[worry]

I'm starting My Antonia. A little Willa Cather never hurt anyone.

[Darkwatch]

Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds.

[Orlion]

The Mask of Cthulhu- August Derleth

[wade]

Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt. Hopefully will get this finished by the time House of Chains arrives.

[Mentalist]

Finished the third Gap book.

where the first was essentially a sci-fi criminal thriller, the second a "world-exposition" book, the third really ramps things up. Donaldson weaves the plot, with betrayals, reversals of fortune and special interests piling up one on top of another, and the scope grows, with the introduction of the Earth plotline. And all the psychological torment of, well...... every single character, and especially the question of how will they all cope now....

Gonna take a break from this awesome series, though, because I picked up OST today, and well, nothing trumps Malaz on the reading list.

[Dutch]

Reading Chronicles of the Black Company at the moment.

Just 88 pages in, but I have already ordered the books of the South, Return of the Black Company and the many deaths of the Black Company.

That much I'm liking it.

[Hound]

At the moment reading The Breach by Patrick Lee. After that continuing with Ghost Country. So far I like it

Also purchased the Black Company novels. Looking forward to reading that!

Edit: I love this forum for all the book recommendations.
Thus far never been disappointed (other wise I would never have read Butcher, Abercrombie, Sanderson, GG Kay etc.), so thanks!

This post has been edited by Hound: 10 March 2012 - 03:14 PM

[HiddenOne]

Just finished OST, really liked it, phooey on the nay-sayers in that thread


Now reading "The Darkness that Comes Before" my first book by Bakker. Writing style seems good (it's his 1st novel I think) - story needs to get moving a bit better. Some of you Bakker fabs can reassure me at this point...

[Dutch]

I finished OST last Tuesday, found it quite entertaining and enjoyable.


Perhaps if you already have low expectations because you see quite some of those threads flying around before you start reading it yourself, your own findings about the book can concur with what others say or you can think, where the hell were the others talking about?
I'm liking it a lot.

[Hound]

I found Orb, Sceptre, Throne quite a quick, enjoyable read compared to some other Malazan novels. Some things could have been handled better (the ending for example), but it didn't really bother me.

[Dutch]

I kinda forgot who was reading Magician by Feist, but if you like it allot I can also recommend Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon, Prince of the Blood and the Kings Buccaneer. The first two being a part of the Riftwar Saga if I remember correctly, been over a year since I last read them and I don't own them yet myself.

The Serpentwar saga (consisting of Shadow of a Dark Queen, Rise of a Merchant Prince, Rage of a Demon King and Shards of a Broken Crown) is also quite enjoyable, except for Shards that one felt kind of really rushed.



But the biggest recommendation besides Silverthorn and a Darkness at Sethanon is the Empire Trilogy by By Feist and Janny Wurts, Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of the Empire which takes place on Kelewan, the home world of the Tsurani.

[QuickTidal]

That was me Dutch, and I've got a few more Feist books ready to rock, and I'll read his and Wurts Tsurani series as well.

Mid-way through BLADE OF TYSHALLE, crazy depressing at points, but very very solid.

Also started Susan Hill's THE WOMAN IN BLACK (yes the basis of that movie) as it is a novella and seems spooky.

[MTS]

The Empire series is probably the best thing that Feist and Wurts have ever written. Just pure brilliance.

Oh, and once you read Shards of a Broken Crown, just stop. It's not worth it going any further.

[Mentalist]

Finished OST.
I liked it. Like all of ICE's works (except RotCG), it lacks the scope of MBotF, but I enjoyed the story.

some things confused me (these will be discussed in the appropriate subforum), but overall, the story made good sense. The ending was somewhat anticlimatic, but fully in line with the Malaz world.

up next is probably the 4th Gap book by Donaldson.

[QuickTidal]

I'm a little blown away at just how charmingly written and compulsively readable Susan Hill's THE WOMAN IN BLACK is. I'm loving it! I'm into it enough to check out her other books now too.

[Dolorous Menhir]

Mentalist, the Gap series is an amazing work just for the level of sustained tension.

HiddenOne, on 10 March 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

Just finished OST, really liked it, phooey on the nay-sayers in that thread


Now reading "The Darkness that Comes Before" my first book by Bakker. Writing style seems good (it's his 1st novel I think) - story needs to get moving a bit better. Some of you Bakker fabs can reassure me at this point...

I'm definitely not one of his fans, but I can say that the series gets worse, not better. Whether you like it or not will depend on your taste and preferences.

[amphibian]

Dolorous Menhir, on 11 March 2012 - 05:32 PM, said:

I'm definitely not one of his fans, but I can say that the series gets worse, not better. Whether you like it or not will depend on your taste and preferences.

Define "worse". You're doing a disservice to a fairly well respected author here by slamming the series in a drive-by.

If I'm going to object to something and tell people about it, I'm giving them exactly what I disliked about it and the reasons why that all adds up to something I don't recommend buying if you share similar tastes to mine.

I do admit that I rather like Bakker's Prince of Nothing work - although I do not much like Bakker the human being. The writing shows an admirable quality of being near-completely resistant of anticipation, well paced and an imaginatively put together world, history and future.

[Use Of Weapons]

Would have to agree with amphibian -- Bakker is a solid writer, with flashes of spectacular world-building and characterisation.

I'm currently reading the second Riyria omnibus.

[polishgenius]

I think Bakker is ace, and gets better as he progresses. The first three books are indeed pretty slow going in parts with a heavy focus on character angst and philosophical debate, but when they do get moving they go to some pretty impressive places and I thought were definitely worth the effort. The first two books in the second trilogy I thought were absolutely fantastic- struck a better balance between plot and philosophy and improved the writing as a whole. He's about the top of the list as far as ongoing epic fantasies go, for me. If it keeps going at this level the Second Apocalypse would match Malazan as a whole, probably. If it keeps improving... then it's going to be some ride.

[Mentalist]

I think I preferred PoN to the Aspect Emperor Books.

Bakker is an impressive writer, but I find myself generally dissatisfied with his pacing. and I strongly dislike Kelhus, as a character.

On the other hand, he's put a solid effort into his world-building, and although (imho) he lacks the scope of Malazan, that very fact makes his world feel "tighter" and more believable.

so, I'd argue there are both pros and Cons to Bakker's writing. whether you like him or not will probably be strongly influenced by what exactly you prefer to have in your fantasy.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 11 March 2012 - 11:34 PM