Quote:
Originally Posted by nixie  Start with Gardens of the Moon. The first in Erkison's mammoth 10 book epic.
I know a lot of people find it difficult and hard to follow at times but its worth sticking with.
I still don't understand why so many have a problem though. |
I feel exactly the same about it. I think there might have been some kind of reverse psychology going on when I first read it. I'd been through quite a lot of the comments on Amazon, and a lot of them came up with the confusion, the 'gave up after 100 pages', the lack of characterisation etc etc, but I was still intrigued, so I bought it anyway. When I got around to reading it I was expecting not to like it, so when I loved it from the very first page I was mystified by all the negativity. Horses for courses, I suppose. And, I have to say, on re-read
GotM is a revelation. Going back to it with all the knowledge gained from the subsequent novels, it's almost like reading a completely different book.
I've read the whole series, most of it twice, and am itching to read it again. Apparently you can get ointment to sort that out. The first six books, from
GotM through to
The Bonehunters, are probably my favourite books of all. The only ones I struggled with were
Reaper's Gale - which I read right on the back of having finished
The Bonehunters, which was probably a mistake (I think I have to take a break between each book, they're too intense) - and
Dust of Dreams, which - strangely - I enjoyed first time but wasn't too keen on when I re-read it. I was probably just in a rush to get to
The Crippled God.
Toll the Hounds, for me, is an underrated work of genius.
I don't think I've ever found another series so immersive. It's the most epic, sprawling, original, inventive, infuriating, exhilarating, amusing, mind-boggling, heartbreaking, uplifting and uncompromising series that I have ever read. It's not flawless - there have been times when I've wanted to throw one or more of the books out the window for sure (but, given their weight, they'd probably kill a passer-by) - but very few things are.
So the short answer should have been "Yes! I still like the series".
