1015 page (Paperback)
Fantasy Fiction
This is the 4th book in the Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. The first section of the book follows the adventures of Karsa Orlong. As the book continues Erikson adds to the tale that was told in the second book, Deadhouse Gates.
Karsa Orlong comes from a history of warriors. He plans on returning his tribe to glory. He is joined by two other warriors, Bairoth Gild and Delum Thord. The three young men start a trek across the lands of their enemies leaving a trail of blood in their wake. As they continue on they see that much of the lands have been abandoned. After furthering their travels they are lead to places they never expected.
As the book continues we are drawn back to the conflicts laid down in Deadhouse Gates. Adjunct Tavore has been given the lead of the Empress’ army that consists mostly of new recruits. Her goal is to walk into the Whirlwind and take on Sha’ik’s Army of the Apocalypse. Much of the book focuses on the interactions of the various characters and the buildup to the impending battle.
Crokus, now known as Cutter, and Apsalar search for the Throne of Shadow on a mysterious moving island. Two new characters, Trull Sengar, a Tiste Edur, and Onrack, a T’lan Imass, quest through various warrens of magic. A friendship seems to form as their story starts to intersect with the other characters in the book.
This book takes a lot of the elements from the previous three books and startes to tie things together. We experience The Crippled God manipulating to come to power. The other gods also been use their influence to set themselves up to an advantageous position.
Erikson fills his writing with promises of returns in the future. He gives the reader tidbits of information to help flesh out the whole, but never gives you enough to really know the whole story. His writing is superb and easy to get involved in. Although, I am close to 4000 pages in I can’t claim to know even half of what the story is, but at the same time I feel as if a promise has been made that will be fulfilled by the end of the books. The characters have been much more fleshed out. Karsa, who was previously an unnamed character in the series, goes through enormous growth throughout the three years that passes in the book.
I felt as if this book was in some way filler in between the other books. That isn’t saying that it wasn’t worthwhile, but that a lot of the back story needed to be told to tell what is going to happen in the future books. Roughly three years have passed and that time shows us how we get to the confrontation of the two armies.
So far as the fantasy genre goes this series is one of the best I have read and I am excited to see how the rest of the story plays out.
3 Intellectual/Emotional: Karsa seems to be the main character of the book and his growth is a highlight of the book.
5 Style/Readability: Erikson’s ability to draw you into the story and create a world that seems real is fantastic.
3 Long Term: Eventually Erikson will be added to the greats of fantasy writing and this series will be towards the top of the list. That said, this book probably won’t be considered the “best” of the series.
11 out of 13. If you think you would enjoy a fantasy series that you can devote a year to, you should be reading this series. Those that are looking for some light reading may want to look elsewhere. Erikson writes for those that are willing to devote themselves to a book for awhile.
Keep Turning Pages
