.
I've heard from a few that the books aren't actually as highly acclaimed as books, as the show is as a show. Is that correct?
The books(first few ones) are miles better than the show and I think are generally considered among the best ones for the fantasy genre.
On that note, I need a new series recommendation.
Its a matter of personal tastes. Every list that I know of has ASOIAF among the top 3/5 fantasy series of all time. The writing is quite good and the story is actually well written, with enough clues of events which would transpire put in various places. The major qualm that I find people moan a lot about is the overly detailed description of food (what is being served or had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). I just brush it as one of the kinks of the author and it really doesn't bother me that much.
Dresden Files
Nope. Books are rated pretty much as the best in the genre. They are a very nice start if you want to get in the genre. And you will see how shit is GoT compared to ASOIAF.
After it we can give you lists and then you choose the books mentioned by many posters.
Cheers.
Why ASOIAF to begin with, though? Wouldn't something I know much lesser about and is a bigger mystery to me be more engaging?
Thanks, will give it a read.
Because it will be easier for you to get into and associate with the characters. And there is a ton of additional stuff that was left out from the show but is still part of the books.
Or as I suggested, try reading Neil Gaiman and Guy Gavrial Kay; both are excellent authors with some pretty good books
Because it's absolutely amazing and isn't lacking in any area. Plot, characters, dialogue, complexity, writing, scale and pacing are all extremely good and as good as any of the best fantasy series out there. Only last two books could argue the pacing is a bit worse but that's clearly setup books. There isn't another fantasy series where all of the above is up there with the best of them like aSoIaF.
Not to say there aren't better books. There are some that shine in such and area of writing that it means you enjoy it more then aSoIaF. However, for the most part, it is one of the best fantasy series out there.
For the same reason I would recommend The Wire to someone who is starting watching TV shows. Also, it has far more subplots than the show.
And avoid Gaiman like the plague. I found his books from almost unreadable to just ok. Guy Gavriel Kay is great but his books are more historical fiction than fantasy.
Authors I would recommend to start with are Sanderson (Mistborn), Rothfuss (The Kingliller's Chronicles), Lynch (Gentleman Bastards) and Abrahams (Long Price Quartet). There are better things there but probably not a good idea to start with them (Abercrombie, Jordan).
The latest book from the Prince Of Nothing series is out soon (well, technically Aspect Emperor series). I don't think anyone in this topic has mentioned it. I've posted a couple of times but haven't seen anyone say anything, has anyone here actually read them? They're pretty much my favourite fantasy series. It has it's good and bad points to be fair. I wouldn't say it has many "likeable" characters, and not cause they're shitheads ala game of thrones, cause even game of thrones shitheads were fan favourites... it's more just in how they're written. But Bakker is obviously a very smart man (at least, philosophically speaking) and it shows in his writing, plus he has built a hell of a world there. Kellhus is one of the most compelling characters I've ever seen in a book, I'm very interested to see where this all goes.
He should start with the Malazan series
Is true. Plus addition GoT content does interest me given I like the show.
Will look this one up too.
Interesting. Didn't know the books were that highly regarded.
Thank you all for the recommendations.
Tbh for newcomers I'd recommend something YAish like Eragon, Bartimaeus, Black Magician etc. Maybe a trilogy but still light and fun to read.
Neil Gaiman is quite offbeat and Tigana is a bit of heavy story. Wheel of Time is nice but not for those not used to investing serious time.
Going Postal / Making Money - Pratchett.
Dresden Files (Iron Druid for a even less serious set)
Magician trilogy - Raymond E Feist
Are other options for beginners.
Going Postal / Making Money - Pratchett.
Dresden Files (Iron Druid for a even less serious set)
Magician trilogy - Raymond E Feist
Are other options for beginners.
Second this.
In addition, if he hasn't watched any movie yet, I would recommend to start with Primer.
@amolbhatia50k, don't listen to EAP on young adult stuff, cause for most part is shit.
@amolbhatia50k, if its reading in general that you want to get into, then I would suggest reading Fiction/Science Fiction rather than getting into Fantasy, as that may be easier to read and get into.
All the best starting off with Malazan!
Okay forget which novel to start with.
How about where to start with on that decision tree/forest?!
How about where to start with on that decision tree/forest?!
@Edgar Allan Pillow have you read the stargate books? Are they any good?