Hey bookworms! I'm really excited to talk about reading this series that has been 15 years in the making. Many thanks to Quill to Live for their assist and to Whitesand for the phenomenal music in the intro.
I would love to do the read along! I remember with Wheel of Time you were flying through the books in a week or two. Will it be the same with Malazan? I'm worried I won't be able to keep up.
@@nemoonbekend2483 Yeah, and I'm not very picky either, so I know if I picked up a series most likely I'd enjoy it, so how to choose? I'll just keep on reading lol
@@musicgenius1948 yeah I definitely want to read it because I like grimdark and people say it's great, I think I'm going to read it before the other big series
"I have no idea what 'Bridgeburners' is..." Oh boy, the innocence! Get ready for quite the journey, lads! Can't wait to reread the books again with ye.
“Now these ashes have grown cold, we open the old book. These oil-stained pages recount the tales of the Fallen, a frayed empire, words without warmth. The hearth has ebbed, its gleam and life's sparks are but memories against dimming eyes - what cast my mind, what hue my thoughts as I open the Book of the Fallen and breathe deep the scent of history? Listen, then, to these words carried on that breath. These tales are the tales of us all, again yet again. We are history relived and that is all, without end that is all.” Can't wait for you all to witness this epic tale.
I'm just realizing that reading Malazan is kind of like playing Dark Souls. At first you don't understand anything and get your ass whooped, but then you keep embracing the mystery and hone the steel in yourself and after overcoming obstacle after obstacle you'll feel joy and satisfaction like you didn't think possible. In the end it was you, who moved through the darkness, all along.
Lol. What does it say about myself that I have read Malazan multiple times, have pledged to the read-along, and yet threw Dark Souls out of my house? Probably that my game masochism runs to Paradox games and Football Manager.
That description isn't inaccurate but...it doesn't really tell you much about why people love it or why you should read it either. There aren't many summaries because there is just too much going on for one to make sense. I think that's the biggest reason people don't pick it up, it's really hard to tell someone what it's about.
This read along is one of the most exciting things about 2021! “It’s like Dune” could become the new “Tastes like chicken,” but it’s a valid observation in this case, in my opinion. I’ve always seen Glen Cook’s The Black Company as an obvious influence on Malazan, and Stephen Donaldson is another one Erikson talks about, I think. Very cool to see the enthusiasm for this building, Mike!
@@nemoonbekend2483 Well said! I’m not sure if I’m remembering this correctly, but I think I recall an interview where Erikson said he never read Moorcock, which is interesting because a lot of people have assumed Elric is an influence. Don’t quote me on that, though, since I’d have to dig it up to be sure.
Erickson has denied on multiple occasions even reading Moorcock before writing Rake. But Dune meets the Black Company is probably the best way to describe Malazan stylistically.
@nemo@chase, here is the interview where Erikson talks about this series and his influences: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PglugQjKsi0.html
... Look. I'm trying to read Mistborn. Stop tempting me to do a 3rd reread of Malazan because I am weak and I will join that read-along and never end up reading anything else.
I know my comment is irrelevant, but I put it anyways! I'm reading the "Dune" novel right now with my kindle paperwhite. I live in a country that I can't purchase books legally, so I have to download them illegally. Is there anyone who loves to read like me but can't access the book so he have resort to piracy? I'm a software developer and I leant software development even by piracy! I'm not an English speaker, and I learnt English by pirating educational materials too! Take my comment as a confession, confessions of a of digital pirate in digital age! And the "Dune" novel is fantastic! I read a lots of books. Almost all of Stephen King for example. And some of Clive Barker too. But Clive can't hold a candle to Stephen!
i can't buy books from amazon before too, but during the pandemic lockdown i managed to bought as many books as i can, after i logged into my amazon account through proxysite. try it.
@@colinjones5379 Never quite understood the whole Witness thing. Anyone care to explain? It's not just Karsa saying it, it's a theme throughout the series. What does it mean?
You are correct, it is an anthology series. It has great character development and world-building, but is done in situ. No big expositional dumps. Def a great series, but it takes work. The fandom can be condescending, though....Recommend not googling anything. There are terms like “Tiste” and “Warren”, and they are explained slowly throughout the series. Infodump wiki ruins Erickson’s pacing IMO.
Trying to describe what the series is about ties even veteran readers in knots because it is about so so much. It's about much more than a main plot. It's also about this truly epic world that leaves you with a sense of scale and history that you will struggle to find anywhere else. It's the people and peoples in this world and how their stories build the world and the main narrative. Try to understand everything as it happens and it can seem like hard work, but if you just immerse yourself into it and slowly build knowledge and understanding as you indulge in this masterpiece then it becomes truly transformative. There isn't a single emotion it won't wrench along the way, but it is such a great journey to go on.
i always feel like the dinosaur bit is a bit spoilery, but i guess not really if you don't add more details. dragons are almost assumed in a world this size.
Erikson said that he really liked the structure of Dune, the novel, so he went and stole it, as he said it. The way that you get dropped into a story in medias res and only slowly the world will reveal itself to you. That's kind of how Gardens of the Moon feels like and it's the reason why so many people are put off initially.
It is definitely a dense read. It took me about 6 years to read the original 10 books plus 11 of the others in the Malazan world. The difficulty in reading the novels (for me at least) is that they mostly follow the POV of common soldiers. There are a lot of things happening between commanders, emperors, ascendents, and gods that we only get glimpses of. So like those soldiers, we are only seeing small parts of the larger conflict.
@@nemoonbekend2483 awesome! I see you very active on the tourney-it’s been a lot of fun but I’ve had terrible internet so I’ve been struggling to get in there and chop it up with you all!
Like I told you, you're going to think it's fun at first. But when I'm blowing your messages up by book 2 you're going to be like "not this asshole again!"
There's even a band that bases their songs on Malazan Book of the Fallen. They are called "Caladan Brood", he's a character from the books. The songs are amazing. I get chills listening.
And for me it was the exact opposite. I'm on Book 7 and I try to never go to the wiki. It is one of the most spoiler filled wikis that I've ever seen. I've been spoiled about so many things in the first 2 books that I stopped entirely looking up things on the wiki. If I have any doubts I ask at the Malazan subreddit, they are quite helpful.
IMHO this series beats WOT and most other series in the genre. Scope, characters, plot - granted, it's kind of different with some wait times to follow up certain POVs and so on but the further you come the better it gets. It's one of those 'delayed gratification' things. I've NOT read the ICE books, only the 10, and that was enough for me. I think you'll love it. If you are into Dune, as I am, you are into the slightly more convoluted story telling. Just remember, you won't get anything spoonfed. It will make sense in time :-))
You missed a big chunk not reading ICE. Same with Erikson's extras like the rather hilarious short stories on Korbal Broach and Baukelain... You are missing so much like Kellanved's back stories, the Stormriders, much more on Dassem Ultor, more history, what happens with Tayschrenn etc etc. Your loss.
@@omnitheus5442 The ICE books are worth a read. Absolutely. Esselmont isn't the writer Erikson is, but he's certainly at least as good as a Jordan or Gwynn in this genre. The material is very compelling.
Never have I read a better series, you will literally get blown away by the awesomeness of the series. Steven Erikson did a great job. Not too difficult to read, definitely not hyped at all.
Did you actually like this book series? I got 5 books in and called it quits. Only the second time I've ever done that. Some of the action scenes were amazing (mostly anomander rake) but I hate being super confused for 80% of a book
The "problem" with Malazan is that it's full of really complex concepts that the series is built upon - the world building, magic, gods, hierarchy and many more things which aren't really explained. The "throwing readesrs into a world" is used often when people talk about different books, but this... This is next level. I stopped reading in the middle of 6th book due to burnout and after 5500 pages I was still doubting myself if I understand the basic rules of this world correctly. You are forced to make your own understanding of certain things. I know I was going to eventually come back to this series, becouse it's just too good, too epic to leave unfinished. 3rd book is just... too much. Maybe the read along will be a good excuse to come back to it. Anyway. I hope it will blow you away as much as it did me.
That's one of the big reasons I spaced this read along out over the course of 2 years. I want to avoid burnout and losing people that feel like they can't keep up. Also, I feel like having a group read that is hundreds strong, we can help each other out if we are feeling overwhelmed with the rules/plot.
I stopped mid book 6, bonehunters after the “event” it’s been years and I haven’t been able to pick it back up. Feel like I need to start again. My TBR is massive, but I just may have to jump into them again from the beginning... or catch the train as it barrels past book 6
Everything get explained, everything had it's own logic (sometimes different from one we are using, which make sense since it's fantasy world, not 21th century Earth). I had no intentions to stop reading once I understood it and made peace with SE's writing style. But in the end of the first book I was pretty close to DNF after certain event. In my personal taste there some questionable decisions in structure of the books but there is so much more satisfying, thoughts provoking, funny and sad moments. And worldbuilding is just top notch.
@@turtle62785 I have the same dilemma and I'm at the same spot into book 6 as you. I have so many new, exciting books to read, but jumping back into Malazan after 5 year break, without a refresher, seems to be a poor idea. Maybe some recaps will help.
So.. if the Tool shirt was a completely random pick for this video, that would be amazing 🤣 Malazan can't be explained, it can only be experienced.. it's that kind of vague BS, but true I'm afraid. You'll get it soon enough 😉 "Now, invite me in, before I lose my temperature.' 'Temper, you mean.' 'No, temperature. It's getting chilly."
I don’t know if I will be reading this series, but I will join you on the Discord. I’ve been following Mike since the end of last year and if he likes it that will be the final endorsement to me reading this series. I have heard a lot of good things and have been positive towards the things Erickson has said, himself. My only doubt is that I am a character driven reader and like my plot to unfold nice and fluidly which may be at odds with Erickson’s style of writing. So I await the final endorsement from Mike to make my final decision 🙂
What is Malazan about? It's about choices and consequences. I won't be joining the read along because I'll be finishing RoW, going back to A Little Hatred and the rest of First Law and then I'm going to catch up with the Cosmere. Malazan is too complex to read with anything else. Many gods, many races, many stories, many emotions, many things to ponder. Ultimately, Malazan is rewarding. I'm looking forward to your reviews. Take your time, keep up with characters and cleanse your palate when you need to.
Always great to see more people starting Malazan, hope you enjoy the series as much as I do. There are a lot of passages in these books that are just unbelievably good, honestly incredible. Just roll with whatever information you're given and you won't have any trouble. Looking forward to your reviews!
As one of those vets who pledged to reread the series (and read the ICE books as well, if I can afford to buy them, lol), let me just say 1) I think you'll be fine. You're a Dune lover. And Erickson deliberately modeled his narrative style on Dune. 2) You'll get why we love the Bridgeburners within 100pages. But you'll get my love for Anomander Rake even sooner. 3) as for Grimdark. Yes and no. Erickson definitely refuses to let his readers look away from the brutality of war and the atrocities it often conceals. But, as the quote you read from Itkovian in the intro alludes, Erickson is emphatic on the value of compassion. The need for empathy. So in a sense, he is subverting the tropes of Grimdark. Showing us the worst of us, that we can then see the best juxtaposed (and hopefully choose the latter). And in fact one of the reasons explaining the Malazan series plot is so difficult is in part because the narrative serves the themes. Not the other way around. Also because, like Dune, it is told as a history, a Chronicle, as it were. Not a traditional novel. (See the Black Company for a smaller-scale point of comparison.) As for the Malazan fanbase, we can be prickly, at times. Especially when people try to say Erickson can't write. And as a result, we've probably grown more isolationist, as it were, than I would like. But I think with the recent round of interviews by him, that's thawing, to a degree. And I hope this helps. Though I'm not so naive as to expect a lack of lively discussions. 😁 Anyway, tl:dr. Hope you enjoy. And looking forward to the reread.
This is great! Thank you. Glad to know I wasn't far off on the Dune references. As far as grimdark, I think you can do it and still find a measure of hope and humanity. Abercrombie gets this (occasionally!) but a lot of other authors in the sub genre seem to have a tough time differentiating between grimdark and nihilism. I expect some fans to tell me things like "you totally missed that" and "you pronounce all the words wrong" and that just comes with having a booktube channel. I'm always up for constructive critisism and I think that signifies of a devoted and passionate fanbase vs that of "gatekeepers." So I'm looking forward to it. As far as his writing style, those quotes I pulled were amazing. If that is how the man writes, I'm going to be a huge fan.
@@mikesbookreviews Mispronouncing Malazan is a meme in the fanbase even. Mainly because most of us mispronounced "Malazan" for a decade. I had to retrain myself on how to say it after I heard SE say it in interviews. Let alone the 20 shades of Tiste. Lol. Not to mention, unlike Tolkien, there is no pronunciation guide. I suspect Erickson pronounces some of them differently just to troll his fans. 🤓
@@mikesbookreviews They do, and in epic fashion. Many of them are answered far before the end as well. It's more of a constant barrage of revelations followed by more questions.
I really didn't like Gardens of The Moon. I liked aspects of it, but overall, I thought it was flawed. I did a review, and I think mine is one of the few bad ones. For me, it was almost a DNF. Worldbuilding is great, and I will be trying to read the second one, to see how that goes.
Best book series ever!(except perhaps karkanas). What blows my mind is you grabbed the poem for this video that is my favorite in the whole series.SE is the greatest writer on Earth. Full stop. "Synopsis" bwhahahahaha. U have no idea what ur in for. My advise... Push through... Don't go backwards... because u will want to. Just keep pushing forward.
I am just getting back into reading and fantasy. Malazan is of course on my list but i will work my way towards it. I am now on the 10th book of WoT. When i do start malazan i will definitely be coming back to the videos you made on this channel!
Sorry Mike, I already cheated and started to read GoTM, this past week. But I can’t read more than 30 pages a night otherwise I get too confused. I’m having a lot of fun though
'You don't get answers for a long time'... Yeah, this is true, indeed one of my favourite literary jokes is Erikson's first line of dialogue in The Crippled God: I have no intention of explaining a damned thing. When I first read that, having puzzled my way through the nine preceding volumes of MBoF, I burst out laughing and kept laughing for a good five minutes.
I think I got through 50% of the series. While i acknowledge that SE is a fascinating author and his style of writing is very unique, this series just wasn't for me
@@JauntyScarecrow True but book one also clearly indicates that there's a specific way the series will go. The style of writing and the way events unfold are very unique to Malazan
There is a guy who does recapitulations of the books ( the first two so far, starting witj the third) but it helps a lot, in order to keep track of characters, locations and events. The guys RU-vid channel is Iskar Jakar I think. It helped me a lot with the first two!
It can hit like that. Erikson's got some stuff to say that resonates a lot harder than most genre fiction manages. He's more like a LeGuin than he is a Jordan.
Very intrigued by this series and the read along but it may not be the best time to start it. But your pacing does make it feel more doable. 🤔🤔 decisions....
I just finished my first reread of Malazan. Even better then first time. Also don't spoil anything for your self, it is way better that way. Glad you have decided to give it a try.
I'm in the middle of a reread at the moment. This series is unspeakably remarkable or perhaps remarkably unspeakable. Regardless of how it's expressed, this series is an unbelievable work of art.
A tip for first time readers.... DO NOT GOOGLE ANYTHING! You will be confused but the further you get the more you will catch on to. I spoiled a major plot just by typing in a characters name.
I've read the first 6 books years ago. Looking forward to rereading and finishing this series! Not sure how much I'll commit with the discord, but will check out from time to time. While I've only read the first Stormlight Archives book, I see some similarities, even inspiration on Sanderson. Especially the military fantasy elements. Also, TOR has a re-read of the fallen that's a helpful guide to check out as you read, with chapter summaries and commentary by one veteran and one newbie: www.tor.com/series/malazan-reread-of-the-fallen/
So how does this read along work? Sorry for asking, I’m a noob on this kinda thing (never done on YT). I’ve been trying to setup a re-read for the whole universe, so this might be a good time to actually start doing that. So, I’ll try to join if I could figure out what to do. Thanks.
There is a link in the description to the channel Discord. There is a schedule and a FAQ there, but essentially we will just be using the Discord as a place to discuss while we read. It's not as toxic or distracting as Twitter. But I'll be doing a video on how it all works sometime this month.
I’m going to do my first re-read along with you. This is my favorite series of all time. It made me branch out into other genres because it made all but the best other fantasy writers look talentless. Prepare yourself.
@@EricMcLuen I don't think he's the anti-Tolkien. That would be Martin. He's not against the entirety of Tolkien's message, as it were. (Indeed, Tolkien and Erikson would agree on the need for compassion and self-sacrifice, and the idea that "advancing" society isn't always going the right way.) But he definitely turned from Tolkien to Herbert and Dune for his inspiration in narrative and structure. And then to Cook for his ideas of using history to create a Chronicle as it were. Rather than a traditional hero's journey. I remember an older interview where he mentioned one of his influences was the Chronicles of the Napoloeonic Marshals. The conceit of the "Book of the Fallen" itself came from that.
@@shawngillogly6873 except moon was written several years prior. I was referring to Tolkeins very structured world full of stereotypes and by page 50 you know how the series will end and while a good story has no sense danger or tension. But yes, the influence of Herbert's methods are there. He also recommends reading Thomas Covenant which again isn't a very happy book and a not very nice protagonist.
@@ryanoneal8480 TtH is definitely the highest bar other than Gardens of the Moon itself. It's...strange. But the convergence at the end is perhaps the most epic in the series. And for a series that's built on convergences, that's saying something.
@@shawngillogly6873 Funnily enough, the one that tripped me up on my very first read through was Reapers Gale, which is considered by many fans to be one of the best lol
take notes and accept that you will be confused. Also, if you like heavy metal, listen to "caladan brood: the echoes of battle" while you read it. Its an album all about the series and is some of the best atmospheric black metal there is. Enjoy!
My attempt at a basic synopsis... A culmination of a world in turmoil, experienced through the eyes and manipulated by the hands of children, priests, soldiers, heroes, monsters and gods. Seasoned with struggles, suffering, hope, compassion and a healthy dose of humour. There's also dragons and dinosaurs! People tend focus on the empire somehow, for me it felt rather tangential, just a framing device to give a bit of structure to the whole, definitely a big part of the happenings of course, but its prevalence in other synopses had me skip it in mine.
I've read books 1-3 5 times. Books 4-6 3times, books 7-8 twice. And this will be my 1st reread of the entire series. You can figure out which books I decided to do a reread of what came before from that. :P
First, I want to say that I adore your intros. Thanks for making this video. I bought Gardens of the Moon (and Deadhouse Gates) a few eons ago, but have yet to start it. This read-along comes at a perfect time. I am excited to start this journey with everybody.
One advice: read slowly and with attention to details, there's no filler, and every little piece of the puzzle matters. ...and try to keep track of the characters.
Okay I wasn't going to pick the book, but now seeing your excitement,I am going to join your read along. Yay!!! And.... In interview with books with Brittany, Erickson confirmed his narrative and the world is heavily inspired from dune.
While Malazan has always seemed a bit too daunting for my tastes, I couldn't be more excited for you to take the series on. Who knows, your other recommendations have all panned out for me, so maybe you'll inspire me to give Malazan a try!
Because of everything right now, the readalong is basically the only thing I have planned for 2021. The art work is stunning! Very excited to start this series! :)
After reading wheel of time I put malazan on my list as something to fill the void that has yet to be filled since a memory of light. I'm very excited to start it with everyone next year.
I have now finished the wheel of time and am on the 5th Malazan book and I agree. Something else I have found however is that when there is goodness among Malazan characters it stands out so much more amongst all the badness of the world.
True of many! Every Malazan fan will have their own take on what works and what doesn't, but if you are struggling with book two you could try just setting it aside for a bit and start in on Memories of Ice. It's the direct sequel to book one and seems to be a fan favorite. Then go back and read books 2&4 before starting five. You may have an easier go of it that way. The last act of Deadhouse is fantastic BTW.
Thanks to this video, I invested in this series not too long after it being posted. Earlier this month, I finished. I started this series with The Dresden Files in January of 2023. As a result, both find themselves in my Top 5. It is everything you have ever heard about it but I digress. Mike, it is my sincerest hope that you return to Toll the Hounds and finish it. You have practically inspired my whole library since the pandemic and I am just trying to pay it forward. Thanks Mike 🤓
I'm an English teacher for a living. I read difficult books. I've read Joyce, Pynchon, Becket, Brecht, Henry James, Melville, Faulker, etc. I have two BAs-one in English lit and one in Philosophy-and a Masters in English Teaching. I'm not trying to sound like an elitist; I'm saying I enjoy difficult books and I have read difficult books. I was not initially intimidated by Erikson's series. All that being said: IMO-I did not enjoy Erikson's work. I did not enjoy the plot, I did not enjoy his writing style, and I do not enjoy his nihilistic, postmodern worldview. I will admit I kind of enjoyed the first 200 pages of Gardens of the Moon. But then the book began to fall apart for me. I found the characters to be dull, lifeless, and flat (I know this enrages Erikson, but if the shoe fits...). I found the story to be zoomed out and distant-so much so that I wasn't emotionally invested in what happened to the characters. In Malazan, Erikson is God and his characters are lifeless little figurines whose fate depends on the author's whim. The characters don't seem to have a life of their own. I found the plot to be convoluted and, quite frankly, tedious. As one Amazon reviewer put it: "Nothing makes sense and the reader is dropped in medias res into a complex world with zero grounding. Every other sentence refers to people, places, events, creatures, and a million other things without even a modicum of explanation which ultimately made me not care because it all became meaningless... The characters are pointless and hollow because you can't distinguish them; they are an amorphous blob of names without depth. I am an avid reader and have slogged through some terrible fantasy novels but I just can't with this book. It almost feels like an anthropological academic paper published in an obscure journal filled with esoteric concepts that only specialists in the field would fully grasp. That's not an enjoyable read to me."
I have read all the authors you list as well (Joyce is probably the only one I would say is "difficult"). I think you and your quoted Amazon reviewer may have missed the mark by a bit on Erikson. Malazan is deliberately structured to read in almost exactly that way. A non-fiction chronicle of a fictional world. As if Stephen Ambrose or Bruce Catton were writing a history of events leading up to the Fall of Sauron in the days of the Last Alliance. I read a lot more non-fiction than I do fiction so maybe that's why it hits all the right notes for me. Addendum- If you perceived Nihilism to be the driving philosophy of The Malazan Book of the Fallen you are mistaken.
@@nemoonbekend2483 Thanks for the response. This is only one man's opinion. I'd never dream of stopping others from reading Erikson, nor would I stear them away from it. I'm simply saying he's not for me. As you said, he deliberately structures his books in a way that just doesn't work for me. Reading should provide enjoyment and satisfaction. Erikson's work did not do that for me. To your point re: difficulty, I have found Pynchon and Joyce to be immensely difficult. Their dense, meta-textual, fragmented, non-linear modernist experimentations with POV, dialogue, and plot are meant, by design, to challenge and subvert literary norms and conventions. They're difficult and they're mean to be difficult. Brecht on purpose made his plays uncomfortable for those in attendance. He wanted to shake up his audience and their bourgeoise sensibilities. The others I mentioned-James, Melville, and Faulkner-aren't difficult to read and follow at a base comprehension level, but I would say they are difficult to understand philosophically. In other words, you read Moby Dick in High School and you can say you understand it, but do you REALLY understand it? I had to read Sound/Fury three times before I felt I truly understood it. As to your latter point, I would argue that postmodernism-a philosophy Erikson has admitted characterizes his work- is inherently and tautologically nihilistic. It's both morally and metaphysically nihilistic by design.
@@iWizard Thank you for your response as well. I guess "difficulty" is a somewhat subjective concept in literature . I first read Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury as young teen, and while I was able to muddle through it okay I certainly didn't fully appreciate it. When I reread it again about a decade later I got a lot more out of it. So you are certainly correct there. Conversely I didn't get around to Pynchon until I was already an experienced reader and thus was accustomed to "unconventional" stylists. On to the heart of the matter. Postmodernism in literature is, to my mind, more a set of techniques in writing than it is any true philosophy and has been used in everything from Poetry to Cyberpunk and in service to quite a few different philosophies. The overarching theme of Malazan is a kind of Idealism that stresses the ultimate value of abstract human qualities in the face of an uncaring universe and human barbarism/cruelty. The Crippled God ( the very climax and conclusion of the whole story) is an utter refutation of Nihilistic thought. Just look at what the final antagonists are symbolic of and the actions of the (only finally revealed) protagonist of the story. (I would be more specific here, but I am trying real hard to avoid spoilers!)
@@nemoonbekend2483 Yeah, it's interesting: I'm in the process now of trying to figure out whether or not to read Malazan along with Mike. I kind of want to give it another shot-and if anyone can contextualize it and help me to enjoy it, it's Mike and the discord community. I feel like a woman who's debating whether or not to go back with a guy she knows is wrong for her. haha
@@iWizard I say give it another go. You seem like just the kind of reader that I enjoy dissecting books with. Besides it's the hot, crazy messes that are the most fun. . .
Fantastic series! I read the first 7 books. I only stopped when my eyes got bad and I could no longer read the tiny font in the mass market paperbacks. With a Kindle in hand, I am ready for the read-along. Looking forward to re-reading the first 7 books and finding out what happens in the last 3 books. Woohoo 🙌!
I’ll definitely join the discord but I already got a 5 book head start on my second read through of the series I guess depending on pacing maybe I can take it easy while you catch up tho
I've tried to read this five times now and stop on book 2 of Gardens Of The Moon. Early tries, say 10 years ago - it was just too much to take in and I didn't want to put the effort in trying to understand. This most recent attempt at reading failed for more cynical reasons (which 10 years ago would not have bothered me, or I would not have even noticed). Some may find this silly seeing as it's fantasy, but I have been damaged by the diversity and inclusion prop. Namely, the feminism. Now when I see women put in combat roles I can't get past the idea "strong wahmen" (read Men with Breasts) which has, for me, ruined sci-fi and fantasy in recent years. I can suspend disbelief for magic etc, and I love the idea super powerful female mages and empresses, but... And a big BUT... I just cannot suspend disbelief for so many frontline women troops in a hand to hand combat setting, they would be a liability in that setting. Am I bigoted or against women? I don't think so. It just completely ruins the immersion for me and I can't brush it aside unfortunately. I'll stick to Glen Cook.
I don't think I'll get to Deadhouse Gates. I read today that the author uses later books as a mouthpiece for his own philosophical views? Unsure if that's true but it's cemented that I won't read any further. I love your channel by the way! I can tell your reviews are your own genuine point of view and it's a breath of fresh air in these times.
@@mikesbookreviewsIn my humble opinion, there's nothing in modern fantasy that compares to the work of R. Scott Bakker, not even A Song of Ice and Fire. He's truly in a league of his own. Unfortunately, he's not a well known author like Erikson, Martin, Sanderson or Jordan. There aren't many youtubers who discuss his work, so I would definitely enjoy hearing your thoughts whenever you get the time.
I would definitely take notes on these books. It really will help, especially if youre going to read other books in between. You will be fine though. Its nothing to be afraid of. Erikson is a huge DUNE fan too. Watching your stuff for over a year now, I think youre going to enjoy this series. Just take the books for what they are and dont get caught up in "I dont know whats going on."
@@mikesbookreviews docs.google.com/presentation/d/1GLRmiaFcxe_cGc93ckE5UItRq5rYsfeU0BhvqcaNq9E/mobilepresent?slide=id.i0 If you haven't seen this, it might help. I have one for books 2 and 3 as well if you need.
I started reading Malazan years and years ago, and I was so blown away by the world, the characters and the style of the presentation. I had to put down the series in the middle of the second book due to RL issues, and then I kinda fell out of love with fantasy in general and didn't go back for a couple years. Then I decided to give it another try and came back, but at this point Sanderson and Abercrombie had basically taken over the genre, so I decided to read them instead. Once I had seen what that fuss was about, I decided to get back into Malazan, but thought maybe it would be a better idea to read Glen Cook's Black Company first since that series is always cited as an inspiration (and I absolutely loved it, BTW). Long story short, I did Erikson dirty, but I hope I'll be able to join the read-along and finally see the series through.
Im currently reading the Prince of Nothing series and have been looking around at other decent sized Grim Dark/Dark Fantasy with some grit and i keep hearing about this series. Thinking about collecting it for afterwards.
@@mikesbookreviews up until now my favorite series was the Horus Heresy but after watching @Slowly Red 's video on The Prince of Nothing series and starting the first book that's definitely my new contender.
At the beginning of the pandemic I bought all the rest of the books I was missing, including all of Esslemont's and the prequel series and short stories by Erikson, with this grand idea that I was going to read through them by publication dates (not chronologically because they have both said that is a bad idea). I finished Gardens of the Moon and finished half of Deadhouse Gates. But alas I get distracted by shiny new things and haven't picked it back up since. I think 2021 is going to be my year of finishing series that I have been putting off.
