Another bland and poorly-written fantasy series that knowledgeable fantasy reviewers have steered me away from ( Kelly's Review Mark's Review )--an endless parade of flat characters filling out a convoluted plot with all the charm of an RPG game guide telling you where to pick up the best sword in order to beat the hardest demon boss.Even the positive reviews I've read don't make it sound like a book worth reading, comparing it favorably to Martin (whose work I couldn't stomach ), and suggesting that the plot often hinges on the reader recalling some apparently unrelated detail from two books ago, which some readers apparently enjoy, though to me it sounds like the worst sort of 'word search' writing. Moreover, most of the positive reviews cite the intensity and depth of Erikson's worldbuilding, but every fantasy book I've heard praised for this has turned out to be dull and flat with poor characterization and an aimless sense of structure for which the aphorism 'murder your darlings' was made.