Habeed
August 13th, 2002, 12:23 AM
I just read Thomas Harlan's first book (Shadow of Ararat) and am starting on the second one. WOW! Just the sort of writing I like. Its fairly realistic (except for the bit about swords...dueling sabers are NOT the ideal weapon when you are out to kill your opponent). The bad guys are actual characters rather than generic uber-wizards, and somewhat interesting. When the good guys are outmatched : they lose a battle! No stupid last minute miracles.
LOTS of action : the book has one fight after another (but the story keeps moving unlike runelords, where its just one long battle for 3 books in a row).
His choice to use actual history makes for a VERY realistic and solid world. There is a LOT of little details, and the desciptions are excellent without getting in the way of the plot.
Anyway, its great stuff. I'd say he's almost as good as George R.R. Martin. (But not quite : martin is definitely better). He's about level with Robert Jordan in his early books.
Anyone else found a modern styled fantasy series like this one thats any good? With graphic realism, fewer cliches, and a good action packed story?
For every hit I find like this book, I must read 5 or 10 crappy fantasy novels that aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Surely someone has found another less known author as good as this guy. I HATE finding a crappy book that I end up reading the first half of just HOPING it'll get better.
Some of the things that really piss me off in bad fantasy books:
1. The characters spend half or more of the book just hanging around the starting spot talking.
2. When it comes time for a gang banging big battle....the author skips over the details. Yet when its time to find a bed in the inn, he wants to descibe every rat, tick, and flee.
3. The author wastes thousands of words describing the first few acts of the novel. The plot runs very slowly and is quite boring. Yet when its time for the showdown and climax/victory, he crams it all into the last 40 pages.
4. Bad guys that keep coming back AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. Give it a rest : why kill the mega-evil wizard dude if he can just come back to life? Imprison him or something instead.
5. The author is an insult to your intelligence. Trivial, even mundane details get repeated over and over and over again. Or, when you read a sequel book : he basically rehashes the last book 10 times over. "catching up" the reader is one thing, but I've seen it where the author basically repeats the whole last book in the dialogue.
6. The hero has NO FORESIGHT. NO PLANNING. He gets into a really bad situation, and somehow managed to come out on top. I've seen ones where he's outnumbered 10 to one yet the hero somehow manages to win. (that is his ARMY is outnumbered 10 to 1)
Good strategy and luck is one thing : winning against stupid odds is something else.
7. And lots of other stuff that makes many mass market fantasy a headache to read.
LOTS of action : the book has one fight after another (but the story keeps moving unlike runelords, where its just one long battle for 3 books in a row).
His choice to use actual history makes for a VERY realistic and solid world. There is a LOT of little details, and the desciptions are excellent without getting in the way of the plot.
Anyway, its great stuff. I'd say he's almost as good as George R.R. Martin. (But not quite : martin is definitely better). He's about level with Robert Jordan in his early books.
Anyone else found a modern styled fantasy series like this one thats any good? With graphic realism, fewer cliches, and a good action packed story?
For every hit I find like this book, I must read 5 or 10 crappy fantasy novels that aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Surely someone has found another less known author as good as this guy. I HATE finding a crappy book that I end up reading the first half of just HOPING it'll get better.
Some of the things that really piss me off in bad fantasy books:
1. The characters spend half or more of the book just hanging around the starting spot talking.
2. When it comes time for a gang banging big battle....the author skips over the details. Yet when its time to find a bed in the inn, he wants to descibe every rat, tick, and flee.
3. The author wastes thousands of words describing the first few acts of the novel. The plot runs very slowly and is quite boring. Yet when its time for the showdown and climax/victory, he crams it all into the last 40 pages.
4. Bad guys that keep coming back AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. Give it a rest : why kill the mega-evil wizard dude if he can just come back to life? Imprison him or something instead.
5. The author is an insult to your intelligence. Trivial, even mundane details get repeated over and over and over again. Or, when you read a sequel book : he basically rehashes the last book 10 times over. "catching up" the reader is one thing, but I've seen it where the author basically repeats the whole last book in the dialogue.
6. The hero has NO FORESIGHT. NO PLANNING. He gets into a really bad situation, and somehow managed to come out on top. I've seen ones where he's outnumbered 10 to one yet the hero somehow manages to win. (that is his ARMY is outnumbered 10 to 1)
Good strategy and luck is one thing : winning against stupid odds is something else.
7. And lots of other stuff that makes many mass market fantasy a headache to read.