Malazan Book of the Fallen Series

cbsam74

Hope I am not repeating a theard that was started before. Only new to reading High fantasy books ( just over a year) and I am thinking of buying the Malazan Book of the Fallen....Is this a recommended read as I am aware their is a good few books in it.

mcgovern

I've only read the first few, and while v.good, they are heavy going.

Zapp Brannigan

Best series I've ever read. The world is so well realised and it's incredibly deep. Not for those who just want a bit of light reading though.

ixoy

One of my favourite series but also the most demanding. There's ten books in the main series, each clocking in at about 800-900 pages and there's a huge cast spread over different continents in different eras.

Erikson doesn't make it easy at times - he'll rarely have characters explain their motives clearly or what's going on. The fun is inferring and working out the plots in your head, making the connections and realising the fiendish intricacy of the huge picture he's building. It's what makes it tough going, teasing out what's happening, and makes it rewarding to when the connections snap together - something that happens in book one might not have pay off until book 4 but when it does, it can make it more pleasing.

So if you're ready for a little bit of work, but more reward then it's highly recommended - all circa 9000 pages of it

sea_monkey

great series, ive read it a few times now

the malazan novels by esselmont are great too

sea_monkey

great series, ive read it a few times now

the malazan novels by esselmont are great too

cbsam74

Thanks everyone for replying back to me and giving me some insight to the series, just went ahead and order the first book 'Garden of the Moon' looking forward to it.

AnCapaillMor

Stick with it, it took me 3 attempts to get into it. He literally jumps into the middle of it and it can overwhelm you, there's so much going on and so many great characters. Flew through the other 9 books once i finished the first.

fitz

Also, be prepared to be put through the emotional ringer. He makes George RR Martin look generous and kind to his characters...

Spoilers if you haven't read the full series -

Whiskeyjack, Itkovian, Beak, Trull, Rake, Stormy and Gesler, Tool and Hetan, Mappo...the list goes on...

....but these in particular left me in a complete heap.

Cardinal Richelieu

Esslemont books which are set in the same world, help fill in the background to Erikson Books.

Beruthiel

cbsam74 wrote: »

Is this a recommended read as I am aware their is a good few books in it.

Oh yes.
Absolutely love this series.
Some truly fantastic characters and an epic, sweeping read.

Boro

Loaned book one (GoTM) to a friend, he came back after getting about 100 pages into it: "I think you gave me the wrong book, this isnt book 1!"

You get thrown right in at the deep end with that book (and then a significant change again going to the 2nd book) but persevere with it and you will be well rewarded!

mar-z

One of the most challenging series I've read even just in terms of keeping track of characters. Very much thrown in the deep end at the start.

But one of my favourite ever series!

gufnork

mar-z wrote: »

One of the most challenging series I've read even just in terms of keeping track of characters. Very much thrown in the deep end at the start.

But one of my favourite ever series!

I still haven't decided whether i love or loath it. I finished the second one a while ago and can't quite bring myself to pick up the third. Think the second one kind of staunched my enthusiasm a little. I definitely preferred the first one. Although i'm pretty sure that would change upon a second reading.

Zapp Brannigan

gufnork wrote: »

I still haven't decided whether i love or loath it. I finished the second one a while ago and can't quite bring myself to pick up the third. Think the second one kind of staunched my enthusiasm a little. I definitely preferred the first one. Although i'm pretty sure that would change upon a second reading.

You didn't enjoy the Chain of Dogs? It's one of my favourite storylines of the whole series.

gufnork

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

You didn't enjoy the Chain of Dogs? It's one of my favourite storylines of the whole series.

Only read the first two so far, Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates.

Didn't dislike them, just think maybe they overwhelmed me a little on first reading, particularly the second one.

mar-z

Is Chain of Dogs being made into a movie? I thought I heard something about that.

Sorry for the off topic.

Zapp Brannigan

gufnork wrote: »

Only read the first two so far, Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates.

Didn't dislike them, just think maybe they overwhelmed me a little on first reading, particularly the second one.

The Chain of Dogs was one of the main storylines in Deadhouse Gates...

I remember hearing something about movie rights, but I don't think it'd be possible to pull of the scope. There's a lot of background information that would take up too much time for a movie.

gufnork

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

The Chain of Dogs was one of the main storylines in Deadhouse Gates...

I remember hearing something about movie rights, but I don't think it'd be possible to pull of the scope. There's a lot of background information that would take up too much time for a movie.

Yeah, to be honest i remember Deadhouse Gates being a bit of a blur. Think i pretty much zoned out and went through a lot of it on auto-pilot. Definite re-read needed there then

Zapp Brannigan

gufnork wrote: »

Yeah, to be honest i remember Deadhouse Gates being a bit of a blur. Think i pretty much zoned out and went through a lot of it on auto-pilot. Definite re-read needed there then

This is a series where you really can't just skim the pages. Everything is important. It's crazy how much stuff I missed on my first read through (and second for that matter!)

ixoy

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

This is a series where you really can't just skim the pages. Everything is important. It's crazy how much stuff I missed on my first read through (and second for that matter!)

I really need to do a re-read of this at some point. With "Orb Sceptre Throne" I'm missing out on things that happened relatively recently so who knows what I missed in the earlier books.

Codofwar

Fantastic series so far, currently reading House of Chains and its brilliant. Very heavy going series at times and i have read a few books inbetween each of them so far but they dept of all the characters and story line in general is fantastic..

shockwave

I read the first book and found it a real slog, bought the second book and couldnt face it, its been sitting there for 2 years now

cbsam74

Original Poster here.. Starting reading the first book "Gardens of the Moon" over the weekend... It's heavy going, lots of characters and def thrown into the deep end but I have to say that I am really enjoying it so far.

gufnork

cbsam74 wrote: »

Original Poster here.. Starting reading the first book "Gardens of the Moon" over the weekend... It's heavy going, lots of characters and def thrown into the deep end but I have to say that I am really enjoying it so far.

Yeah, gardens of the moon was very good. I believe he wrote that one a fair bit before the rest. I liked it a lot.

AOH77A

Best series I have read, heavy going but that makes it all the more enjoyable.

The series is so good it can make it hard for subsequent books to compare.

Just started the Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and found it boring and simplistic in comparison to the Malazan books.

AnCapaillMor

In all fairness a metal gear solid plot is more straight forward than the malazan books.

Picked up an audio version of gardens of the moon, really looking forward to the tehol\bugg conversations when i eventually get to those books on audio.

Zapp Brannigan

Just a heads up for people. Erikson is doing an AMA on Reddit

fenris

I usually read the books first then when a new one comes out audiobook from the start of the series to catch up, otherwise you just miss too many details.
Bearing in mind that each audiobook is about 16 hours long it can take a few weeks to get caught up again!

Boro

Chain of Dogs was one of the most epic stories I have ever read. The sheer emotion of the end of it was breathtaking. I really didnt like the other arc covered in Deadhouse gates though and when I re-read the book, I tend to skip over those sections.

ixoy

For fans of Mr Erikson, here's one insanely long and detailed Q & A session. Anything with potential spoilers is marked as such.
It's really really long!