The other extremely underrated thing about Malazan is the humor. There's a character in one of the latter books that mounts an invasion in the form of a bar crawl through the invaded land. Erickson is also super anti-capitalist and it really shines in the books set on the continent of Letheras. Some of the most thoughtful and hilarious writing of the series comes in those books.
This might be of interest to the thread, so I’m sharing: I’m part of an upcoming SFF anthology releasing on the 15th. We are running a giveaway for a free copy of Tales of the Black Piper (book + soundtrack)! Check out our post on Instagram for details: This is an exciting SFF anthology with some really excellent stories in it (including one from Kristen Britain!!), accompanied by a forthcoming soundtrack (if you’re familiar with The Black Piper, they’ve done albums for Stormlight and Black Prism). This is a really cool project and I’m excited to share it with everybody.
I need to get on that, I'm all for more mystery in my fantasy 100%. I made a post of stuff I'm planning on reading this year and that was before I started my Malazan re-read. Now I'm wondering how I'm gonna get to all of it lol
Just finished Memories of Ice…. I'm enamored with all of the characters - even amongst the weight of the sheer volume of essential characters, each and every one feels human, even the gods and immortal beings. MOI felt like the first time Erikson really starts to nail down his overarching themes with much clearer precision than with the Chain of Dogs/Felisin or GoM. also, Duiker?! bridgeburners were blessed!!! Korlat better fucking kill Kallor, Whiskeyjack. the sheer number of losses . Itkovian!! Paran stepping into a leadership role So so many great moments I can't jot them all down here.
I struggled with book 1 and DNF'd it for the time being. But I also know it's a series I should just clear some space for and go at with it a more focused approach. I wasn't confused per se, but I wasn't hooked, and found the writing style and presentation pretty clunky for what's essentially a pitch (as all for first books are) for the world and characters. I also know that book 1 has a reputation for being like that and I certainly didn't give up for good. Just waiting for a time when my book queue is clear and I can sink my teeth into at least the first 3 before deciding if it's truly for me or not.
Totally understood, I can promise you (as much as my word is worth) that if you make it to book 3, it all starts to click and your synapses will be firing making some large scale connections with the first two. I liked the first two, but I can see that they can be a bit of a slog to get through if you’re not connecting with the world.
Broken Binding just announced a special edition for Of Blood and Fire the first book in the Bound and the Broken series and I pre-ordered so fast. In love with this world.
Finished the justice of kings and really enjoyed it. Now do I go buy the other two or start something else.
Those who've read Richard Swan (@tvck etc.), do you need to read the trilogy before jumping into Grave Empire?
I would. It’s like 100 years or something after the events of Empire of the Wolf but I think you need the context of why the world and the conflict is the way it is. I don’t recall there being any DIRECT connections outside of the world but I think it’s important.
Cool cool, thanks. I’ve got Justice of Kings on my Kindle, but with Steel Gods coming out soon, I thought I’d see if it was worth doing Grave Empire on audio so I could get it to it first. I’m excited to read them when I get the chance though. They sound great.
Didn’t have the Robert Swan books at Barnes and noble so I’ll have to order them online. Bought the shadow of the gods by John gwynne so I didn’t leave empty handed.
Barnes and Noble has classic books and series in these cool hardcover editions. This one was expensive, but worth it. I opened it already and it’s pretty cool. I loved the movie when I was a kid and I always thought it was one book, not a series. I’m not big into comedies, but ever since I started reading Discworld, I realized comedy fantasy/sci-fi can be good when written well.
yeah, they've hooked me once or twice with one of those fancy cool covered books, or the ones where the sides of the pages is colored / illustrated, even when I said I wasn't buying anything and was only there to look around