Has anybody read...

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Has anybody read... ...and what did you think?

#401 Cause

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Posted 06 November 2018 - 07:40 AM

Tiste Simeon, on 04 November 2018 - 11:17 AM, said:

Has anyone read The Garden of Stones and the following trilogy by Mark T Barnes? I picked the trilogy up on Kindle very cheaply a couple of months ago and I've just seen them on there. Are they good? Might read it after Rejoice.

I actually just downloaded it because I thought the blurb sounded cool. 3 pages in I realized I had read and given up on it before. For me it was too dense. Their is magic and science, Their are five elemental races, humans, I forget how many animal/human races, weird laws, ranks and societies. This is the kind of thing that normally interests me but it was too much and too badly intoed. You had barely absorbed one new word before introduced into the next.

Also seems derivative. How do you have so many ideas in one book? You apparently steal a few. The first 3 pages has Warhammer harlequin Eldar fighting the gnosis and anagogic sorcery from Bakkers books.

#402 Hammerhead88

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Posted 04 December 2018 - 09:02 PM

Has anyone read the Durand books by David Keck? I know Erikson has recommended them however they have pretty poor Goodreads ratings ...

#403 End of Disc One

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Posted 12 March 2019 - 06:53 PM

Anyone read Will Wight's Cradle series? I read a review for it, and realized that my reading has been severely missing some Dragonball Z flavor. These books look like they'd be a lot of fun.

#404 QuickTidal

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Posted 12 March 2019 - 07:03 PM

End of Disc One, on 12 March 2019 - 06:53 PM, said:

Anyone read Will Wight's Cradle series? I read a review for it, and realized that my reading has been severely missing some Dragonball Z flavor. These books look like they'd be a lot of fun.

I grabbed the first volume on a sale that Michael Sullivan pointed to for like $1, but I've not read it yet. I'll chime in when I've gotten around to it.

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#405 nicetrout

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Posted 13 March 2019 - 07:24 PM

Has Anybody read The Amber Books by roger zelazny. I picked them up a while ago and am finally getting around to them. I read the first one and was kind of luke warm. Was wondering if people had any thoughts

#406 Salt-Man Z

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Posted 13 March 2019 - 08:03 PM

nicetrout, on 13 March 2019 - 07:24 PM, said:

I thought the first series was great. The second series was less so, but not bad. Unfortunate Zelazny passed before he could properly conclude the whole thing. Do read the first 5 books at least.

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#407 nicetrout

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Posted 13 March 2019 - 09:29 PM

Thanks, sounds like a good compromise.

#408 acesn8s

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Posted 14 March 2019 - 11:57 AM

I only read the first book. It was ok. There are a lot of other books in my queue I want to read over book 2 at this point.

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#409 Abyss

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Posted 14 March 2019 - 02:31 PM

AMBER starts out as fairly basic fantasy and becomes more complex. By about book 3 i found the series genuinely interesting.

I think it's worth reading the full series. They're fairly short.

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#410 Salt-Man Z

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Posted 14 March 2019 - 03:22 PM

Abyss, on 14 March 2019 - 02:31 PM, said:

AMBER starts out as fairly basic fantasy and becomes more complex. By about book 3 i found the series genuinely interesting.

I think it's worth reading the full series. They're fairly short.

Yeah, the latter books in the first series had a couple twists that just made me sit back and say, "WOW".

And yes, the giant omnibus edition is like a whopping 1200 pages... for 10 novels.

I'll also add that I was surprised that the first series didn't feel at all dated--except for one detail that betrays it as a product of the 70s: literally everybody is chain-smoking all the time. Like, whenever two characters meet the first thing that happens is one of them asks the other for a smoke. (I may be exaggerating slightly.)

#411 nicetrout

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Posted 14 March 2019 - 03:23 PM

I don't think you're exaggerating, they're always smoking. Real Mad Men Shit.

I have that big omni too, its a bit obnoxious to tote around actually lol

#412 Tiste Simeon

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Posted 14 March 2019 - 05:53 PM

Yeah I have the 10 book omnibus I think maybe you guys have inspired me to start it again some point soon

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#413 Tsundoku

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Posted 15 March 2019 - 09:24 AM

Just read the first chronicles, don't bother with the second. Ie read books 1-5, not 6-10. 6-10 are shit.

And I have the omnibus as well - 'The Great Book of Amber'.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 15 March 2019 - 09:25 AM

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#414 Abyss

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Posted 15 March 2019 - 03:30 PM

Not shit, but not quite as epic/novel as the first five.

Felt a little like Zel's publisher told him to do it.

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#415 Macros

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Posted 19 March 2019 - 08:37 AM

I vaguely recall reading book one and not feeling overly like picking up the rest
Have I missed a trick here?

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#416 Abyss

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Posted 19 March 2019 - 04:47 PM

Tsundoku, on 15 March 2019 - 09:24 AM, said:

Just read the first chronicles, don't bother with the second. Ie read books 1-5, not 6-10. 6-10 are shit.

And I have the omnibus as well - 'The Great Book of Amber'.

Abyss, on 15 March 2019 - 03:30 PM, said:

Not shit, but not quite as epic/novel as the first five.

Felt a little like Zel's publisher told him to do it.

Macros, on 19 March 2019 - 08:37 AM, said:

I vaguely recall reading book one and not feeling overly like picking up the rest
Have I missed a trick here?

There are those who put Amber in the 'you are not a true fantasy lit fan until you have read this series' category.

I am not one of those people. Zelazny has always been 'like, not love' for me, but i have read a pile of his fantasy and sf. His work is solid, and may have been original for when it was written, just less so now.

That said, AMBER is entertaining, has a few 'this is what i read fantasy for' moments, some fun characters, and manages to surprise once per book more or less. Also, the entire ten book series amounts to maybe two Malazan novels, so it's not exactly a massive commitment. If you're feeling something lightish with a decent dose of stabby, i say its worthwhile. If it doesn't grab you, you aren't missing out on the cornerstone of fantasy as we know it.

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