I loved R. Scott Bakker's "Prince of Nothing" series, and can't quite scratch that itch.
What I liked about it:
– Rich prose and almost theatrical dialogues
– Philosophical musings/reflections
– Original magic/sorcery system(s). I loved the abstractions vs analogies, reason vs passion, logic vs metaphore, the Marks, the Few, how one manifests as grotesque geometry, another as beatiful water.
– Rich world-building
– Characters so developed they practically jumped out of the page
– Intrigue and manipulation
I didn't like the direction he took with "Aspect-Emperor", though I read all of them, as it was just way too bleak, and brought in White-Luck and Judging Eyes that didn't seem to really add anything. Kelmomas and his "MOMEEEEE" was just unbelievably annoying.
Lately I’ve also been reading more novels than SF/F stuff, been more interested in what characters think about something or how they see things in an interesting way, than about the things that are happening themselves (though I can still enjoy a good plot).
The "belief shapes the world" aspect of seems to also be explored in Michael Fletcher's "Manifest Delusions" series, and I've started the first book, "Beyond Redemption", but not only are the dialogues not quite what I'm looking for, I was very disappointed to find that it features a foul-mouthed gang of misanthropic mercenaries. It’s just been done to death at this point. I loved The First Law and other books in the same universe by Joe Abercrombie, but it’s not what I want right now.
Thank you!
by iinfinitepizza