The Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books Thread Book • Page 46

Seconded, this is a really good series. Wouldn't put it up there with the best but it's still a great read!

 

Yeah it's a good one

 

I started re-reading John Gwynne's The Shadow of the Gods in preparation for book 2. Gwynne is so good! Also plan on starting The Hobbit again for Tolkien Reading Day!

 

Amazing series, and i know this is high praise, but Islington absolutely crushes the ending, it wraps up perfectly imo. Stay away from anything that could possibly spoil it.

Per his blog, he has a new epic fantasy series in the works (new world) that im eagerly anticipated.

 

Well dang maybe I found my next read

 

Pros: Sandersonesque in that you can tell Islington is an architect and planned the story out so there's very little to pick apart. Extremely fast paced, great magic systems and a good philosophical core at the center of the story. It's a finished work and I cannot speak highly enough of the end.

Cons: Derivative of WOT in a lot of aspects, also sandersonesque in that it lacks in its prose (very workmanlike). and it has very little spice (aka not very sexy in the romance aspect - not always a con to all). He definitely hemmed himself in as well by saying it was a trilogy. The last book is a bit uneven and will need to be filled in by some novellas (per the authors own mouth). The third book has a few sections where the pacing falls apart.

 

I texted my buddy who told me to read these at one point when he asked where they were and I was like "time travelling Shadar Logoth."

 

Amazon has been pushing that Islighton book on me. Glad to hear it's good, putting it on the wishlist

 

It's been leering at me from my shelf for ages. Everything I've heard lets me know I'll love it, just need to make the time.

 

Finally finished Hyperion, what a wild ride. The ending was definitely a cliffhanger and I wished there was more resolution but I suppose that wasn't the point. Is the second book worth reading? Because I've heard mixed reviews

 

Absolutely. Read all four. They are all fantastic. I think the last book is my favorite, but they’re all uniquely wonderful.

 

i personally prefer the second.

 

I still need to read 2-4. But I have them.

 

Okay I forget who all talked about this but I know at least @Vivatoto you absolutely have to read The Starless Crown (after you finish The Banned and the Banished lol). Phenomenal story, wildly inventive, awesome worldbuilding, great characters, and the start of a very epic series. I’m a huge James Clemens fan anyway so I went into this with sky-high expectations and it did not disappoint.

 

Ha this is spot on

 

Ooh that does look dope.

Have you read anything from Stephen R Donaldson?

 

Oh and I wanted to expand that I also think the Endyion books are better, I think each one gets better. The third book has the greatest villain threat I think I've ever seen, and the fourth book is just mindblowing revelation after mindblowing revelation. Like reading the Three Body Problem books at 10x speed.

 

It's everything Clemens does well from his previous fantasy series—great cast of characters, innovative magic/world, body horror, dark villains, world-smashing events—but amplified by the last decade-plus of writing thrillers. I loved it.

I have not read any Donaldson yet. I overlooked him when I was younger, and now it's such a daunting task that I haven't dived in yet. But his stuff looks really good. You'd recommend?

Fully agree. It's really hard for me to pick a favorite because they each individually play such an important role in the overall story, and they each have different structures/purposes. I don't think there's a weak moment in the whole series, and there's something to love and be astounded by in all of them.

 

I'm reading the last fantasy book he has out right now. He's became one of my favorite authors. None of his series have grabbed me from the first book, but by the end they're all beautiful and jawdroppingly epic. The Thomas Covenant series is up there with Malazan, Dark Tower, Wheel of Time and The Second Apocalypse as an all time favorite, but I didn't start loving it until like book 4. Which I realized is a hard sell, lol. The Gap Series which is Sci Fi is also like painfully epic and incredible. He's a one of a kind writer, and I don't feel like I have the word to describe why. He probably has more symbolism than any writer I've ever read. Everything in Thomas Covenant is a stand in for something, nothing is just to advance the story. And sometimes he's really in your face about it, but it works.

Like I said, tough sell, but if you ever find yourself interested it's worth it.

Oh and it's a good thing you didn't read it when you were younger. The themes are about as mature and challenging as it gets.

 

Yeah, you know, now that I think more about it, I'm pretty sure my dad has read a couple Donaldson books. I think he liked them fine but specifically told me I probably shouldn't read them when I was ~12 or so, haha. Same reason he only gave me The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon as an exposure to Stephen King at that age (which is fantastic).

I appreciate the details! Sounds super appealing to me. I don't mind tough sells—I read pretty quickly and have a good tolerance for getting into something new, so that doesn't bother me. They're probably not going to be super high on my list for now, only because I've got way too many other long series that I need to complete first. But they're definitely on the list.

 

Starting Islington #3 after work at the gym. So ready.

 

Yeah just something to keep in the back of your mind. His newest series The Great God's War, another series with a bland first book but incredible second book, has it's third book coming out this year and it might be a good test the water series, since it's much shorter than Covenant, and definitely not as emotionally taxing, because that's another thing, all of his books weigh on you.

I still think that Tom Gordon is King's scariest book, but that's because it's the perfect mixture of a little kid in trouble and being lost in the woods.

 

Starting The Fires Of Heaven now!

 

Oh that might be fun. I've been making a concerted effort to read books from 2022 this year, including series like that where it's a good jumping-in point for authors I've been wanting to check out. I'll keep an eye out for the Great God's War, see if I can work it into my schedule.

I haven't read a ton of King yet but Tom Gordon really stuck with me and is really relatably scary for the reasons you mention, plus the "descent into delirium" aspect is really powerful.

 

Figured some of you might enjoy seeing this. Very impressed with the quality of this stuff.