Reaper’s Gale by Steven Erickson

Fantasy Fiction - 1,200 pages (Paperback)

Reaper’s Gale is the 7th book in the Tale of the Malazan series. With this book we see a lot of the stories start to converge into one. We have seen a lot of the Malazan Empire and their spread across the continents. We spent time in Letheras and have seen its undying leader, Rhulad, rise to power. We saw the humble beginnings of Karsa Orlong as he explored and found out what the world was really like. We met Tehol Beddict and Bugg and their maneuverings in the city of Letheras. We also have been following the mysterious creature Icarium. All of these stories now come together in Letheras.

Rhulad has sent out his ships in an attempt to find all the greatest warriors. So far he has challenged and killed all comers. Both Karsa and Icarium are set up to be his greatest challenge yet. Tehol and Bugg are working to undermine the economy of Letheras. Not every detail is revealed, but they are starting to gather up all of the money are doing what they can to make things unstable. Bugg is also involved in the unearthing of enormous metal objects buried for thousands of years. The Marines of the Malazan Empire have landed and are moving in on Letheras. We spend a lot of time with them as they attempt set up on this new continent. On top of all of this there is an additional story of Redmask and the Awl. Apparently, Redmask was a great war leader of the Awl. He has been gone for a long time, but has now returned to bring the fallen Awl back to a position of glory.

As always Erickson’s writing is top notch. He has great skill and I am still enthralled with his ability to take small parts of a story and make it them stand out independent of the overarching story. This book, more than any of the rest, starts to resolve a lot of loose ends. We are starting to see how the stories interconnect and it gives a feeling of resolve more than any of the previous books. Some of the main characters are still not involved, but at least we can see how things are related even if through a couple of degrees of separation.

I haven’t found any of these books to be quick reads. Reaper’s Gale more than others was not an easy read. I found the interactions of Tehol and Bugg, Icarium, Karsa and Rhulad to be entertaining. The Marine storyline dragged for me. Many new characters were introduced and over all I liked what happens with them, but it took a lot to get involved.

4 Emotional/Intellectual – Karsa and Icarium are two of my favorite characters and extended their story was great. Although I don’t care for Rhulad I think his story is really intriguing. Tehol and Bugg have to be towards the top of everyone’s favorites list.

2 Readability/Style – Erickson’s style is great, but compared to the other books in the series, I found this to be lacking in some areas.

3 Long Term Impact – This score his hard to qualify. Although, he may not have a huge impact in the years to come he deserves to. His work is more unique than most anything I have read.

9 out of 13. This seems about right. Erickson’s niche is really small. Fantasy as a whole has grown a lot in recent years, but even in fantasy Erickson holds a small place. You have to be willing to work more than in a traditional fantasy story to enjoy these books. The series as a whole is fantastic. I just felt this book fell short a bit. I will certainly continue with the series, but I am going to read a few others in between.

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