Ok, I'm on book six so far. His writing style is a little more long winded in the first few books, and this guy has a total hard on for multiple story lines (ala Robert Jordan), but I have to say this series ROCKS! Love it! The characters, though awesome, all have their flaws. There are parts that get your heart racing and others that make you laugh out loud. (If you do start reading wait till you read about Iskaral Pust...I'm not saying anymore, you'll have to find out for yourself).

If you're looking for a complex fantasy series to get lost in, I'd definately recommend picking up Gardens of the Moon (Book 1). It takes some getting used to, but you'll be eating it up in no time.

How does it compare to A Song of Ice and Fire by Martin?

Don't think I've read that one yet. When I finish this series (I'm on Reapers Gale now, with the Hounds Toll as the latest released book in the series), I'll check it out for sure.

Picked up book 1 , he throws you off the deep end right away. You feel as though you are missing either an entire book or maybe a few chapters due to all the history of the characters being bandied about as though we should know it already.

Well i'm ordering the first book in the series. Hope its as good as everyone says.

Picked up book 1 , he throws you off the deep end right away. You feel as though you are missing either an entire book or maybe a few chapters due to all the history of the characters being bandied about as though we should know it already.

Hehe, yeah, I found the first book started off a little helter skelter, but it'll mesh together. But trust me, if you love multiple plot lines ala Robert Jordan, you'll love this series.

My three favorite characters are Karsa Orlong aka Toblakai, Tehol Bennict and Fiddler aka Strings. Three totally different character types, not one of them a caster and all three kick total ass in their own way, with one of them not even lifting a finger. There are MANY others that make me laugh like an idiot in a crowded room, but these three are at the top. Wait till you read it, there's so many characters that you'll just love reading about.

Reading The BoneHunters now, it's really coming together now.

The "Chain of Dogs" sequence in Deadhouse Gates is probably the single best story line I have ever read in a book.

It was perfect.

I guess it is being shopped around to be a stand alone movie... that could rock.

Duiker saw Coltaine there, amidst a knot of Mincer's engineers and a handful of Lull's marines, his round shield a shattered mess on his left arm, his lone long-knife snapped to the length of a short sword in his right hand, his feather cloak glistening as if brushed with tar. The historian saw Commander Bult, guiding the retreat towards the hill's summit. Cattle-dogs surged and leapt around the Wickan veteran like a frantic bodyguard even as arrows swept through them in waves. Among the creatures one stood out, huge, seemingly indomitable, pincushioned with arrows, yet fighting on.

The horses were gone. The Weasel Clan was gone. The Foolish Dog warriors were but a score in number, surrounding half a dozen old men and horsewives - the very last of a dwindled, cut-away heart. Of the Crow, it was clear that Coltaine and Bult were the last.

Soldiers of the Seventh, few with any armour left, held themselves in a solid ring around the others. Many of them no longer raised weapons, yet stood their ground even as they were cut to pieces. No quarter was give, every soldier who fell with wounds was summarily butchered - their helmets torn off, their forearms shattered as they sought to ward off the attacks, their skulls crumpling to multiple blows.

If you didnt tear up when you first read that... you aren't human

I loved that scene as he painted it with wonderfully crafted words. Could see the actual battle taking place and yes it was a emotion evoking scene.

Reading Reapers Gale now and have firmly decided this series is a good read indeed!

I am just starting this series now! I'll make a report, book by book.

Ok, so I read the first book.
Like Fanny said, he throws you in without a life jacket. Mostly in that you don't feel introduced enough to the characters to care for them early on, and he feels free to toss only mildly explained jargon and references at you at breakneck speed. This made it hard for me to plug through to mid book.

By mid book, all the characters had had enough time to connect with them. I had my favorites, my less than favorites, etc. One really nice thing is seeing core competent characters from the get go, a la Glen Cook's Black Company.

One thing this series ain't is a mystery. Plot points get cleared up fast, by characters who are too good at what they do to fail to figure stuff out, and what foreshadowing there is is heavy handed. This makes it more comparable to David Weber where recent history is known and most people know what's going on than to Jordan or Martin, where the fun is figuring which minor offhand reference is foreshadowing, and what is just a red herring.

So, thumbs up on this, it's at the top of my "action fantasy/sci fi" list, above Weber and Butcher and way above Drake (who should stick to sci fi, Hammer's Slammers = good. The isle series = crap). Martin's still my favorite (over Jordan), but this doesn't feel like the same genre, even though nominally they're both fantasy, so it's good for a different sort of Fantasy fix.

Hehe, wait till you meet Karsa Orlong. Dude is TOTAL badass! :D

Hell yeah he is, and I hope the author lives long enough to complete the story arc he's slowly building him to.

all the good ones are dying ;(

Yeah, I won't say who that died, but when they did I was almost in tears. I don't know if it was because of who it was, or how he died or if it was a combination of both. Not many writers can do that to me hehe.

Ok, finally got around to finishing the second book.

The assassin plot reminded me a whole lot of the movie HERO, for some reason, probably because it had the same ending. Someone mentioned the chain of dogs portion being optioned for a movie? Not sure how that would work out without some severe rewriting.

I really like the itinerant Jaghut thread. That guy is such a neat character. I like him for all the same reasons I liked Momento. The Priest of Shadow fails as a replacement for our wordy friend from the first book though.

So yes, I'm falling for the characters, and even the action, Still suffers from "calling a rabbit a phlerg", but whatever.

So I just finished Memories of Ice. I think I've figured out how he's able to produce so much faster than the other big series folk: just about everything's a retread. Sort of. His unique parts are his Warren concept, his take on different races, and the seemingly regular pace of mortals ascending into gods.

Everything else? Seen it other books one at a time. Erickson's just mashed them all together. Examples:
Gritty soldier experience: The Black Company
Deck of cards that can be used as portals: The Amber Chronicles
Major characters going down: ASOIAF
Dark elves that live for ever: 'Nuff said
Assassin going home to kill the emperor, then converting to the emperor's cause: Hero (or the chinese story behind it).
Sword that hungers for more souls: Elric Chronicles.

That said, it's an entertaining read, but I'd have to put it more on par with David Weber's stuff rather than say, Stephenson, ASOIF, and Wheel of Time.

Ok, finished the Crippled God as well as Ian Esslemonts Stonewielder. The later was a great read and looking forward to reading The Orb Sceptre Throne. The Crippled God was.....disappointing. There were parts where it dragged, parts where it trying to clue things up too quickly and there were parts that simply didn't make sense. If you are a fan of the series and want some closure, the book is a must read, but I can assure you that this is not his best work.