[ifaznu]

I have discovered that reading bakker is somtimes like eating
a 10 pound steak
its a whole lotta meat and hard to eat it all in one sitting
even if you love steak ya can only tackle a 10 pound bakker steak a portion at a time

ya gotta chew alot as well.
the grizzle

gotta get past the grizzle

some times its a little too much
reminds me of herbert of which i read many a book

[silvercue]

I am currently reading his first book and found it a little hard going at first. So many factions, religions, schools, empires, countries etc etc.

Luckily I found that the back of the book has a list of each one and a description. Know exactly who is who and what is going on now.

I felt the same with Song of Ice and Fire - really found the list of houses at the back useful :)

[Brys]

I didn't find it too bad the first time. It wasn't on the same scale of complexity as Erikson's Gardens of the Moon for a first book, and Bakker writes it in such a way that you quickly get used to it all. It was when I was about to start reading the Warrior prophet, almost a year after I had read the Darkness that Comes Before, that I couldn't remember all of the factions etc, but fortunately Bakker wrote an excellent introduction section reminding you of the book before called "What Comes Before"

[Generalbassist]

I had problems with the language. English is not my first language and I had to look up in a dictionary many times in that book, I just hate having to use the dictionary, it ruins the flow of the read.

I could have had a much better reading if I had known the words, but I still loved the book

[Miriamele]

I tried to read The Darkness That Comes Before back in the summer but gave up a few chapters in. Like you said Ifaznu it's a very dense, meaty book...there's a lot to absorb in the beginning, so many exotic sounding names to remember, and I found it a little too difficult for my frazzled mind to comprehend. But I was in awe of the actual writing, the beauty of the language, and the originality of the work, so I fully plan on picking the book up again some day when I am less busy and stressed out and I can concentrate a little better on it.

[Lani]

I have to say Bakker is indeed not the easiest person to read. My policy tends to be "keep reading and it will make sense". It's actually quite true. Even if I don't get anything in the beginning, once the story unfolds some more, I am usually able to go back and understand what happened.
I think with the Darkness That Comes Before, I had trouble keeping track of who's who because of the similarities in some character naming (i.e. faction leaders vs. royal family vs. other smaller characters). But by the end of the book, I felt the story drew me in even if the journey to get there was a bit tough. I have the second book on my shelf now, but now I gotta get myself started again.

I can see where the comparison with Dune comes from. I totally agree, it's all about complexities of politics, adventures of a certain person, and great writing.

[Evil Agent]

Shouldn't this be in the Bakker forum?

Anyway, how does Bakker's 'difficulty' compare to Erikson's? I'm managing with him, and I didn't find Dune or aSoIaF too hard. Can Bakker really be that tough?

[Brys]

Bakker's a lot easier than Erikson. Bakker's style of writing makes the complexities a lot more manageable, and more importantly, there aren't nearly as many of them. While Erikson drops you into the middle of the story in Gardens of the Moon, Bakker slowly lets you into it with much more of an introduction. Anyway, there are only about 5 viewpoints and probably not even half as many characters as Erikson has. Erikson makes Bakker seem pretty easy to read by comparison - I read Erikson first as wel. The world of Bakker's will also seem a lot more familiar - no, it's not a middle-earth copy, but it has a lot of similarities to medieval Europe and the crusades. The two main faiths are quickly identifiable and gods take a much lesser direct role, faith itself takes a much more important role. The Warrior Prophet's simpler still and more focused - it improves from book 1 to book 2 in the same kind of way Erikson did from GotM to DG, but not on the same scale. What got me to buy it was the recommendation from Erikson on the cover "Take note one and all, something remarkable has begun" - and he's right.

[Evil Agent]

Wicked. Then I think I will buy them, since I've been seeing the paperbacks everywhere...

I was getting a bit worried by all this talk of how difficult it is, but I guess reading Bakker post-Erikson is a good way to prepare. :)

[Hobbit]

Moved to Scott's Forum area.

Feel free to look at the other threads round here, too!

Hobbit