williamjm Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 So is the second half if the series better? Or what's your opinion. I'm also on HoC, there are certain times you have to push yourself through. But, overall it's been a great ride. Does the books get better or do they go downhill? I think the pattern of having some great bits and some bits you need to slog through continues through all the Malazan books, but the ratio gets worse as the series goes on. I'd say Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice and Midnight Tides are the three best books in the series and the second half is weaker than the first half. Overall, I still thought it was worthwhile and the finale in The Crippled God is a good conclusion to the series but there were times I really had to force myself through some of the more tedious bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Seswatha Jordan Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 I think the pattern of having some great bits and some bits you need to slog through continues through all the Malazan books, but the ratio gets worse as the series goes on. I'd say Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice and Midnight Tides are the three best books in the series and the second half is weaker than the first half. Overall, I still thought it was worthwhile and the finale in The Crippled God is a good conclusion to the series but there were times I really had to force myself through some of the more tedious bits.Yea, but isn't any series of considerable length that way though. As much as I loved ASOIAf, there was still parts that was really tedious. Like u said, its the great parts that make it worth your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowborn Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Two of my favorite books in the series are on the second half: The Bonehunters and Toll the Hounds. My other favorite, and still the best in my opinion so far, is Memories of Ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Two of my favorite books in the series are on the second half: The Bonehunters and Toll the Hounds. My other favorite, and still the best in my opinion so far, is Memories of Ice. Wait... are we being trolled? :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 The plotlines that start in House of Chains are key to the entire series. Our buddy the Jade Giant and Heboric Lighttouch end up being singularly pivotal. You won't think so for a long time, however - the mystery of who and what and why isn't solved by Inspector Blather gathering all the participants in the library in the last chapter of HoC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 The plotlines that start in House of Chains are key to the entire series. Our buddy the Jade Giant and Heboric Lighttouch end up being singularly pivotal. You won't think so for a long time, however - the mystery of who and what and why isn't solved by Inspector Blather gathering all the participants in the library in the last chapter of HoC. OK, now I really want to keep reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Yea, but isn't any series of considerable length that way though. It does tend to be that way and there are series which have bigger problems than Malazan in that regard, the pace may slow as it goes along but not to the same extent as something like The Wheel of Time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 House of Chains gets better once the Karsa stuff is out the way, especially the 14th Army stuff. I didn't like Karsa in this book, though he lightens up in later books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Seswatha Jordan Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Just so I got this right, Strings is Fiddler, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 House of Chains gets better once the Karsa stuff is out the way, especially the 14th Army stuff. I didn't like Karsa in this book, though he lightens up in later booksReally I'm 200 pages in and out of the first four books I think it has the best beginning so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Seswatha Jordan Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Really I'm 200 pages in and out of the first four books I think it has the best beginning so far.I agree, HoC is a lot better than what I see people saying about it. I'm a 1/3 the way through, and really enjoying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Just so I got this right, Strings is Fiddler, right? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I agree, HoC is a lot better than what I see people saying about it. I'm a 1/3 the way through, and really enjoying it. I loved the beginning too, but for me it has dragged a bit after that. Starting to pick back up again a bit at about the 55% mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
End of Disc One Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Really I'm 200 pages in and out of the first four books I think it has the best beginning so far. Yeah that first book of HoC is pretty divisive. A lot of people think it's either the best or worst part of the book. I loved it but I actually thought Karsa's sections in book 3 were the best part of HoC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I'm 2/3 of the way through HoC and I just ordered the other 6 books from Amazon. They should arrive sometime next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Ghjhero, it is always nice when you find a book or books that are worth the investment of time and money to pursue with intentionality and intellectual curiosity, and the MBOTF is one of those. It is like when I had my first exposure to Jack Vance with Arthur Morey reading The Dying Earth, or when as a child my neighbor bought me the full set of The Chronicles of Narnia, or when I spent my savings to buy The Lord of the Rings. There is a whole universe of interesting and gripping ideas and actions waiting for you as you work through the MBOTF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Yeah the depth of the world is amazing! It's redicilious how we'll be developed his story! After HoC I'll probably read something else in between so as to not rush through the story and give myself a chance to digest the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 It's funny how these threads keep bubbling back up to the top as soon as I hit a milestone in this series (just finished HoC last night). Yeah the depth of the world is amazing! It's redicilious how we'll be developed his story! After HoC I'll probably read something else in between so as to not rush through the story and give myself a chance to digest the information. This is exactly what I'm doing. I ended up liking HoC just fine, although for me the remainder of the book didn't quite live up to the promise of the prologue (I did like the ending). That said I have serious Malazan fatigue, so I'm gonna hold off reading the next one until later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 It's funny how these threads keep bubbling back up to the top as soon as I hit a milestone in this series (just finished HoC last night). This is exactly what I'm doing. I ended up liking HoC just fine, although for me the remainder of the book didn't quite live up to the promise of the prologue (I did like the ending). That said I have serious Malazan fatigue, so I'm gonna hold off reading the next one until later.I'm actually liking HoC more than I did MoI. It's probably because I just enjoy the 7 cities setting and characters more than I do the ones in Genebackis. I also thought that while the battle of Capustan was really good the ending battle at Coral just didn't live up to my expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I'm actually liking HoC more than I did MoI. It's probably because I just enjoy the 7 cities setting and characters more than I do the ones in Genebackis. I also thought that while the battle of Capustan was really good the ending battle at Coral just didn't live up to my expectations. For me, HoC dragged severely during the middle 40% or so of the book. The prologue was my favorite thing I've read thus far from Erikson, and the ending moved along nicely and contained some memorable scenes. But navigating the space between was an exercise in pure tedium. None of the new characters particuarly caught my attention, either (unless you count Karsa as new). This is also one reason I'm not eager to jump into Midnight Tides, since apparently it centers on Trull Sengar, whom I couldn't care less about tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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