I don’t know what to call it. John Muir is awesome. So poetic, interested in all the things I’m interested in, inspires me to get out there and go hiking (as if I needed more motivation?) – yet, his work is… I don’t know what to call it… “heavy”… the opposite of light reading. I’m just slogging through it. I don’t know if I really like it, but it’s definitely beautifully quotable. It’s leaving me with so many mixed feelings.
Malazan books. I read the first three and burned out. Amazing Storia but they see told in such an arcane way that it’s like pushing through thick undergrowth to read a page
For me, I found that because of the wildly inconsistent quality of books it made it difficult to want to continue. You never knew if you were going to get epic world building, low stakes shenanigans, brutal battles, or characters ripped from legends.
On top of that, the second book was so good that the next several just couldn’t match the excitement and tension generated from it.
This is good to know - Malazan is on my list because it’s so well-loved by fantasy fans. But I want something that is going to suck me in and let me experience the story without effort. My brain is too fried by work these days for me to strain it when I’m trying to unwind with a good book.
If you can find a pdf of a page or preview of the book that’ll give you an idea.