Malazan Book of the Fallen Series

nesf · 27-08-2013 7:29am

I'm on my 5th reread of Gardens of the Moon. It's because I've never finished the series and each time I try again I start from the beginning. This is a choice really, I enjoy the books very much and tend to pick up something new each time I read them and this is why I do it.

keane2097 · 27-08-2013 5:55pm

nesf wrote: »

I'm on my 5th reread of Gardens of the Moon. It's because I've never finished the series and each time I try again I start from the beginning. This is a choice really, I enjoy the books very much and tend to pick up something new each time I read them and this is why I do it.

Same.

[DF]Lenny · 29-09-2013 8:22pm

just finished the series and couldnt reccommend them enough . I remeber in the foreword of gardens of the moon erickson says a lot of people give up after a few chapters , once you break the first book you will be hooked.

nesf · 30-09-2013 6:31am

[DF]Lenny wrote: »

just finished the series and couldnt reccommend them enough . I remeber in the foreword of gardens of the moon erickson says a lot of people give up after a few chapters , once you break the first book you will be hooked.

Yeah, I found this really weird, I very much enjoyed Gardens of the Moon as a complete random pick off the shelves, I hadn't heard anything about it, didn't get any recommendations to read it and was completely ignorant of who Steven Erikson was.

keane2097 · 30-09-2013 4:17pm

nesf wrote: »

Yeah, I found this really weird, I very much enjoyed Gardens of the Moon as a complete random pick off the shelves, I hadn't heard anything about it, didn't get any recommendations to read it and was completely ignorant of who Steven Erikson was.

I remember hearing about it on Reddit and hearing all about how hard it is to get into. This was during my time as an utterly busto student, but a friend of mine who also likes fantasy novels had a book voucher.

I told him about it, he went and bought it and I watched on anxiously as the days passed by and I was asking him "is it any good yet?" to which the answer was "meh" for ages! Eventually he turned to me one evening and said, "yeah, it's class" and the relief was palpable!

Thargor · 09-10-2013 4:10pm

I just wish there was a resource like A Wiki of Ice and Fire or even a good summary of each book somewhere where you could remind yourself whats going on and where in the world its happening, loved them when I was reading them but the last 2 are sitting on my shelf now and I cant go near them because I just cant remember whats supposed to be happening and Im not going rereading the rest to find out.

sea_monkey · 09-10-2013 4:26pm

Thargor wrote: »

I just wish there was a resource like A Wiki of Ice and Fire or even a good summary of each book somewhere where you could remind yourself whats going on and where in the world its happening, loved them when I was reading them but the last 2 are sitting on my shelf now and I cant go near them because I just cant remember whats supposed to be happening and Im not going rereading the rest to find out.

http://malazan.wikia.com/wiki/

http://www.malazanempire.com/site/

Thargor · 09-10-2013 4:39pm

Useless, about 20% of the summary for each book done, the rest waiting to be added, been like that for a few years now so Id say the project is dead.

keane2097 · 09-10-2013 4:50pm

Thargor wrote: »

Useless, about 20% of the summary for each book done, the rest waiting to be added, been like that for a few years now so Id say the project is dead.

Malazan Reread of the Fallen might be what you're looking for...

http://www.tor.com/features/series/malazan-reread-of-the-fallen

ancapailldorcha · 31-10-2013 12:43pm

Right, just starting the Chain of Dogs now.

Just read that Anomander Rake is a Soletaken which explains how he transformed into a dragon in Gardens of the Moon.

I think I'm going to make up mind on whether to continue reading at the end of Deadhouse Gates.
I do like how Erikson just drops explanations and twists so nonchalantly into conversations. You really do have to pay close attention!

fitz · 01-11-2013 9:30am

First half takes a while to get going, but if you're not sold by the end of Deadhouse Gates, then I don't think Erikson is for you.

giftgrub · 01-11-2013 12:03pm

I started Gardens of the Moon about 6 months ago and couldn't get into it.

I'm on my second try, about 100 pages in so far.

Its grabbing me more this time around for some reason

ancapailldorcha · 01-11-2013 3:14pm

fitz wrote: »

First half takes a while to get going, but if you're not sold by the end of Deadhouse Gates, then I don't think Erikson is for you.

I think people say to give it until the end of the Chain of Dogs. Either way, I hate not finishing novels and I'm (just) over halfway there now. Very hard going mind.

Raging_Ninja · 01-11-2013 5:51pm

Tbh I enjoyed Gardens of tge Moon more than Deadhouse Gates (loved the Chain of Dogs chapters though). Wasn't truly hooked until Memories of Ice though.

ancapailldorcha · 01-11-2013 7:01pm

I preemptively purchased Memories of Ice so I'll probably read it after Deadhouse Gates.

sentient_6 · 01-11-2013 7:45pm

I've the series read through to Dust of Dreams. I decided to take a break a good while back now before The Crippled God. I was burned out. Anyway i've just started to re read the series through starting at Deadhouse. Looking forward to it, i'm going to read the commentaries on 'Malazan re read of the Fallen' on the Tor site after each chapter/pair of chapters as i go, it gets very heavy at times so i'm hoping for better clarity this time.

ancapailldorcha · 21-11-2013 1:09pm

Right, I finished Deadhouse Gates earlier this week. I found the whole Chain of Dogs a bit meh to be honest.

I read Stalingrad recently and the sheer amount of slaughter was reminiscent and a bit depressing.

Don't get me wrong, it's well written but the scope prevents much in the way of character development. I rather enjoyed Fiddler and Kalam's arcs though.
I'm about 50 pages into Memories of Ice (a lot for me in such a short space of time, especially when it's Erikson) and I think I'll wait to finish that before buying the next book.

Zapp Brannigan · 21-11-2013 8:30pm

I'm doing a reread and I just don't understand why people don't enjoy Gardens of the Moon. You're dumped right into a world that has loads of history and Erikson just drops hints and mentions things quickly that just keep compelling me to read on and find out more.

stampydmonkey · 21-11-2013 11:31pm

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

I'm doing a reread and I just don't understand why people don't enjoy Gardens of the Moon. You're dumped right into a world that has loads of history and Erikson just drops hints and mentions things quickly that just keep compelling me to read on and find out more.

Just reading it now and despite the overwhelming start am thoroughly enjoying it. Can't wait to get a few more books into it.

Thargor · 22-11-2013 11:17am

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Right, I finished Deadhouse Gates earlier this week. I found the whole Chain of Dogs a bit meh to be honest.
I read Stalingrad recently and the sheer amount of slaughter was reminiscent and a bit depressing.
Don't get me wrong, it's well written but the scope prevents much in the way of character development. I rather enjoyed Fiddler and Kalam's arcs though.
I'm about 50 pages into Memories of Ice (a lot for me in such a short space of time, especially when it's Erikson) and I think I'll wait to finish that before buying the next book.

Did you really need to spoiler the fact that there was

slaughter

at

Stalingrad

?

keane2097 · 22-11-2013 11:55am

Just launched into a reread again and I must say the start of GOTM is amazing when you're well acquainted with what comes later! Definitely easy to see how first timers, including me, hadn't a clue what was going on but you do get the sense of an amazingly textured world that you've been dropped into very early.

Hoping to finish the series at last this time over xmas although chances are I'll get to like book 8 and find an excuse not to finish it again! If it ended up being the last series of books I ever finished I'd be happy enough with that!

Ardeehey · 22-11-2013 12:03pm

Also working through a re-read, just starting Toll of the Hounds. Loved the series first time around but picking up so much more this time around...makes me recommend the series even more now.

ancapailldorcha · 22-11-2013 12:04pm

Thargor wrote: »

Did you really need to spoiler the fact that there was
slaughter
at
Stalingrad
?

No, but when I said it was

reminiscent of the Chain of Dogs

I thought it might be taken as spoilerish. Unfortunately, I saw a few spoliers in this thread (accidentally highlighted the tags) and read the first sentence of the "Orb, Sceptre, Throne" description on Amazon.
I don't read a lot of fantasy so I wouldn't have appreciated the breath of fresh air that GotM is thought of as. I found it a slog to get through but I can imagine it improves drastically once one appreciates what a Soletaken is, who Shadowthorne is, etc...

lucernarian · 10-12-2013 5:21pm

I just finished the series this year, and finished Ian C. Esslemont's fifth book yesterday. An extremely rewarding series. But I'm torn between rereading the Malazan Book of the Fallen series (I started 2 years ago) or going onto something else... To be honest, I'm not sure if I can get the same kind of joy and interest in a book that this series slowly built up for me!

nesf · 23-04-2014 6:25am

I'm going to finish this time (tm). I've read as far as Midnight Tides. I was going to read the Ian C. Esslemont stuff too in the "publication order." I'm only about a third of the way through Night of Knives though and finding it hard going, not because of plot or anything (it's fairly light to be honest) but because the quality of writing, especially the dialogue, is rather poor.

Do people recommend reading these books on a first go through? Does the writing improve a lot with time? I know it's his first book and oh, dear Lord it shows in the dialogue and exposition but should I be more forgiving given that I want to read about the Crimson Guard etc?

Tar.Aldarion · 23-04-2014 8:58am

Personally left the side books til after and only did the crimson guard so far, don't feel like it needed it tbh and convoluted enough to remember the storylines and characters

Zapp Brannigan · 23-04-2014 9:12am

Esslemont takes a while to get better. His writing is way better by the time you get to 'Orb, Sceptre, Throne'.

Still think it's worth reading if you want to know more about the universe though.

Evac101 · 23-04-2014 3:18pm

Finished my current reread of the Malazan main series (Erickson) and have to say that they just keep getting better the more often I return to them. While it may be a comment on my own ability to pick up and retain details I find myself reading deeper and deeper layers each time around, enough to queue an anticipation of the next visit. The final book, while fan service-ish (imo), also tied many of the threads together and left enough hanging loose for later follow ups (as spin off's or what evs').

What enriched the experience quite a bit for me was referencing this series of articles on Tor as I completed the segments. Really enjoyed seeing what other eyes had taken from the text (though I disagreed with some of their conclusions/criticisms and felt they left others pass which perhaps shouldn't have), and also Erikson and Essemont pop in at points to offer general observations on the series and their writing styles.

bonkey · 25-04-2014 2:23pm

Planning on re-reading these shorty.

Main problem is that I've more or
less moved fully to reading on Kindle and 9 of 10 books I only have on paper.

Not that reading paper is a problem...

nesf · 25-04-2014 4:10pm

bonkey wrote: »

Planning on re-reading these shorty.

Main problem is that I've more or
less moved fully to reading on Kindle and 9 of 10 books I only have on paper.

Not that reading paper is a problem...

The main issue for me was the transfer to Kindle was poorly done in the first 6 books. Things like Toe for Toc and section breaks being missing could get quite annoying. It wasn't a deal breaker, the books were still readable but playing "guess what the OCR ****ed up" isn't the most fun in the world.

Zapp Brannigan · 25-04-2014 6:55pm

The entire series is available in one ebook.

wyrn · 26-04-2014 11:34am

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

The entire series is available in one ebook.

Do you have a UK Amazon account? It doesn't seem available for me.

Zapp Brannigan · 26-04-2014 7:34pm

wyrn wrote: »

Do you have a UK Amazon account? It doesn't seem available for me.

No I shop on the US Amazon store. It's available elsewhere as well Linky

nesf · 08-05-2014 2:51pm

Ah, Toll the Hounds, this time I will make it past the turgid first half of you. My enthusiasm is draining though, Karsa or no Karsa. Also, Kruppe stopped being funny many, many books ago, kill him off please (;)).

Zapp Brannigan · 08-05-2014 3:08pm

nesf wrote: »

Ah, Toll the Hounds, this time I will make it past the turgid first half of you. My enthusiasm is draining though, Karsa or no Karsa. Also, Kruppe stopped being funny many, many books ago, kill him off please (;)).

You're dead to me.

I didn't like TtH on my first read, but every other read since I've really enjoyed it.

nesf · 08-05-2014 3:11pm

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

You're dead to me.

I didn't like TtH on my first read, but every other read since I've really enjoyed it.

Most of it is fine, I just can't stand the "author's voice" bookending the chapters. I recognise it's a valid approach but I dislike this style of writing quite a lot even when it's not meant to be taken seriously.

pillphil · 08-05-2014 4:00pm

I still don't know how I feel about this series, I read as far as The Crippled God. I was just lost all the time. I've never been able to read poetry or songs in fantasy books and that seems to be an important source of information.
I read the first hundred pages of GotM again after I finished the series, and I suspect I'd enjoy rereading the whole series now that I know who the characters are but it took over a year to get through them. I'd usually read a book in a few days no matter how long the book is but I really had to force myself to keep reading. I stopped reading for a few months afterwards.

Tar.Aldarion · 08-05-2014 4:31pm

Doesn't sound like you enjoy it, no you don't need to read the crap poetry.

nesf · 08-05-2014 6:53pm

pillphil wrote: »

I still don't know how I feel about this series, I read as far as The Crippled God. I was just lost all the time. I've never been able to read poetry or songs in fantasy books and that seems to be an important source of information.
I read the first hundred pages of GotM again after I finished the series, and I suspect I'd enjoy rereading the whole series now that I know who the characters are but it took over a year to get through them. I'd usually read a book in a few days no matter how long the book is but I really had to force myself to keep reading. I stopped reading for a few months afterwards.

There's nothing wrong with not enjoying a book, film or tv show even if you're a fan of the genre and others in the genre hold it in high regard. I detest Firefly for instance, which can make for some cranky conversations about TV Sci Fi with friends. Erikson is very much love him or hate him or both. I really don't like some parts of his writing. I think he strays too much from what he's good at (developing a group of characters with few brushstrokes) and indulges to much in things he can't do well (poetry, heavy thematic passages, humour (Krupp's dialogue would work so much better in bardic poetry and I think this feeling is intentionally evoked but on paper I find it jarring as I would the text of a bardic poem).

/end trollbait

pillphil · 09-05-2014 4:10pm

That's the thing though, I could have stopped at any time, but I kept buying and reading them. I'd prefer to read a whole series, but if I don't like it, I'll usually stop.
I think as I progressed through a specific book, I enjoyed it more, but the transition to the next book, with characters I hadn't seen since the book before last, meant that starting each book was a bit of a struggle.
This wasn't helped by the fact that my reading rate was so much slower than normal.

I have to say, normal sized books only take a few hours to read now though

prq · 27-05-2014 12:47am

MBotF is my favorite fantasy series - after The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever.

Haven't gone into the Kharkanas Trilogy yet.

nesf · 27-05-2014 12:57am

Toll the Hounds, I'd have stopped was I not 7 books in already. Dust of Dreams is proving equally annoying. I'm beginning to strongly dislike Erikson's later writing style and miss his earlier days when the plot was convoluted but the characters actually seemed vaguely interesting.

prq · 27-05-2014 8:54am

nesf wrote: »

Toll the Hounds, I'd have stopped was I not 7 books in already. Dust of Dreams is proving equally annoying. I'm beginning to strongly dislike Erikson's later writing style and miss his earlier days when the plot was convoluted but the characters actually seemed vaguely interesting.

I actually found Toll the Hounds to be the 2nd best book in the series, right after Memories of Ice

Midnight Tides however, and its juvenile humor... argghhh.

hadoken13 · 27-05-2014 9:02am

I have to say that the Malazan series are one of the best series I've ever read - really enjoyed them. I hear a lot from people who started reading Gardens of the Moon but couldn't get past the first couple of hundred pages - I could never understand that. The book caught my attention from the first page. Just because books don't start out slowly, giving a back story on every character before building up the narrative, instead launching straight into a battle, doesn't mean they are overly complex.

I loved the concept of his stories (although the last book dragged on a bit). As for Esslemont's books, they are starting to grow on me - his latest one, Blood and Bone wasn't bad and his next one, due for release in June I think should be good too.

Potatoeman · 27-05-2014 9:09am

hadoken13 wrote: »

I have to say that the Malazan series are one of the best series I've ever read - really enjoyed them. I hear a lot from people who started reading Gardens of the Moon but couldn't get past the first couple of hundred pages - I could never understand that. The book caught my attention from the first page. Just because books don't start out slowly, giving a back story on every character before building up the narrative, instead launching straight into a battle, doesn't mean they are overly complex.

I loved the concept of his stories (although the last book dragged on a bit). As for Esslemont's books, they are starting to grow on me - his latest one, Blood and Bone wasn't bad and his next one, due for release in June I think should be good too.

Some people get lost in the details. I had a friend read them before me and a few questions cleared some things up. I will go back and reread them again sometime as I hear you pick up on things you missed.

prq · 27-05-2014 9:16am

Sometimes only a few books afterwards are events fully explained. I found myself picking up earlier books and going "ah, so THAT's what really happened!"

nesf · 27-05-2014 9:18am

prq wrote: »

I actually found Toll the Hounds to be the 2nd best book in the series, right after Memories of Ice

Midnight Tides however, and its juvenile humor... argghhh.

It certainly seems to divide people alright. Part of it comes down to Kruppe, long passages of his thoughts or speech are a real love/hate thing. Another part is the philosophising, again a love/hate thing. The final part is the Andii arc in the book. Some enjoyed having a bland and unremarkable character be developed into someone they cared about, others never had this transition. Personally, I felt this arc came across as far too forced and too many perfect pieces falling exactly into place, deus ex author etc.

Mostly I miss the gritty military fantasy though. It all started going a bit insane when he started introducing modern or early modern military tactics and structures into a medieval/classical fantasy setting. It's nit picking but when he talks in terms of modern command structures breaking down to 5-10 man units in this setting it's really hard to suspend disbelief. In a melee you really don't work at that level and crossbows and explosives don't change much, sharpers are just better pilums basically.

Sorry, I hate it when an author takes a turn in a direction I strongly dislike after many years of enjoying their work. Martin and Jordon did this already to me and now Erikson.

prq · 27-05-2014 9:23am

I'm fine with Kruppe. It was the passages with Ublala's "prowesses" and Shurq's "implant" and Tehol's humor...

Also the Sengar family annoyed me.

Potatoeman · 27-05-2014 11:22am

nesf wrote: »

It certainly seems to divide people alright. Part of it comes down to Kruppe, long passages of his thoughts or speech are a real love/hate thing. Another part is the philosophising, again a love/hate thing. The final part is the Andii arc in the book. Some enjoyed having a bland and unremarkable character be developed into someone they cared about, others never had this transition. Personally, I felt this arc came across as far too forced and too many perfect pieces falling exactly into place, deus ex author etc.

Mostly I miss the gritty military fantasy though. It all started going a bit insane when he started introducing modern or early modern military tactics and structures into a medieval/classical fantasy setting. It's nit picking but when he talks in terms of modern command structures breaking down to 5-10 man units in this setting it's really hard to suspend disbelief. In a melee you really don't work at that level and crossbows and explosives don't change much, sharpers are just better pilums basically.

Sorry, I hate it when an author takes a turn in a direction I strongly dislike after many years of enjoying their work. Martin and Jordon did this already to me and now Erikson.

There are certain things that highlight it was a roleplaying game i.e. Hellians pub crawl invasion.
I didn't like Kruppe. I did like the Sengars and I loved Beak.

prq · 27-05-2014 11:25am

Impossible not to love Beak

Malazan Book of the Fallen Series

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