[Mercador]

I wonder why people stop reading this book? I'm at 1/3 atm (page 210) and so far, I like it. I read the other thread about that question but I got more spoilers than I should... So I would like to know what you think about it (without spoilers please )

Or I didn't get the "stop point" yet ?

It's not more complicated than the Black Company so far imho.

[HoosierDaddy]

Not more complicated than the Black Company? I'll disagree. Croaker's PoV is the only one we have in Black Company, thus you never shift settings, like is constantly happening in Gardens. On the other hand, I think both kind of just toss you into the middle of a story.

People are weak and not everybody has as awesome of taste as you.

[Slow Ben]

I think alot of people like to be spoon fed information. If theres too much happening they dont understand, with still more info being piled on, they wont enjoy it.

[Salt-Man Z]

Honestly, I thought The Black Company started out much more confusing than Gardens of the Moon, due to Cook's terse style coupled with Croaker's first-person account that wasn't always easy to follow. I think with BC, there's not a lot going on, but the limited POV makes it confusing. By contrast, GotM (which I had 0 problems with) has a ton of stuff going on, but it's at least easy to follow what's happening on a scene-by-scene basis, even if the big picture's not the easiest to grasp.

[Sinisdar Toste]

i have to agree that the BC was a tad confusing to me at first. SE drops your right into the middle of a story, but at least he does it cinematically. Cook just brings you in at one small water-shed point of a company that's been going for centuries, with only a single perspective, and that littered with idiosyncracies that you're not familiar with. they kind of do the same thing in different ways, and both end up being seriously kickass.

[Abyss]

Mercador, on 03 November 2011 - 09:05 PM, said:

I wonder why people stop reading this book? I'm at 1/3 atm (page 210) and so far, I like it. I read the other thread about that question but I got more spoilers than I should... So I would like to know what you think about it (without spoilers please )

Or I didn't get the "stop point" yet ?

...

I think that you're well past the infamous 'first 200' stop point and going strong.

Slow Ben, on 03 November 2011 - 10:04 PM, said:

I think alot of people like to be spoon fed information. If theres too much happening they dont understand, with still more info being piled on, they wont enjoy it.

Agreed. The 'problem' with GotM is the degree to which SE drops the reader into the middle of the story. Readers who are used to having nice cozy introductions to a new fantasy world and story via a conviently ignorant farmboy and his knowledgeable yet patiently expository mentor are challenged by this ("Warrens??? WTF?????") and it renders them incapable of just going with it.

HoosierDaddy, on 03 November 2011 - 09:13 PM, said:

...People are weak and not everybody has as awesome of taste as you.

But mostly this^.


Just keep reading and enjoy the fuck out of this series. And avoid spoilers. The forums are best for when you're done with the book. There are some events that you really REALLY don't want to spoil.

[LinearPhilosopher]

i started with memories of ice.

I dont understand why people say its too complicated. Considering i find GOTM is one the weakest in the series. Sure you miss out on the details, but failing to grasp the details wont stop you from enjoying a good and "realistic" story. And the details is what makes a reread all the more interesting.

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 04 November 2011 - 02:53 PM

[Mercador]

Well, actually, the only weird thing IS the warrens (labyrinths in the French version) but I see them like time-space plan.

[Abyss]

Mercador, on 04 November 2011 - 08:15 PM, said:

Well, actually, the only weird thing IS the warrens (labyrinths in the French version) ....

Heh... the French word may be even more apropos of the whole system in some respects...

[Orlion]

Yeah, I never had a problem with GotM. Read it in a week before a WFC, and brought it to have Steve sign. It was refreshing to not have that 'farm boy' character. Hell, Crokus is the closest we get, but he doesn't really look for answers nor gets them from anyone.

[worry]

Warrens were definitely the one thing that confused me most about GotM, because they're referred to so personally and yet so alien-ly and other-ly at the same time. But it didn't hamper my enjoyment, and you just gotta be patient till you catch on.

[Bonecaster]

Can't help you. I loved it right from the prologue. The few I've talked to who couldn't read it couldn't give any reason I could grab onto and try to help.

[Knowing]

I think in the end it comes down to what you personally want from a novel. As a kid i read The Two Towers, without realizing Tolkein had written two books before that. That ended up hooking me on the whole fantasy fiction ganre. For about a decade I had been looking for an experience that would replicate that feeling of being dumped in the middle of a story you have no facts about, and for a long while I could never find that. Yet when I opened the MBotF I was completely blown away. The first time (with Tolkein) I made a mistake, this time it was for real.

[tiam]

I read Gemmels King Beyond the Gate and tried to read GOTM straight after when I started reading fantasy other than Tolkien. Found it horrendously difficult to get into GOTM and read the first 50 or so pages about 3 times I think. If youve got through that then you should be fine.

[Marcule]

After not having read anything in 15 years I found GotM pretty much at random in the bookstore one day. Despite having to spend most my time at google looking up words, I found the book fascinating. I loved how nothing is really explained -- just get thrown right into the middle of some shit like you're already supposed to know everything. Most everything is implied or gleaned through conversations between characters -- not ever really explained straight out. Oddly, that is my most favored aspect of SE's writing. Everyone is a bad guy, everyone dies, total chaos, tragedy, grief, lots of bad-assery, and its all hilarious. Well, thats pretty much the entire series, but it holds true for GotM as well. The Malazan books are by far my favorite reading.

[Bent]

I think they dropped it because it was heavy and they are clumsy. But hopefully they will pick it up before someone steps on it.

[anomander stark]

Mercador, on 03 November 2011 - 09:05 PM, said:

I wonder why people stop reading this book? I'm at 1/3 atm (page 210) and so far, I like it. I read the other thread about that question but I got more spoilers than I should... So I would like to know what you think about it (without spoilers please )

Or I didn't get the "stop point" yet ?

It's not more complicated than the Black Company so far imho.

I too have just finished gardens and enjoyed it.
But it is understandable why people leave this book midway. These books are complicated, most people do not desire to strain themselves for a entertainemt. That is the main reason why books like Twilight and Eragon are so successfull (though these books are not even worth the paper they are printed on), most poeple like books of the farm boy who always win or heroes who are perfect. The books like MBOTF and ASOIAF are something very few can comprehend.
I think MBOTF is more complex than black company. But even black company is comlicated enough for majority of the readers, only a very small fraction of fantasy reader are astute enough to comprehend these books.

[Kanubis]

Part of me thinks that having a flashback that early in the first book (Tattersail recalling the battle at Pale) could throw people a little.

The rest of me thinks it's do to with Awesomeness. Just keep on being Awesome, and you'll love the series

[Mercador]

Well, looks like I'm not good enough for this serie...

I had to return it back to the library last week so I switch to the english version instead. I think my english comprehension isn't enough good (though I read Dance with Dragons) to follow the serie. So I'll hope they finally translate it in French completely (by now, only the two first books are translated) or I'll give a second try next year.

Thanks for your help though :-)

[JLV]

I think there are quite a few non english readers on these forums, so (Maybe?) some of them feel your pain. I hope you can eventually read the greatness that is the Malazan Book of the Fallen!