Malazan Book Of The Fallen
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Springbok
Karen
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I'm a few chapters into book 5 on my re-read. Somehow, the series is just better on subsequent reads - things I may have glossed over or missed entirely I'm picking up on and just overall enjoying the ride so much. Forgot how good the end of book 4 was... that's how you write a "convergence".
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Intrinsic
Person of Whiteness
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Did you read Malazan? I'm pretty sure you have but can't remember the whole history of the thread. It is a deep book and pretty big commitment. I'd say only you could answer that knowing your son's interests. Dune as a standalone book that he could compliment/supplement with the various film and TV adaptations may be easier. The whole Dune series may be a lot. Don't know your son though. Maybe Dune vs. Gardens of the Moon, then go from there.
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Oblio
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I am pretty confident that he can handle it, his Lexile is pushing 1200 iirc. Sorry I wasn't more clear, I think I got distracted RL when I made this post earlier and didn't really finish my thought. My question is more along the lines of do you think I should have him read other series before diving into the Malazan series. Like will he be disappointed with most other books the rest of his life if he reads Malzan at 13? Should I get him the Wheel of Time Series first? What about Ice & Fire?
Series that he has read (in no particular order) are...
Eragon
Percy Jackson
Harry Potter
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Belgariad
Myth Series by Robert Asprin
Lord of the Rings
Wings of Fire
I went with option 4, not even knowing this was a thing. When I was going through the Dune series I looked at those books written by his son and "noped" the fuck out.
Sterling
El Presidente
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Option 4 is the best option. I dipped into some of the non frank books and came to the conclusion that it would have been much better to have just let the end of book 6 end how it ended and live with not knowing.
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I'm reading The God Is Not In This Fucking Book, about halfway through. I'm still enjoying it, maybe my detour through the Expanse has changed my expectations. But was the Malazan Marine squad always this...zany? Whenever I recommend this series to someone, I tell them that Erikson only does natural exposition and it's first series where I can remember a group of characters was a character unto itself. I always looked forward to books with a strong Malazan military presence.
They kinda feel like caricatures of themselves.
They kinda feel like caricatures of themselves.
Kovaks
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I would say it is pretty on point for how the marines were, some of the bone hunters were pretty zany.
Onigen
Golden Knight of the Realm
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Without spoiling too much they're very far from bridgeburners (in composition and tactics) is what I gathered from the story.
Isn't almost the whole company mages in this book? Figured they're all weird and special because of that fact, in contrast to bridgeburners who were mostly just sappers and regulars mixed in with a few specialized people like Quick Ben etc.
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Musab
Molten Core Raider
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Black Company trilogy might be a better lead into grimdark than Malazan.
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Oblio
Utah
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Zindan
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Depends on how much your son like LoTR? Has he, or does he want to know more about Tolkien's Middle-Earth? Would he want to read The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales? If he has, or would want too, I would say he'd like Wheel of Time and Malazan. Note, that Malazan was the only series I've read after WoT which I liked and didn't feel shallow (so far).
Asshat wormie
2023 Asshat Award Winner
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And mages have been weird throughout the books, we just never had a company of them. Their behavior does seem out of place because of that but its all explained and fits well with previous books. Cant explain this without spoiling it though so that one guy gets to keep guessing until he is done. Was a superb book.
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Oblio
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He loved LOTR and the Hobbit, I have never read Silmarillion nor the Unfinished Tales, so I did not think to suggest those.
So far I have purchased Book 1 of Black Company and Book 1 of the Stormlight Archive (Way of Kings). I think I will buy Book 1 of WoT and maybe Malzan GoTM too.
Thanks guys, sorry for the slight derail.
Ritley
Karazhan Raider
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Mistborn is also a good one. The first trilogy is not without flaw, but the follow up books with wax/wayne are some of the best.
From the books you listed that he has read, gardens of the moon is going to be a large step in reading difficulty. Not that it’s not doable, but I can easily see someone that age giving up due to not knowing what is going on.
Oblio
Utah
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I really enjoyed Mistborn, I tried really hard to get into the Wax/Wayne series but I just did not enjoy it. I think I got halfway through the first book and noped out. Maybe it was because i had just finished Mistborn, so the timeline/technology jump was distracting to me. Now that it has been a few years maybe I should try it again.
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Intrinsic
Person of Whiteness
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It took about half the book or two thirds for me to get interested as well. But they grow on you and it is good stuff.