Dancer's Lament - Ian C. Esslemont

In 2014 Ian C. Esslemont delivered Assail, the sixth and final novel of the Malazan Empire, a series that intertwines with Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Like Erikson, he has now chosen to delve into the rich past of their shared fantasy world. Dancer's Lament is the first novel in a series describing the rise of the Malazan Empire. It's a period Erikson has not published any material on, leaving Esslemont a bit more free to find his own path. It seems to have done him a lot of good. The story works well for veteran readers but it might also be a good entry point. Let's face it, there are significantly less unknown terms, unexplained histories and strange magics dropped on the reader than in Erikson's first books.

The continent of Quon Tali was once unified, but in recent decades various regional powers have vied for control. Most of this has passed the city of Li Heng by, however. Ruled by a powerful sorceress, the city has known generations of stability. This is about to come to an end when the armies of the Itko Kan arrive. Their ambitious young king is aiming to conquer the city. He is not the only arrival however. Two young men with ambitions that stretch far beyond controlling one city, slip into Li Heng just before the besiegers arrive. The game of power is played on several levels and as usual in the world of Malaz, the use of power attracts the powerful. What starts out as a simple siege ripples though the Malazan pantheon.

As I understand it, Esslemont is under contract for three books in this series. This first book doesn't quite feel as the setup for a traditional trilogy, however. I would not be surprised to see the author take it beyond three books. The Malazan timeline is notoriously (and intentionally) vague so it is hard to pinpoint when exactly this story takes place in relation to other books in this universe. My best guess is that this story is set at least a century before the events in Gardens of the Moon but I could be a few decades off.

Although the history of this universe goes back a lot further, Erikson is currently writing books that are set many thousands of years before the events Esslemont describes here, Dancer's Lament is something of an origins story. We meet a number of young characters who will go on to become big players. The title is giving one of them away. Dassem Ulthor makes an appearance, Kellanved shows up and the Crimson Guard, before undergoing the ritual, pays Li Heng a visit. There is, in other words plenty for the reader familiar with the Malazan books to recognize.

All these familiar characters in the story could have the drawback that the observant reader will guess the shape of the story early on. Between them, Erikson and Esslemont have given quite a few hints on the past of some of the key players in the story. I have a nagging suspicion that later books might become more predictable. It will be interesting to see how Esslemont handles that. In Dancer's Lament, predictability is not (yet) a problem. We are a long way from Malaz, the empire is a distant dream. It will take the reader the better part of the book to figure out who is who, and more importantly, what they are capable of. Names are fluid in this series. They are often earned rather than given, and quite a few characters still have to earn theirs.

As usual the conflict in the novel plays out on several levels. The worldly politics of Quon Tali is intermingled with the struggles of gods and ascendants. This last conflict is reflected in changes in the Deck of Dragons, where as of yet unaligned cards start to appear. The origin of the house that is forming is one of the most interesting aspects of the novel for me. For characters who are, in later books, seen to be playing the long game, meticulously plotting their moves, their actions in this novel appear rash. In fact, they cause the nearest thing to panic among the  ascendants I've seen in this series.

Despite the multilayered conflict, the novel is fairly concise as Malazan books go. It is just over 400 pages in hardback. Some of the bigger novels in the overall series are easily twice as long. Esslemont starts his new series in a relatively contained setting and with, for Malazan standards, a fairly limited cast. Where in some of his previous novels I had the feeling he had trouble juggling the characters, writing his novels in between Erikson's parts and pulling all strands together for a good convergence, he doesn't have any such problems in this book. It is a tightly written novel with a satisfying climax. Sure, there are lots of open ends, it is the first book in a series after all, but structurally, this novel may be the best Esslemont has produced to date.

All in all, I am quite taken with this novel. Dancer's Lament is a fresh start for the series, and that seems to be just what Esslemont needed. It is one of the more accessible books in the universe of Malaz, but still contains enough links to the other works in the series to make it interesting for readers who have read the other books. This novel shows that, whatever we think we know about this most complex of fantasy worlds, Erikson and Esslemont will keep surprising us with their stories. Even if Esslemont's earlier novels didn't convince you, this one is well worth the read.

Book Details
Title: Dancer's Lament
Author: Ian C. Esslemont
Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 401
Year: 2016
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-593-07434-3
First published: 2016

Assail - Ian C. Esslemont

Ian C. Esslemont's sixth novel Assail is the final book in what we'll for convenience call the Malazan main sequence. Esslemont started publishing in earnest a few years later than his co-creator Steven Erikson and his novels are interwoven in Erikson's storyline. By that time Erikson had set the Malazan standard and Esslemont has had a rough time living up to that. His style is different from Erikson, a bit less verbose and a bit less satirical. It has gotten him quite a few negative reviews, some of which are in my opinion not justified. Erikson and Esslemont are not the same person, you can't reasonably expect them to approach their creation the same way. That being said, not all of Esslemont's novels were equally strong. I had problems with Night of Knives and Orb, Sceptre, Throne in particular. Fortunately Assail is one of Esslemont's stronger ones. In fact, some might consider it his best one yet.

Gold has been discovered on the continent of Assail. Lots of it if the stories are to believed. Enterprising people from all over the world make the long, hazardous journey to the continent only to find out just how dangerous the place is. Ancient magic lingers in the north of the continent in particular. Omtose Phellack, the ancient path of ice, still holds the place in its grip. It is weakening though. Slowly the ice is releasing its grip on the land and this creates opportunities for those who have an ancient score to settle with the rulers of the ice. The natives of course, are not at all amused by all this unwanted attention. A bloody struggle for control of the region is about to begin.

The final book in the main sequence needs a final reckoning of some sort. Given the sprawling that and the countless unfinished story lines the previous fifteen books have brought us, it would have been undoable to tie all of them off. Esslemont chooses to focus the supernatural part of the conflict on the eternal war between the Elder races Jaghut and Imass. The summoner Silverfox, whom we met in Memories of Ice is key to this story line. She is both the only hope for the future of the Imass as well as the person trying to heal the rift that has formed between the various clans. It's this part of the story I liked the least to be honest. Silverfox is very passive. She spends most of her time in pursuit of one of the clans bent on continuing the war. I don't want to give away the climax of that story line but I felt it was a bit disappointing. I was more impressed with the way Esslemont handled the confrontations between just about every group mentioned in the previous fifteen books. It must have been quite a challenge to keep all those cultural backgrounds straight.

Another aspect I think many readers will notice is the element of repetition that is present in the book. The various characters, and there are quite a lot of them, in the novel all more or less make the same journey to Assail, meaning we see several characters pass the same place at various times in the book. As with all Malazan novels, the story works towards a convergence; but this time the characters don't come from different directions. Once the first group has passed a particular place, the reader will be aware of the danger it holds for the travelers. It does take away some of the tension at certain points in the novel.

What I did like about the book is that Esslemont uses a theme that appears in Erikson's work as well. He reflects on the fate of civilizations that meet a fully agricultural, imperialistic civilization. In Erikson's work it is often the nomadic peoples who find out the strength of an empire first hand. In Assail it is the Icebloods. A small group of families of Jaghut descent who hang on the north of Assail. The gold on their land is their misfortune. Replace gold for oil, or any other precious resource really, and our own history can tell you what will happen. It's a tragic story. The Icebloods are doomed and they know it. In true Malazan style they are determined to make a stand however. Assail's gold carries a price in blood.

The Jaghut presence is noticeable in other groups of the local population too. They are a very independent lot, not easily impressed by outsiders and of the opinion that killing them and taking their possessions is quite all right. Their land is not one that offers many opportunities for economic growth so piracy and scavenging have become an art on Assail. Even the names on the maps of Assail encourage people to stay away. Assail is cold, wild and has a vaguely Nordic feel to it. When you think about it, Esslemont and Erikson have managed to give the many locations in their vast world a distinct flavour. One would not mistake Assail for Korell, Lether or Genebackis.

Assail weighs in at 540 pages. It seems to be a length Esslemont is comfortable with. His books are substantially shorter than Erikson's, making them slightly less intimidating to get started on. I thought Assail was quite a quick read and definitely one of the smoothest Esslemont has produced to date. Some readers will probably think it is not quite what they expected form the concluding volume of the series. The world of Malaz is huge. There are plenty of questions unanswered and plenty of places left to explore. Personally I don't see how it could be otherwise in this monstrously detailed world. I understand Esslemont intends to write a series of prequels next. He doesn't intend to go back as far as Erikson is doing at the moment though, so it will be an opportunity for Esslemont to write a story that is not completely interwoven in Erikson's work. I look forward to reading what Esslemont comes up with next. He has grown considerably as a writer over the course of this series. I expect some more good stuff from him.

Book Details
Title: Assail
Author: Ian Esslemont
Publisher: Tor
Pages: 540
Year: 2014
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2998-1
First published: 2014

Forge of Darkness - Steven Erikson

After finishing the monumental job of writing the ten volumes of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson must have wondered how to continue. The series is one of the most complex and demanding works of Fantasy I've come across. The scope and depth of the history of the world of Malaz is simply way beyond anything encountered in other fantasy series. It leaves plenty of options to tell other stories of course but the temptation to start something fresh must also have been present. In a way Forge of Darkness, the first novel in the Kharkanas trilogy is a bit of both. The story is set so far back in history that it might as well be a different world despite the familiar characters that show up.

Forge of Darkness takes us to the realm of Kurald Galain, back to the time when the Tiste were one people. In recent years the cult of Mother Dark has gained prominence in Tiste society and this is not to everybody's liking. As her darkness spread through the Tiste lands resistance against her and her chosen consort Lord Draconus is growing. Most of the major players are aware that civil war is about to erupt and precautions are being taken. Outside the borders of the realm things are stirring too. Especially along the shores of the mysterious Vitr sea things are happening that will change the world.

In a way, Erikson takes a bit of a gamble here. Despite the vast gulf of time that separates this story form the ten book series he wrote before, the fate of the Tiste people is known. We've even seen some of it in one of the flashbacks in the later Malazan Book of the Fallen novels. To keep things interesting Erikson uses a technique not often encountered in Fantasy. Where most series strive for internal consistency and time lines that sometimes are know from day to day, Erikson leaves things fuzzy on purpose. He often employs unreliable narrators, people who were present at events in the distant past, people who have stakes in these events or have reason to want them to be remembered a certain way. In short, what Erikson chooses to show us our knowledge of history is flawed, sometimes corrupted and often unreliable. Nothing that can be gleaned from the Malazan Book of the Fallen novels can be taken for granted. To stress this point, the novel is essentially a frame story. In the prologue Erikson introduces us to the narrator of the book, who readily admits his own bias in telling it.

The shape of the story is what we've come to expect from Erikson. He uses a great number of point of view characters to show events in a lot of different locations, patiently working his way to the climax of the novel. Where many of his books have a military campaign at the heart of at least one major story line, this novel has a slightly different focus. There are armies on the move and a few battle scenes are included but civil war is much messier than an outright military conflict. Nobody appears in control. While everybody can feel the momentum building and an eruption of violence approaching, the immediate goals of the characters seem limited. There is no Kellanved with dreams of an empire, no Crippled God aiming to shake up the pantheon. It is epic fantasy but somehow a shade more manageable than the sprawling series that made Erikson's name.

Another very interesting touch is that while the religious tensions appear to tear Tiste society apart, they are fast approaching an ecological crash too. There are lots of references to deforestation and the extinction of animals. Beyond the loss of good hunting game, nobody seems overly concerned about it. Erikson is clearly exploring more than one way in which a culture can doom itself. In that respect, the Tiste are certainly being thorough.

Besides the Tiste, Erikson shows us a number of other elder races in this book. The Jaghut show up as they were before a war of genocide was unleashed on them and before Hood's ascension. The Jheck make an appearance, there are references to the Forulkan and their eternal pursuit of justice and the Eilent crash the party. For the established reader the opening chapters of this book is a feast of recognition. Before Erikson pulls the carpet from under you and lays out a very different history from what we thought we knew anyway. The Azathanai, which I assume are linked to the Azath houses of a later age, are perhaps the most interesting. They already seem to have a very long history and struck me as gods living among their own creations. They seem to have already distanced themselves from their creations though. Their whole stance made me wonder where Erikson is going to take that particular part of the story.

As you will probably have realized by now, there is plenty that ties this book the to the Malazan Book of the Fallen. For an established reader it will be a treat. Erikson also wanted to make it an entry point into the series. One that didn't need the reader to commit to ten large volumes. Having read all ten Malazan books, as well as five novellas and five novels by Ian C. Esslemont set in the same world, it is hard for met to answer the question if it is successful in that respect as well. The story itself should be no problem but I do feel you get an awful lot more out of this book if you've read the series. Of course Gardens of the Moon (1999), the other obvious entry point into the world of Malaz is not without it's flaws. The series is notoriously difficult to get into. With so much more experience, Erikson has delivered a better written book and a much smoother read. There is something to be said for starting here.

Carrying on after completing such a huge series as the Malazan Book of the Fallen is quite a challenge and Erikson proves up to it with Forge of Darkness. He manages to create a new chapter in the story that is both fresh and different from what has gone before but retains the kind of messy complexity and immense tragedy that characterize his previous novels. I was quite impressed with the opening novel of the Kharkanas trilogy. Erikson is clearly not finished with the universe he and Ian C. Esslemont created. I for one, look forward to seeing where he will take this trilogy. I may have to wait a while to find out though. It looks as if Fall of the Light won't appear until next year.

Book Details
Title: Forge of Darkness
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 662
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-593-06217-3
First published: 2012

Blood and Bone - Ian C. Esslemont

Blood and Bone is Ian C. Esslemont's fifth novel set in the Malazan universe he created with Steven Erikson. The first of these Night of Knives serves as a prequel to the series, where subsequent books explore events and continents not covered in Erikson's ten book series. Esslemont's previous book, Orb Sceptre Throne, was mostly set in and around the city of Darujhistan, familiar territory for fans of the series as it is the main setting for the novels Gardens of the Moon and Toll of the Hounds, in this new novel we're off to the unknown continent of Jacuruku. It has been mentioned in previous novels but until now, we haven't seen much of what has been going on there. I've never been quite as enthusiastic about Esslemonts writing as I haven been about Erikson. That trend continues in this book. I liked it a whole lot better than Orb Sceptre Throne, which is a bit of a mess in my opinion, but it is not as strong as Stonewielder.

The Visitor is hanging in the sky of the continent of Jarcuruku as an omen of war. It approaches from all sides as the thaumaturges that dominate half of the continent prepare to launch another expedition into the wild Himatan jungle that has thus far eluded their control. It is said to be the domain of a powerful entity known as the Queen of Dreams. Further south, the tribes are being united by a recently arrived foreign warlord, looking to strike further into the thaumaturge lands than they ever have before. On top of the locals rattling their swords, the Crimson Guard make an appearance, hired to bring to heel their own runaway Skinner and his band of Disavowed. In other words, a convergence is happening on the continent and such events attract the attention of the gods. Even if events on the Letheri keep some of the gods busy, Jacuruku will not escape their notice entirely.

The jungle setting Esslemont employs in this novel is definitely a first in the series. Where the action in this series usually takes place  in arid climates or frozen wastelands, the this tropical ecology is quite a change. The jungle Esslemont describes has a bit of an Asian flavour too it. I guess that is not entirely surprising given the fact that Esslemont has spent time in south-east Asia in the past. What struck me about his descriptions in particular was the way he describes the jungle has hungry, insatiable for nutrients, with cycles that are so fast everything that dies is consumed again before it has time to accumulate in the soil. The speed at which organic materials such as wood and leather decays in the novel might be a bit exaggerated but this fierce competition of nutrients is a characteristic of tropical rainforest ecotopes. That kind of ecological insight is not something you come across often in fantasy novels.

Malazan chronology is notoriously impenetrable but I'd say the novel is set more or less in the same time frame as Stonewielder and The Crippled God. Despite that, it is a very self contained story as Malazan novels go. There are references to events in Toll of the Hounds, Stonewielder, Orb Sceptre Throne and the concluding volumes of Erikson's Part of the tale, Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God, but mostly the story stays focussed on on events on Jacuruku. It is a quality it shares with Stonewielder I suppose. When Esslemont tries to mesh more closely into the areas Erikson has already covered, the result is often confusing or unsatisfactory. This novel shares a number of characters with other books, but not so many the effect of the different treatment Esslemont and Erikson give them that the result becomes jarring. It also helps Esslemont keeps the number of story lines contained to half a dozen or so. Orb Sceptre Throne had so many it is very easy to loose track of what is going on. This novel is complex in its own right but doesn't depend so much on what has gone before. Esslemont leaves himself more space to tell his own story and he uses it to full effect.

Once again, the Crimson Guard provides the link to much of the rest of the series. Their internal struggles and clashes with the Malazan Empire feature prominently in the novel. It appears the novel also sets up the story for Esslemont's final novel in this series, tentatively titled Assail. The Crimson Guard appears once in a while in Erikson's books but it wasn't until I read Esslemont's books that their history really became clear to me. In Blood and Bone the conflict between Avowed and Disavowed comes to head when K'azz sees no other option than the take a contract against Skinner and his company. Their trip over the river into the jungle will remind readers of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, as every bend seems to reveal a new horror to the company that appears to be totally unprepared for what is hiding amongst the trees. Esslemont focusses more on the environment than Conrad did though. Natives do show up in the novel but in a different story line but not so much as an extension of the darkness encountered but the foreign travellers.

The cast of Blood and Bone is large though, and not only made up of characters we've already seen. Esslemont introduces quite a few new ones too. The Thaumaturges deploy a kind of magic we haven't encountered before. It is a mix very strict mental training and a kind of vivisection that H.G. Well would have ascribed to Dr. Moreau if he'd been around to read this novel. Theirs is a society full of contrasts. Their mental discipline makes you expect balanced personalities and yet, their order has turned into one of the most tyrannical systems of government encountered in the novel. Their society is highly organized and the land heavily cultivated at the expense of just about every basic human right. A sharp contrast to the natives of Himatan, who, when we finally meet them turn out to possess almost nothing and like their jungle just fine the way it is.

The third culture we are introduced to is a collection of what appear to semi nomadic tribes. They show up with great regularity in the Malazan world (Wickans, Awl, Barghast, just to name a few) and although the details differ slightly every time, it is essentially familiar territory. This story line was the one I least enjoyed. I guess the identity of the foreign warlord was an interesting riddle, although the more fanatical Malazan readers will probably figure it out long before I did. Other than that is mostly served to show us the horrors of thaumaturge society. I wasn't too fond of the slightly naive Prince Jatal.

After the messy and disappointing Orb Sceptre Throne, this novel is a return to form for Esslemont. More focussed and less dependent on the story Erikson has already laid out, much more of Esslemont's own talent and ideas on the Malazan world shines through. I still liked Stonewielder better but that is a very personal preference. Looking at the quality of the writing and the way Esslemont handles the multiple story lines and large cast of characters, there is not much in it. Blood and Bone is a worthy extension of this epic tale and promises some very interesting things for Esslemont's next novel. He's been hinting at going to the continent of Assail, one of the last remaining blank spots on the Malazan map. I for one, can't wait to see what he'll treat us to in the next volume.

Book Details
Title: Blood and Bone
Author: Ian C. Esslemont
Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 586
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-593-06446-7
First published: 2012

Crack'd Pot Trail - Steven Erikson

Crack'd Pot Trail is the fourth in Steven Erikson's series on the necromancers Korbal Broach and Bauchelain. These novellas are an offshoot of his huge Malazan Book of the Fallen series, where the pair shows up in Memories of Ice. Recently they have also been part of Ian C. Esslemont's fourth Malazan novel Orb Sceptre Throne. The events in these novels are set much later in the Malazan time line however. I read the Night Shade Books edition for the previous three volumes but it appears this publisher has lost interest in these novellas. For the fourth, and the recently published fifth novella titled The Wurms of Blearmouth, I got the PS Publishing editions. PS Publishing spent a lot of time and effort making this novella look pretty. It has very good cover art and three beautiful full colour interior illustrations by Dirk Berger. It makes this edition expensive though. For people with a small budget the Tor edition might be the better option.

In Crack'd Pot Trail we follow a group of travellers on a notorious desert trail. Part of the group is in pursuit of a pair of necromancers who have left a trail of death and destruction in their wake. Other members tag along for other reasons. There is a group of pilgrims hoping to find the Indifferent God, as well as a group of poet, on their way to an annual festival. The trail is long and dangerous and when the group is not making as much progress as expected, their supplies fall low. Survival becomes priority number one. There is no way they can all make it across the desert, hard choices will have to be made.

This novella is a love it or hate it book I think. I've seen reviews on either extreme of the scale but very little in between and I can see why this would be so. I must admit I am torn as to whether is novella is brilliant or a failed experiment. One thing is clear, it is a break with the previous three entries. At 181 pages it is a lot longer than the previous three entries for instance. The focus of the novella has also shifted away from the necromancers that give the series its name. Korbal Boach, Bauchelain and their unfortunate manservant Emancipor Reese are present only at the very end of the novella and play not part in the story other than being a distant target. This fact alone will put some readers off.

Where the previous novellas were pretty straightforward reads, this is a complex tale. Erikson creates a great number of characters in the limited space available in a novella, making the reader work hard in keeping the various groups and motivations apart. Something that isn't made any easier by the narrator of the story, a poet by the name of Avas Didion Flicker. The man is cursed with a verbosity that would make even the Eel of Darujhistan blink. The first twenty or so pages are particularly dense. Flicker describes each of his fellow travelers in detail. From that point on the story gains a little more speed but it never becomes easy reading.

Erikson made this novella almost impossible to review. The main attraction of the novel is the way he describes the relationship between the artist and the critic. As the journey becomes more desperate and food runs out, the only option left to the travellers is to start eating each other. Who should go first? Why the least useful person on the journey of course: the poets. To determine the order in which the poets will be eaten, each night a contest is held between them. The one with the most dismal performance, and it must be said, this particular group of artists is not blessed with an extraordinary amount of talent, will be eaten. Well now, how is for a portrayal of the critic. Erikson is challenging us to show ourselves the cannibalistic Philistines he describes? Some reviewers obviously found it tempting. The irony is overwhelming.

    "I still want details," said Tiny Chanter, glaring at me in canid challenge.
    "As a sweet maiden, she was of course unversed in the stanza of amorous endeavour-"
    "What?" asked Midge.
    "She didn't know anything about sex", I re-phrased.
    "Why do you do that anyway?" Apto inquired.
    I took a moment to observe the miserable, vulpine excuse for humanity, and then said, "Do what?"
    "Complicate things."
    "Perhaps because I am a complicated sort of man."
    "But if it makes people frown or blink or otherwise stumble in confusion, what is the point?"
    "Dear me", I said, "here you are, elected as Judge, yet you seem entirely unaware of the magical properties of language. Simplicity, I do assert, is woefully overestimated in value. Of course there are times when bluntness suits, but the value of these instances is found in the surprise they deliver, and such surprise cannot occur if they are surrounded by similitude-"
    "For Hood's sake," rumbled Tiny, "get back to the other similitudes. The maiden knew nothing so it fell to the Fenn warrior to tech her, and that's what I want to hear about. The world in its proper course through the havens and whatnot." And he shot Apto a wordless but entirely unambiguous look of warning, that in its mute bluntness succeeded in reaching the critic's murky awareness, sufficient to spark self-preservation. In other words, the look scared him witless.
    I resumed. "We shall backtrack, then, to the moment when they stood, now facing another. He was well-versed-"
    "Now it's back to the verses again," whined Midge.
    "And though with heated desire," I continued, "he displayed consummate skill - "
    "Consummate, yeah!" and Tiny grinned his tiny grin. 

Flicker facing his critics - p. 126-127

The verbosity, the opening with what could uncharitably be describes as an infodump, the absence of the fan favorites, these are all deliberate choices on the part of the author. Choices he would have known would get him negative reviews. Of all the satire Erikson has written, and there is quite a bit worked into his novels as well as this series of novellas, this one obviously targets the reader most directly. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a series that got a big boost from the blogsphere but it has run into the unwillingness of some fans to see the genre's stereotypes challenged as well. Erikson is a writer who likes the challenge expectations. He makes pretty bold choices in his writing and that is what sets his fantasy apart from your average series. Erikson is not afraid to show us the convoluted relationship between artist, audience and critic and none of the parties are portrayed in a particularly flattering light.

How many authors must have been longing to address their critics like this, or expose the ignorance of their audience? How many could actually do so without hurting their career? The more I think about it, the more I am beginning to appreciate the genius of this novella. It may not add much to the story of Korbal Broach and Bauchelain but under the surface lots of interesting commentary is going on. Crack'd Pot Trail is a daring piece. Erikson once again plays with the reader's expectations and casts a new light on his own body of work. This broader view of this novella will probably not sit well with all readers, but I think it is sheer brilliance. Even if I have to suffer Erikson's most verbose character yet.

Book Details
Title: Crack'd Pot Trail
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: PS Publishing
Pages: 181
Year: 2009
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-848630-57-4
First published: 2009

The Healthy Dead - Steven Erikson

The Healthy Dead is the second in a series of novellas on the necromancers Krobal Broach and Bauchelain. The are set in the same world as Erikson's ten volume fantasy series the Malazan Book of the Fallen. So far, Erikson has published four, with a fifth expected later this year. The Healthy Dead is the second in publication order, but the third chronologically, with the third novella, The Lees of Laughters End, set between Blood Follows and this novella. Once again I've read the edition published by Night Shade Books, which has a cover and several interior illustrations by Mike Dringenberg. The Healthy Dead is my favourite of the three I have read so far (I own a copy of Crack'd Pot Trail and hope to read it later this year). It is the finest example of the satirical element in  Erikson's writing.

After the events that forced their premature departure from Lamentable Moll, Korbal Broach and Bauchelain, accompanied by the unfortunate servant Emancipor Rees are still on the run from their pursuers. They have reached the remote city of Quaint, which at first glance offers little the small company may want and Bauchelain is tempted to circle the city and try to gain some more distance between them and their pursuers. Then, one of the city's inhabitants approaches them with a plea for help. A challenge Bauchelain can't resist. The city is ruled by a king who in his desire to do good, has banned just about everything that can kill. A very dangerous development if it were to spread. You see, a desire for goodness leads to the end of civilization.

In this novella Erikson ask the reader the question why so many people seem to prefer regimes that are not actually out for the wellbeing of their subjects. It has been a well known phenomenon that large groups of people long for a return to dictatorial regimes when a democratic political system doesn't turn out to be as perfect as the brochure promised. In this case the city of Quaint have come to realize that their king's ruthless enforcement of healthy living practices, makes life more complicated than they bargained for. The eloquent Bauchelain explains it in Yoda-like fashion early on in the novella, a gimmick that Erikson will repeat a number of times in the text.

"Ah, Mister Reese, I gather you still do not understand the threat this king poses to such creatures as you and I."

"Well, frankly, no, I don't, Master. As you say."

"I must perforce make the linkage plain, of sufficient simplicity to permit your uneducated mind to grasp all manner of significance. Desire for goodness, Mister Reese, leads to earnestness. Earnestness in turn leads to sanctimonious self-righteousness, which breeds intolerance, upon which harsh judgement quickly follows, yielding dire punishment, inflicting general terror an paranoia,eventually culminating in revolt, leading to chaos, then dissolution and thus, the end of civilization."

Bauchelain explaining to Reese why the situation in Quaint is so dangerous.

Quite simple really. And while he's at it, Erikson lampoons political correctness and diet gurus.

Erikson continues the story with a series of bizarre scenes in which the cities cult of healthy living is  examined. It is portrayed as a society where nothing is left to individual responsibility and where infractions are harshly punished. Those who died clean, healthy deaths - usually from ailments of the bowels after their diet has been reduced to mostly grass, excluding everything that could be considered a vice or in any way unhealthy -  are venerated and proudly displayed. Erikson has never been afraid of describing the grisly details of life and death in detail, and in this story he managed to combine the horrific with the comical. Casual acceptance of some horror and outrage at others contrast in strange ways and completely over the top situation occur with frighting regularity. A situation that echoes the relationship between Reese and his masters.

One of the things I like most about these novellas is that it forces Erikson to be more concise. The restrictions in length force him to focus and in this novella it works very well. Where Blood Follows feels a bit rushed at the end, this novella feels exactly long enough. Quite an achievement for a man who also produces sprawling 300,000 words novels almost like clockwork. The Healthy Dead  just ticks all the boxes for me, I think it is a little gem. And the best thing is that you can read these novellas without having the read the ten huge volumes of the main series. It is a great way to sample Erikson's writing. I can't wait to see where Erikson is taking the story of the two necromancers and their unfortunate manservant.

Book Details
Title: The Healthy Dead
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Pages: 128
Year: 2005
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1-597800-06-6
First published: 2004

Orb Sceptre Throne - Ian C. Esslemont

The main series, as many people think of it, in the Malazan Empire setting may have been completed by Steven Erikson last year, there is still plenty of activity in this most epic of fantasy universes. Erikson himself is ready to launch a new trilogy, the first novel of which, titled Forge of Darkness, is expected this summer. There is also a fifth Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novella in the works (I have yet to read the fourth!). On top of all of that, in January Ian C. Esslemont's fourth novel Orb Sceptre Throne came out. In other words, plenty of new reading material for Malazan fans this year. After Stonewielder, which I considered to be his best effort yet, I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it left me feeling slightly let down.

A synopsis for Malazan books is usually pretty impossible so let's keep this one short. Orb Sceptre Throne is a return to the city of Darujhistan, where this series began in Gardens of the Moon. The story is set after the events described by Erikson in Toll of the Hounds and mostly focuses on the rise to power of a new Tyrant, one that rekindles memories of ancient nightmares on the continent. Soon the remaining Malazan contingent, the Moranth, the Rhivi and the mysterious Seguleh are embroiled in the conflict that could impact the world far beyond Genebackis.

Picking up from where Erikson left us in Toll of the Hounds is no easy task. Erikson's eigthth Malazan novel is a glorious mess of a book. A sprawling tale that connects with so much in every book that has come before that a few continuity errors have slipped in. By this point in the story, the time line is messy and Orb Sceptre Throne only adds to that. So my first advice to anyone reading this novel is to forget about the time line. It doesn't make sense, some developments occur in impossibly short spaces of time, character ages are inconsistent in some cases etcetera. That doesn't mean the story doesn't make sense. The plan is still clear, Erikson left the seeds of this story in the earlier books set in Darujhistan.

 As usual, the book features a very large cast, a lot of whom we've met before in previous books. This is another point where I felt Esslemont has had to wrestle with what Erikson has done before him. Some of the characters are still clearly recognizable, but a few seem to drastically chance their tone of voice. The one that felt most alien is the verbose eel of Darujhistan Kruppe. This character served as the narrator for the story in Toll of the Hounds, something of a stylistic experiment from Erikson, it is the only book so far to be written in that style. In this novel, Kruppe seems very subdued really. Not a whole lot is left of the slippery, rambling, falsely modest and often severely underestimated character that has the potential to both entertain and infuriate readers. Esslemont somehow managed to make him boring.

A part that almost completely failed to capture my attention, despite the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach cameo, are Antsy's antics picking at the corpse of the crashed flying fortress of Moon's Spawn. I'm sure Esslemont is taking this somewhere but given the minor importance of plot of this novel I think the author spends a lot of time on it. Orb Sceptre Throne is not extremely large as Malazan books go, but six hundred pages is plenty if some parts of the story fail to keep your attention at all. Maybe that part of the story just felt longer because I didn't like it all that much.

One of the things I did like about the novel was the closer look we got at the Seguleh. Erikson had already shown us a few Seguleh characters as well as hinted at some of their history. Esslemont takes a much closer look at Seguleh society and culture in this novel, exploring it though the eyes of Seguleh characters. I've always wondered if there was a touch of Japanese Samurai in the Seguleh. Their culture does is quite rigid and despite their prowess in battle, which is a bit over the top, they do take a lot of punches. Change would seem inevitable after the events in this book. I don't think Esslemont means to return to that story in the two remaining novels though.

Despite some of these interesting parts of the story, I never got the sense of working to a large climax. There is a conflict resolved at the end of the novel but all the individual story lines, and there are lots and lots of those, don't really coalesce into a convergence Malazan style. Like some of the characters, the climax of the novel feels a bit muted. Even with the end approaching, it failed to really hold my attention or care very much about the resolution of the oncoming clash between all those parties. Despite the great number of characters, Esslemont moves the pieces skilfully in position to wrap things up but somehow doesn't include the tension and drama that he did deliver in his previous book.

I think that for the die hard Malazan fan there is still a lot to enjoy in this novel but I don't think the novel ever overcomes the problems Esslemont has building on the foundation of Erikson's work. Part of the reason why Stonewielder works so much better than Orb Sceptre Throne might be that Esslemont strikes out on his own in that novel. A continent not seen before with a cast that is largely unfamiliar to the reader. Orb Sceptre Throne has links to just about everything published before in this setting though. Some people may find all the links and references fascinating. I think Esslemont could have concentrated on the story he was telling a bit more and a bit less on whatever else is going on in the vast world he and Erikson have created.

Book Details
Title: Orb Sceptre Throne
Author: Ian C. Esslemont
Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 605
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-593-06450-4
First published: 2012

Blood Follows - Steven Erikson

Blood Follows (2002) is the first novella in a series of stories centred around the characters of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. These two made their first appearance in Memories of Ice (2001) where, among other things, they have a memorable confrontations with Quick Ben. So far, four novella's has been published and it was recently announced that Erikson has delivered the manuscript for a fifth, titled The Wurms of Blearmouth, to PS Publishing. To my knowledge no publication date has been announced yet. All of the novellas are set well before events in Memories of Ice and can be read independently from the novels. Personally I think have read up to Memories of Ice is a bonus though.

All of these novellas were published in small numbers by PS Publishing in the UK. The first three received a similar treatment in the US from Night Shade Books. I own a copy of the Night Shade Books edition of Blood Follows and it is an absolutely wonderful little hardcover. It was published in 2005 and includes a cover and interior art by Mike Dringenberg. It doesn't look like Night Shade Books will be publishing more of these however. An omnibus edition of the fist three novellas has appeared from Tor books in trade paperback in 2009 and they have published the fourth separately as well. Which is more than a bit unusual for Tor, they tend to prefer longer works. Now if you just want to read the text, you're probably better off with the much more affordable Tor editions but I have fallen in love with these limited editions. I'll be keeping an eye out for the PS edition of The Wurms of Blearmouth for sure.

In the port city of Lamentable Moll, Emancipor 'Mancy' Reese has just met with an stroke of bad luck. His most recent employer joins a line of prematurely deceased masters Mancy has served when he falls victim to a serial killer that has haunted the city for eleven nights. His wife, for whom social status is all important, is less than thrilled with the news. She demands he finds a new job immediately. This, of course, is more easily said than done but a notice of a gentleman looking for a manservant looks promising. Thus Mancy the Luckless makes the acquaintance of Korbal Broach.

Humour has always been an ingredient of Erikson's Malazan books but in these novellas they take the centre stage. Mancy is something of an anti-hero, one of those character where no matter what they try, you'll know they'll end up messing it up. His employers keep dying, his children are most likely not his own, his wife terrorizes him. Luckless doesn't begin to describe his misfortune. All of this he carries with an kind of resignation that adds to the comical effect. The Germans would call is schadenfreude I suppose. On the other hand we have two very competent charters, not used to failure. Sergeant Guld, the man investigating the gruesome murders that have been causing so much unrest in the city and of course Korbal Broach himself. Not surprisingly, Mancy finds himself caught between these intellects soon enough.

These novellas are generally much lighter reading than the enormously complex Malazan novels. I enjoyed this first Bauchelain and Korbal Broach a lot but when you get right down to it, they novella suffers form a problem that many other works of this length encounter as well. The number of words spend on it, don't really seems sufficient to do the story justice. The end is quite abrupt, maybe a little rushed. The introduction of the pursuer of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach could have used a bit more attention too I think. It's lean, dark and humorous. I enjoyed reading it but don't go into this novella expecting the same level of complexity or tragedy the Malazan series has to offer. They are written to highlight an other side of Erikson's writing and as such they are good reading.

Book Details
Title: Blood Follows
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Pages: 121
Year: 2005
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1-597800-04-X
First published: 2002

The Bonehunters - Steven Erikson

The Bonehunters is the sixth book in Erikson's sprawling Malazan Book of the Fallen series and the only one I haven't reviewed yet. Like the previous five books, it is absolutely huge. In fact, it may be the biggest book in the series up to this point. My mass market paperback contains well over 1200 pages. It wasn't a favourite of mine when I first read it in 2007, hemmed in as it is between Midnight Tides and Reaper's Gale, two of the stronger books in the series. It is a pivotal moment in the series though. Erikson is spinning events away from the Malazan Empire and heading for the continent that will be the setting of the finale of the series. In the wake of this book, he also leaves the space that will be filled by Ian C. Esslemont's Return of the Crimson Guard. You'll definitely want to have read the Erikson's series up to the sixth book before tackling that one.

This novel follows up on events described in House of Chains. The Whirlwind rebellion has been put down and the 14th army, commanded by Adjunct Tavore Paran is chasing the last remnants, a force lead by Leoman of the Fails towards Y'Gathan, a city where they are expected to make their last stand. It is not a random location, Y'Gathan holds bad memories for the Malazan Empire. It is the place that saw the downfall of one of it's greatest heroes, Dassem Ulthor. Plagued by bad omens and uncertainty regarding their leader, the relatively inexperienced 14th is heading for what looks like a difficult assault. Rumours of a plague rapidly approaching them force the Adjunct to decisive action. There is not time to starve out Leoman, they will have to take the city quickly.

The military element of this novel is actually quite small compared to some of the other books. The outcome of the battle is a forgone conclusion, only the way the Adjunct handles it is of import. Erikson moves on to a number of other things he needs to set the stage for Reaper's Gale and the final two novels of the series, Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God. We see the empire waste the last of its human capital and finally gain a bit of insight in Laseen's desperate bid to stay in power. I've always thought it was an interesting choice to leave the internal politics of the empire behind in later books as he focusses more on the upheaval taking place among gods and ascendants as well as events in Lether.

The war among the gods takes centre stage in the middle part of The Bonehunters in particular. Ganoes Paran, now Master of the Deck, has sanctioned the House of Chains, opening a whole new phase in the struggle between the Crippled God and the forces that oppose him. Ganoes is very active exercising his power in this novel. He does a lot of things that could be considered rash, stuff that has major consequences. It makes him one of the more interesting characters in the novel. He may have been in constant trouble in earlier novels, in this books he is clearly someone you don't want to mess with. As a number of supremely powerful beings find out.

Where Midnight Tides had a closer look at the dangers of unlimited capitalism, religious fanaticism are an important theme in The Bonehunters. We see a number of examples of fairly extreme religious practices and just how easily they can turn to large scale violence. It's something Erikson has been pointing to in the earlier books as well but this novel really drives how the way the relationship between gods and mortals is a two way street and that neither is safe from the other. It is absolutely one of the things that sets this series apart form most epic fantasy. The gods are at war and in a way mortals are caught in between. The gods had better beware who they mess with though.

Another notable figure in this novel is Karsa Olong. His conversations with Samar Dev on the nature of civilization are fascinating. Karsa mostly is of the opinion that civilization just brings the misery it says to raise people out of to ever larger numbers of people, while to Dev it is something one ought to strive for. The entire novel is full of references to to disappeared, failed civilizations. There appear to have been countless examples of this since the fall of the First Empire. Corruption, war and environmental degradation often causing their demise. In this respect, some of the comments of Laseen in the final chapters of the book, on the state of the Malazan Empire are very interesting. She is clearly a woman used to keeping her thoughts and emotions to myself but in these remarks a measure of desperation can be found. Which makes it all the more surprising that Erikson lets go of the eventual fate of the Malazan Empire. I guess the comments on the rise and fall of civilizations and those on burning up natural resources in particular can also be seen as a commentary on the state of our world. Either way, it is food for thought.

After this reread I still consider The Bonehunters something of a bridge between two stages of the story. As a novel, it is not quite as successful as the neighbouring volumes. That being said, it still contains the complex narrative, the huge cast, military heroics and tragedy, a overarching story of divine conflict and many more elements that makes the Malazan Book of the Fallen series stand out among epic fantasy. As with previous parts I've reread, I discovered a lot of detail I missed the first time around, making it even more obvious that this series is unrivalled in the genre. Especially the last of the four books the novel is divided into, contains a lot of interesting bits of information. I'm almost tempted to to reach for Reaper's Gale and reread that one as well.

Book Details
Title: The Bonehunters
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 1231
Year: 2007
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-553-81315-9
First published: 2006

Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson

Midnight Tides is the fifth volume in Erikson's Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and something of a favorite of mine. By this time the series is already ridiculously complex but Erikson manages to weave a new strand into his tale nonetheless. With the first four volumes going back and forth between events on the continent of Genebackis and the rebellion in the Seven Cities, a return to Genebackis might be what the reader expects. In fact, Erikson will get back to that continent for a while in volume six, The Bonehunters, but this book takes a step back in time and moves us to the distant empire of Letheras. I think this is by far the most interesting place Erikson has created in his series, certainly given recent events regarding the world's economy.

The empire of Letheras has been expanding for centuries. A combination of rampant capitalism, merciless greed and military might has lead numerous peoples to complete cultural annihilation. Now, the empire has turned it gaze towards the lands of six tribes of the Tiste Edur for new resources. In the eyes of the Letheri, the Tiste Edure are uncivilized people. Although the tribes don't have a monetary economy and are few in number, they do posses a dreadful kind of magic. For as long as anyone remembers the Tiste Edur have been divided, always fighting amongst themselves. Recently the Warlock-King of the Hiroth tribe, Hannan Mosag, has managed to unite all six tribes under his rule however. And his ambitions go far beyond the Tiste Edur lands. The two nations are on a collision course, one that will pit not long armies against each other but also dreadful magic and powerful ideologies. It is a clash that cannot fail to attract the notice of the gods.

In the previous book, House of Chains, Erikson dedicated a quarter of the text to the back story of a single character. Now, we take another step back to find out the history of Trull Sengar, the flooded realm we first encountered him in, and the actions of groups of Tiste Edur referenced to throughout the first four novels. The chronology of the these books is a bit problematic, with several contradictions cropping up in the text. For me it would make most sense to place the events in Midnight Tides several years prior to Gardens of the Moon but some people insist it is set later.

One of the things I like most about his book is the depiction of Letheri society. It is a culture where money is the most important status symbol and indebtedness leads to slavery. It's the Uncle Sam king of capitalism in overdrive, an economic systems that crushes anyone who plays the game poorly. Erikson shows us the follies of this system, many of which resemble to cycles of boom and bust in our own economy, though the eyes of two of my favorite characters: the apparently destitute financial genius Tehol Bedict and his (unpaid) manservant Bugg. There is a lot more to this comical duo than meets the eye. Their attempt to crash the Letheri economy is a story line that continues into the seventh volume, Reaper's Gale . It's a brilliant bit of satire that never seemed more relevant that these days.

I said Erikson makes things even more complex and he doesn't just do it by adding a new continent, the whole system of magic we've come to know in the previous four books is left behind as well. In stead of Warrens, a rawer, wilder, more primitive magic, tied to Holds can be accessed here. Curiously enough, the Hold of Death is empty, Hoods influence non-existent, meaning the dead can be made to linger. This gives rise to a number of phenomena we haven't seen before in these books. Armies of shades, curses that keep a soul tied to an already dead body, and even people who specialize in cosmetics for zombies. Some of it is utterly bizarre.

The manipulation of death takes another shape in the figure of Rhuald Sengar, younger brother to Trull. Rhuald is the subject of another ploy by the Crippled God, who abused the absence of Hood's influence to gain influence over the Tiste Edur. Rhuald is the character in which all the fractures in the Tiste Edur society come together. From the ancient corruption of historical events to the smaller scale of the conflicts in the Sengar family. Rhuald's bride, his relationship with his brother Trull and his meteoric rise to power all put an enormous strain on him. And that is on top of the manipulations of th Crippled God. It makes Rhuald one of the most convincingly insane characters in the entire series. Disturbing to read about but also a character who evokes pity in the reader.

Midnight Tides is also the book where Erikson starts to explain a few things in fairly plain language. That is not to say he coddles the reader, you'll still be thrown into strange situations that take a while for it to make sense, but for the first time we get a description of what a Warren is (or an interpretation of what they might be at least). He also sheds some light on the troubled history of the Tiste peoples. The prologue of this novel shows us a pivotal point in their history, one that will define the future of the Tiste Edur. Until now, we've mostly dealt with the Tiste Andi and only received hits of the trouble between Dark and Shadow. I don't think I caught the full significance of the prologue, both to this novel and the over all series the first time through. It's worth keeping that information in the back of your mind when reading this book.

New continent, new characters, new forms of magic and new gods. Midnight Tides almost feels like a new start to the series, but Erikson will merge this new story line into the other novels quite quickly in subsequent novels. It is also the first novel that will have the story spin outwards from the Malazan Empire. Not all readers may be pleased by yet another totally unfamiliar setting but I enjoyed the change of scenery tremendously. The fact that Erikson introduces a host of fascinating characters doesn't hurt either. From the comical Thehol and Bugg to Trull Sengar, turn between loyalty to his family and knowledge of an ancient wrong and a new threat to his people, Erikson once again delivers an epic, dramatic and superbly entertaining Malazan novel. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Book Details
Title: Midnight Tides
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 960
Year: 2005
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-553-81314-5
First published: 2004

House of Chains - Steven Erikson

House of Chains is the fourth of ten volumes in Steven Erikson's Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Like everybody, I have my favourites in this series and two of the books I enjoyed most are Memories of Ice and Midnight Tides. House of Chains is in between these two and I consider it the weakest of the ten books. That is not to say I didn't like it, but it doesn't work quite as well as some of the others. It is a novel that sets the stage for taking the story far outside the boundaries of the Malazan Empire however. There are lots of hints and bits of information about events elsewhere in world that prepare the reader for what is to come. I missed a lot of that on my first read. It's very easy to underestimate the importance of the bits information Erikson provides in this book.

Once again, the story takes us to the Seven Cities where Adjunct Tavore Paran and her recently formed 14th Army have arrived to deal with the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs. She's an inexperienced commander, leading a green army, seriously outnumbered, short on mages and fighting on hostile terrain with supply lines stretched to the breaking point. In other words, the situation appears hopeless and Tavore doesn't even know the worst of it. Her sister Felesin, whom she allowed to be sent tot he otataral mines during Empress Laseen's latest cull of nobility, leads the Whirlwind rebellion. Now possessed by a vengeful goddess, Felesin awaits her sister's army in the Holy Desert of Raraku. Like her sister, Felesin has her problems. Her army is made up of a number of factions, each with their own agenda and often with ambitions that far exceed the Whirlwind rebellion. Such a clash of power and interests is bound to catch the attention of the gods. A convergence seems inevitable.

One of the things that is remarkable about this book is that the first part, about a quarter of the total novel, is completely taken up by the back story of one character. Karsa Orlong makes a brief appearance in Deadhouse Gates, the novel chronicling the events that lead up to this book. Karsa is Erikson's way of making fun of a fantasy cliché's, he's Conan on steroids. Especially early on, he's presented as a giant, barbarian warrior, obsessed with a quest for what he considers glory, and out to slay as many enemies as possible. When he leaves his isolated tribe and ventures into the lands of the 'children', as his tribe views ordinary humans, he has a hard confrontation with the world. Surprisingly, he learns that not all problems can be solved with violence. I absolutely love the way Karsa keeps expressing himself in the terms a Teblor 'barbarian' would use but tackles ever more sophisticated ethical and philosophical opinions with it. One such opinion leads to one of the most hilarious scenes in the novel as Karsa rides up to the Tavore, backed by a full Malazan army, and tells her of his change of heart concerning the Malazan Empire.

'Speak then,' Tavore said.
The giant bared his teeth. 'Once, long ago, I claimed the Malazans as my enemies. I was young. I took pleasure in voicing vows. The more enemies the better. So it was, once. But no longer. Malazan, you are no longer my enemy. Thus, I will not kill you.'
'We are relieved,' Tavore said drily.
Karsa Orlong and Adjuct Tavore - Chapter 26

Another aspect of Karsa's story I liked a lot was his quite literal demonstration of his opinion that man makes gods and not the other way around. As important as Karsa may be for the rest of the series, it does feel as if the first section is a huge prologue and that the novel doesn't get started until we fast-forward to the events following the Chain of Dogs. In terms of structure it was a peculiar choice of Erikson to include such a long section that is essentially set apart from the rest of the novel.

Another major player we meet in this novel is Trull Sengar. First of the four (and here I was thinking Erikson likes to do things in three) Sengar brothers, he is left chained in a destroyed part of a warren known as the Nascent. He's another character who gets surprisingly little done in this novel. Erikson is setting things up for Midnight Tides I suppose, a lot of which deals with Trull's back story. The friendship that develops between the Imass Onrack and Tiste Edur Trull is interesting to watch though. The author slips in quite a bit of history of the world into the conversations between the two and those they meet along the way. More bits and pieces of the ridiculously complex history of this world fall into place.

The finale of this novel is surprising in a way. There is a convergence of course, but the whole campaign plays out differently than one might expect. Erikson leaves a lot of cleaning up to do for Tavore, which will be dealt with in The Bonehunters. Although the final confrontation between Tavore and Felesin had to potential to be as dramatic as the finale of Memories of Ice or Deadhouse Gates it didn't have the same impact on me.

I appreciated what Erikson tried to do with this book a bit more on this second read. As with the three previous books, I picked up a lot of stuff I missed during my first pass through this part of the story. I still feel Erikson is building a bit too much in this novel. It is a bridge to the third major story line Erikson will open in Midnight Tides and events that will take place in The Bonehunters and beyond, but it doesn't stand on its own quite as well as the previous books did. That being said, it is still an amazing fantasy novel, once again underlining the enormous scope and ambition of the series. It is not my favourite but even so, it is a treat to fans of the series. And a novel that only gets better the second time around.

Book Details
Title: House of Chain
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 1035
Year: 2003
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-553-81313-7
First published: 2002

Memories of Ice - Steven Erikson

I've reread Memories of Ice, the third book in Steven Erikson's Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen this week. And it did indeed take most of the week, it's a massive tome. Although probably not the largest book in the series my mass market paperback weighs in at 1194 pages. This novel has been my favourite throughout the series. Erikson has gone on to write a number of very good additions to the series but I don't think he ever quite manages to pull of such a brilliant and multi-faceted climax as in Memories of Ice. In fact, there is so much going on, I was amazed at how much I missed during my first read and how much hints to future books Erikson drops. It's definitely a book that is even better the second time around.

Memories of Ice takes us back the continent of Genebackis, where the remnants of Dujek Onearm's army have been outlawed by the Malazan Empress Laseen in order to make a joint operation with their former enemies under the command of the formidable Caladan Brood possible. A new empire has risen in the south and it makes everybody distinctly uncomfortable. In fact, this Pannion Domin is considered such a threat that the two former enemies are willing to break off their nasty, decade old war and forge an unlikely alliance. Their first objective is the city of Capustan, a small city with limited defences that is about to be overrun by the Pannion's hordes. Defended by a mix of local militias and the Greysword mercenary company, the city will not hold out for long. It is highly unlikely their joint forces will reach the city in time to prevent if from being razed. They will need new allies to save it. On top of that, there is an additional challenge: they will need to keep their own shaky coalition intact long enough to push the Pannions all the way back to their capital and crush it once and for all.

In the second book in the series, Deadhouse Gates, Erikson opens up a whole new story, set on a different continent. Over the course of the series, these far flung events will coalesce into one huge overarching story but this early on in the series it is quite a challenge to let go of the characters from Gardens of the Moon and dive into a whole new, seemingly unrelated novel. A return to Onearm's host feels almost familiar after Deadhouse Gates. Familiar but not quite the same. The first novel in the series was written years before the others and it shows. Erikson has developed a slightly different view on some of the characters in the mean time. It is especially apparent in Tayschrenn, who is considered the villain and betrayer of the Bridgeburners in Gardens of the Moon. His return to the scene as a misunderstood hero is a bit awkward in my opinion. It's only a minor part of the story though. We gain a new perspective on Whiskeyjack as well. His story includes a bit of romance, showing us a side not may would have guessed the gruff, cynical former general possessed.

One other character that grows tremendously in this novel is Ganoes Paran. In Gardens of the Moon he has a number of ghastly things happen to him. Things that scar him, shape him and prepare him for the role his is to play in the rest of the series. All of that is gradually becoming clear to him. Paran clearly senses he is not meant to be a military commander. His command of the Bridgeburners remains problematic throughout the novel. A grudging respect between Paran and his soldiers does develop but fighting has little to do with it. Paran steps up to the plate as new Master of the Deck in this novel. Journeying into the realms of gods, the warrens of the Deck of Dragons. His decisions will ultimately shape the conflict between the gods that is rapidly approaching. Like his sisters Felisin and Tavore (notice how Erikson likes the number three), Ganoes is not satisfied with being a pawn in someone else's game, which I think is a definity improvement over his actions in Gardens of the Moon.

Despite the very emotional tone of much of the novel, it doesn't lack a great deal of violence. Some of the things done during the Chain of Dogs pale in comparison to what the Pannions are capable of. Erikson describes an army (and empire) that quite literally devours itself. It's this kind of irrational tactics that betray the hand of the gods, ascendants and elder races in the story. More than in previous books the soldiers seem to be aware of the game that is played over their head. The rise of the Crippled God is dreaded by many and most of them are not going to sit around and wait for him to break free. The cost is simply too high. Although Memories of Ice could be seen as another story of an impressive Malazan military campaign, the struggles of the gods are much closer to the surface than in other books. Erikson makes sure the reader understand that gods are not safe, even from mortals.

The very violent and sometimes grotesque scenes in Capustan are carefully balanced by more humorous episodes in the novel. The perpetually running two necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach make their first appearance in this novel. Erikson went on to write four novellas, set well before the main series, with plans for a bunch more. Erikson probably pays too much attention to them in this novel, they don't seem to be all that important to the overall story and don't return in any of the other novels. Personally I can forgive Erikson for getting sidetracked, the scene in which the two necromancers are confronted by Quick Ben is absolutely brilliant. On top of that there is the banter between the soldiers of Onearm's host, the antics of Lady Envy and her servants (keep an eye on that one, she has quite an interesting family) and the Mott irregulars, who for some reason are all ranked High Marshall. Erikson has a decidedly dark sense of humour but it does keep the novel from spiralling down into lengthy descriptions of battles and slaughter.

Reading Memories of Ice for the second time was quite a different experience than my first pass through this story. More so than in it's direct sequel Gardens of the Moon, Erikson lays the foundation of the larger series. We won't return to Genebackis until Toll of the Hounds, the eighth book in the series, but so much of what is going on in this novel is important to the rest of the series that I think this book is the key to the series. Once you've made it to this point, things will start falling into place. I've found even more to like about this book than during my first read. If Memories of Ice doesn't convince you to stick with this series, nothing will. Next up is House of Chains, which I considered one of the weaker books during my first read. Let's see if my opinion of that book survives a second read intact as well.

Book Details
Title: Memories of Ice
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Books
Pages: 1194
Year: 2002
Language: English
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0-553-81312-9
First published: 2001

The Crippled God - Steven Erikson

The Crippled God is the tenth and closing volume of one of the biggest achievements in fantasy: The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Over the past twelve years, these massive tomes appeared on schedule, steadily building one of the most complex, dramatic and challenging series in the genre. Looking back on the series, I am in awe of the world Erikson and co-creator Ian C. Esslemont have created. The previous book, Dust of Dreams, was something of an exception in the series, it ended on a cliffhanger. Erikson approached to finale of his series as one huge tale, too large to fit into one book. Perhaps not entirely unexpected, Erikson does not wrap up all loose ends in this volume but is is without a doubt a fitting end to the series.

After their catastrophic meeting with the K'Chain Nah'ruk at the end of Dust of Dreams, the Bonehunters are severely diminished. Large numbers of heavies and marines, the backbone of Tavore's army, have perished in the battle. Still, Tavore is determined to carry on with her mission. An even more formidable challenge awaits the Bonehunters as they try to cross the Glass Dessert, the place where a god died, on the way to their final confrontation against the Forkrul Assail. With their ultimate cause and destination still unknown to the army, they are on the brink of mutiny as Tavore drives them on towards a convergence that will determine the fate of the world.

It is of course impossible to properly summarize this book. Erikson may not have tried to wrap every thing up in this volume but there sure is a lot of stuff he does resolve. Just about every character from the previous books still living (and quite a few who have passed through Hood's gate) are mentioned in this novel. It is almost too much to take in all at once. I recently reread Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates, the first two books in the series. That was a good move, I would have missed even more than I already have on this first read of The Crippled God. In fact, I probably should have reread Memories of Ice as well. There are countless references in this book to events scattered throughout the series, going back as far as Whiskeyjack's advice to a young Ganoes Paran in the prologue of Gardens of the Moon.

The structure of this novel is one that Malazan readers will be familiar with by now. Erikson starts slowly. The opening chapters contain a lot of introspective passages (and a severe overuse of italics) by lots of different characters, setting the stage for the convergence to come. Most of the story lines in this novel will eventually lead to Kolanse, where the final confrontation between the major players in the series will take place. The story line of the Shake is the exception. Although events are of course linked to just about everything else, they are only distantly aware of events in other places. This story line also makes the novel get going a bit faster. The climax of the Shake's defence of the first shore is the first major story line of the novel to be resolved and the real action begins slightly before the halfway point of the novel. Quite a bit sooner than novels like Toll of the Hounds, of which the last third can be said to be action-packed.

For me the Shake illustrates what makes Erikson's worldbuilding stand out in the fantasy genre. It's messy, the lines are blurred. Shake are descendent of the the Tiste Andii, apparently not full blood but close enough to retain certain links and a sense of obligation to guard the First Shore against the Tiste Liosan. There are many more examples of things like this in the books. People splitting, forming new alliances, cultures and tribes. The Toblakai, who themselves have Jaghut blood and later formed the Barghast and Trell peoples, come to mind. An other example would be the Forkul Assail Watered. Figuring out the ancestry of these groups, their relation to each other and in some cases what caused the split between them, give this series an atmosphere of tremendous age. I've never come across a series with such a rich history.

Despite the Shake's heroics, most of the plot deals with the convergence taking place in Kolanse, where the Fokrul Assail are preparing their campaign to cleanse the world of the human race. Their motives were a bit vague to me before starting this book but somewhere in the second half of The Crippled God, a number of pieces fell together for me. I liked the reference the humanity's overuse of their environment in particular, even if the Assail solution to this problem is a bit drastic. The history of the Assial is an area where there is room for more development. In the early books in the series they were assumed to be extinct (like a number of other elder races). It is clear they invaded Kolanse years before the event in this book, suggesting a presence on another continent somewhere. Perhaps this is another area Esslemont means to explore.

I was also a bit surprised at how many people decided their best chance lay with the Crippled God. He is something of a villain in the earlier books. His cruel use of the Tiste Edur leader Rhulad Sengar in Midnight Tides come to mind. I suppose Ganoes Paran saw the shape of the game early, but for me as a reader it took quite a few books to figure out his role in the story. I'm going to have to reread some of the later books as well to see what clues I've missed along the way. I'm pretty sure I will see some events in the books in another light, knowing where they will eventually lead to. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a series that definitely requires rereading to fully appreciate it.

All things considered, I think The Crippled God is a fitting conclusion to the series. It would have been impossible to write a novel that answers all questions and it would certainly not have been in style if Erikson had tried. Some things are left to Ian C. Esslemont to explore. His next novel Orb, Sceptre, Throne will no doubt answer some of the things missing in this novel. Personally I don't mind a bit of ambiguity at the end of this series. You can't really draw a line somewhere and tell the reader this is where it all ends on a history as complex as that of the world of Malaz. The finale of this novel is a convergence on a scale we haven't seen before. I must admit I thought the dramatic impact was a bit less than in novels that don't carry the burden of Erikson's enormous cast quite so heavily. It doesn't quite match the ending of Duiker's tale in Deadhouse Gates, or the finale of Memories of Ice, which remains my favourite in the series. Still, for the real Malazan fan this book is a treat. Not that is wasn't clear before this novel but Erikson has just completed a landmark series in the genre.

Book Details
Title: The Crippled God
Author: Steven Erikson
Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 921
Year: 2011
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-593-04635-7
First published: 2011

Stonewielder - Ian C. Esslemont

Stonewielder is the third novel of the Malazan Empire, a series that runs parallel to Steven Erikson's massive series Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. In his first novel, Night of Knives, Esslemont provided something of a prologue to the entire series, before embarking on a larger project in Return of the Crimson Guard. Stonewielder is set after the events in Return of the Crimson Guard and takes us to the rarely seen continent of Korel, carrying over the storyline of Kyle and Greymane from the previous novel. At a little over 600 pages it is not quite as epic as Esslemont's previous attempt, something that has fixed a number of the problems Return of the Crimson Guard showed. This is definitely Esslemont's best yet.

Years ago the Malazan Empire attempted to conquer the Korel subcontinent. The Malazan 6th army was dispatched and failed to do the job, instead setting up a kingdom for themselves and dismissing their commander. Now, the newly risen emperor means to correct this and he enlists the old commander of the previous invasion, Greymane, to do it. Soon, preparations for a new invasion are in full swing. The emperor lends some of his best remaining commanders to the project, including the famous Admiral Nok and one of the last mages the Malazan Empire can still call upon. This time there will be no mistake.

In the mean time the Stormwatch, weakened by shortages of men and supplies prepares for another season defending Korel's Stormwall against their ancient enemy, the inhuman Stormriders. It does not appear that help is forthcoming. Most of the subcontinent is on edge because of the emergence of a new religious cult. For millennia the Goddess that has protected the land and the Stormwall has been the dominant cult, suppression all other religious movements and even access to warrens. Her control is about to be challenged by a popular movement beyond anything seen on in the long history of her rule.

It's difficult to fit this book in the time line of the entire series. Over the course of the series there are some apparent contradictions in Erikson's books, especially Toll of the Hounds. I'd say Stonewielder is set after events in The Bonehunters, Return of the Crimson Guard. It probably set after Reaper's Gale as well, although this novel is set on an entirely different continent so it is hard to tell. It may overlap with Toll of the Hounds, but as I mentioned above, I'm still not to clear on when events in that book actually take place. Before taking on this book it is probably best to have read Return of the Crimson Guard and Erikson's books up to Reapers Gale before tackling this one. I don't think reading Erikson beyond book seven will not spoil this novel for you however.

Set almost entirely on the relatively isolated Korel subcontinent, Stonewielder is definitely one of the more focussed Malazan novels. A lot of the earlier books in the series are spread out all over the Malazan world and its warrens. This book only has one minor story line that does not tie into events in Korel. It involves Kiska, whom you may remember as one of the main characters in Night of Knives. She sets out in search of the missing mage Tayschrenn. This thread felt like a bit of a loose end for me, no doubt Esslemont means to continue her story. Although it follows up on events in Return of the Crimson Guard, it would have been nice if this story line had been a bit more relevant to events in the rest of the novel. I guess it doesn't help that the whole affair ends on a bit of a cliffhanger either.

Despite the military campaign being the focus of the book, Esslemont takes quite a different approach than in the previous novel. Relying more on divine intervention and magic that on military skills, this book is in some was the opposite of Return of the Crimson Guard. In that book, the large scale military action that formed the climax of the novel was almost too much of a good thing. This time around, the story relies less on the military action, instead showing a society crumble from its very foundations. Throughout the novel you can feel the rigid control the Lady exerts on Korel begin to crack. A situation that appears to be as robust as the very foundations of the Stormwall, escalates with incredible speed. I found this process of collapse one of the more intriguing aspects of the novel.

Another aspect of the novel I enjoyed is the pacifist theme in the book. The main religious movement challenging the rule of the Blessed Lady, is lead by the pacifist Toblakai Invanr (it has to be said though, he is dragged in kicking and screaming). Makes you wonder what Karsa would make of that. For a series that features quite a lot of battles and other forms of physical violence, that is quite an unexpected turn of events. His convictions are put to the test when he is swept up in events that can only lead to bloodshed. I thought he was one of the more interesting characters in the book. As with many of the key players in the entire series, he obviously has a past which is only partially revealed in the novel. Would be nice to learn some more of him in later books.

All in all I was quite impressed with this novel. Esslemont opens up another part of the Malazan universe we had yet to explore and does so in a more tightly plotted novel than his previous books. He manages this without loosing any of the complexities of Malazan world or the shades of grey that makes the series rise above the mass of epic fantasy novels. Perhaps not quite as much fireworks as in Return of the Crimson Guard, some readers might be disappointed by that, but definitely a worthy entry into the series. Looking forward to more Malazan goodness when Erikson's final novel in the Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Crippled God, appears next year.

Book Details
Title: Stonewielder
Author: Ian C. Esslemont
Publisher: Bantam Press
Pages: 634
Year: 2010
Language: English
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-593-06444-3
First published: 2010