Ammanas

I think it’s technically Science Fiction but the tv series Fringe is excellent. It has parallel Universes, teleportation and monsters in it and a lot of other really cool concepts. It is completed at 5 seasons (if memory serves).

A very promising review of the new Malazan book. According the the reviewer it’s seems to be everything I was hoping it to be. https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-god-is-not-willing-by-steven-erikson.html?m=1

@Benghis son son Kahn Don’t have much to add to @Hoiditthroughthegrapevine astute remarks but regarding a few things As much as I love this series it’s very difficult to recommend it to others. It’s a huge commitment and only for seasoned and well established fantasy readers. It’s hard to tell someone that much of the series will only make sense on rereads after they’ve read these massive tombs. The rereads are very rewarding. But I understand how people don’t like puzzles when they read... On a side note Christopher Rucchio and Justin Call are writing some top notch books at the moment that are very good and much more accessible. I’m current reading Master Artificer by Call. I personally found Dust of Dreams to be the biggest slog of the series outside of Kharkanus but it has my favorite convergence at the end. Orb Sceptre Throne is probably my favorite ICE book but my second favorite is Stonewielder. I really liked out the book was a meditation of “faith” in all of its different forms and it has one of the best sea landing and battles of the series. I personally like Blood and Bone. I think one has more appreciation for it if they have read and enjoyed Conrad’s Heart of Darkness or Coppola’s Apacolypse Now. edit: first initial thoughts I’ve seen from someone who’s read the first witness book. From werthead on Westeros forum: It's a fun book, though a bit oddball. It's Erikson's shortest Malazan novel to date (473 pages) and the story is focused almost entirely on two concentrated plot threads taking place a constrained geographical area. It does feel like Erikson has tried to go accessible for this one, at least by his previous standards. Rereading Book One of House of Chains may be a good idea, because although Karsa doesn't show up, a lot of the other characters and locations from that arc do.

Chapter 1 is up. I havnt read it because I like to just be able to read it straight when it’s released but many enjoy these early previews. https://www.tor.com/2021/06/01/excerpts-steven-erikson-malazan-the-god-is-not-willing-chapter-one/

Re listening to Master of Sorrows by Justin Call to prepare for Master Artificer which just came out. This is shaping up to be a amazing series that nobody is really talking about. You know from the first words of the book (a prophecy) that the main character is supposed to become this Dark Lord and he is likable enough so it’s about his journey to get there. I love it when authors invert tropes in interesting ways. The magic school aspect, prose, and leisurely pace remind me a bit of Name of the Wind. I personally feel these books so far is better but for some reason some books get really popular and some don’t.

Hopefully Suzy Jackson will narrate the audiobooks. Some authors will have a different narrator do the novellas than the main series (see Brian McClellan etc). She is the perfect voice for this series. Indifferent about the title name; I read the first two and will buy it whatever it’s called.

@FirstChild Audible has these three month discount deals that they offer several times (about 4 or so) a year for three months for $7.99 a month for three months. I always get them and cancel and then renew when they pop back up. They usually happen on prime day in the summer, Black Friday and two or so other random days. Hope this helps! We’ve come a long way from the beginning of audiobooks. I remember when I was younger if you wanted to listen to these 30 plus hour audiobooks you had to purchase a binder of cds and it cost over $50. I could never afford them and had to check them out at the library

A Memory of Stormlight Doors of Shadesmar The Return of the Heralds The Crippled Odium

Technically listening to it but I’m almost done with the Sons of Ares that’s a prequel to the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. Don’t really have the money to listen to many Graphic audio productions but there are only two out right now and found a good deal. I love how immersive the production is and it’s interesting finding out more about Fitchner and how he got to the point where we met him in the original series. It’s still going to be awhile until we get the next book in the series so it’s nice to get these and revisit the worlds(s) I will keep buying them as long as they keep producing them.

I was just thinking to myself it’s not fair that there are never any temples built in Utah. Lo and behold there was a surprise announcement for a new temple being built in Ephraim Utah. I feel happy that the good people of Ephraim will not have to drive 7 miles down the road to Manti temple and instead will have one in their own town. Here is a link to more information on the surprise announcement: https://www.ldsliving.com/How-rare-is-it-for-a-temple-to-be-announced-outside-of-general-conference/s/94265 (in case you can’t tell from my tone I’m not upset of jealous or anything. We cant even get people to volunteer in our Oklahoma temple and they have the entire state to draw from. More bemused than anything else)

Late to the party with this one but just saw the Tenet (the new Christopher Nolan movie). This movie just broke my brain in a good way. It’s one you have to watch with subtitles and really pay attention but I think I understand most of it now. Is it a movie one fully understands? I can’t stop thinking about it and I’m going to start mixing in, “ We live in a twilight world” into some casual conversations and see if anyone can complete the pass phrase.

No need to rush and read this one. We will probably never get the third book and the story, as it stands, is incomplete. I say this not to be negative and a complainer but in all seriousness. Judging by interviews it is not a priority to the author and is mired in endlessly rewriting scenes when he feels like working on it. It’s been 9 years or so since the last book came out and the editor said a few months ago she hasn’t seen a word of it. I’ll agree with Sovereign and say Lord of Chaos is one of the stronger ones in my opinion. I think it would be hard to get back into WoT after a long break. The audiobook of The Blade Itself is great. Pacey is amazing. Abercrombie isn’t for everyone and it seems like you didn’t enjoy the book so we might just have different tastes in books. I rushed through the print copy when I first read it.

@Use the Falchion Thank you for that very detailed answer. The new translation definitely seems leaner and that would seem to build momentum faster. I’ll definitely have to check it. Fangles or Wilson we have come a long way from the Pope translation and it’s nice to see new life breathed into such a old work. The question of translation has been on my mind recently. After spending most of my life trying occasionally to read the King James Bible I finally admitted to myself that I could hardly understand a word of it. It was basically gibberish to me. Perhaps I’m just not smart enough *shrugs*. So I have been reading/comparing the ESV and CSB and sometimes to really dumb thing down for me I consult the NLT. Everything became clear to me and I finally was able to see the power and the beauty of this book. It’s kind of like (I imagine) of suddenly being cured of really bad dyslexia. But I digress...thanks again for the response.

@Use the Falchion Have you read the Fangles translation of the Odyssey and if so could you please compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the two translations?

@Orlionra Glad you liked it! I’ve heard mixed things about the final book of this series. It’s still a bit of a pipe dream for me to actually read this series (only read the first 50 pages of book one). I also have the same goal for Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire as well. Have you heard if he plans on writing more books in this setting? There was talk of more books when the Unholy Consult came out but it seems like book sakes weren’t as good as hoped for so I don’t know if that changed or not.

@Dannex Sorry to hear that. Sounds frustrating. For reasons I will not get into on here I have also experienced frustration with the designs of church leaders and their decision making process over the past year or so. I’ve used this last year to really come unto Christ and the Father who will never disappoint you and not to rely of the arm of man. I’ve learned prayer is not about telling God about all your wants and demands but conforming yourself to Gods will and trying to understand what He would have you do. I now fill much more happy and at peace. Anyways sometimes change can be for the best! Even though it’s scary at the time. God bless! 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Cover art available for new Karsa book. I absolutely love it! One of the strongest of the series I think if not my new favorite! One of the many contributors to the Kharkanus books poor sales was the boring cover art but this just really pops! I have no idea who the women in it is. Perhaps a character we haven’t seen yet? I’ll include the link where I found this info: https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2021/03/cover-art-revealed-for-steven-eriksons.html?m=1

Deadly Quicksilver Lies by Glen Gook. This is a reread for me and this series is so funny! Even though the author is most well known for the Black Company he writes a great paranormal urban fantasy detective series. Even though Glen Cook has some of the oddest prose ever. He is the only author I know of the writes in phonetic grammar. For instance, he uses periods instead of commas and some of his sentences are just one word long.

I imagine the title will change or be tweaked. I actually think, “The Road the Nowhere” would be a nice name for the book. Excited to see where the story goes!

I saw this post from another website and thought it was fun to see Skyward covers from around the world and wanted share it with everyone here. My personal favorite was the French one. https://bibliosanctum.com/2021/01/15/friday-face-off-an-aerial-encounter/

-“Do you not wish to know my name?” -“No. I will call you Dayliss.” (ch 1 pg 66 mmpb HoC) Cold Karsa. Just cold. One of the harshest retorts in the series IMO. Almost forgot how much Karsa changed throughout the series. He’s a completely different character then he was when first introduced. Skipping MoI at the moment because I wanted to stick with the seven Cities storyline for the moment and check out the new narrator.

@Hoiditthroughthegrapevine I loved the Malazan reread of the fallen. I thought the hosts were fantastic and Bill was very knowledgeable and really helped my understanding of the story. Amanda was really sharp too. I also thought they did a great job of being fair and critical where it’s needed but also praising it when this series deserved it. I’m still kind of bummed it was canceled because I think they could of shed some light on some of the more obscure parts of the Kharkanus books. haha yes about Wot. This latest one they decided to “shake things up” and have a new host and have it be their musings and thoughts with this being their first read. I think they are somewhere in Fires of Heaven As a matter of fact I do know what that dice roll decided.

@Hoiditthroughthegrapevine I do know that the first Witness book is finished and being edited. Hypothetically Fall of next year for Witness but with Covid ruining the publishing world who knows. On the Malazanempire website it says that the Esslemont book The Jhistal is finished and I believe that while these books are money makers for Tor let’s face it: it’s a niche audience and publishing dates are being pushed back for these lesser series and given the priority to more profitable ones. I know these books are niche because Tor refused to fund more Malazan reread posts and bailed on Forge of Darkness. They are literally on their fifth (I think) read through blog posts on Wheel of Time. Also I do know the sales for Kharkanus has been abysmal while the new Esslemont books a been fairly decent.

Finally listened to @Hoiditthroughthegrapevine and started listening to the original ten Erikson Malazan audiobooks. Currently on Deadhouse Gates. I have found them enjoyable but I cannot even imagine going through these books the first time with the audiobook route. Even though I’ve read these books twice of my attention wonders even for a second we’ve already switched characters and I’m lost on a scene. Although this may be because of my learning style because I learn best by doing something and then next reading. I’m not a good audio learner and for most books the plot is simple enough it doesn’t matter. One thing I always enjoy on the Malazan rereads is the amount of foreshadowing. In hindsight the true identity of Moby and “Servant” is obvious but went completely over my head on the initial read. Just got to the part where Stormy, Gesslef etc are trapped in the Nascent. Malazan veterans will know this scene will not make since until book five although parts of it are explained in book four. I actually had to look up on the Malazan wiki about heboric. I had completely forgotten what was going on with his Ghost hands and one being green the other orange (it’s a long complicated story). What a crazy, crazy series (in a good way). Pretty sure I could read only these books for the rest of my life and continue to pick up new things and understand things better.

To a certain extent yes, but it depends on your expectations. For me I am thrilled if a author can publish a book a year. Even the most fast and dependable author have occasional lulls and multiple years between books. For example: Joe Abercrombie, James Corey, Jim Butcher, Steven Erikson, Glen Cook. I could go on but you get the point. As long as Brandon can publish one book a year I care about whether it by Skyward or Cosmere I’m very happy.