Malazan Book Of The Fallen

Kiroy

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Having read it, it shows how the 2 meet and its way before there was even a malazan empire.
Awesome - was it a pretty good read? Esslemont can be a bit over the board, although I still enjoy all his stuff.
 

Rogosh

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Awesome - was it a pretty good read? Esslemont can be a bit over the board, although I still enjoy all his stuff.
The dialogue between Dancer and Shadowthrone is great, without giving anything away I think it might be ICE's Best work so far. He really gives a lot of insight into the characters of the Malazan world, as well as building a story of its own.
 

Valorath

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Just finished Dancer's Lament. Thanks for the heads up on the novel, Rogosh. Esslemont's books always sneak up on me; I had no idea he was working on this as a trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'll be purchasing a copy of it when it's released here in the US, to support Esslemont. I don't know if my perspective is skewed because of the familiarity with the characters in the novel, or if Esslemont has just stepped his game up, but I'll agree with Rogosh about this being his best work so far.
 

Rogosh

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Just finished Dancer's Lament. Thanks for the heads up on the novel, Rogosh. Esslemont's books always sneak up on me; I had no idea he was working on this as a trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'll be purchasing a copy of it when it's released here in the US, to support Esslemont. I don't know if my perspective is skewed because of the familiarity with the characters in the novel, or if Esslemont has just stepped his game up, but I'll agree with Rogosh about this being his best work so far.
No problem, I do a lot of reading and the Malazan world is still my favorite so I tend to keep up to date. I have always bought the UK versions just because of their earlier release dates.
 

Kiroy

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Finished dancer's lament - definitely agree it's some of his best writing so far. Started on Gardens of the Moon last night - gonna reread for a third time, been a few years. Can't wait for some Karsa. Didn't Erickson talk about eventually doing a Karsa series after the Kharkanas trilogy?
 

Kiroy

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Ya - let me reread it, I have some thoughts. Here's the full piece:

The Problem of Karsa Orlong | Steven Erikson

Read it - so I honestly think he wrote that almost in direct response to the rape criticisms he was getting from his cry baby fans who couldn't understand it in the context of the story. Here's a quote from an old ass post in the malazan forums:

"While i agree that Karsa's role in RG was interesting and he has developed significantly throughout the series, i cannot get past the fact that Karsa is/was a rapist. His treatment of women in the past has been appalling and while he seems to have matured, there has been very little evidence to show that he regrets raping women. I'm actually a bit suprised that people like him so much and no one so far on this thread has mentioned the rape yet....i like a badass character as much as the next person but theres some things that i will not ignore....like rape. So unless he undergoes further personality changes I'm not really a huge fan of his. "

This guy ends up getting an earful but imagine how much feedback erikson must have gotten from fans, dare I say, his SJW fans, before they even knew they were SJWs.

I've read all of Howards Conan stuff (and love it), but I still think Karsa is the best written 'pure' barbarian fantasy fans have ever seen.
 

Rezz

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In the process of my second re-read of the main series, and currently on House of Chains. SJW complaints that he's too rapey are hilarious; have they never studied history to any real extent or something? Guy is mild compared to real life cultures that still currently exist on Earth today. Not to mention, that his rape-iness sort of falls off after about 120 pages into the book he's introduced in, and he's literally in hundreds upon hundreds of pages afterward. Saying it is a big part of his character is to put entirely too much emphasis on a backstory where his very nature is a specific attempt to depict true barbarism. Guy waits forever for Samar Dev to hook up with him after they meet up, and it's entirely her choice when it happens.

SJWs gonna SJW I guess, even if they don't realize they're SJWs.
 

wamphyr

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Reading Dancer's Lament right now. I like it a lot. It's simpler that Erickssson's works, and, while this would not be a point in it's favor, it kinda works this time.


Edit -

It seems I spoke too soon when I said it is a simpler book. The first thing I didn't understand for sure comes in Chapter Five. Sure, if this was a Ericksson book, the very first sentence of the book would be cryptic, but that is another discussion. Help me please...

Chapter 5, there is the audience the Protectress grant to the "Lady Night." She is, in fact, Sister of Cold Nights, K'rul's sister, right ?
Also, who ordered the attack of the Pung's crew on the temple of Hood ?
 

Valorath

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So tempted to get Fall of Light on my Kindle, but it will be here in a few days in hard-copy. Must resist the temptation to buy it twice.
 

Valorath

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Anyone else finished Fall of Light yet? I enjoyed it, but it wasn't what I was expecting. The story-telling in this installment left me wanting.

particularly, the battle between Urusander's legion and the houseblades.. I wanted so much more from that battle. "She was a Menad," was great though.

I enjoyed the book, but I'll need a reread before I can really make a better opinion of it. I drink nightly, and I tend to read drunk at the end of the night, which is fine for rereads but terrible for first-time-through reads.
 

Kalaar kururuc

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Just finished Fall of Light, and I have to say I enjoyed the latest ICE book more. I normally love SE stuff and prefer his books to Ian's, but this one just seems to be page after page of flowery bullshit for the sake of SE seeing his own waffle laid down in black and white, purely as an exercise in seeing if you can use 1000 words to say it's raining. The actual plot could have been half the length of that book, with all the superfluous crap cut out, perhaps I can blame the editor? I enjoyed the Thel Akai and Jaghut chapters (and a few others), and there were certainly a few snippets here and there that explain or at least give some context to some of the things described in the main timeline books, but the ending was a major disappointment. I'm hoping book 3 is better paced and less flowery.
 

Nemesis

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so, I got into the Malazan series on Audible... blown away. Really really enjoyed Ralph Lister.

finished Memories of Ice, loaded up House of Chains, OMG where'd Ralph go.

Can't get into Michael Page. I've tried like 3x now, 30 mins or so each. I really want to continue this series, but I don't see it happening.

Anyone else goin through the same shit? how'd you manage?
 

Intrinsic

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I had to reference the Dramatis Personae and shit so often the thought of trying to audiobook this on a first read through is terrifying, hah. Sucks that they changed talent though. Sane thing happened with ASoIaF with Dance, I think?
 

Drinsic

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fix the retarded thread title, there should be no comma, the same way you wouldn't say "Dominican, Republic"
 

Kiroy

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I'm currently on my third read through, almost finished with book three. This is by far my favorite epic storytelling I've ever read.
 

Nemesis

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Intrinsic said:
I had to reference the Dramatis Personae and shit so often the thought of trying to audiobook this on a first read through is terrifying, hah. Sucks that they changed talent though. Sane thing happened with ASoIaF with Dance, I think?

yeah i used http://www.tor.com/features/series/malazan-reread-of-the-fallen/ as my guide throughout, reading the synopsis and discussion of each chapter after i read it. fortunately no spoilers there.
 

Valorath

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I can't imagine going audio-book for a first time through this series. Different strokes for different folks, though. I've read the series a few times, even read it backwards once.

The thread seemed to die right after Fall of Light came out. Myself and someone else commented on the book, and neither of us were thrilled with it. Anyone else finish Fall of Light yet? I'm actually considering a reread of that one, but am going to finish up sci-fi stuff I'm reading at the moment first.