[Defiance]

Completely agree with Use of Weapons concerning ICE's improved skills. I enjoyed a lot of the stuff that happened in his first three books, but I felt that they would have been better had Erikson been writing them. Not to say the books were horrible - they were a step above most other fantasy out there these days, plus they were in the Malazan universe. Enough said.

Orb, Sceptre, Throne, though, has been perfect so far. I have zero qualms with the writing. The pacing has been excellent (no dull moments, stuff is always happening). I'm not confused with constant PoV hopping, and he's continuing all of the plot lines quite well, rather than just leaving one to sit for dozens and dozens of pages before it's returned to. I'm really excited to see where the book is going, and I already have numerous theories about the Tyrants and Seguleh and such. I have yet to find myself irritated by any of the main characters, and so far he's transitioned the ones coming from Erikson flawlessly.

The stuff on the Shores of Creation is really catching my interest as well. Won't get into that discussion much here, though.

This also gets me even more excited for his two coming novels, especially Assail. I'd been a bit worried about both this book and Assail, thinking that ICE might not do justice to this (a semi-continuation of TtH) and all of the stuff that has been building up on Assail. Given the quality of this book so far, though, I think it's safe to say the his Assail novel will certainly live up to our expectations.

[Kruppe]

Being in New Zealand i thought i would have to wait ages to read this one. Kindle to the rescue though and all is well!

[HoosierDaddy]

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 19 January 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

Oh god...it's here. I've got to finish Hyperion over the next couple of days so that I can start it.

Having to read Hyperion before Malazan....

I'm so unbelievably jealous of what you are going to experience. Don't rush Hyperion.

[Aptorian]

I am going to say something blasphemous here. If you are reading Hyperion, screw OST. Read The Fall of Hyperion when you are done with Hyperion. They are meant to be read together and the pay off is god damn awesome.

[tiam]

Never read Hyperion. Not a sci fi fan tbh.

Also I got my copy today so, gods willing, I will be balls deep in some Genabackan action until the early hours

[kcf]

I had a little mis-understanding with the publisher who supposed to send me an early copy, but that's worked out now. It's probably winging its way over the Atlantic right now and hopefully will by in hand by early next week.

[Messremb]

Just finished it. Damn that was good. Use of Weapons and defiance are so right.

[Flawed]

This book was available in our local book store since the 19th. £20 tho. Thats about a thousand dollars.

Will try and wait for it to get cheaper and for my holiday in april. If i can not wait, ill have to sell my body. Thats about 50 dollars

This post has been edited by Flawed: 23 January 2012 - 12:47 PM

[Abyss]

My copy is in transit.
And since it's in transit from the silly British Empire, using Royal Mail or something equally sily, i cannot even track it.
And of course, at the end of that, it gets passed to Canada Post to give to me.
AND if it doesn't arrive by Friday i will be away and have to wait an additional ten days or more to read it.

Hate.
Hate life.
Hate you who already have it.
Hate mail. Hate hatey hate hate and be hatin' HATE.


- Abyss, now with 33% MORE HATE.

[Seiko]

My copy arrived today, yay. Paperback version, for £11 via Amazon. Good deal.

[QuickTidal]

My copy arrived today from the UK and I just started it over lunch. About 3/4 done the prologue only so far, but I'm liking it already.

[HoosierDaddy]

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Anomander Morg]

Well I feel stupid now for ordering the PS Publishing version, thought that would arriving well before any others.

Ho hum.

[Gaarheid]

The ABC in Amsterdam has it (and so do I).

[Messremb]

Anomander Morg, on 24 January 2012 - 08:15 AM, said:

Well I feel stupid now for ordering the PS Publishing version, thought that would arriving well before any others.

Ho hum.

Yeah, that's been annoying me. Still, at least it means I don't get the PS all grubby from the first few reads

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

H.D., on 20 January 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 19 January 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

Oh god...it's here. I've got to finish Hyperion over the next couple of days so that I can start it.

Having to read Hyperion before Malazan....

I'm so unbelievably jealous of what you are going to experience. Don't rush Hyperion.

Aptorius, on 20 January 2012 - 03:25 PM, said:

I am going to say something blasphemous here. If you are reading Hyperion, screw OST. Read The Fall of Hyperion when you are done with Hyperion. They are meant to be read together and the pay off is god damn awesome.

Sat down yesterday and read the shit out of it. A truly outstanding book. Started OST of course but I'm itching to read The Rise of Endymion, now. May have to do that before a Malazan reread...

[QuickTidal]

OST took no time at all to suck me right into ALL the plot threads. Seriously, I am already fascinated with all of them. Most especially, 1st real personal insight into the Seguleh.

Oh, I'm nearing the 100 page mark BTW.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 24 January 2012 - 02:07 PM

[Abyss]

- Abyss, with all the jealous rage, all the jealous time.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 24 January 2012 - 02:50 PM, said:

- Abyss, with all the jealous rage, all the jealous time.

Ah, we missed you rage cat! We haven't seen you since someone stopped up Abyss' copy of TCG at the border.

[Defiance]

About 60% of the way through. My reading time has been infringed upon by having to visit my girlfriend's relatives (we live in Iowa, they're in Ohio), but I'm reading every chance I get. The story is still rolling along fantastically. A major strength of this entry is definitely the fact that we're not being given an entirely new cast to work with. Instead, we mostly have characters from previous ICE/Erikson novels.

Enjoying it greatly so far. Looking forward to seeing how a lot of the mysteries unfold. In true Malazan style, we have threads all the way back from Gardens of the Moon being resolved (or at least expanded upon) here. My only qualm at this point is how Kruppe is written. He doesn't pontificate as much as he does in Erikson's novels, and he refers to himself in the first person just as much, if not more, than he does in the third. His actions remain true to Kruppe, however, and all of the other characters have been spot on. Others have even been expanded, which is really nice.

The book has posed many questions, but it's given a lot more answers so far, which is seriously nice. I enjoyed Stonewielder, but I was a bit disappointed by the fact that some central things remained unexplained (mainly, who exactly are the Stormriders?).