[Malaclypse]

As a diehard lover of Steven Erikson's books, all of them, including those written by Steven Lundin, I can't be alone in my love for the 'Thorns' trilogy (apart from the ending which was pants imo), and Mark is still writing so there's plenty to talk about and such converse should not take place in the same forum as ruminations on Terry Goodkind. I am right about this. Make it happen modgods!

[Malaclypse]

Illy recently asked me about the Thorns trilogy, when I was harassing him about changing the name of his user group and what just came off the top of my head was the following:

<edited for public consumption>

Quote

oh yeah man, that was and remains the best series I've read in the last decade outside of Steve himself - Mark Lawrence has that flow, that natural confidence that I and so many others lack - it just flows and you believe it, inhabit it and fall in perfect love with it. The second series has not begun all that well but I am forgiving him due to the absolutely stunning brilliance of the Thorns trilogy - I'm a bit iffy about the ending but it's stellar up to that point.

And it's true, Mark Lawrence is for me, the most interesting voice in fantasy right now and I want to talk about it.

[Coco with marshmallows]

You are aware of this discussion thread yes?

Thorns discussion

Considering Mark himself is a regular poster in there, what more do you want?

[Tiste Simeon]

Malaclypse, on 26 September 2014 - 09:15 PM, said:

Mark Lawrence is for me, the most interesting voice in fantasy right now and I want to talk about it.

Yeah Jorgs character development is one of the best I've read.

[Malaclypse]

Coco with marshmallows, on 26 September 2014 - 09:27 PM, said:

You are aware of this discussion thread yes?

Thorns discussion

Considering Mark himself is a regular poster in there, what more do you want?

I want a subforum, obviously

[polishgenius]

Without wanting to distract too much from the deserved Mark Lawrence love: Mal, have you read The Acts of Caine yet (I may have asked you this before). Because I maintain that while you may absolutely love the series or you might just run screaming for the hills, you will at the very least find it interesting.

[champ]

Malaclypse, on 26 September 2014 - 09:58 PM, said:

Coco with marshmallows, on 26 September 2014 - 09:27 PM, said:

You are aware of this discussion thread yes?

Thorns discussion

Considering Mark himself is a regular poster in there, what more do you want?

I want a subforum, obviously

Seconded!

[Malaclypse]

polishgenius, on 26 September 2014 - 10:58 PM, said:

Without wanting to distract too much from the deserved Mark Lawrence love: Mal, have you read The Acts of Caine yet (I may have asked you this before). Because I maintain that while you may absolutely love the series or you might just run screaming for the hills, you will at the very least find it interesting.

Can't get it on ibooks or kindle, and looking for the first book physically was not without hassle so...I figured God didn't want me to read this book

[polishgenius]

You can get it on Kindle in the UK. Not available in... wherever you are (Canada?), then?

[Malaclypse]

Alright then perhaps I've been lazy because I'm in the UK, though I intend to correct that sharpish. I'll check again on the kindle app

[D'rek]

I don't think a Mark Lawrence dedicated sub-forum is really warranted... yet. He only really has the one trilogy so far, yes? Those who are finished it can post in the big Thorns spoiler thread. Those who are partway can post in the Reading at t'Moment or start their own thread.

The dedicated author sub-forums are more for authors with more media and ergo a wider scope of discussions - Sanderson has WoT, 5 original series/standalones, and then there's discussion about all those series and standalones being in a shared universe, so there is potential for lots of different thread topics and spoiler levels. Butcher has one sprawling 12-books-and-20-short-stories-so-far series that has a huge amount of world scope in it, plus another six-book series and a third series starting up soon. GRRM only really has the one main series (okay, so there is *some* Wildcards discussion in that sub-forum but not much) but it's arguably the most popular modern fantasy series at the moment and it exists in both novels and a currently-running TV series, so again a fair bit to discuss there (and even then that sub-forum is pretty empty when the show isn't on).

So, at the moment I don't really see a Lawrence sub-forum being justified and I don't think it would actually have much traffic. Same goes for Abercrombie, Stover, Richard Morgan, Rothfuss, etc, who have current fantasy series that many on this forum like and recommend, but don't have the sheer volume and variety of discussion to warrant a dedicated sub-forum here.

Of course, if each of these authors continues to produce new novels and series that position can certainly be revised.

[HoosierDaddy]

He has a second series going on about a different protagonist in the same universe, but in general I agree with you D'rek.

[Traveller]

We've got one thread that Mark posts in. Why do we need another one?

[Malaclypse]

Sanderson and Butcher are fucking hacks. We need a subforum for Mark Lawrence because he ain't no hack

ETA: alright, maybe that's a bit harsh but Lawrence has some original ideas and is exciting to me in a way that nobody else in fantasy right now can match. The dude visits here and *should* have a strong following here because he's an actual, real life, *interesting* writer in a sea of dross. He deserves special treatment imo

This post has been edited by Malaclypse: 27 September 2014 - 05:24 AM

[HoosierDaddy]

I think he does have a strong following here, subforum or not. I really enjoy his books, they are refreshing as hell.

He is also pushing out new books, so that is one requirement for a new subforum met, and frankly if it weren't for Game of Thrones the GRRM subforum would probably go away as well until he publishes again.

That being said, I don't want the fact that the author posts here to be the overriding reason he gets a subforum, and I feel that would be the case here. I'd not be bothered either way, but don't want to pander, either.

[Malaclypse]

I have personally argued with him on facebook re: the switcheroo in King of Thorns - I am no panderer - I merely wish to give credit where credit is due

[polishgenius]

I'm curious, what are the exciting and original ideas that so set him apart for you? It's not that I disagree these books are awesome, they are, but there's lots of exciting writers in fantasy right now, the genre's in great health.

[Malaclypse]

I dunno, you say that and I don't want to disagree but the vast majority of what I've come across is quite frankly uninspiring to put it kindly. You want to say the genre is in great health so, and I'm not intending to pick a fight for its own sake here (though I do sometimes do that , name some of the authors that make you feel this way?

For me, it's as I said above, he has that flow which allows you to sink completely into the world he is offering to you. Nitpicking all of a sudden seems petty and stupid, this is a ride worth taking and there is quite simply nobody else apart from Steve that makes me feel that way.

[Malaclypse]

polishgenius, on 26 September 2014 - 11:18 PM, said:

You can get it on Kindle in the UK. Not available in... wherever you are (Canada?), then?

OK so I've downloaded Blade of Tyshalle, Heroes Die, Caine's Law and Caine Black Knife - does that about cover it?

[HoosierDaddy]

Have fun with that. Caine.... is hardcore!