tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post2283685192192296143..comments2024-03-17T00:00:13.417+00:00Comments on The Wertzone: Dust of Dreams by Steven EriksonAdam Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-378525840298104702009-08-26T22:03:32.070+00:002009-08-26T22:03:32.070+00:00"How the hell does he top the Chain of Dogs a..."How the hell does he top the Chain of Dogs and Siege of Capustan?"<br /><br />Ha. There's no way of saying without spoilers, but I'd say if you go right back to the start of the series, the very first big engagement holds a key to what goes on, on a much bigger scale in DUST OF DREAMS ;-)Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-21054689352198816702009-08-26T18:38:18.901+00:002009-08-26T18:38:18.901+00:00Are you sure that the final battle eclipses everyt...Are you sure that the final battle eclipses everything that came before?<br /><br />How the hell does he top the Chain of Dogs and Siege of Capustan?<br /><br />I completely agree that the series is bloated and a little indulgent, but I love Big Fat Fantasies so this series is pretty much tailor made for me.TheDudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-54216225793682339062009-08-25T13:11:59.975+00:002009-08-25T13:11:59.975+00:00I agree, since both Toll the Hounds and Reapers Ga...I agree, since both Toll the Hounds and Reapers Gale were really good, I can hardly wait to finish this one. I am in 200 pages now and gobbling it up like a dry sponge. :)Sturmiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18066376440940585409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-37478725707655319872009-08-24T05:30:51.332+00:002009-08-24T05:30:51.332+00:00I like the 'salt of the earth' with their ...I like the 'salt of the earth' with their stupid names malazan soldiers. Their povs are sometimes the highlight of a chapter in the novel for me. ^^<br /><br />The moral debate between two characters is vastly more preferable to the navel gazing that sometimes populate the malazan books.<br /><br />As a veteran of the malazan world, nothing in the review made me hesitant to get my hands on it asap, your unbiased confirmation that it's much better than TTH and RG is in fact very reassuring.Andressnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-8105622090054133222009-08-19T02:08:10.428+00:002009-08-19T02:08:10.428+00:00I agree with some of the previous comments, you do...I agree with some of the previous comments, you don't seem to have enjoyed the book that much (still an interesting review though)... although many of the negative comments are about stuff that Erikson readers are probably very accustomed to.<br /><br />And as you mentioned about leaving questions unanswered, I don't know about Erikson next Malazan books (I think I read that there will be a trilogy about Rake's past) but he said that he left many characters to Esslemont so he can finish their respective storylines.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10109618053126464164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-5639121794620065062009-08-18T22:27:52.366+00:002009-08-18T22:27:52.366+00:00WANT
..but can't wait till 2010 :(WANT<br /><br />..but can't wait till 2010 :(CJohnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09669627209587628201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-25002061776060236502009-08-18T22:17:22.273+00:002009-08-18T22:17:22.273+00:00No. Same map as in RG. To be honest, it probably n...No. Same map as in RG. To be honest, it probably needed one, as the interrelationship between Bolkando, Saphinand, the Awl'dan plains (on that map) and the Wastelands, Elan Plain, Kolanse Confederacy and Glass Desert (off its eastern edge) is quite hard to work out from the text alone.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-47592504958790876222009-08-18T21:34:55.102+00:002009-08-18T21:34:55.102+00:00I have pretty much the same opinion of his last th...I have pretty much the same opinion of his last three books so I imagine I will have a similar opinion of this book when I read it. I have pre-ordered every book in the series since MoI until this one. I will definitely read it but TtH really disappointed me. The ending of this book sounds really good so that in itself will probably help me slog through the 900 pages of philosophical nonsense.<br /><br />Are there any new maps in this book?Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-7377004845233453382009-08-18T17:06:06.890+00:002009-08-18T17:06:06.890+00:00I think I have to agree on another read-through th...I think I have to agree on another read-through that this isn't the best review I've done. I've done exactly why I've criticised other authors for, namely spending too much time on the negatives, then tossing off a "Oh but the rest of it is great," and giving it a high score. I think I'll have to revisit the review a bit.<br /><br />@ Anon<br />I agree broadly. I think the issue with the series is that it has a fantastic structure which I'm certain other authors are going to start using (there are signs that Abercrombie is going down a similar path of interrelated-but-sort-of-separate novels and series), but there's a distinct lack of discipline and focus in some areas. That Erikson will have released ten enormous books in twelve years is very impressive, but it is definitely questionable that these books (or any book, really) needed to be a thousand pages long apiece with the attendant lack of drafting and editing that has resulted. TTH in particular could have been a sharper and more effective novel at half its length.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-12266832407923154012009-08-18T16:50:59.140+00:002009-08-18T16:50:59.140+00:00I will keep my comment simple and obvious.
Eriks...I will keep my comment simple and obvious. <br /><br />Erikson could have created one of the defining series of fantasy. He has showed talent, prose, ideas, themes, even a well realised character every so often etc. but in the end has created turgid poorly edited doorstoppers (although I am loathe to blame editors as who knows how much crap they had to wade through before they came up with a "finished product") which are too convulted for their own good.<br /><br />What he has ended up with is an above par epic fantasy but in my opinion nowhere near what it should have been.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-81173298408356019972009-08-18T16:18:11.176+00:002009-08-18T16:18:11.176+00:00The review score was much-debated, especially as I...The review score was much-debated, especially as I certainly rated the previous two books in the series too highly. I concluded despite the book's problems, the significant and very impressive ending to the book and elements of Erikson's writing elsewhere built the book up to a four-star.<br /><br />"Your reviewing skills need work."<br /><br />But apprently not as much as yours :-)Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-86438861796682666382009-08-18T15:54:56.673+00:002009-08-18T15:54:56.673+00:00Your reviewing skills need work.
3.3/10Your reviewing skills need work.<br /><br /><br /><br />3.3/10sighnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-79437334814957272352009-08-18T15:23:18.546+00:002009-08-18T15:23:18.546+00:00Hey Adam, interesting review. You're catalog ...Hey Adam, interesting review. You're catalog of grips with novel, to my eyes at least, seems to outweigh the merits you highlighted. Some of your comments struck me as particularly sarcastic and indicative of a weary fan:<br /><br /> <i>but the traditional problems of having tons of pretty identical 'salt of the earth' Malazan soliders with stupid names who can debate morality and political theory at the drop of the hat remains intact.</i><br /><br />and <br /><br /><i>a lengthy five-page debate on morality between two characters often seems to end in the stunning realisation that it's wrong to use civilian shields in warfare, or unrestrained capitalism and the exploitation of poorer nations through trade is as bad in its own way as slavery and colonialism.</i><br /><br />were the two that really caught my attention. Is this a series that you're now invested in only because you're 9 books in and can't get out now? Or are you genuinely still interested in what is going to happen next? While I've certainly felt that way about some series (**cough**Wheeloftime**cough**) I'm just curious if you're at the breaking point for the Malazan books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-20751992784522396772009-08-18T14:12:12.760+00:002009-08-18T14:12:12.760+00:00The Crippled God does not appear in DoD, but he is...The Crippled God does not appear in DoD, but he is the fulcrum around which everyone else's plans and plots swings. I get the impression that the Crippled God has been missold to us as the series' closest equivalent to a dark lord, when a better analogue is that he is a castaway who just wants to go home, but left to his own devices could destroy the world. It's a more complex moral situation than is the norm in epic fantasy.Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-16769895319268427902009-08-18T14:08:31.203+00:002009-08-18T14:08:31.203+00:00Does this mean that Erickson finally did something...Does this mean that Erickson finally <i>did</i> something with the Crippled God?Patricknoreply@blogger.com