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OK nerds, you win. Song of Ice and Fire is gud.
- Thread starter Stinkles
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D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
this thread always makes me want to read more Abercrombie :lol
I got 'best served cold' but I'm still trying to finish the master and margarita, which I'm finding good, but difficult for some reason.
I got 'best served cold' but I'm still trying to finish the master and margarita, which I'm finding good, but difficult for some reason.
Forgotten_Taco
Member
I really can't stand Erickson's style of prose, it's the literary equivalent of nails on a chalk board for me.
Mockingbird
Member
Dresden said:
People in the know say the new Lynch will hit in March. This is also when the new Rothfuss will be out. What a month!
Sir Garbageman
Member
Mockingbird said:
Probably the two books I'm looking forward to the most outside of A Dance With Dragons and the next Abercrombie book.
Speaking of which, slightly off-topic but are any of GRRM's books / creations worth reading like the Wild Card series?
ZephyrFate
Banned
Tuf Voyaging and Sandkings are phenomenal.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
:lolBlueWord said:
Just had to quote this again. I don't get the appeal of Wind at ALL. Abercrombie's series is so much more gripping and entertaining.
LocoMrPollock
Banned
suffah said:
The Bloody Nine POV is the most awe inspiring thing I have ever read. I actually had to take a break once or twice after reading his chapters, just to let the awesomeness sink in.
Captain Blood
Member
Out of curiosity are you talking about his series that starts with The Blade Itself? I picked up Best Served Cold and The Blade Itself around the same time and started with Best Served Cold but it really seemed to drag on for me which kinda put me off of The Blade Itself. All this talk is making me think I should give Abercrombie another try.Kuro Madoushi said:
moojito
Member
I gave the blade itself a try, but really didn't get into it at all. I got to the part where that guy who was in training for some kind of sword fight beat the first guy in the tournament. Is the story still gathering pace at that point, or if I don't dig it by then is it a lost cause?
I'm working my way through the lies of locke lamora now and after a slow start it's really starting to get interesting.
I'm working my way through the lies of locke lamora now and after a slow start it's really starting to get interesting.
LocoMrPollock
Banned
moojito said:
Yeah, The Blade itself is more like a slow prologue. It really doesn't pick up until close to the end, which is just pure awesome, and then it hooked me hard and I finished the other books in the series over a few days.
Kuro Madoushi said:
The appeal of Rothfuss is the quality of his prose. The man can write a really good sentence. The Name of the Wind didn't even need to be a fantasy novel, in my opinion. Remove the magic stuff, and it still would have been a good novel. It's the type of book that I feel comfortable recommending to my friends with English degrees who normally don't like fantasy.
I'm also an Abercrombie fan, but I don't think I've ever read anything of his and felt like 'Wow, I really loved the way it was written.' I enjoy him more for the way he creates characters that are twisted versions of the fantasy archetypes and then sets them against each other.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
ZephyrFate said:
I've only read about 100 pages into Erikson's first book (Gardens of the Moon), but my biggest problem with Erikson was juvenile it seemed. The description of the events in what I read just sounded like something a teenage boy would come up with. It was like, "and then out of nowhere a massive demon appeared and tore the head off of the nearby sorcerer before unleashing 'waves of magic' that wrought carnage on the battlefield." Everything just seemed so random and lacked any kind of explanation whatsoever. It was like Erikson was writing down things he thought sounded cool to himself as they popped into his mind without a care for the reader.
I liked some of his prose, but I found a lot of it hard to read. The way he structures a lot of his sentences and some of the words he chose to use sounded awkward and caused me to read some sentences over and over before I could understand what he meant. I've never had this problem with GRRM or Abercrombie.
Then again, there are tons of Erikson fans out there so maybe I'm just missing something. Since I already bought the first book I will probably give it another chance someday.
Zefah said:
I suggest you torch GotM and either start with Deadhouse gates (2nd book) or Midnight tides (sort of standalone so you need not have read any of the others).
Midnight Tides especially is probably his best work. It is here that you see why he is often compared with some of the greats in the genre.
It is a shame that none of his other books ever touch it.
One thing that I will say about Erickson is that is he so attached to the philosophical/political/world building in his story that he neglects certain things that many find important ( consistent characterization for one). With that said, his world(s) are amazing and extremely impressive; not many writers in the genre can construct worlds as good as his.
ZephyrFate said:
In my opinion, this is his best work.
forgeforsaken
Member
ZephyrFate said:
Way back when, I got one of our 8th grade teachers to read this to the class.
Sir Garbageman
Member
Zefah said:
This has come up in another thread but I hit about the same exact point in Garden's of the Moon before I gave up for essentially the same issues. Just didn't grab me in any way shape or form.
On the flipside though, I've loved all of Abercrombie's books and the gritty, brutal world he's created. I really dug The Name of the Wind as well even with the Mary Sue effect in full swing. Tokkun said it better than I can with regards to both:
Abercrombie, Routhfuss, and Scott Lynch are def my new favorite fantasy authors on the scene and looking forward to all of their next books.
ZephyrFate said:
I'll give these two a shot, thanks.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
tokkun said:
I'm not entirely sure what having an English degree has to do with enjoying a fantasy novel. I do have one, and it hasn't really changed my taste of fantasy novels...even if everyone shits on them in the literary world.
Anyways, the reasons you listed are the exact reasons I like Abercrombie. It's a different take on familiar archetypes. However, he really shines once you get into the stories. I remember first reading Blade and thinking it wasn't that great. The second book is where it picks up and I had to get the third after finishing half of the second. After finishing the third, I immediately went to get Served Cold. Sorta the same stuff...starts slow and then really ramps it up. The only thing I didn't like about it was the identity of the assassin...
Anyways, back on topic
I still think Martin >>> Aber >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Roth
I do hope he gets his shit together, and we're all griping about the delays because the series itself IS so well put-together.
Zefah said:
I agree with this completely, which is why I compared him to Marvel superhero comics earlier. Even within the fantasy genre, I feel like his books lack a grounding in rules and a sense of scale, as he feels a continuous need to introduce new characters that are invincibly powerful. Probably the nicest thing I can say about the series is that it's very interesting to read about it on Wikipedia, much like I enjoy reading about the Marvel Cosmic characters, but after reading Deadhouse Gates, which many people told me was the best in the series, I've decided that this type of book is not for me.
LocoMrPollock
Banned
Jerk 2.0 said:
Agreed. You have to be realistic after all.
Shouldn't we put this in the Erikson thread? I think there was one. Oh well...
GotM really is awful, I have no idea how I was able to finish it. Deadhouse Gates and Mignight Tides are both great books. Just way more tightly written.
The latter books are all over the place. Disliked some parts, loved others. Worth reading at least, Erikson comes up with a lot of neat stuff.
True. It's less pronounced it the latter books, but every now and then there's some random COOL STUFF tangent that is resolved in a few hundred pages before continuing with one of the main storylines. Or sometimes a story is aborted with little to no explanation (you might get a callback in a few books though). And occasionally he completely mixes up his entire writing style! The guy is crazy!
Jerk 2.0 said:
GotM really is awful, I have no idea how I was able to finish it. Deadhouse Gates and Mignight Tides are both great books. Just way more tightly written.
The latter books are all over the place. Disliked some parts, loved others. Worth reading at least, Erikson comes up with a lot of neat stuff.
Zefah said:
True. It's less pronounced it the latter books, but every now and then there's some random COOL STUFF tangent that is resolved in a few hundred pages before continuing with one of the main storylines. Or sometimes a story is aborted with little to no explanation (you might get a callback in a few books though). And occasionally he completely mixes up his entire writing style! The guy is crazy!
tokkun said:
Yeah, very much reminds me of reading a comic book. Erickson definately has some amazing moments, but you have to wade through a lot of crap to get there.
Still, whoever told you that DHG was the best did you a great dissevice. Perhaps they may have enjoyed it the best, but it was far from being the best written.
Sir Garbageman
Member
LocoMrPollock said:
Winner.
ZephyrFate
Banned
I always forget Fevre Dream, but I'd recommend that, too. Best vampire novel outside of Dracula.
Mockingbird
Member
OT but since people are talking of it. The first illustration for The Blade Itself LE just got posted:
http://subterraneanpress.com/index....ration-for-joe-abercrombies-the-blade-itself/
http://subterraneanpress.com/index....ration-for-joe-abercrombies-the-blade-itself/
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
What the hell is that image from? I can only think of the ruins of Aulcus in the Old Empire, but that's in the second book.
velvet_nitemare
Member
Dunno if it's been posted, but members of Westeros who attended the book reading/signing in SD had this to say:
PhoenixDark
Banned
from the Westeros forum too
On one hand I'm like "wtf why even leave the house if you're almost done ahsahkrkre" but he had been scheduled to do this signing for ages. I really hope all the balls he's juggling don't cause him to finish the book a month or two after it could have been done, assuming he's really close to finishing it this month. Just a slight delay could be the difference between getting the book this holiday season and spring 2011
On one hand I'm like "wtf why even leave the house if you're almost done ahsahkrkre" but he had been scheduled to do this signing for ages. I really hope all the balls he's juggling don't cause him to finish the book a month or two after it could have been done, assuming he's really close to finishing it this month. Just a slight delay could be the difference between getting the book this holiday season and spring 2011
aidan said:
Yeah, do it. That way we won't be bumping this thread all the time and give false hope to people expecting ADWD to be finished
tokkun said:
True, but this time it sounds like he is just a few weeks away from finishing it.
So even if he's a factor 5-10 off as usual, it probably will be finished this year.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
I've been trying to maintain my denial about actively reading a fantasy series, so yeah, another thread would help with that.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Dresden said:
I do remember something about the buildings of ruined Aulcus being described as made from metal.
Sir Garbageman
Member
aidan said:
Yup.
Brian Fellows
Pete Carroll Owns Me
CrunchyB said:Yeah, do it. That way we won't be bumping this thread all the time and give false hope to people expecting ADWD to be finished
I'm still going to be bumping this thread because I don't care about any of those other series and don't feel like wading through all the crap. Though if it keeps all that discussion out of this thread I'm all for it.
velvet_nitemare
Member
tokkun said:
Unless he does another round of massive rewrites, this is it. He has to be done at some point, so why not now? A 100 more pages and he's there, i prefer to be optimistic on this one.
velvet_nitemare said:
It seems like all of his progress updates recently have been something like:
"I finished a chapter. Of course I previously had thought it was finished 3 times" or
"I finished a chapter, but now I have to go back and rewrite two chapters because of it".
And on top of that, none of us really know how far away he is from the finish. We know the total number of pages, but we don't know how much of the book is near final and how much he plans on changing.
PhoenixDark
Banned
tokkun said:
He's said before that he doesn't include unfinished chapters in MS page counts. So him being at 1400 means the book is almost as large as ASOS, and it's almost done. He's given hints about him being finished before, but it seems more believable now that we know how much work he has done. His comments on the gorilla on the July calender and his comments at Clarion suggest the wait is almost over.
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