Books Fantasy Reads

Raees said:
So page 135 into the Silmarillion, it started off slow.. but once it started delving into the history of the elves, the poisoning of the trees.. damn, I really do love it. His world building is just stunning.
Click to expand...
He's unrivalled in that department, even now.
 
Started Lightbringer from Brent Weeks. It is my first book of him, haven't read Night Angel trilogy.

Does anyone else think that his writing is a bit 'bad'? Too many short sentences.
 
Assail
(Malazan Novella)

A standalone book that tells a branch story. Some non-primary characters that were covered in earlier books gets prominence here plus a couple of unexpected revelations that serve as an decent ending that feels a bit forced and lets you down a notch.

Not quite a sweeping saga a la the novels before, but is quite action packed for a novella.

Anomander Rake is Back!

Rating: 7/10
 
Last edited:
Have any of you read the The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski? They are the basis for the video games.

I've almost finished the first book, The Last Wish, which is a collection of short stories, one for each "witcher job" basically. I like it a lot, and I think I will go on to read the rest. There's a full length novel about Geralt :drool:
 
GaryLifo said:
Picked up the mistborn trilogy today on Kindle for 99p per book. All six books are on sale for 99p each today.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, just picked them up. I was looking for something new to read, i'm almost done with the Evermen Saga.
 
whatwha said:
Have any of you read the The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski? They are the basis for the video games.

I've almost finished the first book, The Last Wish, which is a collection of short stories, one for each "witcher job" basically. I like it a lot, and I think I will go on to read the rest. There's a full length novel about Geralt :drool:
Click to expand...
Yeah, they're really good. Although it was mostly the fan translations of the novels I read. You'd be better off reading the Sword of Destiny short stories before getting into the novels. They are set between The Last Wish stories and the first novel. They introduce Ciri too.
 
Art Vandelay said:
Yeah, they're really good. Although it was mostly the fan translations of the novels I read. You'd be better off reading the Sword of Destiny short stories before getting into the novels. They are set between The Last Wish stories and the first novel. They introduce Ciri too.
Click to expand...
Sweet, will move right on to Sword of Destiny tomorrow. Looking forward to getting some back story on Ciri. :)

Found a reading order for all the books here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/3qm8p9/so_you_want_to_read_the_witcher_books_guide/

All but one or two of them have official translations now.

The Last Wish is currently priced at just $1 for the Kindle edition for anyone who's interested!
 
whatwha said:
Sweet, will move right on to Sword of Destiny tomorrow. Looking forward to getting some back story on Ciri. :)

Found a reading order for all the books here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/3qm8p9/so_you_want_to_read_the_witcher_books_guide/

All but one or two of them have official translations now.

The Last Wish is currently priced at just $1 for the Kindle edition for anyone who's interested!
Click to expand...
I've read all of the official translations, only the last in the saga, Lady of the Lake, is missing. It should come out somewhere around March this year. They're all pretty good. I prefer the short story nature of The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, but the saga itself is definitely worth it just to learn more about the characters of Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer. Plus there are some great characters in the supporting cast and you'll get to appreciate just how annoying Dandelion really is. It's essential reading for anyone who loves the video game series and its characters.
 
Guys, are all the novels/short stories set before the events of the first game? I read something like that, in fact that Gerald died in one of the novels, but then was resurrected in the first game.

In addition, is Yennefer his true love during the books? Weird, how they changed that to Triss for the games.
 
Revan said:
Guys, are all the novels/short stories set before the events of the first game? I read something like that, in fact that Gerald died in one of the novels, but then was resurrected in the first game.

In addition, is Yennefer his true love during the books? Weird, how they changed that to Triss for the games.
Click to expand...
All of the short stories and novels take place before the first game. And yes, Yennefer is his true love, but theirs is a sometimes on and very, very often off relationship. In the video games, players get introduced to Yennefer very late on while we see plenty of Triss in all three games and even if you skipped the first two, you're probably still going to get involved with Triss in the third game before you get to know Yennefer. That's probably the one thing CDP got handled really poorly, as a non book reader will never really appreciate Yennefer as intended.

Yennefer is a fantastic and complex character. There's one passage in one of the novels where Geralt receives a letter from Yennefer in reply to his own letter, which is simply hilariously venomous. It's probably worth reading the books just for that one letter.
 
Revan said:
I read something like that, in fact that Gerald died in one of the novels, but then was resurrected in the first game.
Click to expand...

Even if you may not be right, why the hell are you posting this without spoiler tags? :mad:
 
whatwha said:
Even if you may not be right, why the hell are you posting this without spoiler tags? :mad:
Click to expand...
Pretty much everyone who will read these books knows that from the game. These books weren't even translated before the games happened.

In addition, it doesn't change much. If I am not mistaken, it is the last written story of Geralt and then his story continues in the games.
 
Ainu said:
All of the short stories and novels take place before the first game. And yes, Yennefer is his true love, but theirs is a sometimes on and very, very often off relationship. In the video games, players get introduced to Yennefer very late on while we see plenty of Triss in all three games and even if you skipped the first two, you're probably still going to get involved with Triss in the third game before you get to know Yennefer. That's probably the one thing CDP got handled really poorly, as a non book reader will never really appreciate Yennefer as intended.

Yennefer is a fantastic and complex character. There's one passage in one of the novels where Geralt receives a letter from Yennefer in reply to his own letter, which is simply hilariously venomous. It's probably worth reading the books just for that one letter.
Click to expand...
:lol: I got Blood of Elves when it was first translated and that letter still mildly terrifies me. It's the scariest thing in the whole series, she's a magnificent bitch. There was a nod to it if you read the letter Geralt has from her at the start of TW3. "Dear Friend..."

That's actually one of my only gripes with the games. Yennefer and Triss may as well have been different characters. If you take Triss from the books right through the games then she's a bit of a psycho really and it's hard to believe that Yennefer doesn't just wreck her. Yennefer in the game was far too tame, not nearly bitchy enough. Triss is supposed to have slightly different coloured hair, eyes and her chest is supposed to be so scar covered that she can't wear anything low cut.

Triss was part of The Lodge that tried to kidnap and do very bad things to Ciri, the same Lodge that held Yennefer prisoner at one point and were willing to kill Geralt to get their way. She then tried to steal Yennefer's man(again) while he had amnesia and I can't remember her showing any remorse. She's a bit ginger too. Yen should have just wiped her out at the first chance she got as she's supposed to be much more powerful if I remember right. The Lodge were kind of terrified of her.
 
Just finish Republic of Theives of the Gentleman Bastard series and I've got to say it left me feeling underwhelmed. I loved the Lies of Locke Lamora and feel the book could've/should've been left as a stand alone. Red Seas Under Red Skies was alright, I liked it more than most seemed to but you could tell Lynch wasn't enjoying his writing at the time.

ROT just seemed like a self indulgence for Lynch to pay homage to Shakespeare. The interlude seemed like it was an endless recital of an imaginary play. I was eager to find out more about Sabbatha but her character made horrible reading, the childish romance she and Locke embarked upon was painful and it took away almost entirely from the 5 year game, the supposed main story arc. The plot twist was decidedly underwhelming and seemed only contrived to give the ending of the book any meaning. Anyone else felt like this?
 
Locke - Sabbatha looked to me very similar to Kvothe - Denna relationships. I actually liked both the females, despite being quite bitchish.

I found RSURS and ROT decent readings, but nowhere as good as Lies. Still, I want more from Gentleman Bastard, even if the quality of the books is just as good as the last two books. Really, it is hard to reach the quality of the first book, which is one of the best ever written fantasy books.
 
Revan said:
Locke - Sabbatha looked to me very similar to Kvothe - Denna relationships. I actually liked both the females, despite being quite bitchish.

I found RSURS and ROT decent readings, but nowhere as good as Lies. Still, I want more from Gentleman Bastard, even if the quality of the books is just as good as the last two books. Really, it is hard to reach the quality of the first book, which is one of the best ever written fantasy books.
Click to expand...
Kvothe Denna equally annoys me. You could take out 80% of their chance meetings and it wouldnt take away from the story at all. I found myself during wise man's fear almost skipping ahead every time Kvothe said he went looking for Denna.

Hard to disagree with your assessment about lies. It was fresh and quite unlike the usual fantasy fiction the market has to offer, Lynchs writing just became a bit stale after it. The storylines werent as rich, the scheming and con artistry seemed a bit half arsed in comparison too. That being said I still enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd books, I just didn't think they lived up to their hype.
 
I started Wolves by D.J. Molles. I really liked his Remaining series and this got similar great reviews, not sure if it's set in the same universe but I'm really liking it so far.

It's a post apocalypse kind of a western in the way that Star Wars is kind of a western. Revenge story that's seemingly written purposefully simplistically which is working for it so far. It seems to capture the main character being driven entirely by hate/desperation. It's almost like a Fallout book at times.
 
Finally finished the final novel in the Malazan Empire.

Kharkanas Trilogy - 2 books
Path to Ascendancy - 1 book
Book of the Fallen - 10 books
Novels of the Empire - 6 books

19 books in total and I can't remember when I started the series :D There still is a Tales of B and KB which has 6 novellas, but I don't like them, so won't be bothered to tackle that.

But I still want more and more. This is one series that keeps on giving. Best Fantasy Series of All Time!
 
Near the end of the third book in Lightbringer. Not really liking it that much. Maybe time to stop reading this series, or at least to have a break from it.

Probably going into The Witcher books next. The game has left me want more.
 
@mariner85

http://malazan.wikia.com/wiki/Suggested_reading_order

The link has published, chronological and combined reading orders all listed. Personally I'd recommend

Gardens of the Moon
Deadhouse Gates
Memories of Ice
House of Chains
Midnight Tides
Night of Knives
The Bonehunters
Reaper's Gale
Return of the Crimson Guard
Toll the Hounds
Dust of Dreams
Stonewielder
The Crippled God
Orb Sceptre Throne
Blood and Bone
Assail

Kharkanas and Paths to Ascendanncy are near standalone prequels and can be read anytime without spoilering the main series of books.
Bauchelain and Korbal Broach series are also standalone, though I haven't read them yet. Not my favorite characters, so will skip this for now.
 
People don't really appreciate the amount of hidden gems in Malazan books. Sneak hints which get revealed a bit more 4 books later, lots of puzzles that lead to endless speculation.... Oh, those books are a diamond mine. The sheer hidden hinted and carelessly thrown words each are a puzzle worth solving! Some I'm still solving months and years after having read the series. Brilliant series.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
People don't really appreciate the amount of hidden gems in Malazan books. Sneak hints which get revealed a bit more 4 books later, lots of puzzles that lead to endless speculation.... Oh, those books are a diamond mine. The sheer hidden hinted and carelessly thrown words each are a puzzle worth solving! Some I'm still solving months and years after having read the series. Brilliant series.
Click to expand...
I really want to read the series, I'm just put off by the sheer scale of it.
 
ivaldo said:
I really want to read the series, I'm just put off by the sheer scale of it.
Click to expand...
The scale is far more than just the number of books. The real fun begins after you finished series and begin to piece together scraps across books.

I admit it takes lot of patience and time, but at the end well worth it.

Brilliant. So much better than GoT.

Unquestionable king of Fantasy Books.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
The scale is far more than just the number of books. The real fun begins after you finished series and begin to piece together scraps across books.

I admit it takes lot of patience and time, but at the end well worth it.

Brilliant. So much better than GoT.

Unquestionable king of Fantasy Books.
Click to expand...
I dont have a lot of time to read so I listen to a fair amount of audiobooks. Are there a lot of appendices and accompanying maps with it or should It be easy enough to follow on audio? I sometimes struggle to follow the world building aspects of a book when I'm using audiobooks.
 
Here's what you need to know about the average Malazan book:

  • 30% of the book will be full of gibberish. Can be safely ignored/skimmed without missing anything. This usually consists of random people discussing the meaning of life and death.
  • 30% of the book will be relatively (to the rest of the book) easy to understand and follow.
  • 30% of the book will consist of random shit happening with no logic or rhyme. The canon explanation for this "Power attracts power" but in reality this is all deus ex machina. There's zero explanation for any of it and you have to take it for it is.
  • 10% will be the climax which is usually decent. However, the climax may or may not have anything to with the previous 90% of the book.
  • Do not pay attention to timelines. Even to someone who does not pay too much attention they're noticeably wrong on multiple occasions.
  • Do not pay attention to maps. In fact, ignore the map in the first book. It's either wrong or in some cases the places mentioned aren't on it.
  • Very little to zero explanation for magic considering almost all plot points are solved with magic.
  • The scope of the series is very large but a wee bit shallow. You have lots of places, lots of characters, lots of history but minimal details surrounding many of them.
If none of the above bothers you then the series is for you.
 
Seems shit.

It is one of those series (even more than The Wheel of Time) that people either love (OMG, best thing eva) or hate. However, unlike Wheel of Time, the majority are in the group that 'Malazan is shit'. And of course, it is nowhere as much as popular as Wheel of Time (or ASOIAF).

I have been planning to read it for some years now, but still didn't start it. The reviews seem very mixed and the sheer scope of it is a bit frightening.
 
I'm halfway through book 6 of the main Malazan series. I still love it. Yes, Erikson does have a tendency to become a little too philosophical at times, and I usually struggle to understand those passages. But it doesn't bother me that much. The universe and especially the characters are sublimely crafted. The only advice I'd give to people on the fence is to not listen to any advice. You'll never know what you think of it unless you try it yourself. You can read 100 negative reviews and think "this sounds like utter garbage", but you might end up loving it if you actually try it. Or you might end up hating it and agreeing with negative reviews. But at least then you know for sure.
 
Can't dispute with those as neither SE or ICE tend to spoon feed. It's more like dropping hints and making you work for the plot.

Akash said:
The scope of the series is very large but a wee bit shallow.
Click to expand...

The series covers about 13 years in Burns sleep. Almost all the major characters are already there and get to know them only by their acts in current time. It's not a book on a character (like Kvothe or Vin or FitzChivalry), so you rarely get backstory on most, but only hints.

Despite this I find lot more interesting characters in this than any other book I've read. And lot more story segments that actually floored me totally. Such awesomeness.

As I said...it's not for everyone to read. Few tend to finish and when you do so, you don't feel the fatigue...but rather feel sense of achievement and are left wanting for more.
 
Edgar Allan Pillow said:
Can't dispute with those as neither SE or ICE tend to spoon feed. It's more like dropping hints and making you work for the plot.



The series covers about 13 years in Burns sleep. Almost all the major characters are already there and get to know them only by their acts in current time. It's not a book on a character (like Kvothe or Vin or FitzChivalry), so you rarely get backstory on most, but only hints.

Despite this I find lot more interesting characters in this than any other book I've read. And lot more story segments that actually floored me totally. Such awesomeness.

As I said...it's not for everyone to read. Few tend to finish and when you do so, you don't feel the fatigue...but rather feel sense of achievement and are left wanting for more.
Click to expand...

I think people should read it. A lot of people I know do actually like it.

It's probably not for me though. I do have all ten books on my shelf though so I might get through them some day
 
Currently been reading the Chronicles of Amber.

The relations and politics between the princes and princesses' makes for some quite fascinating reading.
 
I think everyone should give gardens of the moon a try at least.
I'm nearly finished the 3rd book (which took me ages tbh, no free time) and so far each book has been quite self contained.
I wouldn't feel i'd wasted my time if i just stopped reading it at this point.

Also think Steven Eriksen is brilliant at naming characters, Tattersail and Whiskeyjack are both great names.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.