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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
Ouch. This book was brutal. Which is not to say I didn’t enjoy it because I definitely did but damn.
Some fantasy tends to glorify war. That is definitely not this book. Erikson removes even the temptation of this by following a historian observing the battles more than anything else, in all the horror and desperation. And then to add insult to injury, the historian never gets to record his observations as he ends up dying.
After all of this, Erikson pulls a 180, giving just the glimmer of hope for a possible resurrection, maybe saving this history to allow people to learn from it.
However, in parallel, we follow the more personal story of Icarium, cursed to constantly forget his past and never learn or grow, while his companion must forever try to keep him from terrible violence.
Erikson paints the struggle with futility and repeated violence unflinchingly, while giving the impression that we’ve barely scratched the surface of this world and that do much more is yet to come.
This book isn’t just a slog of despair. The world building is excellent and there are incredibly compelling personal stories along the way. And amidst all of this, I do look forward to reading the next book in this series. In the end, the noon was really good and I will be thinking about it for a long time but it is not easy to read.
Some fantasy tends to glorify war. That is definitely not this book. Erikson removes even the temptation of this by following a historian observing the battles more than anything else, in all the horror and desperation.
After all of this, Erikson pulls a 180, giving just the glimmer of hope for a possible resurrection, maybe saving this history to allow people to learn from it.
However, in parallel, we follow the more personal story of Icarium, cursed to constantly forget his past and never learn or grow, while his companion must forever try to keep him from terrible violence.
Erikson paints the struggle with futility and repeated violence unflinchingly, while giving the impression that we’ve barely scratched the surface of this world and that do much more is yet to come.
This book isn’t just a slog of despair. The world building is excellent and there are incredibly compelling personal stories along the way. And amidst all of this, I do look forward to reading the next book in this series. In the end, the noon was really good and I will be thinking about it for a long time but it is not easy to read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Deadhouse Gates left me feeling outrage and sorrow in the best way. I started crying when recounting the plot to my partner the day after finishing it. The ebook has some typos, and reading on Kindle is great for being able to quickly look up the niche/archaic words that Erikson likes to sprinkle through his work, but neither detracts from the expansive worldbuilding, character work and ideas explored. If you were still on the fence after Gardens of the Moon this is a definite improvement, and I can say I'm thoroughly hooked on the rest of Malazan after this second installment.
Okay so this took me forever to read. I read the first 70 to 80 percent within a month then I put the book aside. Several months flew by and finally I picked it up again and man did I kick myself for putting it aside. It was that good. Everything came to fruition but your also left with so many questions. The thing is, the beginning is really good then you get bogged down in the middle, then it has a great ending. So will try to be more patient in the sequels.
I gave this book about 3.5 out of 5. It was a necessary, but still long-winded book that you just need to get through to understand evrything that is going on. At least the payoff was good, unlike "The Name of the Wind" by Rothfuss where you get ONE scene of coolness and then nothing. Erikson gives the reader a really good payoff for habing to trudge through the necessary storyline.
Note to self : do NOT let 6+ months pass between two books of Malazan xD
A noticeable improvement over the first book. It still requires a love for detail and juggling multiple sub-plots and characters in your head but worth the effort.
3.5 stars
This took longer than expected to finish. I now get why Malazan is considered one of the most complicated pieces of fantasy literature out there. I mean, Hood's breath... That was dense. I get the feeling this series is going to be like reading War and Peace ten times in a row.
I can't say I enjoyed Deadhouse Gates as much as Gardens of the Moon even though it's vastly superior in terms of writing, quality, characterisation, scope, vastness, epicness. God is it epic. I'm now 2 books and over 1600 pages into Malazan and I'm only starting to see the edges of what Steven Erikson has created.
That being said, I still loved it, cause when this book shines, it's a supernova.
Now to dive into straight into Memories of Ice.
Oh, and for those who have read it, I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say Pormqual is a lil bitch.
This took longer than expected to finish. I now get why Malazan is considered one of the most complicated pieces of fantasy literature out there. I mean, Hood's breath... That was dense. I get the feeling this series is going to be like reading War and Peace ten times in a row.
I can't say I enjoyed Deadhouse Gates as much as Gardens of the Moon even though it's vastly superior in terms of writing, quality, characterisation, scope, vastness, epicness. God is it epic. I'm now 2 books and over 1600 pages into Malazan and I'm only starting to see the edges of what Steven Erikson has created.
That being said, I still loved it, cause when this book shines, it's a supernova.
Now to dive into straight into Memories of Ice.
Oh, and for those who have read it, I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say Pormqual is a lil bitch.
Decent, although not blown away. I actually thought it was not as good as Gardens of the Moon, which seems like a controversial opinion around these parts. The Fiddler and Mappo sections were waaaaaay better than the Duiker and Felsin ones. It was a little more opresively emotional then what I am usually down for, but that's just me. Still not bad though, just not great.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The internet has told me this is a controversial series in how polarized peoples' like for it is. I enjoyed Gardens of the Moon, despite the frenetic writing. I sat on the idea of embarking on the rest of the series for quite some time, in part because if I enjoyed the next book, the next few months of my reading life would be spoken for.
I had confused and nebulous expectations as I (kindle equivalent of) read the first pages. Would it be dark? Some of my favourite characters from the last book wouldn't make an appearance, so would I have any stake in the plot? Having now finished the last pages, I feel spent. I'm empty. There's a darkness to the book, but in that darkness is a small flicker of hope and optimism. The characters, all the characters (small throw away sentries included), are real and unique and you want them to win. Many don't and it hurts.
Deadhouse gates is magnificent. It awoke in me a fierce empathy and no deaths were reduced to a statistic, no matter how numerous.
The world building is detailed and enthralling, with only slightly too many rogue apostrophes. Memories of Ice awaits.
I had confused and nebulous expectations as I (kindle equivalent of) read the first pages. Would it be dark? Some of my favourite characters from the last book wouldn't make an appearance, so would I have any stake in the plot? Having now finished the last pages, I feel spent. I'm empty. There's a darkness to the book, but in that darkness is a small flicker of hope and optimism. The characters, all the characters (small throw away sentries included), are real and unique and you want them to win. Many don't and it hurts.
Deadhouse gates is magnificent. It awoke in me a fierce empathy and no deaths were reduced to a statistic, no matter how numerous.
The world building is detailed and enthralling, with only slightly too many rogue apostrophes. Memories of Ice awaits.