Steven Erikson completes the MALAZAN series

[kater]

Nice review kater.

I finished the book yesterday, and my feelings come close to what you describe. I liked it, there is the emotional and action rollercoaster with perfectly placed humour to break it all up. Very clean, maybe a bit too much.

Everything fits together nicely, but some of the threads might have been better of with a bit more text (the resolution at the opening of the gates of the Dragon's warren for example).
Some interpretations of the previous books are twisted to the breaking point, but I did not see any real contradictions. Maybe they'll show up on further rumination.

Thank you kindly. I think the last two books, looking back on them now as one story, do appear to be a bit bloated. Some of the story threads could have been leaner, the Bonehunters and Snake particularly, giving SE more room to expand on some of the other threads that felt a bit brief. Obviously all of this is easy to pick holes in, in retrospect.

 

[Loerwyn]

Thank you kindly. I think the last two books, looking back on them now as one story, do appear to be a bit bloated. Some of the story threads could have been leaner, the Bonehunters and Snake particularly, giving SE more room to expand on some of the other threads that felt a bit brief. Obviously all of this is easy to pick holes in, in retrospect.

Is it quite a tough series to get through?

I think someone's said to me that Malazan's not the easiest thing to get through

 

[Sfinx]

Is it quite a tough series to get through?

I think someone's said to me that Malazan's not the easiest thing to get through

It can be tough. One the hand you get the great worldbuilding, epic setting and tons of fascinating characters - most of which would deserve an entire book or series devoted just to them - as well good dialogue (most of the time) and solid fights and battles. On the other hand, Erikson can be quite tedious, devoting dozens of pages to...well...what exactly? People wandering about most of the time. Also his storylines are not what you'd call crystal clear and some threads may never be resolved, or in a rather 'deus ex machina' manner.

Still: well worth wading through!

Cheers,

Sfinx.

 

[metalprof]

I think the last two books, looking back on them now as one story, do appear to be a bit bloated.

Whereas the previous eight are exercises in brevity, conciseness, and literary efficiency.

I'm up to Toll the Hounds myself, and the series does not look nearly as intimidating as it used to now that I only have 3 to go!

Ken

 

[kater]

Is it quite a tough series to get through?

I think someone's said to me that Malazan's not the easiest thing to get through

I think Sfinx summed it up pretty well. If someone had given me ALL the Malazan books in one go as you can now get as of Monday (in the UK at least) I'd have devoured them. I found the series when this site was given The Bonehunters to review and Bantam were really good to us in giving us paperback copies of the previous four books to catch up. I went through them in a week, it was addictive.

Obviously the series has many detractors and I think it really depends on two factors; how well read in the genre you are and what type of reader you are. Malazan drip feeds a lot of information, much of it is open to interpretation and you constantly have to question the source. Add in a very complex system of magic, gods and other races that you're never sure even the author knows what's going on and how these various beings compare. For readers who are used to A-> B it can be very difficult and frustrating.

The writing does get better as the series progresses but even at it's best it isn't the fluid brilliance of the top authors and at worst is a slow, fractured and occasionally jarring narrative. The stumbling point on this issue often seems to be the first book because it is the most difficult to grasp and is arguably the most poorly written. You're not eased into the story, no info-dump conversations to get you up to speed and lots of words/phrases/names that are utterly alien. In some ways it's like Dune but without Herbert's consummate skill.

All that said the ideas were so compelling to me, the alien landscapes and people intriguing, it was an entire new world to discover that was deep, rich and vibrant. The characters were interesting and there's just so much of everything that it was overwhelming to begin with but after the first book and a half I was like an addict hunting out every new detail, every snippet to attach to others and see where they fit. Which I guess is a roundabout way of saying like marmite you have to try it to find out

Whereas the previous eight are exercises in brevity, conciseness, and literary efficiency.

I'm up to Toll the Hounds myself, and the series does not look nearly as intimidating as it used to now that I only have 3 to go!

Ken

I hear that but there's a different weighting and urgency to it with them being the last two books. You sit back at the end and go I really enjoyed that ... but why didn't X happen, what was up with Y. Reflecting on it I think it is unfair on the author and as my brother put it when I was trying to explain this issue to him "Your expectations for the book were ridiculous and I don't think you would ever have been satisfied." Not one for mincing words him and I kinda agree but I am going to have to read it a second time to see what I missed and if there is a different perspective to be had.

 

[Loerwyn]

*snip*

I see; Thanks, kater. I might wait until I'm better read in the genre and more confident with my reading ability before tackling it, then.

I'm actually confused about something to do with Malazan. This is being said to be the last Malazan book, but what about the one Esselmont (I think that's spelt right; Could be wrong) is writing? Does that not count?

 

[Seak]

I see; Thanks, kater. I might wait until I'm better read in the genre and more confident with my reading ability before tackling it, then.

I'm actually confused about something to do with Malazan. This is being said to be the last Malazan book, but what about the one Esselmont (I think that's spelt right; Could be wrong) is writing? Does that not count?

Those definitely count, but they're in what's being called the Malazan Empire series. The Crippled God ends the original 10 book cycle of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but Esslemont still has books to go and Erikson has even said he's planning on a couple trilogies centering around some pretty cool characters in the series.

Esslemont's series is cool because it fills in some of the gaps that aren't explained in the main series, plus he's started to go his own direction with things.

Erikson and Esslemont created the Malazan world together. They gamed it, they have everything (more or less) established and they check with each other to make sure they can do certain things that don't mess up the other person's storyline.

Hope that helps and isn't tmi.

 

[Nostra]

Found out today that the book has been out for about a week in Sweden already, kinda pissed my pre-ordered copy hasn't arrived. Man am I syked for this book, been waiting a long time now! (not as long as you Martin fans though, hehe)

 

[Loerwyn]

Those definitely count, but they're in what's being called the Malazan Empire series. The Crippled God ends the original 10 book cycle of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but Esslemont still has books to go and Erikson has even said he's planning on a couple trilogies centering around some pretty cool characters in the series.

Esslemont's series is cool because it fills in some of the gaps that aren't explained in the main series, plus he's started to go his own direction with things.

Erikson and Esslemont created the Malazan world together. They gamed it, they have everything (more or less) established and they check with each other to make sure they can do certain things that don't mess up the other person's storyline.

Hope that helps and isn't tmi.

Thanks, Seak. I wasn't sure of the difference - As the title of this topic shows - because it's reported in different ways and I get a bit confuddled

So Malazan isn't over, but the first 'main series' is. Got it.

 

[DarthV]

Wonder how good of a job they will do on the ebook. Earlier Malazan books were pretty ugly, did they just scan books and do a really bad job on the ocr and proofing? Then again Chapters doesn't even have the ebook listed for being available tomorrow. And B&N aren't releasing it until March 1.

 

[kater]

Does the Book Depository do e-books?

 

[Rulkez]

Was hoping for a Kindle edition today, but no beans , Amazon.com has it listed for the US release but there isn't anything on .co.uk

/sad face

 

[Loerwyn]

Does the Book Depository do e-books?

Yes, but the platforms are limited.