Whisperzzzzzzz, on 21 April 2023 - 05:17 PM, said:
I'm wondering if this was for your first read or a reread? What I love about the Sun Sword is how dense and multilayered and complex everything is. These books echo with depth and feature a multitude of interesting characters. For my money, the Dominion storylines are way more interesting than what happens in the North. And even among the Imperial plotlines, those that have to do with the coming war in the South (Valedan, Kiriel, the Ospreys) are the most fascinating. The first 3 House War books simply cannot have the same sprawling feel to them. Jewel is important, the more so as the story progresses, but she's far from my favorite character.
Here's something that someone wrote on the Westeros message boards:
I wouldn't follow the chronological reading order because The Sun Sword series is much better than the other stuff set in this world and doesn't require the previously written and significantly weaker Hunter duology to understand. The first 3 volumes of the misleadingly titled House War series unnecessarily elaborates on the backgrounds of certain characters that are concisely and sufficiently explained in the Sun Sword itself.
Granted, I haven't read them yet, so I can't comment on this. But I have a feeling that reading the first 3 House War books first would be like watching the Star Wars prequels before the original trilogy, or reading the Esslemont books before reading SE's The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Technically, it works. But why would you want to do that? It's the Sun Sword that gives context to the House War, the same way it's Erikson's novels that provide the context for Esslemont's.
If Michelle West sticks the landing, it's obvious that The Sun Sword will rank among my favorite speculative fiction series of all time.
I know I'll read them all because I've already bought them. But I have a question for you. Can I jump into House War volume 4 as soon as I'm done with the Sun Sword? I figure that when I'm done with the series, I'll want to know what happens next ASAP. And going through 2000+ pages worth of Jewel's origin story doesn't appeal to me that much. I'd rather get back to the first 3 volumes when I'm done with the last 5.
This post has been edited by pat5150: 21 April 2023 - 10:04 PM