Dave Duncan's Great Game Trilogy
Aug. 17th, 2007 01:38 pmHas anyone else read Dave Duncan's Great Game trilogy? I picked it up on spec, after reading a bit of another of his in border's.
Good things
* It's like a cross between Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber and the Thirty-nine Steps, and I don't say that about many books :)
* Each book is named after a verb form (past imperative, present tense, future indefinite).
* Details are spoilers, but the theology is great. There are five major gods, each with a number of aspects, ie. lesser gods of something specific that are worshipped instead in some places. And the gods have spats and rivalries between themselves, and look after their followers, but can be petty. They both seem like gods, and have personalities. I could almost envisage throwing in behind one.
* The magic system also. I read on a lot just to find out how everything worked.
* The fantasy world is great. It has a lot in common with other fantasy worlds, but lots of details paint it well. And linguistics exists :)
* The plot feels like a web of things all fitting together, rather than a linear sequence of "and then, and then, and then". Eg. some people actually die.
* I liked the characters.
* It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it made me smile. Which is the style I'm generally looking for.
Bad things
* Two or three times a turn of phrase grated on me. That doesn't really matter.
* At the end, I felt a little meh. I wanted to read on to find what happened, but I don't know if I wanted to read it again. On the other hand, many things seemed extremely promising, it feels like it's going somewhere good. I'd like to read the next. On the gripping hand, whenever I feel like that, I'm disappointed :(
Can anyone recommend or disrecommend the other books? I finally need to start a list of books I want to read once, to borrow or buy second hand and give on
Good things
* It's like a cross between Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber and the Thirty-nine Steps, and I don't say that about many books :)
* Each book is named after a verb form (past imperative, present tense, future indefinite).
* Details are spoilers, but the theology is great. There are five major gods, each with a number of aspects, ie. lesser gods of something specific that are worshipped instead in some places. And the gods have spats and rivalries between themselves, and look after their followers, but can be petty. They both seem like gods, and have personalities. I could almost envisage throwing in behind one.
* The magic system also. I read on a lot just to find out how everything worked.
* The fantasy world is great. It has a lot in common with other fantasy worlds, but lots of details paint it well. And linguistics exists :)
* The plot feels like a web of things all fitting together, rather than a linear sequence of "and then, and then, and then". Eg. some people actually die.
* I liked the characters.
* It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it made me smile. Which is the style I'm generally looking for.
Bad things
* Two or three times a turn of phrase grated on me. That doesn't really matter.
* At the end, I felt a little meh. I wanted to read on to find what happened, but I don't know if I wanted to read it again. On the other hand, many things seemed extremely promising, it feels like it's going somewhere good. I'd like to read the next. On the gripping hand, whenever I feel like that, I'm disappointed :(
Can anyone recommend or disrecommend the other books? I finally need to start a list of books I want to read once, to borrow or buy second hand and give on