A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

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Shazbot9000
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A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Shazbot9000 »

Has anyone read any books in this series by Steven Erikson? I'm currently 3/4 of the way through book 2 and have been enjoying the series so far. If any of you have read the series I'd be interested in knowing if it's worth buying the next few books, or if turns to utter crap like so many other fantasy story lines.
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Hezin
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Post by Hezin »

Canadians can read?


And no, I tend to be picky about my authers/series, so sometimes I stagnate in my reading.
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Post by Kabol »

Hezin wrote:Canadians can read?
Only books by Canadian authors? I haven't heard of this guy or his books. Customers on Amazon don't even both to review it (not that I put much stock in those).

I found two other reviews. One placed his series in the top 3, behind J.R.R and G.R.R. The other review said his plot advancement of one book was about 4 Jordan books, so that is pretty good.

I wouldn't mind trying it out, especially when it gets compared to ASOFAI, but I worry about starting another unfinished megaseries. Currently he has released 6 books out of 10 total... I think. It looks like he released 8 books (of 6) since 1999. The 9th book, 7th of the main series, is due out 4/07. The two extras are 100-page novellas or some shit.
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Post by Payndar Circusdorf »

I have heard only good things about the series.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Kabol »

I picked this book up yesterday and plan to read it this week. While I am on the road I tend to devour books. I finished the Great Book of Amber (compilation of 10 books) and Crighton's Prey in the last few weeks I have been out of town. I will probably finish Brown's Angels and Demons tomorrow night, before start on this Malazan book.

Books-a-million only had the first book in the series, so I picked up the first two books of The Black Company as well. I will check for a book store near my hotel for more Malazan books before I jump to a new series. A debate on FoH between Malazan, ASOFAI, and TBC being the best fantasy series of all time (second to LOTR IMO), leads me to believe I won't be disappointed in any of them.

I will let you guys know how it turns out.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Ishamuel »

A little off topic but figured it would apply. If your looking for good book series I can reccomend to great series.

The first I just finished up to book 11 recently and the author is still writing book 12, it's called The Wheel of Time, by Rober Jordan. There are actually 12 books right now if you count the prequel book. I'd highly suggest this series if you are into fantasy / magic type books. These are not your normal children age level books either, much more advance than books like Harry Potter.

The second series I just started but I can already tell I'm going to like it just as much and it's going to be a hard decision which I like more.

It's The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I know of at least 9 books in the series right now with at least 1 prequel. I've only read the first book so far but it was great, and I havn't gotten a copy of the prequel yet.

I will warn both authors can get a little mundane at times going into what I feel is to much detail about a particular event or something. With both authors there where times when I found myself getting annoyed wishing they would hurry up and progress the story. Terry Goodkind its more of extrapolating every little detail, where as Robert Jordan it's more of repeating things a lot. Like he had to remind you who each of the main characters where the first time they appeared in every book. But if you overlook these faults the stories behind both series is quite epic.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Phelps McManus »

We had a very long thread discussing the pros and cons of WoT, but it looks like the forum it was in no longer exists...
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Kabol »

Aww man, you went there.

Robert Jordan is a little mundane and repeats himself? Books 9 and 10 were the straw that broke that camels back, when he committed two faux paus. First, he repeats the same event, with different PoV's. Second, he devotes three chapters to Elayne taking a fucking bath. I won't even get into the whole Faile/Perrin story arc during that period.

I have read the first 4-5 books of The Sword of Truth. There are only so many bigger, badder evils testing Richard's and whats-her-face's love that I can stand. Some of the solutions to problems seemed a bit contrived.

Anyway, if you liked those two series, you should love George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Much better characters, plots, and behaviors. The biggest problem with this series is that he is taking forever to finish it. The first 3 books are well worth reading by themselves, though. The fourth is good too but doesn't have quite as much closure as book 3.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Phelps McManus »

The biggest problem with GRRM is of course his insatiable appetite for baby tigers!
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Kabol »

OK so I just started Book 3 (900 pages) of the Malazan series. So far I would place it solidly behind ASOIAF. I like the author's writing style and the plot is a great page-turner. Really the last 300 pages of each of the first two novels (800 pages each) are page after page or action-packed craziness.

I like that the content is adult-oriented and characters have believable responses to situations and conversations. None of the Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth bullshit where every guy is a pussy-whipped retard and women in the middle of a warzone are concerned about their hair. That said, a lot of the characters follow the same template: war-hardened veteran. It is somewhat difficult to get invested into a character. Unlike WoT, ASOIAF, and even ASoT, I still don't know characters well enough to understand why they behave they way they do other than that they have soldiers for awhile.

My only other complaint is that the plot is almost overbearingly fantastical. Elite Assassins preying on soldiers and politicians run into combo mage-assassins. Then High Mages summon demons to kick ass for them. Shapeshifting dragons kick the demon's ass only to be threatened by a grave-rising tyrant of an ancient, extinct race of super-beings. Luckily demi-gods and gods abound are there to take care of that shit. Now throw in new gods versus more powerful older gods and a hint of something more powerful than that. Oh and pocket worlds that you can use to escape danger and travel distances more quickly lead to some pretty impractical solutions to heroes faced with imminent doom. It really makes me miss "simple" stuff from ASOIAF and LOTR.

As for plot structure, Book 1 covers a lot of characters. Book 2 covers about half of the characters from Book 1 and adds a lot of new ones. Book 3 appears to cover the other half of characters from Book 1. I believe it may even cover the same time period as Book 2 although the stories really are fairly separate (similar to Kings Landing vs The North vs The Wall). I prefer Erikson's method of taking the story a smaller group of characters to completion (even if it is a subplot) before writing another book about the other characters over Martin's little bit of everyone at a time (book 4/5 doesn't count... yet).

Anyway, I would definitely recommend the Malazan series to anyone who read WoT, ASOIAF, and/or ASOT. You can knitpick issues contrasting it with the other fantasy series, but you won't be disappointed that you read it. Although good luck finding it. It took me trips to 4 different book stores across 3 states (NC, SC, and FL) to get the first 5 books. The other 2 I ordered from Amazon. Book 8 is due out next year and he is stopping at Book 10 (allegedly). These are behemoth-sized novels so I wouldn't worry too much about waiting for him to finish. He released the first 7 books within a period of 8 years. Contrast that with 9 years for Martin to release 4 books. I guess he is matching pace with Jordan, minus the dying, assuming Jordan had planned on stopping with Book 10 while he was in the middle of writing Book 8.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Hezin »

Well just finished book one, I can see the relation to G.R.R.M's style, mainly the fact he likes to have alot of players in the game. Very good read though, I will be picking up book 2 come payday friday.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Hezin »

Well don't know who else has stayed with this series, but I just finished Toll of the Hounds(Book 8), and the last 300 pages remind me of why I read books again. By far one of the best endings to any novel, and now I'm chomping at the bit for book 9 to come out, I may have to order the UK hardcover.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Tetanus »

Yeah that was quite the finale. I've read 9 as well, and I'd probably place it among the top 3, behind Gardens (I know I'm one of the few who loved the first book) and Memories of Ice (my favorite fantasy novel, ever). Worth ordering from UK imo.

Edit: Not going to spoil, but Dust of Dreams has the greatest entrance of any character in any book ever.
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Hezin »

Thanks, memories of ice falls to be one of my favorite so far in the series as well, have you read Night of the Knives yet?
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Re: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen

Post by Tetanus »

I have, and I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I liked ICE's second book Return of the Crimson Guard a lot more. Yes I've become a Malazan freak.
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