[Yellow]

Hey Strad, are you sure you haven't ordered some version that is no longer available?

I just went and had a look and the paperback is out 18th June. Is that the version you've ordered?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I order all the malazan books from amazon.uk, because that way i can get them months earlier than I otherwise could in the states. Every single time the first copy never gets to me, I have to complain and then they send me another.

[Yellow]

I've never really had a problem with Amazon UK (but then I'm in the UK so maybe that says nothing). Amazon US are generally pretty good too, though they did send me one book that wasn't as advertised once. They gave me a refund, so no worries.

[Aptorian]

Daser, on May 22 2009, 09:59 PM, said:

Aptorian please tell me you are shopping in Fantask and not an ordinary danish bookshop. I never go to Copenhagen without visiting Fantask, it is just so far ahead of my local bookshop.

ps: If you didnt know about this store you are gonna thank me big time.

Oh I know about it. I think every comic book and fantasy/sci-fi geek in Denmark is obligated to make a pilgramage to Fantask during their youth. I usually buy my books in Fantask or the Gads at Rundetårn if they have a special deal. I prefer buying at Fantask because I feel I am supporting a relatively small business that is providing us with an excellent niche.

Bought both NOK and RCG there, along with Name of the Wind, Empire in Black and Gold, The Steel Remains, The Scar, Perdido Street Station, etc. If only I had an actual grown ups income and not just a students wages I would spend an unhealthy amount of cash in there collection marvel comics and buying warhammer 40k stories.

[Werthead]

Remember that The Book Depository has free international shipping from the UK and is reasonably fast. I'd recommend them over Amazon for European orders.

Quote

Sad really, here he is, believing Jordans work is brilliant fantasy writing, and he doesn't even realise the extreme difference in writing talent and scope the Malazan series represents

Certainly a difference in approach and in each book's quasi-standalone nature. Scope, I'm really not sure about. Jordan's 'scope' isn't as big as Erikson's, but I find the depth of worldbuilding far more convincing.

Quote

On the plus side, his excuse for not reading MBotF will expire in less than a year and a half.

Apart from the sequel trilogy, which will conclude Karsa Orlong's story. And ICE's, which will conclude the Asshai, the T'lan Imass, Silverfox, Korelri and Darujhistan Tyrant storylines, not to mention others that will get no resolution from Erikson in Book 10.

In fact, I'm confident we should now be calling this a single 19-book-series (22 if we count the prequels) written by two authors. The MBF itself may resolve the Crippled God and Bonehunters arcs (and maybe the Letherii, Shadowthrone, Tiste Edur and shattered warren ones), but everything else seems to be up for grabs and may not be answered for another decade.

[blackzoid]

Werthead, on May 22 2009, 09:42 PM, said:

Remember that The Book Depository has free international shipping from the UK and is reasonably fast. I'd recommend them over Amazon for European orders.

Quote

Sad really, here he is, believing Jordans work is brilliant fantasy writing, and he doesn't even realise the extreme difference in writing talent and scope the Malazan series represents

Certainly a difference in approach and in each book's quasi-standalone nature. Scope, I'm really not sure about. Jordan's 'scope' isn't as big as Erikson's, but I find the depth of worldbuilding far more convincing.

Quote

On the plus side, his excuse for not reading MBotF will expire in less than a year and a half.

Apart from the sequel trilogy, which will conclude Karsa Orlong's story. And ICE's, which will conclude the Asshai, the T'lan Imass, Silverfox, Korelri and Darujhistan Tyrant storylines, not to mention others that will get no resolution from Erikson in Book 10.

In fact, I'm confident we should now be calling this a single 19-book-series (22 if we count the prequels) written by two authors. The MBF itself may resolve the Crippled God and Bonehunters arcs (and maybe the Letherii, Shadowthrone, Tiste Edur and shattered warren ones), but everything else seems to be up for grabs and may not be answered for another decade.

21, SE's 10, then his 2 trilogies.
ICE is only writing 5 books, or are you not counting NoK in his 5?

I would have no problem recommanding somone read the books when SE finishs the original 10.
ICE's next books should be all self-contained (with the exception of RoTCG which I agree was tied too much into the main MBoTF storyline)
Everything else is not really connected to the main storyline. Except maybe Karsa.

[Werthead]

blackzoid, on May 25 2009, 11:01 AM, said:

21, SE's 10, then his 2 trilogies.
ICE is only writing 5 books, or are you not counting NoK in his 5?

I would have no problem recommanding somone read the books when SE finishs the original 10.
ICE's next books should be all self-contained (with the exception of RoTCG which I agree was tied too much into the main MBoTF storyline)
Everything else is not really connected to the main storyline. Except maybe Karsa.

ICE is doing six in total. After Return of the Crimson Guard came out, Bantam confirmed he'd been signed for four additional new Malazan books.

ICE's third book looks like it might be self-contained, but the last three deal with Silverfox and the T'lan Imass on Assail, what happens in Darujhistan after TTH and the last one is a sort-of coda to the whole series. Than Erikson's sequel trilogy deals with Karsa and his plans to unite the Toblakai and conquer the rest of the world. These are all important elements in Erikson's existing books.

[blackzoid]

Werthead, on May 25 2009, 02:15 PM, said:

blackzoid, on May 25 2009, 11:01 AM, said:

21, SE's 10, then his 2 trilogies.
ICE is only writing 5 books, or are you not counting NoK in his 5?

I would have no problem recommanding somone read the books when SE finishs the original 10.
ICE's next books should be all self-contained (with the exception of RoTCG which I agree was tied too much into the main MBoTF storyline)
Everything else is not really connected to the main storyline. Except maybe Karsa.

ICE is doing six in total. After Return of the Crimson Guard came out, Bantam confirmed he'd been signed for four additional new Malazan books.

ICE's third book looks like it might be self-contained, but the last three deal with Silverfox and the T'lan Imass on Assail, what happens in Darujhistan after TTH and the last one is a sort-of coda to the whole series. Than Erikson's sequel trilogy deals with Karsa and his plans to unite the Toblakai and conquer the rest of the world. These are all important elements in Erikson's existing books.

Oh right. Well I guess ICE's ones are not as self-contained as I thought. Pity.
Didn't know about him writing 6 instead of 5.
Anyway, back to WoT!

[globish rip]

gathering storm of suck, jesus.

usually i enjoy the terrible cover art on these but... this is next level. it looks like liberace fucked up a magic trick and ended up with a bad gang tattoo and a hole in v.c. andrew's house. actually i guess it looks like poorly drawn romance novel characters just took a wrecking ball to a ramshackle victorian ghost house or like nothing that makes any sense, at all, ever.

gah.

[coltainereborn]

Robert Jordan died? now I feel kind of bad for cursing him for the length of time between books.

And since I know I'll buy any WoT book that appears on book shelves so I hope this Anderson guy has his shit together. I bought just about every Dune book that was written by Herbert's son and another guy, using notes that were left behind-and all those books showed it. they conveyed the ideas but were like an outline but the writing was awful compared to Herbert. Not that Jordan wrote anything like Herbert, but he wasn't so bad. It was the first fantasy series I read since Tolkien, and I really want to see it wrapped up well.

[Astra]

Finally!

After a few emails to amazon.co.uk they chaged Brandon Sanderson's role from contributor to Author and the name of the book from The Gathering Storm: The Majestic Conclusion to the International Bestselling Wheel of Time Series to The Gathering Storm (for hardback edition).

I am proud of myself

This post has been edited by Astra: 16 June 2009 - 05:21 PM

[Yellow]

Astra, on Jun 16 2009, 06:20 PM, said:

they chaged Brandon Sanderson's role from contributor to Author

Good for them (and all the people who emailed about it). To list him only as contributor was a major disservice.

[Werthead]

Astra, on Jun 16 2009, 06:20 PM, said:

Finally!

After a few emails to amazon.co.uk they chaged Brandon Sanderson's role from contributor to Author and the name of the book from The Gathering Storm: The Majestic Conclusion to the International Bestselling Wheel of Time Series to The Gathering Storm (for hardback edition).

I am proud of myself

I actually wanted them to keep the 'majestic conclusion' to cause the maximum possible amount of chaos (since both Books 9 and 11 are still listed in some places as the 'penultimate' books in the series). But that does make more sense.

[Astra]

Werthead, on Jun 17 2009, 11:18 PM, said:

I actually wanted them to keep the 'majestic conclusion' to cause the maximum possible amount of chaos (since both Books 9 and 11 are still listed in some places as the 'penultimate' books in the series). But that does make more sense.

They still got majestic conclusion for paperback

This post has been edited by Astra: 18 June 2009 - 10:29 AM

[Terez]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I blame HD.

If anyone is interested, the infamous Isabel started a poll on Theoryland about this when the news broke:

http://www.theorylan...read.php?t=1528

One of the people who said they would wait said later that they voted that on accident.

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on Mar 26 2009, 01:38 PM, said:

Rand's not going to really die. There's going to be a "the prophecy, while technically true, did not mean exactly what we thought it meant" cop-out of the worst kind.

A lot of fans desperately want to believe this, for some reason. I don't get it. He should die. In a world where all three of his harem can visit in Tel'aran'rhiod after he's dead, there's just no sense in letting him live. His best friend even has a Horn that can summon him...

Obdigore, on Mar 26 2009, 01:56 PM, said:

The wound in his side is going to open, bleed upon mount doom, lous theramon telamaon (or whatever his fucking name is) is going to pour out in the blood, and cleanse the mountain and completely destroy the dark one... until the wheel spins again...

The Dark One can't be destroyed. Oh, and RJ has said that there is nothing particularly special about this Turning of the Wheel, so that means that the prison has to be sealed up like the Creator made it this time, and eventually everyone will forget about the Dark One until someone senses the True Power through the thinness that develops in the Pattern and drills it again. Oh, and I think that Birgitte shows that Lews Therin is irrevocably a part of Rand, so I don't think there will be any getting rid of him.

Assail, on Mar 26 2009, 03:09 PM, said:

His magic points are not over 9000.

:Patch:

Illuyankas, on Mar 26 2009, 03:21 PM, said:

Perhaps the cover artist is being blackmailed into doing them. Perhaps the publishers have his family locked up in a cell next to the artist's canvas with a gunman pointing a shotgun at them in a threatening manner. He can't stop painting, they'll murder his loved ones. All he can do is paint so badly the sales drop far enough to possibly bankrupt their business - without the incoming profit, there's no need for him to paint anything and they'll release them all. He knows there's a chance they'll simply execute him, his wife and his kids, claiming an accident, he knows that, but this is his only option, his only chance to keep his family safe. Right now, what they experience is not life.

Or they're just blind.

As I said on Theoryland, I'm convinced Sweet is punishing us for hating his art, because the covers really do keep getting worse. Here's that thread:

http://www.theorylan...read.php?t=1748

Couple of cute mock versions of it in that thread.

Wordmerchant, on Mar 29 2009, 11:26 AM, said:

Elayne will go into labor and pop out the kids right in the middle of the Last Battle. The sheer stupidity of the concept will cause the Dark One to die laughing. And they lived happily ever after.

The theory that Elayne will give birth in the middle of the Last Battle annoys me. Lots of people think that, though.

Malaclypse, on Apr 1 2009, 08:34 AM, said:

Read most of BS (interesting acronym, btw) explanation and for me, it boils down to - he wants to do a geek's version of the conclusion to the Wheel of Time, which I don't disagree with in principle, provided he does a good job of it. Meanwhile, his financial situation is secure for the forseeable future - good on him. But...BUT, Jordan intended it to be finished with AMoL so he is essentially deviating from RJ's plan and there is no way to hide that. He can go on and on about all the good reasons for extending it but the facts are that he will benefit, the publishers will benefit and Harriet will benefit from the decision to extend the series. The only question that remains is whether or not the fans will benefit. All I can say is it better be damned good because if the first one doesn't deliver, I'm out.

The way I see it is this: RJ originally wrote the first book as a standalone. Then it was going to be a trilogy. Then it was going to be five or six books, and then 8 or 9, etc. That's why no one in the fandom really believed RJ when he said there was going to be only one more book after Knife of Dreams until he repeated himself a dozen times and used strong wording, and even then, we had a hard time believing he could wrap it up in just one more volume because he had a lot of stuff going on. I'm one of those fans that is happy that he stretched out the series, because I think he went a lot of interesting places with it, even in Crossroads of Twilight. But I do find it easy to believe what BS says about it being too big of a project for him to finish in one book. Perhaps RJ could have done it, but I don't really expect BS to be able to do it, as it's not his brainchild.

Abyss, on May 8 2009, 11:48 AM, said:

I am clearly the only person in the world who liked the Cadsuane character.

- Abyss, has a thing for centuries older women...

I dig her.

Slow Ben, on May 15 2009, 06:30 PM, said:

Its funny, on Rober Jordans facebook fan site, all they talk about is how awesome the cover is. More great stuff from Sweet.

Maybe i just dont get it.

I would say something like "real fans don't hang out on Facebook fan sites", but I have been hanging around at a MySpace fan group for about 3 years now, apparently for no reason other than that there are a bunch of people there who really love me because I have the answers to all of their questions.

ChrisW, on May 16 2009, 07:01 PM, said:

...

You misspelled da'tsang.

[HoosierDaddy]

Terez, on Jun 25 2009, 01:58 AM, said:

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I blame HD.

! I don't care that I asked you to do this... I blame Brood!

Also, I agree with your rebuttal to Mal's point on "RJ finishing in one book." It was obvious by A Path of Daggers that RJ had gone completely beyond the bend, and the story was at that point somewhat out of control. Therefore, any notion that he actually HAD an idea of a way to do a one book finish was either: (1) going to ridiculously short the reader after 11(12?) other books with such a compacted series, or; (2) the idea of a one book finale was BS.

[Terez]

HoosierDaddy, on Jun 25 2009, 01:31 AM, said:

Also, I agree with your rebuttal to Mal's point on "RJ finishing in one book." It was obvious by A Path of Daggers that RJ had gone completely beyond the bend, and the story was at that point somewhat out of control.

I don't know that the story was necessarily out of control at that point. He did have a hard time selling certain character's points of view, or certain storylines, and yeah, The Path of Daggers was probably the first place where it was really noticeable to most.

For those who don't remember exactly what happened in each book, book 8 begins with Elayne and Nynaeve and co. leaving Ebou Dar, which involves an incredibly long horseback ride to the Kin's farm to use the Bowl of the Winds, and then the Seanchan attacking Ebou Dar and coming after them, and the escape to Andor, and the long trek into Caemlyn for Elayne to claim the throne...it also has the beginnings of the Faile kidnapping storyline (she's kidnapped at the end of the book). Those two story lines were the least popular, I think. Then there's the Egwene story line (she comes to true power as Amyrlin in the rebel faction in this book, so unless you're an Egwene-hater, I'd call that part of the book good stuff, but there are a lot of Egwene-haters out there). Also, there's no Mat in this book, as he's trapped under a building.

That being said, the book has a really awesome prologue (including the pov of Ethenielle for the meeting of the Borderland rulers, Verin's pov when she was using her own made-up form of Compulsion on the Aes Sedai prisoners, and Moridin's point of view where he's playing sha'rah).

Also, I really loved the Rand chapters in this book. But I always love Rand chapters. There were some nice Lews Therin developments in the book that I think most people don't appreciate because they buy the "Rand is right and there really is a crazy other guy in his head trying to take over" theory. I don't. Also, the battle between the Seanchan and the Asha'man in Illian/Altara was awesome.

[HoosierDaddy]

Terez, on Jun 25 2009, 03:59 PM, said:

HoosierDaddy, on Jun 25 2009, 01:31 AM, said:

Also, I agree with your rebuttal to Mal's point on "RJ finishing in one book." It was obvious by A
La la la writing and other various points made by Terez...

Also, there's no Mat in this book, as he's trapped under a building.

Loo loo loo and stuff about Egwene's part being awesome (I'm a hater until she goes back to the Tower), other accusations of awesomeness.

Why Path of Daggers is the worst of the first 8 books.

The fact that RJ had to cut one of his three biggest characters from the novel is, to me, proof that the narrative had gotten out of hand.

[Terez]

Meh, I like Mat, but I also liked all of the other characters and story lines, and it just so happened that something major was required to get Mat to stay in Ebou Dar, and that something major gave RJ the opportunity to advance other plot lines. It's only proof of out-of-control narrative if you think Mat is a required ingredient for the books to be entertaining.

I notice no one complained when Perrin disappeared for The Fires of Heaven. Why? Because Perrin does not have fanboys. Mat has fanboys.

[HoosierDaddy]

I'm a Fanboy. The 3 are the key to victory for the entire plot. Not including one in a book is ridiculous. His "3 book trilogy" and subsequent "6 books" and then whenever the hell it gets done "12 books" show that the story was out of control. Do I mind? No, because I enjoy the books. Doesn't mean that the story didn't get out of hand for him, though.