Argent he/him Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Also, anyone read the Riftwar books? I read the first trilogy/quad a while ago and want more of Pug/Thomas action, where to next? Uh. After Darkness at Sethanon both Pug and Tomas* become secondary, if not tertiary characters. Thomas especially - he plays an important role in maybe a couple of books, but that's all. Pug is featured a little more, but I would be hard-pressed to tell you which books he shows up more in. The next series, The Serpentwar Saga, still has him doing things actively, but he starts disappearing in The Conclave of Shadows. This is all just a general feeling, however, his presence is very sporadic and hard to pinpoint. All this being said, I think you are likely going to be disappointed in the remainder of the Riftwar Cycle. Most of the books, in my and many others' opinion, are nowhere near the level of the first four. In part because of the repetitive plot (there is a certain villain that essentially comes back to life a few times, and don't even get me started on Macros and his returns...), but in part because pretty much none of the future characters are as interesting as Arutha, Pug, and Tomas. To offer you an example - Jimmy's descendents (who are all named James, Jim, Jimmy, or some variation thereof) play roles of varying significance through the entire remainder of the series, and while some of them share his general character, none are as interesting; so you end up reading about 30 books with characters who are obviously meant to take after Jimmy, but are also obviously not as good. It gets very annoying very quickly.
Dunkum he/him Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Uh. After Darkness at Sethanon both Pug and Tomas* become secondary, if not tertiary characters. Thomas especially - he plays an important role in maybe a couple of books, but that's all. Pug is featured a little more, but I would be hard-pressed to tell you which books he shows up more in. The next series, The Serpentwar Saga, still has him doing things actively, but he starts disappearing in The Conclave of Shadows. This is all just a general feeling, however, his presence is very sporadic and hard to pinpoint. All this being said, I think you are likely going to be disappointed in the remainder of the Riftwar Cycle. Most of the books, in my and many others' opinion, are nowhere near the level of the first four. In part because of the repetitive plot (there is a certain villain that essentially comes back to life a few times, and don't even get me started on Macros and his returns...), but in part because pretty much none of the future characters are as interesting as Arutha, Pug, and Tomas. To offer you an example - Jimmy's descendents (who are all named James, Jim, Jimmy, or some variation thereof) play roles of varying significance through the entire remainder of the series, and while some of them share his general character, none are as interesting; so you end up reading about 30 books with characters who are obviously meant to take after Jimmy, but are also obviously not as good. It gets very annoying very quickly. Thanks for the write-up, I'm in the same boat as Vash on this one, I read the first few (and a couple after), so It's nice to know that I shouldn't waste my time on the rest
Argent he/him Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 I wouldn't call it quite a waste of time. Past the first four, I would rate most of the books 3/5, with the occasional 2/5 or 4/5. The very last book in the series was worth reading. The second quadrology, The Serpentwar Saga, is probably still good enough though - it's just been so very long since I read it, I don't remember much...
Dunkum he/him Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 I wouldn't call it quite a waste of time. Past the first four, I would rate most of the books 3/5, with the occasional 2/5 or 4/5. The very last book in the series was worth reading. The second quadrology, The Serpentwar Saga, is probably still good enough though - it's just been so very long since I read it, I don't remember much...The problem for me is that on my reread, I wouldn't have ranked most of the first 4 books above a 3/5, so if the others are generally worse, then it's unlikely I'll enjoy them much.
Argent he/him Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 Fair enough. Feist is not an author I would push for.
sanderfuss he/him Posted March 6, 2015 Posted March 6, 2015 Pawn of prophecy or guardians of the west? Does it matter much which one to hit first?
Dunkum he/him Posted March 6, 2015 Posted March 6, 2015 Pawn of prophecy or guardians of the west? Does it matter much which one to hit first?Pawn of prophecy first. The events of that series (The Belgariad) precede the events of Guardians of the West's series (the Malloreon)
Left he/him Posted March 6, 2015 Posted March 6, 2015 Well, so far I'm enjoying FireFight much more than Steelheart. Honestly not sure why, I might just have more reasonable expectation. Aslo, Planet of the Apes by Boulle was pretty good. It was the book the movies were all based on, and they're not identical. The writing is typical of the old sci-fi adventure books, reminded me a lot of an Edgar Rice Burroughs book.
AerionBFII he/him Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 I've just finished a reread of all my fave fantasy books and i need help in finding a good series to pick up. I've read Ravens Shadow,Unhewn throne, Night Angel, Lightbringer, all of Brandon's books, WOT, The Shadow of What Was Lost.. Im seriously struggling Preferably something with a male lead?? Suggestions?
sanderfuss he/him Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 Ok. The dragon reborn done. On the fence weather to carry on or not. Probably will. Think I'll break it up with pawn of prophecy or maybe another cosmere novel. In the wheel of time, is Matt anyone else's favourite character?
Briar King Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 Ok. The dragon reborn done. On the fence weather to carry on or not. Probably will. Think I'll break it up with pawn of prophecy or maybe another cosmere novel. In the wheel of time, is Matt anyone else's favourite character? You bet he is. Bk 3 is when he became mine since Rand was mostly absent. Mat continues on being a badass till the end getting even better.
Dunkum he/him Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 Ok. The dragon reborn done. On the fence weather to carry on or not. Probably will. Think I'll break it up with pawn of prophecy or maybe another cosmere novel. In the wheel of time, is Matt anyone else's favourite character? Pretty sure Matt is just about everyone's favorite character.
Left he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 Pretty sure Matt is just about everyone's favorite character. Bloody ashes he lightburning is
GreyPilgrim he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 Pretty sure Matt is just about everyone's favorite character. Perrin is mine, but Mat is a close second.
Andarist he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 I've just finished a reread of all my fave fantasy books and i need help in finding a good series to pick up. I've read Ravens Shadow,Unhewn throne, Night Angel, Lightbringer, all of Brandon's books, WOT, The Shadow of What Was Lost.. Im seriously struggling Preferably something with a male lead?? Suggestions? Brian McClellan's powdermage trilogy? If you don't mind YA Steampunk, then I highly recommend Scott Westerfelds Leviathan trilogy. Have you read Joe Abercrombie? He is quite good as well. Rachel Aaron's Spirit Thief series was quite interesting. Started off light and got darker and more serious. Jim Butchers Codex Alera is a very entertaining read. Daniel Abraham's Dagger and the Coin series gets its final installment this year. I highly recommend this one. Max Gladstone's books are all set in the same world but function as standalones. I recommend him due to the high degree of originality of his ideas. N K Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy is excellent. but it doesn't have the male PoV you are looking for until the third book. Also, Guy Gavriel Kay's standalone Lions of Al-Rassan is some of the most beautiful writng I have read in some time.
Andarist he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 Finished Way of Kings, started Words of Radiance. So excited! As soon as I finish, I can start posting here full time! For the moment I don't want to be spoiled, even by implication. So I am staying away from all the Brandon threads. My first post will probably be a big thread containing my thoughts on the books as I read. I like doing that for the really large scale books and I dont think it gets any bigger than Cosmere!
Meg Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) @Andarist: If you don't mind I'd advice to edit one post for additional thoughts so don't do double posts. It might be a mod will hint you at that too. Also, Guy Gavriel Kay's standalone Lions of Al-Rassan is some of the most beautiful writng I have read in some time. This! (Though I don't no know the English original.) I very much like it. But it's not a male PoV neither (at least mostly). edit: what an embarrassing typo Edited March 12, 2015 by Meg
Andarist he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) @Andarist: If you don't mind I'd advice to edit one post for additional thoughts so don't do double posts. It might be a mod will hint you at that too. This! (Though I don't no the English original.) I very much like it. But it's not a male PoV neither (at least mostly). Ooh, right, forgot. Two totally different topics so... anyway, lets see if I can edit it. Edit: I dont see a delete option, so maybe a mod can combine the two posts? Edited March 12, 2015 by Andarist
Meg Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 A mod might do, yes. It's not possible to delete a post but you can hide it. Next to "edit" is "hide". (It goes: report - edit - hide - multiquote - quote.)
sanderfuss he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 Ok. Most of my way through 'the storm front'!! Yes that's right, I've broken up the wheel of time series with an even bigger series of books because I'm a fool. Although just because there's more books I shouldn't say it's a bigger series as it's no where near as epic. And I do get the feeling that each Dresden files story can be picked up when ever, by which I mean each book is a separate story onto it's itself with only a small hint of follow on. Am right in thinking this? With the wheel of time at first I thought Matt was a dick! And he was! Really enjoyed his character in the third. Although, I can't recall him being a master of quarter staff previously. I remember vaguely it mentioning his father but didn't think it meant good enough to match a warder. Found that strange but entertaining. Getting board of the Rand vs the dark one though which is why the story hasn't gripped me. I find more self more interested in the other little rivalries that are going on.
Dunkum he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 With the wheel of time at first I thought Matt was a dick! And he was! Really enjoyed his character in the third. Although, I can't recall him being a master of quarter staff previously. I remember vaguely it mentioning his father but didn't think it meant good enough to match a warder. Found that strange but entertaining. Getting board of the Rand vs the dark one though which is why the story hasn't gripped me. I find more self more interested in the other little rivalries that are going on.Yea, Matt's quarterstaff proficiency isn't exactly out of character, but this is really the first time they call attention to it (also, that is one of my favorite scenes in the series, and there is a specific callback to it in one of the later books that I enjoyed). Rand is going to get better, and then a lot worse. He is probably my least favorite of the main characters for most of the books. Perrin is also a favorite of mine, Matt edges him out, especially later on, but I mostly like him.
sanderfuss he/him Posted March 12, 2015 Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) I liked Perrin from when the wolf thing started. Also how each of them think the other two are great with women when none of them have a clue. Very clever as it strikes true with most of us. Edited March 12, 2015 by sanderfuss
Andarist he/him Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 Ok. Most of my way through 'the storm front'!! Yes that's right, I've broken up the wheel of time series with an even bigger series of books because I'm a fool. Although just because there's more books I shouldn't say it's a bigger series as it's no where near as epic. And I do get the feeling that each Dresden files story can be picked up when ever, by which I mean each book is a separate story onto it's itself with only a small hint of follow on. Am right in thinking this? With the wheel of time at first I thought Matt was a dick! And he was! Really enjoyed his character in the third. Although, I can't recall him being a master of quarter staff previously. I remember vaguely it mentioning his father but didn't think it meant good enough to match a warder. Found that strange but entertaining. Getting board of the Rand vs the dark one though which is why the story hasn't gripped me. I find more self more interested in the other little rivalries that are going on. Regarding Jim Butcher, don't worry! When I was reading Wheel of Time I broke it up with quite a few other reads as well. The advantage of Butchers books are they are quick, easy reads, and extremely entertaining. You don't really need to remember any overarching plot elements till book 7-8, I think, though you shoudl still read in chronological order. As for Wheel of Time, yes, Matt's ability with the quarterstaff is a bit jarring, but also very important. Which book are you upto?
sanderfuss he/him Posted March 13, 2015 Posted March 13, 2015 I'm just about to start book 4 as I finish 'storm front'. A lot of people on here have recommended the Dresden files but I've not been impressed with the first. I've read the rivers of London series and prefer that even though that isn't great. A lot of people seem to put stock into the fact that the Dresden files is 15 books in and still fresh but to be fair, you could fit one book into a single hour long episode of a TV series (not sure if they've already done this). In which case you could put much more stock in the writers of such TV series as NCIS, House, criminal minds and the like. I don't think I'll pick up another Dresden files book unless someone tells me that the writing gets much better. Maybe it's the constant monologue I find a little annoying. Or maybe I've been spoilt by Brandon and Patrick. And Tolkien of course. And Rowling, yes Rowling. And King for that matter. Anyway, I'm going to jump right back into the wheel of time because funnily enough, as much as I've gone about the story not gripping me, I'm missing it. I guess I miss the characters
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