Does this get better after the first book?

[Avatar]

You should stick it out at least until the end of book 2. I didn't like book 1 at all the first time I read it.

--A

[Loredoctor]

In a way, he *was* writing it for himself. The series grew out of an RPG he and Esslemont came up with.

I realise that it grew out of him creating a fantasy for GURPS, but the fact remains that he chose to publish the series. Hence, he shouldn't have been writing it for himself. I'm not saying the book is inherently bad, but it is flawed and I just have better things to read - it took me six weeks to get through half the book, when I could have finished six books in that time. But each to their own

[I'm Murrin]

Erikson fans are way too pushy.

[lucimay]

In a way, he *was* writing it for himself. The series grew out of an RPG he and Esslemont came up with.

I realise that it grew out of him creating a fantasy for GURPS, but the fact remains that he chose to publish the series. Hence, he shouldn't have been writing it for himself. I'm not saying the book is inherently bad, but it is flawed and I just have better things to read - it took me six weeks to get through half the book, when I could have finished six books in that time. But each to their own

my feeling is that it either grabs you or it doesnt. you either find it
interesting or you don't. i can't tell you why it appeals to me. i can't
tell you why i can't stand the bakker books. i don't think one writer
is better or worse than another, i just think the authors' work either
appeals to someone or it doesnt. i don't think bakker is flawed, it
just didn't appeal to me. (i'm just using bakker as an example here)

i also think every writer writes stories that they want to read, in essence,write for themselves. oh i know there are folks out there who write to make a buck and will write what they think will appeal to a specific audience (boddice ripper writers come to mind) but i think they are few and far between for the most part.

just my 2 cents on the subject. i'm truly sorry you didn't care for
erikson, lore. (since i love the books so much)

[Loredoctor]

just my 2 cents on the subject. i'm truly sorry you didn't care for
erikson, lore. (since i love the books so much)

Thanks, Lucimay

[Akasri]

OK, finally finished the first book today over my lunch hour.

I have no idea what happened in the last few chapters... demons who look like dragons, unkillable stuff being killed, people running all over and I have no idea who is working with/against whom.

I'll start book 2 tonight, but it has a lot to do to make up for that ... *thing*... I just read.

[lucimay]

OK, finally finished the first book today over my lunch hour.

I have no idea what happened in the last few chapters... demons who look like dragons, unkillable stuff being killed, people running all over and I have no idea who is working with/against whom.

I'll start book 2 tonight, but it has a lot to do to make up for that ... *thing*... I just read.

i was the opposite of you when i first read GotM. i loved it.
the epigraph in the front of the book hooked me!! the prologue
nailed me. and...if Deadhouse Gates hooks you (which i think it will)
when you get to The Crippled God, things you read in Gardens will
become soooo poignant.

"We are history relived and that is all, without end that is all."

Not sure why that would be. Any theories?

nope brinn, i couldn't tell you. i don't even have the faintest idea why
i didn't care for bakker. i bought TDTCB on my own without anyone
recommending it to me. found it on a sale table at borders. looked
interesting so i bought it. read it. liked it enough to send a copy to
both my brothers. thought it had a lot of promise. but the second book
just did me in. so much so that even tho i bought Thousandfold Thought, i never read it. couldn't tear myself away from re-read
after re-read of erikson.

here's some irony for you. while reading TDTCB i searched the
innerwebs for info on bakker. i found The Three Seas forum.
it was there that i first heard of erikson, it seemed a LOT of bakker
folks were very taken with erikson.
it was also where i met a VERY interesting fella posting there. his posts
were articulate and succint, bordering on poetry often. he was so smart
and so funny (seriously dry wit) that i sent him a pm telling him i thought
he was brilliant and enjoyed his posts immensely.
i also said i was a bit put off of the bakker forum cause there weren't too
many girls there.
he said there was a Donaldson forum that i might find enjoyable.
i met Syl at the The Three Seas forum!! its how i got here!

[aliantha]

Lore -- I got no dog in this hunt. I won't get upset if you give up now.

Truth to tell, I'm kinda done with Malazan, now that I've read TCG. I'll probably have to read Esslemont's next book since he's set it in Darujhistan, and if Erikson comes through with the Further Adventures of Karsa Orlong, I'll read those. But honestly, I'm far more likely to re-read a book by SRD than to launch myself into Malazan again.

[Avatar]

So there is some good to Bakker afterall?

i bought TDTCB on my own without anyone
recommending it to me. found it on a sale table at borders. looked
interesting so i bought it. read it. liked it enough to send a copy to
both my brothers. thought it had a lot of promise. but the second book
just did me in. so much so that even tho i bought Thousandfold Thought, i never read it.

I'm surprised. I would have thought you'd like the series. It's so damn tragic. And Cnaiur is an awesome character.

I'll start book 2 tonight, but it has a lot to do to make up for that ... *thing*... I just read.

(I always read your name as Askari. ) Don't worry, I felt the same way at the end of GotM. After I read the next 3, I went back and reread it, and it made a lot more sense.

--A

[Farm Ur-Ted]

Truth to tell, I'm kinda done with Malazan, now that I've read TCG. I'll probably have to read Esslemont's next book since he's set it in Darujhistan, and if Erikson comes through with the Further Adventures of Karsa Orlong, I'll read those. But honestly, I'm far more likely to re-read a book by SRD than to launch myself into Malazan again.

I'm just over halfway through TCG; I can't wait to finish the damn thing, so I can move on to reading other things. I've liked the books, and at times loved them, but there's also a crap-load of characters/plot-lines that I just don't give a rat's ass about, and never will.

OK, finally finished the first book today over my lunch hour.

I have no idea what happened in the last few chapters... demons who look like dragons, unkillable stuff being killed, people running all over and I have no idea who is working with/against whom.

I'll start book 2 tonight, but it has a lot to do to make up for that ... *thing*... I just read.

That's exactly how I felt when I read it. I felt that way a little during DHG; it wasn't until MoI that I felt I could just read the book and that I wasn't always wondering what in the hell was going on. Once the first combo platter of Jhagut/Finnest/Azath gets thrown your way, you're pretty well prepared for it in all the rest of the books.

[Onos T'oolan]

I can understand Akasri's confusion. Soletaken demons, and a slew of other diverse beings of extreme power. It's crazy stuff! Soletaken, by itself, is a confusing thing at this point. But it's explained more as you go on.

But, as I've said before, I'm with Luci. I was hooked within the first couple chapters of GotM, and have devoured every word since.

[caamora]

I haven't been able to get into GOTM and put it down so often that I forget what's happened. Fist tells me to stick with it but I just lose interest. I have it on my Nook and want to pick it up again but with all the GRRM talk going on about Game of Thrones, I've picked those up again instead.

[aliantha]

Wrong forum for it, but...I bought, read, and dumped all the ASoIaF paperbacks I had. Thinking of buying e-versions, now that book 5 is coming out. It's been forever since I read 'em.

[Tenara]

I can understand Akasri's confusion. Soletaken demons, and a slew of other diverse beings of extreme power. It's crazy stuff! Soletaken, by itself, is a confusing thing at this point. But it's explained more as you go on.

I was fortunate in that I stumbled across a review on Amazon where the reviewer said her favourite part was when Rake transformed into a dragon, and since I was a huge Rake fan from his first appearance in Darujhistan, I was too busy waiting excitedly for that moment to wonder at it.

It was the Azath that confused me, but when I remembered the acorn, I just thought, "OK, a building grows from an acorn, I can deal with this." After all, it wasn't any more weird than anything else I'd already accepted.

I was another one of those who was hooked from the prologue of GOTM!

[I'm Murrin]

Why are people such big fans of this series, and why should you read it? Here's why.

'Water,' said Icarium. 'Yes, so I can wash this mud off--I seem to have bathed in it.'
'You slid down a bank yesterday evening.'
'Just so, Mappo. Clumsy of me.' He slowly straightened, cupped in his hands a score of fragments. 'See the beautiful blue glaze? Like the sky itself--they must have been beautiful, these vessels. It is such a loss, when precious things break, isn't it?'
'Yes, Icarium, a terrible loss.'
'Mappo?' He lifted eyes sharp with anguish. 'In the city, I think, something happened. Thosands have died--thousands lie dead in that city--it's true, isn't it?'
'Yes, Icarium, a most tragic end.'
'What awful curse was visited upon it, do you think?'
Mappo shook his head.
Icarium studied the shards in his hands. 'If I could put it all back together, I would. You know that, don't you? You understand that--please, say that you understand.'
'I do, friend.'
'To take what's broken. To mend it.'
'Yes,' Mappo whispered.
'Must everything break in the end?'
'No, Icarium, not everything.'
'Not everything? What will not break in the end? Tell me, Mappo.'
'Why,' and the Trell forced a smile, 'you need not look far. Are we not friends, Icarium? Have we not always been friends?'

[Shaun das Schaf]

I'm dipping into a few threads in this forum, only up to DG and don't want to be spoiled. This thread had the words 'first book' in it, so I figured it was safe to read

Wow, reading, it's such a gloriously subjective thing eh?!

I've just finished GotM and was genuinely surprised to come here and find some found it confusing/tough going. I really enjoyed it, wasn't confused at any point and didn't have to push through anything. (Not saying I completely understood everything, just that it didn't matter, that I got what I needed and figured the rest would be explained at some point.)

To the eternal disappointment of my family - and probably many here - I got bored with Tolkien's endless description and put LOTR down <ducks>. That said, my LOTR efforts were made as a young reader, but still I mention this because even now I'm not real patient and can lose interest in things easily. I just never had that problem with GotM. Loved the characters, especially the females, nice and counter stereotypical. Hooked from Tattersail on.

Ok, I'm off to read more DG so I can safely open some other threads in this forum.