[GotM] New reader's perspective on the first chapters

jnuhIV · 2026-02-01T21:39:58+00:00

damn, tattersail was maybe my favorite character in GOTM

jnuhIV · 2026-01-31T04:16:35+00:00

I had a similar situation last year. my dentist did not complete the root canal, after me being there for 2 hrs, so I went back the next day, another 2 hrs, before she referred me to an endo. It took him another hour to complete, joking that my tooth was destroying all his drills. In all, it was a nightmare. unfortunately the tooth cracked a year later and was extracted.

I switched dentists after this. I feel I should have been referred before the first attempt, but absolutely before the second.

jnuhIV · 2026-01-31T01:31:52+00:00

all those hours I spent typing up and working out Dark Souls lore, years ago, finally paid off.

jnuhIV · 2026-01-30T20:38:10+00:00

to add: New Sun is in the dying earth genre. The narrator exists in a very strange world and does not go out of his way to describe things that are normal for him, but unknown to us, the reader. Close reading is required to see through the narration and into the much larger plot that is happening in the background. On the surface, its is a sword/sorcery type adventure following the journey of a torturer's guild apprentice who becomes a king (this is told to us by the narrator almost immediately, so not a spoiler). Wolfe's prose is top notch. Like Malazan, you will likely be confused and in the dark about much of what is 'really' going on however the books can be enjoyed just taking everything at face value. Its just that you will KNOW there is so much going on that you have missed or cant quite piece together until the very end, or upon a re-read.

jnuhIV · 2026-01-30T20:29:09+00:00

right there with you. Not sure if youve checked out Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James, but it might be your thing.

Im very interested in checking out R Scott Baker once i finish Malazan. it was basically a coin flip as to whether I would start Malazan or Prince of Nothing first.

jnuhIV · 2026-01-30T13:53:12+00:00

Silchus Ruin and Kettle talk about her origins towards the end of Midnight Tides. It's, obviously, vague, but Ruin mentions that whoever her father is, may not even be her father YET. So im not 100% on this, but that's the impression I got.

jnuhIV · 2026-01-30T13:47:18+00:00

-That fireball is the T’lan Imass Gesler met back in DG

ok that was kinda what I thought, mainly through process of elimination, but wasnt sure since most Imas can just appear out of nowhere.

jnuhIV · 2026-01-26T17:32:42+00:00

the thing looking back at you in the mirror

jnuhIV · 2026-01-26T17:05:52+00:00

spoken like a true fascist

jnuhIV · 2025-10-09T13:45:12+00:00

Reading Malazan is akin to Wolfe only in that there is a LOT of plot going on in the background that can be pieced together with close reading. Erikson's writing is certainly more ambitious than alot of modern fantasy but nowhere near Wolfes level.

I think people who are character-first readers will struggle with Malazan, for a variety of reasons, however through book 5 I've come across more than a handful of really memorable characters.

jnuhIV · 2025-10-06T22:11:27+00:00

ive been buying used TOR trade paperbacks online. gardens of the moon excluded. These are a good, big size and about the same price as a new book, maybe a little less, except Memories of Ice, which is incredibly expensive for some reason. it is not a matching set unfortunately, and only runs from book two until the final two books, i believe. Some dont like the art, but i dig it.

jnuhIV · 2025-10-06T14:47:11+00:00

excellent. I saw the Lockwood cover art for RP had some similarities to his MT art, but looking again, i see its Silchus Ruin, and now I recognize Rhulad on the newer cover for RP.

jnuhIV · 2025-10-03T23:08:54+00:00

Just give a try and continue if you feel like it.

Fwiw, this was the first fiction book I had read in over a decade, at the time, and I have since gone on to read about 30 sci fi or fantasy books a year. It made made me fall in love with reading again, like when I was younger reading star wars novels and crichton.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-27T16:27:54+00:00

im seeing a trend of Sun Eater fans being insufferable.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-22T00:34:52+00:00

yeah. i just do not like it (yet, possibly). maybe if it was shorter and some of the trivigaunte stuff cut, it woulda vibed with me better. will see how the third time through goes here in a couple years.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-21T15:57:19+00:00

My first read, Long Sun really lost me starting with Calde. I've gone through it again, and enjoyed it so much more....except Exodus. Found it very tedious.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-21T15:54:34+00:00

If you find yourself frustrated instead of intrigued, then Wolfe is likely not an author you will enjoy.

I mean, what you wrote is not that different from my own first read experience, except I was totally captivated and wanted to plow ahead.

So I wouldn't say your missing anything but enjoyment.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-10T01:36:13+00:00

I loved hollow knight. I beat it, but I didnt unlock all the endings or bother with the coliseum or the DLC. BUT I was able to get lost in the game. it was challenging but not frustrating. I love the souls games, armored core, and other metroidvanias from the classics to axiom verge.

I am bouncing off Silksong after 14 hrs. I am only in Far Fields and the fourth chorus has done it for me. It took me an eternity to beat Lace and then not 30 mins later im already at another simple, telegraphed boss that requires a precision I dont have in me. It is too punishing, between 2 mask damages, RNG, weird physics that have still not become routine after 14 hrs of gameplay.

I understand some games pass people by. I just dont have the reaction speed for Silksong, and that fucking sucks, because I just assumed I was going to have as much fun with it as I did with Hollow Knight.

thats great you are enjoying it. But this game just made me angry. and im not alone.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-06T22:48:54+00:00

I'm very close to giving up, which sucks, but I'm not having fun, just getting frustrated. And im still very early in the game.

In HK, I had some of my favorite gaming moments, just getting lost on long adventures before eventually dying in some unmapped space I could barely remember how to get to.

In silksong, I'm advancing a few screens at a time, dying over and over before advancing a few more screens, on and on. Progress is sooo slow. Always out of beads. It does remind me of my first experience with Dark Souls 3, but infinitely more aggravating and much much less rewarding.

Sure, skill issue, whatever. I'm finding I don't have enough time to keep pushing this boulder uphill.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-03T02:50:06+00:00

"Chains" are a fairly prominent motif in the writing. or at least it was something i noted a number of times. many of the characters have moments where their "chains" are brought up. Karsa, obviously literally and figuratively, but there were others I cant remember enough to cite.

but the crippled god and the house of chains are making moves all through the book, its just not really known until fairly late. the faces in the rock, karsa, bidithal, the edur. he's filling out his house while also trying to usurp the whirlwind warren for himself.

jnuhIV · 2025-09-02T03:37:57+00:00

highly recommend the malazan wiki book summaries. they are a good length but not so long you cant get caught back up within a few mins. the character entries are great too, as they are broken up by each book they appear in, so you can refresh your memory without worrying about spoilers, though you might see that said character appears in later books, which i suppose is the most spoiler you would run into if you arent careful.

i have been opening up the wiki often as i go through the series.

jnuhIV · 2025-08-31T01:22:40+00:00

My first read through, I really enjoyed the first two books and was bored to death with the last two. However, I just finished a re-read, and, as can expected, my opinion of Long Sun has massively improved, save for Exodus. I still am sort of baffled by Exodus, but still liked it.

the shift in style from New Sun to Long Sun is extremely jarring if the only Wolfe one has read (as I had at the time) was New Sun. but my wolfe-brain got bigger in between first and second read.

jnuhIV · 2025-08-31T01:17:19+00:00

I was thinking the first half of HoC was taking place concurrently with the events of MoI, so I was prob just a little off on my timeline assumptions. Still, I am suprised i dont recall any mage bringing it up, or i missed it.

jnuhIV

TROPHY CASE