The Malazan Book of the Fallen Thread

[Choedan Kal]

I have not read Malazan Book of the Fallen saga just because there are so many various books out there that I do not know which one to begin. I started reading Wizard's First Rule SOT saga but after 500 pages it got kind of predicting on what was going to happen with Darken Raul and Richard(father/son stuff). I was thinking about picking up A Song of Ice and Fire then I heard that they were too far political and not enough magic/sword/socery(which I am kind of akeen to reading).

 

What should I read guys??

Mistborn?

Runelords?

Annals of the Chosen?

Shannara?

The Dragonvarld Trilogy?

[Werthead]

I have not read Malazan Book of the Fallen saga just because there are so many various books out there that I do not know which one to begin. I started reading Wizard's First Rule SOT saga but after 500 pages it got kind of predicting on what was going to happen with Darken Raul and Richard(father/son stuff). I was thinking about picking up A Song of Ice and Fire then I heard that they were too far political and not enough magic/sword/socery(which I am kind of akeen to reading).

 

Give ASoIaF a whirl. There is magic and sorcery, but it takes a while to kick in. There is, however, a hell of a lot of swordplay in the books. If magic and sorcery is your bag, then definitely give MALAZAN a go. There is more magic and sorcery in that than probably in any other fantasy series, including WoT.

 

Mistborn? - Yes, definitely at some point.

Runelords? - No. First book is okay, the rest are awful.

Annals of the Chosen? - Never heard of it.

Shannara? - If you've read Robert Jordan, you've probably already graduated beyond the Brooks reading level.

The Dragonvarld Trilogy? - Never heard of it.

[Choedan Kal]

Thanks for the information Werthead, I think that I'm going to pick up the first book of George R.R. Martin and The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I have recently been on TOR's website looking at various sagas and epic fantasies. I came across the Annals of the Chosen and it seemed to be a well written fantasy about some very cool things.

 

Which magic system is more intriguing?

ASoIaF or Malazan

 

Since I have to wait for ToM to get here then I gotta read sommmmmmething ;D

[Werthead]

Which magic system is more intriguing?

ASoIaF or Malazan

 

ASoIaF's magic is probably more 'intriguing' and powerful because we see it a lot less. The backstory is that a cataclysmic event 400 years before the books start effectively removed magic from the western world, although it still exists in the mysterious and mystical east. As the books start, magic is slowly seeping back into the world but people aren't aware of this, and it's not until late in Book 1 and then into Book 2 we start seeing some serious magical stuff going on. ASoIaF's level of magic usage is similar to LORD OF THE RINGS: you don't see much of it the start and then the usage creeps up over the series.

 

Erikson is much more overt with magic, which is based on a system called 'warrens', which are effectively other planes of existence which can be tunnelled through to travel more quickly around the main world and also provide a source of power for healing, destruction etc.

[Shmuel Goldberg]

I recently started reading 'Gardens of the Moon' (interrupted only by TGS), and I love it love it love it. I kick myself for not picking it up earlier. What kept me was the blurb: 'Gripping, fast moving, delightfully dark, with a masterful and unapologetic brutality reminiscent of George R.R. Martin'. Fortunately it wasn't at all like Martin. I'm about to start chapter 23, so I'm not going to read anything in this thread. No spoiling.

[battousai]

Thought I'd ask since I'll be looking to pick up this series as soon as I finish The First Law Trilogy and TGS (i'm saving it for Christmas break when I actually have time!).

 

As I'm going to be picking up the Mass Market Paperbacks, I was wondering if there are boxed sets of the books? Also, I see two versions in Canada, one seems to be cover art from Tor and the other from Bantam. I wanted to hear opinions on which version I should buy. I'm not sure how accurate the cover art for Tor is vs Bantam's so I wasn't sure which one to pick. Since I'm going to be buying all 9, I'd prefer if they looked the same.

[Werthead]

Thought I'd ask since I'll be looking to pick up this series as soon as I finish The First Law Trilogy and TGS (i'm saving it for Christmas break when I actually have time!).

 

As I'm going to be picking up the Mass Market Paperbacks, I was wondering if there are boxed sets of the books? Also, I see two versions in Canada, one seems to be cover art from Tor and the other from Bantam. I wanted to hear opinions on which version I should buy. I'm not sure how accurate the cover art for Tor is vs Bantam's so I wasn't sure which one to pick. Since I'm going to be buying all 9, I'd prefer if they looked the same.

 

Tor have just changed their cover art to match the UK (Bantam) versions, but it's unclear when they're going to get around to changing all the art for the earlier books, so your best bet is to go with the new covers from Bantam (the mostly black ones with a single image in the centre), otherwise the covers won't match up at all.

[Shmuel Goldberg]

I recently started reading 'Gardens of the Moon' (interrupted only by TGS), and I love it love it love it. I kick myself for not picking it up earlier. What kept me was the blurb: 'Gripping, fast moving, delightfully dark, with a masterful and unapologetic brutality reminiscent of George R.R. Martin'. Fortunately it wasn't at all like Martin. I'm about to start chapter 23, so I'm not going to read anything in this thread. No spoiling.

 

Quoting myself here.

 

I've finished Gardens of the Moon and I was blown away by the imagination of the author and the scope of the work. I went out the same day and bought Deadhouse Gates. I'm 4 chapters into it and possibly, it's even better.

 

One question I have (please avoid spoilers), is there artwork based on the series? In particular, I'd like to know whether there's a Deck of Dragons. A quick google search showed nothing.

[Werthead]

News just in: Ian Cameron Esslemont has just completed his third Malazan novel, Stonewielder. Picking up on the story from Return of the Crimson Guard, the book will be set on the continent of Korelri and involve the enigmatic Stormriders as well as the long-running war between the Malazan Empire and the Korel Compact for control of the continent. The book is scheduled for publication in late 2010.

 

Steven Erikson's tenth and last-in-this-story-arc Malazan novel, The Crippled God, is also scheduled for late 2010, but he's still writing it, so that might be cutting it a little fine.

[Vambram]

News just in: Ian Cameron Esslemont has just completed his third Malazan novel, Stonewielder. Picking up on the story from Return of the Crimson Guard, the book will be set on the continent of Korelri and involve the enigmatic Stormriders as well as the long-running war between the Malazan Empire and the Korel Compact for control of the continent. The book is scheduled for publication in late 2010.

 

Steven Erikson's tenth and last-in-this-story-arc Malazan novel, The Crippled God, is also scheduled for late 2010, but he's still writing it, so that might be cutting it a little fine.

 

I have read all the Malazan books, and I have a question for the resident Malazan experts. How does The Return of the Crimson Guard and Stonewielder fit into the chronology Erikson's Toll the Hounds, Dust of Dreams, and The Crippled God?

I ask this question, because even though I thoroughly enjoy MBotF series so much so that it is my second favorite epic fantasy series, I often find it difficult to keep up with the complicated chronology of events found in these 12 plus books.

[Mr Ares]

News just in: Ian Cameron Esslemont has just completed his third Malazan novel, Stonewielder. Picking up on the story from Return of the Crimson Guard, the book will be set on the continent of Korelri and involve the enigmatic Stormriders as well as the long-running war between the Malazan Empire and the Korel Compact for control of the continent. The book is scheduled for publication in late 2010.

 

Steven Erikson's tenth and last-in-this-story-arc Malazan novel, The Crippled God, is also scheduled for late 2010, but he's still writing it, so that might be cutting it a little fine.

 

I have read all the Malazan books, and I have a question for the resident Malazan experts. How does The Return of the Crimson Guard and Stonewielder fit into the chronology Erikson's Toll the Hounds, Dust of Dreams, and The Crippled God?

I ask this question, because even though I thoroughly enjoy MBotF series so much so that it is my second favorite epic fantasy series, I often find it difficult to keep up with the complicated chronology of events found in these 12 plus books.

So does Steven Erikson. Hence the timeline having a few holes in it... Return of the Crimson Guard is set after the Bonehunters, I think about the same time as Reaper's Gale, so before Toll the Hounds, Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God.

[Vambram]

Thank you, Mr Ares.

[Shmuel Goldberg]

I've finished Gardens of the Moon and I was blown away by the imagination of the author and the scope of the work. I went out the same day and bought Deadhouse Gates. I'm 4 chapters into it and possibly, it's even better.

 

One question I have (please avoid spoilers), is there artwork based on the series? In particular, I'd like to know whether there's a Deck of Dragons. A quick google search showed nothing.

 

I'm about 1/3 into Deadhouse Gates and it's amazing. A different continent, a different conflict and very few of the characters of GotM. It's epic on a whole different scale. I love it.

[Werthead]

Yeah, the timeline is shot to hell and gone. By the time you get to the seventh and eighth Erikson books, things have stopped making sense. All you can do is ride it out and say, "Okay," and carry on the best you can.

 

Throwing ICE's books into the mix is like throwing petrol on fire. The most you can say is that RETURN takes place after THE BONEHUNTERS and before TOLL THE HOUNDS, probably between THE BONEHUNTERS and REAPER'S GALE but that's not set in stone. You just need to read it after TBH and before TTH.

 

Where STONEWIELDER fits in will also be interesting. Given that RotCG has the closest thing so far to a cliffhanger ending, my guess is that STONEWIELDER will pick up immediately after it, but it's possible it might be a few months later, which would make dating it versus Erikson's books very complicated.

[Murphy3]

Yeah, the timeline is shot to hell and gone. By the time you get to the seventh and eighth Erikson books, things have stopped making sense. All you can do is ride it out and say, "Okay," and carry on the best you can.

 

Throwing ICE's books into the mix is like throwing petrol on fire. The most you can say is that RETURN takes place after THE BONEHUNTERS and before TOLL THE HOUNDS, probably between THE BONEHUNTERS and REAPER'S GALE but that's not set in stone. You just need to read it after TBH and before TTH.

 

Where STONEWIELDER fits in will also be interesting. Given that RotCG has the closest thing so far to a cliffhanger ending, my guess is that STONEWIELDER will pick up immediately after it, but it's possible it might be a few months later, which would make dating it versus Erikson's books very complicated.

Ok, the timeline being shot to hell isn't really all that great of a selling point to me for some reason.  I'm looking to pick up something new.  It's between Malazan and A song of Ice and Fire.. Does the timeline issue take away from the reading experience?

[Mr Ares]

Not really. A lot of people don't pick up on that (or the other inconsistencies), and you can enjoy it even if you do see them. It's worth a read, but ASoIaF is better.

[Werthead]

People's mileage varies. There are several characters in TTH who are many, many years older than they should be (a kid who was conceived in Book 3 so should only be about 2, maybe 3 if you fudge it, by Book 8 is actually six, which is nonsensical; two other characters conceived in Book 4 are teenagers in the same volume which is beyond impossible) and a lot of people don't pick up on it, which is a bit odd. To me, it's a bit like Elayne's kids being born in Book 13 and then being five years old in Book 14 which is set immediately afterwards with no explanation.

 

I think the excuse is that there is so much insane stuff going on simultaneously, way more than in WoT, that the storylines that don't make any sense can be safely disregarded in favour of the stuff that does.

[whitetrash]

Man I love this series. I just hate I can not find ICE's Crimson Gaurd in the U.S yet and I hope Erikson new Novella will be put out in paperback like his first to were...

[TheBeerPatriot]

I just picked up Gardens of the Moon, and looking forward to reading it.  I do have a question for those that have read most (if not all) of the series so far-is it better to read each novel as standalone within this universe, or is that not possible? I'm just wondering, given the timeline issue that several people have mentioned here.

[Werthead]

I just picked up Gardens of the Moon, and looking forward to reading it.  I do have a question for those that have read most (if not all) of the series so far-is it better to read each novel as standalone within this universe, or is that not possible? I'm just wondering, given the timeline issue that several people have mentioned here.

 

Books 1-3 and 5 are, to some degree, self-contained. 3 is a sequel to 1, but basically getting the old characters together to face a new threat and can be read independently if you really had to. 4 is much more reliant on the events of Books 1 and 2 and can't really stand alone. 5 switches to a totally different continent and cast of characters altogether.

 

Reading them in order is the best approach really. Any other approach is a bit confusing. Each book up to around Book 5 does have its own self-contained ending though. The ongoing storyline elements and serialisation become much more apparent in Book 6 onwards.

[Mr Ares]

Reading them in order is the best approach really. Any other approach is a bit confusing.

You say that as if Malazan didn't tend to leave people confused no matter how it's approached. In order is just the least confusing way.

[whitetrash]

Don't forget the Novells that are out what are also great reads..

[Kadere]

Finally finished the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Now I have to wait for the TCG. My reaction's been that it's really not that hard to get into the series,  you just have to realize that Steven Erikson will never explain how anything in his world works and that he's making it all up as he goes along. Nothing in his world makes a lick of sense. Also it's incredibly boring as he loves to retell the same event from a hundred different PoV that don't move the story forward in any way, shape, or form, and right when you're about to fall asleep and give up because GOD is this series boring, you'll hit the last 100 pages of a book and he'll suddenly throw in so much action your brain explodes with euphoria and you actually think it was worth it. Plus I actually really like most of his characters, even if they're pretty much all the same person. Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer are two of the coolest characters I've ever come across.

[Palarran]

I read books one and two, and then had to stop.  The end of book two was so horrific--think "Romans putting down a slave revolt" level of violence, described in detail--that I couldn't continue.  As an amateur historian with an interest in military history, I read enough about the horrors of war in the real world; I don't need it to this level in my entertainment.

[Kadere]

Here's the blurb for The Crippled God. Needless to say, SPOILERS if you have yet to read Dust of Dreams!!!!

 

 

 

 

Savaged by the K’Chain Nah’Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods – if her own troops don’t kill her first.

 

Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal.

 

In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.

 

Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will rise as a force of devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world.

 

It sounds awesome, but I'm disappointed that there's no mention of any of the characters we left in Toll the Hounds. I was looking forward to more Karsa Orlong and Traveller, and I'll also miss Cutter. Hopefully the blurb just isn't giving it all away and we see some of them again.