Totally agree on Six of Crows with the age thing, in my head I just decided they're in their 40s and disregarded their actual ages lol. Some in their 30s maybe. It's more reasonable that way 😅
Ditto, it just reads too much like a basic YA novel to me. It wants to be like the Lies of Locke Lamora but falls horribly short in both characterization and world building.
The romance ended up making me dnf it. I found it annoying and sort of distracting, especially with how everyone got all nicely paired up. Kaz and Inej becoming obvious endgame really was the killer for me. I MUCH preferred them as a found family siblings dynamic. I also do in general tend to dislike romance b plots in fantasy and sci fi. Though i have been wanting to give it a second try
I found your thoughts on Red Rising fascinating. I am personally in the "meh" camp for that one. I heard lots of good things but didn't really care for it. Unlikable main character and despite it being "action packed" I felt like nothing happened. It's a set up for such a large scale plot, and then it stays so small. I haven't picked up the second yet though, so I am curious if that will shift my perspective or will just make me drop the series altogether. I also agree with Six of Crows. I had very high expectations that were not quite met, even though I did enjoy it. I'm currently reading Crooked Kingdom though and I'm realizing how happy I am to be back wit these characters, so Six of Crows definitely did something right! Murderbot is S tier for me personally. That's another one where being with the characters just makes me happy. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Maybe I am more of a character reader than I realized lol Plenty more on the list I haven't gotten around to yet, so we'll see how I line up with you once I get to them :)
@@2185wisai I think in large part that was the point. He was smart, strong, etc but most importantly, he was daring. He did things no one else would think to do because it was risky. That's how he would come out on top (if you're talking about Red Rising that is).
I’d say the second and third are better than the first book. I found them to be on that “bigger scale” you were talking about. So you should definitely give it a chance.
Hey! This is the first one of your videos that I have seen and I'm so glad I watched it. I haven't read most of these books, but I love your way of reviewing them! Also, it is so refreshing to see how respectful you are when you dislike a book.
Really hope you continue on with the Dandelion Dynasty! Book 1 feels a lot different than the rest, and based on the thoughts you shared, I think you will love the following novels in the series
I was very worried that you weren't going to like stormlight. I have been recently suggested videos about people who don't like the series. So thank you! You have also convinced my to start a series by Joe Abercrombie. I haven't had a chance yet. Looks like it will be my next series after wind and truth comes out.
I have to agree. Legends was just a meh for me. Also, and I hate to say it here, but I DNFd The Spell Shop. I thought it was boring and I just didn’t care. Although the spider plant was hilarious!
I should have hated Legends and Lattes based on the premise and cover, but I loved it. It calmed and soothed parts of me I didn’t know I needed to be calmed and soothed. And it was a quick and easy read too.
For me, the characters were amazing, the journey of character growth between the 3 books is delightful, but i understand why people don't like green bone saga. The tone is weird something, the pacing is kind of awful in the first book and Hilo is an idiot hahaha
@@juanjerubin1713 I am planning on at least giving the next book a shot as part of my goal to finish up as many of my unfinished series as I can before the end of the year
Booktube convinced me that The Gentleman Bastards was an incredible book and I found it.. ok. I was so relieved to find your review of it and that at least one of the book tubers I watch was also not enthralled by it. Another one booktube got me to watch which I found disappointing was Red Sister.
I didn’t like Jade City, and at the time I read it it felt like everybody on RUclips loved it. I’m glad to see I’m not alone now tho! Haha. Normally I agree with you about not liking the “with the gods” feeling but with Grace of Kings it actually worked for me, to where I ended up feeling like I was feeling similarly to them and rooting for certain chess piece players. Strange the Dreamer is probably my all time favorite book at this point in my life ❤
I have read jade city and jade war and I struggled to get through them. Elliot really sums it up well with how it sounds like I should like it but I just really have a hard time with the characters and the way they all act and their choices. Idk, there’s so much anger and hate and I’m not the fondest of the drug aspect and the seedy underbelly which is weird I guess because I loved six of crows. Can’t wait to start strange the dreamer! I bought it last month and it’s next up in my reading schedule after I finish a few books this month!
I DNFed "Babel". The magic system didn't work for me. I'm a linguist, a conlanger, a worldbuilder, and aspiring author, and I just saw too many holes with what what supposed to be a very central part of the story. The subtlety between match-pairs was cool. Where it falls apart is: "You need to be able to think in a language-to live and breathe it, not just recognize it as a smattering of letters on a page. This is also why invented languages will never work, and why ancient languages like Old English have lost their effect." Esperanto is a conlang, and invented language, is the first language of an estimated 2,000 people. Are they not "living and breathing" it? Could someone not revive a dead language and do the same? Is Kuang hinting more at fluency? What is the metric of making one fluent? What dialect matters? Does dialect play a role, or is it only the perfectly thought up but never spoken "standard" of a language? She lost me there. If that would have been kept out, I'd have kept going, but my suspension of reality died. I could see it not affecting most, though, and I'm envious of you 😂
What makes a book/series a ‘book tube’ darling? I ask because, regardless of ranking, Wheel of Time, seems to be more of an established work (older, well-known long before book tube, considered a classic). Again, not challenging the ranking, just what’s included.
It was funny when you talked about Six of Crows and their ages. I had a similar feeling about Red Rising. I rated sort of mid and plan to continue on with the series, but I was sitting and thinking ... that was what I thought of Red Rising :) Thanks for your always great reviews.
Jade City was an ok book for me, but the sequels were just so strong. A book I really do not get the hype about is Twelve Kings. Whenever people talk about how amazing that series is, I get so confused.
I totally feel like the odd one out regarding Brando Sando, Tolkien and I guess to some degree Joe Abercrombie. I dnf-ed The Final Empire and I hated Kelsier so much that I genuinely wanted to throw the book against the wall, which has never happened to me up until that point. He makes trouble for the powerless and then has the gall to mock them while throwing them under the bus and using them as a shield at the same time. Utterly despicable. I absolutely don't understand why people rave about him. And I also don't like Sanderson basically giving you a spreadsheet of exactly how his magic system works. For me, half the enjoyment of a magic system comes from it being mysterious and whimsical and me having to figure it out along the way. So him going - here's an Excel Sheet, learn it and then come back to read the story, sours my enjoyment of his magic systems. Tolkien's work is basically a tour guide through the Middle Earth. I found it to be really boring. Also, non-male characters matter so little they barely exist. As potential wife material. And from Abercrombie's work that I have read, there is not a smidgen of whimsy and warmth in his stories, so just not my style. And for the stories where I am in agreement with everyone would be One Piece and The Hunger Games. I do think that The Hunger Games were missing from Elle's list 😉
I tried wheel of times three times now and the furthest i got was chapter 12 in book 1. In those 12 chapters the author does not give me a single reason to care for any of the characters or what is happening to them, to the degree that i wouldn't mind if they all died and i got a different PoV. And Sanderson is a mixed bag for me. There are incredible moments in his books and the end of The Way of Kings felt absolutely amazing. But i just struggle so much with the Shallan plotline. Not that it is horrible or anything, but it just drags quite a bit for me.
Good thing about these kind of lists is the fact that it just that, the opinion of the person creating the list. It's fun to see how opinions differ. For example, The Rage of the Dragon is one of my favourite stories. The series currently is in my top three fantasy series next to the witcher series and the bloodsworn series. I totally understand the motive of Tau, the protag of rage. In a world where you've known nothing but oppression, once you get the power to fight back, it's understandable that you would desire vengeance and be full of rage to the point of being blinded by it. But of course with any negative feeling, there's always a price to pay once you start going too far, and we can see in the story that Tau is slowly paying for his actions. I think that's the story the Author is trying to tell- How far is too far?
Grace of Kings was a bit of a struggle for me. It was interesting, but very dense and I wanted more character development. I had heard so many great things about the sequel though and decided to give it a go - I am 2/3 of the way now through Wall of Storms and it has a ton more character development, and written with less detachment. I recommend trying the next one as I think you'll connect with it more.
For me, I don't get the love of The First Law Trilogy...Kept reading because I kept thinking it was going to get better, but I had to wait until the last 20/30% of the third book, ugh! I really enjoyed Glokta though. Did give the universe another shot and I loved Best Served Cold, so I've picked up Heroes and Red Country hopefully I love them as much as Best Served Cold, if so I'll move on to Age of Madness
If youve not read Jay Kristoff Empire of the Vampire, i loved it, I bought the second book but not yet read so i can only speak for the first one, but i love Kristoff. I liked Nevernight as well. Ive not read Mistborn but am going to get from library and try it, so many seem to love it so much. Happy Reading and great video
@@sandyokey7728 Yes, so happy to hear that, i love Jay Kristoff and he interacts with his readers alot too. That story just really transported me, i felt like i fell into the pages.
I DNF'd Tchaikovsky's Children of Time and I know that's a BookTube darling SF book. It's funny, I loved Jade City but as you were naming the characters I couldn't remember a thing about them... I also can't wait until Fury of the Gods (Bloodsworn trilogy) comes out. October 22nd!
I enjoyed Mistborn but the pacing is terrible. It just might not be for you. I think the second era of Mistborn and Stormlight Archive are paced better and are easier to love - plus Warbreaker and the Secret Projects.
Six of crows was SO boring to me 😭 I struggled to finish it for months. Worst of it is that I bought the sequel in physical before I started book 1 but I dont plan to continue... pisses me off lol
I LOVED the audio of Strange the Dreamer ❣️💯. I did not at all enjoy Mistborn. I pushed through but sold it the second I was finished. Now I hesitate to read Sanderson….🤷♀️
Sanderson has the kind of writing where you will either fall in love with it or find it incredibly boring. I haven't seen many people who fall in between.
I don’t understand why people like mistborn… I read the book and pushed through and it was meh 😅same to the grace of kings. I read murderbot and I just couldn’t stop. So much fun. I guess we all have different reading expectations.
I do not understand the massive hype that the Mistborn trilogy gets. I was so underwhelmed by the end and found most of the characters so one dimensional and boring. Ultimately just slightly above average for me. Also the fanbase you mentioned not handling someone disliking their favorite authors work has been Sanderson’s fanbase in my experience. It’s like they just cannot fathom that you wouldn’t like the same things as them and will either disregard your criticisms and label you an elitist contrarian or recommend a million other things by the author 😂
I was just googling yesterday about whether there was something new coming from Laini Taylor. It seems like maybe she handed in the draft of something earlier this year... so fingers crossed something is coming!
Have you read her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series? I loved it so much. I, too, am waiting for her next thing. I also love absolutely everything A.G. Howard has written, shes amazing!! Have a great day
The only surprise on this tier to me was The Tainted Cup cause I only picked it up after watching your glowing review of it. I did love it, it was a 5/5 for me but I don't recommend the audiobook, it made the fast pacing more of an issue than text would. I also picked up a physical copy of Legends and Lattes, which is an extremely rare thing for me, but then I never read it cause honestly....I'm not cozy vibes, I don't know what I was thinking.
I enjoyed WoT early on, the first 6 books, but after that and especially "the slog" of books 8-11 killed my desire for the series. Eventually I'll go back to finish it off. Soooo glad to finally see someone recognise Rage of Dragons as not a good book. I dont understand the love for it. All tell, no show, and no freakin' dragons?? Plus you nailed it, the lead is unlikeable (much as Rin is in The Poppy War, which i also didn't care for). The unlikeable characters in Abercrombie's books are at least intelligent.
Oh, I so feel you regarding Guns in the Dawn...unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the book for the main part (I liked it in the beginning then it decreased for me a lot). And I feel that everybode likes it so much and ranks it so high 😅
I agree, the main characters in Jade City are quite boring. I still think the villains were much more interesting. But the worst part is still the magic system IMO. I still haven't read book 2 and 3 but I heard they were better... 🤔
"At least I've got chicken." Ah, Leroy. 😂 Also, THANK YOU for Guns of the Dawn. I've tried to read it a couple of times, and I just can't get interested. I don't get it, either.
The library borrow the book and read it. It doesn't cost you anything, because everyone has different taste just enjoy the book your reading and if you don't like it ,it didn't cost you anything.
The comment type what you want and people read it. It doesn't cost you anything, because not everyone will read it, some will read your comment and reply, but if no one likes it, it didn't cost you anything.
Fourth Wing was released during a reading slump for me. It lifted me out of it and that boosted my opinion. I am a mood reader. The Will of the Many also gave me something fresh and new that I needed at the time of release. Please read "These Burning Stars" by Bethany Jacobs. It is her debut novel and is GREAT! The sequel comes out in November. You will like it. It is do underrated. Hey to Luna...🐕🐾
I read Fourth Wing too, during a time when my Mom had knee replacement and rehab facility for 3 weeks. Many trips back and forth to hospital and facility. It was an easy read for me to mentally escape. I loved the dragons!
Yes, I agree. It was what was needed at the time. Not taken critically ...just a new world to retreat too with dragons that you can pet and ride! 🐲I read it really early before the hype erupted.
I did not enjoy Jade city that much give it 3 stars but figured I’ll just continue maybe it gets better and it really does lol the best 2 books are god tier books for me now I’m scared to dnf because of it 😂
Good video. I went back and deleted what I originally wrote because I was doing what I complain about. Your tastes and application of your likes, /dislikes is all over the place. Also your preference for how you like things executed in books is...interesting, to say the least.. Entertaining video.
Not me out here absolutely questioning if I've been pronouncing Malazan wrong for years. Overall solid list, and don't really disagree with the rankings for the ones I've read.
It's so interesting to see that Jade City is a C for you and it's the favorite series for another RUclipsr I enjoy. But now I don't know if it's worth it for me (it doesn't sound that interesting).
Hey ! It’s been ages since I have watched your video, you have changed a bit !! I am trying to buy between these franchises, what’s your recommendation, please rate them according to you? 1. The Faithful and the Fallen. 2. War and Rose series. 3. The last war series. 4. The powder Mage trilogy.
How dare you disrespect Malazan! JK ;) I wonder how many of the books you’ve read. I find it utterly engrossing and I just started book 4. Erikson’s writing is just incredible to me to the point where I find it difficult to appreciate many other fantasy writers now.
I’m one of the few fantasy readers that did not really like The First Law. To me it’s vastly overrated. I did not like any of the characters. Could not have cared less about them. The finale was weak. The dialogue was often cringy. And to me, many of the characters didn’t feel well developed or would act in a contrary way to what I would expect based on how they were originally presented. I didn’t hate it but I was glad when it was over and it didn’t make me want to read anything else by Abercrombie.
I don't know if you're supposed to completely love the characters in Jade City. They're flawed, and those flaws have consequences because of their place in the society. That being said, I don't care much for Hilo either, despite loving the trilogy as a whole.
I didn't expect to like the trilogy as much as I did. Good characters are what engage me and I struggled to grow attached to these characters at first, but by the end I couldn't stop thinking about them. It's funny because if you ask me who my favorite is, I don't have an answer. Every main character has parts where I loved them, and other parts where I hated them. Their stories are very emotional and Fonda Lee writes emotions very well! They all feel very human, including the villain Ayt Mada. This story could have easily been written in Ayt's perspective and No Peak would be convincing villains.
I cannot wrap my head around it WoT being ranked so low. It's not my all time favourite fantasy series but objectively it's an epic piece of work. The world building is amazing, the complexity of magic system, the excellent writing, the numerous themes discussed in the books, references to real life religions, concepts, issues. It's epic in that sense. The series began being written many years before other works were even conceived and so many works were inspired by it so obviously there will be so many similar stories as WoT has had an immense influence on modern fantasy and everything that came afterwards so naturally there'll be loads of similar themes in other books when 30+ years have passed. I wouldn't say it's on the same level as LOTR but it's undeniable classic of the genre. Now, I can understand it's not for everyone. The sheer number of books in the series, if you're not hooked then it's too much of a commitment to complete the entire series but alike I'm not sure if your ranking is totally fair if you haven't read all of it (although I get it, we're talking about a year minimum to finish all the books and that's if you're super fast reader and read nothing else 😂). Well, anyway, it's interesting to see subjective rankings. I agree with Brandon Sanderson books being ranked so high but my ranking list would have been totally different to yours except that bit 😂
The main reason why I don't like a lot of these lists is that they are literally different from person to person. You love books that I don't like, and you hate books that I do like.
I'm reading the Will of the Many now and I am feeling it is hugely overrated. It suffers from one of my main gripes with modern fantasy, that being the replacement of themes and arguments from the author by magic systems. Will of the Many took 180 pages for the story to even get going, no villain introduced yet, the main character is entirely forgettable which is a problem since it's written in 1st person. Like you said, I'm disappointed so far that the idea of the masses giving their silent consent to the evils done by their rulers has been used thus far as nothing more than the basis of a magic system.
I've gotta say I disagree on Rage of Dragons - given the world they live in and the things going on, I think I understand the MCs recklessness and I thoroughly enjoyed the revenge arc. I get it's not everyone's thing though 🤷
I have dnf’d TWotM - it’s such a pretty book but man! It’s so tedious already! I’ll try again but the book itself has smaller font, it’s not a comfortable reading experience because it’s cumbersome and then I heard it’s super vague at the end- so I’m just going to wait and try again next year. 😄
Respectfully disagree about Jade City. Hilo isn't aways the most likeable, but he has so much growth over the series. Reading is subjective, I' m not gonna die on any hills, either😊.
Bout a third way thru the video, but for me, I don't much care for heavy politics and like school stuff. What's it called? Scholastic. No. Academia. Politics and academia. And that's in a lot of these.
Assassin’s Fate. Last book of RotE just really ruined the whole series for me. And honestly maybe a bit indecently angry. 😂. The entire waste of the Wit to shove the Skill down the throat of the readers when it was never really explained- I don’t mean that I need to know every detail but the entire series is set up for over 15 people who are using and searching for the origin of the Skill! And when the original magic - The Wit- is the first introduction to the world magic and was the initial reason why I and I’m sure many others-we’re so enamored with the series-basically vanished when it could have been utilized in so many ways. And the sheer lack of any growth of Fitz, the downward spiral of the Fool, the irrationality of text-message-like death announcements of MAJOR CHARACTERS and last but not least - the fact that even after we all were there, rooting for, crying for and spending time with a character who had been used by literally every single other character still alive at the end (except Bee & Nighteyes in as much we can say “alive”) - he STILL couldn’t have autonomy over his own “going away” party. Thank God for Nighteyes and Bee. Because literally every other character and the shoddy end of that series can go f… well I think you get my point. 😂😂😂 It’s why I loved Red Rising! I needed to root for someone the author writes as if they actually LIKE THEM and respect their readers. Ok ok. I’m good now. Phew. Had to get that off my chest. 🙌🏼😊😂
I'm reading Assassin's Quest right now. And I had to do a spoiler search to see Nighteyes' fate, because really, he's the best and I don't need to be sad about it. Yeah, Elliot said in a video that Fitz as a character lacks agency, and boy does he ever. So I guess I don't need to read more, although I read the Liveship Traders trilogy first and loved it.
@@Tokayd13 I think it's a great series. Not perfect, but unique and better written than most stuff from this decade. It is in a lot of top 10s for a reason. Nighteyes is awesome.... Burich, Chade, the fool all great too.
I liked the will of the many until the stupid ending, yeah rage of dragons is crap DNF, sorry but I don’t get the Brandon Sanderson love ‘WarBreaker’ is the only good book
Hi guys! Please help! I’m wanting to get back into fantasy and I want to jump back in to stormlight archive. Ive already read books 1 and 2, but it was a pretty long while ago. Not sure if I should just pick up book 3 and hope to get it, or re-read 1 and 2. Its just that they are sooo long, I’m quite little afraid that by the time I’m done 2 and 3, I’ll need a break again and I’ll never finish. What do you think? Do you guys ever take breaks from high fantasy?
I would re-read, depending on how long it's been since you read them. I defo take breaks and read diff genres, I find crime to be a nice break from the intricacies of high fantasy
Not clear if you read Jade War but it is pointless to evaluate The Green Bone Saga without reading Jade War. The same thing applies to The Dandelion Dynasty, The Wheel of Time, Sun Eater, and Red Rising.
I struggled with it. I'm an avid reader. I can read a 500 page book in a day if it holds my interest. I think the Final Empire took me about a week to finish 🫣. I read it maybe 2 months ago. I haven't read any other books from Sanderson but omg I struggled. I really want to get to Way of King's but I want to finish the 1st Mistborn trilogy, Elantris, Warbreaker, and some of the stories in Arcanum Unbounded before I read those but after the Final Empire I don't have the motivation
I liked it when I first read it. But, I tried to reread it a couple years ago and had to DNF because it was such a slog. It’s why I like to reread books I liked to see if they are truly enjoyable or was it just the story getting me through.
@@Kesy03Yes, I’m caught up on that series. I preferred the first 2 books. I remember Well of Ascension getting very dark but somehow having a more YA tone. I remember preferring it to The Final Empire (it was less boring), but I haven’t reread it yet.
My friend convinced me to read the fourth wing. He let me borrow his copy. A waste of several hours.
Totally agree on Six of Crows with the age thing, in my head I just decided they're in their 40s and disregarded their actual ages lol. Some in their 30s maybe. It's more reasonable that way 😅
I DNFed Six of Crows, i felt so alone when everyone else was raving about it
Ditto, it just reads too much like a basic YA novel to me. It wants to be like the Lies of Locke Lamora but falls horribly short in both characterization and world building.
The romance ended up making me dnf it. I found it annoying and sort of distracting, especially with how everyone got all nicely paired up. Kaz and Inej becoming obvious endgame really was the killer for me. I MUCH preferred them as a found family siblings dynamic. I also do in general tend to dislike romance b plots in fantasy and sci fi.
Though i have been wanting to give it a second try
I found your thoughts on Red Rising fascinating. I am personally in the "meh" camp for that one. I heard lots of good things but didn't really care for it. Unlikable main character and despite it being "action packed" I felt like nothing happened. It's a set up for such a large scale plot, and then it stays so small. I haven't picked up the second yet though, so I am curious if that will shift my perspective or will just make me drop the series altogether.
I also agree with Six of Crows. I had very high expectations that were not quite met, even though I did enjoy it. I'm currently reading Crooked Kingdom though and I'm realizing how happy I am to be back wit these characters, so Six of Crows definitely did something right!
Murderbot is S tier for me personally. That's another one where being with the characters just makes me happy. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Maybe I am more of a character reader than I realized lol
Plenty more on the list I haven't gotten around to yet, so we'll see how I line up with you once I get to them :)
definitely felt like he pulled shit out of his ass, especially further in the series
@@2185wisai I think in large part that was the point. He was smart, strong, etc but most importantly, he was daring. He did things no one else would think to do because it was risky. That's how he would come out on top (if you're talking about Red Rising that is).
I feel so much better about putting Red Rising down for now. 😊
I’d say the second and third are better than the first book. I found them to be on that “bigger scale” you were talking about. So you should definitely give it a chance.
@@fortunatus1 i mean please give us some foreshadowing at least, like the lorn reveal, and breath of stone was a straight asspull ngl
Thank you for validating my feelings on Jade City. I was so bored by everything in the book that I DNFed it and do not get the hype.
I dnf'd it too
Hey! This is the first one of your videos that I have seen and I'm so glad I watched it. I haven't read most of these books, but I love your way of reviewing them! Also, it is so refreshing to see how respectful you are when you dislike a book.
Really hope you continue on with the Dandelion Dynasty! Book 1 feels a lot different than the rest, and based on the thoughts you shared, I think you will love the following novels in the series
I also disliked Jade City because of the same reason :D these characters were so blank!!
I am with you on Will of the Many. Felt like Hunger Games minus Katniss or anyone else to care about! But Babel I adored and think of it often.
I was very worried that you weren't going to like stormlight. I have been recently suggested videos about people who don't like the series. So thank you! You have also convinced my to start a series by Joe Abercrombie. I haven't had a chance yet. Looks like it will be my next series after wind and truth comes out.
Legends and Lattes mystifies me. The premise and the cover do nothing for me and I will never read it because I know it is not for me.
I have to agree. Legends was just a meh for me. Also, and I hate to say it here, but I DNFd The Spell Shop. I thought it was boring and I just didn’t care. Although the spider plant was hilarious!
I should have hated Legends and Lattes based on the premise and cover, but I loved it. It calmed and soothed parts of me I didn’t know I needed to be calmed and soothed. And it was a quick and easy read too.
Just finished The Tainted Cup last night. Loved it. Can't wait for book two.
I'm 100% with you about Jade City. Everyone raves about it, but I was completely underwhelmed and didn't like or care about the characters at all.
For me, the characters were amazing, the journey of character growth between the 3 books is delightful, but i understand why people don't like green bone saga. The tone is weird something, the pacing is kind of awful in the first book and Hilo is an idiot hahaha
@@camologeekLoved the Jade Trilogy. Thought it was different and fresh.
Please read the 3 books, you will care
@@juanjerubin1713 I am planning on at least giving the next book a shot as part of my goal to finish up as many of my unfinished series as I can before the end of the year
@@MsNikkyD Jade Legacy it´s amazing
Booktube convinced me that The Gentleman Bastards was an incredible book and I found it.. ok. I was so relieved to find your review of it and that at least one of the book tubers I watch was also not enthralled by it. Another one booktube got me to watch which I found disappointing was Red Sister.
Same, I read the first book to Gentleman Bastards and quit halfway through. Put me in a reading slump.
I didn’t like Jade City, and at the time I read it it felt like everybody on RUclips loved it. I’m glad to see I’m not alone now tho! Haha.
Normally I agree with you about not liking the “with the gods” feeling but with Grace of Kings it actually worked for me, to where I ended up feeling like I was feeling similarly to them and rooting for certain chess piece players.
Strange the Dreamer is probably my all time favorite book at this point in my life ❤
I have read jade city and jade war and I struggled to get through them. Elliot really sums it up well with how it sounds like I should like it but I just really have a hard time with the characters and the way they all act and their choices. Idk, there’s so much anger and hate and I’m not the fondest of the drug aspect and the seedy underbelly which is weird I guess because I loved six of crows.
Can’t wait to start strange the dreamer! I bought it last month and it’s next up in my reading schedule after I finish a few books this month!
I DNFed "Babel". The magic system didn't work for me. I'm a linguist, a conlanger, a worldbuilder, and aspiring author, and I just saw too many holes with what what supposed to be a very central part of the story.
The subtlety between match-pairs was cool. Where it falls apart is: "You need to be able to think in a language-to live and breathe it, not just recognize it as a smattering of letters on a page. This is also why invented languages will never work, and why ancient languages like Old English have lost their effect."
Esperanto is a conlang, and invented language, is the first language of an estimated 2,000 people. Are they not "living and breathing" it? Could someone not revive a dead language and do the same? Is Kuang hinting more at fluency? What is the metric of making one fluent? What dialect matters? Does dialect play a role, or is it only the perfectly thought up but never spoken "standard" of a language?
She lost me there. If that would have been kept out, I'd have kept going, but my suspension of reality died. I could see it not affecting most, though, and I'm envious of you 😂
What makes a book/series a ‘book tube’ darling?
I ask because, regardless of ranking, Wheel of Time, seems to be more of an established work (older, well-known long before book tube, considered a classic). Again, not challenging the ranking, just what’s included.
I’m starting strange the dreamer next month and I’m so excited! I’m finishing map of the other lands and red rising this month
i would put red raising so much lower, c at best. And tainted cup much higher
Jade City, finally someone agree with me 😂 Hated it
Im reading bone smith for pctover thanks to your previous videos
Oh my God, starting off with GoK and WotM in the middle has triggered me 😂 both were top tier books for me
It was funny when you talked about Six of Crows and their ages. I had a similar feeling about Red Rising. I rated sort of mid and plan to continue on with the series, but I was sitting and thinking ... that was what I thought of Red Rising :) Thanks for your always great reviews.
Jade City was an ok book for me, but the sequels were just so strong. A book I really do not get the hype about is Twelve Kings. Whenever people talk about how amazing that series is, I get so confused.
I totally feel like the odd one out regarding Brando Sando, Tolkien and I guess to some degree Joe Abercrombie. I dnf-ed The Final Empire and I hated Kelsier so much that I genuinely wanted to throw the book against the wall, which has never happened to me up until that point. He makes trouble for the powerless and then has the gall to mock them while throwing them under the bus and using them as a shield at the same time. Utterly despicable. I absolutely don't understand why people rave about him. And I also don't like Sanderson basically giving you a spreadsheet of exactly how his magic system works. For me, half the enjoyment of a magic system comes from it being mysterious and whimsical and me having to figure it out along the way. So him going - here's an Excel Sheet, learn it and then come back to read the story, sours my enjoyment of his magic systems.
Tolkien's work is basically a tour guide through the Middle Earth. I found it to be really boring. Also, non-male characters matter so little they barely exist. As potential wife material.
And from Abercrombie's work that I have read, there is not a smidgen of whimsy and warmth in his stories, so just not my style.
And for the stories where I am in agreement with everyone would be One Piece and The Hunger Games. I do think that The Hunger Games were missing from Elle's list 😉
I tried wheel of times three times now and the furthest i got was chapter 12 in book 1. In those 12 chapters the author does not give me a single reason to care for any of the characters or what is happening to them, to the degree that i wouldn't mind if they all died and i got a different PoV. And Sanderson is a mixed bag for me. There are incredible moments in his books and the end of The Way of Kings felt absolutely amazing. But i just struggle so much with the Shallan plotline. Not that it is horrible or anything, but it just drags quite a bit for me.
Good thing about these kind of lists is the fact that it just that, the opinion of the person creating the list. It's fun to see how opinions differ. For example, The Rage of the Dragon is one of my favourite stories. The series currently is in my top three fantasy series next to the witcher series and the bloodsworn series. I totally understand the motive of Tau, the protag of rage. In a world where you've known nothing but oppression, once you get the power to fight back, it's understandable that you would desire vengeance and be full of rage to the point of being blinded by it. But of course with any negative feeling, there's always a price to pay once you start going too far, and we can see in the story that Tau is slowly paying for his actions. I think that's the story the Author is trying to tell- How far is too far?
I completely agree, I find Tau fascinating and the story engaging and exciting, and The Rage of Dragons is in my top 3 as well.
Grace of Kings was a bit of a struggle for me. It was interesting, but very dense and I wanted more character development. I had heard so many great things about the sequel though and decided to give it a go - I am 2/3 of the way now through Wall of Storms and it has a ton more character development, and written with less detachment. I recommend trying the next one as I think you'll connect with it more.
For me, I don't get the love of The First Law Trilogy...Kept reading because I kept thinking it was going to get better, but I had to wait until the last 20/30% of the third book, ugh! I really enjoyed Glokta though. Did give the universe another shot and I loved Best Served Cold, so I've picked up Heroes and Red Country hopefully I love them as much as Best Served Cold, if so I'll move on to Age of Madness
Same. I read a lot fantasy and besides Glotka thought it was meh at best. Certain scenes in the first book had me actually rolling my eyes.
If you like the grit and humor of Joe Abercrombie I think 'The Blacktongue Thief' by Christopher Buehlman tickles a lot of the same fancies.
Haha I went to see how much it cost on kindle, only to find I already own Blacktongue Thief! So I will try to start on that soon.
If youve not read Jay Kristoff Empire of the Vampire, i loved it, I bought the second book but not yet read so i can only speak for the first one, but i love Kristoff. I liked Nevernight as well. Ive not read Mistborn but am going to get from library and try it, so many seem to love it so much. Happy Reading and great video
Empire of the Damned is just as good, if not better, than EotV!🖤
@@sandyokey7728 Yes, so happy to hear that, i love Jay Kristoff and he interacts with his readers alot too. That story just really transported me, i felt like i fell into the pages.
Girl!!! I'm also in the 'Didn't like Guns of the Dawn' club!!!
Agree on Grace of Kings and his writing 😭 it’s so detached it doesn’t help me to like the characters sadly
I DNF'd Tchaikovsky's Children of Time and I know that's a BookTube darling SF book. It's funny, I loved Jade City but as you were naming the characters I couldn't remember a thing about them...
I also can't wait until Fury of the Gods (Bloodsworn trilogy) comes out. October 22nd!
I'm still trying to slog through Mistborn. Am I just not getting it? 😅
I am terribly underwhelmed by Sanderson myself. His writing always felt paint-by-numbers to me. I gave up on him years ago.
I enjoyed Mistborn but the pacing is terrible. It just might not be for you. I think the second era of Mistborn and Stormlight Archive are paced better and are easier to love - plus Warbreaker and the Secret Projects.
@@cj1986x I found Mistborn to be okay. The only book I’ve loved by Sanderson is Edgedancer. I was terribly disappointed by The Way of Kings.
Mistborn is not a great book. I didn’t get the hype either. Reading is subjective 😂
Six of crows was SO boring to me 😭 I struggled to finish it for months. Worst of it is that I bought the sequel in physical before I started book 1 but I dont plan to continue... pisses me off lol
The Grace of Kings, like The Fate of The Fallen & The Wheel of Time, starts slow but gets faster and better later on.
I both enjoyed the dandelion dynasty and had zero desire to continue after book 2 🤷🏼♂️
I LOVED the audio of Strange the Dreamer ❣️💯. I did not at all enjoy Mistborn. I pushed through but sold it the second I was finished. Now I hesitate to read Sanderson….🤷♀️
Mistborn was painful! I wanted to like it because I’ve heard so many people rave about it, but I agree with you, it just wasn’t it!
Agree about Mistborn, I don’t understand the hype and will not go on with the series. The end was good but that was it.
Sanderson has the kind of writing where you will either fall in love with it or find it incredibly boring. I haven't seen many people who fall in between.
I lovedddd Stormlight and then went to read Mistborn and found it to be very mid for me.
I don’t understand why people like mistborn… I read the book and pushed through and it was meh 😅same to the grace of kings. I read murderbot and I just couldn’t stop. So much fun. I guess we all have different reading expectations.
I do not understand the massive hype that the Mistborn trilogy gets. I was so underwhelmed by the end and found most of the characters so one dimensional and boring. Ultimately just slightly above average for me.
Also the fanbase you mentioned not handling someone disliking their favorite authors work has been Sanderson’s fanbase in my experience. It’s like they just cannot fathom that you wouldn’t like the same things as them and will either disregard your criticisms and label you an elitist contrarian or recommend a million other things by the author 😂
I was just googling yesterday about whether there was something new coming from Laini Taylor. It seems like maybe she handed in the draft of something earlier this year... so fingers crossed something is coming!
Have you read her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series? I loved it so much. I, too, am waiting for her next thing. I also love absolutely everything A.G. Howard has written, shes amazing!! Have a great day
The only surprise on this tier to me was The Tainted Cup cause I only picked it up after watching your glowing review of it. I did love it, it was a 5/5 for me but I don't recommend the audiobook, it made the fast pacing more of an issue than text would.
I also picked up a physical copy of Legends and Lattes, which is an extremely rare thing for me, but then I never read it cause honestly....I'm not cozy vibes, I don't know what I was thinking.
I enjoyed WoT early on, the first 6 books, but after that and especially "the slog" of books 8-11 killed my desire for the series. Eventually I'll go back to finish it off.
Soooo glad to finally see someone recognise Rage of Dragons as not a good book. I dont understand the love for it. All tell, no show, and no freakin' dragons?? Plus you nailed it, the lead is unlikeable (much as Rin is in The Poppy War, which i also didn't care for). The unlikeable characters in Abercrombie's books are at least intelligent.
I’d recommend “we are the dead” by mike shack
Oh, I so feel you regarding Guns in the Dawn...unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the book for the main part (I liked it in the beginning then it decreased for me a lot). And I feel that everybode likes it so much and ranks it so high 😅
agree with most of the list. I am wondering what your opinion is of Name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss?
I agree, the main characters in Jade City are quite boring. I still think the villains were much more interesting. But the worst part is still the magic system IMO. I still haven't read book 2 and 3 but I heard they were better... 🤔
Off topic but i saw Richard Swan has a new book coming next year as well as R.S Ford Engines of War :)
"At least I've got chicken." Ah, Leroy. 😂 Also, THANK YOU for Guns of the Dawn. I've tried to read it a couple of times, and I just can't get interested. I don't get it, either.
Had the opposite reaction, Loved The Grace of Kings, and DNFed 2nd.
The library borrow the book and read it. It doesn't cost you anything, because everyone has different taste just enjoy the book your reading and if you don't like it ,it didn't cost you anything.
The comment type what you want and people read it. It doesn't cost you anything, because not everyone will read it, some will read your comment and reply, but if no one likes it, it didn't cost you anything.
Lol at “she’s so dumb” 😂 I get it though 30:59
I really want to read red rising but I’ve been putting it off so hard 🥲
Fourth Wing was released during a reading slump for me. It lifted me out of it and that boosted my opinion. I am a mood reader. The Will of the Many also gave me something fresh and new that I needed at the time of release. Please read "These Burning Stars" by Bethany Jacobs. It is her debut novel and is GREAT! The sequel comes out in November. You will like it. It is do underrated. Hey to Luna...🐕🐾
I read Fourth Wing too, during a time when my Mom had knee replacement and rehab facility for 3 weeks. Many trips back and forth to hospital and facility. It was an easy read for me to mentally escape. I loved the dragons!
Yes, I agree. It was what was needed at the time. Not taken critically ...just a new world to retreat too with dragons that you can pet and ride! 🐲I read it really early before the hype erupted.
I did not enjoy Jade city that much give it 3 stars but figured I’ll just continue maybe it gets better and it really does lol the best 2 books are god tier books for me now I’m scared to dnf because of it 😂
Good video. I went back and deleted what I originally wrote because I was doing what I complain about. Your tastes and application of your likes, /dislikes is all over the place. Also your preference for how you like things executed in books is...interesting, to say the least.. Entertaining video.
Not me out here absolutely questioning if I've been pronouncing Malazan wrong for years. Overall solid list, and don't really disagree with the rankings for the ones I've read.
It's so interesting to see that Jade City is a C for you and it's the favorite series for another RUclipsr I enjoy. But now I don't know if it's worth it for me (it doesn't sound that interesting).
It is definitely not for everyone. It takes an adjustment for Fonda Lee’s style, but for me, I loved it!
Iron Gold would be a D for me, man that book was a slog. I liked pretty much every other book and Dark Age was a big step up.
Hey ! It’s been ages since I have watched your video, you have changed a bit !!
I am trying to buy between these franchises, what’s your recommendation, please rate them according to you?
1. The Faithful and the Fallen.
2. War and Rose series.
3. The last war series.
4. The powder Mage trilogy.
How dare you disrespect Malazan! JK ;) I wonder how many of the books you’ve read. I find it utterly engrossing and I just started book 4. Erikson’s writing is just incredible to me to the point where I find it difficult to appreciate many other fantasy writers now.
peak fantasy right there boy/girl !
I’m one of the few fantasy readers that did not really like The First Law. To me it’s vastly overrated. I did not like any of the characters. Could not have cared less about them. The finale was weak. The dialogue was often cringy. And to me, many of the characters didn’t feel well developed or would act in a contrary way to what I would expect based on how they were originally presented. I didn’t hate it but I was glad when it was over and it didn’t make me want to read anything else by Abercrombie.
100% agree... I did like Glotka... but thought especially the first book was poor... and even had me rolling my eyes a good bit.
I don't know if you're supposed to completely love the characters in Jade City. They're flawed, and those flaws have consequences because of their place in the society. That being said, I don't care much for Hilo either, despite loving the trilogy as a whole.
I didn't expect to like the trilogy as much as I did. Good characters are what engage me and I struggled to grow attached to these characters at first, but by the end I couldn't stop thinking about them. It's funny because if you ask me who my favorite is, I don't have an answer. Every main character has parts where I loved them, and other parts where I hated them. Their stories are very emotional and Fonda Lee writes emotions very well! They all feel very human, including the villain Ayt Mada. This story could have easily been written in Ayt's perspective and No Peak would be convincing villains.
I cannot wrap my head around it WoT being ranked so low. It's not my all time favourite fantasy series but objectively it's an epic piece of work. The world building is amazing, the complexity of magic system, the excellent writing, the numerous themes discussed in the books, references to real life religions, concepts, issues. It's epic in that sense. The series began being written many years before other works were even conceived and so many works were inspired by it so obviously there will be so many similar stories as WoT has had an immense influence on modern fantasy and everything that came afterwards so naturally there'll be loads of similar themes in other books when 30+ years have passed. I wouldn't say it's on the same level as LOTR but it's undeniable classic of the genre.
Now, I can understand it's not for everyone. The sheer number of books in the series, if you're not hooked then it's too much of a commitment to complete the entire series but alike I'm not sure if your ranking is totally fair if you haven't read all of it (although I get it, we're talking about a year minimum to finish all the books and that's if you're super fast reader and read nothing else 😂).
Well, anyway, it's interesting to see subjective rankings. I agree with Brandon Sanderson books being ranked so high but my ranking list would have been totally different to yours except that bit 😂
The main reason why I don't like a lot of these lists is that they are literally different from person to person. You love books that I don't like, and you hate books that I do like.
I'm reading the Will of the Many now and I am feeling it is hugely overrated. It suffers from one of my main gripes with modern fantasy, that being the replacement of themes and arguments from the author by magic systems.
Will of the Many took 180 pages for the story to even get going, no villain introduced yet, the main character is entirely forgettable which is a problem since it's written in 1st person. Like you said, I'm disappointed so far that the idea of the masses giving their silent consent to the evils done by their rulers has been used thus far as nothing more than the basis of a magic system.
Have you read M L Wang's Blood Over Bright Haven?
I got to book 6 in WoT and just. didnt. care. anymore.
If you slogged on through you would have moved past not caring to actively despising Rand. Ugh. Insufferable.
I've gotta say I disagree on Rage of Dragons - given the world they live in and the things going on, I think I understand the MCs recklessness and I thoroughly enjoyed the revenge arc. I get it's not everyone's thing though 🤷
OMG YES! I so agree with The Will of the Many! I just could not stand the MC. Oh and Guns of the Dawn as well!
I have dnf’d TWotM - it’s such a pretty book but man! It’s so tedious already! I’ll try again but the book itself has smaller font, it’s not a comfortable reading experience because it’s cumbersome and then I heard it’s super vague at the end- so I’m just going to wait and try again next year. 😄
Storm light archive and Mistborn are a B for me.
This video is not at all what i expected given the title. Heh. I suspect y'all know what I mean. ;)
Respectfully disagree about Jade City. Hilo isn't aways the most likeable, but he has so much growth over the series. Reading is subjective, I' m not gonna die on any hills, either😊.
I love these videos bc I value your opinion! 💟💟
Bout a third way thru the video, but for me, I don't much care for heavy politics and like school stuff. What's it called? Scholastic. No. Academia. Politics and academia. And that's in a lot of these.
I feel I'm in the minority when it comes to liking the original Red Rising trilogy over the second trilogy. Haha!
Me too! It was my medicine after the finishing Realm of the Elderlings series. (Hated the ending. And I really needed an intelligent protagonist! 😂)
have you read laine taylor first trilogy ?
I really didn’t like the rage of dragons. The first one was at least is binge worthy, the second one is really not worth it.
Assassin’s Fate. Last book of RotE just really ruined the whole series for me. And honestly maybe a bit indecently angry. 😂. The entire waste of the Wit to shove the Skill down the throat of the readers when it was never really explained- I don’t mean that I need to know every detail but the entire series is set up for over 15 people who are using and searching for the origin of the Skill!
And when the original magic - The Wit- is the first introduction to the world magic and was the initial reason why I and I’m sure many others-we’re so enamored with the series-basically vanished when it could have been utilized in so many ways.
And the sheer lack of any growth of Fitz, the downward spiral of the Fool, the irrationality of text-message-like death announcements of MAJOR CHARACTERS and last but not least - the fact that even after we all were there, rooting for, crying for and spending time with a character who had been used by literally every single other character still alive at the end (except Bee & Nighteyes in as much we can say “alive”) - he STILL couldn’t have autonomy over his own “going away” party.
Thank God for Nighteyes and Bee. Because literally every other character and the shoddy end of that series can go f… well I think you get my point. 😂😂😂
It’s why I loved Red Rising! I needed to root for someone the author writes as if they actually LIKE THEM and respect their readers.
Ok ok. I’m good now. Phew. Had to get that off my chest. 🙌🏼😊😂
I'm reading Assassin's Quest right now. And I had to do a spoiler search to see Nighteyes' fate, because really, he's the best and I don't need to be sad about it. Yeah, Elliot said in a video that Fitz as a character lacks agency, and boy does he ever. So I guess I don't need to read more, although I read the Liveship Traders trilogy first and loved it.
@@Tokayd13 I think it's a great series. Not perfect, but unique and better written than most stuff from this decade. It is in a lot of top 10s for a reason. Nighteyes is awesome.... Burich, Chade, the fool all great too.
Great Video!
I liked the will of the many until the stupid ending, yeah rage of dragons is crap DNF, sorry but I don’t get the Brandon Sanderson love ‘WarBreaker’ is the only good book
Breathe Dustin breathe, this man has just posted 3 things that make you want to rage, breathe.
@@DustinHarrisWHBC😂😂😂
Brandon Sanderson is going down in history as one of the best.
Hi guys! Please help! I’m wanting to get back into fantasy and I want to jump back in to stormlight archive. Ive already read books 1 and 2, but it was a pretty long while ago. Not sure if I should just pick up book 3 and hope to get it, or re-read 1 and 2. Its just that they are sooo long, I’m quite little afraid that by the time I’m done 2 and 3, I’ll need a break again and I’ll never finish. What do you think? Do you guys ever take breaks from high fantasy?
I would re-read, depending on how long it's been since you read them. I defo take breaks and read diff genres, I find crime to be a nice break from the intricacies of high fantasy
I'd look for a summary, time is precious and fleeting.
My kind of video 🤩
🕷️🖤🕷️🖤🕷️🖤🕷️🖤🕷️🖤🕷️
I DNF'd One Dark Window. I do not understand. It was so boring!!
My favorite Dowry blood love vampire books 🤎📖📚📚📚📖🎃🎃🎃📖👻🖤🖤🧡❤️🍂📙📙📙📚📚📖🎃🎃📖👻🖤🖤🧡❤️🍂🍃🍃🎃📖👻📚📖📖📚📙📙📙🖤🖤📚📚👻📖🎃🍃🍃❤️🖤📙📙🧡❤️🍂🍃🎃📖📚📚📚
Not clear if you read Jade War but it is pointless to evaluate The Green Bone Saga without reading Jade War. The same thing applies to The Dandelion Dynasty, The Wheel of Time, Sun Eater, and Red Rising.
Grace of kings... Mid????
Zomg
for me The will of many is soooo overrated, it repeats itself so many times.
DNFed Eye of the world cause omg it was so boring
I didn't like the final empire AT ALL. I feel like an odd man out 😅
I struggled with it. I'm an avid reader. I can read a 500 page book in a day if it holds my interest. I think the Final Empire took me about a week to finish 🫣. I read it maybe 2 months ago. I haven't read any other books from Sanderson but omg I struggled. I really want to get to Way of King's but I want to finish the 1st Mistborn trilogy, Elantris, Warbreaker, and some of the stories in Arcanum Unbounded before I read those but after the Final Empire I don't have the motivation
I will say I enjoyed the ending..
I liked it when I first read it. But, I tried to reread it a couple years ago and had to DNF because it was such a slog. It’s why I like to reread books I liked to see if they are truly enjoyable or was it just the story getting me through.
@LakaciaLloyd have you read the Stormlight Archive's? I need some type of motivation to get me to read Well of Ascension
@@Kesy03Yes, I’m caught up on that series. I preferred the first 2 books. I remember Well of Ascension getting very dark but somehow having a more YA tone. I remember preferring it to The Final Empire (it was less boring), but I haven’t reread it yet.
You hate so many of the books i love....maybe thats why i dont read your recommended books bit i still watch your videos because i like you talking 😂
Have you read ‘Fourth Wing’ it’s brilliant
I luv the sword catcher but nobody talks about it
Tuned in to see if I’m a darling…. Saw “popular and highly recommended”…. So definitely not me.
I was so excited to read The Blade Itself because everyone seems to love the series, but I didn’t like it… 🫣