Book Discussion

[Galagros]

Sorry, can't help you Charlemagne.

I have been reading the Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson (8/10 are released) and have been enjoying it. The first book is by far the worst, which is why I imagine the series isn't as popular as it should be. The author doesn't really take the time to stop and explain how the world or magic system works, so you really feel like you have no idea what is going on and just have to learn things by context. Still, as a whole there are some awesome characters and Erikson is a master at mixing irony and humor in his dialogue. Warning: This series is not for the feint-hearted, characters sometimes seem to drop like flies.

[Kymvir Raemiz]

That first book was awful, Galagros, and it made me not read anymore.

The book starts with a floating city fighting a beseiging army. The city is beaten up by some wizards and forced to flee. Then you find out later that the city houses six super-powerful dragons that can fight and kill gods while suffering minor injuries. And they lost to a pack of wizards? Really?

It was like Erikson couldn't stop escalating the situations.

[Galagros]

Yeah, but somehow the rest of the books are all a LOT better. I think I read somewhere that he wrote the first book like 7 years before he started the second or something, which might account for it. I guess I could list some explanations for some of your complaints, but suffice to say that they would take too long and not make much since without knowing more of the series. Sorry you hated it so much.

[Kymvir Raemiz]

On the other hand - I read the Lies of Lock Lamora books. Those are fun. They remind me of modern action movies.

Anyone read Scalzi's Old Man War and sequels? Along with Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series, and Ender's Game, they are probably my favorite Sci Fi stuff.

[Galagros]

I haven't read those, I'm not much of a fan of sci-fi. Anyone else read any Brandon Sanderson? I wanted to see what his writing style was because he is finished the Wheel of Time, so I Elantris and the Mistborn trilogy.

Elantris was alright. The basic plot is neat (doesn't everyone wonder why fantasy books are missing zombies?), but as a whole there are a lot of holes. If you read the commentary he has posted on his website you will find that this was intentional, as he wanted to leave room for a possible sequel. Mistborn is much better, in my opinion. It really feels like a story and setting that is outside of the box. Oh, and the magic system and cool.

Hmm, what else have I read since posting here last? Oh yeah, I read the Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn (4 books + 1 prequel). I am split on if I would recommend that series or not. On the one hand, the prequel is really awesome, but it all goes downhill from there and all of the books kind of end right where the next one will pick up from so there is no good place to stop. Also, the last book turned me off--I didn't even finish it. The writing style is very different, so that has to be taken into account, too.

[Galagros]

Here's an FYI: Don't read Joe Abercrombie's First Law series--it is horrid.

The first book turns out decent, so it fools you into reading the second, which makes you think that maybe this series is so bad after all, but don't bother with it because the last books ends in the worst way possible. I can honestly say that I would probably have liked the series better overall if all of the characters had just been killed by random falling boulders while traipsing through the woods. Seriously, it makes me feel as though I totally wasted the $50 I spent on the books and all of the hours reading.

In other news, I also recently purchased Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker, but have had no time to read since the new semester started. Only a few more months until Wheel of Time 12! w00t

[Kymvir Raemiz]

I'll stay away from them. I've thought about getting Sanderson's stuff myself, but never have.

Right now I'm reading "Team of Rivals" about Lincoln and the Gregor the Overlander books - a series for kids that my son read and loved and that I promised to read too. After the first book, they are very well done. I would have LOVED them as a kid.

[Xiang Zhuang]

I have wanted to read "Team of Rivals". Heard it is really interesting.

Last week I remembered the old Black Cauldron video game that Sierra made way back when and did some searching. I always liked the story, so I went to the library and got The Chronicles of Prydain, the 5-book series by Lloyd Alexander, whose second book is The Black Cauldron. Read all 5 in 4 days, although they are short. Great books, I think. Wish I would have read them when I was younger, when the reading level was a bit more appropriate. Still, it was a lot of fun

[Galagros]

I have wanted to read "Team of Rivals". Heard it is really interesting.

Last week I remembered the old Black Cauldron video game that Sierra made way back when and did some searching. I always liked the story, so I went to the library and got The Chronicles of Prydain, the 5-book series by Lloyd Alexander, whose second book is The Black Cauldron. Read all 5 in 4 days, although they are short. Great books, I think. Wish I would have read them when I was younger, when the reading level was a bit more appropriate. Still, it was a lot of fun

Yeah, I loved that series when I was probably 12 or 13. They are an awesome fantasy series to get young people into reading fantasy. I didn't know they aver made a video game! Sierra was awesome, wish they were still around....

[Xiang Zhuang]

Well, the game The Black Cauldron was actually based off of the Disney movie The Black Cauldron, which was loosely based on the first two books of the Chronicles of Prydain. Wikipedia tells me that the Disney movie kinda bombed. From what I remember of the game, the story was very different from the books in that it tended to use ideas from the books and sorta reinvent them in different ways. It was a really old game, though. I think we got it around 1990 on the old computer with the CGA monitor