Just Finished Deadhouse Gates

[Iona]

*****Caution - potential spoiler here for anyone who hasn't yet read this book*****

ok I'm miles behind you lot with Erikson's books, and duly apologise as I'm sure this is old hat to you, but having just finished Deadhouse Gates, I am left stunned and amazed and had to go somewhere with it - so here it is.

I was up into the wee small hours last night finishing this book as once I had gotten into it, I just could not put it down. Considering that I nearly gave up with GOTM (such a difficult read, I had to read it twice) I am left wondering why book two just rattles along in a much more fluid way. Why was GOTM such a struggle?

DG is altogether a much easier read and it has within it one of the most poignant, gut wrenching running battles I have ever read, it took my breath away. It has everything you would want, including displaced and ungrateful civilians to protect. This army really gets put through it and Coltaine's death moved me to tears, Duiker powerless to help, Pormqual a coward to the end, the army helpless in the face of Pormqual's refusal to act, you really feel what these characters are experiencing, Erikson can really write and his characters came right off the page and lived for me. Wow, what a read.

I have just started Memories of Ice (pleased to see Whiskeyjack and friends are back) and given how much I enjoyed DG, I have also ordered House of Chains. I guess you could say I'm a new fan.

[Green]

If you're anything like me... MoI will be even better than DhG

I think the reason DhG was move effective than GotM was that Erikson had a lengthy break between writing the two (well, not break, but he had to make a living doing other stuff at the time). His writing and his ideas matured in the meantime, imo.

Also, DhG was less typical of fantasy and more emotional than GotM (that's imo as well )

[Jen526]

I thought DG was an easier read primarily because we had a much more limited group of viewpoint characters to deal with, so even though there were a lot of threads going on, it wasn't as overwhelming as Gardens.

I'm about 100 pages from the end of MoI, myself. I think it's edged out DG as my favorite so far, in part due to the presence of the Bridge Burners and other characters from the first book...but man, talk about gut-wrenching. I think I'm going to need to read something light and fluffy after this one...

[Iona]

Ok, I am in big trouble, have spent most of today reading MoI and neglecting everything else I should have done today. Just how good does this series of books get - I cannot put it down. It's been a long time since I was this caught up with a book, never mind two in a row. (I'm off now to stir pots with one hand and hold MoI with the other)

[Frozeninja]

Funnily enough I also finished DHG in the early hours of this morning. I thought GotM was an awesome book, and I felt that the first part of DHG wasn't as good, though that maybe purely due to the massive influx of new characters. As it got into the book though I must say it was far better than GotM, though the atmosphere in it was a lot more desperate. Coltaine dying within sight of the city walls after marching all that way I thought was a particularly sad moment. Will probably move onto MoI soon, Erikson's work is truly great stuff so far.

[Rane Longfox]

Originally Posted by Iona

Ok, I am in big trouble, have spent most of today reading MoI and neglecting everything else I should have done today. Just how good does this series of books get - I cannot put it down. It's been a long time since I was this caught up with a book, never mind two in a row. (I'm off now to stir pots with one hand and hold MoI with the other)

Oh, aint that the truth... I read Midnight Tides during my AS-level exams... man, that was a BAD idea

[nixie]

Every one of these books have caused me to lose sleep, miss my bus stop, and neglect the house work

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by nixie

Every one of these books have caused me to lose sleep, miss my bus stop, and neglect the house work

It's like a drug I tell Ye!....

[williamjm]

Originally Posted by Iona

I was up into the wee small hours last night finishing this book as once I had gotten into it, I just could not put it down. Considering that I nearly gave up with GOTM (such a difficult read, I had to read it twice) I am left wondering why book two just rattles along in a much more fluid way. Why was GOTM such a struggle?

I think GOTM suffers from being Erikson's first book (or at least, his first fantasy book). While I wouldn't say I struggled through it, and I did like it, the writing is frankly a bit poor in places. Fortunately, the quality of Erikson's writing then seemed to steadily improve with each following book.

I thought Deadhouse Gates was a much better book. The whole "Chain Of Dogs" sequence is one of the best plotlines in Fantasy. I didn't like some of the other plotlines quite as much - for example I never understood what was going on with Heboric and Fener and the Jade Statues. I've recently read Bonehunters which partially concludes that plotline and I STILL don't understand it. I think I may have to re-read DHG at some point.

So far I think Memories Of Ice is the best book. It is consistently as good as DHG at its best.

[Rosemary]

Well I have already decided that once the series is finished, I am going to re-read it...then maybe those parts that are not as easy to understand will be come clear at last!

[williamjm]

Originally Posted by Rosemary

Well I have already decided that once the series is finished, I am going to re-read it...then maybe those parts that are not as easy to understand will be come clear at last!

Unfortunately, I suspect just re-reading it *once* will not be enough...

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by williamjm

Unfortunately, I suspect just re-reading it *once* will not be enough...

Too true.....