I was worried about Dune first as well, but now it’s a book I can’t put down and always look forward to reading after work (I’m about 71% done with it) I’d say it starts out a lil slowish in the beginning but once you get to Book 2 and Book 3 in book, it’s amazing. Definitely take your time with it in the beginning.
I love this concept! I have so many intimidating books on my tbr as well. I was also intimidated by the Assassin's Apprentice, but once I started it it was hard for me to put down. If you're a character-driven reader then I think you're going to love the Assassin's Apprentice! It's not action-packed like other high fantasy books, but the character work was so damn good. I finished it recently and loved it so much, I'm dying to read the next book. I believe there's 16 books in the Realm of the Elderlings series, which I now think is so exciting because Fitz is such a great character. As for intimidating books on my tbr list, I agree with you on the Stormlight Archive, it's such a huge series and commitment. I'm also intimidated by the Empire of the Wolf trilogy by Richard Swan, because it's heavily focused in political intrigue, which intimidates me; The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, because it apparently harkens back to old fantasy like Tolkien which I'm not much of a fan of; the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio, because it's this seemingly intense sci-fi; and The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, because I feel the same way about old fantasy books as you do. I'm unsure if you've already read it or if it's on your tbr, but The Will of the Many by James Islington was amazing. It was my favorite book of 2023 and is in my top favorite books. I think it might be an easier way to get into James Islington's writing.
I do consider myself a character driven reader and I look forward to reading Robin Hobb for that exact reason! I’ve heard she is the absolute queen of character work. I’m way more intimidated by the 16 book thing 😂 A lot of those are intimidating to me as well! I’d like to try The Empire of the Wolf trilogy soon since it just finished up, but I agree that political intrigue can be intimidating. It’s often hit or miss for me. I keep hearing wonderful things about The Will of the Many. Personally I don’t like picking up unfinished series so I’ll be waiting on that one but I do look forward to it once it’s finished!
Dune is really more of a space fantasy. The characters are very good. It’s a true masterpiece. I think a lot of girls in the reader space have a skewed perspective of Dune.
The Wheel of Time is my favourite series of all time and I hope the so-called "slump in the middle" won't deter you too much, because it's not like "oh these books suck", it's more like "these are interesting, but a little slower" (at least for me). I didn't give a single WoT book less than 4 stars, even the "slump" ones ☺ My most intimidating book is probably the Stormlight Archive books as well, I'm currently reading book 2 so I know I love them, they're just so huge haha.
I’ll try not to let it deter me 😅 and hopefully I’ll love the first few books so much it won’t matter. If I fall in love with characters I will follow them anywhere. Yeah I want to hop onto Stormlight soon before it gets to be so long that I’m even more overwhelmed 😵💫
I get through big books by reading them for 15 minutes a day before reading anything else! If I read more than that, great, but if I hit 15 minutes, then that’s all I need to do that day. Means it takes me about two months to finish, but prevents me from getting burnt out. Currently halfway through Empire of the Vampire!
I’m pausing the video halfway to give you my thoughts about the books I’ve read from your list! The Starless Sea is purely a “vibes” kind of book. I liked the concept and the pretty writing, but the character work leaves a lot to be desired. The Priory of the Orange Tree goes by much faster than you would expect for a book that size. There are multiple POVs and all of them were interesting to me. It might take you a little bit to figure out who’s who but once you do it’s really immersive.
The Shadow of What Was Lost was one of my faves the year I read it. Someone compared it to The Wheel of Time; I would say it’s everything that’s good about The Wheel of Time without any of the things that made me want to throw the books in anger (i.e., no endless repetition; I think Islington has actually interacted with a few women in his lifetime lol)
Dune is a very easy read if you’re used to big complex fantasy books. It’s not hard sci-fi, I would describe it more as political intrigue/fight for the control of a resource, with some interesting commentary on colonization, religion, and whether the end justify the means. The world building at the very beginning could have been a little bit clearer, but there’s a full Wiki on Dune if you get confused.
The Priory of the Orange Tree is still on my list, I got 200 pages in but the size paralysed me... I thought I would have the same issue with The Way of Kings but oh my god I am obsessed. I started in late January and am now on the first novella (book 2.5)! Even my sister, who hasn't read in years, is reading (and loving) it. I hope you will enjoy the series when you read it :-)
I feel you on Dune. I put off purchasing the book until recently. However, I still have not read said book even though I keep looking at it. Loved the movies...just intimidated by the content of the book because we all know, the book is so much more than the movie.
Based on how you’ve described yourself, Harrow the Ninth will probably be a tough read. I don’t think everything was answered at the end, but some of the big stuff was. Gideon was my favorite of the three that are released, also confusing (but less so) and extra funny
I don't let the bigger books phase me, I actually steer towards the bigger books. The bigger the book, the more time you can settle in to it and enjoy it (Or possibly hate it for longer I guess :P )
I’m such a slow reader that big books feel really overwhelming sometimes 😵💫 especially when I know they’ll take me a month or longer to read. I also find bigger books often take a while to “get going” since they’re setting up more characters & world building etc. So those are my biggest hesitations but I do love a long series, which I guess is a similar feeling? Lots of books to sink my teeth into with characters that I’ll grow to love 💕
I was worried about Dune first as well, but now it’s a book I can’t put down and always look forward to reading after work (I’m about 71% done with it) I’d say it starts out a lil slowish in the beginning but once you get to Book 2 and Book 3 in book, it’s amazing. Definitely take your time with it in the beginning.
Also I think Dune can be character driven, in terms of Paul because you’ll see him slowly changing
Thank you so much for this! Comments like this are really putting me at ease about reading Dune 😅
Where’d you get that gorgeous Dune edition?!
My husband got it for me 🥰 there’s a link in my bio to that edition though if you want to check it out 👀
I love this concept! I have so many intimidating books on my tbr as well. I was also intimidated by the Assassin's Apprentice, but once I started it it was hard for me to put down. If you're a character-driven reader then I think you're going to love the Assassin's Apprentice! It's not action-packed like other high fantasy books, but the character work was so damn good. I finished it recently and loved it so much, I'm dying to read the next book. I believe there's 16 books in the Realm of the Elderlings series, which I now think is so exciting because Fitz is such a great character.
As for intimidating books on my tbr list, I agree with you on the Stormlight Archive, it's such a huge series and commitment. I'm also intimidated by the Empire of the Wolf trilogy by Richard Swan, because it's heavily focused in political intrigue, which intimidates me; The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, because it apparently harkens back to old fantasy like Tolkien which I'm not much of a fan of; the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio, because it's this seemingly intense sci-fi; and The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, because I feel the same way about old fantasy books as you do.
I'm unsure if you've already read it or if it's on your tbr, but The Will of the Many by James Islington was amazing. It was my favorite book of 2023 and is in my top favorite books. I think it might be an easier way to get into James Islington's writing.
I do consider myself a character driven reader and I look forward to reading Robin Hobb for that exact reason! I’ve heard she is the absolute queen of character work. I’m way more intimidated by the 16 book thing 😂
A lot of those are intimidating to me as well! I’d like to try The Empire of the Wolf trilogy soon since it just finished up, but I agree that political intrigue can be intimidating. It’s often hit or miss for me.
I keep hearing wonderful things about The Will of the Many. Personally I don’t like picking up unfinished series so I’ll be waiting on that one but I do look forward to it once it’s finished!
Dune is really more of a space fantasy. The characters are very good. It’s a true masterpiece. I think a lot of girls in the reader space have a skewed perspective of Dune.
The Wheel of Time is my favourite series of all time and I hope the so-called "slump in the middle" won't deter you too much, because it's not like "oh these books suck", it's more like "these are interesting, but a little slower" (at least for me). I didn't give a single WoT book less than 4 stars, even the "slump" ones ☺
My most intimidating book is probably the Stormlight Archive books as well, I'm currently reading book 2 so I know I love them, they're just so huge haha.
I’ll try not to let it deter me 😅 and hopefully I’ll love the first few books so much it won’t matter. If I fall in love with characters I will follow them anywhere.
Yeah I want to hop onto Stormlight soon before it gets to be so long that I’m even more overwhelmed 😵💫
I get through big books by reading them for 15 minutes a day before reading anything else! If I read more than that, great, but if I hit 15 minutes, then that’s all I need to do that day. Means it takes me about two months to finish, but prevents me from getting burnt out. Currently halfway through Empire of the Vampire!
That’s a great tip! I might try that 🤔
I’m pausing the video halfway to give you my thoughts about the books I’ve read from your list!
The Starless Sea is purely a “vibes” kind of book. I liked the concept and the pretty writing, but the character work leaves a lot to be desired.
The Priory of the Orange Tree goes by much faster than you would expect for a book that size. There are multiple POVs and all of them were interesting to me. It might take you a little bit to figure out who’s who but once you do it’s really immersive.
The Shadow of What Was Lost was one of my faves the year I read it. Someone compared it to The Wheel of Time; I would say it’s everything that’s good about The Wheel of Time without any of the things that made me want to throw the books in anger (i.e., no endless repetition; I think Islington has actually interacted with a few women in his lifetime lol)
Dune is a very easy read if you’re used to big complex fantasy books. It’s not hard sci-fi, I would describe it more as political intrigue/fight for the control of a resource, with some interesting commentary on colonization, religion, and whether the end justify the means. The world building at the very beginning could have been a little bit clearer, but there’s a full Wiki on Dune if you get confused.
Major TW for animal death in Assassin’s Apprentice. There are at least two instances of it in the first part of the book, I DNFed after that.
Oh thank you for this!
I’ve heard that about Priory! I really am looking forward to reading it, big books just scare me 🫣
I’ve been hearing such wonderful things about his newest book “The Will of the Many” but I want to read his original trilogy first 😁
Mort was my fave Pratchett book
The Priory of the Orange Tree is still on my list, I got 200 pages in but the size paralysed me... I thought I would have the same issue with The Way of Kings but oh my god I am obsessed. I started in late January and am now on the first novella (book 2.5)! Even my sister, who hasn't read in years, is reading (and loving) it. I hope you will enjoy the series when you read it :-)
I hope so too! I’m so glad you and your sister are enjoying it 💕
I just started Dune last night and cannot put it down. I thought it was going to be hard to read but it isn’t! I love it! Lots of politicking
Amazing! I hope I love it as much as you 🤞
I feel you on Dune. I put off purchasing the book until recently. However, I still have not read said book even though I keep looking at it. Loved the movies...just intimidated by the content of the book because we all know, the book is so much more than the movie.
Based on how you’ve described yourself, Harrow the Ninth will probably be a tough read. I don’t think everything was answered at the end, but some of the big stuff was. Gideon was my favorite of the three that are released, also confusing (but less so) and extra funny
I’m still going to give it a try! But I’ll probably have to really take my time with it 😵💫
I don't let the bigger books phase me, I actually steer towards the bigger books. The bigger the book, the more time you can settle in to it and enjoy it (Or possibly hate it for longer I guess :P )
I’m such a slow reader that big books feel really overwhelming sometimes 😵💫 especially when I know they’ll take me a month or longer to read. I also find bigger books often take a while to “get going” since they’re setting up more characters & world building etc. So those are my biggest hesitations but I do love a long series, which I guess is a similar feeling? Lots of books to sink my teeth into with characters that I’ll grow to love 💕
Dune is in my tbr too but now you scared me
Oh no 🙈 it’s contagious
What is the most intimidating book on your TBR 😅?
For some reason it's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I know I'll love it, but I can't start it😭
@AnnaShuk I mean that is one chunky book!