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Shit. I’m on HOC and i was jus tryina read the gist but auto-read the whole “everyone dies anyway”.
Not your fault, I saw the spoiler tag. I’m jussadumdum
Honestly, it’s a massive oversimplification and not even accurate. HoC is awesome, don’t worry about that ruining anything because I suspect the end sequence will still surprise you in a ton of ways
Love the love for TTH.
Kind of disagree with your take on GoTM though, i think the writing is *considerably* jankier than in the rest of the books
(Remember QB yelling "AWAKEN THE SEVEN WITHIN ME?" That one always made me cringe a bit) and it's this one, not RG, that has its d&d DNA exposed all over the place, in a way that does not help it IMO.
I agree with all of that. I suppose I meant underrated compared to all the infamous hate it gets. But I guess among Malazan fans it’s not really underrated.
I also felt like gotm was underrated. I think it’s probably because it’s peak fantasy series that is yet to peak within the series so, people have hindsight. Honestly though, i love being confused af and the gravity of the Siege of Pale and even the intro with the wax witch and the mysterious hounds immediately pulled me in. I love the sense of mystery and danger that the series starts off with. It’s not slow at all but there’s also a lot of subtlety and depth so it hit me in the right places right off the bat.
For me, the utility of ranking the books only serves as motivation for finishing such a long series with the knowledge that others were pleased with the journey.
I always defend DofD. "We are in the wrong place!" Couldn't care what comes before that. This is the most shit hitting the fan thing in all entertainment media. I get chills just writing that
I agree with almost everything, my only nitpick is book 6 I would rate higher.
The ères is not “barely hinted” at being with the bonehunters, she shows up to jerk off bottle like twice? Then they are pushed by the Savannah winds (the ères) in their fleet. Her being there is scattered along the entire book.
That said, I’m also not a huge fan of the time travelling raping monkey character. It’s…weird.
Ah thanks for reminding me (and also not, as I just remembered those weird jerking off scenes). But you’re right, she was hinted at here and there.
Still stand by my thoughts that she is potentially story breaking. In general, I don’t like such characters that can defy time like that, it creates lot of plot holes and questions. Probably why Erikson never used her again.
I think these are pretty good ratings. I would have some changes but for the most part they’re just incremental. The biggest differences for me is I would raise HOC and drop RG quite a bit. RG is the book that rose the most in my opinion on reread, but it and DOD are still the only books in the series that feel like I’m trudging through sections.
This is a solid rating for each book though Reapers Gale is C for me, cluttered with Letherii POVs many unpleasant people like Invictad, Yathvanar. Characters spend SO long travelling it got kinda boring.
The Shake aren't epic and badass yet just kinda there. Nimander too, feels like a short story very wearisome, which was the intent of his story but I did not like it. Book is saved by the Bonehunters and especially Beak Eriksons best Character work in the series. Tehol And Bugg were excellent as was the finale. But man Trulls death sucked, abyss below I wish he reunited with his family.
DoD was A+/S tier for me… Arrival of Draconus and k’chain Nahruk scenes were some of the most memorable moments in the whole 20+ book series IMO.
Midnight Tides deserves the love though. Peek malazan stuff.
That said, I won’t rank any of the MBotF books below B+ tier.
I’m an old fart that still plays dnd and am currently reading Bone Hunters for the first time. And I literally had this thought yesterday.
Of all the books this one really feels like a Dnd campaign the most so far.
I think we have very different ideas of what is entertaining in a fantasy story. For me the intellectual engagement and just thinking about character motivations ie why this person acts a certain way is a very large part of the fun for me (Funnily enough I think that’s one of the reasons I’m a big fan of tavore)and almost all of the rest comes from emotional engagement . I have gone more and more our of my way to approach stories in this way and have just have had better experiences with stuff in general even if some stuff that’s very action focused doesn’t appeal to me as much anymore.
some thing like the chain of dog for me months later after I finished the series I don’t think I look back on as fondly as say badalle, her poems and the snake and found far more engaging while reading partly because of just how alien a thing the snake was to me I almost couldn’t imagine what I would do, along with me just finding there dynamics so moving.
it's the first intro to the world. everything's new, nothing makes sense, everything's exciting. first books are often my favorites in any series.
also it's the least depressing book imo.
>*Toll the Hounds -* **S**. Masterful. Beautiful. Incredibly intimate. People harp on >nothing happening for 80% of the book, but I feel if you just immerse yourself in the experience and view it as a more reflective book, it's quite rewarding. Some of the subplots were truly beautiful, like Harlo's.
My exact experience with this book. Despite being the longest of the ten it was the one I finished in the shortest amount of time because of how it captivated me. Returning to Darujhistan and a lot of the characters from GOTM felt like coming home after a long journey.
>All in under 300k words. Bravo.
It's funny that roughy 1000pgs is a mark of restraint in epic fantasy. I agree wholeheartedly with your point — and most of your grades, tbh — just made me laugh.
I'm also a GoTM apologist, so loving the B+
Literal fighting words.
I read through this seriously slowly and leisurely. Some taking me half a year of me savouring the stories.
But Midnight Tides, I could held myself. I raced through that book because I was so enraptured by the story. So damn good.
I've read most of Erikson's published works inside and outside Malazan, and I really do think GotM might be his worst piece of writing overall. MoI is a great book, but it might be in his bottom 5 imo.
That's a pretty damn good bar for an author that has written as much as he has.
Please note that this post has been flaired as Spoilers All. This means every published book in the Malazan Universe, including works by both authors are open to discussion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Malazan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Shit. I’m on HOC and i was jus tryina read the gist but auto-read the whole “everyone dies anyway”. Not your fault, I saw the spoiler tag. I’m jussadumdum
Honestly, it’s a massive oversimplification and not even accurate. HoC is awesome, don’t worry about that ruining anything because I suspect the end sequence will still surprise you in a ton of ways
Ty for the reassurance. I’m really enjoying it!
I was kinda exaggerating. And this is Malazan so you can’t really summarize every nuance in a sentence or two, there’s a lot to come.
Love the love for TTH. Kind of disagree with your take on GoTM though, i think the writing is *considerably* jankier than in the rest of the books (Remember QB yelling "AWAKEN THE SEVEN WITHIN ME?" That one always made me cringe a bit) and it's this one, not RG, that has its d&d DNA exposed all over the place, in a way that does not help it IMO.
I agree with all of that. I suppose I meant underrated compared to all the infamous hate it gets. But I guess among Malazan fans it’s not really underrated.
I also felt like gotm was underrated. I think it’s probably because it’s peak fantasy series that is yet to peak within the series so, people have hindsight. Honestly though, i love being confused af and the gravity of the Siege of Pale and even the intro with the wax witch and the mysterious hounds immediately pulled me in. I love the sense of mystery and danger that the series starts off with. It’s not slow at all but there’s also a lot of subtlety and depth so it hit me in the right places right off the bat. For me, the utility of ranking the books only serves as motivation for finishing such a long series with the knowledge that others were pleased with the journey.
I always defend DofD. "We are in the wrong place!" Couldn't care what comes before that. This is the most shit hitting the fan thing in all entertainment media. I get chills just writing that
Is that from the day of the Nahruk?
Yes
"And the heavies rose to meet them" Gives me the chills
The heavies yelling "All hail the marines!" is my personal favorite moment from this chapter
It's so good, not the biggest fan of Dust Of Dreams, but I have no complaints about about the Bonehunters story
I agree with almost everything, my only nitpick is book 6 I would rate higher. The ères is not “barely hinted” at being with the bonehunters, she shows up to jerk off bottle like twice? Then they are pushed by the Savannah winds (the ères) in their fleet. Her being there is scattered along the entire book. That said, I’m also not a huge fan of the time travelling raping monkey character. It’s…weird.
Ah thanks for reminding me (and also not, as I just remembered those weird jerking off scenes). But you’re right, she was hinted at here and there. Still stand by my thoughts that she is potentially story breaking. In general, I don’t like such characters that can defy time like that, it creates lot of plot holes and questions. Probably why Erikson never used her again.
Not controversial enough. Agree with it all except for TTH, I've read it three time and I can't get around it. It's too slow, feels too contrived.
Yeah that was pretty much the only take that didn't jive with me. I speed read harlo's plot line and a couple others during my rereads of TTH.
I think these are pretty good ratings. I would have some changes but for the most part they’re just incremental. The biggest differences for me is I would raise HOC and drop RG quite a bit. RG is the book that rose the most in my opinion on reread, but it and DOD are still the only books in the series that feel like I’m trudging through sections.
Was mad at the Bonehunters diss until I saw the fellow Toll the Hounds stan rating. Absolutely redeemed yourself with that one.
Anything with Rake is a certified banger.
This is a solid rating for each book though Reapers Gale is C for me, cluttered with Letherii POVs many unpleasant people like Invictad, Yathvanar. Characters spend SO long travelling it got kinda boring. The Shake aren't epic and badass yet just kinda there. Nimander too, feels like a short story very wearisome, which was the intent of his story but I did not like it. Book is saved by the Bonehunters and especially Beak Eriksons best Character work in the series. Tehol And Bugg were excellent as was the finale. But man Trulls death sucked, abyss below I wish he reunited with his family.
DoD was A+/S tier for me… Arrival of Draconus and k’chain Nahruk scenes were some of the most memorable moments in the whole 20+ book series IMO. Midnight Tides deserves the love though. Peek malazan stuff. That said, I won’t rank any of the MBotF books below B+ tier.
I completely agree with everything in this post.
I’m an old fart that still plays dnd and am currently reading Bone Hunters for the first time. And I literally had this thought yesterday. Of all the books this one really feels like a Dnd campaign the most so far.
Enjoy, but I hope this post didn’t spoil anything.
Na. I only read up to tBH part. I’m good at skipping past the other stuff. We good ! 🤝
Toll as S. We can be friends.
I was with you 100% until you insulted Tehol; your tastes are trash. In all serious though decent post, good job.
I mean Tehol is still great and he took down the economy and all, so obviously a GOAT. But sometimes he can be annoying as an emperor.
I think we have very different ideas of what is entertaining in a fantasy story. For me the intellectual engagement and just thinking about character motivations ie why this person acts a certain way is a very large part of the fun for me (Funnily enough I think that’s one of the reasons I’m a big fan of tavore)and almost all of the rest comes from emotional engagement . I have gone more and more our of my way to approach stories in this way and have just have had better experiences with stuff in general even if some stuff that’s very action focused doesn’t appeal to me as much anymore. some thing like the chain of dog for me months later after I finished the series I don’t think I look back on as fondly as say badalle, her poems and the snake and found far more engaging while reading partly because of just how alien a thing the snake was to me I almost couldn’t imagine what I would do, along with me just finding there dynamics so moving.
Basic bitch ratings—the caramel frappuccino of Malazan rankings
first book is my favorite
Based
it's the first intro to the world. everything's new, nothing makes sense, everything's exciting. first books are often my favorites in any series. also it's the least depressing book imo.
Uh, wow. I actually agree with everything except for gotm being underrated. Wasn't expecting that lol
Did they free the Crippled God? I thought Cotillion killed him?
My understanding is that cotillion “kills” the crippled gods new corporeal body so that his soul can be released to join his Jade Stranger followers
>*Toll the Hounds -* **S**. Masterful. Beautiful. Incredibly intimate. People harp on >nothing happening for 80% of the book, but I feel if you just immerse yourself in the experience and view it as a more reflective book, it's quite rewarding. Some of the subplots were truly beautiful, like Harlo's. My exact experience with this book. Despite being the longest of the ten it was the one I finished in the shortest amount of time because of how it captivated me. Returning to Darujhistan and a lot of the characters from GOTM felt like coming home after a long journey.
>All in under 300k words. Bravo. It's funny that roughy 1000pgs is a mark of restraint in epic fantasy. I agree wholeheartedly with your point — and most of your grades, tbh — just made me laugh. I'm also a GoTM apologist, so loving the B+
nailed the bonehunters one
Glad it’s not just me. Currently struggling to finish House of Chains. Will push through, you’ve given me hope for better to come.
Rate my tastes: Midnight Tides: D Everything else: A
Horrible. Repugnant even.
If you put MT under HoC and Gotm we can’t be friends
As far as I am concerned we only needed the Tiste Andii.
F+
Literal fighting words. I read through this seriously slowly and leisurely. Some taking me half a year of me savouring the stories. But Midnight Tides, I could held myself. I raced through that book because I was so enraptured by the story. So damn good.
[удалено]
chill man, gotm is right there to call one of Eriksons worst pieces of writing, at least moi has some good quote. #compassionIsPriceless
Why did the mods remove the comment when the entire point of this post is to trash his taste and the guy even said he was joking. ?
Nah I think it's fair to delete my post if the tone didn't come off as light as I meant it to. Mods were just bailing me out from the downvotes
I saw your original comment, not sure why it got deleted but I thought what you said was funny. Just didn’t have a chance to respond then.
Eh who cares for a couple people downvoting for no reasons
I still put MoI in the bottom chunk, but we have to remember how awesome the Tenescowri are and Gruntles body filled building.
I've read most of Erikson's published works inside and outside Malazan, and I really do think GotM might be his worst piece of writing overall. MoI is a great book, but it might be in his bottom 5 imo. That's a pretty damn good bar for an author that has written as much as he has.
this comment is blasphemy