What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?
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Welcome back inkinen.
--A
Yep, this is the start of increasingly multi-book and open plot lines that drag on and on but go nowhere (or almost nowhere). It's not until book 11 that a lot of them start to clang shut, many with almost indecent haste, as he started to come to his senses.I'm Murrin wrote:I just finished Lord of Chaos.
It's interesting; you can see this is where Jordan's overwriting began to take over the series for real. There are storylines he's setting up that he barely begins in this book - and this is the longest book in the series. He manages to give it an arc insofar as it becomes about Rand and his relationship with the Aes Sedai culminating in Dumai's Wells, but every other plotline is left hanging mid-story.
LOL, that never occurred to me. You haven't read the last 3 so I won't spoil his arc, but I was always a bit disappointed with him.It also has the problem that Jordan absolutely wrote this book meaning to do one thing with Mazrim Taim, then changed his mind later in a way that leaves everything about his character in LoC not making sense.
--A
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Oh, I don't care about spoilers much. I've been looking stuff up on the wiki to remind me of things I've forgotten and read plenty of stuff from later on, including what happens with Taim. But he was 100% meant to be Demandred in Lord of Chaos - he's constantly saying things that no one from the Third Age would say.
Yeah, it really started to come back to me when they were setting up the characters going to Ebou Dar, and I was pretty certain Mat leaving Ebou Dar with Tuon happens in book 10, so... more than three books between arriving and leaving? Now I'm remembering that the attack on the Black Tower by the Reds, being set up early in book 7, is still a very recent event by book 10 too, and of course Egwene and her Aes Sedai take from LoC to CoT to travel from Salidar to Tar Valon. So what the heck even happens in books 7 and 8?Yep, this is the start of increasingly multi-book and open plot lines that drag on and on but go nowhere (or almost nowhere). It's not until book 11 that a lot of them start to clang shut, many with almost indecent haste, as he started to come to his senses.
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Uh, 7 is lots of angst and we meet Moridin for the "first" time, and Nynaeve [spoiler]marries Lan and finally breaks her block.[/spoiler]
8 is Seanchan mainly.
It really never occurred to me that Taim might have been meant as Demandred. Wouldn't have thought one of the Forsaken would set themselves up as a false Dragon. (Yes, it would fit the "let chaos rule" thing, but that happened well before that particular instruction was given.)
--A
8 is Seanchan mainly.
It really never occurred to me that Taim might have been meant as Demandred. Wouldn't have thought one of the Forsaken would set themselves up as a false Dragon. (Yes, it would fit the "let chaos rule" thing, but that happened well before that particular instruction was given.)
--A
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I finished A Crown of Swords a couple days ago. That book... had no plot. The climax of the Bowl of the Winds storyline happens in the first 6 chapters of the next book; the climactic final chapter of ACoS is the ending of events set up in Lord of Chaos that were not touched or changed at all in ACoS.
You could lift the entire final chapter of the book and insert it before Rand's capture by the Aes Sedai in LoC, and it would still make sense and fit with very minimal changes.
You could lift the entire final chapter of the book and insert it before Rand's capture by the Aes Sedai in LoC, and it would still make sense and fit with very minimal changes.
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I finished rereading Winter's Heart. This and book 8 before it are pretty decent! They've got some solid plot movement going on, things actually happening, a lot better than A Crown of Swords.
At this point I'd say the real dip in the series is around books 5-7, and book 10 of course is the worst, though I'm still about to reread it to confirm that.
At this point I'd say the real dip in the series is around books 5-7, and book 10 of course is the worst, though I'm still about to reread it to confirm that.
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I’m gonna check out that Feist collaboration, but I changed my mind regarding the mistwraith book. The characters are just very flat and the writing style is not to my liking.Avatar wrote:Never read anything of hers except the collaboration with Feist on the Empire books (which I absolutely loved).
(Gaming a bit again so neglecting my Banks reread. )
--A
Did you also buy Elden Ring?
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Haha, no, no I didn't. Might at some point, but not a big fan of the "Souls" franchise so in no particular rush.
If you read the Empire books, I strongly recommend reading Feist's "Riftwar" trilogy first, as they run in parallel to a large extent.
Don't have to worry about all the subsequent Feist books unless you really enjoy the Riftwar books, (Magician, Silverthorn, and A Darkness At Sethanon) but the Empire books with Janny Wurts are definitely a high point of that "universe."
--A
If you read the Empire books, I strongly recommend reading Feist's "Riftwar" trilogy first, as they run in parallel to a large extent.
Don't have to worry about all the subsequent Feist books unless you really enjoy the Riftwar books, (Magician, Silverthorn, and A Darkness At Sethanon) but the Empire books with Janny Wurts are definitely a high point of that "universe."
--A
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I've now finished the ninth book in Stross' The Laundry Files series and am done with it for a while. I really like these books and the way he keeps integrating elements from previous installments. Also enjoyed recognizing the offhand nerdy references to games and stuff...but what does that say about me
Currently reading Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Currently reading Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky.