Books FAO ECA, Uara, Ch3tan and others: "Dust of Dreams"

[Vasconcelos]

I know there might be other fans of Malazans but those 3

On the last chapter of the book atm. Guys, what do you think about the way S.E is handling the end of the saga??

Im enjoying it a lot, tho I rly would like him, like in the other books, to not spread the action into that many fronts, and focus more on:

- Malazan army
- New pantheon of gods
- Elder gods

Im guessing his leaving Karsa, Paran and Icarium plots (the 3 mightiest ascendants) for the last book

 

[Ch3tan]

Spoiler

Loved it, it was gritty, we had new characters as always, and old characters with new story arcs. As with all his Malazan there is a slow steady build up to a dramatic ending. Slightly different this time as it is a two-part book. I am really liking the way he left things with the BoneHunters, and love the fact he has no fear of killing off any characters.

I have a feeling that we will end with most of the storylines tied up, but with many open. It's a vast world he and Easlemont have created with lots and lots of opportunities for further stories.

edit:// As Uara said, Icarium had a big role in this one. He was the one that stopped the Nah'ruk.

 

[Uara]

Sorry deleted it as I wanted to say a bit more in my post and i hit post accidentally

Spoiler

Yeah Icarium stopped the Nah'ruk in the big old sky-keep that he activated when he sat on the throne or whatever it was!!
As Ch3t said he's more than willing to kill off the main characters and this is no exception. Looking forward to find out which of the bonehunters/Letheri/Khundryll etc survive....am expecting Brys and Tavore to have survived as 'would' expect a large death scene for them. But I may be wrong! Plus it never explains what hit Quick Ben (or im not sure it explained it, may need a re-read)

I don't think they'll be able to stop after the final book, the world is just far too big for them all to finish just like that. Esslemonts books are a clear sign there are more to come etc

Its just a shame got to wait so long for the big finale when eventually we'll find out for definite what Shadowthrone and Cotillion have been planning. I for one didnt see it coming that Tavore may have wanted to free the chained god. Karsa i can imagine having a large role in the final book!

 

[old.Tohtori]

- New pantheon of gods
- Elder gods

Peeked my interest.

What series of books? Style? Etc? Sell the idea to me!

 

[Ch3tan]

"Malazan Book of the Fallen" Toht, probably the best epic fantasy series of all time. Pisses all over Tolkien from a great height. It's main themes are concerned with humans inheriting the world from older races and the place of gods and ritual in the changing world. Lots of war, lots of magic, lots of political intrigue, huuuuge pantheon of gods etc. Characters that are built up over 2 or 3 books and story arcs that cover 8 books +.

He weaves story-arcs seamlessly, and integrates them in unexpected ways. They are also full of great humour.

Spoiler

Quick Ben is not dead, he's always got a "shaved knuckle in the hole" to save him.

As for shadowthrone and cotillion, they have never at any point struck me as wanting power. My guess has always been that the mad old emperor's plan has always been to kill the dominance of gods and humans reliance on magic for ever. Their master plan is to destroy magic and the gods for ever.

Love the fact that Fedoric is still making appearances, and the jade statues are still coming for their lost god (the crippled god).

Don't forget we still have a young Coltain growing rapidly on the Wickan plains somewhere, Whiskeyjack, Rake and Hood battling the forces of chaos and roaming the realm of the dead, we still have Kalam in a House of the Azath somewhere. I want to see more of Pust and his wife (who must be Ardata), and lets not forget the round one, Kruppe.

Sooooo many threads, absolutely amazing story telling

 

[Rulke]

<dons his cloak and wizards hat>

I want to like Erikson's books more than I do, I love epic fantasy but in the Malazon books for every fantastic story thread there's a tedious one. Deadhouse Gates is the perfect example - the Chain of dogs storyline is one of the best (imo) in the whole series but every other story thread in the book is overlong, drawn out and occasionally just plain boring - even Kalam/Fiddler's story isn't that interesting.

I get the impression that Erikson tried to devoke roughly equal page-space to each story thread but some of them blatantly don't have enough to keep your interest.

As for saying it pisses on Tolkein- no, just no

 

[Ch3tan]

There are parts of each book that are threads for other major story arcs that are picked up later. Kalam and Fiddlers stories needed to be there because of the larger story arc.

And why does it not piss all over Tolkein? This world for me and the story is much better than anything I got from the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, both of which I think are great.

 

[Rulke]

Yes they need to be there to set up stuff later on but they don't need to take up so much time and space.

Look at book 3, some fantastic story threads there with the Pannoin domin, the siege of pale etc but then you spend the same amount of time reading about the Mybhe getting old. It's just dull and what exactly does that set up for?

Erikson's world has the illusion of depth, it's got a "300,000 year history" but it's really just

-300,000 Jaghut, Imass
-sometime later - Tiste andii/edur
-50ish? Kellenvad
now - the books

Tolkien's world is so much richer, so much warmer and so much more complete.

(ps this is possibly the geekiest thing I've argued about on the internets, and that's saying something)

 

[taB]

AMAZING BOOKS.

Half way through this one. Goddamn 14 hour work days. Not reading thread. Hope everyone's enjoying it.

 

[Vasconcelos]

Yes they need to be there to set up stuff later on but they don't need to take up so much time and space.

Look at book 3, some fantastic story threads there with the Pannoin domin, the siege of pale etc but then you spend the same amount of time reading about the Mybhe getting old. It's just dull and what exactly does that set up for?

Erikson's world has the illusion of depth, it's got a "300,000 year history" but it's really just

-300,000 Jaghut, Imass
-sometime later - Tiste andii/edur
-50ish? Kellenvad
now - the books

Tolkien's world is so much richer, so much warmer and so much more complete.

(ps this is possibly the geekiest thing I've argued about on the internets, and that's saying something)

Iirc It would be something like

- millions of years - Eres'al
- K'Chain CheMale
- 300,000 Jaghut, Imass
- Kallor's Empire
- sometime later - Tiste andii/edur
- Thousands of years First Emperor
- 50ish? Kellenvad
- now - the books

Thing is, S.E and Malazan saga only set up the history of part of the world. In theory, there would be other stories set in different continents (Forkrul Assail continent e.g) or plots (Crimson Guard)

And if u are critic with the fact of S.E taking too much time setting up characters, what about Tolkien?

YouTube - Clerks 2 LOTR Vs. Star Wars scene - good quality

 

[ECA]

I think I've seen that video clip before!

 

[Uara]

Thing is, S.E and Malazan saga only set up the history of part of the world. In theory, there would be other stories set in different continents (Forkrul Assail continent e.g) or plots (Crimson Guard)

Exactly, plus you've got the little novella's of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach (which I still need to read) and the Novels of the Malazan Empire. I would love to know more about the Crimson guard. I did enjoy Tolkien greatly but theres something about the Malazan series that I put above LotR, I think its just the scale of the whole thing feels bigger and the cast of characters which numbers in what must be hundreds now feels so complex.

 

[Rulke]

I was half expecting someone to post that clip from clerks 2

I'm bored at work for the next 8 hours so I could argue this all night, but I won't. I'll just finish by saying that (for me) his writing can be slow and tedious in places, but in other places it really is extraordinarly epic.

 

[Ch3tan]

OMG! Book 10 available to pre-order. It's sad.... last book of the current series, end of an era.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crippled-G...6358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290528320&sr=8-1

The product description contains some mild spoilers, but it's sooo good.

 

[Vasconcelos]

OMG! Book 10 available to pre-order. It's sad.... last book of the current series, end of an era.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crippled-G...6358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290528320&sr=8-1

The product description contains some mild spoilers, but it's sooo good.

This one will go into a brand new Kindle. This I promise!!

Amazing news ch3at3r!!

PS: btw, Locke Lamora's saga. Thats some good shit I found there. Fantastic character developments. Love how Locke solves all his problems just by using his wits.

 

[Ch3tan]

I wants it on kindle, but I've got the rest in book form, so I need to get the real thing too

 

[Jiggs]

I like a lot of the elements of the series, particularly the way magic is handled and some of the characters are very cool; but I do agree with Rulke - it's not holy-shit-amazing. My main gripe is he builds and builds the set pieces up and then when they finally arrive some are a bit of a let down.

What I would say on the good side is if you like this stuff, there isn't really anyone currently writing who is in the same league as Erikson.

 

[Ormorof]

i love these books, very very excited about the next one, read both of the novels of malazan empire, the crimson guard absolutely kicks ass hehehe and its explains alot more about some other characters that are mentioned in the S.E books

Spoiler

like traveller and some more about the toblakai etc

though i may need to start again from scratch, this whole business of waiting years between books has me a wee bit confused at times!

 

[Ch3tan]

Esslemont's third book is out.... today! Good timing with the post their Ormorof, mine is on the way from Amazon now.

The follow up to Night of Knives and Return of the Crimson Guard: Stonewielder (Malazan Empire 3): Amazon.co.uk: Ian Cameron Esslemont: Books

 

[Ormorof]

woohoo, sham it normally takes a while for those to arrive in Finland as i have not pre-ordered, might still pop in a shop to see if they have a copy! (i got lucky with latest wheel of time book after all!)

 

[inactionman]

Mine arrived yesterday. Will be reading it after naked heat.

 

[Ch3tan]

Anyone else finished Stoneweilder yet? It's more like an Erikson novel, good strong characters (well the new one's anyway, the old one's are established). Lots of cross over story points. I certainly think you should all read it before Erikson's final instalment in Feb, some developments that are important.

Also, Manask is hilarious.

 

[Rulke]

I wants it on kindle, but I've got the rest in book form, so I need to get the real thing too

Drop me a PM if you still want these on Kindle, got all 9 books. I've got no real qualms about getting ebooks off torrents/newsgroups if I already own the physical copy - or sharing with others who do.

 

[fettoken]

Would you guys say this series sucks you in, immerses you in a world? Does it put alot of focus on the story, and how important role does the main characters play? Do you feel for them?

Im looking for a series whic starts off kind of like ***** does. Nice and quiet, nothing too epic to begin with.

 

[Rulke]

The Malazan books drop you in at the deep end. The first book starts half way through a war at the end of a pivotal siege. There's a huge and complex back story and most of the books have 3+ main story threads and sometimes several other minor ones (the threads will often be in unrelated places or even times and won't make sense until later books). In some books this can be annoying, ie in Deadhouse gates i found two of the main stories boring but the Chain of Dogs story was epic

They're pretty hard work tbh and not especially satisfying as nothing really happens until everything comes together at the end - but the endings are usually outstanding.

Most characters aren't very fleshed out, understandable in books with this many people, but some really do stand out.

I'm not sure what you're wanting them to be like, since it's starred out in your post

 

[Ch3tan]

I've got 8 of the books on my kindle now Rulke, PM me the titles you have please

Fett; their are many characters, the very important one's get a lot of time dedicated to building them up. Characters don't always last though, Erikson will quite often build up a character as a hero in your eyes and then kill them off needlessly; it's the harsh reality of the malazan world.

I'd say the main story arc is truly epic, it is unique in it's style, you can't compare it to other epic's really. Songs of Ice and Fire is what it is closest too because of the themes of king making, war, treachery.

The world will suck you in, but you it does not start of slowly, as Rulke says it drops you in deep and you have to learn to swim quickly. Some of the books focus on a single character for their entirety, or are based in a single city, some a single continent, others span a couple.

 

[Ch3tan]

Read This: Steven Erikson's 'The Crippled God,' Out in March | Ology

 

[Shagrat]

The Malazan books drop you in at the deep end. The first book starts half way through a war at the end of a pivotal siege. There's a huge and complex back story and most of the books have 3+ main story threads and sometimes several other minor ones (the threads will often be in unrelated places or even times and won't make sense until later books). In some books this can be annoying, ie in Deadhouse gates i found two of the main stories boring but the Chain of Dogs story was epic

They're pretty hard work tbh and not especially satisfying as nothing really happens until everything comes together at the end - but the endings are usually outstanding.

Most characters aren't very fleshed out, understandable in books with this many people, but some really do stand out.

I'm not sure what you're wanting them to be like, since it's starred out in your post

I would agree with this having just started reading the first one. Ihas a look on bookshop websites when i first started reading it for the books preceding this as you do seem to be dropped into the middle of whats going on. About halfway through now though and its definitely worth hanging in there, good story so far and a lot of intriguing subcharacters popping up.

 

[Nate]

Is there an omnibus edition of these books or do you have to buy them all individually?

 

[Ch3tan]

Read This: Steven Erikson's 'The Crippled God,' Out in March | Ology

10 page preview on the crippled god on that link, I forgot to say Or the link below even!

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/02/read-an-excerpt-of-the-crippled-god-by-steven-erikson