Steven Erikson (The 3.5 million word journey?)

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Madness

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« Reply #75 on: November 01, 2015, 03:32:22 am »
Welcome to the Second Apocalypse, Fiddler Farstrider.

Lately, I've been considering Malazan again...
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Wilshire

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« Reply #76 on: November 02, 2015, 03:18:47 pm »
Forgot to post that I finished Toll the Hounds. I think Camlost did a good job with this summary:


And as some encouragement, the ending to Toll the Hounds more than makes up for the 9000 pages leading up to it

It certainly was. I have given up picking a favorite book in the series.
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Fiddler Farstrider

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« Reply #77 on: November 02, 2015, 10:24:12 pm »
Welcome to the Second Apocalypse, Fiddler Farstrider.

Lately, I've been considering Malazan again...

Thanks...I'm really enjoying this forum.  Just trying to figure some stuff out and become a productive poster.

Malazan may be the slog of all slogs but it worth the trip

Camlost

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« Reply #78 on: November 11, 2015, 05:21:31 am »
Quote
Forgot to post that I finished Toll the Hounds. I think Camlost did a good job with this summary:

Quote from: Camlost on March 09, 2015, 03:25:59 pm


    And as some encouragement, the ending to Toll the Hounds more than makes up for the 9000 pages leading up to it


It certainly was. I have given up picking a favorite book in the series.

I'm glad to hear it man. It's an event you can't really say anything about because it has a lot of players involved and massive implications, but damn is it good though! You're right caught up with where I last burned out. I slogged through Dust of Dreams, but I don't know that I could recall any of it if asked. Not sure if you've done any of the Esslemont books, but Return of the Crimson Guard is a very narrow second to Toll the Hounds for me. There are more to read and I've been hoping to finally finish the series, so things may change :)

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« Reply #79 on: December 17, 2015, 01:44:57 am »
I didn't really like Malazan. I finished House Of Chains and could do no more. Deadhouse Gates was a pretty great book, but the rest were just okay. It's a huge sprawling series which tries to give this larger than life feel, but after you give any critical thought to the plot and characters it all just falls apart with inconsistencies. Numerous characters end up being just completely irrelevant. Characters are ancient beings and supposed to be awesome, but they are so paper thin with little to no character development. Things happen because the plot demands they happen. I do remember really liking Karsa; but it wasn't enough to keep me going. The world history is extremely deep and goes back thousands of thousands of years, but it never feels like its a REAL place where these things actually happened.

When I started PON I thought to myself: "this is Erikson done right". It has that epic feel as well but is filled with interesting characters and the world has color to it.

Just my two cents...

Wilshire

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« Reply #80 on: December 17, 2015, 01:09:13 pm »
It's something you have to see through to the end to really appreciate. Especially after book 5, HoC, you havent even met all the characters or seen major plot points... which is totally insane but true. I understand why people burn out, but some of those critiques ring particularly hollow. I've know plenty of people personally who read about half of tdtcb and give similar critiques, and it's equally ridiculous, imo. It's difficult to truely grasp the depth of tdtcb until you've finished the series and then go back and read it again.

Each is entitled to his own opinion, and books like Malazan and TSA aren't for everyone.  Too long, too boring, slow, too many characters... I can see and understand all these criticisms, and many more. That said, calling it shallow and underdeveloped is commical. The plot is complex and convuluted, and of course things seem like they just happen for no reason when you don't see where they end up. There are plenty of inconsistencies and plot holes, stories half told and things unexplained, and that can be really irritating, but the depth and development are there if you look for it.

As much of a fan I am of Bakker, I'd put Erikson as a close second, and generally for all the same reasons.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2015, 01:12:17 pm by Wilshire »
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H

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« Reply #81 on: December 17, 2015, 02:18:09 pm »
I've tried to read Gardens of the Moon 3 times.  I've never really made it all that far though.  It really isn't the story, but something about the writing that constantly has me off  to it at all times.

I'm not articulate enough to really put a firm hold on what it is, but I can't really bring myself to keep trying.
I am a warrior of ages, Anasurimbor. . . ages. I have dipped my nimil in a thousand hearts. I have ridden both against and for the No-God in the great wars that authored this wilderness. I have scaled the ramparts of great Golgotterath, watched the hearts of High Kings break for fury. -Cet'ingira

Wilshire

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« Reply #82 on: December 17, 2015, 02:53:59 pm »
I don't see why you'd bother trying so many times. I give a series I'm interested in one book, and if I don't like it I move on. There is plenty to read, and especially with malazan why waste the time of 10 books you dont enjoy.

So far I've loved every book, except HoC which I find dissapointing, so it's easy to keep on keeping on.
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« Reply #83 on: December 17, 2015, 03:14:57 pm »
Well, it kind of bothers me that I don't like it.  So, I kept trying to find my way into it...it just never worked out.
I am a warrior of ages, Anasurimbor. . . ages. I have dipped my nimil in a thousand hearts. I have ridden both against and for the No-God in the great wars that authored this wilderness. I have scaled the ramparts of great Golgotterath, watched the hearts of High Kings break for fury. -Cet'ingira

Somnambulist

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« Reply #84 on: December 17, 2015, 04:40:19 pm »
It took two reads of Gardens before I reluctantly bought Deadhouse Gates.  I'm glad I did because it still ranks as one of my all-time favorite books, period.
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« Reply #85 on: March 06, 2016, 09:43:21 am »
Have you finished the series Wilshire?

I picked up Hoc again in mid december last year and now I am 100 pages in Reapers Gale.

Erikson is like a girlfriend that keeps coming back to haunt me lol:)

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« Reply #86 on: March 06, 2016, 10:30:19 am »
Have you finished the series Wilshire?

I picked up Hoc again in mid december last year and now I am 100 pages in Reapers Gale.

Erikson is like a girlfriend that keeps coming back to haunt me lol:)

Dude, just push through. The last two books made it all worth it, imho. Though when I finished I would describe it as finally cutting things off with a girl you just can't seem to get along with. Truly a slog. A lot of girlfriend analogies, also.
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

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« Reply #87 on: March 06, 2016, 05:06:21 pm »
Oh I love the series, no complaints here. HoC was a bad book but everything else i really loved. Still waiting to read Dust of dreams because I wanted to reread TSA before TGO comes out. But, rest assured, I will complete malazan, but it might take a few months to get back to it, as I read slow and not terribly often so TSA will probably consume me through july.
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themerchant

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« Reply #88 on: March 21, 2016, 08:59:33 am »
Read them all apart from Assail and some of Orb.

Memories of Ice and Midnight Tides are my two favourite books. I feel there is a bit of "lost" in the series, good ideas that grip but then never get explained or just used for plot devices or to make a great scene.


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« Reply #89 on: March 31, 2016, 05:54:34 pm »
Yeah there is too much world created for these. Half stories started in the middle and never explained or fleshed out.

I can't imagine the amount of work that never got written, or was outlined in notes for just that purpose and never made it to the book. A whole library full of notes.

I did love MT and MOI, but I have given up picking a favorite. Other than HoC, they all feel extraordinary in their own right.
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