Book Review
Jul. 14th, 2005 12:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
So last night I came to the whirling conclusion of Memories of Ice by Steven Erickson. Memories of Ice is the third book in the Malazan Empire series. All three books have clocked in at around 1100 pages.
I have always harbored a deep suspicion and dread of massive paperback fiction. What happens if I'm halfway or two-thirds through and the book suddenly implodes? My annoyance at having wasted the time and money will be great. It gets even worse when you consider the idea of an epic fantasy series of thick paperback books. Now you might actually get through a couple of books and suddenly find yourself high and dry. This is the primary reason why I've never cared much about the Wheel of Time books. But this particular series came highly recommended and so I took the plunge. The first book, Gardens of the Moon was quite good. The second, Deadhouse Gates was a little slow until the second half, but overall it wasn't bad. Now, I've gotten to the third.
My conclusion?
I have never been so richly rewarded for reading 1200 pages in my entire life.
Highly recommended. You should definately skip over Deadhouse Gates, not because it's bad but because it's really another story and you don't want to break the flow between Gardens and Memories.
Excellent stuff
Tom
So last night I came to the whirling conclusion of Memories of Ice by Steven Erickson. Memories of Ice is the third book in the Malazan Empire series. All three books have clocked in at around 1100 pages.
I have always harbored a deep suspicion and dread of massive paperback fiction. What happens if I'm halfway or two-thirds through and the book suddenly implodes? My annoyance at having wasted the time and money will be great. It gets even worse when you consider the idea of an epic fantasy series of thick paperback books. Now you might actually get through a couple of books and suddenly find yourself high and dry. This is the primary reason why I've never cared much about the Wheel of Time books. But this particular series came highly recommended and so I took the plunge. The first book, Gardens of the Moon was quite good. The second, Deadhouse Gates was a little slow until the second half, but overall it wasn't bad. Now, I've gotten to the third.
My conclusion?
I have never been so richly rewarded for reading 1200 pages in my entire life.
Highly recommended. You should definately skip over Deadhouse Gates, not because it's bad but because it's really another story and you don't want to break the flow between Gardens and Memories.
Excellent stuff
Tom
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Date: 2005-07-14 04:52 pm (UTC)And I share your fear of long fiction. Tad Williams' Otherland series clocks in at somewhere around 800-1000 pages per tome over 4 books. And it's great - until the last 200 pages of the last book. The resolution really felt like, "Wow, I'm tired of writing this - let's end it quickly!" Or like his contract got yanked and he couldn't afford the extra 100 pages to finish well.
Anyway, if you feel tempted by Otherland, enjoy it but know that it'll suddenly turn sour at the end.