The first more so than the second, not as expansive as WoT but a solid amount of content to last a little while. There are alot of different stories and characters that come out of the series but its blended together so well and so fast. There will be death but its not quite like the deaths in Martins books where everyone thats central to the story line gets killed on what seems like a whim. It was actually a series someone recommended here and is definitely my top 5 if not top 3 favorite authors.