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This bugs me.
Lawrence Watt-Evans has been writing really fun, intelligent, entertaining novels about a world called Ethshar for quite a while now. Unlike 99.9% of the crap that's being published under the "Fantasy" label these days, his books are well-written, feature intelligent protagonists who actually use common sense to solve their problems, and aren't filled with horrifying and gratuitous torture or degradation.
And - and this is a rare thing indeed - each book stands alone. There's a common world-setting, and once in a while a character from one book may be seen in another, but the books are completely self-contained. At the same time mysteries about the world are slowly being revealed, and the series is well-written enough to make that interesting.
There's also a lot of humor that works. The books aren't outright comedies; there are no cutesy-wootsy puns or knowing winks of post-modern reference. The humor is character-driven, and it rings true. It makes me laugh.
Another thing: the books are a sane size. Unlike the forest-devastating atrocity that is the crapstorm created by a number of so-called "authors" (yes, Robert Jordon, you're number one on that list), the Ethshar books are all what used to be a normal size for a novel; about 200 pages or a little over. And yet...and yet...there's actually MORE of a story, and more quality writing in an Ethshar book than in any two of those behemoth fantasy series. Why? My guess is that Watt-Evans simply left out the useless word-count padding that ramps up the thickness of so many books. His works are all the more readable for it.
The latest book in the series is Ithanalin's Restoration; it just came out in paperback. And to my intense disappointment, it looks like it will be the last of the Ethshar series. Not because Watt-Evans is tired of the series, but because his publisher is no longer interested in them - recent sales were too low.
This pisses me off more than I can say. Fortunately the publisher is still interested in some other of LW-E's books - some of which approximate other modern fantasy series in thickness, but are better written - but damn it, I wanted more Ethshar too.
We're all probably powerless in the face of the corporate monoliths who decide what will and won't be published, of course. But if you like fantasy and have been wondering why so much modern fantasy sucks, or if you're just looking for a really good read, pick up Ithanalin's Restoration.
Lawrence Watt-Evans has been writing really fun, intelligent, entertaining novels about a world called Ethshar for quite a while now. Unlike 99.9% of the crap that's being published under the "Fantasy" label these days, his books are well-written, feature intelligent protagonists who actually use common sense to solve their problems, and aren't filled with horrifying and gratuitous torture or degradation.
And - and this is a rare thing indeed - each book stands alone. There's a common world-setting, and once in a while a character from one book may be seen in another, but the books are completely self-contained. At the same time mysteries about the world are slowly being revealed, and the series is well-written enough to make that interesting.
There's also a lot of humor that works. The books aren't outright comedies; there are no cutesy-wootsy puns or knowing winks of post-modern reference. The humor is character-driven, and it rings true. It makes me laugh.
Another thing: the books are a sane size. Unlike the forest-devastating atrocity that is the crapstorm created by a number of so-called "authors" (yes, Robert Jordon, you're number one on that list), the Ethshar books are all what used to be a normal size for a novel; about 200 pages or a little over. And yet...and yet...there's actually MORE of a story, and more quality writing in an Ethshar book than in any two of those behemoth fantasy series. Why? My guess is that Watt-Evans simply left out the useless word-count padding that ramps up the thickness of so many books. His works are all the more readable for it.
The latest book in the series is Ithanalin's Restoration; it just came out in paperback. And to my intense disappointment, it looks like it will be the last of the Ethshar series. Not because Watt-Evans is tired of the series, but because his publisher is no longer interested in them - recent sales were too low.
This pisses me off more than I can say. Fortunately the publisher is still interested in some other of LW-E's books - some of which approximate other modern fantasy series in thickness, but are better written - but damn it, I wanted more Ethshar too.
We're all probably powerless in the face of the corporate monoliths who decide what will and won't be published, of course. But if you like fantasy and have been wondering why so much modern fantasy sucks, or if you're just looking for a really good read, pick up Ithanalin's Restoration.