I recently picked up a copy of Magician, the first book in Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Saga. If you don’t believe me check out my books web page! I know, I know; why oh why oh why have a started another fantasy trilogy? I’m un-amazed at how derivative they’ve become and yet forever hopeful. No new ideas under the Middle Earth sun it would appear. e.g. I’ve just completed chapter 9, entitled Mac Mordain Cadal, in which our heroes, to avoid evil goblinsis, team up with some Dwarves and head through an old Dwarven mine as a short cut under a mountain range. Spookily it’s the chapter I’ve enjoyed the most so far – work that out! AND the Dwarves speak with suspiciously Scottish sounding accents!

But that’s not the problem. I’m around a quarter of the way through the book now. Invested if you will. If I tune out my LOTR-sense there’s a better than evens chance that I’ll look for the other two in the series. What’s the problem I hear you ask (go on ask, I double dare you); the trilogy was completed over 30 years ago and therefore can’t suffer from the modern day trilogy-killer, for me anyhoo; something I’ve fallen foul of twice over the last 18 months. I’ve been daffy enough to start reading series’ that are still being penned by their authors. A series called The Expanse by James S. A. Corey and the Humanity’s Fire series by Michael Cobley – I even HAVE the 3rd book in THAT series gathering dust in a sad pile next to my bed- please step forward. I’ve read and thoroughy enjoyed, the first two books in both sets but have waited for so long for the third that I’d have to re-read the first two again to have any chance of picking up the story threads. Let’s just call that my age 🙂

And that’s not the problem either. Nope the dilemma of which I speak is none other than … Da, da, DaaaaH! … Do I buy books 2 and 3 from the book shop in town in a bid to keep it open (in preference to a quick and visit to Amazon.co.uk – go on you know you want to) or … Do I borrow them from the library in an equally desperate bid to keep THAT open … Crap on a cracker!