[horribleman]

Following on from the now locked thread where it was suggested that Midnight Tides was almost standalone, and a good starting point for people that want to give Erikson a chance but get put off by GotM or whatever, I have a couple of questions:

1) Is this pretty much true? I fancy the idea of this rather than reading GotM again to start giving his stuff a chance.

2) I read GotM and about half of DG a few years ago. Are any of the 'spoilers' in Midnight Tides for other books?

Cheers!!

[Fruitonica]

I'd say go for it.

It's a standalone plot set on a completely different continent with a new set of characters. And chronologically I think it takes place earlier than any other book, or maybe parallel with GotM.

It's my favourite Erikson book and I think that the writing and pacing are better than any of his other books. The plot is also a little more centred and easier to follow than GotM or DHG.



Having said this I can't rule out the possibility of any spoilers appearing that could hurt some other books, but I can't remember any vital ones.

[Salsa Dip]

You mean like the main antagonist of the series and his entire plan being set out for you and spoiling books 3 and 4? That kind of spoiler?

Once you've read book 5, maybe then you should skip to book 7, before stopping in at books 4 and 2, and then go back to the start.

Or maybe you should just read them in order.

[horribleman]

Ok but how much of a spoiler is it? Massive or just something you find out a bit early?

No need to get narky, I'm just asking.

[Arrgh]

People act like GOTM is horrible. It's just a bit confusing at first. You have to read it at some point anyway so why put it off?

[Ouroboros]

'Midnight Tides' has the feel of a stand-alone in some senses, but in actual fact I think you'd still need knowledge of Erikson's world which you would have built up from reading the previous books on order to make sense of it.

Irrespective of the series in question, I think it's almost always best to read them in the published order.

[Fruitonica]

You mean like the main antagonist of the series and his entire plan being set out for you and spoiling books 3 and 4? That kind of spoiler?

Once you've read book 5, maybe then you should skip to book 7, before stopping in at books 4 and 2, and then go back to the start.

Or maybe you should just read them in order.

haha, yeah. Don't know how that slipped past me.

But I will say that you definitely don't see his full plan, only the stuff effecting lether. I'm still not sure it would spoil books 3 and 4, you'd just read them with a slightly clearer image of the big picture.

[Gander]

'Midnight Tides' has the feel of a stand-alone in some senses, but in actual fact I think you'd still need knowledge of Erikson's world which you would have built up from reading the previous books on order to make sense of it.

Irrespective of the series in question, I think it's almost always best to read them in the published order.

That's a good point about being acclimated to the series. It's really up to HM. 'Tides' can be read as a standalone if you want. Erikson has said he tries to make every book independent of the others, but that just isn't the case, especially now with final convergences coming into play.

I think GotM is a fun book. It's certainly not unreadable. And Deadhouse Gates really picks up steam in the last third; I couldn't put it down. I'd say read the series in order, but if you just can't stand the others, go ahead and read MT.

Midnight Tides isn't a particularly easy read, though. There's a lot going on. I really liked it the first time around, but after a reread I absolutely loved it.

[Salsa Dip]

No need to get narky, I'm just asking.

Sorry, I don't mean to be narky. It just gets on my tits that people could even contemplate reading a series out of order. It's just wrong!

I imagine if I was an author of a large and complicated series, I would be pretty pissed off it people read it all out of sequence because of nothing more than them not being arsed to read it in order. All those levels of foreshadow and reveal, ruined, because it was read in the wrong sequence.

A reading experience changes immensely depending on when you read something, and what you've read before it. This is not just true for Erikson, but for reading in general.

[molybdenum]

I think it's a great idea. Midnight Tides is a much better book than Garden of the Moon, and as for spoilers, the main one is you get introduced to the main antagonist earlier than you would otherwise. However, its on a continent all its own, it's chronologically the first book of the series, and it's a good showcase of the kinds of things that Erikson can do. I'd compare it to reading the Magician's Nephew first in the Narnia series.
(Also, you get to learn about holds before venturing in to the much more confusing warrens. It may give a more gradual look into Erikson's magic system.)