Malazan Book of the Fallen

[buck bundy]

Anybody read this series?

I've just completed the fourth book in George Martin's ASoIaF and it has stimulated my appetite to start another epic fantasy series.

Doing a bit of internet trawling and this seemed to come up fairly often, although it does tend to polarize opinions due to its massive scope, insane depth & complexity and steep learning curve.

Some people rave about it being the best thing ever written in the genre, others scream too much and seemingly want to burn it and hurl the flaming remains at the wall.

Is it worth the effort?

 

[IanG]

Yes, 1000 times yes.

Its different to ASOIAF in that magic is far more prevalent, although it does focus more on normal humans than superpowerful magic users, a bit like Glen Cook's Black Company series for anyone thats read that. Its also like Cook's work in that its about a world spanning war between gods and it focusses on the soldiers and others involved in the war. I wouldn't call it militaristic though.

Its just as grim as ASOIAF but it leavens the grimness with humour and pathos more than Martin does, something which makes it more palatable to me at least.

And yes it is insanely complex but unlike Martin and Jordan, Erikson has never lost control of his narrative, the 10th and last book is due to come out later this year.

 

[buck bundy]

You've sold me.

I still find it a bit daunting that even the most ardent fans of the series still sometimes take multiple attempts to complete books in the series. Given the information overload it seems that if you are not mentally switched on and concentrating at a very high level it is very easy to get lost and eventually have to put a book aside.

Work is hectic at the moment so probably won't start the first book for another month or two, but I almost feel like this is some sort of mental challenge I need to gee myself up prior to opening the first page.

Having read non spoiler reviews and forums on the series I guess I am fortunate that I expect to be completely flummoxed for the first 2-3 books. Maybe these lower expectation levels will ultimately stop me from quitting when I reach near 100% information saturation.

One thing I gathered from the reviews is that the brilliance of the series can't really be appreciated without a reread after about book 4 or 5. There is only so much you can absorb first time around and there were even some who recommended a third reread... I assume these people must be unemployed or retired.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

I have read the first book.

Didn't find it particularly hard to keep up with it. Maybe it gets alot more complicated later on.

It was a good book, I haven't felt a strong desire to pick up the second, but then again I have been on a Fantasy hiatus for about two years now.

I just may pick up the second book in the series soon, or maybe the fourth Robert Jordan, I am struggling to decide which series to delve back into.

 

[IanG]

The second book is an order of magnitude better than the first book and is the choice of some fans as the best book in the series. Coltaine's chain of dogs (the major part of the book) is a gut wrenching story. Its not my favourite cause it still gets a bit clunky in some places but its definitely amongst the best books of the series. The 3rd book, Memories of Ice, is the book where everything came together for him.

 

[Cthublhu]

I just may pick up the second book in the series soon, or maybe the fourth Robert Jordan, I am struggling to decide which series to delve back into.

Jordan's Wheel of Time is pretty good up until book 6 then nosedives. The Malazan series keeps going. Erikson, unlike Jordan or George RR Martin, can actually keep a handle on his work and not let it get away from him.

 

[Latro]

That is mainly because he does not care about timelines or keeping characters sex the same from book to book.

 

[IanG]

That is mainly because he does not care about timelines or keeping characters sex the same from book to book.

Which series are you talking about?

 

[Cynic]

Jordan's Wheel of Time is pretty good up until book 6 then nosedives. The Malazan series keeps going. Erikson, unlike Jordan or George RR Martin, can actually keep a handle on his work and not let it get away from him.

Good post.

The WoT series got out of hand and went horribly down hill.

The Malazan series is fantastic although a number of the books agitate me as they start of in different eras let alone areas.

So many epic moments in the series.

 

[SergioGeorgini]

Anybody read this series?

I've just completed the fourth book in George Martin's ASoIaF and it has stimulated my appetite to start another epic fantasy series.

Doing a bit of internet trawling and this seemed to come up fairly often, although it does tend to polarize opinions due to its massive scope, insane depth & complexity and steep learning curve.

Some people rave about it being the best thing ever written in the genre, others scream too much and seemingly want to burn it and hurl the flaming remains at the wall.

Is it worth the effort?

What did you think of it BTW?

I loved the first 3 but the fourth book was terrible IMO and completely killed my interest in the series.

 

[buck bundy]

First three were brilliant, fourth was major disappointment. Maybe Martin has learned his lesson and it is why he's taken so long to complete and release the next book. Or maybe he's simply struggling under the weight of the complexity he's created. Time will tell.

He certainly copped a lot of flack for it and the ridiculous decision to exclude the most interesting characters due to its original size. Turned out a lot of what he chose to keep was bloated drivel, at least in comparison to the tightness of the first three books. World and characters are too good for me to abandon the series though. Saw some video footage of him on his blog recently and instantly thought of Robert Jordan's death. Man he is one old looking, ugly, obese dude... coronary waiting to happen IMO.

Once I get hooked into a series I tend to get pretty obsessive so Malazan could well lead to a fair bit of sleep deprivation once I get started. I've bought the first three books from Amazon (probably in the depths of a container ship somewhere in the Pacific by now) and will purchase the rest if it sinks its claws into me.

The final book in the Malazan series is due out early next year I think, could be perfect timing for me if I get my arse into gear and get through the first nine by then.

 

[Latro]

Which series are you talking about?

I was talking about the Malazan series. The years in the books dont make sense for the way characters age. One character changes sex from book 1 to book 2 or 3.

Also other books dealing with major plot lines are covered in the Esslemont books who co-created the world.

 

[IanG]

I was talking about the Malazan series. The years in the books dont make sense for the way characters age. One character changes sex from book 1 to book 2 or 3.

Which character? I've never noticed that. As for timelines yes Erikson has been a bit loose with some of them but not enough to matter. Like someone else said unlike Martin and Jordan he's managed to write a massive series and keep control over it.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

The second book is an order of magnitude better than the first book and is the choice of some fans as the best book in the series. Coltaine's chain of dogs (the major part of the book) is a gut wrenching story. Its not my favourite cause it still gets a bit clunky in some places but its definitely amongst the best books of the series. The 3rd book, Memories of Ice, is the book where everything came together for him.

Started the 2nd book yesterday, so far so good. He is such a powerful writer. Modern day fantasy is really becoming dark and gritty. Gone are the days of 'stable hand sets out on quest to find ring/sword, hunted by dark lord, and turns out he is the rightful heir to the realm etc'.

 

[DB10]

had a look at the blurbs and junk for this series, seems to be up my alley so I'll give them a crack once the uni year is over with.

 

[Leezorr]

This is my favorite Fantasy series, Hard to get into at the start as it kind of just drops you head first in, but its pretty amazing once you get 3-4 books in.

 

[NQlionnut]

As a long time fantasy/sf buff these are about as good as the genre gets, particularly when set against the fluff and drivel of modern fantasy.
The series starts right after some pretty major political upheavel and the first 3 or 4 books all happen petty much simultaneously. Awesome races, awesome characters, insane magic and fighting, lots of pathos and heartbreak. They just leave me in awe, my favourite series after the julian may books saga of the exiles etc. Must reads IMOI

 

[Cthublhu]

I took delivery of The Crippled God (10th and last Malazan book) from Amazon UK last week. Currently about 1/4 way through and looking good so far...

 

[Equus]

So I just bought this book over the internet under the same circumstance as the late Buck Bundy (Good reviews and such) and from all reports, I cannot wait to read this! YAY!!!

I love reading brand new books!!!

Any tips on reading this book? Am I meant to re-read it for maximum enjoyment or can I mow through the series?

 

[Equus]

Wonderful first book!

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Sue Ridgepipe]

Bump... best fantasy series written.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/fantasy-books.1047923/page-9#post-43144932

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Reading book 2, Deadhouse Gates. Don't tag me with spoilers everybody haha. Didn't read the above posts.

I wont spoil it - but pretty much. The hard thing about it is some books seems completely in isolation then you read the next one and go WTF because stuff is happening at the same time and you don't connect the dots until later.
It was on book four when I started and I struggled through book one - finished book 4 just before 5 came out and then reread each prior book before the next just to refresh because you need to. It gets complicated but it is worth it.
My mate recommended it to me - 3 out of 5 book series he's recommended me has become a tv show so far.

Yeah I read Gardens of the Moon in 2013 and started Deadhouse Gates in 2014/15, but it was a slog because of my gap. Plus the paperpack book literally started falling apart (now in 2019 it's split in two ). So I had to re-read Gardens of the Moons before starting Deadhouse Gates again. Should be easier once this is finally out of the way (doesn't help I prefer watching things at home so reading is usually limited to the train). If pages fall out of book 3 I'm going apeshit.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Finished Deadhouse Gates. It was very long.

 

[kangaspurs]

Finished Deadhouse Gates. It was very long.

I'm 200-odd pages in. Started really slowly imo, but after getting to the second book it picks up, and now I'm loving it. Can hardly put it down.

This is the thread for it too: I didn't find any of the criticisms I read of GotM to be a massive issue. I actually really enjoyed it. The only problem I had was that because there are so many characters and POV it can be hard to follow things, so I was constantly asking myself "Why did they do that again?" That was easy to go back and check, but I also had a small issue of determining if decisions were actually something the character would do because of the same reasons, which was more difficult to go back and check. There were a couple of other things that were very small opinions about stuff that maybe could have been better, which I'll attempt to put under a spoiler tag below, but all in all I got a lot enjoyment out of reading it.

Spoiler

I didn't buy Ganoes' and Tattersail's relationship at all. Felt that was underdeveloped and for me didn't carry any emotional weight, particularly when he found about her new place in the Rhivi(sp?). The whole final section with the Tyrant was anticlimactic too IMO, although perhaps that was intentional, and the logic in the decision by the BB to not set off the explosives felt like it should have been figured out a long time before it did for characters who are as experienced and as competent as they

 

[kangaspurs]

The prologue of Memories of Ice feels ******* massive in scope and importance to the series. In about 20-odd pages, it feels like it sets out the road map for the rest of the series when it comes to the overarching narrative. I might be wrong, but after reading it, it just feels important.