Malazan Book of The Fallen, anyone?

all valid criticisms, I hated that even these scrubby peons seemed to be capable of deep, philosophical monologues, that was quite pretentious. DoD is easily the worst book, barely remember a single thing about it besides the climax. Crippled God was an alright wrap up for the series but that's about it. Would be a shame to stop now but if you feel that way then it's probably for the best. Agree that it peaked at Bonehunters (IMO the series was fantastic until that, then just pretty average with a few highs after) Erikson's Kharkansas trilogy started off very good IMO, one of the better books and will seemingly shed light on a bunch of the more interesting mysteries in the series. You read the first one, M99? came out 3 years ago right? been a while ffs, sequel was meant to release like 1.5 years back think its out in April though

Nah I am suffering enough waiting for ASOIAF to finish. Will start reading Kharkanas when the complete series is released.

picking up the release of fall of light next week, the second book in the kharkanas trilogy, really enjoyed the first one, much more than any of the malazan books post midnight tides tbh.

that said, I haven't read any books in the series since christmas 2012 I believe, gonna be tough to readjust to erikson's dense as f writing style, I hear the book is really good though.

I gave up on the Esslemont novels, though I hear his latest is good too

I'm nearing the end of Gardens of the Moon. This was an extremely tough universe to get into and I guess that's largely down to Erikson dropping you right in the middle of it without a lot of background. I both liked and hated that in equal measure. Reading his foreward before starting the book helped though as he did warn that he would do just that.

Now that I'm nearing the end this first book, I'm sufficiently hooked and already have the rest of the series downloaded, although I'm not reading these anywhere near at the rate that I've ready other fantasy series, I like it quite a bit so far.

Did any of you pick up Fall of Light @M99 @Firenze? Think Firenze said he was gonna day 1 it, heard really good things about the book

nope, I need to get around to it. Haven't read anything from the series in like 4 years ffs. I know there's that and an Esslemont book but I'm not all that interested in that despite it wrapping up his story arc.

Heard good things too, might read it over XMAS. Ended up putting it off because I feel like I need to re-read Forge of Darkness since there are a lot of characters I forgot and I'm too lazy.

So I've tried a million times starting the first book. Just cannot get hooked. It's way too slow at the beginning. Pity.

13 books ffs

I'm still slogging my way through Deadhouse Gates. Emphasis on "slog".

I'm roughly half-way through and it's gotten better though. Some of these story lines are beautifully written and equally depressing.

deadhouse gates last third or so is amazing, you will love it come the end of the book

one of my favorites in the series but I did struggle with the first book and a half

Same, like Firenze says, things pick up towards the end of the book, if its any consolation, Memories of Ice is quite fast and things really pick up early on

memories of ice, midnight tides were both goat, reaper's gale was aight, bonehunters was really good IMO, then the series doesn't ever really hit those heights again, at least not for me, parts of toll the hounds were really good though

did you ever read forge of darkness ES? guessing so since you asked about the sequel

Nah, i was thinking of picking it up at the book store, saw it next to Fall of Light, decided i'd wait until after i finished the Lightbringer series

And yes, agreed with your assessment Firenze, for me, the peak was Bonehunters, absolutely unforgettable, one of the most vivid, thrilling, edge of the seat books i have ever read. Spent around 4 hours to complete a particular scene i'm sure you know of. Memories of Ice was goat as well, the Tehol and Bugg books were acceptable

So I just finished Toll the Hounds and have now started Dust of Dreams.

You guys were dead-on. This series has been an absolute game changer for me as far as fantasy goes. It is, without a doubt, the most difficult fantasy series I've ever read and that I'm likely to ever read. It is also one of the most rewarding.

I've had to re-read several passages several times and then consult the Malazan Wiki for references, but that seems to just enhance the experience. I've also been listening to them on Audible after reading as well. Michael Page has done an excellent job bringing much the characters to life.

Gonna be weird to read other stuff once I finish the Crippled God.

Forgot you had been reading this. Glad to see you're enjoying it.

on the tails of Miura dying, it still boggles the mind how this guy was able to churn out a series this complex and large in a little over a decade (granted he had ideas and early drafts for characters etc at least a decade before the first book released) Insane achievement and something you can appreciate when you see all of these other fantasy authors on hiatus.

It's tempting to say that Eriksen has put GRRM to shame with the work ethic needed to complete such a sprawling series, but that wouldn't be fair to say.

I just finished The Crippled God and predictably I feel empty. What a ride that was. I feel like this is going to join some of the other series I read as something I regularly come back to and re-read. I feel like I missed a ton on this first time through it so I will definitely pick up on more when I read through it again at some point.

The books by ICE in the universe are a mixed bunch but I think worth reading just to get some clarity on major characters that were mentioned in the mainline Erikson books but never really fleshed out much.

Night of Knives is a short novella, the first Ian Cameron Esslemont released, and is pretty weak overall.

Return of The Crimson Guard has some huge players involved, and can be thought of as a Michael Bay movie in terms of the set pieces and stuff. It's an OK read. Nails the Malazan convergence.

Stonewielder is his best novel from a technical standpoint, it really felt like I was reading an Erikson book. But it's just rather boring.

Orb Sceptre Throne was poor. The worst for sure. It sucks because it's set in Darujhistan post TTH, I was really hyped for it.

Blood & Bone was pretty mediocre overall, barring one plotline which felt like a horror novel.

I never read Assail because I was pretty underwhelmed by his books at this point.

However

He then started a prequel series detailing the rise of Dancer, Shadowthrone, Dassem etc and the early formation of the Malazan empire. This is where he kinda hits his stride, stops trying to imitate the Erikson style, which was always an impossible task, and keeps the focus on less POV's.

These have sold well and been recieved by the fanbase positively.  I honestly felt the first book, Dancer's Lament, was more enjoyable than some of the second half of Erikson's. The other two have been decent, but not quite as good.

IIRC, we have the start of the Karsa Orlong triology releasing this summer, which I'm looking forward to, although Erikson has made it clear that Karsa won't be a POV, at least in the first book. Which I'm sure will ruffle some feathers.

Also another ICE book coming too, I think.

Malazan is actually enjoying a nice spike in popularity atm, a lot of prominent book related youtubers have been making videos around it

Yeah I knew of the other books as well. Gonna give it a rest before I delve into those. Erikson' style of writing is unlike anything I've read before. It's great, but also exhausting.

Karsa was for sure going to get his own series. Far too good of a character not to. I don't think any of these books would ever get a film or TV adaptation, as they are too intricate for those types of media, but Dave Bautista would be my pick for the role.

Read the first book of the Karsa/Witness trilogy. First Erikson book in 9 years. Felt like a Malazan book but also like he was going for something a little more straightforward. Was worried I'd struggle to readjust to his prose and philosophising but it was a very easy read surprisingly, read it in a few days, shorter than the average Malazan book but still felt very meaty. Looking forward to the next book.