asebastian0 Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 For those who care... Not A Blog - Huge, Huge News HBO hasn't done wrong by me yet, hopes are very high for this one.
postjack Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 fucking AWESOME! really like a dream come true.
MoonShine Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 Oh right... this is that series that I started reading and then got tired of waiting for him to finish the next damn book. Did Dance with Dragons ever come out? This could be good, though. Great stories, some of the best I have read in fact.
tyrion Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 Ditto posty. I'm a big fan as evidenced by my username.
Icarium Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 Yeah might be good. I'd love to see Stephen Erikson's Malazan series done more though, but the scope of that might just be way too large. Then again they did Rome. Great to hear from you Alan. I still need to send your mini^3s back... I'll try and do that this weekend.
postjack Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 I'm a bigger fan of Malazan as well.
elnero Posted November 25, 2008 Report Posted November 25, 2008 Ditto posty. I'm a big fan as evidenced by my username. I've often wondered if that's where the name came from. I'm a big fan of the books myself so this is exciting news and even more so with the news that it's HBO.
tyrion Posted November 25, 2008 Report Posted November 25, 2008 I've often wondered if that's where the name came from. I'm a big fan of the books myself so this is exciting news and even more so with the news that it's HBO. The little guy is one of my favorite characters. I have a copy of an exerpt from the next book with his perspective but I've tried to resist reading it hoping the book will be released while I am still one of the living.
elnero Posted November 26, 2008 Report Posted November 26, 2008 I still haven't read the last book yet. I have it but I wanted to go back and reread the others to refresh my memory of them. Unfortunately my reading time has been very limited of late so it's taking me forever to get through anything.
postjack Posted November 27, 2008 Report Posted November 27, 2008 I still haven't read the last book yet. I have it but I wanted to go back and reread the others to refresh my memory of them. Unfortunately my reading time has been very limited of late so it's taking me forever to get through anything. I haven't read the last book either. I was kind of planning on waiting for the next book, so I could read them back to back, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on any POVs. Another reason to love Malazan, Erikson knows how to release books. Seems like right when I'm finishing one, bam, the next one is published in HC.
elnero Posted November 27, 2008 Report Posted November 27, 2008 I've never read any Erikson, I must give him a try.
postjack Posted November 27, 2008 Report Posted November 27, 2008 I've never read any Erikson, I must give him a try. You might enjoy it. Not sure what your poison is when it comes to fantasy, but Malazan is definitely what I call "fat fantasy" (meaning epic fantasy spanning many volumes), with a militaristic bent, heavy on the magic. The complaint most often levied against him is his books are dense and complicated. He is a hell of a world-builder, but it can be hard to keep up with all the characters, races, nations, and types of magic. Best advice is to start with the first one (Gardens of the Moon) and just read on from there. GotM is wonderful, but the series really starts to cook with the next two, Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice. Those two are primo fantasies, real classics of the post-Tolkien genre.
elnero Posted November 27, 2008 Report Posted November 27, 2008 Thanks for the rundown, it does sound like my type of series as I tend to like the more involved, all encompassing type of series.
Icarium Posted November 28, 2008 Report Posted November 28, 2008 Malazan is definitely what I define all-encompassing. You have this insane and detailed and mostly consistently mythos as only a hardcore anthropologist could craft. The only thing you are missing out is the whack wait time on RR Martin. The hot twincest. And yeah the characters are for the most part caricatures and not nearly as fleshed out or developed as RR Martin's work (But that is because there is 5 billion of them and most of them awesome). I'm a big fan. If you like something that's a little bit lighter on the fantasy then check out KJ Parker he's my other big fantasy guy along with Erikson. Start with the fencer trilogy, then the memory(? I forget exactly what its called) trilogy then the engineering trilogy. His latest stand alone book isnt as stellar his trilogies but still pretty awesome.
catscratch Posted December 13, 2008 Report Posted December 13, 2008 Malazan was on and off for me, some books were rubbish and some were quite good. I did like the beginning of book 4 and pretty much all of book 5, book 2 had its momens as well, but 1 and 3 were pretty much "disposable." Erikson has no idea how to create a realistic character and uses archetypes instead, which is fine. Better than trying to create characters when you have no idea what you're doing and Jordaning it all up. He also has a pretty vivid visual imagination, and is a good storyteller despite being less than stellar as a writer. The density of the backstory I see as more of an anthropological curiosity... I'm not annoyed with it since it's interesting at least some of the time, but there certainly is a lot that could be cut out without any sacrifice in quality. He really does need a good editor. The biggest plus though, and what keeps me reading, is his sense of humor. It's sporadic, and you don't see it all the time, but it's magical when it happens. Absolutely surreal absurdist humour that combines elegance, wit, and Monty-Python-esque insanity. Brilliant. Minus the fat fetish, but he's gotten over that (I think). What turns me off, at the same time, is that he got into a "grandness" race with himself. Every book has to be more climactic, every ending has to be bigger, more tense, more surprising, and more densely plotted than what came before. That is a trap, and when an author gets into it, he tends to snowball and end up in firmly ridiculous territory just trying to outdo himself. Granted, so far he seems to *just* be steering clear of these waters, but signs of possible doom are everywhere. I'd rate the series as "not bad." Several levels below Martin, though, at least if you only consider the first three books of Martin's series. 4 was decidedly mediocre and I don't think anything better is to come. Try Greg Bear's "Songs of Earth and Power" for a very different take on fantasy. Not a series, but a good novel in two parts. Oh, and the HBO rendition of Martin... I'll wait until I see it. I don't bother watching series usually since I rarely have the time. But it would be nice it if worked out.
MoonShine Posted February 13, 2009 Report Posted February 13, 2009 I agree with your take on Malazan. Not nearly on the same level with Ice & Fire for me as well. I will have to try the Bear book, I have enjoyed his short stories.
tyrion Posted April 5, 2011 Report Posted April 5, 2011 It's been more than 2 years since this thread started and ended and now it's less than 2 weeks until the first episode of the series. I can't think of a tv series I have been looking forward to more than this.
falkon Posted April 5, 2011 Report Posted April 5, 2011 There's a 14 min preview on hbo. It looks badass.
tyrion Posted April 5, 2011 Report Posted April 5, 2011 I've seen a couple of trailers but did not know about the preview. I will check it out.
raffy Posted April 14, 2011 Report Posted April 14, 2011 Preview looked good...I'm setting my DVR to record the series. Really stupid question but I'm fucking serious about this: Are there really swords that are sharp enough to cut a head in one clean sweep? I mean I've always seen this shit on TV and movies but I've obviously never seen a beheading so I'm curious.
Pars Posted April 15, 2011 Report Posted April 15, 2011 (edited) Never read the book, but the preview did look good (and maybe real good). Nice review in the Chicago Tribune today: Chicago Tribune review Didn't realize that Lena Headey is in this... hot EDIT: meant to say the preview, not review Edited April 16, 2011 by Pars
tyrion Posted April 16, 2011 Report Posted April 16, 2011 raffy, of course, it's made of Valyrian Steel.
falkon Posted April 17, 2011 Report Posted April 17, 2011 Preview looked good...I'm setting my DVR to record the series. Really stupid question but I'm fucking serious about this: Are there really swords that are sharp enough to cut a head in one clean sweep? I mean I've always seen this shit on TV and movies but I've obviously never seen a beheading so I'm curious. Yes, it's possible with skill. However, more often than not, more than 1 swing was necessary. The same is true with an axe.
tkam Posted April 17, 2011 Report Posted April 17, 2011 Yes it's certainly possible to behead someone with one swing - but as falkon mentions skill and type of sword (or axe for that matter) certainly play a part in that. Really wishing I had HBO right now for this series. Oh well.
n_maher Posted April 17, 2011 Report Posted April 17, 2011 Really wishing I had HBO right now for this series. Oh well. You have the internet, you'll be fine.
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