Once again I'm looking for some good fantasy to read. I tried out Steve Erikson's "Gardens Of The Moon". It looked like a promising book with a lengthy series attached to it. Potentially a new author to provide volumes of enjoyable material to invest in!
But after reading about 100 pages, I gave up. It was dark and gritty enough for my tastes, but there were just too many names, places, ranks, organizations, etc. to keep track of, and not enough character development. I like to feel what the characters are feeling and go on their internal journey with them. Terry Brooks is a master of this style in the Fantasy genre and Terry Goodkind as well.
Erikson just had too many things he didn't explain that I was expected to keep track of.
Now I'm trying out "Elantris", by Brandon Sanderson. I've read the first chapter so far. The setting is nicely dark, fitting my tastes, but also focuses on character in the way I like. So far so good. The down side is that it's a stand alone book, with no promise of a series from the writer. Still, I'll be happy with just one good book for now, while I search for a new series and wait for Terry Brooks' and Weis and Hickman's current series to get to paperback. In additon, Sanderson has written some other books too, so if this one is good, I may like his other ones.
Here's hoping!
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