Malazan is probably my favourite series. Erikson does certainly improve as a writer as he goes along, especially between 1 and 2 (1 was mostly written a decade before). Though he may go bit to far into introspection in the latter books (mainly in the prequel trilogy).
Think the unintended continent hopping structure of the books is a real positive for such a long series. Helps the books seem more self-contained and makes them stand out more.
Really stands up to multiple rereads too, due to the density and amount of foreshadowin, plus being really entertaining. They do seem to be a bit love-hate, some people do just bounce off them.
Couldn’t ever get on with the Malazan books - and I read at least four of them so I gave them a really good go. I always thought there was a really good story in there hidden underneath some pretty poor dialogue. Plus, the books were so populated with all these mega-powerful characters that I began to wonder what the point was in having any ordinary, you-know, people?
Both common complaints and think they are understandable. There are in-world themes/ideas about the mega-powerful characters balancing each other out, having to hold back to stop confrontation and the power of compassion/love/small acts etc, but you have to be fully on board with the books for it not just to seem a bit silly at times.
I have never had a problem with the dialogue and generally think they are well written (parts of book 1 could do with a polish). Maybe some issues with some of the tertiary characters blending together a bit, but there are just so many characters it is probably bound to happen to some degree.
All of this, including the re-read. I’ve never found anyone to match his combination of wit, intelligence, imagination and story-telling. He’s the one “celebrity” whose death left me feelingly genuinely cheated. A very selfish reaction, but it really did.
Haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I re-read it in July. Amazing. It gives such a good look at The Culture. The descriptions of the orbital and the GSVs are amazing. Not sure if I really appreciated the scale before. I did the (very rough) maths for the dimensions of an orbital and was
Just done the bit with the lava rafting witnessed through Kabe and Ziller’s perspectives. I guess this is the book where Banks goes deepest on exploring the idea of how to find meaning in a society without any resource constraints. Like all the stuff with the one-lifers. Fascinating and just vividly entertaining.
Finished Surface Detail at last a couple of nights ago. Been so busy lately that I wasn’t able to crack on and read at my usual pace which meant it felt a bit disjointed with the many different points of view.
Thought the virtual Hells were an interesting concept. The creation of afterlives as a means of confirming their existence within religion and reinforcing belief. Equal parts mind-bending and easy to see how that would happen were the technology available.
I wasn’t sure about the descriptions of the main Hell featured though. Obviously Banks never shied away from violence and unpleasant stuff but the fact that it was a female character who was stuck in Hell and the things that happened to her seemed a bit less enlightened than he usually was. Probably just applying too much significance to that though.
Re: his death the way he announced his cancer really got to me. If I remember rightly he said he’d asked his partner “to become my widow.”
I have now started reading The Passage by Justin Cronin which I believe some people on here have mentioned being enjoyable before.
The Hell chapters are my least favourite thing he’s ever written, with the possible exception of the flies bit in the Wasp Factory. Hated them. I get why he did it, but I think it was unpleasant and unnecessary beyond a point and I just don’t need to read that shit. Just skipped over them second time round. i forgave him though,
Yeah past the first couple of visits it starts to feel a bit “this is Hell, right? Its horrible isn’t it, Hell? You wouldn’t like it here. Here’s some descriptions of some horrible things that happen in Hell.”
I’ve been reading Leviathan Wakes which was turned into The Expanse S1 (and part of S2).
It’s interesting. They change so much of the little parts for the show but retained the plot. Chiefly you can see how much extra ‘angst’ they put in between the main characters that isn’t really played out in the book.
A fun read and recommended. Probably watch The Expanse before reading it though if you’re interested in that.
Read the first four or five collected volumes. It’s great but it’s so expansive I found it hard to keep up and decided to leave it until it had got near the end.
I’d say Paper Girls (by him) is better and more focused. I think there are either 4 or 5 volumes out now.
I love the Expanse, both the books and TV.
It’s odd just how different they are with the same plot, but it works well for the show.
It keeps me on my toes.
Book 7 just came out. I should read it
