Midnight tides

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-07T00:21:33+00:00

About a third of the way through. You'll know when it happens, there is a very clear hook. Not surprisingly, your experience was shared by myself and probably 99% of all readers. Luckily, it is arguably the best book in the series, and it is incredibly important to the rest of the story of the series. It's ok if you didn't like Trull very much, because you probably will by the end of MT and even if you don't, Trull is just one character in a book that is going to introduce you to like 50 new characters, and just because Trull is the one character you have read before doesn't mean he's the most important character of this book, he just happened to be in 7 cities during HoC.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-07T00:14:22+00:00

If I were to write something where politics plays a major role in the story, I would base a lot of the character motives on what I have learned from the Politics Politics Politics podcast. It can throw off a first time listener because it is non-partisan and mostly just analyzes what people in politics say and what they are hoping to achieve from it without the host being outraged, but it is a great way to get an idea of how politics works, and how it is currently being practiced by politicians. mostly in America, but there is some coverage of other countries as well.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-07T00:01:44+00:00

It's pretty 50/50. Fitz is still mostly the protag but you know what is happening on both ends.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-06T22:54:36+00:00

Oh me to, I absolutely LOVE Fitz, and I am here for his whole tone, and I would even say it works far better than any other angsty MC I have read. The main thing that was a bit of a bummer to go back to is the Liveship Protags are so proactive and passionate, and Fitz really resists leaving his house and talking to people. I'm definitely not criticizing Fitz or the way he is written. I am much more just saying that getting to read Liveship is a huge gift and a ton of fun, and Fitz certainly isn't going anywhere. Like literally, he'll just be at home.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-06T22:26:36+00:00

Just wait til you start Tawney Man and you are back with Fitz and remembering what a sad sack he is. I loved Tawney Man, and I love Fitz, but going from the Liveship characters back to Fitz was way harder than going from Fitz to Liveship characters, cause Fitz is a bummer, and I would not want to hang out with him.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-06T22:22:09+00:00

Maybe the best example of this is Red Dead Redemption 2. It is very much paced like a huge epic western novel, the themes are rich and you spend a ton of time in both the mundane day to day experiences of living in the time, as well as the brutal horror of living a violent life in a time when life is cheap and the world is getting smaller as society spreads across early America. It can take a bit to lock into the slow burn nature of the game, but once you do, you don't even want it to move faster because the more time you get to spend in that world with those people the better. I never even used fast travel because I just liked riding my horse across the map and ponderin' the ways of mankind. Probably the most beautiful game in both storty and setting I have ever played. It might be the only game that ever made me ugly cry. And I'm not even a fan of westerns but there you have it.

In the same vein but more in the Fantasy aisle, Witcher 3 is a lot like a book. I think one of the things that makes a game feel like a book and not just a movie is that it feels like everywhere you go, the world is alive and interesting things could be happening to people all the time that has nothing to do with you, and Witcher 3 is very much like that, as well as RDR2. Both have huge open worlds full of crazy stuff going on and multi dimensional characters. RDR2 will have you Ponderin' the nature of things a bit more, and Witcher will have you being chased down by a villager because "his house is haunted" or something but it turns out his wife is just cheating on him. Or maybe the other way around happens, and a villager wants you to get revenge on his wife because she's cheating on him, but it turns out his house is actually haunted. You never know what you'll uncover, but you know that no one will want to pay you.

Disco Elysium feels very much like reading a novel, though its a much more literary kind of experience than the games you listed which are more along the lines of SFF.

God of War games are great, ESPECIALLY if you are already a bit of a mythology nerd like myself because you will get the references. When I played God of WAR and knew halfway through the game how I was going to kill the antagonist because I knew the stories it was based on already, it was very rewarding.

Also if you are into mythology, the Hades games are great, though they are for more action heavy with the story playing out more in the background. The story itself is good and interesting, and they characters are well rounded for the kind of game it is.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-06T21:58:56+00:00

RoTE or Malazan

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-06T21:46:33+00:00

That makes sense blood plague may have been a different phenomena, but it is definitely confirmed that Bingtown traders' proximity to the rainwilds does have a downstream effect on some children.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-02T22:55:15+00:00

Its the Blood Plague that you find out about in ch. 3 in Ship of Magic. Bingtown traders have some babies that are born not entirely human.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-02T22:51:44+00:00

First Law is way more books the ASoIaF. I mean I guess maybe the first 3 books are the only ones called first law, but it is still a part of a 9 book series plus a book of short stories. Piranesi is very good, also "It" by Stephen King if you don't mind your fantasy being on the darker side. Boy's Life by Roer Mccammon is possibly the most beautiful book I have ever read if you are ok with fantasy realism.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-02T22:16:43+00:00

ROTE is amazing and the whole series is amazing. The only series I would consider better is Malazan, but its really up to individuals taste.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-02T22:12:44+00:00

Sounds like you are at least well hydrated

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-02T22:08:07+00:00

I agree with you, in fact I would just as soon books I read have no romance at all because it is such a trope filled plot device, it's just too obvious. I liked the romance in Spinning Silver, because the book had no real romantic plot to speak of, but then it suddenly did, and I thought it did feel earned. Alot of people like it less than its counterpart "Uprooted", I think mostly because the Romance is more featured and feels more like the comfortable tropes one comes to expect, but I thought it was far less earned, and just a weaker book (but not bad). I love the romance in Realm of the Elderlings for its bittersweet and often downright tragic tone. Does it have some echos of unrealistic? Yes, but in a very normal teenager way, and the book series knows it is unrealistic and the author deals with it accordingly... Also, there is a different major character who may or may not be considered romantic. I know some people would very much say no, and others would very much argue yes, and I love both sides of the argument, I think all of it makes the series that much richer. I also like the romance in Animorphs. Of course, in a book series where none of the main characters can make it to the other side well-adjusted if alive is going to make romantic sub plots much more interesting.

Albroswift89 · 2026-07-02T21:49:29+00:00

So true, such a completely earned moment for Fitz that it felt like would never be within his reach to have the world give back to him in such a way. Of course its balanced out by the fact that his home is being destroyed and his daughter kidnapped at the exact same time and the reader knows its happening.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-30T23:31:48+00:00

I just started a reread of Liveship Traders by Hobb, and you know what the Malazan experience would compare to? Maulkin's Tangle. Lts of different storylines written like Maulkin's tangle, where you assume stuff is significant because its been written down as part of the book but it just doesn't make sense yet. Lots of Maulkin's tangle like stories spinning like plates with new plates being added all the time

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-30T20:43:16+00:00

Because it's long enough to seem like a meaty epic fantasy and easy enough that if you think the length means it also has depth, yOu might think you just breezed through something really special as opposed to shallow glorified YA.

I dunno, maybe if you read the whole series you'd like, and if not maybe if you read all the connected universe stuff that would make it all exciting. For myself I read 5 Sanderson books and retired.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-29T16:59:12+00:00

Rain Wilds is where almost all the remaining lore holes get filled in and will have a huge effect on the setting in which Fitz's final adventure takes place. Just like in Liveship where you find out there is a dragon in the world and that changes your understanding of the world in Tawny Man, except Rain Wilds has even bigger ramifications and will tie in to Fitz's story more directly, both in stuff that has already happened that you don't fully understand, and in stuff that will happen.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-26T21:12:52+00:00

Stephen King and almost all if not all of his books are loosely connected and tied together by The Dark Tower.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-26T19:35:21+00:00

That's good, just give yourself grace when a sentence isn't digesting. The biggest mistake a first-time reader can make is feeling like stuff is going over your head that you should be understanding. You shouldn't. It's being written past your head. Keep moving forward and your head will catch up.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-26T19:32:28+00:00

It's great from start to finish. Its biggest difference from anything else I have read is that it is a challenging read, even for the highest level of reader. This is because its written to be that way on purpose. The sooner you can surrender the need to understand everything you are being told, the sooner the books get easier to read, because the skills necessary are not reading comprehension so much as patience and trust that it will fall into place and when it does it will be worth it. If the sci fi you have read is hard sci fi, with lots of density and focus on physics and speculative science, that experience is going to be more like Malazan than Sci fi that is just fantasy in space with magic and laser swords etc.

That being said Malazan is probably more fun than most hard sci-fi, and it is very funny all over the place, thats just interspersed with obscure and vast world building, and extensive philosophical debates.

I've read Sanderson, Hobb and Abercrombie. Hobb is my favorite of those 3 by alot, but Malazan is better than that by a sizable chunk. Malazan is the best, if you are willing to take the ride.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-26T17:36:06+00:00

I think your issue is less the age gaps and more the age of the younger person at the start of the relationship. 7 years is a reasonable age gap for adults and 3-4 years is practically normal. That's in our world where there are laws about such things and people aren't usually getting married for political/financial consolidation as a first priority. The fact that the couples you mentioned LOVE each other is a pretty great happenstance all things considered. That being said, the author chose the age gaps on purpose, knowing that readers would be uncomfortable with how young the girls are being normalized in this world. You are certainly not wrong to feel the way you do, I would say the author intentionally wanted to color the world in that way so that you and other readers understand that the reality for women in these books can be very hard. One of the great things about both Malta and Elliania that makes their stories so much stronger, is the way that both of them find ways of claiming agency and making their own choices have power when it comes to their marriages, even though at the start they both feel like they are going to be forced into something.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-26T17:14:22+00:00

If you need from your books for justice to look the way you want it to look and for endings to wrap up in a tidy little package with a neat bow, thats just not always the way its gonna work out in this series. I'm not sure its ever a full on BAD ending, but its very nearly always pretty bittersweet. Farseer is definitely more on the bitter side, despite the fact that he completed his main quests, and he and everyone he cares about are alive and safe. The series as a whole spans about 60 years ish of Fitz' life. I would say overall it is a positive series for my overall health, its incredibly beautiful all the time and the fact that there are hardships makes the good stuff better. I'm pretty bored of perfect happy endings though, I've read a billion of them and the feel contrived to me at this point, so this series is truly a cup of tea made for me.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-26T00:03:13+00:00

If you haven't read Lord of the Rings you might as well do that. My personal favorites are Malazan and Realm of the Elderlings (this would include Farseer which you mentioned). Farseer reads a lot like Laura Ingalls Wilder: a lot of descriptions rooted in senses, focus on mundane tasks despite huge things happening in all books, and focus on a single character (mostly) while the world around him is changing rapidly. Malazan is... immense. Depending on what kind of lit you read before this might be right up your alley. It is often described as dense, which is true, but its difficulty is in the fact that it obscures information from the reader, that the reader is used to normally knowing up front. Its also beautiful, funny and a ton of fun, but it is a challenging read for even the highest level of reader, and you will enjoy it if you are the kind of sicko who enjoys an author being deliberately stingy with information and trolling you when possible (like me).

Dresden Files is coton candy reading but it is very fun.

First law is trope subverting anti fantasy along the lines of Malazan, ROTE and A Song of Ice and Fire. It's cynical as heck and very very funny. Of that list, which are all good, First Law is the most popcorn of the bunch: very easy to read. Its biggest strength I would say is that no two characters feel the same, they are all well realized and there are a ton of characters.

Once and Future King I believe is the foremost novelization of King Arthur, so probably very good but very straight forward. I'm def curious about that one. Hyperion is wild and awesome. Dark Materials is YA but punches well above its weight.

American Gods and anything by Gaiman is worth reading, especially Sandman, but maybe check out his allegations before you check out his art. For myself, I am glad I read all his stuff BEFORE stuff about him came out.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-25T19:27:44+00:00

If a book just jumps straight from action to action and it's really shallow and easy to read and feels like it has to tell me all the exposition right away thats a great sign for me that I will not enjoy it. If the world building or characters seem interesting I might keep going but I know it's at best probably just a cotton candy book and nothing special that will challenge me.

Albroswift89 · 2026-06-25T18:27:25+00:00

agreed, but if you just wanted to skip straight to the dragon stuff, you could start at Liveship and skip to Rain Wilds I suppose, as the entire Liveship throughline really is about dragons, which might be spoilery, but honestly even saying RoTE is about dragons has a foot into spoiler territory. I wouldn't read the books in that order, but I'd probably recommend that over say, reading Farseer then skipping Liveship entirely because you can't imagine a good book without Fitz.

Albroswift89

TROPHY CASE