Malazan

[Tabris]

Looks like the Lees of Laughter's End is shipping now, that's the new Malazan novella by Erikson.

Also looks like Reaper's Gale has been delayed until May, darn it.

[Seventh]

Originally Posted by Nebuchadnezzar

Half way into book 4 and yes, its completely awesome. So much so that I ordered book 5 and 6 from Canada instead of waiting for the American releases. When all is said and done and the American market finally catchs on, I wouldn't be surprised if Malazan is looked at as better than A Song of Ice and Fire.

Those two are compared, but not really accurately. They will both kill any character, that's about it. Where Ice and Fire is realistic with little magic, Malazan is hyper fantasy, Gods getting killed, humans ascending, and so many bad ass, could-decimate-an-army characters that its pretty unreal.

^ Agree 100%, after finishing book 3 last night. I'm probably the minority, but I still prefer Wheel of Time to both of these. I couldn't get through book 10 of WoT to save my life when it came out because I read them all in a row - but after taking time off and re-reading all of WoT through 11, it's just superb. Not to take anything away from either of these two, they're great as well.

OT: Dark Tower is still to this day my favorite fantasy series. It's just flawless.

[Khorum]

You're nuts.

[Callic]

yeah that's just crazy talk

[Wildstone]

I'm more amazed that Dark Tower and flawless can be spoken in the same words...I still chuckle at the egotism needed to put yourself (the author) into your fantasy novel.

[Khorum]

I enjoyed the Dark Tower series well enough, but in no way does it approach ASOIAF or Malazan quality. I'm not just hating on King either, I really like his work, but there's just not much comparison. That said, Dark Tower blows WoT out of the water IMHO.

Malazan is hyper fantasy, Gods getting killed, humans ascending, and so many bad ass, could-decimate-an-army characters that its pretty unreal.

As far as badass characters who destroy everything in sight Malazan sure has them in droves, and a final confrontation between Karsa and Icarium, or the Seguleh First and Brys Beddict would be worth a whole friggin novel. But my favorite badass in the books is a short, fat, pastry-inhaling walking pimple. Kruppe would single-handedly vaporize all those fuckers with incandescent bolts of coherent awesome shooting from his forehead.

[Hateyou]

Iskaral Pust vs. Kruppe, using only conversation $

Anyways, just starting Book 6. Every book gets better and better, so happy I picked up this series. I'm sad the 7th book got pushed back.


P.S. Just a response to Khorums comment 3 weeks ago. Book 5 hasn't been released in the states yet. April 17th is the due date. You probably saw a used or imported copy at Borders.

[Khorum]

Originally Posted by Hateyou

P.S. Just a response to Khorums comment 3 weeks ago. Book 5 hasn't been released in the states yet. April 17th is the due date. You probably saw a used or imported copy at Borders.

Yep I asked the store about it, it was a paperback Bantam edition of Midnight Tides that I saw on their shelf, it was apparently on special order from another store. I ended up getting it over amazon myself.

[Grimmlokk]

Not read anything beacaus I'm only 2/3rds through the second book.

Love the series. The writing is absolutely top notch. My only complaint is the fact that too much miracle type shit happens to save people at the last second. Maybe it changes later in the series, but up til now just way too often someone/some diety shows up at the absolute last second and saves someone. I like the idea of people being in debt to the dieties(loved how it was set up for Paran in the first boook), but most of it is just the random characters of god-like characters(Mappo/Icarium, Heboric, etc etc) just being in the right place suddenly to save the day/advance the story.

Anyhoo, still love it, completely. Just that's the only real complaint I have.

[Korbal]

Been reading malazan pretty much since the start. (When there was only book 1-2 out.) The only complaint I have is the fifth book about the Edur wasn't as good as the others imo. It seemed boring and even dragged.

Other than that, this is definately the best series I'm reading right now.

[Khorum]

Originally Posted by Korbal

Been reading malazan pretty much since the start. (When there was only book 1-2 out.) The only complaint I have is the fifth book about the Edur wasn't as good as the others imo. It seemed boring and even dragged.

Other than that, this is definately the best series I'm reading right now.

SPOILERS

Midnight Tides was the longest book so far IIRC (was 950ish or so) but I enjoyed it, personally. Prolly because I liked the characters introduced in it (Tehol, Shurq). It would've been about 50 to 100 pages longer too if Erikson had crammed in the events around Trull Sengar's banishment and shorning in the drowned Emurlahn fragment that we find him in at the beginning of book 4. He shuffles that around for later, but still, Erikson tends to dole his exposition buried under lots of extra narrative, and we can piece together the reasons for his banishment.

I love the Malazan series but it's still (very close) second to ASOIAF. Erikson's prose can get lazy and indulgent pretty often, but I'm easily sold by Erikson's inspired combination of imagination and tremendous depth. Erikson was a working Anthropologist and Archeologist for twenty years (not sure if it was mentioned earlier) and this experience shines through the books with the lavish detail of everything from prehistoric cultures to the forces that govern the rise and fall of civilizations. GRRM on the other hand is a meticulous plot technician and a master character sketcher, not a single line or gesture is misspent in the whole arc of the whole series; all the elements fit like a choreographed dance. Every re-reading of ASOIAF just reinforces my admiration for GRRM's craftsmanship.

[Kasi]

Malazan is definately my favorite series. ASOIAF is probably my second favorite, but AFFC was well junk. Which was sad following the excellent ASOS. I don't have that much more hope for the next book either. Add in that Martin is straying close to a sellout for me. He spends more time working on paraphenelia for his world than actually writing his novels.

Martin is probably the more skilled writer though, but I just like Erikson's story more. Really looking forward to Reaper's Gale.

Jordan's disease has gone into remission, so there is a good chance now that he finishes his series. I agree with the points on Martin. I doubt he'll live long enough to finish his given his current state of health.

[Khorum]

WTF? He's fat, not MORBIDLY obese, which is a clinical definition that involves a whole medicare category for bariatric beds, wheelchairs and forklifts... Last time I him saw I'd say he's pushing 260/70 maybe? Granted he wasn't tapdancing at the booksigning, but he wasn't on a wheelchair or a using a cane or a scooter or anything, wasn't anymore obese than most aging hippy geeks his age. He's old at 59 years though, there IS that, but unless there's been some kind of new development he's not even ill. The dude flies around buying houses and partying at conventions; which, though it's bad news for impatient readers, isn't a sign of a sick man.

I'm not gonna rip into a didactic dissection of why Malazan isn't as polished as ASOIAF, I'm a big fan myself. But by the third book, most folks pick up on the fact that the books are all repetitively themed and structured in the same manner around a climactic siege battle with hyper-fantastatic concepts skewing major plot elements. All the books. I could forgive the trite third-act siege format, but the super-fantasy magicmissilespewpew stuff is meh.

[Kasi]

It's a combination of both his weight, age and how fast he is writing. The series is getting longer. It's gone from 3 to 4 to 6 to 7. In the last 6 months of 2006, he barely did any writing. He spends more time working on other projects, going to conventions and remodelling his house than writing books. Book 5 won't be out til the end of this year at the earliest. I'd say if he can finish it in 3 books, I'd put it at 2008, 2011 and 2014 at the days those books would be released, and that is being generous. 2014 would make him what 66? The guy weighs easily over 300 pounds. When you're that heavy at that age it is not a good combination.

Umm, as for your way of generalizing the books, I'd say no. Yes he uses the idea of convergence and does have the climax of the book at the end, but then again, so does pretty much everyone. Go look at Jordan's books. Each book generally ends with a big battle scene. Wow Martin does that too, with Robb winning his big battle at the end of AGoT, the battle of the Blackwater at the end of ACoK, and the battle at the wall in ASoS. AFfC I won't count because it's half a book.

Plus the end to Bonehunters doesn't really fall in there, and HoC the battle is pretty minor behind the stuff with Karsa. If your point is that the end of books have climaxes, well it happens everywhere. And don't get into nitpicking about that, because I can trump you on that. I agree Erikson uses convergences at the end of his books, but there is no one in fantasy that overuses cliffhangers like Martin. His chapters end with them, his novels end with them. He can't stop himself from using them. So you take your cliffhangers, and I'll take convergence.

[Tabris]

You can't look at Martin and tell me that is a healthy person. He looks like he can keel over dead at any moment.

I will be shocked if either Martin or Jordan finish their series without dying first.