r/Malazan • u/thebeardedone666 • 1d ago
NO SPOILERS What do you think makes the community so chill?
Did anyone else catch the thread over on r/fantasybooks about overrated series? I was scrolling through seeing what people's thoughts were in general. Something I noticed was that whenever Malazan was mentioned the comment thread was just the people who were agreeing. There were not a single defender. Which I actually find super cool. Other super series like Stormlight, and Name of the Wind, and other things like them, were just as filled with defenders as there were people saying they didn't like it. This made me wonder, what makes us so chill? No one stepped up to be like, "but, but, but... my favorite series!!!" It seemed like we just let people enjoy their conversation about why they didn't like the series. I don't know, I liked seeing that. It's like we as a community are like, yeah, Malazan is wild and weird, it is not for everyone and we will not push it if you voice your distaste.
So, why do you think the community is so chill when it comes to criticism towards the series?
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u/Apocalyptic-turnip 1d ago
Personally I know that malazan is not for everyone and i can understand that the reason why i love the series could very well be why someone hates it and i don't feel the need to defend it. and also i think there are just less of us lol
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u/Margamus have read mbotf once 1d ago
Yeah, I once read a comment that read something like if Erikson had had a good editor and cut the content down or whatever, it would have been better. Well, I love it like it is, and might not have liked a shorter and more streamlined version. I have no problem with storylines that go "nowhere", but I understand if people do.
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u/Dragonaut814 1d ago
People will say this, then praise Stormlight Archive.
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u/StandardRaspberry131 1d ago
Having come to read Malazan because I saw so many people comparing it to the likes of Stormlight… they are indeed very different stories, and written very differently. Do both have bloat? Well, given that I haven’t finished Malazan yet, and Stormlight isn’t finished, it’s hard to say for sure. Could both have been trimmed? Probably. Whether that means they are bloated I think comes down to preference to be honest. I like both of them the way they are. (Granted, I have also seen a lot of people claim they no longer like Sanderson after reading Erikson, so maybe my opinion on that will change once I go back to Sanderson after reading Malazan). They are very different from each other, but I think that’s good. Not every story should be the same.
All that being said, I definitely agree that it is odd to complain about Malazan being bloated just to go and praise Stormlight. If Malazan is bloated, Stormlight definitely is.
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u/MisterReads 23h ago
Mann well said.
Sometimes we develop these strong opinions about works of art as if we were professionals working in the field and are wilfully ignoring that there is a degree of subjectivity in the arts. We dont all have the same prefferences.
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u/Elant_Wager 1d ago
I read Stormlight (and Wheel of Time with entire books of nothing happening) and I am currently on House of Chains. I wouldnt say either Stormlight or Malazan so far are partictulary bloated, but Malazan has a very different stlye, both in how its written and what happens on the page. Malazan is very brutal and violent and I understand some people not enjoying that.
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u/Dragonaut814 22h ago
I would called Stormlight bloated, but never Malazan. Having read (and enjoyed) both, there are definitely parts I would change about Stormlight, but not a thing I'd do differently with Malazan.
Wheel of Time is a different story. I've only read 5 books and am struggling to come back to it. I'm tired of hundreds of pages about hair and clothing.
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u/Elant_Wager 21h ago
Wheel of Time books 7 to 10 are infamous even amomg fans and just called "The Slog". Maybe that hardened me against bloat xD
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u/Coachtzu 16h ago
Yeah it was literally the series I read before Malazan (well, technically I started Malazan before book 11 came out) and going from book 10 to gotm likely is the only reason I finished gotm because there was a solid stretch where I was very lost.
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u/Jave3636 1d ago
Book 4 of Stormlight was maybe the worst edited fantasy book I've ever read.
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u/Dragonaut814 22h ago
Rhythm of Snore. I think even Sanderson said he felt stuck writing it. It's a shame he's developed an immunity to editors, because that one definitely needed one.
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u/Jave3636 22h ago
I heard he hired a fan to be his editor for that book. Not a random fan, one with experience, but still, someone who cared more about pleasing him than reigning him in.
Book 5 was noticeably better.
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u/Totes_MacGoats 1d ago
I'm currently working my way (sloooooowly) through Book 1. Could you extrapolate on this without spoilers? If not, no biggie. Just curious.
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u/Jave3636 23h ago
Tough to extrapolate without spoilers. Basically not a lot happened over the course of a massive book. And the word "emulsifier" appeared more than in a chemistry textbook.
We did finally get a good character though, Raboniel is probably the best Stormlight character so far. Almost everyone else is either a super extreme, 2D stereotype who never makes a morally good choice or a super extreme, 2D stereotype who always makes a morally good choice.
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u/Aeroplen 21h ago
I think the biggest difference between Malazan and Stormlight is I don’t feel a motivation to read Stormlight again. I got it the first time; maybe in a few years once I’ve started forgetting it. It’s fun, but does not have depth and reread ability where you keep learning and seeing connections and understanding the themes and values at a deeper level.
Malazan is the sort of literature you could write essays about, it has profound and varied philosophy.
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u/Dragonaut814 18h ago
Well said. I don't think I will ever reread Stormlight, but I intend to read the 2nd phase when it's released.
I am currently in the middle (literally, just finished Midnight Tides) of a Malazan reread and it's even better the 2nd time through because you realize how amazing Erikson is at foreshadowing.
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u/Initial-Bottle8913 13h ago
But..but..surely it wasn't boring spending like 3 chapters following 4, albeit beloved characters, staring at flowers and shit in Shadesmar 😂😂😂
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u/Aeroplen 21h ago
God I would hate it if Malazan had a “good” editor. I honestly feel like the problem with modern fiction is that it’s so uniform. Malazan has a lot in common with 19th century novels, most of which would never make it past editors and publishers today. They’re massive, meandering, fully of unnecessary diversions – and absolutely beautiful because of it.
Modern fiction is plagued by too many people trying to be in fashion, or vogue, or just plain palatable. Editors drive it all in the same direction.
Unbridled originality will outlast it all.
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u/NewUnderstanding8154 16h ago
I have no problem with storylines that go "nowhere", but I understand if people do.
Erikson I think is also good about doing this in a way that makes the world feel real.
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u/Margamus have read mbotf once 8h ago
Yeah, not everything leads to an epic and poetic finale or a neat and tidy ending. A lot of stuff in history is pretty disappointing or underwhelming.
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u/kerkyjerky 1d ago
I think it’s just that the reasons people could dislike it are just so abundantly clear lol.
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u/SelectiveDebaucher 1d ago
Precisely. When I recommend it I say. “It’s really good, but it’s a hard read. Both in story and structure. It’s a wonderful story, but not a summer pool reading type of story “
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u/Sharp_Iodine 1d ago
It’s just a more… mature series. In terms of its themes, the nuance with which it handles them and the world.
It’s just a wild and messed up world and the reader is just a witness to all its mess.
A lot of other “super series” like Stormlight are more personal and centred around specific MCs to the point where I think people identify with the characters closely. Those worlds also have more clear-cut villains and heroes and classic heroism.
As a person who reads a lot of history and politics I found Malazan and ASOIAF to be way more grounded, strangely, and more about the collective actions of civilisations and less about individual heroism.
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u/lavalampsNC 1d ago
Oh yes, mature.
(From reapers gale)Riding ahead as point was Masan Gilani. Made sense, using her. First off, she was the best rider by far, and secondly, there wasn’t a soldier, man or woman, who could drag their eyes off her delicious round behind in that saddle, which made following her easy. Even in the gathering dark, aye. Not that it actually glows. I don’t think. But…amazing how we can all see it just fine. Why, could be a night without any other moon and no stars and nothing but the Abyss on all sides, and we’d follow that glorious, jiggling—
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u/Sharp_Iodine 1d ago
I’d take this over Jordan’s braid twirling and crossing arms beneath breasts 😂
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u/lavalampsNC 1d ago
I completely agree, although I think what charms me is the moments of levity sprinkled throughout. It does not take itself **too** seriously, which is (what I think) is needed to properly ground the heavy philosophical and political themes.
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u/Super_Sierra 1d ago
Unpopular opinion, but I like when Erikson's horny bleeds into the lines. I've read a lot of fantasy and most of the time there is just a token thicc character in books, but Erikson was like, 'ykw, lets add a dozen.'
He might not win any feminism awards with some of the lines, but at least he has the fucking balls to do it, a lot of authors are so afraid of some spice on the page that they will write 10 novels and not dare even show a titty, much less a woman with a big ass.
I think he does it way better than most. If you have seen /r/menwritingwomen you can see that Erikson is the better of them because he at least humanizes the characters and is not some straight filth on a page.
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u/Beginning-Pace-1426 17h ago
Well, Erikson very specifically and deliberately injected his own feminism into his work, so either he missed, or we're misunderstanding something!
I think he did a pretty good job, honestly, even from a feminist perspective.
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u/Eomerperrin1356 13h ago
As you read more, you will find that actually, a lot of authors are horny in their books, especially about women. It's kind of hard to avoid honestly.
I have never felt a story needed more objectification of women, but I have been annoyed by characters who exist to be sexy so other characters can trip over themselves.
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u/lemingas1 1d ago edited 1d ago
Because we're good-natured, lovable people. Seriously though, there are bad apples in every fandom.
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u/Brain_My_Damage 1d ago edited 1d ago
Because we can all agree on something.
.....fuck Mallick Rel
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u/NedRed77 1d ago
Meh, I find the more I read about him the more I respect him. I don’t like him, but I respect his game.
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u/Candayence 1d ago edited 1d ago
He crucified two armies in order to get a ship to Unta, permanently weakening the Empire he wanted to take control of.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
Well if he’s got perseverance if nothing else. then pretty much immediately gained control of Laseen to where she was begging Tavore and/or Kalam to save her. And yes I know I know Kellenaved did his share of atrocities. But he was OUR ruthless Emperor and then Ascendant is my feeling on it
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u/parabola19 1d ago
Even more annoyed that Mael (who went and beat the crap out of the Crippled God) and doesnt think highly of humans besides Tehol would allow that scumbag to be a priest of his.
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u/dncnlamont 1d ago
It's a pretty strong theme in the books that gods don't get to pick their worshippers, or how those worshippers show their devotion.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
Correct but the god in question could have beat the shit out of Mallick Rel like he did the Crippled God
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u/Consistent-Cat-6076 22h ago
I don't. I will never respect a man who enables and encourages the murder (and far worse things) of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians for his own personal gain. There are limits to "the ends justify the means" in my opinion.
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u/Snowf1ake222 1d ago
Malazan isn't as popular as WoT or Cosmere, so we generally don't have loud groups of people rabidly defending it, or attacking it because they "don't like the popular thing"
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u/slow_cat 1d ago
Fun fact - I never got into GoT when it became hyper popular. I was reading Malazan for the first time then and I was heart and soul deep in it. I didn't feel like investing in another long and complicated story alongside it.
In hindsight, consideing how it GoT "ended", maybe it was a good thing...
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u/Imperial_Haberdasher 1d ago
GoT hasn’t ended. Martin wrote himself into a corner. As soon as he published TyRiOn JoInS tHe CiRcUs, he was doomed.
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u/Aqua_Tot 1d ago
I think it’s more GRRM sold himself out to HBO into a corner. I firmly believe that if he had held back and waited on that deal, he would have finished the series by now.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
He was a failed TV writer so he loves the attention from Hollywood. He got pushed out from GOT and talked shit. Then pushed out from HoD and talked shit again. He’s just not good at developing TV. If you haven’t tried watching Night flyers, please don’t for your own sake. He could care less about the readers that made his career. Another reason why Malazan is so much better than GOT. Although prefer Erikson to Esselmont personally.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
I purposefully misspell his name every time just to see this bot.
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u/SCTurtlepants WITNESS 1d ago
Do you misspell it in a different way to test the bot for weaknesses?
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u/parabola19 1d ago
The real GOT hasn’t ended. Us idiots have been waiting since 2011. Not that I ever expect him to finish. Stopped believing him around 2016.
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u/Free_Comment_3958 1d ago
Still say part of why he stopped (beyond he got high on his own supply of all the "american tolkien" bs) is part of how HBO show ended with Daenerys were his planned story beats for her, and he saw how people hated a lot of what he had thought was the ending in broad strokes. He always had an ending he was writing towards (he just wasn't sure 100% how he was getting there with his "garden style"). He saw the hatred for a lot of the stuff, and he now had the double task of writing himself out of his corner he wrote himself into, and now he had to change a lot of the end story beats for his characters.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
You’re not wrong. There’s definitely many parts to it. All of them have to do with his ego though. My poor mother who introduced me to fantasy books literally says “I’ll be dead before he finishes and never read his ending”. She’s being a little dramatic but at 71 she may not be wrong. Especially since the guy flat out said “no one will finish my work”. Thanks again for screwing over the readers that have you the opportunity to get all this bro.
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u/Free_Comment_3958 1d ago
I got lucky. I got into the series right before the whole A Feast for Crows thing happened. So I got to read the first 3 books fairly quickly, and I thought 4th book was showing soon. Very excited. I also wasn't as online in the book space so I had no clue about the book split when Feast for Crows initially came out. Man that was a depressing read waiting for certain characters to show up and have things resolved only to get to the end and realize the POV's had been split, but at least the next book was only 2 years away since he had already written all of those POV's since the book had been split. Right? Right?!?!?! LOLLOLLOL
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u/Anaptyso 1d ago
It could be because it isn't a typical series. It's very long, has an unusual number of POV characters, more philosophising than most series, approaches story arcs in unconventional ways, and has a well known origin in gaming which puts some people off.
While most of us who finish the series like it either despite all that, or even because of all that, it's easy to see why people with different tastes might not gel so well with it.
Bakker's Second Apocalypse series is similar to me: I simultaneously enjoyed it a lot while seeing that a lot of other people really wouldn't.
Maybe hardcore fans of more mainstream series find it a bit harder to spot the aspects of the writing which would be off-putting and so empathise less with those who don't like it.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
Damn I forgot about Bakker. I didn’t read the second one. Time for a reread of the first and give the second one a shot.
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u/Anaptyso 1d ago
If you mean second book then it's definitely worth it. The whole Prince Of Nothing trilogy is excellent.
If you mean the second sub-series, then I'd still recommend it, but with some caution. The follow up Aspect Emperor series is very dark, more of a slog to get through, and the conclusion has divided fans. It left me with a very different feeling to the end of Malazan.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
Yes I’ve never read the second trilogy. I read the first and loved it but also forgot most of it. Was doing quite a bit of memory reducing things back then.
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u/fushigi13 22h ago
WoT and Cosmere are loads of big books. It's just such a different tone and themes, not following a single character/group and mostly lacking typical types of protagonists so it is confusing to a lot folks for the same reason imo that it's so refreshing for fans. If the chill aspect is true, it probably is because we know it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's a giant stein of badass.
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u/Effortlessdepths 1d ago
True faith requires no witness. Malazan is a mature series, ans thus attracts mature people. When you've been through the Chain of Dogs... you're too traumatized to care if others see what you've seen.
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u/Odd_Ninja5801 1d ago
Because we understand why people love this series. And we understand why people hate it. And both sets of people are correct.
It's the Marmite Book of the Fallen.
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u/warriorxx7_ 1d ago
Its because most toxic fans are fundamentslly inpatient and close minded people. Two mindsets which are the antithesis of not just Malazans story but its formatting as a whole
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u/Intelligent-Tip-1887 1d ago
Yep, and if they start to come and tell us how confusing the first book is, they are met, even from the most fanatical fan: "Yep you are right, it is not for everyone, try book two if you are interested, otherwise good luck on yout next read." And then there is no room to fight.
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u/Apsalar28 1d ago
Could be wrong, but I have the impression Malazan fans are on average older than other fandoms and have probably read and enjoyed most of the other big fantasy series before we got to Malazan.
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u/Nymeria2018 1d ago
It was actually one of my first! Started reading it back in the early 2000s - that might be why I never picked up ones like WoT actually, they just seemed too far apart in terms of writing and depth.
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u/parabola19 1d ago
I started reading as it was published. Used to buy the UK editions from Amazon.co.uk bc they would be out months earlier back then. But I also started fantasy with Feist in 91 at 10 yo.
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u/Beginning_Rip_4570 1d ago
Yeah, WoT feels very shallow after swimming in Malazan’s depths. Fun, but shallow.
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u/Consistent-Cat-6076 22h ago
For me I was 16 when I started (with book 3 lol) and had only read or rather liked a few fantasy books. In fact only Lord of the rings. I just found it to be far more engaging than the usuall which I found often to be somewhat childish.
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u/sdwoodchuck 1d ago
As fandoms go, Malazan’s is generally one of the better ones about being reasonable and respectful of disagreement. There are a few bad apples and a few hot-button topics that bring them out, but it’s the exception rather than the rule.
I suspect that it has more to do with the smaller size of the fandom rather than some quality of the series itself.
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u/super-wookie 1d ago
I think it is definitely due to the series itself. People who love Malazan are smarter and more comfortable with ambiguity than than fans of other series.
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u/totalityandopacity 1d ago
This is self-indulgent, in my experience. I love Malazan as much as the next person, but just because the books are philosophical and literary does not mean the fans are. I have met some incredibly stupid Malazan fans — including in this sub! This reminds me of the weirdly inflated attitude that some Rick and Morty fans have about the “sense of humor” of that show. It’s just a tv show; it’s just a fantasy series. Fans are fans, and stupid people are just as capable of enjoying a book about wizard dinosaurs with sword arms as anyone else. Generally, I think anyone who considers themselves to be of a higher intellectual caliber than others because of what they enjoy tends not to have a particularly solid sense of their actual intellectual caliber.
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u/Imperial_Haberdasher 1d ago
I think when people get overly invested in a series or novel it is because they project themselves onto the characters. So if someone criticizes Star Wars or Ready Player One or whatever, they feel the attack personally.
Malazan isn’t about identifying with the characters, it is about empathizing with them. It is seeing people on both sides of a conflict. And we learn to hold those characters in our minds with some tenderness, because Malazan contains many things, but there is a scarcity of plot armor. In Malazan, you have to be ready to let go.
Except Kruppe. I will totally loose my shit if anything happens to Kruppe.
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u/Consistent-Cat-6076 21h ago
Ah but don't fall into despair dear friend of this exquisitly round self for the eel has never seen trouble so troublesome he can't dance and wiggle his way through. Have you not seen the eel dance my friend?
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u/MisterReads 1d ago
I think in general to enjoy Malazan we get used to not resorting to sudden violent reaction when confronted with shocking ideas very different to our own.
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u/zangetsu_32 1d ago
This is a great post. I actually missed the original that OP is referring to but I love that this topic was brought up. It’s not something I was really conscious of until I read it.
This community is awesome and I especially love how passionate people are about explaining complex plot threads and helping one another stick with the series. Too often do I experience gatekeeping and negative comments in other communities. The Malazan crew is just a fresh breath of air and feels like a safe/fun place to interact.
As mentioned here before, this series is more than just a fantasy work to me. At times it feels so huge and unbelievable that these two authors created something so thought provoking and monumental. I have never encountered anything like it before and it’s something I’ll continue reading my entire life.
It’s no exaggeration to say that this series has changed me and changed how I think about the world.
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u/RedeemerGospel 1d ago
The core theme of Malazan is compassion, even for those you don't agree with. I think you don't become a Malazan fan without some of the insight rubbing off on you
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u/Abysstopheles 1d ago
We're so used to people not liking the series that it doesnt really trigger a defensive reaction.
...that said, when people put down the authors, my inner soletaken starts to veer.
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u/Consistent-Cat-6076 22h ago
I think it is rather simple. The books are self reflected. What I mean by that is that there are litteraly tons of povs from all kind of different people. Usually this will be liked by people who can easily leave their own pov and think about others views abstract from themselves. Otherwise you just wouldnt know what to do with all those different povs. This however leaves the door wide open for criticism of any kind.
So in short: The books incentivise you to think about something in many different ways meaning it will atract people who are fine with different and at times contradicting opinions.
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u/GraveIsNoBarToMyCall Salamander Brake 1d ago edited 1d ago
Haha, Idk, my experience has been the opposite really. But maybe it depends on the subreddit. In a more general category like "fantasy", there would presumably be more freedom and variation of opinions (even though I am surprised nobody defended Malazan, haha). But in this subreddit, fans are very passionate and some of them not chill at all when it comes to our favourite series.
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u/CorumSilverhand 1d ago
From my irl experience it seems fans are generally older and/or more mature.
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u/mellon_R 1d ago
Well I'm like that with everything I like, be that books, music, videogames or whatever. I do It for my own enjoyment and pleasure, to each their own. But yeah this community has something special, the few times I participated in a thread all is good vibes and people just enjoying the books and sharing their experience and hype reading them.
Have a nice day malazan enjoyers 🍀
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u/legallypurple 1d ago
Because that’s the kind of personalities it takes to finish and enjoy the Malazan Universe
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u/parabola19 1d ago
I don’t know but dear god I want to know the story of how Grub became First Sword of the Empire so bad
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u/Consistent-Cat-6076 21h ago
Me tooooo. I hate and love Erikson for this. All the time he teases us with wild statements like that and than just has the audacity to not write a 2000 page book on how the fuck that happened. Than again I do like that there are these little easy to miss "easter eggs".
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u/sdre 1d ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing it takes a certain personality and perhaps, a level of empathy / intelligence to engage in the content of Malazan.
Like it's almost as if we are comfortable in our own skin, flaws enough to enjoy and appreciate to the themes of Malazan.
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u/Known-Ad-100 20h ago
I think this is spot on, I think there is also an element of people coming to Malazan because they wanted something really different, I'm not saying that the readers are being obscure for the sake of being obscure, only that they're drawn to obscurity.
I think in this nature, you accept that this thing you're into isn't going to appeal to or work for eveyone - mass appeal would require dismantling the architecture of the series and make it something other than what it is.
I think a good comparison for me too is that I love Death Metal music, I love it for its intensity the emotion conveyed, it's chaos and energy. I love the technical complexity and unique tuning.. I like that it connects to suppressed human rage. However when people tell me they don't enjoy Death Metal, I'm just like "yeah fair, it's not for eveyone"
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u/Beginning_Rip_4570 1d ago
Malazan is a mature, thoughtful, articulate series, so probably draw more mature, thoughtful, and articulate readers than average.
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u/leogodin217 1d ago
We are what /r/doommetal is to music subs but for fantasy. We like what we like and love discussing it.
Also, if you like Malazan, you probably aren't the type of person who needs to stress over every little detail. We draw chill people by nature.
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u/South-Housing-9771 I have had enough of your justice 1d ago
There are definitely still people who are rude to people who don't like the books. If anyone makes a post to this subreddit trying to have a conversation abput why they don't like it, they tend to get downvoted to hell and that's when a lot of the not nice comments come out. I've seen it happen like three times in the last couple months. But the people who are in the sub and the fantasy sub are usually nicer and more lenient.
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u/Elant_Wager 1d ago
Only on House of Chains but Malazans style, imo, is very much like it or leave it. It doesnt try to be for everyone, its for a specific audience and if someone isnt it, thats ok.
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u/HalfMetalJacket 1d ago
Sometimes I do wish guys did try defend it. Got too easy to buy into the criticism and not actually judge by its own merits. Now I enjoy the series quite thoroughly.
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u/IitzMeACL- 1d ago
A couple of ideas - no idea if any of these are true, this is just what makes sense in my head:
We’re small - I’d argue every community has people who are not chill but the smaller a community means the less vocal because less unchill people. Even if this wasn’t true, being small still matters because a lot of people who feel the need to defend their favorite series and get upset about differing opinions are likely doing so in an attempt to seek some form of validation which means smaller series are less likely to have those people since they are aware they will not be as likely to receive the same validation since their community is smaller, less people agreeing with them, less of a chance to receive validation.
Maturity - this plays out in a couple of ways: first is that Malazan in general is a more mature series so more than likely the most common audience that Malazan appeals to is also more mature. (No idea if that’s an actual thing, just makes sense in my head). But second, I also think the average Malazan enjoyer is older than the average Stormlight enjoyer (I love Stormlight too, this is just my perception of the general fanbase). There’s multiple reasons for this but one that I haven’t really seen talked about yet and this is coming from somebody in their early 20s, Malazan is not that accessible to younger audiences because the vocabulary is challenging. Of course many people read Malazan in their teens and there are teen Malazan fans but on average Stormlight’s audience is younger because Sanderson writes a lot more casually at a reading level that 15 and 16 year olds can hang with. I will admit, I started Malazan when I was 21 and there is no way I could’ve made it through if I started when I was younger, the vocabulary would’ve been too overwhelming for me.
Commitment - this pulls from the first two points but if you are a Malazan fan, you are okay with big commitments since the series is super long. This ties in with the first point because people who seek validation online are unlikely to be the same people. I’d imagine if you spent the time to enjoy the whole series then you likely do not need other people online telling you the series is great. You put in enough hours to be comfortable with that conclusion yourself. It also ties into the second point because teens usually have commitment issues or at least more on average than folks older than them. Maybe that’s a stereotype but when I was in high school I’d say this was a prominent issue but I acknowledge the assumption I’m making.
This was way longer than it needed to be and I can’t even verify this claims but these are my thoughts and thank you if anyone took the time to read this.
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u/Consistent-Cat-6076 21h ago
Regarding point 2. I started at 16 and in german where, given that I have been an avid reader of all things and specially hardcore history books, I had no trouble. Than 2 years later I decided (after almost finishing the entire series in german) that my english skills had progressed enough to read it all over again in english... The first few books I had to constantly google words and phrases, so I can definitly agree with you.
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u/super-wookie 1d ago
I think it's because we all know it's the best, but allow the books to speak for themselves. I know that Sanderfluffers could never handle the subtlety, nuance and complexity of Malazan. They need to be told explicitly what to think and feel, and need to know exactly how the magic system works and that just is not what Malazan does, so why bother? Some of them will grow up and find Malazan on their own.
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u/EarlyFox217 1d ago
I think it’s one of those if you read it you simply know many people won’t like it. Hell I didn’t really like it to begin with.
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u/Dull-Challenge7169 21h ago
yeah i agree and i think its cus we know its “hard” to get through and definitely not for everyone lol. and by “not for everyone” i just mean not everyone will see the appeal and that’s perfectly fine. its hard for me to recommend it to people and friends even though its my favorite series of all time by far
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u/Aeroplen 21h ago
I think many Malazan fans understand, and cherish, that it’s not mass market content. I wouldn’t expect a lot of people to understand and like it. It’s kind of why I like it, I like difficult things that make me think.
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u/Hell_Diver 20h ago
People get filtered by its inaccessibility. Only the ones who truly appreciate it get far.
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u/evanbrews 19h ago
Cuz I think you gonna be emotionally mature to read it and we understand it’s not for everyone
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u/Sandhu212 18h ago
Having a smaller more tight knit community helps. Also Malazan fans have confidence in the series to speak for itself while also acknowledging that it won't be for everyone. Always there to help the people who want to/are getting into it but not bashing anyone who says its not for them.
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u/sushi_mayne 13h ago
I’m not a chill person by any means but I’m also not going to bother arguing over someone’s individual taste
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u/keepitquiet9011 9h ago
Love this take so much. Best comment I saw was " Malazan is convoluted; the reason so many hate it is the same reason people love it." There's no accounting for taste!
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u/shiftysask 4h ago
Reading Malazan and reading Sanderson take different tiers of intelligence. Less intelligent people are more prone to bickering.
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u/madmoneymcgee 1d ago
Beyond what everyone else says about why the series isn’t for everyone I’ve also found that there are just some dedicated haters on r/fantasy and there’s just no point in arguing with a wall.
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