Magicianby Raymond E. Feist
broken up into two books called:
Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master
These two books are the beginning of a very large series written by Feist. Four books (as noted below) make up the Riftwar Saga. With later series that flesh out his world. Magician is classic high fantasy, filled with elves, dwarves, wizards and warriors. I highly recommend these first two books to anyone who enjoys fantasy or genre fiction. The books chronicle the adventures of two major characters Pug, a young magician struggling to learn his craft and come to grips with magical power he doesn't understand and his adopted brother Thomas. Thomas begins to train as a warrior, serving his duke in the Dutchy of Crydee. Pug and Thomas are soon whisked off into the greater world, interacting with powerful world figures and heroes of all races.
The story has a quick pace throughout and never feels bogged down. The world, while in many ways a typical fantasy world, has complexities that show themselves as the books and later series progress. The books are such an enjoyable read that I come back to them every couple of years with a lot of enthusiasm and I can't wait to get to the later chapters where Thomas is with the dwarves or Pug is studying powerful magics (I'm trying to be careful with spoilers!).
I love how Feist is able to take the old standards; elves and their fae magics, dwarves in their dark tunnels and even an ancient and powerful dragon, and make all of it feel new and fresh. The 'hero's journey' of both Pug and Thomas are wonderful and it’s always a challenge for me to say whose story I like more. The side characters are fleshed out and many of them show up in later books with their own storylines. The one drawback for the series as a whole is that some of the more recent books don't have the similar verve or excitement to them that this first book (or couple of books) had for me. If you really love the books though there are many and more to keep you reading for months. Many of the characters from the Rift War Saga make appearances or are main characters in later series.
Visit the authors website here!
Purchase the first book here!
The Riftwar Saga
Magician(1982), later published in two parts in the United States as Magician: Apprentice (1986) and Magician: Master (1986)
Silverthorn (1985)
A Darkness at Sethanon (1986)
The Wheel of Time
by Robert Jordan
and Brandon Sanderson
The first book The Eye of the World is one of the finest first book in a series. The series goes on from there to spanning 14 books, including a prequel with the 15th and final volume in the series forthcoming. The series is huge. Most readers get burnt out around the 4th or 5th book. Which is sad because though the story does lull slightly for several books in the middle of the series, it picks up and gets explosive the last few books. The story if of the classic fantasy variety, farm boy goes off with his friends and saves the world. The magic is inventive and very well balanced and the actions scenes are extremely well detailed and feel true. The one detraction I would say for the series is Jordan has a tendency to be over detailed and repetitive in his writing (to be fair to him this was because there were several years between release dates of the books and the readers it was felt needed the reminders). If you like audio books, every book in this series has been done by the same two actors. The are both wonderful and when I read the books now Michael Kramer and Kate Readings voices narrate the books to me. They have become the characters in my mind.
Sadly Robert Jordan passed away in 2007. The series has been written since them by Brandon Sanderson (a phenomenal writer, who I will be reviewing later). Jordan left many notes before his passing and told the story to several confidants so Sanderson is merely completing the works that Jordan began. Sanderson has been doing a wonderful job of blending his writing style with Jordan's. Unfortunately the first book he wrote The Gathering Storm has a rushed feel to it but since then the books have been on point. I can't wait for the final volume A Memory of Light.
The Wheel of Time
by Robert Jordan
0: New Spring
1: The Eye of the World
2: The Great Hunt
3: The Dragon Reborn
4: The Shadow Rising
5: The Fires of Heaven
6: The Lord of Chaos
7: A Crown of Swords
8: The Path of Daggers
9: Winters Heart
10: Crossroads of Twilight
11: Knife of Dreams
12: The Gathering Storm (completed by Brandon Sanderson)
13: Towers of Midnight (completed by Brandon Sanderson)
14: A Memory of Light (forthcoming)
The Malazan Book of the Fallen
by Steven Erickson
&
Novels of the Malazan Empire
by Ian C. Esslemont
I always warn readers of this series that when they start with Gardens of the Moon they should give it a good 70 pages before they judge it. This series is a masters course in fantasy reading. There is a steep learning curve to the world mostly as it pertains to the magic/deity/ascendent structure. Once you get into it though be prepared for an awesome ride where characters have awesome names like Anomander Rake, Whiskeyjack (at first I wasn't a fan of the name but I became a HUGE fan of the character) and Caladan Brood. Where people who have the power to destroy cities can and do bring their full power to bear. Unlike authors such as Goodkind who are squeamish about having their characters bring their awesome powers into the open, Malazan characters do and it is usually addictive reading when they do.
My one detraction from the series is I occasionally find myself not caring much for a character or sub plot line in the later books (mostly cause I just want to see more of my favorites, Fiddler, Quick Ben and Karsa FTW!). There is also a derth of love stories, in fact there are almost none in the whole series. Which is interesting that I missed the love stories found in other series, as I always thought I despised them. I have much more appreciation for Unresolved Sexual Tension in stories now, thats for sure. These are minor criticisms though when compared to the awesome amount of joy and sleepless nights I got from these books.
There are several stand alone novellas dealing with a trio of side characters that pop up randomly throughout both Erickson and Esslemont's books. The trio being evil necromancers and summoners Bauchelain, Korbal Broach and their man servant Emancipor Reese. There are 4 of these novellas and they are hilarious.
Malazan Book of the Fallen
by Steven Erikson
1: Gardens of the Moon
2: Deadhouse Gates
3: Memories of Ice
4: House of Chains
5: Midnight Tides
6: The Bonehunters
7: Reapers Gale
8: Toll the Hounds
9: Dust of Dreams
10: The Crippled God
Novellas by Erikson
Blood Follows
The Healthy Dead
The Lee's of Laughter's End
Crack'd Pot Trail
Novels of the Malazan Empire
by Ian C. Esslemont
1: Night of Knives
2: Return of the Crimson Guard
3: Stonewielder
4: Orb, Scepter, Throne
5: Blood and Bone (forthcoming)
The Way of Shadows
by Brent Weeks
The Way of Shadows is the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy. This is a dark story of assassins or I should say wet-boys (assassination is a term for thugs as far as wet-boys are concerned). The story starts out with young Azoth an orphan and street urchin in a large city. We follow our hero Azoth as he navigates this difficult world., finding a precarious balance in order to keep himself and a small group of friends alive. Without spoiling the story for you though this balance is soon overthrown and the young boy finds himself apprenticed to Durzo Blint, by far the most accomplished wet-boy in the city.
I have to say I was thoroughly engrossed throughout this book. I found I couldn’t put it down, often staying up late into the night reading into the wee hours of the morning. If I read for one more hour I can still get 4 hours of sleep before work... was a common refrain in my head. Though 4 would become 3 and 3 would become 2 and so on. Till I would groggily climb out of bed, still not wanting to put down the book. I wouldn’t say the plotting or character development of his series is the best. Or the love story to be honest. But the whole series is fun. He blends fun adventure and tragedy well. Though none of the individual elements of this series are the greatest, his series overall combines to be very entertaining. With some wonderful set pieces of great action and side characters that you just can’t get enough of (Lantano Garuwashi is a badass!! Vi is hot and sexy and tragic).
The series is on my re-read list. I hope to get to it in the next couple months so I can experience the wonder of the Night Angel terrorizing people and reawaken my love for Durzo and his brutal-seeming ways. Its a great series to get yourself lost in for a few weeks (or days in my case) from a new author to the genre. I can’t wait for him to finish up his next series. I have already read the first book, The Black Prism and the second book will be published soon. I have to say Weeks has done a masterful job with the plotting of The Black Prism. His writing seems to get better and better. I especially like how he plays with typical fantasy tropes (fat hero, good guy/bad guy dichotomy). The magic system is very unique too.
by Brent Weeks
The Way of Shadows is the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy. This is a dark story of assassins or I should say wet-boys (assassination is a term for thugs as far as wet-boys are concerned). The story starts out with young Azoth an orphan and street urchin in a large city. We follow our hero Azoth as he navigates this difficult world., finding a precarious balance in order to keep himself and a small group of friends alive. Without spoiling the story for you though this balance is soon overthrown and the young boy finds himself apprenticed to Durzo Blint, by far the most accomplished wet-boy in the city.
I have to say I was thoroughly engrossed throughout this book. I found I couldn’t put it down, often staying up late into the night reading into the wee hours of the morning. If I read for one more hour I can still get 4 hours of sleep before work... was a common refrain in my head. Though 4 would become 3 and 3 would become 2 and so on. Till I would groggily climb out of bed, still not wanting to put down the book. I wouldn’t say the plotting or character development of his series is the best. Or the love story to be honest. But the whole series is fun. He blends fun adventure and tragedy well. Though none of the individual elements of this series are the greatest, his series overall combines to be very entertaining. With some wonderful set pieces of great action and side characters that you just can’t get enough of (Lantano Garuwashi is a badass!! Vi is hot and sexy and tragic).
The series is on my re-read list. I hope to get to it in the next couple months so I can experience the wonder of the Night Angel terrorizing people and reawaken my love for Durzo and his brutal-seeming ways. Its a great series to get yourself lost in for a few weeks (or days in my case) from a new author to the genre. I can’t wait for him to finish up his next series. I have already read the first book, The Black Prism and the second book will be published soon. I have to say Weeks has done a masterful job with the plotting of The Black Prism. His writing seems to get better and better. I especially like how he plays with typical fantasy tropes (fat hero, good guy/bad guy dichotomy). The magic system is very unique too.
Purchase the book here.
Visit the author's site here.
Night Angle Trilogy
The Way of Shadows
Shadow's Edge
Beyond the Shadows
Lightbringer Series
The Black Prism
The Belgariad & The Malloreon
by David Eddings
This series is high fantasy at it was meant to be. The young boy Garion is drug from his quiet and safe existence by his aunt and an old rascal they quickly team up with a disreputable group of rogues and head off to save the day. The best part about this series are the relationships between the characters and their dialogue. It is so on point that by the end of the series you are sad to say goodbye to what have become friends. I go back and reread this series every couple of years because I miss the characters and that is probably the best recommendation I can give any book. This series is good for all ages split into 5 book sets it is actually two series. With the second series using all the same characters as the first heading out on another world saving adventure. These books have some of the strongest female characters I have ever read as well.
The only problem I had with this series is I cant find the authors preferred edition! The authors preferred edition has about one hundred extra pages of dialogue in each book. I owned a set of them once but for the life of me I have no idea what I did with them. Probably handed them off to someone I thought needed to read them. I hunt for this printing in every used book store I come across.
The Belgariad Series:
1: Pawn of Prophecy
2: Queen of Sorcery
3: Magician's Gambit
4: Castle of Wizardry
5: Enchanters' End Game
The Malloreon Series:
1: Guardians of the West
2: King of the Murgos
3: Demon Lord of Karanda
4: Sorceress of Darshiva
5: The Seeress of Kell
Assassin’s Apprenticeby Robin Hobb
This is the first book in the Farseer Trilogy. The series follows the adventures of Fitz a royal bastard who’s father chose to abdicate his claim to the throne when knowledge of Fitz existence comes to light. Tales of royal bastards abound in fantasy from King Arthur himself to Jon Snow (eerie similarities between Fitz and Jon! Especially given that George R.R. Martin is a Robin Hobb fan). Unlike most fantasy though which tend to be skim the surface of real emotion, Hobb delves deeply into the psyche of her characters. Her writing is such that you really feel what’s going on with Fitz. So much so that at times I have found I had to set the books down and sort through my own complicated emotions with the books and characters.
The world of the Farseer Trilogy is in its infant stages throughout the beginning of this series but it really expands and comes into focus in the second book. With later series taking characters all around the continent. I have yet to real Hobb’s latest trilogy which is just finishing up, but it is on my list of books to get to.
Besides the wonderful characters within this first trilogy (and I can’t stress enough how wonderfully flawed they are) the magic systems are great and mysterious, as magic should be. The Wit and the Skill are two different and yet eerily similar forms of magic. The Wit is a beast magic (again strangely similar to Martin’s wargs) while the Skill is the hereditary magic of the Farseer’s. The line of kings and their progeny who rule the kingdom.
The best part about Hobb’s work’s are how prolific she is. If you like her books check out her other works under the pen-name Megan Lindholm.
Visit her site here!
Purchase the first book in the series here!
The Farseer Trilogy
Assassin’s Apprentice
Royal Assassin
Assassin’s Quest
Diablo 3
So it was a long wait for this game and massive amount of hype and expectation. I mean there are still a lot of people playing Diablo 2 and having a blast at it. I myself never made it to the fabled 99th lvl but I did get more than enough replay value out of the game. So Blizzard’s announcement that Diablo 3 was coming out was a huge deal. Especially since I used to be such a big World of Warcraft player and still go back to it on and off. I will review and get into my wow playing another time. I’m working on a guide for Guild Masters and Raid Leaders. As well as a guide for tanking and healing both 5 mans and raids. I did it all for a long time.
Anyway back to Diablo 3. I got the game the day after it came out (worked the first day) and sat down to play it right when I got home. I had a bag of snacks and caffeinated drinks; in other words I was as ready as any gamer could be to sit and play til my feet got swollen and or I passed out in my chair. There was the inevitable wait for the game to load which was expected. Then when I finally log into the game... servers are down. WTF?!?! I just spent $60 on this SINGLE PLAYER game and I have to rely on Blizz servers being up in order to play? Boo! I will admit the co-op play is fun but it is a pale copy of everything they have done in WoW. I might as well play my Warrior/Tank of Priest/Heals and run Dragon Soul for the 300th time.
I luck out though. Fifteen agonizing minutes later the servers come back up and I am rolling my Barb and tearing through the game. Literally flying through it, and I was exploring every map too. I beat the game so fast my head was spinning. “Ok Brendan,” I thought to myself, “There will be lots of replay value here. Just like Diablo 2. Plus Inferno is supposed to be impossible. It will take months and months for people to storm through Inferno.” Boy was I wrong. After I beat the game I went online and started watching “Method-EU” and “Athene” videos. Those dudes were already working on Inferno and they ended up beating it in days (random wizard dude beat Diablo-Inferno solo before them all)! True they used lots of exploits and cheats to break the game, but thats what they do. It’s what Blizz should have expected Athene and those other leet gamers to do. They proved the game wasn’t tested properly. I got to lvl 30 or so with the Barb then I rolled a wizard and had a lot more fun. Sadly ranged>melee. I got to lvl 54 on my wizard before becoming totally burnt out and frustrated with the game. Lack of drops, need to buy gear on Auction House (AH), lack of cool looking gear (yea I care about that, sue me) and poor writing among other things, all added up to me quitting.
All those players who used the exploits on chests and whatnot started selling gear on the AH Blizz set up. I don’t want to get started on the AH, I have a lot of opinions on how it’s destroyed the replay value of Diablo (no grinding gear now, just grind gold!). All of this a precursor to their real money making scheme Real Money Auction House. I have so much hate for this. :/
So to sum up: I loved Diablo (when the servers were up) and then quickly got burnt out and frustrated with the game.
If you are looking for replay value I don’t recommend Diablo. Wait for Guild Wars 2, Mists of Pandaria (WoW) or something else along those lines. If you’re looking to play a fun diablo game with good graphics for a hundred hours or so, while you wait for something better, then by all means purchase the game.
6 out of 10
Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline
This book is AMAZING! To anyone who lived in the 80’s and is into role playing games, table-top games, video games, fantasy/sci-fi books or anything related to any one of these things then you must read this book. Ready Player One revolves around the story of Wade Watts. A teenage boy who escapes his miserable existence by losing himself in a virtual reality world, the OASIS. This game world is hands down the most popular game in the word. Its used for more than just gaming. Business and schooling take place in the OASIS. The OASIS is built by the greatest game designer of all time. This mysterious creator named Holliday, dies and leaves the keys to the OASIS and the keys to his vast business empire built around the game hidden within the OASIS as an easter egg. The greatest easter egg of all time. Wade Watts along with most of humanity desperately wants to find this easter egg. Wade competes with some hardcore people and a brutal corporation to get find it. Digging through all of Holliday’s passions (80’s centric stuff from games to music to TV shows) looking for clues to its location.
I don’t want to say too much cause even a little could spoil this wonderful story. The book is an homage to all things geek. Someone said its “nostalgia porn for 80’s geek culture” and I couldn’t agree more.
The Prince of Nothing series
by R. Scott BakkerThe titular main character of the series, Kellhus is a wonderful realization of the remote monk who uses his unmatched intelligence to triumph over enemies. His power of the “Logos”, a system where in one tries to achieve mental perfection, is new and wonderful. My one major problem with the series is there isn’t enough of Kellhus. After reading three books I never felt that the character was fully fleshed out. He remains as remote to the readers as he does to the characters whose perspectives he is often viewed through.The “wizard” character in the series is Drusas Achamian. He is both an example of what is wonderful and terrible about the series. The character Achamian is beautifully flawed. A man of unquestionable magical power who is hamstrung by his love for a prostitute and his own flawed sense of inadequacy. The character of Achamian is perfectly human and I love seeing a character this flawed endowed with such power. But damn! He is such a whiner sometimes! The internal dialog (of which Achamian is just an example) where he over analyzes every single thing is very annoying. I don’t mind the fact that Achamian does his over alanysis and second guessing, that what makes him great. I just don’t want to read 20k words about it in each book.The love stories made me uncomfortable, I can’t say anything else without giving away spoilers (should be covering it in a podcast at some point).Besides Kellhus’s badass powers the best part of the series are two characters.Cnaiur: awesome barbarian/homicidal maniac. gotta love this dude. You also would never want to meet him in real life.Ikurei Conphas: basically Alexander the Great. If Alexander had to contend with powerful wizards and insanely intelligent monk-priests like Kellhus.
The Darkness that Comes Before is the first book in Bakkers fantasy series. Bakker has studied philosophy and its clearly evident in the thought provoking concepts this series deals with. Scarred by an apocalypse that happened centuries before, with another apocalypse dawning on the horizon this is a world that is relatively stable, until Kellhus a man with mysterious powers enters it. The world was years in the making as any reader can tell. The one thing I really like about Bakker, similar to Erikson, is that he doesn’t waste time explaining his world to readers. Various factions, philosophies, and histories are fleshed out and as a reader you wait hungrily for more details to flesh the world out in your mind. He jumps right into it and lets you figure the world out as the book progresses. The characters are realistic, full of flaws and contradictions just like real people. Bakker has definitely taken a page from the “Martinesque” book on fantasy writing, in that his world is not for the faint of heart. This is a dark and cerebral series.
The Prince of Nothing:
The Darkness That Comes Before
The Warrior Prophet
The Thousandfold Thought
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