It seems like George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series gets a lot of love on the SDMB, but I haven’t seen much comment about Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series.
I recently finished the sixth book in the series (The Bonehunters), and I can highly recommend the books. This most recent book is getting back to the main arc of the story after the two previous books filled in some of the back-story of a couple of the characters that were introduced earlier.
I’ve read the first three – Gardens and Memories twice, Deadhouse Gates just once. Oh, and the novellas, featuring those two creepy guys. Even with multiple reads, I’ve had trouble keeping plots and characters straight.
The only reason I haven’t read any further is because I’m waiting on the hardcovers. Why are they taking so freakin’ long? By the time I get House of Chains, I’ll have forgotten everything that went before!
Speaking of what went before, if you like Erikson, you might like R. Scott Bakker’s Prince of Nothing trilogy. Just as dark and violent, well-written, complicated. The first book is The Darkness That Comes Before.
There are six books? I’ve only ever seen two (Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates). I read, and really enjoyed the former, and haven’t gotten around to reading the latter. What are the others? Have I already managed to screw up and read them out of order?
There are six books in the main series so far, plus two novellas that are outside the main plotline. I think only the first two or three (Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, and Memories of Ice) have been officially released in the US so far; my local bookstore imported the others from England.
I’m just starting on Gardens of the Moon right now (I’m halfway thru), and it does seem to be influenced a bit by Glen Cook (the Bridgeburners seem an awful lot like The Black Company). I’d say it’s more of an homage than anything, though–hey, Glen Cook praises it on the back cover.
Overall, I think it’s okay so far. I’m hoping it’s Not Another Wheel Of Time, where it starts great, then it starts to suck, but you have to finish it to the bitter end since you’ve invested so much in it.
shudder I just waded through the entire trilogy. Some parts were good, but other parts were just a lot of metaphysical babbling (IMHO). This was the same thing that turned me off Gene Wolfe (sacrilege to some, I know).
Slight hijack with regards to Bakker’s books: It’s pretty much based on a combination of the Crusades and the Book of Revelation, with Kellhus as a returning Jesus Christ who’s all militant and with questionable morality, don’t you think? I felt sorry for Akka and Cnauir–I just kept waiting for one of them to off Kellhus. I couldn’t stand the guy. Of course, I’ll still read the sequels–if only to see what Akka does, and whether Cnauir survived. Yeah, I said I didn’t like it, but I"m a sucker like that.
From everything I’ve heard, Erikson has avoided this. He knew where the story was going before he started writing. None of this send out a flyer and if anyone likes it, I’ll figure something out to fill more pages.
I’m not even trying to decipher the babbling. Some of the quotes that start each chapter are puzzling. One of them was something like “If you piss over water, you’re pissing over your reflection.” WTF?
I agree with everything in your spoiler box. I didn’t know Bakker was going to be writing more stories with Kellhus. I do love Akka and Cnaiur though, so if they survive, I’ll keep reading.
Yeah, if you re-read the series you’ll notice that he plans things out at least a couple books in advance (i.e., you’ll see casual references that are explained in more detail much later). I think he mentioned that he started the world-building in about 1982.
Ya know, I don’t normally re-read. If I do, it’s because several years have passed and I’m going back to a favorite.
But with Gardens and Memories, I re-read those two within a couple of months, and I enjoyed them as much as I did the first time. Maybe more.
Like you said – the casual references, little plot points and comments that don’t mean anything until later. You almost have to re-read. But it’s definitely not a chore to do so.
In case you weren’t aware of it, a limited number of copies of Night of Knives by Ian Cameron Esslemont (the co-creator of the Malazan world) are available.
I recently finished reading it–Esslemont isn’t as good a writer as Erikson is (in other words, don’t bother paying for the hardcover unless you’re a collector), but it’s still worth reading. The main story is to relate what happened on the night when Kellanved and Dancer had their showdown with Surly and Kellanved lost the throne of the Malazan empire. There are assorted flashbacks to earlier events, of course.
I wouldn’t consider it required reading, but it does provide some more information about characters and events that Erikson has mentioned, and introduces a few characters that may or may not end up appearing in the main series.
I didn’t know Bakker was going to be writing more stories with Kellhus. I do love Akka and Cnaiur though, so if they survive, I’ll keep reading.