Malazan Book of the Fallen

[Ubaydullah Abdul-Malik]

After finishing A Memory of Light there was giant Epic Fantasy shaped void in my soul. Desperately looking for another series to fill that void. I came across  Malazan Book of the Fallen. And so far it's done the trick!   As well as anything not a Wheel Of Time squeal series could.

 

Though I am only half way through the second book out of Ten, it has not failed to keep enthralled. Writing style feels much more diffused than what I am accustom to. Though I have dealt with multiple MOVs before most in notably "Wildcards and Wheel Of Time" they carried a stronger feeling of interconnectedness than they do in Malazan. However this feeling of diffusion is not necessarily a bad thing, because the pay off is watching the chartecters and storyline begin to braid together.

 

 

In summation, read these books! Why? Because A prehistoric High-Ork Demigod is awakens from magic stasis after untold centuries. and soon their affter gets into a fight with giant Dragons; Which the High-Ork Demigod proccedes to win!

 

And there is a man who could only be envisioned as Drow Sephiroth!

 

 

Anomander Rake...THE SON OF DARKNESS!

[Suttree]

Elric of Melni...*cough cough* errr Anomander Rake.

 

All in all a very good series. It is a total messs, but a glorious mess at that.

 

 

[Mr Ares]

Steven Erikson is an author whose ambition cannot be faulted, even if he did overreach. So many others are content to play it safe. That said, there are plenty of better authors out there.

[redarm]

Good series.  Many find it tough to stick with it due to the way it skips around but I found it very enjoyable.  Never really had a problem following.  Although I hated getting into one character or another only to have them disapear for a book or two.  Like WoT, there are a lot of characters and many of them are very similar. Unlike WoT, some of them die prior to the end, which is good.  There do seem to be a lot of overpowered beings but I think that is one of the main themes.  Powers converging and the chaos that creates.  It fits in the Mlazan story so it does'nt bother me.  Enjoy the books!

[Ubaydullah Abdul-Malik]

Elric of Melni...*cough cough* errr Anomander Rake.

 

All in all a very good series. It is a total messs, but a glorious mess at that.

 

Perhaps it is a generational thing? When I saw  Anomander Rake a tall man with silvery white hair great magical and martial prowess bearing a sword nearly as long as he is tall.  Who is also the child of a dreaded feminine Eldritch being, the first parallel that occurred to me was Sephiroth.

[OptimusPrime]

 

Elric of Melni...*cough cough* errr Anomander Rake.

 

All in all a very good series. It is a total messs, but a glorious mess at that.

 

Perhaps it is a generational thing? When I saw  Anomander Rake a tall man with silvery white hair great magical and martial prowess bearing a sword nearly as long as he is tall.  Who is also the child of a dreaded feminine Eldritch being, the first parallel that occurred to me was Sephiroth.

 

Sepiroth was perfect. Perhaps too perfect...

 

Alas, nothing speaks of a testosterone overload like a mahoosive sword :P

[Ubaydullah Abdul-Malik]

I just finished book two DeadHouse Gates, and the series remains good. My recommendation that it be used to patch the Epic Fantasy shaped hole left by A Memory Of Light stands!

To arouse interest and discussion of the series.  I have a few things to mention; some of which are spoiler-ish.

 

Black Lan, yes there is character who is best described as Lan, if he was a Black(Moorish /Upper West African) Assassin;Instead of a Eurasian Swordsman. With a much more jovial personality.

 

A Little girl is possessed by the Patron god of Assassination...even after he vacates her body she retains the Demigods supernatural level of skill in the fine art of death dealing.

 

Centuries(magic users are often very long lived so she still looks fairly young) old Fat Sorceresses need love to...and they get it.
 

Black Loki A.k.a Quickben, who is essentially, well Loki. Without the Evil, inferiority complex and godhood. A sneaky underhanded sorcerer, with knowledge that know one else has.  And an affection for gambits, some of which might well be Xanatos.

 

The Most Incompetent Governor-General In Fiction.

 

Mass Crucifiction.

 

One Man has a soul so mighty that when the crows come to carry it, it takes a murder so great that it seems a black cloud; and deflects a sorcerous attack!

[NeverTame]

It's funny looking at a thread about the Malazan series from this side of the fence, having spent the past few years lurking the malazanempire boards.

 

I love this series. I discovered it in 2008, and I've read some books of it thrice, if my memory serves - the last one only once, which I shall have to fix once I'm done with some other things on my to-read list.

 

I must admit that when I read Suttree's post up there, my initial reaction was a feeling of indignation - who exactly are you calling a mess? - but a moment later I realise that it's a very apt description of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. It is a mess, a glorious mess. At times it seems like a study on everything that can possibly go wrong - but it does it with style.

[Verbal32]

I'm on Book 2 right now - loving it so far.  Don't like how most of the characters I've started to like are missing, but meh...I'm sure they'll be back.

[NeverTame]

I'm on Book 2 right now - loving it so far.  Don't like how most of the characters I've started to like are missing, but meh...I'm sure they'll be back.

 

They will - books 2 and 3 take place roughly at the same time in different parts of the continent, and those from Gardens of the Moon that you're missing in Deadhouse Gates will play a role again in Memories of Ice.

[Verbal32]

Sweet!

[Arinth]

Love this series. Especially books 2 and 3.

[Theodora]

Hi guys,

 

I am the fan of the series for a while and I have abandoned the books several times (at first as I needed to reach almost the end of the Gardens to get what it was all about) and the other times - as I got some nightmares from certain scenes (let's say I have a bug phobia  ). Definitely not everybody's cup of tea, but Anomander... *sighs*... and who could hate Whiskeyjack? I even got a T-shirt "Save the Bridgeburners!" for my birthday . But one is sure, I haven't seen an author who "hates" his characters more than Steven Erikson, as he puts them in a whole lot of predicaments to say it mildly and when you think it can't get worse for poor everyone, he suprises you.

 

 

Who is your favourite hero?

[NeverTame]

Favourite... hero? Hmm. My favourite character is Silchas Ruin, but is he a hero? I'm not sure I'd call him that.

[Verbal32]

I think I liked Tattersail the most thus far, closely followed by Kruppe.  Love that guy.

[NeverTame]

Kruppe is one of those characters that the majority of the fandom loves but I just never grew to like all that much. Same as Iskaral Pust - have you met him yet? If not, you will soon, as he makes his debut in Deadhouse Gates.

 

I can see that they're good characters, both are more than the surface value of comic relief, and I can respect that. But I just don't like them. (That said, Kruppe does have some fairly cool moments along the way.)

[Theodora]

Well, I couldn't find out why the big fuss over Kruppe either. Apart from Anomander, I kind of like Tattersail and the way Felisin's character is developed until... certain events. I know it's weird but I found comic relief in Shadowthrone and Cotillion - I have always imagined them as a pair of old buddies (Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone type of relationship) in old-fashioned suits, remembering the good ol'days over some quality cogniac and cigars .

 

M'Fail was right, in Malazan, there are characters not classic heroes, wrong wording

 

Well, Silchas, Silchas, how could a lady reader chose among two great brothers I probably have to take the white dragon as a plus ;) He is cool, definitely cool and has two... swords

[NeverTame]

I always preferred Silchas, ever since he appeared in the prologue of Midnight Tides. Hmm. *looks around for that "spoiler" button*

 

 

I was drawn to the tragedy of the betrayal by Scabandari, and how the Edur call *him* the Betrayer, and his attitude towards Kettle despite him being an obviously badass Tiste soletaken warrior. And you know that line - Silchas Ruin thinks draconean, etc? *shivers*

And, yes, two swords. I do so love my dual-wielding BAMFs. And an albino Tiste Andii always struck me as intriguing.

 

 

Have you read Forge of Darkness? The first book of the Kharkanas trilogy?

[Theodora]

I always preferred Silchas, ever since he appeared in the prologue of Midnight Tides. Hmm. *looks around for that "spoiler" button*

 

 

I was drawn to the tragedy of the betrayal by Scabandari, and how the Edur call *him* the Betrayer, and his attitude towards Kettle despite him being an obviously badass Tiste soletaken warrior. And you know that line - Silchas Ruin thinks draconean, etc? *shivers*

 

And, yes, two swords. I do so love my dual-wielding BAMFs. And an albino Tiste Andii always struck me as intriguing.

 

 

Have you read Forge of Darkness? The first book of the Kharkanas trilogy?

 

No, this is the prequel, isn't it? I am hoping to get it for X-mas. I was thinking of doing a re-read of the Malazan, as I am sure I will understand the whole plotS better. Is The Forge still in the same Eriksonian entangled-plot-style? Or he gives up more structured valuable information?

[NeverTame]

Yes, it's the prequel and... umm... let's just say it's very Eriksonian. It's not quite the same as the Book of the Fallen, because the scope is much smaller (3 books vs. 10), but it's very, very Eriksonian. And that's really about all I can say without spoiling things. x)

 

And yes, rereading is highly recommended with Malazan. I should really do a whole series reread myself, I've read the last book only once.

[Talmanes]

I just started book 8 and I absolutely love the series. I had a kind of love/hate relationship with it for a while, and I can definitely see why some people don't like the series.

The whole, each new book could be about brand new characters and you won't here from any old ones until the next book, thing, drove me crazy. The thing that makes me love Steven Erikson, is the fact that when I start a book like Midnight Tides and am pissed when I realize no old characters are in it at all and am pissed, through the course of the book, he convinces me why I needed to read it.

Sometimes it takes me a bit to get into each book, or to get used to certain characters, but I always find myself enthralled before the end.

 

Erikson's scope I just think is insane. He takes damn near a whole world, pantheons of gods, ascendants, spirits and demons and not only writes what happens with all of them, but ties it together.

[NeverTame]

Midnight Tides is the only book, though, that focuses completely on a new cast of characters. Not that I disagree with anything you say - it's the same when new storylines and characters are introduced in other books, too, and we spend large chunks of the book trying to figure out where they fit in even while we're following members of the old cast on the side.

 

Ah, I remember the feeling when I read MT for the first time. Looking at the characters, going, "So, err... who are you, where are you, and, umm, when are you?" Linear storytelling... not! And the prologue. By that book, we know enough about the Tiste to know that what's happening is a Big Deal but still we know nothing about the characters we're witnessing and it basically left me mentally screaming "Wait! I want to know more about these guys! You can't just leave me here~!" ...But, of course, Erikson can, and will. x)

 

Talmanes, you say you've just started Toll the Hounds - how do you find it so far? I think it's the one in the series that divides reader opinions the most, because the narrative voice is very different from the other books, as you'll probably have noticed. At least for the Darujhistan parts.

[Talmanes]

Midnight Tides was the worst at first haha, but I still ended up thoroughly enjoying it. And so far I'm really not sure what to think with Toll the Hounds. I'm still pretty early and have mostly just had Darujhistan parts. I certainly haven't gotten hooked into this one yet though. I can certainly update once I get further.

[Tyler Glembo]

Currently in the middle of book 6.  I'm still pissed off about book 5.  At no point does anything at all that happened in books 1-4 or so far in book 6 have anything to do with anything in book 5.  And yes, I get that in book 4 Trull said he was going to tell his story but even after hundreds and hundreds of pages of book 5 you are no closer to finding out how Trull, a very minor character at that point, got to where he is.  I'm really enjoying all the different storylines, the way Erikson weaves things together from so many different viewpoints, and the way he doesn't get in his own way as an author by falling into the same stupid cliche over and over (tugged braid, smoothed skirts, etc). 

 

But seriously, somebody tell me that I didn't waste my time reading book 5, because as far as I can tell it could have been a total stand alone novel.

[Tyler Glembo]

This was my review of Midnight Tides, btw

 

 

 

While reading book 4 you are introduced to Trull Sengar and he promises that he will tell the story of how he got to where he is. Book 5 starts with a younger Trull, and the assumption is that, 600 pages later at the end of the book you might have some understanding of how he got to the events in book 4. Well, that assumption could not be further from the truth. 600 pages later you learned a whole lot about a number of characters who all die anyway, but at no point does any of book 5 tie in with anything from books 1-4.

I can only hope that somewhere in books 6-10 I will begin to understand how the gold coin plating and waxing ceremony of the Edur matters. Or how undermining the "stock markets" of Lether but then not actually acting on it to cause an economic crash matters. Or how Shand, Rissarh, and Hejun having lots of sex with Ublala Pung matters. Or how the death of the Pack and B'nagga affected the parthenon of gods in meaningful ways to the final outcome of the story. Or really any of it at all.

Had this been a stand-alone story it would have been interesting. As part of a larger series that it has absolutely nothing in connection with for 600 pages it was impossible to get through.