Orlion Blight

For all his talk of "post-modernism" and such to elevate his series to a higher artform than genre fiction, Erikson forgets one key thing: people read Malazan for escapism and entertainment. And we can see that in comparing the reception of the Kharkanus books with the reception of the Dancer books. I don't think Ian is smarter or more insightful than Erikson, he just chose to tell a story with fun characters. The Tiste Andii are not fun in large doses. That's kinda the point, but it goes against what people wanted in a Malazan book. Hence why Ammanas said the Kharkanus books were for diehard fans only. There are no fun characters, no fun plots, nothing that fans were looking forward to that they would call epic. It just appealed to folks who want to see whatever Erikson does and folks that enjoy combing volumes for bits of lore. The Karsa books should have funner characters and plot points. Should. I just wonder if fans will give him another chance.

I don't think there really CAN be an epic finale. It's Star Wars and takes place right before Revenge of the Sith... Essentially, there's just the Fall of Mandalore to look forward to. And Ashoka

Keep in mind, if you change your username (like, let's say I change my name to Agent O) you need to use that or the e-mail attached to your account.

This is the proper reaction. Any Clone Wars episode without Ashoka is, by definition, a garbage episode

Doom Eternal! Ripping and tearing, but not in a way that involves gastrointestinal distress!

The Plague by Albert Camus

damnation kids, get off my lawn!

Moving on to The Journey of Ibn Fattouma by Naguib Mahfouz.

Could not find the more general thread that use to exist for generic posts, so making a specifically general one instead! In this thread, post about how you are following through on your Resolutions for 2020. This may create some incentive as you now have, yet another, place on the Internet to brag about your accomplishments! One of my Resolutions: I want to make a new "dish" each week to level up my home cooking skills. "Dish" can be a meal, a side, dessert and so forth. All it has to be is something I have not made before. My first dish was made last week on the first day: Poulet au vinaigre. It is chicken with a tarragon vinegar sauce. This particular dish was served to friends (not all will be, that's too much social activity!) and was a hit.

Catherynne M Valente is one of the best *cough*actual best*cough* Science Ficition/Fantasy authors writing today. Her work has a broad spectrum of styles, writing from Middle-grade to Adult fiction so depending on exactly what you are looking for recommendations on where to start would vary. (Though I would say Space Opera for adult, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making for Middlegrade). John Crowley is also essential for anyone who wants to tout how refined their tastes are in SFF. The recommendation here is simple, it's Little, Big. It's even part of Harold Bloom's Western Canon, that's how much pretentious cred it will get you! Going further back, if you want to go with a foundational fantasy work that is not Tolkien, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy (Titus Groan, Gormenghast and (if you want) Titus Alone) will open up an entirely new vista of what a fantasy novel can be.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. An excellent experimental novel that recalls to my mind Goethe's Faust Part II and the work of Svetlana Alexievich.

@hoiditthroughthegrapevine I don't think we necessarily disagree on whether or not Erikson is pretentious, but rather whether or not his inflated opinion of himself is justified. In this case, if I'm understanding you correctly, you think he is justified because the Book of the Fallen succeeds in part because of his pretentiousness. I think they succeed in spite of his pretentiousness and, often, the execution is threatened by it (see especially Dust of Dreams and Crippled God. Some might include Toll the Hounds, but I also liked that one. The form and Erikson's pretentiousness and high opinion of himself really complimented each other and worked together to create something special there). As a comparison, take Esslemont. He started off pretentious as well which lead to inferior Malazan books where, among other things, he mistook authorial reticence with subtlety. The Path to Ascendancy was him taking a departure from that attitude and they created a better product. Erikson, however, has really embraced his pretentiousness when it comes to his writing post-Book of the Fallen and has been slapped down repeatedly. As a result, those books have seen atrocious sales which forced him to abandon one of his trilogies and start another one in a hope to reignite reader interest in his work. He seems to have learned some lessons, since he is trying to manage reader expectation with regard to the Karsa trilogy, but we'll have to see how he executes it.

Listening to the 60s French Pop station on Pandora.

Mostly the Fantasy Flight Marvel Champions card game

The new Harley Quinn cartoon show has been a blast so far!

I need to get back to that series. I really liked it once the story got to the city. The politicking is superb! Sounds like her next project will involve pirates.

Honestly, if you could get through Dust of Dreams, The Crippled God is doable!

Tom Baker IS the Doctor! Any subsequent good Doctor is just putting their spin on his performance.

They're great books! One of the greatest science fiction series I have ever read.

Pretty much the only time I bought something as an ebook first before a physical copy.

Author Hubris is Erikson's superhero identity Hopefully he reigns it in a little, otherwise he might have a hard time selling books in the future!

The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M Valente. Going to have to wait a little before going on to the sequel, because I don't know when/if she will finish the trilogy and I don't want to deal with that angst yet!

Not too many surprises for me, since I've all ready resigned myself to a 2022 date for Wax and Wayne 4. I am also hopeful in his newfound view of what he should focus on. It shows that he has finally come to terms with what his brand is and won't be constantly trying to expand or recreate it *cough*Apocalypse Guard*cough* More then anything, what seems to mess with Brandon's flow are creative aberrations. These would be finishing Wheel of Time, Apocalypse Guard and that blasted Magic novella. The quality is all over the place with these, from good to nonexistent, but what they have in common is they take longer than projects that arise organically. It's the difference between writing what he wants to and writing what's "assigned". As far as the signings? I think there are other options, but the best time to see authors is at conventions anyway. It might suck to not get that "special book" signed, but it's also not the entire experience. It's more of a memento of that experience.

Well, looks like White Sand 3 maaaaaaay be out. Time to pretend that counts as the yearly allotment of new Cosmere.

I am likely to agree with you. Mainly because all his "standalone" novels do feel exactly like that. "Sure, we resolved the main conflict in this book, but there is clearly some unanswered, dangerous stuff going on which will be addressed soon... after Martin finished Winds of Winter and Rothfuss finishes Doors of Stone!" Seriously, when all is said and done, the wait for the Rithmatist sequel will be one of the longest in genre history!