http://www.towerofthehand.com/maps/westeros.html
I just found this.
[quote]Nards wrote:
[quote]thick88 wrote:
[quote]Nards wrote:
Has anyone read The Fall of the Malazan by Steven Erikson?
I read the first book but he seems to try much too hard to build a complex world with too many names and too much back-history.[/quote]
Erikson’s Malazan series is a tough slog at first, but stick with it if you can. Gets really, really good, when Karsa Orlong shows up (Eriksons homage to the Conan books) you will be happy. [/quote]
Thanks for telling me this as I was about to post asking about fantasy series that center more on one hero and that’s not as complex as high fantasy.
I have a lot of Conan literature (including comic books) and would also like to hear suggestions on Conan-type stories that you don’t need to remember so many names and places.[/quote]
Man, if your looking for Conan style, I can’t recommend highly enough the “Tales of the Primal Land” series by Brian Lumley. Pretty sure there’s only 3 so far, House of Cthulhu, Sorcery in Shad, & Tarra Khash: Hrossak!. It’s as if Lovecraft had tried his hand at Conan style Fantasy.
On Topic, I cannot wait for this Series, just watching the Trailers has me bouncing off the walls. Arya is the coolest character, but I really hope it goes on long enough for Daenerys(sp?) to return to Westeros with full grown dragons & tear shit down.
[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:
A somewhat similiar series is Conn Iggulden’s Emperor Series. It’s centered around the lives of Julius Ceasar and Brutus as they grow up, incorporating many of the important events of their life. I LOVED this series.[/quote]
If liked them you should read his series on Genghis Khan, they are in a similar vein. Great read.
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
How do these compare to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series? Personally I loved Robert Jordan’s masterpiece (and am sad he didn’t get to finish it, though Sanderson has done well) and am looking for something new to read.[/quote]
A Song of Ice and Fire absolutely DESTROYS the Wheel of Time.
And I say this as one who enjoyed the Wheel of Time series
[quote]ShadowStrong wrote:
REJOICE! LOL!
My friend from Random House just sent me that link. Apparently many people there are very excited he chose a date.
[/quote]
I absolutely love these books. I hardly ever read fiction, but these are pageturners.
As far as the projected release date, I’ll believe it when I see it. Been let down before.
Can’t wait to view the HBO series. But, I’ll be like a junkie and it’ll make my skin crawl w/anticipation of the next book. Guess I’ll just have to read the others over.
[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
How do these compare to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series? Personally I loved Robert Jordan’s masterpiece (and am sad he didn’t get to finish it, though Sanderson has done well) and am looking for something new to read.[/quote]
A Song of Ice and Fire absolutely DESTROYS the Wheel of Time.
And I say this as one who enjoyed the Wheel of Time series[/quote]
Guess I’ll be going to buy these tomorrow then, or at least the first one.
[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
By the way, I was thinking of the first book and I remember not remembering something. Who were those two guys that Arya overheard in the “Dragon” room? Was that ever explained? [/quote]
GRRM confirmed that they were Varys and Magister Ilyrio.
Ilyrio hasn’t been seen much in the series but it’s obvious that he’s a real player in the game. He’s in the Tyrion preview chapter for ADoD.
[quote]IronAbrams wrote:
[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
By the way, I was thinking of the first book and I remember not remembering something. Who were those two guys that Arya overheard in the “Dragon” room? Was that ever explained? [/quote]
GRRM confirmed that they were Varys and Magister Ilyrio.
Ilyrio hasn’t been seen much in the series but it’s obvious that he’s a real player in the game. He’s in the Tyrion preview chapter for ADoD.[/quote]
Thanks mate.
[quote]IronAbrams wrote:
[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
By the way, I was thinking of the first book and I remember not remembering something. Who were those two guys that Arya overheard in the “Dragon” room? Was that ever explained? [/quote]
GRRM confirmed that they were Varys and Magister Ilyrio.
Ilyrio hasn’t been seen much in the series but it’s obvious that he’s a real player in the game. He’s in the Tyrion preview chapter for ADoD.[/quote]
The characters make sense now that you say it, especially with their conversation.
What I really like about this series is that nobody is untouchable.
[quote]thick88 wrote:
[quote]Nards wrote:
[quote]thick88 wrote:
[quote]Nards wrote:
Has anyone read The Fall of the Malazan by Steven Erikson?
I read the first book but he seems to try much too hard to build a complex world with too many names and too much back-history.[/quote]
Erikson’s Malazan series is a tough slog at first, but stick with it if you can. Gets really, really good, when Karsa Orlong shows up (Eriksons homage to the Conan books) you will be happy. [/quote]
Thanks for telling me this as I was about to post asking about fantasy series that center more on one hero and that’s not as complex as high fantasy.
I have a lot of Conan literature (including comic books) and would also like to hear suggestions on Conan-type stories that you don’t need to remember so many names and places.[/quote]
Man, if your looking for Conan style, I can’t recommend highly enough the “Tales of the Primal Land” series by Brian Lumley. Pretty sure there’s only 3 so far, House of Cthulhu, Sorcery in Shad, & Tarra Khash: Hrossak!. It’s as if Lovecraft had tried his hand at Conan style Fantasy.
On Topic, I cannot wait for this Series, just watching the Trailers has me bouncing off the walls. Arya is the coolest character, but I really hope it goes on long enough for Daenerys(sp?) to return to Westeros with full grown dragons & tear shit down. [/quote]
I read Lumley’s vampire series back in the late 80’s and early 90’s those were something else. Now I will go look for these thanks.
Here’s a weird thing. It’s a news segment from Taiwan that’s animated…well, just watch:
Bump for this - HBO is releasing character features.
This is one for Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage): - YouTube
Nice, Tech9. I can’t wait for this series.
Thanks for that tech9, I’m pumped about the series starting.
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
How do these compare to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series? Personally I loved Robert Jordan’s masterpiece (and am sad he didn’t get to finish it, though Sanderson has done well) and am looking for something new to read.[/quote]
A Song of Ice and Fire absolutely DESTROYS the Wheel of Time.
And I say this as one who enjoyed the Wheel of Time series[/quote]
Guess I’ll be going to buy these tomorrow then, or at least the first one.[/quote]
WoT had too many dry stretches. I liked Jordan’s stuff a lot–enough to be both saddened and pissed when he died–but Ice and Fire is a better series in terms of how much there is without being stretched too thin.
I’m just hoping GRRM doesn’t die before he finishes this.
Jordan did an excellent job with Wheel of Time, at least for a while. I feel like he stretched it too far, and played around with extra characters too much. I have not read the latest two novels, however, because the series seemed too divergent with me. I was all set for the final showdown in book 11, but no, its coming much later than that.
GRRM does a good job as well. I would say he is a bit better story teller than Jordan, and does a better job with the characters. The world building on both authors is superb, but I have to give it to Jordan for the cyclical time aspect he included. Its just brilliant to watch the series grow from the beginning, towards the end where things lost in time are re-discovered. The idea of time repeating endlessly in a loop is just too cool to give this to Martin, who admittedly fleshed out Westeros very well.
My new favorite fantasy author, however, is Patrick Rothfuss. He has two books out, The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. Both are excellently done. Characters (especially the lead) are life-like. The world is a standard prototypical fantasy landscape, and the story such a classic you can see most of the twists coming a mile away. However, Rothfuss is a fantastic story teller and knows how to spin you through these pieces, all the while examining the craft of storytelling as a whole.
So yeah, I like to read and stuff.
So who’s got $270 for me?
[quote]Tech9 wrote:
Bump for this - HBO is releasing character features.
This is one for Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage): - YouTube
That was great.
Dinklage is a good actor. I also like that with this series I’ll finally learn how to ponounce the names properly. I was saying Tyrion in my head like Tie-reeon and was thinking Jaime may or may not have the “e” pronounced at the end.
[quote]IronAbrams wrote:
So who’s got $270 for me?
http://www.valyriansteel.com/shop/swords/ice-sword-of-eddard-stark/prod_9.html[/quote]
I’m thinking about buying the Hound (masked), myself.
Just wanted to say I picked up these books a while ago after skimming this thread and I started reading yesterday. I’m already like 200 pages in and can’t put it down. I really like the way he switches between the characters, every time it’s a cliff hanger, and it makes the passage of time in the story really smooth.
Thanks!