Malazan Book of the Fallen series

Lenthan · 04-05-2006, 07:07 PM

Let me preface this by saying perhaps there should be a book forum as I've seen a few threads crop up that deal with various authors and series.

This series is written by Steven Erikson who is Canadian but don't let that stop you from enjoying his writing.

The 6th book has just been released out of the 10 books planned. He cranks them out quite a bit faster than one a year from what it sounds like, but the publisher holds them back so they have some time between them. He is already more than halfway finished with the 7th book.

I have read fantasy books since I was 12 and most of the authors I considered good have either pretty much stopped writing or turned to utter shit. Nostalgia has caught up with me, and I have a terrible time stomaching the things that Salvatore, Weis and Hickman, and Eddings put out. I was looking for something more mature that would hold my interest and last a good while. I have not started Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series as I haven't had the time.

I had read some posts on a few fantasy message boards about Erikson while I was looking for some new authors to try out. I was by a Borders, so I walked in and picked up Gardens of the Moon. I loved the book. Erikson doesn't explain things immediately, which is a nice change from some of the more trite fantasy out there. He has many plot threads that are most definitely all resolved by book's end. As it's a 10 book series, some of the threads are being tidied up by the 5th book, which is what I've read through so far.

There are a number of different races as well as gods and demigods, called ascendants. Also, Erikson will actually kill characters, which is a nice alternative to invincible characters that will never die no matter the odds. I like the different spin the magic system has and what positions in religion there are.

You can order the books off amazon.ca, amazon.co.uk, or http://www.clarkesworldbooks.com/ if you want the up to date books or just get the US versions from amazon.com.
The list of books is:

1. Gardens of the Moon
2. Deadhouse Gates
3. Memories of Ice
4. House of Chains
5. Midnight Tides
6. The Bonehunters
7. Reaper's Gale
8. Toll the Hounds
9. Dust of Dreams
10. The Crippled God

1-3 are out in the US and 1-6 is out in England and Canada. Canada lags slightly behind when getting books.

There are also 3 novella:

1. Blood Follows: A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach
2. The Healthy Dead: A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach

1: Night of Knives by Ian Cameron Esslemont

These books have actually given me hope to find some more authors that I can enjoy rather than giving up on books altogether. I highly recommend getting them.

You can read more about the series at http://www.malazanempire.com/ and the forums there or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen and the various subsections for the books.

Velk · 04-06-2006, 11:16 PM

A note : if you start reading gardens of the moon, you will have absolutely no idea what is going on and nothing will make sense. This gets better over time, so don't think that it is all like that.

IMO Midnight Tides is probably the best in the series to date, followed by deadhouse gates. Your mileage may vary.

04-05-2006, 07:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
Lenthan Banned Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 53 +0 Internets	Malazan Book of the Fallen series Let me preface this by saying perhaps there should be a book forum as I've seen a few threads crop up that deal with various authors and series. This series is written by Steven Erikson who is Canadian but don't let that stop you from enjoying his writing. The 6th book has just been released out of the 10 books planned. He cranks them out quite a bit faster than one a year from what it sounds like, but the publisher holds them back so they have some time between them. He is already more than halfway finished with the 7th book. I have read fantasy books since I was 12 and most of the authors I considered good have either pretty much stopped writing or turned to utter shit. Nostalgia has caught up with me, and I have a terrible time stomaching the things that Salvatore, Weis and Hickman, and Eddings put out. I was looking for something more mature that would hold my interest and last a good while. I have not started Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series as I haven't had the time. I had read some posts on a few fantasy message boards about Erikson while I was looking for some new authors to try out. I was by a Borders, so I walked in and picked up Gardens of the Moon. I loved the book. Erikson doesn't explain things immediately, which is a nice change from some of the more trite fantasy out there. He has many plot threads that are most definitely all resolved by book's end. As it's a 10 book series, some of the threads are being tidied up by the 5th book, which is what I've read through so far. There are a number of different races as well as gods and demigods, called ascendants. Also, Erikson will actually kill characters, which is a nice alternative to invincible characters that will never die no matter the odds. I like the different spin the magic system has and what positions in religion there are. You can order the books off amazon.ca, amazon.co.uk, or http://www.clarkesworldbooks.com/ if you want the up to date books or just get the US versions from amazon.com. The list of books is: 1. Gardens of the Moon 2. Deadhouse Gates 3. Memories of Ice 4. House of Chains 5. Midnight Tides 6. The Bonehunters 7. Reaper's Gale 8. Toll the Hounds 9. Dust of Dreams 10. The Crippled God 1-3 are out in the US and 1-6 is out in England and Canada. Canada lags slightly behind when getting books. There are also 3 novella: 1. Blood Follows: A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach 2. The Healthy Dead: A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach 1: Night of Knives by Ian Cameron Esslemont These books have actually given me hope to find some more authors that I can enjoy rather than giving up on books altogether. I highly recommend getting them. You can read more about the series at http://www.malazanempire.com/ and the forums there or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen and the various subsections for the books.

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04-06-2006, 11:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
Velk Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 413 -1 Internets	A note : if you start reading gardens of the moon, you will have absolutely no idea what is going on and nothing will make sense. This gets better over time, so don't think that it is all like that. IMO Midnight Tides is probably the best in the series to date, followed by deadhouse gates. Your mileage may vary.