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Messages - DarkGlaive

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Introduce Yourself / I have grasped the Absolute
« on: August 28, 2017, 02:17:08 am »
I just finished the series.

Hi there! I think my first encounter with SA was as an Amazon recommendation in the late 2000's. I was put off by the comparisons of it being high fantasy in the tradition of Lord of the Rings. My interpretation of high fantasy LotR is page after page of description of horse lineage and fantasy songs I don't care about.

Many moons later, I flipped through TDTCB at a Barnes and Noble and thought the prologue with Kellhus was inscrutable. I didn't really understand what was going with Leweth at all and lost interest. Years later, I once again I got it as an Amazon rec and remembered it as "that hard to read book" and decided to look up its description on TvTropes. I didn't read spoilers, but I was really tantalized by the idea of this weird monk dude who may or may not be a savior and who uses questionable means to justify the end of saving the world. I finally took the plunge and was hooked once I got to Achamian spying in Carythusal.

I've since turned one of my best friends on to the series and have tried to get my fellow fantasy nerd relatives and co-workers to read it. I haven't really figured out a succinct way to describe that doesn't sound totally unapproachable. Right now I go with "Game of Thrones politics, if some logic monk dude came out of nowhere and knew how to manipulate everyone into doing what he wants." My friend I got into the series really loves Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, so I was able to talk about how it was philosophical instead of the Game of Thrones comparisons. I also mentioned to him that the Consult was basically like a bunch of hentai villains with the weird sex stuff. He thought that was hilarious and the intellectual stuff intriguing so gave the series a shot and ended up loving it.

Anyhow, I just finished up the series and will probably post some questions I have about the ending at some point. Definitely my second favorite fantasy series behind The Wheel of Time which will always be near and dear to my heart due to nostalgia points.

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