Read Runners discussion

A place to talk about fantasy books in general.

Previously Discussed
1. The First Law Trilogy - Post 12
2. Assassin's Apprentice - Post 105
3. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Post 106
4. Tigana - Post 486
5. Best Served Cold - Post 556
6. Royal Assassin - Post 668
7. The Heroes - Post 784
8. Red Seas Under Red Skies - Post 875
9. The Way of Kings - Post 1011
10. Red Country - Post - 1644
11. The clash of kings - Post 1694
12. The Red Knight - Post 1842
13. The Summer Tree - Post 1923
14. Bridge of Birds - Post 2052
15. The Gunslinger - Post 2157
16. Road Brothers - Post 2229
17. The Grim Company - Post 2252
18. Traitor's Blade - Post 2301
19. Prince of Fools - Post 2387

Currently Discussing

Wonderful initiative.. am sure a lot of us, especially me, will be enriched by the discussions that we can expect from this thread :)

what fantasy book are we discussing? (for a start)

& the book we're discussing is???

@Manu - I thought you had already started on the First Law series :P :)

Oh! Nice idea! ^_^

@Anirudh: as yours is the first post. you should keep updating it with Discussed, Under Discussion and upcoming discussion. So that people can prepare themselves. :)

We can have spoilers here??

Oh yes, fantastic idea!

I think it's fine to have spoilers, as long as the spoiler tags are used. Otherwise, the thread might be avoided by slow folks like me. :P

@Sri, Thanks :-) It was Manju who suggested it to me :-)

@Manvita, The idea is to discuss any and every book we want to discuss. We were discussing First law in another thread. I was thinkin of continuing that.

@Ishi, Manju's idea :)

@Manju, I think spoiler tag is better as people might visit to choose their next book. (Hopefully :-D )
No idea how to do that thing you mentioned :-(

Exactly Sumit. Spoiler tag is easy to put anyway :-)

@Anirudh: & thats the reply to your last post in Series thread:

I can't say that I liked him in third, he was bad. & the truth behind his fight with his own master was shocking. I never thought that he could do that kind of thing.

True third book was a game changer in every way. story and characters both were at their best in the third. I loved those seven days in northern mountains. & with every word I was waiting for West to come. That battle was totally breathtaking.

Yeah, we can only hope that he'll write a book about her telling us more about this mysterious woman.

(view spoiler)[Yup spirit totally consume him. He never know what he was doing except that he was fighting. He would kill friends and enemy alike. Poor Logen had to feel all the guilt once all the fighting and madness was over. (hide spoiler)]

The first books discussed would be

1. The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.

Which consists of


Blurb
Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glotka a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood

@Manu -Kudos for the initiative :) :)

@Anirudh - hopefully when we finally get to read the books and want to read the spoilers, we will get good ones and not like the last one in the Mistborn thread :P :P

Manju wrote: "@Anirudh: & thats the reply to your last post in Series thread:

I can't say that I liked him in third, he was bad. & the truth behind his fight with his own master was shocking. I never thought t..."

Everybody is a bad person in a way not just him :D

Yes the third book really changes everything we believe we know. That's what I like most about it. And some incidents are never clearly explained, multiple accounts of the same incidents are given through an unreliable narrator. I liked that part the most. Made me question everything I thought I knew.

(view spoiler)[I don't think it is the spirit. I think he is a case of split personality. He becomes the bloody nine when his life is in danger. And at that point thinks everybody as his opponents. (hide spoiler)]

@A & M - Your lively discussion may just have put this series for this year's read instead of the next!!! Might just have to rework my series list once again!!! Seriously evil you two are :P :P

@Sri, I spoilt the spoiler :D Nothing better than that :P

Do read this book it's excellent.

Anirudh : Anna you just added another series to my list -_-

Manu : You're equally guilty for this.. And wait you made me read Mistborn too Grrrr

Srividya wrote: "@A & M - Your lively discussion may just have put this series for this year's read instead of the next!!! Might just have to rework my series list once again!!! Seriously evil you two are :P :P"

Glad to help :P

Anirudh wrote: "Srividya wrote: "@A & M - Your lively discussion may just have put this series for this year's read instead of the next!!! Might just have to rework my series list once again!!! Seriously evil you ..."

Am sure you are only too glad to help :P :P And please no more spoiling of spoilers :P :P

@vidya, do read this one. as Anirudh said it really is amazing.

but please after Farseer and GB and before December:P:P:P

Manju wrote: "@vidya, do read this one. as Anirudh said it really is amazing.

but please after Farseer and GB and before December:P:P:P"

I was thinking of doing all three series simultaneously and ditching all my other series!!! That's how much you guys have tempted me!!! Sheesh!

Srividya wrote: "Manju wrote: "@vidya, do read this one. as Anirudh said it really is amazing.

but please after Farseer and GB and before December:P:P:P"

I was thinking of doing all three series simultaneously an..."

thats great!!! One chapter from each book everyday and you'll finish them by December. Way to go buddy!!! :D:D

Anirudh wrote: "Manju wrote: "@Anirudh: & thats the reply to your last post in Series thread:

I can't say that I liked him in third, he was bad. & the truth behind his fight with his own master was shocking. I n..."

which part made you question everything??

Manju wrote: "Anirudh wrote: "Manju wrote: "@Anirudh: & thats the reply to your last post in Series thread:

I can't say that I liked him in third, he was bad. & the truth behind his fight with his own master w..."

The revelations about all the characters.

@Anirudh: Yup, nobody was what I think of them. Joe certainly knows how to twist his characters and still made them likable.

What you think of our Northern men???

@HP, you read mistborn first :P

(view spoiler)[ the revelations about Logen and Bayaz's past is awesome :):) (hide spoiler)]

I really liked the northmen :) I think there were five right? MY favourite is of course dogman :) And I like the mistakes they do when they found because of lack of communication.

Anirudh wrote: "@HP, you read mistborn first :P

[spoilers removed]

I really liked the northmen :) I think there were five right? MY favourite is of course dogman :) And I like the mistakes they do when they foun..."

Anna I finished Mistborn Part One and that too earlier than my Thug buddy :P :P *expects appreciation* *runs away fearing buddy's wrath*

Hajarath Prasad wrote: "Anirudh wrote: "@HP, you read mistborn first :P

[spoilers removed]

I really liked the northmen :) I think there were five right? MY favourite is of course dogman :) And I like the mistakes they d..."

Why don't you join the discussions in BR then? :)

Anirudh wrote: "I really liked the northmen :) I think there were five right? MY favourite is of course dogman :) And I like the mistakes they do when they found because of lack of communication. "

Yeah, at first glance they all seem savage, cruel and fierce but as you get to know them you know that they're not that bad. they know how to do battles and they know how to survive them. every one of them was just awesome. their joking, planning and their fighting skills just wonderful.

One of the best quality of them that they don't have an ounce of pride in them.

It's just that the rules of their society is different. I love the way they stalk and kill :D Especially black dow :D Dogman has to go to the bathroom every single time :D

Do you remember the scene where he forgets which target he is supposed to kill? :D

Yes, despite their strength Black Dow is the only show off in the group. Threetrees is very calm comparatively.

I read this series a few years back and I think this was my first introduction to the grim dark genre of fantasy.

For me this series was more about the characters than the plot and what really stood out was the action - it was up close and personal, just so gritty and visceral with all the detesting details. It just blew me away.

And of course Glokta is my favourite character - Body found floating by the docks, bloated by seawater and far, far beyond recognition… Say one thing for Glokta, say he’s one sick bastard.

Akshay wrote: "I read this series a few years back and I think this was my first introduction to the grim dark genre of fantasy.

For me this series was more about the characters than the plot and what really sto..."

Yeah the action was amazing. I can still picture Logen's scratched palms after that fall. It's really gruesome.

@Anirudh: Abercrombie has a way about his characters. He unveils their true nature very slowly. So what you think of them in first book, by the third book they're totally different people.

I didn't like Black Dow after the end & every other was very good, even Bethod too.

@Akshay: Only few writers can describe action in such a lively as Abercrombie does.

My turn to ask question :)

Don't you think there was too much violence & profanity in First Law?

@Manju,Anirudh: You both are making me consider adding yet another book in my to-read list!

Ishi wrote: "@Manju,Anirudh: You both are making me consider adding yet another book in my to-read list!"

you didn't read the above question??

this series is not for you, read it but after two years:P:P:P

I didn't say it'll be the first thing I read :P
And net is slow :/
Didn't see your ques :/

WHY IS MY NET SLOW?
*Goes away*

uh-oh... a fantasy thread on a series i have not started :(

Bhavya wrote: "uh-oh... a fantasy thread on a series i have not started :("

Next week discussion will shift to Assassin's Apprentice & The Lies of Locke Lamora :)

@Manju, actually I expected something like that. He is black dow after all :D The only think which held him in check is the bloody nine.
Bethod was shown in a whole new light in the last chapter.

No I don't think it was too much. There isn't really that much swearing. And since it is a gruesome and realistic world, violence is natural. In fact, if there was no violence this book would not have been so great.
Having a barbarian as hero and not making him fight doesn't suit his character. He is after all the bloody nine :)

@Ishi, only people who are allowed to vote can read this book ;):P

@Bhavya, It's a thread for all fantasy books not just First Law :)

Manju wrote: "Bhavya wrote: "uh-oh... a fantasy thread on a series i have not started :("

Next week discussion will shift to Assassin's Apprentice & The Lies of Locke Lamora :)"

Both at once?!!

Is Robin Hobb any good? Her books are on my tbr pile but I never got around reading them.

Anirudh wrote: "Manju wrote: "Bhavya wrote: "uh-oh... a fantasy thread on a series i have not started :("

Next week discussion will shift to Assassin's Apprentice & [book:The Lies of Locke Lamora|127..."

Yeah, both are big series. if we start them now will be able to finish them in 2 months :)

Oh! I was thinking a Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God marathon to finish off the series.

Well I'll squeeze Assassin's Apprentice in and read simultaneously since each malazan book takes me over a month to read.

@Akshay, we are starting Assassin this weekend :)

Robin Hobb is extremely good.
Im yet to start 6th Malazan

Anirudh wrote: "Robin Hobb is extremely good.
Im yet to start 6th Malazan"


Finished Words of Radiance and started Dust of Dreams yesterday.

How was WoR?

Do you really like malazan that much?

Anirudh wrote: "How was WoR?

Do you really like malazan that much?"

WoR was great. This time around I found Shallan to be much more interesting.

Yes I really like Malazan. Hands down my favourite series, maybe Stormlight Archive may replace it if it maintains the current level in subsequent books.

Not that it was easy at the beginning. I had to start GoTM three times before finishing it.