Ammanas

I think the good narrators can actually improve a story and Brandon's narrators are all excellent. I prefer to listen, but also like to read them occasionally which is better to hunt down some details. Audiobooks loose me though if I have to jungle arount too many plotlines, but all of Brandon's works have been straight forward enough for me. I have also fully embrased being a "old man" because I have finally arrived at the point where I prefer to here people talk over music. That includes audiobooks and talk radio.

Grimdark is a remarkably fluid term that could mean about anything so I say malazan fits! My own personal definition is where the author tries to interject/include a sense of real life brutality and violence into a fantasy world. It's usually described in more detail, or more of a focus than what's included in a "epic" or "high" fantasy books. That's my definition, but I don't think there is a universal one.

That's part of the beauty of the series! It's so easy to go down the rabbit hole with fringe theories, interests, and inside jokes!

@officiumdefunctorum Here is the scene again in case you want a you want a refresher; perhaps it will always be one of those malazan mysteries

How would you interpret the soldier that introduces himself to Fiddler as Nefarious near the end of book 10? Do you believe it was a soldier just pretending to be Nefarious?

Speaking of gods in the malazan world. What did everything think of Nefarious Bredd? Based upon events in The Crippled God I think the faith of the Malazan soldiers created it. It never existed, but so many people started believing it that it took upon its own life and became real. I think there is a name for such a thing, but can't think of it. I feel like Nefarious Bredd is unique because if my idea holds he is the only one of its kind in the malazan world (that I know of). Although various Gods gain power through worship they all existed before the worshippers faith.

We're evolving....but in malazan news I did find they had a new blurb for the new Esslemont book. The forum I found it on said it was via amazon, but I couldn't find it there. It sounds official though: The incessant war between the bickering city states of Quon Tali rages. So engrossed are the warring lords and princes in their own petty feuds that few notice that an upstart mage from Dal Hon has gained control of the southern seas. But some powers are alarmed. And in the meantime, as Purge and Tali indulge in what seems like a their never-ending game of war, a mercenary caught up in the fight between the two states suddenly refuses to play along and causes all sorts of chaos. Simultaneously, a pair of escapees from Castle Gris make their way across this ravaged landscape of flame and butchery. Their intention to seek out the legendary Crimson Guard. And then there's Kellanved who could not care less about any of this petty politicking or strategy or war. Something other and altogether more mysterious has caught his attention and he - together with a reluctant and decidedly sceptical Dancer - traverse continents and journey through the Realms in pursuit... But this ancient mystery that has so captivated Kellanved is neither esoteric nor ephemeral. No, it is of an altogether darker and more dangerous hue. It involves the Elder races themselves, and more specifically - certainly more alarmingly - the semi-mythic, and universally dreaded, Army of Dust and Bone. Surely no one in their right mind would be so foolish as to embark on a journey from which none have returned? Well, no one except Kellanved that is... Returning to the turbulent early history of what would become the Malazan Empire, here is the third awesome chapter in Ian C. Esslemont's new epic fantasy sequence.

It seems like Brent Weeks always gets a lot of love around here and now that I finished the Night Angel books (along with all of the current Lightbringer books) I wanted to share a few thoughts. I have found Brent Weeks books to be deeply spiritual. I know that a person without a belief in God can read them completely different than I did, but I think the subtlety and my own personal interpretation makes it all the more powerful. There is a lot of fakers and abusers of religion in his books including: the Prism, the God King and Kali's real identity. There is also a lot of sorrow and unhappiness because of religion. But there is also a sense of Providence that runs throughout his books and how everything seems to be guided almost miraculously to work out for the best. I think that despite everything there is a ton of evidence that The "One God" and Orhalem exist (in his worlds) and take a interest in human affairs. There is a lot of themes throughout his books redemption, sacrifice, and forgiveness as well. One moment that comes to mind is Ironfist, upon witnessing a miraculous shot, regains his belief in God and cries about how he is forgiven despite his mistakes. Another is Irene seeing a vision of how she would save the world despit how imposdible it looked in book one. Also Count Drakes conversion story. A lot of readers could shrug these occurences off to coincidence, but I love how Weeks leaves it open to interpretation. I guess my goal with the post was not to convert or argue with anyone about religion. But, to show how books can enrich our personal lives. Has anyone else read his books in the manner I did or just have any thought about Weeks' novels?

Hah I feel like us fans take audiobooks more seriously than the authors and publishers. I've read in some interviews and reddit q and a's where the author is asked about a upcoming book being released in audio format and they seem very nonchalant about; they seem sure it will happen but do not know and are not worried about details. Every author is different, but some of the time a author will not even post any info about audiobooks even if they know...it just appears in the audible preorder available option one of these days before the release. I can't remember how Brandon is about these things though.

I was thinking about it and usually publishing companies like to keep the same narrator for authors (although there are a lot of exceptions), but perhaps since the main character is female they will go with a narrator of the same gender.

They don't even start recording until the final draft is done so you haven't missed anything. Especially for the bigger authors they will have a audiobook released at the same time as the physical book. The narrator will most likely be Macleod Andrews.

Welcome! Stormlight and Mistborn are his most popular series, but each series has their fans with most of us more or less liking everything he has written. There are tons of really good fantasy series out there...some of them surpassing Sanderson and Rowling in my opinion. Based upon what you seem to like most of my favorites (the darker, edgier, more violent fantasies) you would probably not like. Although I can recommend, based on your tastes (in no particular order): The Complete Bone Graphic Novels by Jeff Smith, Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, The Riftwar series by Feist, Memory, Sorrow, Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams and The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. I think all the ones above have nothing particularly objectionable in them.

If anyone is interested in the anthology that Shadows for Silence is originally in, Dangerous Women, its on sale right now for the e-book copy (less than three dollars) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CVMHCJW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CVMHCJW&linkCode=as2&tag=patsfantasy0c-20&linkId=0683517296baee831574835141653fb3

I think its all in how its done. I don't mind the cursing as long as it feels natural in the story (which in Malazan it certainly is). One series where it feels forced is Nevernight by Jay Kristoff; he drops a f bomb in what I feel like is every line of dialogue and it seems like he is trying to make a young adult novel "edgier". I feel like Lies of Locke Lamora had tons of cursing as well, but it seemed like it fit the story better. Oh, and in case anyone is interested about Nevernight, its ok...I guess, but I can't recommend it though. It's just a free audiobook from the library and I listen to on my walks. It has a lot of flaws, but am curious how it will end.

Ah...ok! I am really bad about understanding tone and sarcasm/teasing on the internet!

@Wander89 I have read it and really liked it. It reminds me a bit of Name of the Wind where the protagonist has a legendary past and he is now chronicling the real story. There is a bit of Dune with the distrust of technology, some philosophy, and the great houses who rule under a empire, but I found the prose to be much easier than Frank Herbert. A lot happens in the book, but not a lot happens. What I mean is that the protagonist does a bunch of things, but it is very much a origins installment and he doesn't touch on any of the things that he is famous for; although I am sure he will get to it in later books of the series. I dont know how many books will be in the series, but he has mentioned that he is already outlining the third book.

On a whim I decided to watch one of the big Starcraft tournament finals they have in Korea. The winner, this year, was a Terran player called "Maru". Back when I played starcraft I always found Terran to be kind of tricky and hard to maneuver with; but this guy was absolutely brilliant with them. Evidently he started out as a child protégé, but could never finish and always ended up going out on the semifinals or so. This year he evidently figured it out and destroyed all competition leaving behind a wake of broken (usually protoss) armies. Anyways it was kind of a fun way to spend a couple of hours...don't think I will do it again anytime soon.

I say good riddance to downvotes. The 17th shard, while usually a friendly happy bunch, has enough drama, anger, and tears without adding that molotov cocktail to the mix. I think it became a happier place without that particular feature.

I don't know, but one user awhile back wanted it to be his thing to give him downvotes instead of upvotes; I think his profile picture was of a downvote button. The administrators thought it was a big problem a shut it down before he got more than ten. Perhaps the person with over 100 downvotes got them at a time where they were more lenient about such hijinks? That would be my guess.

I'll give a update when I am through with it (if anyone is interested), but City of the Golden Shadow feels like a malazan book in one respect; he keeps on introducing new plot line after new plotline (I think I am at five right now) and I have no idea how they are going to relate to one another! They are all more or less interesting. The opening section was a surprise for me it follows a WW1 soldier in the middle of a battle before things start getting really strange. It looks like a typical Tad Williams novel with a very, very slow plot advancement but nice prose, and solid world building. It's just interesting how the author explores the world he creates. Perhaps my random thoughts belong in the What You are Currently Reading section of the website so let me know if you want to keep it strictly malazan. Personally I think small tangents are ok within reason...

If there are differences they would be small ones to make it more familiar to the region such as "trunk" vs "boot" and chips vs fries; just really small stuff. The odds are though, since almost all of the books take place in a fantasy world, the text remains unchanged.

Ok thanks! I like fantasy books that are on the grim side so I will probably end up liking it more. Rothfuss might be going down the Virgil path in all seriousness. Virgil worked for years on the Aeneid constantly fine tuning it, changing it, and trying to make it meet it satisfaction. At his death he ordered the manuscript burned...of couse, luckily, his orders were not followed. It's a shame that such a promising author has so little clue of how to handle the situation. If he could give even two updates a year explaining the situation I feel he would be greeted with understanding and sympathy. Instead he gives no updates, except to brag about the hours he spends on videogames and other things and gets his feelings hurt when fans get upset. I feel that I am a average fan that is pretty understanding about the need for balance in a persons life, but I do not feel like he is handling the situation well.

Did you ever get to this book? If you have what did you like and dislike about it?

Its a tough choice for me Orbit has the most with a lot of 4 to 4.5 out of five star reads for me. Saga press though is currently publishing my top two ongoing fantasy series though: Liu's Dandelion Dynasy and Durfee's Five Warrior Angels. Since Sanderson is published by Tor it will probably be a landslide, but I feel Tor has been surpased as the Gold Standard; although they obviously still publish high quality books (Sanderson, Malazan, and Black Company to name a few)