The First Law is probably one of my new favorites but The Hobbit and LOTR hold a special place for me. My great grandfather used to read them to me as a kid. Still have the original prints as well as I inherited them when he passed. Knowing how much they are worth I will probably never sell them.
🤣 15:13 "I know this sounds like I'm saying that she's better than Joe Abercrombie, so she should be my number one, but, I'm sorry, First Law's still number one." I totally get it. As a reader, the heart gets the final vote.
Completely agree with you on the First law trilogy,I remember reading the first one when it came out and fell in love with it straight away. I sometimes find it hard to read other fantasy novels as I keep comparing them to Abercrombie.
I just started watching your recaps of Wheel of Time and Rings of Power or whatever that show is called. I love your snarky humor on those. Refreshing to see and hear the real you.
This is a fantastic list and includes a couple I really need to check out! Have you ever read any Ursula Le Guin? She's my favourite author and I have a feeling you might enjoy her work. The reason I bring her up is what you said when talking about The Wolf about having studied anthropology and valuing stories with an anthropological bent. Le Guin was the daughter of an anthropologist and that really comes through in her style of storytelling. The most obvious place to start for a fantasy fan would be A Wizard of Earthsea, which is told in much the same "mythic" style as LOTR (but I actually prefer it to LOTR). But she also wrote a lot of sci-fi, her most famous being The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, both of which would make great introductions to her work if the description appeals to you. Le Guin is also one of the best writers on a prose level that I've ever read, if that helps to sell you!
I love the way you talk about Broken Earth. Gives me a whole new perspective on the book. I’m usually too busy following the plot to the conclusion and don’t stop to think about those aspects. 😅
Love this video, and the recommendations and reasons. Your love of Abercrombie got me to pick up First Law. I also grabbed The Wolf. As far as Broken Earth goes, Jemisin is a great writer and world builder, but in that trilogy I feel that her plotting is very weak. The overarching story moves at a glacially painful pace.
I'm new to the fantasy genre. I really enjoyed your comments. I have read The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle), Song of Ice and Fire and the Broken Earth. I'm going to start reading Assassin's Apprentice (The Realm of the Elderlings). Thanks to you I will read The First Law and The Gentleman Bastards. I am very happy that you liked The Broken Earth trilogy as much as I did. I also agree that this trilogy is more fantasy than sciencie fiction (it has a little of it but the trilogy fits better in the fantasy genre). Great job!
I found the first two books of under the northern sky on sale and remembered I watched a video of yours praising them, so I grabbed them. Just looking for a good deal on the last book now, it sounds interesting and a bit different.
Oooo I studied sociology in university and while I know that’s different than anthropology, I feel like they do have some general similarities. I’ve added The Wolf to my list!!
One series I would definitely have added is Inda by Sherwoord Smith. Rough start due to the naming conventions, but so so rewarding if one keeps going for some chapters and can accept that the names will be easier with time. Oh, also Rigante series by David Gemmel is awesome too.
I can speak passionately about most of my favorite series and pinpoint exactly why they worked for me. However, I've always struggled to put into word exactly why I loved Kingkiller so much. Whenever anyone asks, I'm just going to send them here haha. Very well said. I've read everything you mentioned except for Blackwing, the Wolf (I also love anthropology), and Six of Crows. The rest are totally on my top lists as well, so I'll totally be checking out what I haven't read yet. I already had Wolf on my list from your channel, but didn't care for Grisha, so had completely disregarded Six of Crows. Also - Abercrombie: "hold my beer" lmao
Great list, thanks for sharing! Completely agree on the Broken Earth, I would love to see hardcover or special editions for these books, they are incredible. I definitely want to try the Wolf and I'm currently in the middle of the Blade Itself and loving the humor, the writing and the characters!
I can’t wait to hear how you feel about the conclusion to the Under the Northern Sky series. I read The Cuckoo as soon as it came out (this week!) and I’m still struggling with the fate of the Anakim. For some reason I absolutely fell in love with the thought of a race and culture like theirs. So interesting, unique and engaging characterization. I really wish that the series were longer although, given the plot, three books probably make sense. Subscribing to your channel was prompted by your focus and enthusiasm for this series for which I thank you. Onwards!
@@LienesLibrary how much time did take u for blacklist it after the checkout? That author has a well deserved reputation of misogynistic world building.
If you want the recommendation of an older person I will give it: The Lyonesse trilogy from Jack Vance. Then the Deryini cycle of Katherine Kurtz. The Avaryan Rising books by Judith Tarr. Elvenblood and Elvenbane by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey. The Stonedance of the Chameleon by Ricardo Pinto. The Wizards War by Elizabeth H. Boyer.
Hi Liene, That's so cool you studied anthropology! I have a medical science degree from Australia but specialised in anthropological anatomy. I relatively recently discovered your channel, and basically have the exact same taste in books as you. We obviously have similar study areas too! This makes me think I should definitely give the wolf a try :)
Great List. I've only read two things on there. I was a little annoyed at not including Gaiman, but then I kind of loved the idea of speculative fiction having their own List. (But I am a weirdo who likes lists.) I haven't done a deep dive of your videos yet (it's coming), so I don't know all that you've read. I did just move The Wolf up on my TBR because I like anthropological points of view, so I am interested in that. I don't know if you have read any Ursula K Le Guin (Lack of deep dive showing) but her parents were anthropologists and a lot of her themes and ideas clearly stem from that. The left hand of darkness would be a good example. I do have both the broken earth trilogy and the First Law trilogy, but I haven't yet. Broken earth sounds more like my thing, but we will see. Thanks for Sharing.
Love this video and your amazing channel and thank you for adding to my tbr list please stay safe and enjoy your reading 📖 love your family friend John xxxx
I own the whole first law trilogy and haven’t picked them up yet! Why!! I’ve been in a fantasy slump and have been reading almost everything except fantasy for 6 months now and I’m sad… it’s usually my favorite genre 😫 helllpppp
@@LienesLibrary uhhhhmmmmm maybe in august? I do own the first book but don’t really know what the series is even about every time I watch a video about it I’m confused 🤣🤣
I swear I must be missing something with The Name of the Wind. I found the prose...fine? Nothing to complain about for sure and, granted, better than most modern fantasy. I guess I'm coming from a place of enjoying the prose of Great Gatsby or Tolkien and I just didn't find his use of language as creative and evocative as I was hoping it would be. I'm sure it's just me missing something as mine is not the majority opinion by a long shot... I'm looking forward to reading all of the rest of these! I have a lot of Fantasy to catch up on...
I am so curious about Ed McDonald's books. I checked the preview of Blackwing and Daughter of Redwinter and enjoyed them so I pre-ordered the paperback of the later and I will start there. I never heard of it before a video on your channel ahah I only haven't read 2 of the series on the list and I like the ones I've read, except Name of the Wind😆 so, good list.
Solid list, excellently argued. The absence of Sanderson, Jordan et al. warms my literary heart. I would drop Rothfus or Martin to make place for "The Book of the New Sun," but that's just me.
@@LienesLibrary Sure, it can easily go on a top SF list, but since it's a science fantasy that, for the first time reader, reads more like fantasy than SF, it's at home on both of those lists (if we ignore Urth, which I think we should). I'm probably just sad most booktubers don't talk about it at all. BTW, I recently discovered your channel, binged the rants, the lists, the Abercrombie worship and was thoroughly entertained throughout. You should have at least 10 times more subscribers and if anyone asks me for a booktube recommendation (which probably nobody will), I'll forcefully steer them your way with painsticks.
@@StanjeBrojila oh wow haha thank you so much! And hopefully I’ll get around to finishing the last book in TBotNS soon and post a video about it so at least there will be one more for ya 🧡
Yes… except… Blackwing was too much “telling” and not enough “showing.” I felt it had so much potential but it was so rushed. I’ll never understand the love for Farseer? I personally thought it was boring. I managed to get half way through and gave up. The Northern Sky is epic! As someone with an anthro minor, I loved it for the reasons you gave and much more! Don’t get me started… Have you read Theft of Sword? That’s on my TBR after my current trilogy.
I've read Theft of Swords, and the whole of Riyria Revelations and it wasn't staggering to begin with and got progressively worse 🙁 however I've heard excellent things about the prequel series, Age of Legends
She already started reading it a while ago, and stopped because of a rape scene in the seventh book. She then proceeded to make one of the most irresponsible, shameful hit-piece videos I've ever seen. She got a lot of flak for it, and it is now unlisted. The fact that she loved your comment is mind-boggling. She also deletes comments she doesn't like, so you may never see this.
What is your take on stormlight? I stopped reading in the middle of oathbringer, tried several times to start reading it again and now i kinda gave it up.. would love to hear your thoughts on this series!
Liene has only read Way of Kings. She didn't like it enough to continue on. It is my favorite fantasy series! I understand though why people might not like Oathbringer.
It's odd to me that you included LOTR with it's interminably slow plotting, vanilla dialogue, voluminous info dumps and lengthy exposition. These are things you rempeately trash other writers for but you give Tolkien a pass. Just hard getting a handle on what your standards are. Still, entertaining video and commentary.
I have a somewhat unpopular opinion (please don't crucify me UA-cam) in thinking the language in The Lord of the Rings is beautiful, far more even than Rothfuss's writing for me (which I thought was very bourgeois discursive). Unlike Rothfuss, Tolkien's syntax is compact, declarative and unafraid of inversion ("Great was the triumph of Morgoth" etc.). You can see him switch between linguistic styles between areas of Middle-earth, like in the Anglo-Saxon Rohan, the Medieval Gondor, or the bourgeois pre-Industrial Hobbiton. He has a very satisfying balance of iambic and trochaic pulses that run through his paragraphs, and they can distill into compact phrases of surprising resonance and power, like "grief is a hone to a hard mind" from the Children of Hurin - the rhythm (two dactyls and a spondee) give it the air of a Homeric hexameter. I didn't really feel that Rothfuss played around with language in the same way that Tolkien did, the Kingkiller Chronicles feels like it was written for a twenty-first century audience and nothing more; a far more calculated blandness of tone made to appeal to a wider readership. I felt Tolkien properly evoked another world more resonantly than Rothfuss because his language was different enough from the modern day that it made me *feel* I was entering another world. My opinion was that Rothfuss, whilst obviously a skilled writer, was trying to be too cosy. Still, this was a really lovely video. You always completely make my day whenever you upload, thank you for your awesome list!
I do understand what you mean, however, I don't think Rothfuss set out to write in a style similar to Tolkien, it is a different project and, as such, in my opinion, should be weighed by different metrics - I think it's inherently unfair to criticize a book for failing to do something that its author was not attempting to do
@@LienesLibrary Thank you! And yes I agree he wasn't trying to do the same thing as Tolkien as all (and people who try to do Tolkien usually fail, so I'm glad he didn't). I only meant to compare the language rather than the books themselves, I could (and maybe should?) have compared Rothfuss to another writer whose prose I love (Proust, Dickens, Burgess, Wodehouse etc.) because clearly I'm missing something regarding his "beautiful writing". I am so sorry for the lateness of my reply, I officially suck.
The Broken Earth trilogy (and all her books before her current duology) has no hardback, ugly covers and no special editions. Like it's just L after L as a Nora stan!!!
LotR the one who started all? If by all you mean comercial american fantasy... There are many examples of previous fantasy, but seems that almost all booktubers dislike it. Wow, under northern skin looks. Wonderful. But what is doing in this list? Thats ucrony, not fantasy. 27:04 so much diversity, and no religious diversity? I loved it in Hyperion cantos. Speaking of 6 of crows, hearing rumours of the adaptation, why you think modern adaptations like so much to introduce stupid things? Maybe for marketing for get comments speaking bad about it? Nice to see that everyone seems to love Locke Lamora, Robin Hobb and 6 crows.
I'm with you on Gentlemen Bastards. Great to see it so high on your list. I've had a strange journey through First Law though. I think the first trilogy and BSC are overrated. The characters are great but the world-building and plot are fairly weak, at least for me. But then I really enjoyed "The Heroes" and "Red Country" and am looking forward to the Age of Madness series. I'm glad I stuck with Abercrombie. His writing style may just be an "acquired taste" for some of us.
The way you described the Broken Earth trilogy made it sound like the Dark Souls of books and so I have now purchased the entire trilogy 😅
Ah... Broken Earth is nowhere near Dark Souls in quality, intrigue or anything lol hope you enjoyed it though. I DNF'd it.
Raven’s Mark is more Dark Souls vibes (well, Bloodborne, really)
The First Law is probably one of my new favorites but The Hobbit and LOTR hold a special place for me. My great grandfather used to read them to me as a kid. Still have the original prints as well as I inherited them when he passed. Knowing how much they are worth I will probably never sell them.
I love when people talk about growing up with LOTR and The Hobbit, it always warms my heart 🧡
🤣 15:13 "I know this sounds like I'm saying that she's better than Joe Abercrombie, so she should be my number one, but, I'm sorry, First Law's still number one."
I totally get it. As a reader, the heart gets the final vote.
yes, exactly! as much as we try to explain and quantify our ratings, in the end, we just like what we like
Completely agree with you on the First law trilogy,I remember reading the first one when it came out and fell in love with it straight away. I sometimes find it hard to read other fantasy novels as I keep comparing them to Abercrombie.
yeah, once you read abercrombie you're ruined for all others
I just started watching your recaps of Wheel of Time and Rings of Power or whatever that show is called. I love your snarky humor on those.
Refreshing to see and hear the real you.
I'm on this channel because of your witty TROP reviews. Thanks for that, I had a great time watching every video.
All time best lists are my favorites. It felt good that I guessed a few of these on your list. This is a great resource for anyone new to fantasy.
anyone who knows me could have probably guess all of these 😂 I'm nothing if not consistent
This is a fantastic list and includes a couple I really need to check out! Have you ever read any Ursula Le Guin? She's my favourite author and I have a feeling you might enjoy her work. The reason I bring her up is what you said when talking about The Wolf about having studied anthropology and valuing stories with an anthropological bent. Le Guin was the daughter of an anthropologist and that really comes through in her style of storytelling.
The most obvious place to start for a fantasy fan would be A Wizard of Earthsea, which is told in much the same "mythic" style as LOTR (but I actually prefer it to LOTR). But she also wrote a lot of sci-fi, her most famous being The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, both of which would make great introductions to her work if the description appeals to you.
Le Guin is also one of the best writers on a prose level that I've ever read, if that helps to sell you!
I've been meaning to read Le Guin for forever, and hope to do so quite soon....
I actually haven't read first law, and only heard about how good it could be through your channel. I think it's my next purchase!
I love the way you talk about Broken Earth. Gives me a whole new perspective on the book. I’m usually too busy following the plot to the conclusion and don’t stop to think about those aspects. 😅
Great choices and solid reasoning behind why you love these specific book series
thanks!
Love this video, and the recommendations and reasons. Your love of Abercrombie got me to pick up First Law. I also grabbed The Wolf.
As far as Broken Earth goes, Jemisin is a great writer and world builder, but in that trilogy I feel that her plotting is very weak. The overarching story moves at a glacially painful pace.
I'm new to the fantasy genre. I really enjoyed your comments. I have read The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle), Song of Ice and Fire and the Broken Earth. I'm going to start reading Assassin's Apprentice (The Realm of the Elderlings). Thanks to you I will read The First Law and The Gentleman Bastards. I am very happy that you liked The Broken Earth trilogy as much as I did. I also agree that this trilogy is more fantasy than sciencie fiction (it has a little of it but the trilogy fits better in the fantasy genre). Great job!
I found the first two books of under the northern sky on sale and remembered I watched a video of yours praising them, so I grabbed them. Just looking for a good deal on the last book now, it sounds interesting and a bit different.
hope you enjoy!
Pretty much every book you mentioned is on my tbr.
best get to reading!
I'm rereading Wisdom of Crowds right now. It's great.
so good
Oooo I studied sociology in university and while I know that’s different than anthropology, I feel like they do have some general similarities. I’ve added The Wolf to my list!!
hope you love it!
Really enjoying Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.
One series I would definitely have added is Inda by Sherwoord Smith. Rough start due to the naming conventions, but so so rewarding if one keeps going for some chapters and can accept that the names will be easier with time.
Oh, also Rigante series by David Gemmel is awesome too.
I can speak passionately about most of my favorite series and pinpoint exactly why they worked for me. However, I've always struggled to put into word exactly why I loved Kingkiller so much. Whenever anyone asks, I'm just going to send them here haha. Very well said. I've read everything you mentioned except for Blackwing, the Wolf (I also love anthropology), and Six of Crows. The rest are totally on my top lists as well, so I'll totally be checking out what I haven't read yet. I already had Wolf on my list from your channel, but didn't care for Grisha, so had completely disregarded Six of Crows.
Also - Abercrombie: "hold my beer" lmao
thanks! and I can't guarantee you'll like Six of Crows, but I can guarantee that it's in a completely different league than The Grisha Trilogy....
@@LienesLibrary That's really all the encouragement I need...
Great list, thanks for sharing! Completely agree on the Broken Earth, I would love to see hardcover or special editions for these books, they are incredible. I definitely want to try the Wolf and I'm currently in the middle of the Blade Itself and loving the humor, the writing and the characters!
yay! i love Abercrombie's humor so much
I can’t wait to hear how you feel about the conclusion to the Under the Northern Sky series. I read The Cuckoo as soon as it came out (this week!) and I’m still struggling with the fate of the Anakim. For some reason I absolutely fell in love with the thought of a race and culture like theirs. So interesting, unique and engaging characterization. I really wish that the series were longer although, given the plot, three books probably make sense. Subscribing to your channel was prompted by your focus and enthusiasm for this series for which I thank you. Onwards!
I actually read The Cuckoo early in December because I wanted to finish it before interviewing him - it is my favorite read of the year!
I just finished The First Law trilogy and Abercrombie is now my favorite author.
Last year Under The Northern Sky was my top best reading. Nice list. Try Prince of Nothing/Aspect Emperor- Scott Bakker my all time favorite fantasy.
I just might check it out 😊
@@LienesLibrary how much time did take u for blacklist it after the checkout?
That author has a well deserved reputation of misogynistic world building.
Everytime you talk about The Wolf it goes higher and higher on my wishlist.
how do we get it to the top....
I’m a linguist, so the Under the Northern Sky series sounds AWESOME. I love that you included books which aren’t well-known.
you should check it out for sure!
I haven’t watched the video but I’m gonna assume it’s first law 👀
Right? You know that will be on there!
who told you 🧐
@@LienesLibrary my inner Liene
@@LienesLibrary I have ESPN.
If you want the recommendation of an older person I will give it: The Lyonesse trilogy from Jack Vance. Then the Deryini cycle of Katherine Kurtz. The Avaryan Rising books by Judith Tarr. Elvenblood and Elvenbane by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey. The Stonedance of the Chameleon by Ricardo Pinto. The Wizards War by Elizabeth H. Boyer.
Hi Liene, That's so cool you studied anthropology! I have a medical science degree from Australia but specialised in anthropological anatomy. I relatively recently discovered your channel, and basically have the exact same taste in books as you. We obviously have similar study areas too! This makes me think I should definitely give the wolf a try :)
that's awesome! I hope The Wolf works for you as well as it did for me!
Great List. I've only read two things on there. I was a little annoyed at not including Gaiman, but then I kind of loved the idea of speculative fiction having their own List. (But I am a weirdo who likes lists.)
I haven't done a deep dive of your videos yet (it's coming), so I don't know all that you've read. I did just move The Wolf up on my TBR because I like anthropological points of view, so I am interested in that. I don't know if you have read any Ursula K Le Guin (Lack of deep dive showing) but her parents were anthropologists and a lot of her themes and ideas clearly stem from that. The left hand of darkness would be a good example.
I do have both the broken earth trilogy and the First Law trilogy, but I haven't yet. Broken earth sounds more like my thing, but we will see. Thanks for Sharing.
Le Guin is on my "must read" list, I just haven't gotten around to it yet...
Can't believe you ranked these in a completely definitive order with no room for discussion.
the only bad parts of game of thrones were when they passed were the books were at then it went down hill fast
I agree, Andy Serkis did the most PHENOMENAL narration
You gotta read Children of Time. You would love it.
It's definitely on my radar
Love this video and your amazing channel and thank you for adding to my tbr list please stay safe and enjoy your reading 📖 love your family friend John xxxx
I own the whole first law trilogy and haven’t picked them up yet! Why!! I’ve been in a fantasy slump and have been reading almost everything except fantasy for 6 months now and I’m sad… it’s usually my favorite genre 😫 helllpppp
time to start First Law methinks
One of these days I’ll check out First Law 🤣
one of these days being....today? 😁
@@LienesLibrary uhhhhmmmmm maybe in august? I do own the first book but don’t really know what the series is even about every time I watch a video about it I’m confused 🤣🤣
This better hold true 😆 lol!
I swear I must be missing something with The Name of the Wind. I found the prose...fine? Nothing to complain about for sure and, granted, better than most modern fantasy. I guess I'm coming from a place of enjoying the prose of Great Gatsby or Tolkien and I just didn't find his use of language as creative and evocative as I was hoping it would be. I'm sure it's just me missing something as mine is not the majority opinion by a long shot...
I'm looking forward to reading all of the rest of these! I have a lot of Fantasy to catch up on...
I wanted to love Name of the Wind, but I just couldn't do it.
Can't even figure out why.
@@ScorchedPainter Same. Dunno... I just feel like I'm missing out, but glad so many find enjoyment in it.
If you like Abercrombie then I suggest Jon Gwynne and Anthony Ryans the Covenant of Steel series to anyone out there.
I am so curious about Ed McDonald's books. I checked the preview of Blackwing and Daughter of Redwinter and enjoyed them so I pre-ordered the paperback of the later and I will start there. I never heard of it before a video on your channel ahah
I only haven't read 2 of the series on the list and I like the ones I've read, except Name of the Wind😆 so, good list.
I didn't care for Daughter but clearly I'm a huge fan of Raven's mark
Robin Hobb! She’s so fantastic! Looking forward to you reading more. I am halfway thru Rain Wild Chronicles,
I'm excited to read more!
@@LienesLibrary I can't remeber- are you a Kennitt lover or hater? Or love to hate him?
Solid list, excellently argued. The absence of Sanderson, Jordan et al. warms my literary heart. I would drop Rothfus or Martin to make place for "The Book of the New Sun," but that's just me.
see, I really like Book of the New Sun, but I'd put that on a sci-fi list, not a fantasy list?
@@LienesLibrary Sure, it can easily go on a top SF list, but since it's a science fantasy that, for the first time reader, reads more like fantasy than SF, it's at home on both of those lists (if we ignore Urth, which I think we should). I'm probably just sad most booktubers don't talk about it at all.
BTW, I recently discovered your channel, binged the rants, the lists, the Abercrombie worship and was thoroughly entertained throughout. You should have at least 10 times more subscribers and if anyone asks me for a booktube recommendation (which probably nobody will), I'll forcefully steer them your way with painsticks.
@@StanjeBrojila oh wow haha thank you so much! And hopefully I’ll get around to finishing the last book in TBotNS soon and post a video about it so at least there will be one more for ya 🧡
Lemme check those links and see how old this is gonna make me feel.
Whew. That's a relief.
crisis = averted
You bought me for The Wolf.
yaaaas 🥳
Have you read the Cuckoo yet?
Yes… except… Blackwing was too much “telling” and not enough “showing.” I felt it had so much potential but it was so rushed. I’ll never understand the love for Farseer? I personally thought it was boring. I managed to get half way through and gave up.
The Northern Sky is epic! As someone with an anthro minor, I loved it for the reasons you gave and much more! Don’t get me started…
Have you read Theft of Sword? That’s on my TBR after my current trilogy.
I've read Theft of Swords, and the whole of Riyria Revelations and it wasn't staggering to begin with and got progressively worse 🙁 however I've heard excellent things about the prequel series, Age of Legends
@@LienesLibrary yeah… it’s pretty boring. Idk why but I’ve continued onto Rise of Empire.
What? No Megan Lindholm?
I haven't read anything she's authored under that name 🙃
If you like Anthropology in your fantasy you really need to read Malazan
She already started reading it a while ago, and stopped because of a rape scene in the seventh book. She then proceeded to make one of the most irresponsible, shameful hit-piece videos I've ever seen. She got a lot of flak for it, and it is now unlisted. The fact that she loved your comment is mind-boggling. She also deletes comments she doesn't like, so you may never see this.
Kingkiller, just like First Law, is best in audiobook form. Great narrators.
agree to disagree on the Kingkiller narrator lol
What is your take on stormlight? I stopped reading in the middle of oathbringer, tried several times to start reading it again and now i kinda gave it up.. would love to hear your thoughts on this series!
Liene has only read Way of Kings. She didn't like it enough to continue on. It is my favorite fantasy series! I understand though why people might not like Oathbringer.
I strongly disliked Way of Kings (and have become somewhat....infamous for it)
Blackwing is a priority for me this year and now I’m even more intrigued to read and see what that horrifying thing is. 👀
it's something that is really horrifying to me, I've spoken to others who were more disturbed by other things in the series, so your mileage may vary
It's odd to me that you included LOTR with it's interminably slow plotting, vanilla dialogue, voluminous info dumps and lengthy exposition. These are things you rempeately trash other writers for but you give Tolkien a pass. Just hard getting a handle on what your standards are. Still, entertaining video and commentary.
Yes Broken Earth 💜💜💜
yaaaas
I have a somewhat unpopular opinion (please don't crucify me UA-cam) in thinking the language in The Lord of the Rings is beautiful, far more even than Rothfuss's writing for me (which I thought was very bourgeois discursive). Unlike Rothfuss, Tolkien's syntax is compact, declarative and unafraid of inversion ("Great was the triumph of Morgoth" etc.). You can see him switch between linguistic styles between areas of Middle-earth, like in the Anglo-Saxon Rohan, the Medieval Gondor, or the bourgeois pre-Industrial Hobbiton. He has a very satisfying balance of iambic and trochaic pulses that run through his paragraphs, and they can distill into compact phrases of surprising resonance and power, like "grief is a hone to a hard mind" from the Children of Hurin - the rhythm (two dactyls and a spondee) give it the air of a Homeric hexameter. I didn't really feel that Rothfuss played around with language in the same way that Tolkien did, the Kingkiller Chronicles feels like it was written for a twenty-first century audience and nothing more; a far more calculated blandness of tone made to appeal to a wider readership. I felt Tolkien properly evoked another world more resonantly than Rothfuss because his language was different enough from the modern day that it made me *feel* I was entering another world. My opinion was that Rothfuss, whilst obviously a skilled writer, was trying to be too cosy.
Still, this was a really lovely video. You always completely make my day whenever you upload, thank you for your awesome list!
I do understand what you mean, however, I don't think Rothfuss set out to write in a style similar to Tolkien, it is a different project and, as such, in my opinion, should be weighed by different metrics - I think it's inherently unfair to criticize a book for failing to do something that its author was not attempting to do
@@LienesLibrary Thank you! And yes I agree he wasn't trying to do the same thing as Tolkien as all (and people who try to do Tolkien usually fail, so I'm glad he didn't). I only meant to compare the language rather than the books themselves, I could (and maybe should?) have compared Rothfuss to another writer whose prose I love (Proust, Dickens, Burgess, Wodehouse etc.) because clearly I'm missing something regarding his "beautiful writing".
I am so sorry for the lateness of my reply, I officially suck.
The only person here that still hasn’t read First Law is Allen.
....yet
@@LienesLibrary even Schrodinger’s hipster will give in eventually.
The Broken Earth trilogy (and all her books before her current duology) has no hardback, ugly covers and no special editions. Like it's just L after L as a Nora stan!!!
it's truly unacceptable, I demand at the very least some decent hardcovers argh
LotR the one who started all?
If by all you mean comercial american fantasy...
There are many examples of previous fantasy, but seems that almost all booktubers dislike it.
Wow, under northern skin looks.
Wonderful.
But what is doing in this list?
Thats ucrony, not fantasy.
27:04 so much diversity, and no religious diversity? I loved it in Hyperion cantos.
Speaking of 6 of crows, hearing rumours of the adaptation, why you think modern adaptations like so much to introduce stupid things?
Maybe for marketing for get comments speaking bad about it?
Nice to see that everyone seems to love Locke Lamora, Robin Hobb and 6 crows.
I'm with you on Gentlemen Bastards. Great to see it so high on your list. I've had a strange journey through First Law though. I think the first trilogy and BSC are overrated. The characters are great but the world-building and plot are fairly weak, at least for me. But then I really enjoyed "The Heroes" and "Red Country" and am looking forward to the Age of Madness series. I'm glad I stuck with Abercrombie. His writing style may just be an "acquired taste" for some of us.
reasonable minds can differ about the original trilogy and the standalones, but Age of Madness trilogy is god tier 🙌
First law is so overrated.
oh whoops, my mistake
was really hoping lotr wasn't on this list. let it go.... shit is old and boring. it's on every list ever. can't watch this anymore
@@BasalThor that's what I said numbnuts
so, you won''t stay to hear the non-Tolkien books praised because you did hear Tolkien praised? ....makes sense