Comments on: Opinions About Books: Steven Erikson Special Edition

By: insomnius

insomnius — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:09:41 +0000

You are such a hater, Stefan. :) I agree, though, and I think that the sort of thing you are talking about is part of the broader category of "author using so-called fiction as a soapbox", which is generally super-annoying. (*cough* Orson Scott Card *cough*)

I like Erikson because his world is not a utopian one, it is just different. I do really like that the people in it are not crazy about some specific things that I hate people being crazy about. In this series there are all sorts of factions and groups that hate each other, but it tends to be a fairly even sort of enmity at the level of cultures or countries or species or whatever rather than targeting non-conforming individuals.

By: Stefan

Stefan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:43:27 +0000

I find the application of 'modern' (from the time of writing) sensibilities annoying in fantasy novels, be it fantasy that is a product of more conservative times and carries the same attitudes towards women etc or modern works that seem to go out of their way to present the sort of world that is what they would like ours to be.

Take same sex attraction, a setting that does not exclude these people for being different while doing the same to magic users/witches speaks to me as entirely untrue and smacks of self righteous authorism. I hope the series mentioned here is suitable for me, but I might have to ask Suresh about them before reading them anyway :)

By: Brendon

Brendon — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:43:53 +0000

Yay :)

I am happy that you like said books. I remember having a similar reaction to Memories of Ice when I read it the first time. There have been a few other instances over the course of the series that have elicited similar reactions, and I think it is the peculiar ability of the books to make me sometimes quite sad, and other times quite happy, that leads me to think that they are really rather good.

I think your assessmet of House of Chains is spot on.

Holding off on Midnight Tides is a good idea. One should not leap into it.

I bought Dust of Dreams yesterday (book 9). I think when the series is finished I will be quite sad.

By: insomnius

insomnius — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:44:39 +0000

What?! No! You can't read the Tawny Man before you've finished the Liveship Traders series. You just can't! It will be ruined, not just spoiled! D:

Nooooo. :(

(For what it's worth, the Tawny Man finishes brilliantly and makes everything I disliked about Liveship Traders (which was quite a lot) worth it.)

By: David H

David H — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:40:12 +0000

Sounds worthy of investigation when I am once again in the market for a fantasy epic to read!

I have been reading a fair bit of Robin Hobb lately myself. I've read the Royal Assassin books, really enjoyed the beginning but I'm not sure I enjoyed the denouement quite so much. I am most of the way through Liveship Traders and about halfway through the Tawny Man as well.

However once I've finished with those I also have "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" and a thick RPG book (Eclipse Phase, transhumanist conspiracy horror hard SF RPG where Earth has been rendered uninhabitable), as well as a Dorothy Dunnet historical fiction book to read before I pick up a new heavy series.