Wik Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I'm almost done with Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself" but I haven't even heard of the other 4 (I usually only read heavely recommended books and I haven't heard of the other on my own). How are these others when compared to Bakker, Martin and Joe? I love those three. Maybe this isn't the place to ask this, sorry if it's not, I just wanted in on the knowledge since I am always looking for good novels/series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrownedCrow Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 1. Lynch 2. Rothfuss 3. Abercrombie I haven't read anything by Ruckley. I'm not making Abraham #4 since I don't want to appear as if I approve of his writing even that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Sun Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 1. Abraham: I liked the A Shadow in Summer and Autumn War best. . . . . 2. Lynch, but I only really enjoyed the first book, so I'm not even sure if I will read his new book. . . . . 3. Abercombie, I'm in the small minority that does not care for him. I haven't finished yet The Blade Itself. I have not read the other two. I'm not particularly interested in Rothfuss, and I'm not sure if I want read Ruckly. Supergritty fantasy is not really my cup of tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I'm almost done with Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself" but I haven't even heard of the other 4 (I usually only read heavely recommended books and I haven't heard of the other on my own). How are these others when compared to Bakker, Martin and Joe? I love those three. Maybe this isn't the place to ask this, sorry if it's not, I just wanted in on the knowledge since I am always looking for good novels/series. This would seem to be the perfect place to ask about that. Of current working authors I place Martin, Bakker, and Abraham at the top of epic fantasy. My second tier includes Hobb, Lynch, Abercrombie, and Sanderson. Third tier is Erikson, Keyes, and Rothfuss. I'm not making Abraham #4 since I don't want to appear as if I approve of his writing even that much. Do tell more. That sentence is so harsh it sounds like a copy of A Shadow in Summer ate your baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Who Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 1. Abercrombie 2. Lynch 3. Rothfuss 4. Ruckley Haven't read any Abraham. I think the first two are a step above the second two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myshkin Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Too many people haven't read Abraham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvilKing Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I haven't really heard much about the fellow. People seem to be placing him at the top or bottom of their lists. What do you good folks like/dislike so much about Abraham? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
End of Disc One Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I'm almost done with Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself" but I haven't even heard of the other 4 (I usually only read heavely recommended books and I haven't heard of the other on my own). How are these others when compared to Bakker, Martin and Joe? I love those three. Maybe this isn't the place to ask this, sorry if it's not, I just wanted in on the knowledge since I am always looking for good novels/series. For fantasy released this decade, when it comes to popular opinion, I'd say top tier is Martin, Erikson, and Bakker. Usually if you ask someone their favorite, they'll say one of those three. Second tier seems to be Abercrombie, Lynch, and possibly a few others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeye Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 1) Abercrombie though book 3 of the Logan series was a bit too depressing in ways 2) Lynch (still looking forward to book 3) 3) Abraham his current series coming along nicely, different than your average fantasy 4)Ruckley 5) Rothfuss (distant 5, didnt enjoy his name of whatever at all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrashalla Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Alright, now that I've read some more from each author I'll update: 1) Abercrombie (Still has tops here) 2) Abraham (When I finally got around to him I was quite impressed and look forward to the final book in this sequence) 3) Lynch 4) Ruckley (Both authors have had suitable time to settle in my brain, and while I enjoyed both Ruckley books about equal but wasn't leaping for joy about them, and was severely underwhelmed by the secoind Lynch book: LoLL still stands as the most memorable of either author's pile) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I haven't really heard much about the fellow. People seem to be placing him at the top or bottom of their lists. What do you good folks like/dislike so much about Abraham? I like Abraham so much for a number of reasons: his books are extremely well written, they are well planned and plotted, the characterization is phenomenal, the magic system is unbelievably powerful but it's nearly impossible to attain, and he creates a culture that isn't the status quo. The world is dominated by the Khaiem, an collection of city states that each has a resident Poet. The Poets use their "poems" to bind forces of nature called Andats. In the first book, A Shadow in Summer, the Andat is commonly called Seedless and is used predominantly to remove seeds from cotton to speed up textile manufacturing. Seedless is its common name, but its true name is Removing-the-part-that-continues, and if any of the Khaiem's enemies were to attack the Khaiem Seedless could be used to render them all sterile. And Seedless is just one Andat, in the second book the Andat is Stone-made-soft who could cause the structure of entire continents to collapse. Because of the supreme power the Khaiem wield there is a level of political machination that we typically do not see in fantasy. The Galts are the other power in the world, but they do not want to take a backseat to the Khaiem any longer so they are doing everything they can. Any overt action by the Galts would be devastating to them though, so they must work very subtly. When an Andat is bound by a Poet it manifests some of the Poet's personality, and with that bit of humanity they strive to be free leading to the Poet needing to constantly maintain control over the Andat or it will break the binding. Once an Andat breaks its binding it is almost impossible to bind the same Andat again. Through attrition over the many years of the Khaiem the possibilities of Andats is slowly but surely diminishing. That's why I love Abraham's works. The reasons I've read for people not liking it include the repetition in gestures that the characters use for greetings, partings, respect, etc. Once into the meat of the books, I really didn't notice them anymore. In fact, I think this was a wonderful difference between Abraham and other fantasy authors - he created a world that is not a typical medieval European analog. Another complaint I read about Abraham is the lack of "action". The books are more deliberate than most fantasy, and that's because they have to be subtle. There's not a lot of violence, and most fantasy readers are conditioned to expect 3+ battle sequences per book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I've read three of the authors and enjoyed them all. It's difficult to rank their books because they have very little in common, but if I had to... 1. Abraham, very interesting an realistic characters (Martin is the only fantasy author who's comparable, in my opinion), unusual worldbuilding, good plotting and flow. 2. Abercrombie, also some interesting characters (I especially liked Logan) and an awesome twist of fantasy clichés. 3. Lynch, just great fun and exciting, but I didn't like the second book as much as the first. I haven't really heard much about the fellow. People seem to be placing him at the top or bottom of their lists. What do you good folks like/dislike so much about Abraham? I've only read the first two books in his series but I would say Abraham writes a very unusual kind of fantasy. It's more about normal people trying to live their lives than about epic world-shattering events (though there are political machinations with huge consequences). Also, there are almost no fight scenes and what little there is, is never glorified. I suppose there might be more in the third book (An Autumn War). If I remember correctly, Abraham mentioned Maureen McHugh as one of his influences, who has written an essay about the Anti-SF novel. It might give you an idea about Abraham (although he and McHugh aren't that similar). She's also written a novel called China Mountain Zhang, which everyone who likes Abraham should read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrownedCrow Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Do tell more. That sentence is so harsh it sounds like a copy of A Shadow in Summer ate your baby. The book had a number of unforgivable plot holes, particulary with regard to the ridiculous plot to destroy Seedless. Also, maybe I'm an emotionless bastard or something but I found the amount of space devoted to characters getting in touch with their feelings to be more than a little sickening. I don't want to read a book where the characters are mostly emotionally fragile pussies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoN Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Abraham for me, followed distantly by Abercrombie. I don't think much of Lynch or Rothfuss, tbh, and not read Ruckley yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 The book had a number of unforgivable plot holes, particulary with regard to the ridiculous plot to destroy Seedless. That's not perfectly plotted, but there's not anything I'd call a hole. Care to elaborate in spoiler tags? Also, maybe I'm an emotionless bastard or something but I found the amount of space devoted to characters getting in touch with their feelings to be more than a little sickening. I don't want to read a book where the characters are mostly emotionally fragile pussies. So you don't like reading books about real people? Walk down any street and 99% of the people you meet would be "fragile pussies" when put in the situations of a fantasy novel. ETA: my attention is captured by a basketball game, but let me say a little more. Abraham does realistic people in stressful situations extremely well imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 1. Abercrombie (He easily tops this list for me) 2. Abraham. (love his writing, I'm reading Betrayal in Winter right now and I'm enjoying it immensely. ) 3. Lynch. (The first book was tons of fun, wasn't too thrilled with the second.) 4. Rothfuss. (It wasn't as bad as some people claim it was) 5. Ruckley. (I did not like his first book much.) eta: I meant to say that I completely agree with REG about Abraham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrownedCrow Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 That's not perfectly plotted, but there's not anything I'd call a hole. Care to elaborate in spoiler tags? It's been a while since I've read the book but... (spoilers) SPOILER: AbrahamThe way the poet was allowed to roam the city without any protection was rather strange. Also, why didn't the Galts just kill him rather than attempt a convoluted scheme to drive him crazy? Walk down any street and 99% of the people you meet would be "fragile pussies" when put in the situations of a fantasy novel. That's why fantasy writers tend to create characters who are exceptional individuals. Arya's chapters wouldn't be so interesting if she was an average ten year old, would they? Anyway, an attempt at realism doesn't excuse characters that emo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 (love his writing, I'm reading Betrayal in Winter right now and I'm enjoying it immensely. ) Wait til you get to An Autumn War Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Wait til you get to An Autumn War I'll have to wait until it's out on paperback. End of June, Amazon says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Not everybody has a white background. To spoiler tag use {spoiler=describe spoiler here}texttexttext{/spoiler} but replace {} with [] It's been a while since I've read the book but... SPOILER: ASiSThe way the poet was allowed to roam the city without any protection was rather strange. Also, why didn't the Galts just kill him rather than attempt a convoluted scheme to drive him crazy? SPOILER: ASiSBut that fits perfectly with the obscene arrogance of the Khaiem. 1. Why the heck would a member of the Khaiem hurt their protector and the man that is responsible for that cities economy? They wouldn't. 2. And any attack on a Poet would be under extreme scrutiny, and any hint of foul play would be unfathomably bad for the Galts. The Galts know this and that's why they cannot just kill him. I'm surprised other nations hadn't killed a Poet to frame the Galts and get them wiped out. 3. Driving an already unstable, alcoholic Poet to want to commit suicide was much safer for the welfare of the Galtic nation, because why on earth would the Galts do something as crazy as that? The Galts have been under the Khaiem's thumb for so long that this slow and deliberate plot to destroy a Poet, is well worth the decreased risk to their people. That's why fantasy writers tend to create characters who are exceptional individuals. Arya's chapters wouldn't be so interesting if she was an average ten year old, would they? Anyway, an attempt at realism doesn't excuse characters that emo. Stay far away from Robin Hobb. Abraham's got nothing on her. I'll have to wait until it's out on paperback. End of June, Amazon says. That's too bad, but it will definitely be worth the wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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