Ready Player One

[Deliriumx]

I'm participating in my first 6 week challenge now and thought I should come say hello to everyone.

 

I've been reasonably active most of my life, but never in any of the popular team sports.  I did track and field grade school, SCA style fighting in high school a couple nights a week.  I've loved hiking and have been a bike commuter for a year and a half now. Recently, I've gotten an adventurous streak and have been trying a lot of new things, most of which I've loved.  Namely kayaking, canyoneering, climbing, mountain biking and I've been going much longer distances on my road bike.  I've also taken an interest in building strength to aid in these things so I've started doing the Nerd Fitness basic training workout as part of my 6 week challenge.  

 

Nerd Cred:

I'm an old school gamer starting with Major Mud and then moved on to MMOs. I played WoW & Diablo in a great guild for several years and am now playing Neverwinter Online (at a standing desk!).  I love the classics too, but enjoyed the one-offs like Katamari Damacy and Okami the most.

 

I always preferred transformers to barbies and grew up on Star Wars and Star Trek.  I took some time off TV, but now enjoy Dr. Who, Da Vinci's Demons,Game of Thrones,  Grimm, Once Upon A Time, Sherlock, Torchwood,  Warehouse 13, etc.  I read mostly fantasy with Steven Erikson and Patrick Rothfuss being my favorite authors for now.

 

I love how the NF community really comes together and is so down to earth.  I look forward to becoming a greater part of it

[vengefulpear]

Hi Deliriumx! It's good to have you here with us at NF

 

First, I came for the title of your post (reminded me of the book by Ernest Cline) and stayed because Patrick Rothfuss and Steven Erikson are also my favourite authors at the moment! On this note, super excited to go to the World Fantasy Convention in October to meet Mr Rothfuss! And it's ridiculous how long me and my friends would spend talking about Malazan whenever we went to the pub!

 

How is your challenge going so far? You certainly sound like you're being quite the adventurer!

[Deliriumx]

I should probably learn to follow my own posts!  

 

The title was indeed after the Ernest Cline book, it was a great read.   I've been to two smaller signings/readings with Patrick Rothfuss and he's just so personable.  It was a lot of fun.  I really think the Malazan series should be more popular than it is.  I have an inkling why it's not.. it's just too complicated for a lot of people.  There are a lot of characters and story lines to keep track of, but they just come together so beautifully.  I imagine you've also read the Esslemont books too.  I'm a little behind and working on Stonewielder  right now.

 

My first challenge went great except for taking a spill mountain biking.. I needed to miss a few days to heal up.  I'm into my second challenge now and so far it's going very well.

 

Looks like you've got a great challenge going now too!  Love the intro story and inspiration!

[vengefulpear]

Definitely, I try and tell people how awesome the series is, but I try not to push it on them too much because I know how difficult it can be to get into.

 

I've actually not read the Esslemont books yet, I read Malazan all at once so after 9 solid months of that I'm just taking a break with some other books/series before I go back! Are the Esslemont ones in a strict order? I found Stonewielder in a charity shop but I know that Night of Knives is the first one he published.

 

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that, but glad you're up and running again And I will definitely go and check your challenge out!

Thanks I try just to make it a bit more epic for epic-ness sake, and I am thinking once I've finished with the story I'm doing at the moment I might do a Malazan inspired one. You can't go wrong with Malazan for epic-ness

[Deliriumx]

Well there is an order, but it's not quite the order they were released in.  You won't be disappointed with Esslemont btw.

I stole this from wikipedia..

It is difficult to work out a precise timeline for events in the series due to some confusion with dates. However, a rough chronological ordering is possible. The dates given are by years of Burn's Sleep, the calendar used in the Malazan Empire.

• Night of Knives (1154)
• Blood Follows (c. 1154)
• The Lees of Laughter's End (c. 1154)
• The Healthy Dead (c. 1158)
• Midnight Tides (1161, with 1 chapter occurring in 1159 and another occurring in the time of The Elder Gods)
• Gardens of the Moon (1163)
• Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice (1163–64, these two novels occur simultaneously)
• House of Chains (Starts a couple of years before Deadhouse Gates and goes to somewhat after.)
• The Bonehunters (1164–65)
• Return of the Crimson Guard (c. 1165, just after The Bonehunters)
• Reaper's Gale (c. 1165 or 1166)
• Toll the Hounds and Dust of Dreams (takes place simultaneously)
• Stonewielder and Orb, Sceptre, Throne and Blood and Bone (estimated to start roughly half way through Dust of Dreams or maybe a little later)
• The Crippled God

Esslemont's next book, Orb, Sceptre, Throne, takes place at the same time as Stonewielder, Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God. It is set on Genabackis in Darujistan. With his next book, Blood and Bone, Esslemont takes us to Jakuruku at the same time as Stonewielder and the other novels, with a scene that directly links the timeline of Stonewielder and Blood and Bone, the novel ends at the same time as The Crippled God. The sixth (and possibly last) book takes place after the events of The Crippled God and serves as an epilogue to the series.

 

I manged to catch on early and read them as they've come out. I'm really impressed with Erikson's timeline as a writer.  He promised 10 books... 1  per year and he did it, plus a couple of novellas (the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach set).  I'd read that the two of them were actually archaeologists by trade and the series is based on a role playing game they invented while on dig.  It really explains their understanding of war and history.

I'm not sure if you've heard, but he's started on a trilogy, the Trilogy of Karkanas.  The first is called Forge of Darkness.  I'm a slower reader, so I haven't gotten to it yet, but the bf read it and sees no decline in the quality of Erikson's writing.

 

Got any other authors you like? I'm always looking for recommendations

[vengefulpear]

Oh awesome, wow thanks that's actually really useful!

 

I did hear that Erikson is a professor and when my friend said it was in my general area (Master's in Classics over here) it didn't shock me that much because it did feel quite similar to the kinds of stories and things that I dealt with as i was studying (which is a good thing!)

 

And I am looking forward to getting round the short stories (I got it for christmas) I loved those characters and the way they were put into the story. They turn up thinking they're all that, and they end up just kind of getting in the way of the character who are actually really powerful.

 

I'm going to wait for the Forge of Darkness for a bit, just so that hopefully I can read either the whole series together or most of it.

 

Hmm book recommendations. Well my first two would be Malazan and Rothfuss, so we can put those to bed But I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch which was thoroughly entertaining, an excellent word to describe it is swashbuckling. About some conmen in a fantasy venice-like city who steal from the nobles (but don't give to the poor) But the characters are just so vivid and it's a very good adventure:

 

They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count.

 

Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards.

 

Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.

 

But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.

 

A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora . . .

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I've also got some other book reviews and stuff here; www.thetemperedpen.blogspot.com