The amount of Dune in this book is unbelievable. When I read about chanv, an appearance-altering drug that extends life, sharpens the mind, changes the appearance of the user, and has an obscure source that few people understand, I smirked a bit. Well played, R. Scott Bakker.
Conphas and the consort. Conphas and Cnaiür. Conphas being spanked by Cnaiür. Conphas and has family. Conphas Conphas Conphas. He's a delight ever time he's in-scene.
Conphas considering killing the Emperor in his own great hall right after he returns from war was pretty great too.
I finally got through the first book. I really enjoyed it. Those characters all drifting together in this weird web engulfing itself.
This was my third attempt at reading it. Twice before I'd confused myself with all the names and ever changing protagonists by the time I'd got into the emperor's chapter.
But my head is much clearer now and my reading skills are up on where I was on those previous attempts.
Yeah that is one thing this book does that Dune did as well where it just starts using words as if you should already know what they are. Kinda off putting at first but then you start absorbing their meaning in context. It always sorta bothered me when authors would just start explaining shit all the time. Clockwork Orange the first two chapters you're not even sure what you read, but then it starts to make more sense. Coincidentally Alex also stops using Nadsat more and more as the book progresses.
So on the books I have there is a face on each of the covers.
On book 1 I took the picture to be Maithanet. He looks out at Achamian, blue eyes recognising the mark of the few. For me that's the face. But maybe it's Kellhus with darker hair. I mean he's the Prince of Nothing after all...
What about the other books? The guy on the Warrior Prophet isn't doing anything for me right now but maybe it will later.
The latest book has a very good "what came before" section. It's just long and detailed enough to trigger my memory of everything that happened leading up to the current moment.
Bonus points: the actual book begins seconds after the end of the last one.
I think I might just listen to the last few chapters of the previous audiobook before taking the plunge into this one.
I was actually surprised at how well the specifics of those moments were recalled as I read the "what came before." I get the impression he spent a lot of time on that part. It all came flooding back to me in surprising detail.
I think I might just listen to the last few chapters of the previous audiobook before taking the plunge into this one.
I was actually surprised at how well the specifics of those moments were recalled as I read the "what came before." I get the impression he spent a lot of time on that part. It all came flooding back to me in surprising detail.
Now I'm disappointed. I checked my Audible library and it turns out I must have read the first two aspect emperor books as dead tree versions. But because last year I reread the first trilogy by listening to the audiobooks, audio and was the freshest thing in my mind, and I remember listening to books I obviously didn't listen to.
How do you like audible? I only ask because last I tried them I was in college and immediately grew frustrated that they didn't give me the ability to save the audiobooks I'd legally purchased as a .mp3. At the time I had a dedicated .mp3 player, as my phone at the time wasn't up to the task of being an mp3 player, was the early days of smart phones.
Quick read time for an audiobook, sorta diminishes the argument that an audiobook is necessarily slower than a dead tree.
Audible is really good. I'm very happy with the service, and the app is pretty decent. If you don't like a book you can ask for your credit back and try another instead. It's cheaper than buying audiobooks individually, and works out cheaper than ebooks or paper books for new releases.
Comments
Don't worry. Conphas gets even...better.
He's a delight ever time he's in-scene.
This was my third attempt at reading it. Twice before I'd confused myself with all the names and ever changing protagonists by the time I'd got into the emperor's chapter.
But my head is much clearer now and my reading skills are up on where I was on those previous attempts.
On book 1 I took the picture to be Maithanet. He looks out at Achamian, blue eyes recognising the mark of the few. For me that's the face. But maybe it's Kellhus with darker hair. I mean he's the Prince of Nothing after all...
What about the other books? The guy on the Warrior Prophet isn't doing anything for me right now but maybe it will later.
Bonus points: the actual book begins seconds after the end of the last one.
Then it picks up another scene, also seconds after the thing happened.
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Deliver in September? So because I live in Germany, it's just a big fuck you?
Le sigh.
It's a laser cannon, right? Tell me I've been right all along.
Quick read time for an audiobook, sorta diminishes the argument that an audiobook is necessarily slower than a dead tree.