Do you still like the series?

[biodroid]

Lady - I agree, is it really worth reading such a complex story that it is more like trying to understand quantum mechanics and still enjoy it at the same time? Not that I studied quantum mechanics

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Quantum mechanics may even be easier.

 

[Grimbear]

I tried one of the books in this series but it didn't grip me. In fact I put it down after a few pages.

However, a lot of people (friends/online friends etc)I know like it and these people generally like the same books as I do.

So - why don't I like it? Is it too high-fantasy for me? Not sure. Am thinking maybe I began with the wrong book - and so many authors are now writing for this it's hard to know where to start.

If I was to give this guy another go which book should I begin with and why?

Thanks!

Grimbear

 

[Lenny]

The general consensus is to begin with Gardens of the Moon, though there are a couple of other starting points (one is Midnight Tides, as it deals with characters not yet seen, but I can't remember the second), each of which follows one of the three major story arcs of the series.

Which book did you try?

EDIT: I suppose the third entry point would be Deadhouse Gates (which was actually the first book the series I read, before coming back a year or two later to go through them all from GotM).

 

[nixie]

You can read Erikson, without reading Esslemont.

Start with Gardens of the Moon. The first in Erkison's mammoth 10 book epic.
I know a lot of people find it difficult and hard to follow at times but its worth sticking with.

I still don't understand why so many have a problem though.

 

[Grimbear]

*sighs*

I think it was Gardens of the Moon.

I just didn't find any of the characters likeable and I didn't give a **** what happened to them. I got to about chapter 3 and put the book down.

Maybe I will go back and give it a bit longer and it will grow on me. I just keep thinking I'm missing something as so many people praise them so highly.

I like Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, Robin Hobb, Peter Brett ....

 

[nixie]

I always recommend to try the first three ( GOTM, Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice) before given up.If you aren't enthralled by then you never will be. MOI in my very humble opinion is the greatest book ever.

 

[nj1]

I feel that the books get better as the series goes on, except for Toll the Hounds which I didn't really enjoy that much, whereas other authors get great reviews for thier opening books in a series I often find that not many series actually get better than the first book.
What I'd say to prospective Erikson readers is that you have to stick with it, the story WILL come together for you it's just that the scale and cast are huge.

 

[Bugg]

Start with Gardens of the Moon. The first in Erkison's mammoth 10 book epic.
I know a lot of people find it difficult and hard to follow at times but its worth sticking with.

I still don't understand why so many have a problem though.

I feel exactly the same about it. I think there might have been some kind of reverse psychology going on when I first read it. I'd been through quite a lot of the comments on Amazon, and a lot of them came up with the confusion, the 'gave up after 100 pages', the lack of characterisation etc etc, but I was still intrigued, so I bought it anyway. When I got around to reading it I was expecting not to like it, so when I loved it from the very first page I was mystified by all the negativity. Horses for courses, I suppose. And, I have to say, on re-read GotM is a revelation. Going back to it with all the knowledge gained from the subsequent novels, it's almost like reading a completely different book.

I've read the whole series, most of it twice, and am itching to read it again. Apparently you can get ointment to sort that out. The first six books, from GotM through to The Bonehunters, are probably my favourite books of all. The only ones I struggled with were Reaper's Gale - which I read right on the back of having finished The Bonehunters, which was probably a mistake (I think I have to take a break between each book, they're too intense) - and Dust of Dreams, which - strangely - I enjoyed first time but wasn't too keen on when I re-read it. I was probably just in a rush to get to The Crippled God. Toll the Hounds, for me, is an underrated work of genius.

I don't think I've ever found another series so immersive. It's the most epic, sprawling, original, inventive, infuriating, exhilarating, amusing, mind-boggling, heartbreaking, uplifting and uncompromising series that I have ever read. It's not flawless - there have been times when I've wanted to throw one or more of the books out the window for sure (but, given their weight, they'd probably kill a passer-by) - but very few things are.

So the short answer should have been "Yes! I still like the series".

 

[Valko]

Reaper's Gale seems like a slog to me. I think I'll give up & move onto another author. I agree with earlier posters - there are far too many characters & Erikson is very long winded at times.
I find myself becoming annoyed with his style of writing because I want to enjoy it but can't.
I loved the first 6 books ( including GotM ) but RG is awful in comparison

 

[Bugg]

Reaper's Gale seems like a slog to me. I think I'll give up & move onto another author. I agree with earlier posters - there are far too many characters & Erikson is very long winded at times.
I find myself becoming annoyed with his style of writing because I want to enjoy it but can't.
I loved the first 6 books ( including GotM ) but RG is awful in comparison

I didn't think it was awful, but it was definitely a slog, yeah. Almost worth it for the ending, though.

 

[Rosemary]

I'm re-reading the series, yet again!

 

[elvet]

I'm re-reading the series, yet again!

Me too. Third reread for the first 8 books (plus Nok and RotCG) in preparation for 1st read of the last 2 books . This time I'm following the Tor reread, and making my own notes. I just finished Stonweilder and am almost done Orb, Sceptre and Throne. I prefer Erikson's writing to Esslemont's, but there's information in ICE's books that is needed for the big picture.

 

[Grunkins]

But I'm starting to realise that some characters you've come to know were actually known as someone else in a previous book and not the character you have come to know them as.

This is fine but he's done it in a way where the time lines are allover the place. Instead of telling the story in a "straight line" the books are told at the same time but on a different part of the world. So where you actually meet someone new....it actually turns out you've already met them. (sorry if this doesn't make sense)

SPOILERS on what i'm talking about....Highlight to see

Two that spring to mind are Karsa Orlong and Heboric. otherwise known as Theloman Toblokai and Rath'Fener

I realize this was posted two and a half years ago, but just for clarity's sake (and no need for me to spoiler text it) Rath'Fener and Heboric were two different people.

 

[the Jester]

I love this series. I've read most of the books at least twice (excepting the Crippled God, and many of them three or four times. Some sections, I've read six or eight times- the "Karsa's backstory" section in House of Chains, for instance.

I need to get the last couple of Esselmont novels still, but have enjoyed what I've read of him so far.

 

[Bick]

I didn't think it was awful, but it was definitely a slog, yeah. Almost worth it for the ending, though.

This must be one of the thinnest recommendations for a book I've seen. So, this 1000-page book is 'not awful', and not actually worth reading! Maybe give it a miss then!

 

[Bugg]

I didn't realise 'almost worth it' was a recommendation! RG is the only book in the series that I didn't like

 

[Grunkins]

I, on the other hand, really enjoyed RG. The first hundred or so pages were pretty slow while new characters in Lether were introduced, but before long the Malazan marines were working their way inland, there were wars out on the plains, Tehol and Bugg were doing their thing, Karsa and Icarium were circling around the emporer. Pretty damned fun stuff. By the end of the book I had built up a huge reading momentum and plowed through the last couple hundred pages in a sitting (which with the trade paperback is a bit of a feat).

All in all I thought Reaper's Gale was better than Midnight Tides and just a bit below The Bonehunters.

 

[Frozeninja]

Reaper's Gale started slowly but I think it developed into a good book by the halfway mark, though it remains my second least favourite. That makes it sound bad, but honestly it's just that most of the other books were fantastic.

The only book in the series I actively disliked was Dust of Dreams.

 

[algai'd'siswai]

I'm about 2/3 of the way through GotM. Would anyone else think it either wise or okay to read MoI next, or to just continue reading it chronologically by it's release date, being DHG would be next?