Books. For the literati among us.

CCMore said:
I’ve been meaning to read the series. Where do I start? The first book or the prequel or somewhere else entirely lol
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I never read the prequel. I would start with the first book which is a fine intro to the series. I expect the prequel might work better when you have read at least some of the books.

I'll also note that the first book starts off very derivative/evocative of Tolkien. That diminishes somewhat even within the first book and definitely as the series progresses. It is very original and its own thing, even if it is based on the trope of an evil lord who was defeated in a prior age returning and being opposed in accordance with various prophecies.
 
CCMore said:
I’ve been meaning to read the series. Where do I start? The first book or the prequel or somewhere else entirely lol
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Agree with mgarbowski to start with Ender's Game. Though full disclosure I have never read the prequels before this go around.

Here is the order I am doing:
  1. Ender's Game
  2. Speaker for the Dead
  3. Xenocide
  4. Children of the Mind
  5. Ender in Exile - could certainly move this up to #2
Then the next series:
  1. Ender's Shadow
  2. Shadow of the Hegemon
  3. Shadow Puppets
  4. Shadow of the Giant
  5. Shadows in Flight
  6. The Last Shadow
Then the prequel series:
  1. Earth Unaware
  2. Earth Afire
  3. Earth Awakens
  4. The Swarm
  5. The Hive
 
FootyLovin said:
Agree with mgarbowski to start with Ender's Game. Though full disclosure I have never read the prequels before this go around.

Here is the order I am doing:
  1. Ender's Game
  2. Speaker for the Dead
  3. Xenocide
  4. Children of the Mind
  5. Ender in Exile - could certainly move this up to #2
Then the next series:
  1. Ender's Shadow
  2. Shadow of the Hegemon
  3. Shadow Puppets
  4. Shadow of the Giant
  5. Shadows in Flight
  6. The Last Shadow
Then the prequel series:
  1. Earth Unaware
  2. Earth Afire
  3. Earth Awakens
  4. The Swarm
  5. The Hive
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I thought he was asking about Wheel of Time, but glad we still agree lol.
 
Well the confusion worked for me as well, as I've never read anything but Ender's Game in that series and maybe I will continue on.

The ending of Ender's Game kind of soured me on the book, which I absolutely enjoyed until then. I respect the message it tried to convey, but I thought it came out of nowhere and didn't seem earned enough. I felt as if Card was saying "Aha! You never considered this, did you? You need to be better." and I responded "No, because you never gave me any information that would justify that."
OK maybe someone in universe should think outside the box on that point but a reader can only work with what's included.
 
Gotham Gator said:
This conversation has reminded me to ask about Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Has anyone read it? Is it any good?
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I believe the series is wildly popular but my experience is that The Gunslinger is the only Stephen King (or Richard Bachman) novel I abandoned part way through. I've probably read about 15-20, some twice. But I think I'm an outlier on this.
 
CCMore said:
I was indeed asking about wheel of time, but having an Ender’s game read list works for me too!
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For wheel of time, definitely start with book 1. I didn’t think the prequel added much, but if you do want to read it, publication order seems to be the consensus (so between books 10&11).

I read it between 12&13, which worked out because the prologue of 13 starts with one of the prequel characters
 
Gotham Gator said:
This conversation has reminded me to ask about Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Has anyone read it? Is it any good?
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I’m a gigantic Dark Tower fan. Absolutely loved most of the series and that’s where I’ll give my warnings. Things to keep in mind is that he wrote these books over decades so his style changed a lot in it. The first three books are easily my favorites. For me the issues arise in that after he got hit by a car he rushed to complete the series and I feel like books 5 and 6 are the weakest. But I did really enjoy the final book and how it ended. I thought the ending was perfect. So, worth it? Yes. A slog in the middle that will occasionally make you go WTF? Also yes.
 
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