Monday 1 December 2008

What shall I read next? (The Big Fat Hardback Edition Part Two...)

Last week I ran a poll to see which of the more hefty looking books I would make it my business to have finished by the end of the year (not long to go now...)
Having counted the votes up the end result was a tie between Peter F. Hamilton's 'The Dreaming Void' and Ian Cameron Esslemont's 'Return of the Crimson Guard'. I never thought of what to do in the event of a tie-breaker...

Okay, here's what I'll do. The next person to leave a comment here (choosing one of the two books) will swing this thing one way or the other...
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7 comments:

  1. Anonymous1 December 2008 at 11:47

    I would suggest the Crimson Guard

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  2. Anonymous1 December 2008 at 12:34

    Dreaming Void! :-) The Malazan world is incredible, but you need to dip yourself into epic SO (space opera). :-)

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  3. Graeme Flory1 December 2008 at 13:07

    Anonymous got there first :o)

    'Return of the Crimson Guard' is the book that I'll be aiming to finish this month. If I get the time then look out for 'The Dreaming Void' as well... ;o)

    (Having said that though, I've still got to read 'The Hero of Ages' first...)

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  4. Unknown1 December 2008 at 16:17

    I was a little disappointed by the Crimson guard to be honest, theres something about the Malazan world without Erikson's voice that I find hard to take too.

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  5. Adam Whitehead1 December 2008 at 23:45

    Crimson Guard is the best Malazan book since Midnight Tides. Erikson has lost the plot a little since then.

    Dreaming Void is good, but not one of Hamilton's best. Have you read any of his other books? I think reading Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained prior to Dreaming Void would be a good idea.

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  6. Graeme Flory2 December 2008 at 09:28

    Hi Adam,

    I've read some of Hamilton's books (Night's Dawn trilogy, very good indeed), I started on Pandora's Star but got quickly bogged down in what I thought was excessive worldbuilding and put the book to one side.
    One of the reasons I've got 'The Dreaming Void' waiting on the bookshelf is that I heard it was set a long time after 'Pandora's Star' etc and knowledge of the preceding series wasn't necessary. How true would you say this is?

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  7. Anonymous2 December 2008 at 11:09

    I think you should be okay with Dreaming Void, although it does reference quite a few things to the earlier books. I don't think it will stop you from enjoying it, but it will spoil Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained and some bits won't have the full effect they would do if you'd read the earlier ones.

    I still think the series has the potential to be his best yet :)

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