Ammanas

As usual the U.K cover is way cooler than the U.S. cover... http://hyperurl.co/SkywardBook

@officiumdefunctorum I listened to a sample and think I will go that route! I know you have a reputation for devouring audiobooks so maybe you will eventually give it a chance. I think it was more of the small print being a barrier than anything else...I got vertigo just reading a couple of paragraphs! I may of gotten spoiled with large kindle print size... @Who Sharded?According to this list I read awhile back it is 5th longest! http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-longest-sff-novels-of-all-time.html?m=1

I feel a little ridiculous (since I have read all ten malazan books twice) but I am looking at Tad Williams Otherland series, which is only four books, and I feel intimidated! All the books are such massive tombs and I heard there is a lot going on and stuff to keep track of. If I want to go the free route, through the library, they only have the mass market paperback versions and you would need a magnifying glass to read the print. Its not on overdrive, but I might spring for the audiobooks as its currently cheaper than it usually is. Has anyone read or listened to these and have a preference for ebooks vs audio? Is this series even worth the effort?

Maybe its just more noticeable in WoT because it happens almost every page lol. I don't remember that Mallet Hedge scene, but I'm sure there are lots of scenes I dont remember buried beneath the 25k thousand or so pages of Malazan

Welcome @rkae610! Your profile picture looks landscape and type of house looks exactly like the type that are found throughout the area I just moved to....Owasso, Ok. You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable, but I think it would be cool to have another sharder in the area. Anyways thanks for joining!

Speaking of audiobooks I have a question about one. I have all of Esslemonts first six books except for Return of the Crimson Guard. In the review section a couple of people mentioned there is a flaw with one sequence in the audiobook being switched with another. Has that been fixed? Did you notice anything like that when you listened to it? Also on a WoT note, since I now know you are female, do you or know anyone that yanks their braids/hair when they are upset? I have never come across any females who do that and yet I think they all do in that series.

I recently wrote a author (Adrian Selby) telling him how much I appreciated his book and he sent me a message in return. Perhaps I get star struck too easily, but I think its really cool when a author replies to you. He seems like a nice chap and recommend his book Snakewood if anyone is looking for something gritty, avant-garde, and a really cool magic system.

Dresden Files really don't start going until the third and fourth book, but they are excellent. The Felix Castor book by Mike Carey are pretty good. You might like the Iron Druid series. I thought the first three were pretty good, the fourth was ok, but after that the series went downhill (although other people still like them).

If you love that I would recommend a book that just came out called Empire of Silence by Ruocchio. Its about a legendary man that has lots of misinformation about him finally sit down and write his memoirs on the real story. Evidently, according to the first page, later on he ends up destroying a sun and dooming a entire alien civilization (its a first of a trilogy or series...not clear at this point). Anyways welcome to the shard! Hopefully we will get a resolution to Kvothe's story; can't say I am a fan of how Rothfuss is handling everything in regards to the third book but still I want to see what happens.

I actually really like Leoman in...

Hah you might be the 17th shard expert on all things Kharkanus most of the common posters on this thread havn't read them and I have only read Forge once and skimmed Fall of Light (I plan on giving it all another chance if Walk in Shadow is ever released).

To further clarify (although the previous comment is correct): "Warren" could refer to either the physical other-world that could be travelled to and to the form of magic which could be shaped by someone who could channel a Warren. Structurally these Warrens were divided into two classes, the Elder Warrens, which were associated with a particular race, and the Paths, which were those Warrens most commonly accessed by humans and which were derived from K'rul's blood. Although not all realms described as Warrens fit that description,

Although its not anywhere near as strange as the two books in my original post I think the book I am reading right now (Snakewood by Selby) is really unique! It is a compulation that a fictional scholar puts together of various accounts of events surrounding a mercenary company. Some of the characters are not well educated and that comes across in their accounts by their grammer choices. The book is a bit of a puzzle and too avant-garde for most fans, based upon the multiple negative reviews, but I really like it so far after reading about a third of it. This is my fifth attempt to read it with my previous attempts only making it a chapter or so. Still this book kept calling me like a Siren and I finally have my head wrapped around it and am much further than previous attempts. Anyone looking for something different and similar to Glen Cook would like it I think.

I wasnt able to find any information on the artist, which is surprisingly illusive, but was able to find the publishers name was W.F. Howes...its not much but perhaps that info might help on your quest. Best of luck! https://www.wfhowes.co.uk/search?searchterms=U6CVlJtGfxvn%2bRLAJZ5PSnQGL%2b3rANVd4TDNiH5VSoQ%3d

One of the things I love about literature is that one can interpret things things in a variety of ways and find uplifting passages in surprising places. If you want to interpret things in that manner then that is your truth; that seems as good as a interpretation as any. Thanks for sharing

My second favorite cookie behind Snickerdoodles. Sugar cookies take bronze with third place. Chocolate chip is overated in my opinion, but as they say, "De gustibus non est disputandum."

No they are not. I would recommend checking out Reckoners before Alcatraz though.

@whattheHoid I got a little confused because you posted in the Reckoners section of the forum (which I thought you were asking about), but you are asking about Alcatraz. I haven't read Alcatraz, but my advice about trying new things still stands. Hopefully you have a library near by so if you don't like it its not a waste of money. Best of luck and happy reading!

The Thousands Deaths...is next on my list after the book I am currently reading. The Traitor God book I am waiting for my library to get a copy, but it looks intriguing! Right now I am reading Empire of Silence by Ruocchio. It is a stunning debut that is kind of like a mix of Name of the Wind and Dune; it has excellent worldbuilding and very polished prose. Also sorry to hear that B.K...its tough when a favorite series starts to head downhill.

Yes it does seem written for a younger audience perhaps the 10-15 crowd (about the same target audience as Rithmatist). That being said I am a adult and still thought they were fun. I always encourage people to try different series and see if it appeals to them, and make up their own minds, because some of my favorite series people hate and some books others love I didn't like.

If you are into Audible they are having a July 4th sale (that ends on the 8th) where they have Willful Child and Stonewielder for $5.95 each; other than those two, the only other audiobook that caught my attention was Best Served Cold. They also have Prime Day Gold membership for $4.99 for three months.

So in church they were going over the story of Saul and David in the Old Testament. The teacher mentioned something to the effect of how Saul's star was descending and David's was ascending. My first thought immediately went to this scene in Memories of Ice: The truth of this has burst like fire in my heart. On this, our last day, I have met this unnamed man, this servant of Treach, the Tiger of Summer . . . Treach ascending. And Fener? The brutal boar whose savage cunning rides my soul – what of my lord? Fener . . . descending. On this, our last day. It's a small moment in the book, but I feel it is incredibly powerful. I feel like you can relate anything to Malazan ha!

So, in my personal opinion, there is a place for casual dialogue, but using more formal and flowery language is also a great way to present a story. I will include a example from one of the great world classics Oedipus Rex as a example below. Also here is a example from the beginning of the excellent Death of Malygris by Smith: At the hour of interlunar midnight, when lamps burned rarely and far apart in Susran, and slow-moving autumn clouds had muffled the stars, King Gadeiron sent forth into the sleeping city twelve of his trustiest mutes. Like shadows gliding through oblivion, they vanished upon their various ways; and each of them, returning presently to the darkened palace, led with him a shrouded figure no less discreet and silent than himself. In this manner, groping along tortuous alleys, through blind cypress-caverns in the royal gardens, and down subterranean halls and steps, twelve of the most powerful sorcerers of Susran were brought together in a vault of oozing, death-gray granite, far beneath the foundations of the palace. The entrance of the vault was guarded by earth-demons that obeyed the arch-sorcerer, Maranapion, who had long been the king's councillor. These demons would have torn limb from limb any who came unprepared to offer them a libation of fresh blood. The vault was lit dubiously by a single lamp, hollowed from a monstrous garnet, and fed with vipers' oil. Here Gadeiron, crownless, and wearing sackcloth dyed in sober purple, awaited the wizards on a seat of limestone wrought in the form of a sarcophagus. Maranapion stood at his right hand, immobile, and swathed to the mouth in the garments of the tomb. Before him was a tripod of orichalchum, rearing shoulder-high; and on the tripod, in a silver socket, there reposed the enormous blue eye of a slain Cyclops, wherein the archimage was said to behold weird visions. On this eye, gleaming balefully under the garnet lamp, the gaze of Maranapion was fixed with death-like rigidity.

This series really saddens me because it has so much potential to be one of my all time favorites! I really liked the world building, the tone, and a lot of really cool ideas. I agree with the o.p about these so called "strong women". In reality they are weak because they are always giving into baser instincts like anger and act spiteful to each other and brats to the men (who are baffoons for large sections). There are other problems such as pacing (which tops the list). I am trying the series again starting with my favorite, of the ones I read, Shadow Rising in audiobook form curtesy of the library. Who knows if I will finish it but one of the cool ideas I liked is the Aelfinn and Eelfinn.

Well my Germans are out of the World Cup, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised: