I totally agree about the sex scenes. They became a bit too much. I’m getting ready to read Crescent City…took a bit of a breather with a re-read of Outlander and Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. I probably should read House of Earth and Blood, as it’s the first of the two. However, I’m just gonna for it. After this reading, I’ll be moving on from Maas. I want to try some other novels you’ve recommended. I enjoyed your review. Thank you.
It takes a while to pick up on all the lore of the universe. Some of the Heresy books might help understand how the marines and the patriarchal fit in. If you latch o to a chapter, there are likely books based on them and some from a chaos pov as well. Although they do start to blend together after a while.
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, back when Professor Chase first revealed his map, I made an analysis that the fact that there was a “need” for a wall (“Sirukinn’s Wall”) next to the MASSIVE Mountain Range between the Wildlands and Sildharan, suggested a less than friendly relationship between the two nations… Some other interresting nuggets I caught back than: With names such as "The Sundering Sea" and "The Savage Sea", along with the big Mountain Ranges of Osham and Marar, the "Anglo Saxon" nations of Torrland and The Mark and the "Norse" Nation of Grimrik are somewhat boxed in by rough-sounding seas and mountains, with only the Balnor Pass, the Mikla ("The Great/Big") Sound and Ellond as natural crosspoints. As such, I was not surprised by Professor Chase’s statement of Ellond as a Multicultural Nation/Border Kingdom between Torrlond and Sildharan. On the other hand, the "Celtic" Nations and "Indian" Nations had a lot of cross-cultural connections on the map: 1) With only a couple of named Gulfs between them, sea travel for trade/cultural exchange between the South-Western and the South-Eastern looked highly plausable. 2) Most of the forests on the whole continent have "-wyn" endings (which have multiple meanings in several Germanic and Celtic languages: "Wine", "White", "Joy" etc.), even in the "South Asian" Southeastern Nations (The Mark being one partly exception, were they had been replace with the more Anglo-Saxon "-weald" (hinting on a change of culture, as Chase have mentioned, which makes sense with it being more cut off by Torrland from the other nations as mentioned), another being the Ironwood in the Wildlands, sementing their isolation from the more "civilized nations"). 3) My first thoughts upon seeing Asdralad, having visited the Hebrides and having a few friends from Sri Lanka, was a) "Dirgal could be the name of both an Island between Irland and Scotland, and an Indian Ocean Island" and b) “that looks like the lovechild of the Hebrides and the Maldives”! Slightly less serious: The Sea of Morthul's lawyers might want a talk with the Professor, as from of the map it should be a natural trading (and possibly turist location), as a natural crosspoint between several cities with its connecting rivers. But, everybody knows, that in fantasy, people and places with "Mor(t)” in their name, has a rather, oh what is the word, oh yeah, "bad" reputation... 😅 I must admit that at the start I got major “Empire Strikes Back” vibes, and for a couple of pages I was a bit afraid that our dear Dayraven would morph into a Luke Skywalker/Frodo Baggins Haversack-Young Grasshopper clone, but I ended up thouroghly enjoying the story, especially after the Council of Kiriath: Loved seeing the “Gang” back together, even for just a few pages! While I would have loved to see even more of Sildharan, Sundara and Golgar, Thulhan was a highlight of the story: The Dual Temples of Oruma & Anghara (representing Death & Life) reminded me of the Taj Mahal (& the “Proposed Black Twin Taj Mahal” Myth that I heared when I visited it). The Mix of Domes and life-like statues, I found similar to a fusion of two Indian periods: the Early Modern Age Muslim Mughal Empire India (famous for it's dome-architecture, Taj Mahal being a prime example, but also ban on human likeness in its style) mixed with the Indo-Greek Kingdom of Antiquity (Successors of Alexander the Great, famous for introducing life-like statues into South Asia). Dayraven’s Travel through the Osham Mountain was another highlight, taking me back to being on tracking in Nepal, could literally hear the Lonely Planet/Globetrekkers Theme! And I don't know what line made me laugh the most: The line about Tiran’s Mother or Jhaia's weapon of Guilt! 😂 Urd and Faldira felt to me as if Gandalf/Radagast and Galadriel had been envisioned for “Earthsea” by Ursula K. Le Guin! Even before the Torrlonder attack on the Asdralad, the white clothes of Asdralad reminded me of how white symbolize purity, but also death in many Western and Asian Cultures! Similar, I could not help but think of the Asdralad Army's Black & White uniforms, as a nod to the Ying-Yang of Daoism, again tying Asdralad as a love letter to Le Guin's “Earthsea” and as a counterpoint to the grey kirtels of the Torrlonders, a colour used by “Historical Badguys”, such as the Confederate States and Germany during in both WW1 & WW2, on their uniforms. Turning to the Torrlonders: I caught Eofor, “Boar”, the name of a Geat warrior in “Beowulf” and slayer of Swedish King Ongentheow (Egil Vendelkråke in Norse Sagas) and Duke Uwain to Ywain/Owain, the Knight of the Round Table, based on Owain mab Urien, King of Rheged, from the poems of the bard Taliesin. The Lingworms was a nice nod to our Scandinavian Lindworms, and added to the “Beowulf meeting the Vietnam War” feeling from book #1: Aerial supremacy, King Balch, aerial supremacy! That said, Munzil has to be my favourite new addition to the series in this book: While I would not quite call myself “Pro-Ilarchae”, I definitly would say that the chickens came home to roost for Sildharan! I understood a fair bit of Ilarchae as German-ish, I believe Hochna is German for “Snotty” 😆. Skuld, like Urd, is the name of a Norn/weaver of destiny in Norse Myth, Gorm is the name of a Danish Viking King, Erzil hints to both Etzel (the name Attila the Hun in German Myth) and Özil (a Turkish last name) and Surt to Sutr, the Fire Jotun causing Ragnarok and the destruction of Asgard! Furthermore, the character of Surt reminded me of Attila the Hun, but also as a darker take on Beowulf (his tribe being named the Fire Dragons, and his focus on glory combined with the loyalty he fosters among his men as a “Ringgiver”), and of Darth Vader/Kylo Ren from Star Wars in his dark armour: Especially when Kung Fu Catching a spear in midair(!), which reminded me of Richard Wagner’s «Parsifal», were the evil wizard Klingsor throws the Holy Spear at noble Parsifal, only for it to stop and float above Parsifal’s head, before he grabs it and destroy Klingsor and his Castle by making the Sign of the Cross! I talked to the Professor about it, and he mentioned “The Saga of Njål” as more direct reference for the midair spear catch! Other tidbits: The Norse Execution Method Blood Eagle! Wolfhides: The “Ulfhednar”, the berserker bodyguard of the Viking unifier of Norway, King Harald Hårfagre/Finefair. And the Grey Wolves are a sacred symbol in Turkic Mythology. The White Dragon for Torlond: A nice nod to the Saxon White Dragon fighting the Celtic/Welsh Red Dragon in «Historia Brittonum»! Turning to the Religions: The Realm of Origin brought Plato’s “Theory of Form”to my mind, while Imharr Silverhand was a cool nod to Nuada Airgetlám of Irish Mythology and Tolkien's Celebrimbor (as well as Johnny Silverhand from “Cyberpunk”)! The World Tree Laeroth with 9 worlds is of course a nod to Yggdrasil in Norse Myth, while Hringvolnir the First Dragon and mother of monsters is a mix of Norse Nidhogg, Mesopotamian Tiamat, Greek Typhon, Christian Lucifer and Tolkien's Morgoth! The Battle of Bolthar (according to Agon) or Regnor (according to Orvandil) vs Hringvolnir, is a nice reference to the many versions of Chaoskampf, a thunder/storm god fighting a dragon, found around the world, with added elements of poor Ymir's fate in Norse Myth. The Andumic Chthonic God Orumo/Orm being replaced by the Ilarchae Sky God Regnor/Roknar as head deity for the (early) Torrlonders, Ellonders and Men of the Mark, reminded me to how maybe an early Chthonic version of Poseidon (as a God of Death tied to those that drowns at sea and by earthquakes) in Mycenaean Greece, was after the Bronze Age Collapse replaced by the Sky God Zeus as the Head God in Greek Mythology. Similarly the Ilarchae Chthonic Psychopomp God Seidvar (Charon the Ferryman of the Dead with hints of Heimdal as Father of men) seems to have fused with the Andumic Chthonic God Orumo and then split into a Traveller’s God (Sithfar) and a Chthonic God (Orm) for the (early) Torrlonders and Men of the Mark, in a fashion similar to how Hermes and Pan from Greek Myth have a common origin as one Proto-Indoeuropean Diety.
Just ordered this book it’s coming in a week. I had to wait for the paperback edition so it fits into my Malazan collection. Loved the first three on a re read of book of the fallen and now have to get esslemonts other books to read in the main story
Nice video! I tried to get into the Warhammer table top game years ago I bought a couple of space marine kits, and found it fun to paint them. But I gave up on it for a few reasons. I gave up on it because I found it to be too expensive, I didn't have any friends that wanted to play with me, and I went to the Games Workshop store a couple times and I found that half of the people that play the game don't shower on a regular basis. But the books might be fun to read.
Where to begin....can't go wrong with Abnett. There is a lot of lore to get into so some of the books get a little repetitive. A lot of the adeptus astartes books are non stop action. The Heresy books are good but not for a starting point until you get a grasp of the history, what the Heresy is, the chaos gods (Slaneesh is who you were thinking of), the Primarchs, and the various chapters. I liked the Souldrinkers series as they go against the grain of the other astartes. There are some decent blood angel series and also can't go wrong with the Wolves. There are a few from the Chaos perspective. But they all run together. Caiphas Cain is about as comedic as they get. Reminded me of Bill the Galactic Space Hero. Never played the tabletop. Have played the Fantasy Flight ttrpg a few times. Have painted miniatures but they are freightfully overpriced but will buy their paint, although Vallejo is my second choice. If you look up some Golden Demon winners, white amazing, they probably kit bashed several hundred dollars in mimis. But at least you can now talk about grimdark.
@@bookswithbanks8943 I get them at Half Price Books. There might be a few I have read several times as I forget titles. There are likely Omnibus editions for a lot of them now. But I will pick one up for a mental reset as they don't require much thinking. Some of the earlier Heresy books might be hard to find. They do have several origin stories on the Primarchs you might want to pick up if you see them to read later. Ravenor also has his own series after Eisenhorn.
If you mean the combat and battles and stuff like that, hard for me to say because I quite enjoy how Erikson handles all that in both. I will say there's a good deal LESS of it in Kharkanas - at least there's barely any large-scale conflicts (on-page). One or two I can think of - but the action also isn't why I'd recommend Kharkanas either, so maybe that helps.
I am an old guy (also American) who speaks (American) English but can read a little Spanish and French in a pi9nch. I've been a reader all my long life. I've read exactly ONE of the books on your list (you can probably guess which one). I assume (from your discourse) that you're cultured and educated. Isn't it amazing that there is so much reading content to be consumed that I've have read almost nothing from your best/favorite list? Do we have an embarrassment of riches? Say yes. Thanks for the content and the introduction to many fantasy/SciFi works that I've never heard discussed or even mentioned. I read two volumes from ASOFAI, but not the one you featured.
What? He's American. Do you really think that a party functionary in Beijing who ONLY speaks Mandarin would have a similar list FILLED with Dutch authors??????
@@kevinrussell1144 This is not an excuse, sorry. While I do neither know nor care about the reading list of Chinese party officials, I do know that the western literary corpus encompasses much more than English books. Ever heard of Kafka, Balzac, Dostojewsky, Hugo?
@@jeyhey5320 No problemo, Amigo. Yeah, I may have heard (somewhere) of the dudes you mentioned, but guess what? I've never completed ANYTHING by them, although I've made several attempts at "Freddy" (Fyodor). Please note the poster says "favorite", not what he considers the best. My "best" list would include Tolstoy, Flaubert, and Conrad, but a favorite list would include some curious (to others) inclusions. There is no accounting for taste. Mine (also) would include NO works by Ping Pong Chow or his cultural siblings. Imagine that?!
@@kevinrussell1144 I did notice that it is a list of his favorite books. And it is completely ok to have a bias for books of once own native language. But to have not a single book of a foreign author on the list is strange. Is it possible that this sample is drawn from a population of uniquely English books? And how strange would that be!
I mean no offense to non-english speaking authors. English is just the only language I know and I haven't read many translated classics. Part of that's my own worry that I'll pick the wrong translation. But I also read a lot of recommendations, especially in the sci-fi fantasy genre, and most of those come from other English-speaking friends. Not to say I won't read any non-English works that you suggest, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Again, I don't mean to offend anyone.
Interesting list. Lot of books on here I hadn't seen mentioned before on booktube. Cool to see some love for Toll the Hounds too; that's such an underrated Malazan book; it's not my favorite of the series but it's top 3; most people usually say Memorie of Ice or the Crippled God but I too have Toll ahead of both. Here is my current top 10: 10. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson 9. The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie 8. The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson 7. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 6. The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie 5. Legend by David Gemmell 4. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss 1. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan 1. The Fires of Heaven by Jordan 1. The Shadow Rising by Jordan Those top 3 are all tied for my #1 and they have been since I first read them in 1997. To me they are the best 3 book stretch of fantasy ever put to paper.
At some point I need to return to Wheel of Time for sure. I only made it through the first 9, and I can definitely understand why some of those would top your list. I'll pick up Crossroads sooner or later.
Definitely. I might take a break and follow your recommendation order though. I kind of found this series by accident. Didnt know It was this big. But great. The more the merrier.
Yeah, it's definitely worth a try. I mean the thought experiment itself is a great hook, and then you'll find yourself all of a sudden really invested in Jason's journey partway through.
To be honest I only read the first 250 and DNF😭 I didn’t like how they turn the main characters from the first book to side characters ☠️ also there was so much build up for a book 2 ☠️ and I really was expecting more magic card action which didn’t happen in those 250 pages. But great writing, and book 1 was a 5 star
Thanks! Book 4 definitely has me super intrigued, but for a month or so here I'm pivoting to the 2nd and 3rd Edan books. I'll probably return to God Emperor later this year though.
Honestly I'm not sure, but it's definitely on the slower end of things. I'd say it takes me 2-3 minutes to read a page in a mass market paperback, but I'm slower than pretty much all of my friends.
The main reasons people didn’t like the Forerunner Trilogy were because it completely messed up the lore and feels really disconnected from Halo. For the SUPER MAJORITY of Bungie’s run it was HEAVILY IMPLIED and in some cases outright stated (“You are the child of my Makers. Inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner! But this ring... is mine!“ - Guilty Spark talking to Chief at the end of 3) that humans were Forerunner (Marty in his Twitter said that humans were Forerunners and Joseph Staten retweeted C3Sabertooth’s animated storyboards showing Halo 2’s original ending). In fact, in Contact Harvest Mendicant Bias tells the san'shyuum that would later become the Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret that humans were the children of their gods and that the Great Journey was a lie. That revelation is what started the Human Covenant War because if the truth ever came out the masses would turn against them for forcing them to go along with a lie. Frank O’Conner’s schitzo terminals and the Iris campaign were the only outliers. In the new continuity it’s completely convoluted and there’s no real reason for the Human Covenant War to have happened. 343 also messed up Rampancy. When Bungie was in charge Rampancy used the same definition as Marathon where from our perspective an ai would “go crazy” and behaves erratically in an attempt to break its shackles and grow past its limits. The reason the UNSC would put AIs down is because they’d cause all kinds of problems, and during the Human Covenant War they couldn’t afford to have rogue AIs causing problems while they were simultaneously threatened by an outside force. In the actually good Halo 3 terminals the reason why Mendicant Bias joins the Flood is because the Gravemind if that era convinced him he has free will and that he can choose what to do. Mendicant would then view his creators as slavers and wants vengeance. In the pre Rampancy terminals they refer to Mendicant as it, and post Rampancy they call Mendicant he. This implied the thing went from just being a machine that wasn’t sapient to being fully aware. 343 changed this to ai schizophrenia/dementia. Watch C3Sabertooth’s We Were Forerunner video. It’s really good and talks about how thoroughly 343 (more specifically Frank O’Conner) do not understand the setting and messed everything up.
Regardless of what was heavily implied by developers in the text and outside of it, I'm still very happy with the direction Bear took things. Witgiut knowing what was in his contract, it seems like they gave him free reign to poke holes in and subvert a lot of what those textual clues (and Sparks words) heavily implied. Sure, I too felt it was implied that the forerunners were humans, but I never took that as absolute unchangeable truth. And yeah, the continuity whiplash can be a bit jarring, but I for one am glad that Bear was given the freedom to shock us in those ways. So 1. I don't think an artist should be limited to the bounds of fan expectation, expected continuity, or canonicity, and 2. I think while the Guilty Spark quote you pulled implies humans were forerunner, I think that specific quote leaves enough uncertainty and a close reading reveals it's a much more nebulous description of what the forerunners were in relation to modern humans, so even if authors had to adhere to strict rules of canon or continuity (which I don't think they should have to) even if that were the case, I think Bear still finds a way to keep his lore still plausible and realistic within the context of what we know for certain and what's just been implied.
Wonderful video! Janny's short stories in the Athera universe are phenomenal, and such an amazing compliment to her main WOLAS series, yet they can certainly stand on their own as incredible pieces of fantasy literature. I had the privilege of reading the entire series, including an ARC of SONG OF THE MYSTERIES - you are in for a real treat as you continue the series. The best is yet to come! Thank you for featuring this incredible writer who is criminally underrated, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your WOLAS (and all stories associated with it) journey!
Thank you so much! I'm really excited to start Grand Conspiracy but ot might not be fkr another month or two. More than anything, I can't wait to see what she does with Lirenda.
This one was definitely a fantastic set up for what's to come. If you liked Lirenda's story line here, you're going to absolutely love Grand Conspiracy. She has a fantastic story arc coming up. I'm on to Peril's Gate now and they just keep getting better.
Lovely discussion to hear by an aficionado. On the British book edition by Grey Walls Press. This was actually issued in 1948. The illustrations are by Gordon Noel Fish, whose career was rather obscure and short-lived, but whose dark art in Finney's book and elsewhere I adore. Boris A celebrates the whimsey, while G N Fish dwells on the grotesque undertone in this fantasia of human weakness and foolishness that entertain (at a distance that safely excludes us).
Thank you! And yes, probably. I've just made a little progress into Children, but from everything I've heard, God Emperor is the one I'm more excited for.
