3 ms·

Thanks! I think the difficulty can be a little overhyped sometimes, but it's definitely been a challenging read! More than anything, it often presents informati

Thanks! I think the difficulty can be a little overhyped sometimes, but it's definitely been a challenging read! More than anything, it often presents information with little context and leaves you to wonder for a while (sometimes books) before finally explaining things. The nice thing about reading it in a group is we can all share different insights and predictions for the things that are happening. I think we're going to make it through the whole series because everyone is still very engaged with the books but only time will tell haha. Definitely a marathon of a series!

subtra3t 3y ago
Would you recommend it to a casual fantasy reader who's never really ventured beyond Sanderson/Rothfuss/etc?
- FumblingBear 3y ago
  Honestly, probably not. It's not necessarily that I don't think someone who's primarily familiar with Sanderson/Rothfuss/etc wouldn't be __capable__ of reading it—it's more that the format of the story and narrative are so vastly different than the styles of more mainstream fantasy works that it's hard to say whether or not it would resonate with you. Some readers of the series would recommend reading 1-3 books before making a judgement on it, but I think that it's just not for most people. If you'd like a challenge and enjoy the process of solving a big crazy puzzle, than I'd say go for it! But if you are more interested in reading something that you can just pick up and enjoy, there are better series out there. If you're looking to try some stuff outside the Sanderson/Rothfuss bubble, some of my personal favorites are Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic and Cradle by Will Wight. The former is a fantasy time loop story about a young academy student who becomes stuck in a month long time loop and has to figure out how to get out of it. The latter is a underdog eastern fantasy story that's kind of like an anime in book form where quite possibly the weakest person in the world learns of an apocalyptic event that he needs to get strong enough to stop in order to save his loved ones. Both are progression fantasy, a fun sub-genre that is more focused on the acquisition of power than a more traditional epic fantasy series like the authors you mentioned have, but could be a fun way to branch out and explore some other styles of fantasy writing!

subtra3t 3y ago

Would you recommend it to a casual fantasy reader who's never really ventured beyond Sanderson/Rothfuss/etc?

FumblingBear 3y ago
Honestly, probably not. It's not necessarily that I don't think someone who's primarily familiar with Sanderson/Rothfuss/etc wouldn't be __capable__ of reading it—it's more that the format of the story and narrative are so vastly different than the styles of more mainstream fantasy works that it's hard to say whether or not it would resonate with you. Some readers of the series would recommend reading 1-3 books before making a judgement on it, but I think that it's just not for most people. If you'd like a challenge and enjoy the process of solving a big crazy puzzle, than I'd say go for it! But if you are more interested in reading something that you can just pick up and enjoy, there are better series out there. If you're looking to try some stuff outside the Sanderson/Rothfuss bubble, some of my personal favorites are Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic and Cradle by Will Wight. The former is a fantasy time loop story about a young academy student who becomes stuck in a month long time loop and has to figure out how to get out of it. The latter is a underdog eastern fantasy story that's kind of like an anime in book form where quite possibly the weakest person in the world learns of an apocalyptic event that he needs to get strong enough to stop in order to save his loved ones. Both are progression fantasy, a fun sub-genre that is more focused on the acquisition of power than a more traditional epic fantasy series like the authors you mentioned have, but could be a fun way to branch out and explore some other styles of fantasy writing!