Maniacles

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

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Maniacles

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.

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Binuven

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

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Fandros

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 ;(

Binuven

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.

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Maniacles

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.

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Maniacles

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.

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Binuven

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.

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