happy to see your thoughts on this series. i picked up 2-6 at a thrift store for $15, and discovered david drake passed away days before i bought the books. i found a signed copy of the first one on ebay and they've been sitting on my shelf for a while. now that i've finished sanderson's works and am on track to finishing the dark tower i think i might give this a shot. thanks for your review, i think you're one of the only ones lol
Glad to see more people getting hyped for UFO 50! It's been my most anticipated project for the past 7 years, so it finally coming out is huge for me :)
Commenting to help raise visibility of your channel. BTW, I like your idea of using tags on a string to help organize your books. I noticed the nice and tidy results of your efforts in your video that discusses the problem of perception and memory on objective analysis. 👍
I came to your channel to see your perspective on On Basilisk Station (prior to me planning to read it a second time), and I see that in general, your channel covers sf books that generally haven’t called out to me. My favorite topics deal with physical and life sciences, so I enjoyed your discussion of the fallibility of memory. I value seeing the world from another’s perspective, so I was wondering if you could recommend an author or series to try that would be any easy entry for someone with my perspective?
I am glad you found my ramblings interesting! I admit, I think I read more fantasy than science fiction, but my favorite author Glen Cook did both! Now, every one of his series had a wildly different feel, but the Starfishers trilogy (I talk about it here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rThqrhJDHBQ.html ) provides a fun combination of Norse mythology, science fiction, and spy stories, and the Dark War trilogy is science fantasy centered on a strange non-human society that fuses magic and science.
I finished the book 3. I really love the first 2. One of the best story that I have ever red. It could have ended here. The 3 is great too but I have some complains. SPOILERS DON'T LOOK BENEATH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE THIRD BOOK - The story around the island that goes under the lake is strange to me. I mean, 1 man building such a thing in a medieval fantasy doesn't fit well. - The resurection of Tungdill and Fulgur bothers me. It's not terrible but I think that it was not necessary. I would rather like that the 2 did not die at first. - The fact that Lot-Ionan is not dead. - Why by hell does Tungdill enter the hell's gate? Against something that is around 1300 times bigger and stronger than him? I like it, don't get me wrong. I think that it's a great story. I almost feel some pain for the hybrid at the end of the book. Heitz is strong in his writting. We don't know what is happening, we can guess but there is always a surprise around the corner. I like the fact that the elves want to show themselves as the purest creatures, made to bring light but this light is definitively not that pure. We have a 3 sides battle and it's pleasant to see. However, I saw the abstract of the 4th book and I don't like what I red. I have big fears. Even more for the 5th and the 6th books.
@@RaldorIradon I just ended the 4th book. I still don't know what comes in the next book so I am writing with what I know and with the summary of the 5th. Maybe I will change my mind after I end the 5th. The writing is amazing. Even with less fights, I still enjoyed reading this story. The suspense is there, the characters are well built. There are many turning points and I really love the fact that it's not a black/white story with the good guys vs the bad guys. Alliances come and go. You don't know what to expect in the next page. The uncertainty around Thungdil is very well made. I really liked this book, I would give it 8/10 with what comes before even if some points are worth noting. - The dragon who died 40 years before the actual story breaks the hype for a huge fight, but in the same time, is such a great fight mandatory? I mean, in a solo book I would say yes but here with 4 books, it brings some realistic vibes. Sometimes, it doesn't end the way we would like. I was shocked but not in a bad way. - Goda and Kiras don't believe that the dwarf is the real Tungdil. Ok but why? Why after all the things that he did? The only reason for Kiras is that he did not recognize the name of Sirka. That's tiny. - Boïndil could have more troubles about that because he saw the face of "Tungdil" becoming the one of a dark elve. - Many questions are not answered and it bothers me. I guess that it was on purpose and I understand. You can choose what suits you the more. But when he wrote this end, he did not know that he would write the 5th. Or didn't he? - Now for the 2 real downside for me. The first is that Lot-Ionan comes very lately in this story. He appears as the key to solve the problem but we don't see him much in the end. And the second is that I really thought that some characters died... and in fact no. At least, one of the women should have died for real.
One of my favorite series. I’ve probably read it a dozen times. This, and the original Dune series. At least Dune is available as an audiobook. I drive truck, and don’t get to read as much as I used to, unless it’s an audiobook.
I just finished reading the entire. I think you are right about Glen Cook writing for himself. I think of the Dread Empire series as ambitious to a fault. It is everything good and bad about his writing turned to 11. I'm not saying that is a bad thing. It is incredibly innovative and should be read by more people but it does have flaws. I can't stop thinking about it. Great review!
If you haven't I'd highly suggest reading Legends of the Alfar because they act as Prequels throughout the Dwarves Saga and give a lot of missing context as well as gives insight to how the Alfar operate. I'll leave the proper reading order for the series for you and any other fans that want to get into the series... Legends of the Alfar: Righteous Fury Legends of the Alfar: Devastating Hate The Dwarves War of the Dwarves Revenge of the Dwarves Legends of the Alfar: Dark Paths Fate of the Dwarves Legends of the Alfar: Raging Storm Triumph of the Dwarves Return of the Dwarves Part 1 (Comes out May 9th 2024) Return of the Dwarves Part 2 (Releases October 2024)
Just got this whole series a week ago. I was advised by a friend to read the prequels first before these three for the story to be less confusing and for it to flow smoother.
Man it's been almost 10 years since I read the 5th book, and yeah some memories of all the details are a little fuzzy, but the author knew how to write a scene and give characters a bunch of development that it had me hooked completely and I think about often. Sad there's isn't another way to experience the story that isn't the game that was half assed. Hell, I would be excited for an animated series of it. Also, how vile the orcs are in this series made me actually hate them entirely across all fantasy settings. Won't go into detail because it would also be spoiler heavy, and I think it should be definitely experienced while engrossed in the story. This author can write scenes like Michael Crichton
I read the first 3 books because I like fantasy Dwarfs as well. But I found theses books quit bland and almost childish, like all the characters were teenagers. Both the romance and fighting. Both the story and characters lacked depth and complexity, as they were pretty much going from A to B to fetch something. That's my review on the series, and I've read I'm not alone on these points, and that's why many don't talk more about them - But for a YA fantasy series they are not bad if you don't want to read Warhammer or Tolkien.
Your first video convinced me to start the series after reading some conflicting reviews. I'm glad I have started it. This has pretty much been a year of Glenn Cook for me. Reread the Black Company and Instrumentalities, read the Garret P. I. series twice, just back to back, and now am almost through With Mercy For None. Fair to say I've become a devoted fan
I’ve been begging for that for YEARS! The entire world that HT developed was amazing. I feel like his Videssos fans are treated like the forgotten step children.
I've read about nine books from this series. To be honest I thought they were 50s-style pulp fiction trashy books with some slightly out-of-place Christian elements to them. They were fun but not "good" books.
We are all entitled to our own opinions. At this point, I have read the first five books, and I have thoroughly enjoyed them. I agree they lean more on being fun than being necessarily deep, which fits in tone with the inspiring series, Horatio Hornblower. I am unsure exactly why you thought they were trashy-pulp. They are a fairly direct translation of the ‘wooden ships and iron men’ sub genre of military fiction, and as an attempt to bring that form into science fiction, I found them to have hit the mark. The people of Grayson are obviously Space Mormons, but I don’t know what other out of place Christian elements you are seeing. Beyond all else, I don’t think the existence of Christianity or any currently existing world religion in a future setting that explicitly includes earth is off putting. Frankly I find it more unbelievable when those influences are missing without some *very* good explanations.
I really love this series and was very happy to discover it. I actually discovered it through the game that shares the story and the name of the first book "The Dwarves". In a world where fantasy has become overly grimdark, this type of fantasy was a breath of fresh air. I have to say book 2 was my absolute favorite. It was definitely a culmination of everything built up in the first book and I honestly would have been ok if everything ended there. Book 3 was a tough read for me because it felt like all the good that was done in book 2 was unravelling and it was hard to watch the characters go through what they went through. I'm on book 5 right now and it's been fantastic so far!! What's been your favorite book in the series so far? Thanks for your thoughts on this series!
My favorites are the first two. There was something pure in the worldbuilding of the first book. The story of the second book introduced a lot of good wrinkles that followed naturally from what was laid out in book one. As you said, it would have been a satisfying end right there. I really enjoyed books 3 and 4, but each time it felt like the hard won victories of the previous books were unfairly stolen away. I am glad to hear book 5 is great!
