It is not a fantasy setting. It is our world in a post-apocalyptic scenario. [/quote]
Books Fantasy Reads
- Thread starter Alock1
- Start date
Stick with Malazan. You're about to be introduced to the bonehunters
Also, more Tehol and Bugg
Ok I'll give you Bonehunters but after that the rot sets in. Books 8-10 are virtually unreadable nonsense.
Grey Bastards - Jonathan French
Our hero Jackal is a half-orc bastard from a human mother and an Orc father. He's a prominent member of his "hoof", a community of half-orcs made up of warriors, slopheads (trainees), females and abandoned half-orc children.
Warriors from these half-orc hoofs, riding huge war-hogs, patrol the ul-wundulas (badlands) that lies between human civilisation and the hated thicks (full blood orcs).
The first half of the book revolves around the hoof and is mostly related to Jackal's attempt at taking over leadership of the hoof from the plague-infected, older, has-been warrior who Jackal believes no longer has the stones to run the outfit.
Second half relates touches on the larger world, the events that lead to the current status-quo and inevitably, Jackal having some serious growing up to do.
If you're offended by bad language, objectification of females; give this a miss.
If not, you'll find a funny, simple story of half-orcs, orcs, elves, centaurs, humans and wizards - fighting, killing, fecking and scheming; all told with a foul-mouthed writing style that at times, had me in stitches.
Our hero Jackal is a half-orc bastard from a human mother and an Orc father. He's a prominent member of his "hoof", a community of half-orcs made up of warriors, slopheads (trainees), females and abandoned half-orc children.
Warriors from these half-orc hoofs, riding huge war-hogs, patrol the ul-wundulas (badlands) that lies between human civilisation and the hated thicks (full blood orcs).
The first half of the book revolves around the hoof and is mostly related to Jackal's attempt at taking over leadership of the hoof from the plague-infected, older, has-been warrior who Jackal believes no longer has the stones to run the outfit.
Second half relates touches on the larger world, the events that lead to the current status-quo and inevitably, Jackal having some serious growing up to do.
If you're offended by bad language, objectification of females; give this a miss.
If not, you'll find a funny, simple story of half-orcs, orcs, elves, centaurs, humans and wizards - fighting, killing, fecking and scheming; all told with a foul-mouthed writing style that at times, had me in stitches.
Blasphemy
That sounds like it'll be a fun ride! Keen on reading this now.
I think you'd like The Grim Company trilogy.
I enjoyed it a lot; it's a bit lighter than your normal grim-dark stuff; that said if you like Abercrombie, I'd second @The Bloody-Nine with Grim Company.
I've heard this opinion before and it's one of the reasons I haven't pursued this series more. I get the feeling that nothing will come close to Midnight Tides in the upcoming books and MT was fantastic.
I have a couple of books written by Ian C Esslemont as well but I don't have them in proper chronological order so I haven't read them as a result. It's a similar problem with Steven Erikson. I have Toll the Hounds and Crippled God, but not book 6, 7, and 9.
I think you'd like The Grim Company trilogy.
Cheers. I did some quick googling and it looks like this is right up my ally. The main characters seem strangely similar to Ninefingers and Luthar.
Might give this a look too.I think you'd like The Grim Company trilogy.
I loved Midnight Tides, along with Memories of Ice it was the high point of the series for me. I just don't have a single good word to say about the final few books, and even Reaper's Gale was already a slog. Maybe I was just getting burned out, I don't know, but I couldn't stand the nonsensical, philosophical style anymore. It actively angered me, but having read thousands of pages I just wanted to see the end. It couldn't make any sense of the end at all, so that didn't help. It was great for a while and others still seem to love the final books, so it's a shame, but I can only judge by my own experiences.
Anyway, I've now burned through all three Riyria Chronicles books in just one week (a couple of long flights and boring hotel nights abroad for work). I really love these characters, I think Hadrian and Royce may be my favourite fantasy characters ever. The chemistry between them is brilliant. Some of the other notable characters are fantastic as well, particularly Gwen and (in Revelations) Arista. A fourth Chronicles book will be out next week, really looking forward to it.
Did you like The 5 books you've read so far? If so you'll like the other 5. Reaper's Gale and Toll the Hounds are a bit different from the others(the former is lighter and more action packed, the latter is heavy and by far the most introspective book of the series. But the pay off is incredible, as usual)
Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God are better read one right after the other as they're basically one book split into two. DoD can leave a bad taste in the mouth if you don't go into TCG right away. TCG is fantastic, better than Midnight Tides, probably the best book in the series, together with Deadhouse Gates
If you want chronological order of events in the books:
1. Dancer's Lament(book 1 in the ascendancy trilogy by ICE)
2. Deadhouse Landing(book 2. Dassem Ultor in action
)3. Night of Knives
4. Midnight Tides
5. Gardens of the Moon
6. Deadhouse Gates
7. Memories of Ice
8. House of Chains
9. The Bonehunters
10. Return of the Crimson Guard
11. Reaper's Gale
12. Stonewielder
13. Toll the Hounds
14. Blood, Sceptre, Throne
15. Dust of Dreams
16. Blood and Bone
17. The Crippled God
18. Assail
But yeah, you can pretty much read them separately, first the Book of the Fallen(Erikson) and then Empire(ICE)
The Kharkanas trilogy happens waaay back in the past of course
Nonsense. Toll the Hounds is one of the best books in the series and that climax segment is just feckin awesome! Rivals MoI and TBH imo.
It's just the Edur plot in Book 9 (Reapers Gale) which is the weakest of the lot. Book 8 (Toll the Hounds) and Book 10 (Crippled God) are fantastic reads. Toll the Hounds is my personal favourite with a mind blowing climax.
And if you like the story of Crimson Guard, read Assail at the end.
Just to add, this series has been put on hold. First book of Karsa trilogy is being written now, so something to factor in.
There is also a Riyria short story called "The Jester" in the Unfettered anthology (2013) edited by Shawn Speakman, and another short story called "Professional Integrity" in the Blackguards anthology (2018) edited by J.M. Martin. Both are standalone short stories about "jobs" done by Royce and Hadrian after The Rose and the Thorn and before The Death of Dulgath. They can tide you over while you wait for the 4th full-length book.
I found out I could already buy the ebook for The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter directly from Sullivan's own website for $10, so I just did that. Not as easy as buying it directly on the Kindle from Amazon and I had to transfer via usb, but I like the idea of supporting the author directly and I didn't have to find another book to tide me over. I'll finish this one first and then start on something else.
Just finished Hyperion what a tease. Such brilliant story only to leave you hanging off a cliff. Writing style reminds me of Foundation series. Sol's story was brilliant but Consul's character was equally intriguing. Loved the book. 10/10.
Started to read Fall of Hyperion immediately.
Started to read Fall of Hyperion immediately.
You read like a mad man.
it's a compulsion. I tend to speed read and then read again after I finished to see what I glossed over. I found the poets tale a bit tedious esp the beginning of it... Though it was the grandest tale of all. And early Siri stuff from Consul was just boring, though his own acts were astounding.
Not sure if this qualifies as fantasy since it's really more sci-fi, but I'm loving Vernor Vinge. 'A Fire Upon the Deep' is good fun.
Boooooooo
Although if they fix the many problems with the original material(drop the whole men vs women stupidity, make the characters smarter and deeper, etc), it could be good i guess
Will be like a poor mans Shannara Chronicles.
Don't think they will drop the men vs woman as this is very relevant/marketable in todays society.
They shouldn't drop it entirely, but should tackled it in a more mature and nuanced way. The books take on it is that of a 6 year old kid. Cooties!
Finished Fall of Hyperion. Good ending to a series, though the pseudo religious take on God was a bit hard to digest. A new rehash, but the oft used plot line takes away some of the shine. Also writing was not as crisp as first book and story was probably 50 pages too long and drags at times
Still very good read. 8/10
Still very good read. 8/10
That's not the ending of the series.
Good enough for me. I'm not sure I want to read Endymion.
Your loss. The Rise of Endymion is fantastic, almost Hyperion-good. Endymion is a bit boring though.
I would possibly rate them as: Hyperion 10/10, Fall 7/10, Endymion 6/10, Rise 9/10.
Hmm didn't realize it was that good!
Going on vacation and bought The Witcher trilogy of books.
I've heard some things about the translation to English being poor, but anyone read 'em?
I've heard some things about the translation to English being poor, but anyone read 'em?
Currently reading baptism of fire. English version is ok imho. It's not a trilogy though
I bought Blood of Elves and Time of Contempt. Good thing the translation's not too bad.
Are there any whispers on Rothfuss at all? I am starting to join the camp who think he will never write it. So disappointing. Also Scott Lynch is taking the piss although I do believe that will appear within a year or so.
Read that a long time ago, should really revisit it as I remember enjoying it a lot. It feels like a book where the author just went for broke and used every random idea he had floating about in his head.
You really should read the first two books first(short stories) before delving into the saga proper as they introduce the relationship between geralt, yen and ciri, which ultimately is what the saga revolves around
Ah crap, really? I'm flying tomorrow and I can't find these with shipping dates of less than 2 weeks. Can't I read up on that online or something?
Lynch has suffered heavily from depression in recent years, which he has openly admitted, so I think he should get a pass. Rothfuss on the other hand I don't think knows how to finish his story. He once declared the whole series had already been written, so I can only imagine he's realized the ending he had wasn't quite good enough.
I sympathise with Lynch it's just a year or so ago he said all was well and he had a few weeks of revisions to go before turning it in while he moved house. Rothfuss has also said he has issues but he turns up at every convention going. Maybe he is waiting for the tv series to add profile before he releases. It's just so disappointing as I loved the 2 books more than any others.
The witcher wikia page has pretty good summaries of the books. Still, you really want to read of Geralt's first encounters with Yen and Ciri and how Ciri became Geralt's daughter. You can read blood of elves right away, but there'll be missing pieces. Would be similar to reading gardens of the moon(of course not on that level of being thrown into the action, plus the book is smaller and the plot more straightforward, but still)
Came here to recommend this. I am in the middle of book 3 and this is a very solid traditional Fantasy series. One of my new favorites for sure.
Faithful and the Fallen?