It's September 2018: What fantasy book are you reading?
- Thread starter Alucard
- Start date
Why does the quantity of pages matter?
McDonald did his thing and very successfully to add in aprox. 400 pages per tome.
If anything, it's a mark of a good writer that is able to relate a story, and do it well in a shorter format.
Not everyone is Steven Erikson, and some of the fantasy writers really only sling fluff in order to accommodate the perceived genre requirements. Less fluff would do us readers a favor and lift some pressure from them as well.
McDonald did his thing and very successfully to add in aprox. 400 pages per tome.
If anything, it's a mark of a good writer that is able to relate a story, and do it well in a shorter format.
Not everyone is Steven Erikson, and some of the fantasy writers really only sling fluff in order to accommodate the perceived genre requirements. Less fluff would do us readers a favor and lift some pressure from them as well.
Haha, a lot of folks that learn German actually listen to them. But I kind of stay away, because even though metal is my favorite music genre, it's not the best choice for the spoken language. I prefer hip hop and indy rock or even punk rock for everyday spoken German. Especially in German hip hop, they speak/rhyme, not sing, so that's great for catching the right pronunciation. When they are singing it's harder to catch that, and when they are screaming well...you get the picture 
Hey you know what they say, when in Rome..
But in all honesty the more I learn it, the more I like German. There are so many ways to express in it. I'm having lots of fun learning it and that's the most important imo for information retention.
Maybe Dutch would be a nice challenge, but you guys don't give foreigners much incentive as you are the country in Europe with highest percentage of English speakers outside of UK
Here I meet Germans on the regular that don't speak English or their English is very poor. Or just Germans who prefer to communicate with foreigners in German if possible even though their English is great. But also people who know English, but are also learning German so they prefer to communicate in German since they are trying to improve that. They only switch to English when they get stumped, so they use it as a crutch for a certain phrase and then just continue on with German.
Haven't tried reading fantasy, sticking with detective/murder mysteries short stories, as I'm trying to up my fluency with everyday spoken language.
Hobbit might be a good start at higher level, I just finished B1 level (EU proficiency scale for EU languages, don't know if you're familiar with that). Maybe when I'm done with B2, I'll give it a go. It's one of my favorite books after all.
Hey you know what they say, when in Rome..
But in all honesty the more I learn it, the more I like German. There are so many ways to express in it. I'm having lots of fun learning it and that's the most important imo for information retention.
Maybe Dutch would be a nice challenge, but you guys don't give foreigners much incentive as you are the country in Europe with highest percentage of English speakers outside of UK
Here I meet Germans on the regular that don't speak English or their English is very poor. Or just Germans who prefer to communicate with foreigners in German if possible even though their English is great. But also people who know English, but are also learning German so they prefer to communicate in German since they are trying to improve that. They only switch to English when they get stumped, so they use it as a crutch for a certain phrase and then just continue on with German.
Haven't tried reading fantasy, sticking with detective/murder mysteries short stories, as I'm trying to up my fluency with everyday spoken language.
Hobbit might be a good start at higher level, I just finished B1 level (EU proficiency scale for EU languages, don't know if you're familiar with that). Maybe when I'm done with B2, I'll give it a go. It's one of my favorite books after all.
Drat. was too late editing.
They play industrial in the truest sense. they literally go out to find pipes and containers to bang on, tools to hit them with, and even bring power tools in like a grinder.
Id recommend Perpetuem Mobile, its pretty tame, but the lyrics are verrrrrry clear. and its my fave of theirs.
Their early stuff is harder and more aggressive. Halber Mensch sounds more like skinny puppy or my life with the thrill kill kult.
They play industrial in the truest sense. they literally go out to find pipes and containers to bang on, tools to hit them with, and even bring power tools in like a grinder.
Id recommend Perpetuem Mobile, its pretty tame, but the lyrics are verrrrrry clear. and its my fave of theirs.
Their early stuff is harder and more aggressive. Halber Mensch sounds more like skinny puppy or my life with the thrill kill kult.
Abercrombie's books are also anywhere between 400-500 pages. Both him and McDonald write grimdark, which is usually shorter than epic or high fantasy. If it was any other subgenre I would at least try to understand but it's grimdark. It is usually shorter than what I already mentioned.
@Bierschneeman thanks for the recs, will check them out to see if I can understand them.
@Bierschneeman thanks for the recs, will check them out to see if I can understand them.
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While the sensible thing to do would be to let @Maark Abbott answer for himself, I'm feeling bored and stupid, which is why I searched his posting history on Abercrombie and found a post from his describing The First Law as not having much story. So I'm gonna guess that he's iffy on grimdark that doesn't follow Epic Fantasy's size conventions (although not unwinnable, as proven by the fact he still likes Abercrombie).
Man, I've continued my WoT re-read from last year, I am just at the beginning of the 5th book and I cannot stand Egwene as character even more than before. MarySuepocalypse.
When Nynaeve and Elayne are sort of too full of themselves when interacting with other characters, it's almost fine and even understandable more often than not. But with Egwene every time she opens her mouth or has a inner thought, I literally cringe. Flawless characters could be such a bore. She was sort of bearable until that point, since she'd always have someone else to check her when she too self-absorbed, but from book 4.5 onwards it's Egwene parade and... I might have to revert to diagonal re-reads when it comes to her chapters... i.e. skipping them.
Other than that - I've recently finished with Awaken Online: Evolution, i.e. book 3 and Awaken Online: Apathy i.e. book 3.5 and I am already eager for the next one. This series would've been on everybody's mouth if it was more traditional grimdark setting story instead of a LitRpg. None of the consecutive books could reach the opening one when it comes to quality, it was simply too good. But they range from nice to awesome - especially the 3.5 book, Apathy, it felt like going back to the series origin of exploration and exploring a interesting character growth arc and it was satisfying, despite it being a novella about a timid bookish girl. It was awesome because of it, in fact.
When Nynaeve and Elayne are sort of too full of themselves when interacting with other characters, it's almost fine and even understandable more often than not. But with Egwene every time she opens her mouth or has a inner thought, I literally cringe. Flawless characters could be such a bore. She was sort of bearable until that point, since she'd always have someone else to check her when she too self-absorbed, but from book 4.5 onwards it's Egwene parade and... I might have to revert to diagonal re-reads when it comes to her chapters... i.e. skipping them.
Other than that - I've recently finished with Awaken Online: Evolution, i.e. book 3 and Awaken Online: Apathy i.e. book 3.5 and I am already eager for the next one. This series would've been on everybody's mouth if it was more traditional grimdark setting story instead of a LitRpg. None of the consecutive books could reach the opening one when it comes to quality, it was simply too good. But they range from nice to awesome - especially the 3.5 book, Apathy, it felt like going back to the series origin of exploration and exploring a interesting character growth arc and it was satisfying, despite it being a novella about a timid bookish girl. It was awesome because of it, in fact.
To me, "less fluff" directly correlates to "rushed". I absolutely LOATHE when a book rushes, and for a short book to reach some sort of conclusion with such a lack of girth, it will be rushing. It's actually one of the main reasons I've not got on with the Witcher books yet - they're so incredibly thin that I get the feeling they'll barrel me along and leave me annoyed as a result.
In terms of full length novels, it's more word count. A standard novel for my view is maybe 180k - 210k. Manga / Light novels have a pass as they're a different format to full novels. I've generally found that less than that and either content or pacing is irrevocably compromised and as a result I find myself not enjoying it.
I'm gonna start using Crown of Stars as a girth benchmark really. They're just right in terms of length and pace.
Of course there are exceptions. See: WoK, which just slogged for the sake of slogging.
In terms of full length novels, it's more word count. A standard novel for my view is maybe 180k - 210k. Manga / Light novels have a pass as they're a different format to full novels. I've generally found that less than that and either content or pacing is irrevocably compromised and as a result I find myself not enjoying it.
I'm gonna start using Crown of Stars as a girth benchmark really. They're just right in terms of length and pace.
Of course there are exceptions. See: WoK, which just slogged for the sake of slogging.
But this is just a prejudice you have. I'm not saying books can't be rushed, but it's crazy to me that you think all shorter books are rushed. Sorry.
Witcher can be comfortably put in sword & sorcery, heroic type of fantasy. Those books were always on the thinner side throughout the history of subgenre. In my opinion grimdark is current continuation of those types of books.
To each his own I guess.
Witcher can be comfortably put in sword & sorcery, heroic type of fantasy. Those books were always on the thinner side throughout the history of subgenre. In my opinion grimdark is current continuation of those types of books.
To each his own I guess.
Mmm, not quite. First Law arguably doesn't have much story because what story there is effectively serves as a vehicle for the characters (the story, really, comes down to 'let's get the macguffin'). . I've always seen it as more of an experiment in character studies - overall a successful one, It's enjoyable and I like Abercrombie's style.
Perhaps consider that I regard Bakker as the pinnacle of the genre at present (I would go as far as to regard him as the present pinnacle of fantasy overall as well).
About 100 pages into 'In the Ruins'. I quite like where this is going. The pacing is just right too, like an awakened golem lumbering inexorably forward.
Perhaps consider that I regard Bakker as the pinnacle of the genre at present (I would go as far as to regard him as the present pinnacle of fantasy overall as well).
About 100 pages into 'In the Ruins'. I quite like where this is going. The pacing is just right too, like an awakened golem lumbering inexorably forward.
