The Book Thread

[LibraryOgre]

Yay!

So, while reading Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer, I got my hold on Into the West, the newest Valdemar novel. Since I was mid-book, I sent it back, put it back on hold. I was told it might be 10 weeks... but it came in yesterday! Started reading last night while getting the girl to sleep.

[Rynjin]

She's still writing Valdemar novels? Wild.

[LibraryOgre]

She's still writing Valdemar novels? Wild.

She has jumped around quite a bit in time, detailing different time periods.

If you go chronological, you have
The Gryphon Trilogy
The Founding of Valdemar (currently two books)
The "Magic" trilogy about Vanyel
Mags, and then his family (Seriously; the 5 books of the Collegium Chronicles, the three books about him as a spy, then the three books about his kids)
Brightly Burning
Tarma and Kethry's trilogy
Alberich's Duology
"Take a Thief", Skif's backstory
Arrows trilogy (the first ones written)
By the Sword
Winds Trilogy
Storms Trilogy
Owl Trilogy

With these 39 books being written over 35 years between 1987 and 2022. With other books, from other series, in between. And she's got short story collections about Valdemar, too, though I think those are mostly written by others.

She's not James Patterson prolific, but it's a LOT.

[warty goblin]

I've only read one Valdemar book, so I have one very important question: do characters still get to psychally experience horse sex?

[LibraryOgre]

I've only read one Valdemar book, so I have one very important question: do characters still get to psychally experience horse sex?

It is not emphasized, but, yes, this is a possibility.

[The Glyphstone]

I can't imagine said horses are very thrilled about the inverse.

[Wookieetank]

I can't imagine said horses are very thrilled about the inverse.

Usually they're just smugly amused at how clueless and awkward humans are about feelings and relationships.

[Morgaln]

Usually they're just smugly amused at how clueless and awkward humans are about feelings and relationships.

This fits with the book I am currently reading. "Garou", a German murder mystery/thriller that is written from the perspective of a flock of sheep. It's set in a French castle, where the flock and their owner is spending the winter. However, something sinister is going on, as several butchered animals have been found in the nearby woods.

It's not the greatest book, but the way it comments on human behavior from a sheep's eye, so to speak, is quite amusing. For example, when two children start play-acting as sheep nearby, the flock of sheep is very approving, as they think humans rarely exhibit sensible behavior like grazing. Of course they also comment how the children haven't quite learned proper grazing, as they are failing at the most important part (i. e. the actual eating of grass) and express wonderment at how the children's caretaker neglegts her duties and doesn't show them the proper way.

The book is actually a sequel to a book I read a few years ago ("Glennkill", featuring the same flock of sheep and a murder in a small Irish town). That one has been translated into English (under the name of "Three Bags Full") if anyone is interested to check it out.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Just finished rereading the Confederation of Valor series, and was delighted to learn that there's a sequel series I wasn't previously aware of. In addition to being solid military sci-fi, the books also have a lot more humor than I remembered.

Also got caught up on both the InCryptid series and the Ghost Roads series, both by Seanan McGuire. Good books all around, and I'll shout out Imaginary Numbers in particular for having a cliffhanger done extremely well. The plot of the book is completely wrapped up, so it's not denying you any satisfying conclusions to the story, just letting you know two extremely major consequences that will be driving the next book.

[warty goblin]

Finished Honeyed Words last night. The title reflects a genuine effort to have a theme that ties into the plot. I can say that this theme technically exists, and somehow constitutes part of the plot while also being almost entirely irrelevant to the characters. Except at the very end where said theme is mostly discarded to buff the party. I love it when things get all bungled up in fun ways like that.

As before, the best stuff has little to do with the swords and magic plot, although this was definitely an improvement over the last book, which had twists so obvious they were less twists and more well duh moments.


But the best reason to read these things remains the moments of unhinged horniness. And thankfully those remain in full effect. As before, the crowning moment of horniness occurs right at the end, and oh boy it's a good one. Again, spoilers below if you care.


So the elves in this series can use mirrors as doors/windows. One of the elves is a horny teenaged boy, who starts spying on the heroine in the shower, and also stealing her underwear.

That's nasty, but honestly a believable thing in the context of the story. But oh boy does the story stick the landing into total WTF territory. Said teenaged elf then gets psychically shredded by an astral tyrannosaurus, trying to protect the heroine's friends. This leaves him alive but rather vegetative.

She forgives him his panty-stealing ways, and, in an effort to give him a reason to come back, takes off her bra and drops it on his catatonic body. No, we don't know if this works. Yes, if it does work she will have saved somebody with the power of boobs and horniness. Yes, she is still totally 100% lesbian. Yes, this is framed as personal growth on the heroine's part.


Simply amazing.

[LaZodiac]

... I need to hear the explanation for why stuff like the above spoiler is considered good writing, because that just sounds miserable to sit through.

[Rynjin]

... I need to hear the explanation for why stuff like the above spoiler is considered good writing, because that just sounds miserable to sit through.

It sounds really fun to me, in a so-bad-it's-good way. There's something inherently entertaining about consuming the work of someone who tries REALLY HARD but is also REALLY BAD at accomplishing their goals. There's always such a genuine quality to works like that, which comes off as charming a lot of the time.

[warty goblin]

... I need to hear the explanation for why stuff like the above spoiler is considered good writing, because that just sounds miserable to sit through.

Rather the fun of it is that it isn't good. I don't generally enjoy "good" writing, particularly good writing with the proper and correct morals, because it tends to be predictable and rote. That's boring, I have a book stack that could swamp the Titanic, limited time to read, and very little patience for books where the most unexpected thing that happens is the protagonist learns self acceptance. Yawn, already read it sixteen times, I don't care.

The protagonist trying to horny the pervert elf back to life with a bra? That I have legitimately never seen before. It is awful and inexplicable and extremely dumb trashy fun and I am deeply curious about what bizarre things the author will do next.

The other end of the spectrum is also good. If the prose is excellent, the theme and plot challenging and worth thinking about, and the whole package is something I can really sink my intellectual teeth into, I'm happy as a pig digging for cottonwood roots in some nice fresh mud. But those books are rare, I've had an extremely hard month* and I'm not up for that level of sustained thought right now. So weird bad trash it is! Hallelujah!


* the short version involves my girlfriend going into cardiac arrest and essentially albeit temporarily dying in my arms, a week in the ICU, and a fairly miraculous complete recovery. To say that this has taken up some headspace and emotional bandwidth would be a bit of an understatement.

[LaZodiac]

It sounds really fun to me, in a so-bad-it's-good way. There's something inherently entertaining about consuming the work of someone who tries REALLY HARD but is also REALLY BAD at accomplishing their goals. There's always such a genuine quality to works like that, which comes off as charming a lot of the time.

Eh, fair. I've just always had a tough time enjoying stuff like that.

It's honestly made reading a lot of fiction recently difficult, which sucks.

I need to find books I can read that like, remind me why I enjoyed reading as a kid.

Rather the fun of it is that it isn't good. I don't generally enjoy "good" writing, particularly good writing with the proper and correct morals, because it tends to be predictable and rote. That's boring, I have a book stack that could swamp the Titanic, limited time to read, and very little patience for books where the most unexpected thing that happens is the protagonist learns self acceptance. Yawn, already read it sixteen times, I don't care.

The protagonist trying to horny the pervert elf back to life with a bra? That I have legitimately never seen before. It is awful and inexplicable and extremely dumb trashy fun and I am deeply curious about what bizarre things the author will do next.

The other end of the spectrum is also good. If the prose is excellent, the theme and plot challenging and worth thinking about, and the whole package is something I can really sink my intellectual teeth into, I'm happy as a pig digging for cottonwood roots in some nice fresh mud. But those books are rare, I've had an extremely hard month* and I'm not up for that level of sustained thought right now. So weird bad trash it is! Hallelujah!


* the short version involves my girlfriend going into cardiac arrest and essentially albeit temporarily dying in my arms, a week in the ICU, and a fairly miraculous complete recovery. To say that this has taken up some headspace and emotional bandwidth would be a bit of an understatement.

Fair, also sorry for making you explain stuff when you're kinda weighed down by stuff.

[Dragonus45]

Finished Honeyed Words last night. The title reflects a genuine effort to have a theme that ties into the plot. I can say that this theme technically exists, and somehow constitutes part of the plot while also being almost entirely irrelevant to the characters. Except at the very end where said theme is mostly discarded to buff the party. I love it when things get all bungled up in fun ways like that.

As before, the best stuff has little to do with the swords and magic plot, although this was definitely an improvement over the last book, which had twists so obvious they were less twists and more well duh moments.


But the best reason to read these things remains the moments of unhinged horniness. And thankfully those remain in full effect. As before, the crowning moment of horniness occurs right at the end, and oh boy it's a good one. Again, spoilers below if you care.


So the elves in this series can use mirrors as doors/windows. One of the elves is a horny teenaged boy, who starts spying on the heroine in the shower, and also stealing her underwear.

That's nasty, but honestly a believable thing in the context of the story. But oh boy does the story stick the landing into total WTF territory. Said teenaged elf then gets psychically shredded by an astral tyrannosaurus, trying to protect the heroine's friends. This leaves him alive but rather vegetative.

She forgives him his panty-stealing ways, and, in an effort to give him a reason to come back, takes off her bra and drops it on his catatonic body. No, we don't know if this works. Yes, if it does work she will have saved somebody with the power of boobs and horniness. Yes, she is still totally 100% lesbian. Yes, this is framed as personal growth on the heroine's part.


Simply amazing.

I. I. I. I am almost done with the first book and the ending feels like it is dragging forever and ever and ever but trash with that piquant rancid and aroma might have me using that audible credit after all.

As for the first book, the bit with the Astral Projection Dirty Dancing was hilarious.

Spoiler

Show

Actually having one of the guys stop the sexy times and say "hey I think this chick is drunker then she seems, look at her eyes", and then having that be the moment she snaps back from the astral projection and goes directly to throwing hands was a really strange choice but it makes sense when you realize the story actively didn't want to justify her getting violent right there and just flubbed the entire scene set up. I think. Trying to figure out the authors intentions there is difficult. The bit where the cop told her she need therapy though was the cherry on top and I think was actually meant to be as funny as I found it.

[warty goblin]

Eh, fair. I've just always had a tough time enjoying stuff like that.

It's honestly made reading a lot of fiction recently difficult, which sucks.

I need to find books I can read that like, remind me why I enjoyed reading as a kid.

That is a bummer. When I'm in that mood, I find either reading stuff that I read as a kid (or at least teenager) is a good place to start. Either that, or other books from around that time, or just slightly earlier. I find mid to late nineties fantasy to be a goldmine of stuff that tickles the nostalgia circuits, but is also such a huge corpus I can read lots of stuff I've never seen before.

Fair, also sorry for making you explain stuff when you're kinda weighed down by stuff.

No worries, if I hadn't been willing to explain I wouldn't have talked about it. I hope I didn't come off as hostile or anything, it certainly wasn't my intent.

I. I. I. I am almost done with the first book and the ending feels like it is dragging forever and ever and ever but trash with that piquant rancid and aroma might have me using that audible credit after all.

Yeah, that last fight scene draaags. Writing good action is really hard, particularly from the first person where authors are very hesitant to summarize or condense into "we fought for hours" or something like that. Book 2 does a bit better here fortunately, by more or less doing that and skipping the blow by blow.

As for the first book, the bit with the Astral Projection Dirty Dancing was hilarious.

That part was deeply, deeply strange. All the what.

[LaZodiac]

That is a bummer. When I'm in that mood, I find either reading stuff that I read as a kid (or at least teenager) is a good place to start. Either that, or other books from around that time, or just slightly earlier. I find mid to late nineties fantasy to be a goldmine of stuff that tickles the nostalgia circuits, but is also such a huge corpus I can read lots of stuff I've never seen before.


No worries, if I hadn't been willing to explain I wouldn't have talked about it. I hope I didn't come off as hostile or anything, it certainly wasn't my intent.

I'll think about it. The Death-gate Cycle collection can't be THAT expensive...

It didn't come off as hostile, just personal brain worms making me feel bad about asking what feels like a lot!

[LibraryOgre]

I can't imagine said horses are very thrilled about the inverse.

Usually they're just smugly amused at how clueless and awkward humans are about feelings and relationships.

The "horses", in this case, are not really horses; more like angels in horse form, psychically bonded with good people (Heralds) to help make the kingdom safe. IIRC, there's indication that they may reincarnate, or be reincarnated Heralds, but it's never confirmed (in the books; fully read the link, and Misty has said it, and that is WOG).

So, while the Companions might accidentally share their assignations with their partners, to the partner's consternation, it's likely that the Companions know about human <ahem> relations... and might be better able to block it out if they're tired of listening to horny teenagers be horny teenagers together.

[warty goblin]

I'll think about it. The Death-gate Cycle collection can't be THAT expensive...

Oooh Death Gate, a classic and classy choice! I like the way you think. The mass market paperbacks are $8 a pop on Margaret Weis' website. She signs everything with whatever you want. I got the latest DragonLance book from there, signed with "Not Haplo's Diary." Hey, if you're going to nerd out, nerd out like you mean it.

Alternatively used copies seem to be going for like $4. But that's not nearly as fun as signed copies.

Damn, now I want to replace my used copies with signed versions. No! Bad goblin! No buying books you already own!

It didn't come off as hostile, just personal brain worms making me feel bad about asking what feels like a lot!

Glad I didn't come off hostile, and don't feel bad! I'm always happy to talk about my (deeply deeply questionable) taste(?) in books. Defend, no, talk about yes. And you definitely did not come off in a way that made me feel defensive.

[LaZodiac]

Oooh Death Gate, a classic and classy choice! I like the way you think. The mass market paperbacks are $8 a pop on Margaret Weis' website. She signs everything with whatever you want. I got the latest DragonLance book from there, signed with "Not Haplo's Diary." Hey, if you're going to nerd out, nerd out like you mean it.

Alternatively used copies seem to be going for like $4. But that's not nearly as fun as signed copies.

Damn, now I want to replace my used copies with signed versions. No! Bad goblin! No buying books you already own!



Glad I didn't come off hostile, and don't feel bad! I'm always happy to talk about my (deeply deeply questionable) taste(?) in books. Defend, no, talk about yes. And you definitely did not come off in a way that made me feel defensive.

Oh hey someone who actually knows the Death Gate cycle! It's usually met with "huh?" and not much else when I bring it up. That's... quite useful a link thank you for that, I think I'll do that.

But what to have her sign... I'm an author myself, but I don't want to get to presumptuous.

And I'm glad for that. Sometimes I'll come in with a "hey what's to like about this?" and people will string me up and jab at the tender parts and go "cretin! Fool! She doesn't like the medias! She hates it and thinks it is bad!" with various degrees of hissing and the such, when all I'm asking is "hey I don't understand what is enjoyable about this, even though by all accounts this is something I should like, what has gone wrong?"

[Bohandas]

I started reading Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin, but I may not finish it. I'm past the part about the githyanki and that's the part I was reading it for.

The Stone City was really engaging on the other hand

[warty goblin]

Oh hey someone who actually knows the Death Gate cycle! It's usually met with "huh?" and not much else when I bring it up. That's... quite useful a link thank you for that, I think I'll do that.

Death Gate is my jam, and I'd happily argue one of the pinnacles of 90s fantasy. It's also deeply and fantastically weird. Like, I can't think of another series where the protagonists are bit characters for the entire first novel, major portions of several novels are epistolary, and just the scope of the thing. It's genuinely huge in a way that few fantasy series even then tried, and I can't think of hardly any now that even come close. Yet, for all that, it's a surprisingly effective character piece, and the protagonists are extremely unusual for fantasy heroes. Alfred in particular just should not work, but he's completely marvelous.

But what to have her sign... I'm an author myself, but I don't want to get to presumptuous.

Ooh, I didn't know that. What do you write, if you don't mind sharing?

And I'm glad for that. Sometimes I'll come in with a "hey what's to like about this?" and people will string me up and jab at the tender parts and go "cretin! Fool! She doesn't like the medias! She hates it and thinks it is bad!" with various degrees of hissing and the such, when all I'm asking is "hey I don't understand what is enjoyable about this, even though by all accounts this is something I should like, what has gone wrong?"

Tone is tricky online. I try to assume people aren't being aggressive on purpose unless it's extremely obvious they're having a go at me, but that's just me. People also get really weird about other people not liking Their Thing, which I kinda get, but also, like, there's a ton of books and a ton of people, and they aren't all going to agree. Most of my favorite stuff is weird and niche and I totally get most people are going to be puzzled, confused or just plain turned off by it.

I started reading Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin, but I may not finish it. I'm past the part about the githyanki and that's the part I was reading it for.

The Stone City was really engaging on the other hand

Dying of the Light is a favorite of mine, just an excellent work all around. Don't read if you aren't feeling like some bleak stuff though, this is 1970s Martin, and nobody does absolutely crushing existential misery like 1970s Martin.

(It isn't peak 1970s Martin though, that's Meathouse Man, the single most repulsive story I have ever read. It's an excellent piece, but it is dark and ugly and repellent. Know how most books have themes of the triumph of the human spirit? Meathouse Man is about the utter failure of the human spirit, told using the most skincrawling plot device you could imagine.)

[Rynjin]

Oh hey someone who actually knows the Death Gate cycle! It's usually met with "huh?" and not much else when I bring it up. That's... quite useful a link thank you for that, I think I'll do that.

My teenage self had a long-lasting rune magic obsession due to that series. Good read.

[LaZodiac]

Death Gate is my jam, and I'd happily argue one of the pinnacles of 90s fantasy. It's also deeply and fantastically weird. Like, I can't think of another series where the protagonists are bit characters for the entire first novel, major portions of several novels are epistolary, and just the scope of the thing. It's genuinely huge in a way that few fantasy series even then tried, and I can't think of hardly any now that even come close. Yet, for all that, it's a surprisingly effective character piece, and the protagonists are extremely unusual for fantasy heroes. Alfred in particular just should not work, but he's completely marvelous.

Ooh, I didn't know that. What do you write, if you don't mind sharing?

Tone is tricky online. I try to assume people aren't being aggressive on purpose unless it's extremely obvious they're having a go at me, but that's just me. People also get really weird about other people not liking Their Thing, which I kinda get, but also, like, there's a ton of books and a ton of people, and they aren't all going to agree. Most of my favorite stuff is weird and niche and I totally get most people are going to be puzzled, confused or just plain turned off by it.

It's been awhile so I don't really remember much of the books, but you've captured the general vibe of it excellently. I especially remember being fond of Hugh the Hand. Poor semi-zombie assassin cursed to be unable to kill anyone... quite fun. Also the second time I've ever seen a piece of media just straight up have The Wizard Who Did It as a character.

I'd love to share it, but I'm not allowed to link to my published novel here by forum rules. Mystic Muse posted it earlier in this thread though, it's Cursed World: Initial Sparks. Modern Fantasy story with a queer lens about a teenage girl who has to juggle her personal life, romantic prospects, the realization that the supernatural exists, and her own pyromancy. It's got excellent fight scenes, character work, and a little undercurrent of horror. Quoting someone else's perfect compliment; "it feels like the babysitter's club mixed with Stephan King".

Oh but I can link Mist and Fire, a serial I'm posting on Royal Road (and tumblr, where all of the current chapters are up. RR's updating once a week every Friday). It's a western of sorts in my setting, about a wandering gunslinger, a trans fire-dancer, and a hunt for "the man with a smile in his eyes".

I really do wish people would not immediately jump to hostility! Because trust me, if I'm asking why someone likes something, there's a good chance it is because I think I should like it on the face of it, and it's not clicking, and it's giving me severe anxiety. Putting a knife to my throat and saying "you're awful for saying this" isn't going to help much at all!

My teenage self had a long-lasting rune magic obsession due to that series. Good read.

Same honestly. I wonder how much of it shows...

[halfeye]

I don't read many books these days, though I am reading a lot of webserials, some of which may eventually be published.

I read all the library had of Biggles by the age of about twelve, which was about 80 books (I remember almost nothing from them except that there was a rediscovery of the dodo which hadn't actually become extinct), from there went into the author's sci-fi (which wasn't good sci-fi), and from that into sci-fi in general.

[Melayl]

The "horses", in this case, are not really horses; more like angels in horse form, psychically bonded with good people (Heralds) to help make the kingdom safe. IIRC, there's indication that they may reincarnate, or be reincarnated Heralds, but it's never confirmed (in the books; fully read the link, and Misty has said it, and that is WOG).

So, while the Companions might accidentally share their assignations with their partners, to the partner's consternation, it's likely that the Companions know about human <ahem> relations... and might be better able to block it out if they're tired of listening to horny teenagers be horny teenagers together.

It is confirmed in the books. Companions can/do get reincarnated as Heralds and vice verse. I know the end of the Mage Winds trilogy has a scene about it, and I'm positive the Companion Sayville and the Herald Saville are the same soul.

[LibraryOgre]

It is confirmed in the books. Companions can/do get reincarnated as Heralds and vice verse. I know the end of the Mage Winds trilogy has a scene about it, and I'm positive the Companion Sayville and the Herald Saville are the same soul.

Been FOREVER since I read the Mage Winds trilogy; thanks.

[Eldan]

Since Christmas, I've very slowly made my way through three extremely okay books. All so okay that they aren't even worth talking about. I'm also reading Thomas Ligotti's short stories. I'm not yet sure I like them, but they are at least interesting.

I really, really need a good book right now.

[warty goblin]

It's been awhile so I don't really remember much of the books, but you've captured the general vibe of it excellently. I especially remember being fond of Hugh the Hand. Poor semi-zombie assassin cursed to be unable to kill anyone... quite fun. Also the second time I've ever seen a piece of media just straight up have The Wizard Who Did It as a character.

Also that. And I really loved how odd the ending was. It's basically like reverse Superman.

I'd love to share it, but I'm not allowed to link to my published novel here by forum rules. Mystic Muse posted it earlier in this thread though, it's Cursed World: Initial Sparks. Modern Fantasy story with a queer lens about a teenage girl who has to juggle her personal life, romantic prospects, the realization that the supernatural exists, and her own pyromancy. It's got excellent fight scenes, character work, and a little undercurrent of horror. Quoting someone else's perfect compliment; "it feels like the babysitter's club mixed with Stephan King".

That was enough to find it, thanks! Added to the list. Will be a while, I bought vastly too many books last month, so I think March is gonna be another no book buying period. Some people have dry Januaries, I have no bookshop months. Mostly so I can pretend to catch up on reading. But I'll definitely read it and let you know what I think (if you want me to talk about it here that is. If not, I won't.)

I really do wish people would not immediately jump to hostility! Because trust me, if I'm asking why someone likes something, there's a good chance it is because I think I should like it on the face of it, and it's not clicking, and it's giving me severe anxiety. Putting a knife to my throat and saying "you're awful for saying this" isn't going to help much at all!
..

I certainly don't mean to give anybody anxiety, so please don't read my posts as a commandment to agree with my takes on anything. Honestly I'm surprised when anybody is interested in my take on any book, as I'm pretty used to my tastes being very niche and basically ignored by everybody. Certainly nobody I know IRL reads any of the stuff that I do.

Which sounds sort of sad, but is sort of a great thing about books. There's so many, and they are so diverse that nobody is pigeon-holed into reading the same stuff. It isn't like movies or something, where there's a relatively small number total, and an even smaller number that attract all the attention. There's just books and books and books for miles, so with a bit of looking there's probably something for pretty much everybody. And if not, they can write one!

(Yeah sure there's popular books, and books that suck up a lot of press. But why would I care? I haven't seriously paid attention to book reviews in years, if ever, and I'm hip deep in stuff I want to read. Reading stuff that reviewed well, or was reviewed at all, would be a really bad filter for me because it would just miss so many things that have brought me so much joy. Generally much more joy than the stuff that everybody talks about for like two weeks and then forgets about.)

[Tarmor]

I've just recently finished reading through everything I have by Barbara Hambly. This was twenty books - three of which I hadn't read before. I most enjoyed the 'Windrose Chronicles' (3 books + 1) and the 'Winterlands' series - the latter where I'd only previously read the first book and had been waiting to collect the other 3. Most of these, (Darwath 3+1) I last read so long ago that I'd forgotten nearly everything that happened. These were all a delight to read - great stories, distinctly interesting characters.

I'm now nearly three-quarters of the way through "Mistress of Dragons" by Margaret Weis. (Book 1 of the Dragonvarld trilogy) I'm not finding this particularly inspiring. I got all three at a second-hand book fair at the end of last year, and after I finish them I might give them back for this years fair. I have a large collection of Dragonlance books and other Weis &/or Hickman series - I don't remember any of those being this... disappointing. I'm not entirely sure what bothers me - the basic plot/story is interesting, but I think I just don't care for any of the characters. It may also be a lackluster writing style. It's not bad enough that I don't want to finish it... but I really hope the next two books are better.

There was a mention of the DeathGate Cycle (I think earlier in this thread). I read that once before (borrowed from library) and I'd really like to read that again. I think I have to go for something like 'Rose of the Prophet' next and hope that hasn't lost the impact it had on me the first time I read it 2 decades ago.