| I enjoyed it, I'm currently on the 3rd book and I'm still pretty fond of it, which is something I can't say about Eddings' or Jordan's books.
I usually stay away from fantasy (actually I kinda fucking hate high-fantasy stuff) but Malazan is still enjoyable despite being Erikson indulging in the worst sort of high-fantasy cliche you can imagine. It's very well written and is certainly better CRAFTED than most of its contemporaries. He's got this living breathing world with a complex skein of conflicts and agendas and the reader is thrust in there feeling like an unwelcome visitor. It starts pretty slow though, because Erikson begrudges you as little development as possible. But when it hits, about 3/4ths through the first book, it comes together very well. By the end of the first book you're hooked.
I wouldn't go as far as saying that Malazan is as good as A Song of Ice and Fire, though. Malazan is certainly good and the depth is there, but Martin is a master of character and is a meticulous plot technician and ASoIAF is driven by lush, vivid people--which IMO is more compelling than the fantastical creatures, tired caricatures and concepts that motivate Malazan.
Then again, I've confessed to a bias against fantasy already (though I read a ton of it), and Martin's historical-fiction pacing and approach to ASoIAF is what I'm most fond of--it doesn't READ like fantasy at all. |