Books Fantasy Reads

[caid]

For those who enjoy Robin Hobb - the new Fitz & Fool book 'Assassin's Fate' has been out for a few days. Just got it and will start reading tonight.

Looking forward to it, will pick it up after reading bonehunters.
Will probably be good to take a short break from Malazan stuff

 

[Art Vandelay]

Finished Wheel of Time: Dragon Rising

It was another excellent entry, but I really need a break now. Kind of tired of Rand and every woman that meets him wanting to bang him while he becomes a tactical genius overnight. Jordan seemed to realise Nynaeve really needed reigned in by the end of the book and was seemingly trying to tone down her epic bitchiness and thickness. Overall though it was a great read.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Bloody hell, I didn't even know there was a Fitz and Fool trilogy, Thought Farseer ended after the Tawny Man trilogy.

Lots of reading to come.

Yay!

 

[harshad]

Bloody hell, I didn't even know there was a Fitz and Fool trilogy, Thought Farseer ended after the Tawny Man trilogy.

Lots of reading to come.

Yay!

If you haven't read the Rain Wild Chronicles, I would suggest at least reading the synopsis or story of the Rain Wild Chronicles before starting with the Fitz and Fool Trilogy

 

[Nighteyes]

If you haven't read the Rain Wild Chronicles, I would suggest at least reading the synopsis or story of the Rain Wild Chronicles before starting with the Fitz and Fool Trilogy

Forgot about that. Will have to read that before I get to Fitz.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

If you haven't read the Rain Wild Chronicles, I would suggest at least reading the synopsis or story of the Rain Wild Chronicles before starting with the Fitz and Fool Trilogy

I started on that but gave up. Couldn't really get interested into Rain Wild and Liveship despite couple of attempts. Is the new trilogy linked to RW?

 

[harshad]

I started on that but gave up. Couldn't really get interested into Rain Wild and Liveship despite couple of attempts. Is the new trilogy linked to RW?

You havent read Liveship also?

Last book ended with connecting everything. I would suggest reading the gist of the story online.

 

[ctp]

I started on that but gave up. Couldn't really get interested into Rain Wild and Liveship despite couple of attempts. Is the new trilogy linked to RW?

Without having read too far into the third book, I'd say you can get away with reading a synopsis for context. The Rain Wild cast appear, but they are not main characters. You will be missing out on some things, not that important in the grand scheme of things though.

 

[caid]

I've been reading Fitz and Fool after skipping Rain Wild.
Might be nice for some context for a few chapters in the second book but far from necessary

 

[Revan]

I started on that but gave up. Couldn't really get interested into Rain Wild and Liveship despite couple of attempts. Is the new trilogy linked to RW?

Wtf? Liveship Traders is easily the best minisaga in Realms.

Rain Wild Traders is quite awful, but quite important for the third Fitz trilogy. You'll be lost in the end of the second Fitz book if you haven't read Rain Wild.

 

[caid]

Wtf? Liveship Traders is easily the best minisaga in Realms.

Rain Wild Traders is quite awful, but quite important for the third Fitz trilogy. You'll be lost in the end of the second Fitz book if you haven't read Rain Wild.

I guess having read liveships helped (which is brilliant tbf) but i really wasn't lost in the slightest at the end of the second : /

Incidentally i skipped Rain Wilds because a friend read it and said it was terrible.
And his standards are spectacularly low so i knew it was going to be utterly dire

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

For those who enjoy Robin Hobb - the new Fitz & Fool book 'Assassin's Fate' has been out for a few days. Just got it and will start reading tonight.

Oh neat! I've been reading through the Language of Stones series from Robert Carter. Read them once when I was a lot younger in Dutch, but they are even better in English.

 

[ivaldo]

Oh neat! I've been reading through the Language of Stones series from Robert Carter. Read them once when I was a lot younger in Dutch, but they are even better in English.

Is it because you can't read Dutch?

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

Is it because you can't read Dutch?

Probably yes, haha.

 

[Revan]

Finished the Great Ordeal and found it probably the weakest book in the series so far. I think that weirdness and confusion has passed a certain threshold, and I do not love the story that much as to search for all the hidden things. Still, cannot wait for the final book.

Now, it is time to rejoin Fitz for a final time. Here I come.

 

[harshad]

Finished the Great Ordeal and found it probably the weakest book in the series so far. I think that weirdness and confusion has passed a certain threshold, and I do not love the story that much as to search for all the hidden things. Still, cannot wait for the final book.

Now, it is time to rejoin Fitz for a final time. Here I come.

Finished it. Enjoyable read. Won't say more because of spoiler.

 

[whatwha]

Anyone here ever read Lord of Light? Just started it, seems promising.

 

[Revan]

Finished the last ever Fitz book. Review is in spoilers:

Spoiler

The last, and probably the best book in the Realm of the Elderlings.

Realm of the Elderlings has been a part of my life. Being a big fantasy fan meant that I had to read this books. And boy, I was in a treat. Starting with the first Fitz trilogy, and then continuing with my favorite 'Liveship Traders' to read the second Fitz trilogy, the not-that-good Rain Wild Chronicles, and to finish everything with what I started, Fitz and his final trilogy.

This book was awesome in every aspect. Not only that the main story was great, but the way it combined all the loose ties from the previous saga. I was hoping that I will see again not only Kettricken, Needle and Verity but also the Liveship Trader protagonists. And to my pleasant surprise, Paragon, Brashen and Althea had large roles in this book, with Vivacia and Wintrow making interesting appearances too. It gave the feeling that this isn't just the conclusion to the Fitz's story, but it is the conclusion of a 16 books epic story.

As for the book itself, it continued where the second book was finished. The story of Fitz trying to find the little Bee, and the story of Bee trying to survive and the transformation she had to do to achieve that. A great story, with a lot of nice moments, and more dragons than in any other Fitz book. But the real strength of the book - as I said in the previous paragraph - was how the author combined everything from the entire saga and by the end of the book, there was no question left unanswered, no loose tie.

The ending was bittersweet. While someone might have preferred a happy ending, I think that it was the only ending it made sense. The Fitz and the Fool achieved pretty much everything they had to achieve, and they returned the dragons in the world. The freeing of liveships was something I really loved to see and something I had lost hope since the end of the Liveship Traders. The emotion on that happening, and the side effects were described in a very nice way from Althea Vestrit. And we saw everyone important to Fitz, Hobb really didn't forget everything.

An epic conclusion to an epic saga. And now I just see that Robin Hobb has surpassed Robert Jordan as the author I have read most books from (16 books, all in the Elderling saga). Who said that woman cannot write good fantasy books?

Goodbye, FitzChivalry Farseer, my old friend! It was good to know you.

 

[Ainu]

I've just finished Toll the Hounds, book 8 of Malazan Book of the Fallen and unfortunately, I cannot say I liked it at all. It was a real struggle to drag myself through it. In fact, it was so exhausting and tedious it has almost destroyed my will to complete the final two books. Considering I also didn't really like the previous book, it's starting to feel like Erikson completely lost his way at this point. I'm not sure how many more books that have 1000+ pages of incomprehensible meandering only to have everything happen in the final 50-100 pages I can stomach. I'm not going to give up at 80% of the journey but I'm really struggling for motivation here. I just want this over with.

 

[caid]

I've just finished Toll the Hounds, book 8 of Malazan Book of the Fallen and unfortunately, I cannot say I liked it at all. It was a real struggle to drag myself through it. In fact, it was so exhausting and tedious it has almost destroyed my will to complete the final two books. Considering I also didn't really like the previous book, it's starting to feel like Erikson completely lost his way at this point. I'm not sure how many more books that have 1000+ pages of incomprehensible meandering only to have everything happen in the final 50-100 pages I can stomach. I'm not going to give up at 80% of the journey but I'm really struggling for motivation here. I just want this over with.

Take a break and read something else?
I've jumped over to read the last part of Robin Hobbs books, coming up to the end. About 200 pages to go.

I've finished reading Bonehunters and the Deadhouse Gates so think im on ... Reapers Gale?
Thought Deadhouse Gates was great. Thought the dialogue with Tehol and Bugg and pretty much everyone involved with them was probably Eriksons best by a distance.
Just smart and witty and a lot of fun to read.
Thought the way it was divided up made it much easier to follow and 'get' the geography and world too.

So i was pretty disappointed with Bonehunters in the end. It felt like a step backwards to dozens of characters spread across a massive continent
with minimal interaction between them and no obvious link a lot of the time.
And a storyline and characters that didn't seem hugely relevant.
It felt more like setting the pieces up for the next act rather than doing much with them in that act. There just wasn't much resolution at the end.

I enjoyed parts of it, Hellian was again fun and i have a lot of time for most of the characters.
Malaz Island was a good send off for it I guess, the book just felt kind of unsatisfying in a way.

 

[Ainu]

Take a break and read something else?

I've considered it but decided against it. I'm not sure if I would ever return and even if I did it would probably be an immense struggle getting back into it. It's not like I don't care anymore, I still want to know what happens. I just wish he would tell it without hundreds of pages philosophising.

 

[Revan]

Yeah, the philosophizing in this genre is something I really hate. Dune books became unreadable to me (after the first one), and the worst part of The Second Apocalypse is the philosophizing. Malazan seems to be Dune-like in that level.

Going to the other extreme, I am reading Elantris at the moment. Still 20%, but my God, this book is awful. The story is decent like in any Sanderson book, but the way this book has been written seems like bad fan fiction. These types of problems were already present in Mistborn, but here they are so much worse.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Going to the other extreme, I am reading Elantris at the moment. Still 20%, but my God, this book is awful. The story is decent like in any Sanderson book, but the way this book has been written seems like bad fan fiction. These types of problems were already present in Mistborn, but here they are so much worse.

Maybe because Sanderson has the writing skill of a bad fan fiction writer.

His prose is mediocre, to be very generous.

 

[Revan]

Maybe because Sanderson has the writing skill of a bad fan fiction writer.

His prose was mediocre, to be very generous.

Corrected.

I think that in Wheel of Time and The Stormlight Archive it definitely improved a lot. Now I think it is definitely decent, but yep, the prose on Mistborn was mediocre (great novels otherwise) and just awful in Elantris.

 

[harshad]

Elantris was his first book, right?

Guess one can say his writing has improved over the years.

 

[Revan]

Elantris was his first book, right?

Guess one can say his writing has improved over the years.

Yes and yes.

I decided to catch up with the Cosmere books (Elantris, Warhammer and that collection of novella/short stories) before the next Stormlight book. The connection between Cosmere books is becoming more and more important.

 

[harshad]

Yes and yes.

I decided to catch up with the Cosmere books (Elantris, Warhammer and that collection of novella/short stories) before the next Stormlight book. The connection between Cosmere books is becoming more and more important.

*Warbreaker

I think I have read everything that is out there. May have missed out reading some short stories in the new Arcanum Unbound book that he published.

I find it really difficult to keep abreast with all Cosmere related stuff as he gives out so much info in interviews and AMAs that he does.

 

[ivaldo]

I struggled a little bit with Mistborn, listened to it on audiobook and found it a bit amateurish at times, though it didn't help that I had just finished Steven Paceys glorious reading of First Law.

I'm not sure if it was a poor rendition by Michael Kramer or if he just struggled with adding life into the story. Haven't read/listened to anything since from Sanderson.

 

[Revan]

*Warbreaker

I think I have read everything that is out there. May have missed out reading some short stories in the new Arcanum Unbound book that he published.

I find it really difficult to keep abreast with all Cosmere related stuff as he gives out so much info in interviews and AMAs that he does.

Always make that mistake. Yep, Sanderson gives too much info outside of his books, but I am quite enjoying also the bigger sage behind the books. Not sure that he is going to conclude it though, there is no way that Stormlight is going to finish before 2035, and only there the individual sagas will fully meet each other.

I struggled a little bit with Mistborn, listened to it on audiobook and found it a bit amateurish at times, though it didn't help that I had just finished Steven Paceys glorious reading of First Law.

I'm not sure if it was a poor rendition by Michael Kramer or if he just struggled with adding life into the story. Haven't read/listened to anything since from Sanderson.

For what is worth, Stormlight is in a totally different level to Mistborn. The writing is much better (although, I think that his best prose comes in The Wheel of Time books).

 

[SmashedHombre]

I've tried reading Sanderson many times, but I just find him so very not good. I've also been checking out lots of debutantes and lesser known authors recently. I've read a few dozen new authors and tbf there have been a lot of misses- but also a fair few hits. I'll review a few of my more recent (and perhaps lesser known) reads that I feel may be worth checking out.

Among Thieves- Douglas Hulick.

If you like Locke Lamora (particularly the first book), I'd recommend this. It’s mostly all contained in a city so don’t expect epic fantasy here, but our protagonist-antihero-thief, Drothe, is very Locke-esque. He must use his wits, his luck and the muscle of his best friend to survive when he suddenly finds himself the target of every thug, bandit, cutthroat and grey prince in the underworld. It’s a very fun read and, from what I remember, it's the first in a trilogy. I’m yet to read the others though. 7/10


The Emperor’s Blades- Brian Staveley.

Like the above, it’s the first in a trilogy and, like the above, I’ve only read the first. (Though I am currently half way through the second.) It follows three royal children, one trained to be an elite warrior, one trained as a highly-disciplined monk and one as a court politician. When their father, the emperor is slain, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by enemies and hunted. Their only chance of survival is to unravel the conspiracy behind the emperor’s death. But their allies are few, their enemies many and, to top it all off, a war is brewing…. 7/10


Steelhaven Trilogy- Richard Ford

Unlike the above, I have read all three in this series since its non-stop action makes it almost impossible to put down. It follows the lives of various characters in a city under siege and, although it’s very action packed, it is also surprisingly well written, albeit sometimes quite raw, and contains well-timed humour and wonderfully developed heroes and villains. It's swords and blood, which is just how I like my fantasy. 8/10


The Braided Path Trilogy- Chris Wooding

Chris Wooding is maybe not as unknown as some of the others on the list but I think (though could be wrong) TBP trilogy is his first step into fantasy. And it shows, as each book just gets progressively better and more polished. The world is beautiful, arty and exotic- and very different. The story is compelling, the pace is fast and the magic is cool. 7/10


Kings of the Wyld – Nicholas Eames

This is a debut novel for someone who has the potential to become one of my favourite fantasy writers if this book is anything to go by. It’s high fantasy, which is not usually my cup of tea- I’m rarely a fan of dragons and orcs etc in my books- but this is just such an amazing and fun read. It’s Joe Abercrombie meets Harmonquest, and it’s as funny as both. It has heart, it has suspense, it has adventure- and it is utterly unputdownable. The dry humour in it is just perfect. My only regret is that I read it too fast and he doesn’t have any other books for me to bury myself in- yet. I was sceptical at first as the blurb didn't sell it very well, but I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. It's ace. 9/10


I’m also reading The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams and The Thousand Names by Django Wexler at the moment. Both seem to be pretty solid reads, particularly the former which I am really enjoying.

 

[ivaldo]

For what is worth, Stormlight is in a totally different level to Mistborn. The writing is much better (although, I think that his best prose comes in The Wheel of Time books).

Thanks Revan, I'll jump back in in the near future I'm sure. I fancy a change of pace and will read some of Guy Kay next.

 

[Revan]

Thanks Revan, I'll jump back in in the near future I'm sure. I fancy a change of pace and will read some of Guy Kay next.

You're welcome. For what is worth, I really loved Tigana and enjoyed The Lions of Al-Rassan from GGK. I really should go back to him.

I think that his prose is really the best in the genre (not including Tolkien, who has great prose, but it is a bit of 'overwriting'). I enjoy his prose even more than that of Rothfuss.

 

[harshad]

Always make that mistake. Yep, Sanderson gives too much info outside of his books, but I am quite enjoying also the bigger sage behind the books. Not sure that he is going to conclude it though, there is no way that Stormlight is going to finish before 2035, and only there the individual sagas will fully meet each other.

For what is worth, Stormlight is in a totally different level to Mistborn. The writing is much better (although, I think that his best prose comes in The Wheel of Time books).

I love reading about the Cosmere. Age is on his side though so I don't worry about him being unable to finish his work, save for any health issues in future. I also think 2035 is being too optimistic for Stormlight Archive to be completed. Presently, he is taking 4 years to complete each SA book and I think he is planning a break from writing SA after book 5 and will complete mistborn era 2 or 3 and will then return to SA.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I've just finished Toll the Hounds, book 8 of Malazan Book of the Fallen and unfortunately, I cannot say I liked it at all. It was a real struggle to drag myself through it. In fact, it was so exhausting and tedious it has almost destroyed my will to complete the final two books. Considering I also didn't really like the previous book, it's starting to feel like Erikson completely lost his way at this point. I'm not sure how many more books that have 1000+ pages of incomprehensible meandering only to have everything happen in the final 50-100 pages I can stomach. I'm not going to give up at 80% of the journey but I'm really struggling for motivation here. I just want this over with.

Reaper's Gale could do that, but personallt for me TtH was one of the best books of the lot. Especially the climax, powerful writing. Take a break, do some light fun book and get back into this.

The Emperor’s Blades- Brian Staveley.

Like the above, it’s the first in a trilogy and, like the above, I’ve only read the first. (Though I am currently half way through the second.) It follows three royal children, one trained to be an elite warrior, one trained as a highly-disciplined monk and one as a court politician. When their father, the emperor is slain, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by enemies and hunted. Their only chance of survival is to unravel the conspiracy behind the emperor’s death. But their allies are few, their enemies many and, to top it all off, a war is brewing…. 7/10

I read this a month or two before and was not really impressed. It does have an interesting premise, but the author does not provide the gravitas both to the characters or the story to make this interesting. More YAish. Did not find the motivation to finish the trilogy now. Maybe later.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Rivers of London (Midnight Riot) - By Ben Aaronovitch

A light fantasy read. Writing style is similar to Terry Pratchett, fun and quirky. The story is set is modern London with the usual fantasy elements (gods, vampires, wizards etc) thrown in. It's a fast moving detective story which reminds me of Perry Mason type novels.

Light, fun and entertaining.

I think this would be perfect for a TV series! Would be brilliant!

7/10

I went ahead and finished the entire series.

1. Rivers of London
2. Moon over Soho
3. Whispers Under Ground
4. Broken Homes
5. Foxglove Summer
6. The Hanging Tree

Very light read with a bit of humour thrown in. Nothing really serious to be critically acclaimed, but worth a read to "kill time" between other serious fantasy. The overarching plot looks to be very interesting, but 6 books in the author still teases with nuggets and there no progress on the plot, which is exciting and disappointing. Not real character development either and after 6 books it's tends to get a bit repetitive.

Series rating: 5.5/10

 

[SmashedHombre]

I read this a month or two before and was not really impressed. It does have an interesting premise, but the author does not provide the gravitas both to the characters or the story to make this interesting. More YAish. Did not find the motivation to finish the trilogy now. Maybe later.

That's a fair criticism. It certainly started stronger than it ended and began to drag a bit, but as a debut book I felt it was a strong first effort. Better than the majority I've read recently anyway!

 

[Ainu]

Reaper's Gale could do that, but personallt for me TtH was one of the best books of the lot. Especially the climax, powerful writing. Take a break, do some light fun book and get back into this.

Too late, I've started Dust of Dreams today and am currently at 7% (kindle edition). It reads a hell of a lot better than TtH so far, so I hope it stays that way throughout.

 

[Revan]

I love reading about the Cosmere. Age is on his side though so I don't worry about him being unable to finish his work, save for any health issues in future. I also think 2035 is being too optimistic for Stormlight Archive to be completed. Presently, he is taking 4 years to complete each SA book and I think he is planning a break from writing SA after book 5 and will complete mistborn era 2 or 3 and will then return to SA.

With the speed he is going now, it is reasonable to assume that he'll finish Stormlight on 2035-2040. Then 10 years for the Hoid saga (7 books) and then Mistborn final trilogy. Being as optimistic as possible, it means that he'll finish everything by 2050. Age is on his side, but he will be on mid-seventies (at best) by the time he finishes everything.

And this is if he doesn't slow down. I doubt that he'll be as fast as he is now, but on the other side, he might just decided to write only about Cosmere later. Regardless, it looks that it might be a saga that I will follow during my entire life, and likely by the end of it, it will be 40+ books long.

 

[ivaldo]

Was Sanderson's intention always to link these books do you think, or was it something that came to him later on?

You're welcome. For what is worth, I really loved Tigana and enjoyed The Lions of Al-Rassan from GGK. I really should go back to him.

I think that his prose is really the best in the genre (not including Tolkien, who has great prose, but it is a bit of 'overwriting'). I enjoy his prose even more than that of Rothfuss.

Mighty praise indeed, Rothfuss' writing is like butter, it's a shame we will never see what the button will be used for.

Glad to hear you like Tolkien's prose, I do too but see it criticised more than praised.

Been meaning to read Tigana for a while im just part way through so many different series I haven't found time for it.

 

[Revan]

Was Sanderson's intention always to link these books do you think, or was it something that came to him later on?

definitely he planned it from the beginning. There is a character who makes an entrance in every Cosmere book.

Mighty praise indeed, Rothfuss' writing is like butter, it's a shame we will never see what the button will be used for.

Glad to hear you like Tolkien's prose, I do too but see it criticised more than praised.

Been meaning to read Tigana for a while im just part way through so many different series I haven't found time for it.

Tigana is awesome. One of the few fantasy books I gave a 5/5 vote in Goodreads. The story, characters and the writing are all excellent. Next to 'Best Served Cold' is my favorite standalone book in the genre.