Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Originally posted by: GuybrushThreepwood
Steven Erikson - Gardens of the Moon
it's the first book in an AMAZING series so far (up to book 5 in the UK)
book 2 comes out in the US soon.
this is probably THE BEST (no exaggeration) fantasy series i have EVER read, and i've read many of them
Where does it rate in similiarity with The Wheel of Time series, and The Sword of Truth series?
oh dearie me.
do NOT get me started on this.
well, unfortunately i only read book 1 of Sword of Truth so i can't compare it really.
WoT is a series with lots of magic being thrown around with a few really likeable characters (IMO anyway), and a pretty good story (i'm not gonna touch book 10 after reading some of the reviews though)
Song of ICe & Fire is a series with not a lot of magic being thrown around but with lots of deep characters, a story that's really great, and a dark gritty atmosphere.
Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series is like WoT + Ice&FIre combined, in a sense. It has a lot of deep characters, a dark gritty atmosphere, an awesome storyline (which is still being played out in book 5), and a ton of magic being thrown around. Erikson was an anthropologist and he really uses his knowledge of ancient civilizations to color his world. He made up a ton of new races (none of that stereotypical dwarf & elf & orc stuff here) and set up the entire history of the world for a good 200,000 years. He also makes use of the fact that different people tell different versions of the same story, which
makes for really interesting (and sometimes frustrating) story-telling.
i have to talk about the magic system alone. it's so original (though i liked WoT's magic system too). I really don't wanna talk about it too much lest i uncover some major spoilers.
in any case, if you like fantasy, YOU MUST READ THESE BOOKS.
book 1 - Gardens of the Moon
book 2 - Deadhouse Gates
book 3 - Memories of Ice
book 4 - House of Chains
book 5 - Midnight Tides
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