Icetech3
24742
412
11
Apr 8, 2025 11:44 AM
Icetech3
24742
412
11
urjan
My favorite series of all time!
Yellowchopsticks
I liked how some of the big world events happen outside the characters' actions. There are other things happening in the world instead of only occuring due to somehow being related to the main characters and that makes the worldbuilding feel more complete and alive. They're the main characters of their story, but maybe not the world's story. Other people/beings are creating plot and spilling over too.
RevolutionOnHerLips
r/fantasy is leaking lol
brainstream
It is a super heavy read though. Very hard to slog through, but worth it, I think.
SeldonCrysis
I have been climbing this mountain for some time. Currently on Reapers Gale
Icetech3
No rush.... took me like 6 months i had to take breaks and would read some lighter stuff like Sartre between books :)
ohio311
Favorite book series. So so good
luceid
I liked the first, but am really struggling through the second
Thano
This is one of my favorite series of all time
RarntajanovanTheRambunctious
It took me 2-3 tries to get through the first, but then I finally did it and loved it! But then struggled with the second 😅 it's a little intense to get through i find. I felt like I needed to listen to a recap of what happened in a chapter after I read it.
Icetech3
Not gonna lie.. i did go to the malazan reddit a bit... guys there are amazing without ruininig stuff
relsky
This is why I love that there are SO MANY books out there. Reading this book was torturous for me, I just couldn't get into it.
But Wheel of Time is one of my all-time favorite series. And I know that WoT is torturous for some.
glittalogik
One of my personal maturity milestones in life has been learning to accept that some people love WoT, despite having read it.
relsky
Haha, I hear you, I really do. It just came to me at a point in my life where it hit me just right. There are difficult parts for sure.
IgnatiusTheSaint
Great series. Lots of great story lines, always loved Whiskeyjack and the sappers.
VR6C
My current DnD character is based on Quick Ben. He was, together with Kalam, for me the character I looked forward to the most for reading his chapters.
FallWind
' “Children are dying."
[He] nodded. "That's a succinct summary of humankind, I'd say. Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words.” '
- Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates (Malazan #2)
Krakencrotch
"The bastard's right. Economics, ethics, the games of the gods - all within that single statement. I'll quote you, soldier. Be sure of that”
LightlyFriedFishFilletsForDinner
Can you hear it? The coin, spinning?
3KoboldsinaTrenchcoat
Book 1: warrens? what the fuck is going on in this series why doesn't it explain anything
Book 5: its burn all the way down
Book 10: The coin! a life taken for a life spared it all makes sense.
On a reread: oh shit they actually do explain everything they just tell you the plot in those opening poems you skip in most books that's wild.
Icetech3
yeah.. i haven't worked up to a re-read yet.... maybe in a year or two :)
Skyff
It's pretty dang great. I loved the gritty storylines with lots of strategy and complexity and great characters.
Sasurau
Just don't do the complete ebook. It has a noticable lag loading and my reader crashed on my reread somewhere 7k pages in in the middle of Midnight Tides. That sucked. Fucked if I could find my previous page.
Other than that, fantastic series, him and Glen Cook are in my top 2 fantasy authors. Have signed 3rd editions from Subterranean Press, ordering Deadhouse Gates in a week or so :)
Icetech3
That's how i read it, the omnibus.. it's like 10,000 pages or something crazy. My reader hated me :)
Sasurau
17k when I changed the font to legible. Reader crashed somewhere mid MT. Took a noticable amount of time to load up, lol, 'cause it was a mid tier J model Samsung :)
Originally read the first in US mass market paperback, from the US release date. My two signed, limited edition Malazan books (1 & 3, ordering 2 next week) and my signed, limited edition copy of Cooks "An Empire Unaquainted With Defeat" are definitely my fave collectors pieces. Erikson & Cook are my two favorite fantasy authors :)
UnoriginalPieceOfRepeatingShit
To think this is basically the DnD campaign of some nerds from Winnipeg. Awesome series.
Sasurau
Well ackshually its GURPS.
I kid, I kid, just had to ackshually it :D
ebony1442
I love it, too. Erikson created it with another author, Ian Esslemont, who has also written novels set in the same world.
Pulsifer
Bit of a slog to read, dire need of an editor. However, if you do persist, each book has an absolute firework show of an ending.
Icetech3
I will agree with that.. but for me it was mainly book 9 and 10 that dragged but still had gold in them
AllMaktAtTengilVarBefriare
Seems neat, I needed another long novel series after Mistborn, wishlisted.
SomeGeek75ygh
It's not all that good at all, get it from your local library first.
AttackBacon
If you like this series, you absolutely need to read Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun series. Explores a lot of similar themes, excellently written.
SomeGeek75ygh
No, OP, you don't, but they are both equally as horrible and both held up by the illiterate as great.
SilentScreamsX
I remember trying to get into these books and people were advising me to read them out of order for them to make more sense. I gave up at that point.
Leaps
I would not advise that, I think they should be read in order and just enjoy the ride and trust the author is going somewhere with all of the different story lines. It is a story about a world, not about a character, although it has a lot of character stories in it.
SimbaDidntKillMufasa
Definitely one of the best series I've come across as well! A memory of ice is probably my favorite book of those original 10 books. The first time I went through the series I needed a couple years for my soul to recover lol. Those stories are so intense. Karsa's story, onos and toc the younger, the two marines and the dog, Duiker the historian, the brutal traveling sequences, Kruppe... just, damn. Such a great series. Insanely dense lore that you're just dropped into, but totally worth the time
FiveHeadedSnakeGod
The Chain of Dogs is possibly the single most depressing storyline I've ever read. Great writing start to finish, but hoo boy was that emotionally draining.
sadwhitetext
Poor Squint
Trollcaverneux
It's easily my least favorite of the 10 books. I wonder how much of that is self preservation preventing me from empathizing too much with the characters.
I guess a second read-through will let me figure it out :)
Sasurau
"Very well, permit me, if you will, on this night. To break your hearts once more." The only thing approaching or equal in impact for me is Glen Cooks "Soldiers Live:"
"Soldiers live. And wonder why."
glittalogik
I loved this series, absolute worldbuilding masterclass. Wish I could say the same for the Kharkanas books or any of Ian C Esslemont's contributions but none of them come close
MoreAwesomerDan
Have you started the Mistborn trilogy yet?
glittalogik
Ages ago :) My partner is *obsessed* with the entire Cosmere universe but something about Sanderson's writing style doesn't quite hook me, not sure why. He's a great author, just not in my personal wheelhouse.
MoreAwesomerDan
His Stormlight archive is still in the works and the last two books have been intense, but I have been listening to the audio books and the VAs are solid
Icetech3
I have never had response to a post i made like this.. usually 3 people see them, i want to post my thoughts on Malazan. It's not an easy read.. i quit book 1 once, it made zero sense... i pushed through and at some point you just keep reading and it falls into place. the mottor of r/malazan is "Just keep reading" nothing is spoon fed.. the world building though.. when i read i picture everything like a movie and in Malazan you can smell it, you can feel the sweat and dust... hear the screams.
Icetech3
It's just visceral to me. One thing i love is everyone has a different favorite book.. mine is book 2.. some hate it. The last book drags a bit but feels good to get there. I have read most big fantasy authors since the mid 80s (i'm old) and nothing has ever effected me like this series.. it kind of broke my brain a little and read much lighter books for a long time. P.S. never spoil anyting Malazan... :)
Then I will break his chains...
That pleases me
...And then I Will kill him.
Sasurau
Look, I'm a simple man. Someone mentions Erikson, I gotta nerd out too. Am curious if you have any others you'd recommend: when someone is into Erikson, there's often overlap in reading tastes.
Eriksons a good marker for that in my experience- oh, they like him, okay, am curious
Icetech3
Not really.. i read a lot.. and my brain is much so a lot of it just gets forgotten or is meh.. hard to find stuff that hammers me like malazan did.. My favorite all time author is pratchett.. Only other series i really liked in the last few years was the Licanus trilogy.. but it's not on malazans lvl..
Icetech3
Grr.. i hit enter to go the next line.. hate that here.. Anyway.. lately i have been reading like 10 different books on royal road and just lighter stuff. Malazan honestly changed how i read, i don't really want anything dark again for awhile
Rainmaker217
RIP to best boy Beak :(
Easily the best books I've ever read. Too bad the tenth didn't stick the landing - too much going on, too little space time to let each beat land.
I re-read them every few years just to sniff the Warrens.
evbrew
Books 1-4 AMAZING WOW
Book 5, GD WOW
Book 6-7, GOOD GOOD
Book 8-9, WTF are you talking on and on and on about
Book 10, OK i guess we are done?
Icetech3
there is a thing that a stray dog did at the end of book 10 that literally had me crying laughing after all of that brutality... (i don't want to spoil a single thing...)
Trollcaverneux
Without spoiling (hopefully) that dog delivered the entire moral of the story
Somewhat condensed
Icetech3
yeah, i don't know why it hit me soo funny... it does kinda say everything and reminds me of something pratchett would do
ImMrDC
I struggled through the first and stopped during the second. I bet it's great but it's a tough style. I'll revisit later I'm sure.
Trollcaverneux
Well it's an easier read than Lord of the Rings, but not by much. And it's a lot longer. I'm currently delaying my second go through (first took me 3 years, about)
lostlittletimeonthis
Same here but I kinda stopped at the first book...didn't help that it was a translation and probably the pacing suffered
reineseele
Best book i ever read had the main character say 3words in the whole book. That wasn't tough to read but weird. ^^
pfunk81
I had the same experience. If a series doesn't dazzle me right away I have trouble getting into it.
SomeGeek75ygh
It's not great, dropping it is the best idea.
zagibu
I also struggled through the first. Second was a bit better but it got really good only about halfway through the third.
elemcsere
I think the first one is the hardest as it starts dumping places and people names like crazy. 2nd and beyond is so good. Upon rereaeing i loved th first one too.
Icetech3
It is a hard style, but my god..... it honestly changed the way i read... and i kinda had to heal from it. Soo brutal and the world building... mmm i will re-read one day. not yet though :)
TheSynBaron
If it's any help, Erikson falls into a good rhythm in the third one
glittalogik
It's *not* an easy read, but damn it made me feel things.
Icetech3
The end of book 2... a thing happens to the guy... (never spoil Malazan) It's the best piece of writing i have ever read.. it wrecked me..
glittalogik
Right there with you, Deadhouse Gates was *brutal*
Questionablysensible
I still rate Memories of Ice as one of the best books I've ever read.
LawfulEvilGrady
Honestly the second is my least favorite
Milnoch
Oddly enough the first book is the roughest to read. Also the shortest. It definitely throws you into the deep end on page 1 while you're wearing a lead apron. If you make it through the first and find the world interesting it's worth continuing.
Lostedge
I bought the audio book like 3 times, and returned it always after listening for 3h, and remembering nothing what had happened. It was just weird places and names ...
Icetech3
haha yeah.. the issue is, nothing is laid out.. you have to keep reading and it unfolds.. plus there's like 1000 characters and some have like 4 names... i couldn't imagine it in audio form..
SomeGeek75ygh
Guess what? That's the entire series.
Darooks
You can read the third and go back to the second. Try and get to the Bonehunters and it gets really good. I know it's a big ask to get to the 6th book of a series for it to really take off.
Rusarules
I feel like that's an issue with a series if you have to tell someone "It gets good by the 6th book."
Darooks
It is an issue, but you can look at it this way. That the story gets that good that it's worth doing all that to get to the sixth book.
Rusarules
I think someone said to same to me with, I think, it was the Wheel of Time series. They're like "Yeah, it's a little slog but wait till you get to the 8th book!" Like no, not investing in something with that long of a payoff to hate it 7 books in.
Darooks
The second book is in my top 5 favorite books. The third book is really good, but leaving you wanting more. Fourth and fifth, you have to get through to get to the rest of the series, which all together is my favorite fantasy epic. The sixth is where I said holy shit. By the end, you're like wtf did I just read. You don't have to read it but from one stranger to another at least give it a shot. I get nothing if you do and nothing if you don't.
SoniChan
I listened to the audiobooks and they were amazing until they CHANGED THE NARRATOR HALF WAY THROUGH!!!!!
SilentScreamsX
Ugh, my number 1 pet peeve.
JoylessGreyhound
Funnily enough, i nearly stopped listening until they DID change the narrator. The second guy's Tehol and Bug is why i keep going back. Telerast and Curdle!!!
SoniChan
Really? I loved the first narrator. There's so many characters and did them all differently. The next narrator only alternated between 2 or 3 different voices and it was really hard to keep track who was saying what.
cytherians
That really sucks. A narrator sets the whole vibe... and changing it mid-stream like that changes everything. I mean, if the 2nd narrator is better sounding and captivating, it can be a good thing, but if you liked the first one a lot... hard to accept!