617 Pages Trade Paperback (Fantasy Fiction)
**This is the 5th book in the series. I won’t attempt to spoil much, but references to past things may reveal unwanted info from the other books.**
Midnight Tides takes a jump away from the other stories of the Malazan Empire. At the end of The House of Chains Trull starts to tell a story. Midnight Tides is the story of his people and the events that happened before we meet him in that book. The book describes the conflict of the Tiste Edur and the Letherii. It begins with the Tiste Edur tribes having been unified under the Warlock King. He seems to want to expand the control that the Edur people have. In order to do this he sends Trull and his two brothers, Fear and Rhulad, as well as a few other warriors to claim a sword in the icy wastes to the north. **Skip the rest of this paragraph to avoid spoilers** Rhulad is the first to touch the sword and is struck dead. Upon returning to his people his comes back alive and in doing so sets himself up as the new emperor of the Edur people. The sword gives him extraordinary skills in battle and also the ability to come back from the dead.
In Lether our main interaction is with two humorous characters, Tehol Beddict and his man servant, Bugg. Early on Tehol is hired by three female warriors to make a lot of money. Tehol apparently was extremely rich at one point, but lost everything and currently resides on the roof of his house. Seen as a crazy person that lost it all, he really has a lot more going on than he lets anyone know.
The main force of the story is the Edur attack on Lether, and the events leading up to it. Lether is known for its greed and treachery. The Letherii break treaty with the Edur by seal hunting on their land. This leads to an advance of the Edur people to take Lether. We see a lot of the political maneuverings in Lether, particularly, how Tehol and Bugg seem to have their hands in almost all dealings within the city.
My favorite parts of the book are the interactions of Tehol and Bugg. They eventually get involved with a thief that was killed, but still lives on, and a little girl with a similar problem. The lives of the three brothers Trull, Fear and Rhulad also make for an interesting read. Some of the politicking that doesn’t involve these characters gets a little boring, but I can see the importance of it as the book goes on.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and find Erickson’s writing to be as fantastic as ever. This book really doesn’t do much in explaining the mysteries of the other books, but I feel like I have a wide view of everything that is going on in the world. In a way this book could stand on its own in comparison to the previous books, although there is certainly more to tell. I feel as if each book has been setting us up for grand things to come as if we are in the 1st act of a play. I look forward to the second act beginning.
3 Intellectual/Emotional –It is easy to get involved with the above mentioned characters. But other parts were a bit stale.
4 Style/Readability- It is a true joy to read Erickson’s writing. His characters, though fantastic, seem very real and easy to “like” even if you don’t like them.
3 Long Term Impact – I think it is only a matter of time before Erickson is
recognized for his great contributions to the fantasy genre. He keeps the fantasy feelings alive without allowing you to foresee what is going to happen.
10 out of 13. This isn’t my favorite of the Malazan Series, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I do highly recommend this series. It is a challenge to put it all together, but I can already tell that I will reread these books.
As always,
Keep Turning Pages
