Top 10 Fantasy Books of ALL Time (THE Definitive List)

My updated Top 10 Fantasy Books of ALL Time and since I've read ALL the books of ALL time, you know there's nothing left off this list whatsoever even though it's 10 books total. Just to be clear...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMkIRnlSYF4

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Mid Year Freakout Tag - I Answer a Bunch of Questions Book-related

I'm a booktuber now, so I do booktuber tags...even when no one tags me! Here I answer a bunch of questions a bunch of people have already answered. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuY7xjzIAig&t=21s

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Centering the Shelf - Weekly Update: Deals, Anticipated Books and Releases, Movie/TV, Channel Update

I like doing these updates to continue to take a look at how things are going and how I can improve and to keep a conversation going.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZZiaq0T-bA&t=129s

So...I was messing around making faces at the calendar and this was just looked funny to me and I kept it. Excuse my cheesiness. Please like, subscribe, maybe even watch, you do you!

Why Read Malazan Book of the Fallen - Youtube

Because I haven't milked this topic enough either here or elsewhere, here's a video version of my attempts at conversion ... I mean suggestion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSLAQoYMo0w&t=16s

Please like and subscribe to the channel. I'm telling ya, it's way too positive, I need some snark. Do people still say snark these days?

Review - Stonewielder by Ian Cameron Esslemont (Malazan Empire #3)

Stonewielder (Novels of the Malazan Empire) was probably my least favorite of Esslemont's books and Esslemont's are generally lower on the totem pole than Erikson's main Malazan series, so I guess what I'm saying is this might make for my least favorite Malazan book. Luckily for this book, the Malazan series is arguably my all-time favorite series so this book still rates higher than almost all books ever.

There's a lot going on, as usual here, and Esslemont doesn't seem to be able to handle it as well as Erikson does. I like him when he's got more of a straight-forward story and a focus on characters. However, my position has always been that without Erikson, I think we would be praising Esslemont just about as highly as we do Erikson for what this series accomplishes, even here at its worst. 

I'll let you read the blurb, which is easy enough to find, but one of the things that stood out to me and, even though the comparisons with Erikson are inevitable, really made me start comparing the two, was there is a whole Chain of Dogs type campaign (see Deadhouse Gates) in this book that was adequately done, just not as brilliant as in Deadhouse. I mean, it was hard to read in the sense that I personally felt the privations, and I think that's brilliant writing to be able to pull off, but it's a shame to always have the comparison.

In the end, I think this series is in great hands with Esslemont as long as I keep in mind how utterly brilliant Erikson is when he's at the helm and that no one in the world really had a chance to keep up. This review sounds like a railing against ICE, but I swear I'm trying to defend him. ICE has got the chops for this series that is more vast than anything I've ever read.

4 out of 5 Stars (maybe 2 out of 5 compared to the Malazan series, but not compared to other books I'm not hopelessly in love with)

Review - Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen #3) by Steven Erikson

Memories of Ice (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 3)

This is one of those books I leave and I'm just emotionally drained and devastated, yet I consider this one of the best books ever to be written. On reread, it's even more impactful because I actually understand what's going on. It's actually quite funny thinking how much I had no clue about. There are so many instances on the reread that you know exactly who that vaguely-mentioned character is now that you've had as much experience with Erikson as I now have. *brushes off shoulder*

There's always talk about the books that are shades of gray when it comes to right and wrong and Malazan is at the top of that list for me. It's so human, so real. For instance, you have Anomander Rake, leader of the Tiste Andii, super-powered ascendant who's been fighting against the Malazans for years along side one of his only real friends, Caladan Brood. Yet, he acknowledges the Malazans have actually been good for the cities they've conquered. Former dungheeps have become thriving metropolitan areas. 

How much more could we use people who can acknowledge their own failings. There's another good example I have quote below with Lanas Tog.

There's a great quote I saw on r/fantasy on reddit:

"the most unrealistic part of fantasy books is when 18-year-old boys spend five books insisting they're not the chosen one instead of immediately saying "yeah that sounds right." Johnny McNulty

Kallor is one of these.

Holy cow, Memories of Ice is so good, but spoilers from here on out:

I think I realized why I like Gardens of the Moon so much while I was reading MoI and it's because it has so much Whiskeyjack and there are only two books that really feature him to any degree more than a passing mention, this and GotM. And you really get to know what a great guy he is in this book. He's a powerful leader, amazing swordsman apparently (could spar with Dassem Ultor and give him a hard time for a while), compassionate with Silverfox and the "little guy," and clearly a great lover too (eh Korlat...). 

Then there's Gruntle, the last person who would ever want to have anything to do with the gods getting "appointed" mortal sword. Oh and you really get to know Ganoes Paran and Quick Ben, and just the whole Bridgeburner thing. There's so much greatness to this book and a lot of that is probably because of the sheer depravity of the Pannion Domin; the Tenescowri.

And don't get me started on Itkovian and the Grey Swords. Tragedy after tragedy in this book.

Now, to add to this ridiculously jumbled review, it's quote time, from my own book and some cut and pasted from this site:

Lanas Tog (talking about Onos T'oolan's disagreement with going through the ritual):
"Hate him? No. Of course I disagreed. We all did, and so he acquiesced. It is a common belief."
Lady Envy waited, then crossed her arms and asked, "What is?"
"That truth is proved by weight of numbers. That what the many believe to be right, must be so. When I see Onos T'oolan once more, I will tell him: he was the one who was right."

“Kallor shrugged. '[...] I have walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?'

'Yes,' [said Caladan Brood.] 'You never learn.” 
― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

“I'll not deny I am impressed by your mastery of six warrens, Quick Ben. In retrospect, you should have held back on at least half of what you command." The man made to rise.
"But, Bauchelain," the wizard replied, "I did.” 
― Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice

5 out of 5 Stars (First in, last out)

Article: Why You Should Read Malazan

Review (really just musings) - Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen #2) by Steven Erikson

I missed so much my first time through Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson. So. Much. I always liked this book very much but it was never my favorite like I know it is for a lot of people. With my experienced Malazan eyes, this has jumped right to the top. 

One of my issues with Deadhouse, I've come to realize, is that the desert setting really got to me. The writing so clearly puts you in the desert, under these terrible conditions, that I think I was physically affected when I first read through this.

Coltaine, Mappo and Icarium, Iskaral Pust, Fiddler and Kalum, Heboric and Felisin (and the whole thing with Baudin made so much more sense!), Duiker and the chain of dogs. This was so good and so much planted for the rest of the series. 

Take Mappo and Icarium alone. This is why I love fantasy. It lets you explore philosophy like regular life doesn’t allow. What do you do when your best friend, who’s as kind as can be, commits (and has the ability to commit) genocide when he hulks out of his mind? Keep him confused? Deliver him to a higher power that will imprison him for his entire immortal life? If that power can even hold him...

Brilliant, and I haven’t even gotten to the tragedies that are rife in this book. I think they were too hard to take on my first read so it made this a book that was good but not the best but now to see how Erikson managed this magic without the visceral initial shock was pure magic. 

This series is simply the best out there. Yep I said it. 

5 out of 5 Stars

Related: Why You Should Read Malazan