"That's a heavy one," the clerk commented. Yeah. It's a clunker alright. I could probably use it for some triceps presses or as a meat tenderizer. And forget about bathtub reading.
A Song of Fire and Ice is just one of a few epic fantasy series I have started in the last year or so, but when I find out the level of commitment involved (Wheel of Time--12 books? Whatever happened to the idea of a trilogy?), I get cold feet. Am I ready for that kind of relationship? How long can the honeymoon phase really last?
And so I find myself hesitant to go beyond the first book in the following series:
Personal Enjoyment Factor: 3/5 (Based on audio edition)
My memory of this one is sketchy. I listened to it on audio over a year ago, and I regret having listened to it rather than read the print copy. Although I love audio books, I've learned that when it comes to new worlds, I need to go at a slower pace until I have a good sense of all of the details and characters.
I do remember dreams, wolves, powerful women, and lots of names. These may or may not be important aspects of the story. It has a sort of Lord of the Rings feel to it Needless to say, if I do go on with the series, I will probably need to reread the first one, adding another 685 pages to the total. If I continue to read, here's what I'm looking at:
Other books in the series and number of pages
The Great Hunt (681)
The Dragon Reborn (624)
The Shadow Rising (1008)
The Fires of Heaven (912)
Lord of Chaos (1024)
A Crown of Swords (896)
The Path of Daggers (704)
Winter's Heart (800)
Crossroads of Twilight (704)
Knife of Dreams (860)
The Gathering Storm (783)
Grand total of pages: 8,996
Personal Enjoyment Factor: 4/5
I was pretty much unaware of this set of books until I happened upon the television series Legend of the Seeker on Netflix Intant Play. After a few episodes I decided I wanted to try out the books first. Although there is little resemblance between the show and the book, I couldn't help but picture the actors and actresses in my mind. This worked rather well for me when it came to Richard (played by Australian actor Craig Horner).
The evil in Richard's world is so twisted. The token bad guy Darken Rahl is a supreme sicko. Rahl's followers find pleasure in torture and manipulation. This all is tempered by a bit of humor, but I still felt like I needed an Anne of Green Gables pick-me-up when I was done. I'll have to brace myself to read the other installments, which will involve the following commitment:
Other books in the series and number of pages:
Stone of Tears (703)
Blood of the Fold (640)
Temple of the Winds (528)
Soul of the Fire (800)
Faith of the Fallen (800)
The Pillars of Creation (736)
Naked Empire (752)
Chainfire (768)
Phantom (592)
Confessor (592)
Grand Total of Pages: 6,911
Personal Enjoyment Factor: 4.5/5
I'm still a little shocked that I liked this one. It's really dark. It's filled with things that usually make me toss a book aside with disgust. The women in the book are treated so horribly it's painful to read. My level of hatred for the more despicable characters was unprecedented. But there also characters I loved (Jon Snow and Arya Stark are the first two that come to mind), and I became enough attached to them that I want to find out what will become of them. And if the women get a little vengeance, I will shout out in triumph and have a bit of closure.
I actually have the second one checked out from the library right now, which is promising. But am I ready for the commitment?
Other books in the series and number of pages:
A Clash of Kings (768)
A Storm of Swords (1216)
A Feast for Crows (1060)
A Dance with Dragons (1008) Not yet released
Two more forthcoming, likely to be a bazillion pages long.
Projected Grand Total of Pages: 6,000+
Which, if any, of these series is worth the sacrifice of thousands of pages of the many other books that I want to read? Any recommendations?
I become less and less fond of series over time. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOh oh... join me in my Wheel of Time quest.... it will be fun really! :) Don't think of it as a sacrifice, and don't look at all those pages.. sheesh. Just one book, one page at a time... that's the only way I can think of it!
ReplyDeleteLong series of chunksters drag me down too quickly. I started the Wheel of Time series and only got through - I think- six books before I got tired. It was so hard to keep track of all the characters!
ReplyDeleteI started WOT about 10 years ago, and stopped when there stopped being books for me to read :P When a new one came out, I felt like I had to read the entire series over again, and thus gave it up.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried Goodkind because of the reviews I've read of some of the books.
George RR Martin is good, but again, I lost interest waiting for the next book.
Martin and Jordan are definitely worth reading, but I would (will) probably wait for the entire series to be out.
A new epic series that I'll probably keep up with (the author writes books quickly and well) is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight archive. Only the first book is out but it was great. :)
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteCompletely understandable!
Suey,
I just may take the plunge with Wheel of Time, one page at a time!
Jeane,
Maybe if I make a list of the characters it would help me keep track. But it also may make it take longer for me to read LOL.
Escapist,
That's good advice to only read series that have all the books published. My memory is so bad, I would need to read them one right after the other. I will check into Sanderson. I've heard good things!
I also can't imagine committing to reading a series that's so big! I loved Harry Potter but there was years in between each book...and maybe the fact that I started it as a teenager and it was for kids made it more endearing?
ReplyDeleteAh well. There are so many books out there. I'm probably not going to read any of those you mention here. Although I did read Wheel of Time and disliked it when I was in college.
I am not really a Fantasy reader but I understand your dilemma! Just this weekend my husband was thinking that maybe he should pick up the last 3 books in the Wheel of Time series while we were at the library. He's heard they aren't that great but he's already read the first nine, so he feels he's made a significant time investment and should see how it all turns out.
ReplyDeleteThe only one of those series I've read is the Wheel of Time... and I love it! I haven't read the latest yet though. Now... I really want to re-read them all to prepare for the newest ones, but it is just so much re-reading! Of course, in high school I already read some of the books multiple times :)
ReplyDeleteRebecca,
ReplyDeleteI often wish that Harry Potter could have gone on longer, so maybe once I get into one of these I'll be glad there are so many. But HP is hard to beat.
Steph,
I feel like if I continue to read any of these, I've got to stick it out to the end. Like your husband said, once you've spent so much time reading most of the series, you've just got to finish it.
Amy,
After writing this post I became aware of the books in WoT yet to be published. So I should add a few thousand more pages to the total! I discovered that Wikipedia has some great book summaries, but it's not quite the same as rereading. Good luck if you decide to!
For what it's worth, I highly recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series. Huge, but o-so-rewarding!
ReplyDeleteMaybe authors/readers/publishers think that good fantasy has to come in a heavy (literally!) format?
This is one more reason why I don't even start a series, if I'm aware it is a series. There are too many good single books out there, and I enjoy discussing (and thinking about) the depths in each one.
ReplyDeleteShelley, thanks for visiting and commenting at Bonnie's Books.
DEFINITELY go for The Wheel of Time Books! I got Suey to try them and now she's hooked. :) There are two more books coming in that series but by the time to get caught up they will be out!
ReplyDeleteI have the same feeling about Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books. I really WANT to get into them, and I KNOW I'll love them, but that is a serious time commitment. I'm going to take the plunge though - I'm hoping to pick up the first book over the Christmas holidays. :)
wow... I don't know that I could go into a loooong series knowing ahead of time how many books there would be.
ReplyDeleteI did get into one series that turned into 28 books and still going, but it was unintentional .. it's "the dragonriders of pern'.. having said that one could have stopped at the first three books and been happy at that. It seemed that other books that followed did the same, they came out in "trilogy" form and then another would begin, so one could stop at any point. But if someone asked me to begin it NOW ..knowing there are so many books..I don't know that I would. (unless someone told me you can stop at 3 and be satisfied).. but i love the land and the characters too much and so I keep going back.. lol good luck in your delemma!!
I adore the Song of Ice and Fire series. It's my absolute favorite. But I always caution people not to start it right now. I know, it's too late for you. It's not just the time spent reading the books (that is most definitely worth it), it's the time spent waiting for the next book, which is an undetermined amount of time. Then after that you have to wait for the next (which could be years again). I would wait until the series is complete before I continued on with that one.
ReplyDeleteI am just going to say that the Song of Ice and Fire series is the best fantasy ever. Yup...EVER! I love it. I actually am thinking of rereading it now that George R.R. Martin has finally starting writing on Dance with Dragons. Perhaps I'll do a read-a-long on my blog after we read Three Musketeers (I'm planning that in January).
ReplyDeleteI love series. I get attached the characters (like in Anne McCaffrey's Pern series...they are like family to me). I've read the first four Sword of Truth books and by the fourth I needed a break. They are a little long and Kahlan and Richard got so angsty that I needed to spend some time away from them. I'll get back to them though. I feel invested in the series.
I've heard that Brandon Sanderson has made the WoT series much better so I think I will try to read them someday!
I say stick with the ones you want to read and give up on the ones you don't feel attached to.
Just had to chime in again and agree with everyone who mentioned Anne McCaffery's Pern books - I devoured those as a teen! I'm getting ready to revisit the original trilogy with Kiddo soon and I'm really excited abou it. :)
ReplyDelete@Heather - When I reread Dragonflight this year, I was shocked to see how F'lar treated Lessa. Very 1970s...things have changed so much in 40 years! Still like the books though. Huge crush on F'nor and Jaxom! :P
ReplyDeleteJust had to chime in again and agree with everyone who mentioned Anne McCaffery's Pern books - I devoured those as a teen! I'm getting ready to revisit the original trilogy with Kiddo soon and I'm really excited abou it. :)
ReplyDeleteI adore the Song of Ice and Fire series. It's my absolute favorite. But I always caution people not to start it right now. I know, it's too late for you. It's not just the time spent reading the books (that is most definitely worth it), it's the time spent waiting for the next book, which is an undetermined amount of time. Then after that you have to wait for the next (which could be years again). I would wait until the series is complete before I continued on with that one.
ReplyDelete