It's post-structuralist, so basically one massive short story anthology, with each book circling a certain event and theme, fluctuating wildly between low & high brow. One of few works of fantasy with truly literary aspirations, but it also asks a damn lot of the reader.
>One of few works of fantasy with truly literary aspirations
Pity it fails so spectacularly at that then. It’s the literary equivalent of a young adult novel. I’ve read children’s novels with more depth.
Literally 2deep4you then. Read a postmodernism 101 book and try again.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>Literally 2deep4you then
The fact that you can actually compare postmodernists like Pynchon and Dellilo to this tripe that has more worth as toilet paper than literature really says a lot about what a moronic homosexual you are. Legitimately contemplate drinking bleach, you are too incompetent to continue living.
2 years ago
Anonymous
He's a genregay, what else were you expecting.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>iT hAs dRaGoNs iN iT sO it CaNT bE sERiOus LiTTEraTuRe
You reall got me there bud
its a lot more feminism and sex than LotR if you're fine with that. Overall pretty naive, and politically correct world-view with undertones of ohh look how much blood there is and how though I am in looking at all this blood, and making all these morally ambiguous decisions.
The series is so good I don't want to read any other fantasy at this point. It's depressing. There's nothing better than this. First books is weak though.
Chain of dogs is one of the best fantasy books I've ever read
listen to these homies, it's really, really good.
full disclosure, i've read MBotF probably 3-4 times completely, and books 1-4 like 6 or 7 times individually. Gardens of the Moon starts off like a lot of other epic fantasy but doesn't give the readers a lot of clear, black-and-white explanation for the world-building which drives some readers nuts. the characters are real, they have reasonable motivations and reactions, and almost every one of them has a distinct voice (over a cast of hundreds). Erikson gets a bit preachy sometimes, particularly in the last 3-4 books where he let a little too much of his personal life color the writing (death of his father, heavily leaning into leftwing politics, etc.), but it's one of the few completed series of epic fantasy that manages to not only stick the landing, but continually astound through to the final pages. the setting is vast, ancient, and unlike almost anything else i've read. there's a lot of subversion of common fantasy tropes, which felt like an incredible blast of fresh air when these were published in the early 2000's. There's humor, including plenty of gallows humor, but ultimately there's very strong compassion underlying both that and what seems almost endless tragedy.
i find a lot of meaning in these books and will likely continue rereading them every couple of years for the rest of my life. YMMV, but i think the payoff is worth the time commitment.
It’s probably the best non-fiction I’ve ever read, even the stupid bits. Really sucks you into the world and makes you give a frick about the characters.
I have wondered if someone might've isekai'd and came back and wrote their story. (It's also possible that person wouldn't get published because they're a bad writer).
It's my most regretted reading endeavor, and I will not listen to a IQfy recommendation again. The first book is bewilderingly incoherent and not remotely good, without even the attempt to provide the reader visuals. The rest of the books are a slog. Each book changes the setting and characters until the last couple, so just when you think you might be starting to like someone, they disappear. The stories have no meaning, and whole swaths of text are totally pointless. It's a gigantic waste of time, up there with Game of Thrones, but worse because it's longer.
is the series worth the time investment? I've read it's too convoluted and only parts of it are good.
>is the series worth the time investment?
No
I dropped it a quarter of the way into the first book. Completely incoherent.
Filtered moron.
It was right after the magic flying mountain fortress showed up after the wizard battles that I decided I'd had enough.
It's post-structuralist, so basically one massive short story anthology, with each book circling a certain event and theme, fluctuating wildly between low & high brow. One of few works of fantasy with truly literary aspirations, but it also asks a damn lot of the reader.
>One of few works of fantasy with truly literary aspirations
Pity it fails so spectacularly at that then. It’s the literary equivalent of a young adult novel. I’ve read children’s novels with more depth.
That's why you should read Tolkien, he's the only fantasy author that has any literary merit
>he's the only fantasy author that has any literary merit
Who would you say comes close?
That's not true at all, since Mervyn Peake has more literary merit than Tolkien does. I love Tolkien, but let's be honest here
Lmao he is a average childrens book author
Utterly refuted by Michael Moorwiener in his 1978 essay "Epic Pooh".
>Michael moorcuck
Opinion discarded.
You clearly have only just watch the movies.
Literally 2deep4you then. Read a postmodernism 101 book and try again.
>Literally 2deep4you then
The fact that you can actually compare postmodernists like Pynchon and Dellilo to this tripe that has more worth as toilet paper than literature really says a lot about what a moronic homosexual you are. Legitimately contemplate drinking bleach, you are too incompetent to continue living.
He's a genregay, what else were you expecting.
>iT hAs dRaGoNs iN iT sO it CaNT bE sERiOus LiTTEraTuRe
You reall got me there bud
Here's the (you), you so desperately wanted. filtered Black person
its a lot more feminism and sex than LotR if you're fine with that. Overall pretty naive, and politically correct world-view with undertones of ohh look how much blood there is and how though I am in looking at all this blood, and making all these morally ambiguous decisions.
The series is so good I don't want to read any other fantasy at this point. It's depressing. There's nothing better than this. First books is weak though.
listen to these homies, it's really, really good.
full disclosure, i've read MBotF probably 3-4 times completely, and books 1-4 like 6 or 7 times individually. Gardens of the Moon starts off like a lot of other epic fantasy but doesn't give the readers a lot of clear, black-and-white explanation for the world-building which drives some readers nuts. the characters are real, they have reasonable motivations and reactions, and almost every one of them has a distinct voice (over a cast of hundreds). Erikson gets a bit preachy sometimes, particularly in the last 3-4 books where he let a little too much of his personal life color the writing (death of his father, heavily leaning into leftwing politics, etc.), but it's one of the few completed series of epic fantasy that manages to not only stick the landing, but continually astound through to the final pages. the setting is vast, ancient, and unlike almost anything else i've read. there's a lot of subversion of common fantasy tropes, which felt like an incredible blast of fresh air when these were published in the early 2000's. There's humor, including plenty of gallows humor, but ultimately there's very strong compassion underlying both that and what seems almost endless tragedy.
i find a lot of meaning in these books and will likely continue rereading them every couple of years for the rest of my life. YMMV, but i think the payoff is worth the time commitment.
tl;dr i disagree and will not expound on why.
try le guin and wolfe
It’s probably the best non-fiction I’ve ever read, even the stupid bits. Really sucks you into the world and makes you give a frick about the characters.
>non-fiction
My iPhones autocorrect just changed fiction to non-fiction. The AI is telling me something.
I have wondered if someone might've isekai'd and came back and wrote their story. (It's also possible that person wouldn't get published because they're a bad writer).
How come it's only available in mass market paperback?
Paper back is for people that read books
>Egalitarianism
Yuck
>there are people on IQfy who read fantasy other than Lotr
Just play dnd(any B/Xchads here?)
Chain of dogs is one of the best fantasy books I've ever read
Toll the Hounds is where it's at.
Nay, Midnight Tides.
It's my most regretted reading endeavor, and I will not listen to a IQfy recommendation again. The first book is bewilderingly incoherent and not remotely good, without even the attempt to provide the reader visuals. The rest of the books are a slog. Each book changes the setting and characters until the last couple, so just when you think you might be starting to like someone, they disappear. The stories have no meaning, and whole swaths of text are totally pointless. It's a gigantic waste of time, up there with Game of Thrones, but worse because it's longer.
Never gonna happen!