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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore
Moderate: Sexual violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
I really do enjoy the Malazan series so far, but it’s quite dense and you really can’t let your mind wander during it, I definitely feel this is the type of series you get more from a reread than the first read through.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood
Although the interminable Daenerys chapters in ASOIAF have pretty much turned me off to desert settings forever I still enjoyed this one.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars - Another powerhouse in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I'm really enjoying the whole series so far, especially the strong but beautifully written thematic elements. My only complaint really is that sometimes the plot can be confusingly written (thinking specifically of the middle part of the Felisin/Heboric storyline). But as jumbled as things can start to seem in Deadhouse Gates, the resolution is incredibly powerful, tying together so many open questions (including some questions that have been open since the first book, and some which I had even forgotten about in the denseness of these books).
Some particular things I enjoyed/noted:
1. I like that one of the POV characters is an official historian. So much of what happens in the Chain of Dogs sequence depends deeply on how that story is told - true heroes, acts of bravery, class-based treachery, etc. There is one scene in particular (not really a spoiler so no worries) when Duiker the Historian is in the middle of a battle and approaches the Army's standard surrounded by 4 veterans, one mortally wounded. Duiker asks them how they want their story to be told - as he sees it, 1 of them gave their life in the noble protection of their flag and the other 3 continue to protect it. The soldiers are incredulous, pointing out that the standard is just a piece of clothe - their friend was mortally injured and they didn't want him to fall into the hands of the enemy, known to torture prisoners of war. The reality of that moment subverts so entirely the glorification of war we are fed (think the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima statue); I found it profound.
2. Felisin's recurring dreams associating the gaining of power with a river of blood. She desires it, she seeks revenge, but she knows that, like being in a river, she won't be able to control her direction and that it is a bloody cause.
3. Kalam's feeling of helplessness not as an inability to help himself but an inability to help others - the dread feeling of not having any significance or effect outside of the boundaries of yourself.
4. The friendship between Icarium and Mappo - this is one of the most heartbreaking tales within the book, which is slowly revealed over the course of the story so I won't get into it here. But the questions is raises - What happens when friendship and duty clash? What happens when you expand that question by monumental directions, where the time lasts millennia and the consequences could be utter annihilation?
As with Gardens of the Moon, this is epic on the most epic of scales, however, the real power in the story lies in the small moments, the relationships that are built, moments of empathy and compassion. Attempts at control, dominance, and power all lead to naught, and the constant quest for those things raise the question of whether or not humanity is even worth salvation.
To end, here are some quotes I thought were particularly good:
“What makes a Malazan soldier so dangerous? They’re allowed to think.”
- Duiker
“She wondered if the gift of revelation - of discovering the meaning underlying humanity - offered nothing more than a devastating sense of futility.”
- Felisin
“How does a mortal make answer to what his or her kind are capable of? Does each of us, soldier or no, reach a point when all that we’ve seen, survived, changes us inside? Irrevocably changes us. What do we become, then? Less human, or more human? Human enough, or too human?”
- Captain Lull
“When I Ascended (became a god), Lady, it was to escape the nightmares of feeling…” He grimaced. “Imagine my surprise that I now thank you for such chains.”
- Cotillion
“We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, and and ever again…”
- Fiddler
Some particular things I enjoyed/noted:
1. I like that one of the POV characters is an official historian. So much of what happens in the Chain of Dogs sequence depends deeply on how that story is told - true heroes, acts of bravery, class-based treachery, etc. There is one scene in particular (not really a spoiler so no worries) when Duiker the Historian is in the middle of a battle and approaches the Army's standard surrounded by 4 veterans, one mortally wounded. Duiker asks them how they want their story to be told - as he sees it, 1 of them gave their life in the noble protection of their flag and the other 3 continue to protect it. The soldiers are incredulous, pointing out that the standard is just a piece of clothe - their friend was mortally injured and they didn't want him to fall into the hands of the enemy, known to torture prisoners of war. The reality of that moment subverts so entirely the glorification of war we are fed (think the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima statue); I found it profound.
2. Felisin's recurring dreams associating the gaining of power with a river of blood. She desires it, she seeks revenge, but she knows that, like being in a river, she won't be able to control her direction and that it is a bloody cause.
3. Kalam's feeling of helplessness not as an inability to help himself but an inability to help others - the dread feeling of not having any significance or effect outside of the boundaries of yourself.
4. The friendship between Icarium and Mappo - this is one of the most heartbreaking tales within the book, which is slowly revealed over the course of the story so I won't get into it here. But the questions is raises - What happens when friendship and duty clash? What happens when you expand that question by monumental directions, where the time lasts millennia and the consequences could be utter annihilation?
As with Gardens of the Moon, this is epic on the most epic of scales, however, the real power in the story lies in the small moments, the relationships that are built, moments of empathy and compassion. Attempts at control, dominance, and power all lead to naught, and the constant quest for those things raise the question of whether or not humanity is even worth salvation.
To end, here are some quotes I thought were particularly good:
“What makes a Malazan soldier so dangerous? They’re allowed to think.”
- Duiker
“She wondered if the gift of revelation - of discovering the meaning underlying humanity - offered nothing more than a devastating sense of futility.”
- Felisin
“How does a mortal make answer to what his or her kind are capable of? Does each of us, soldier or no, reach a point when all that we’ve seen, survived, changes us inside? Irrevocably changes us. What do we become, then? Less human, or more human? Human enough, or too human?”
- Captain Lull
“When I Ascended (became a god), Lady, it was to escape the nightmares of feeling…” He grimaced. “Imagine my surprise that I now thank you for such chains.”
- Cotillion
“We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, and and ever again…”
- Fiddler
Anything less than five stars for a book with such immense scope would be a travesty.
That said, it's not a book for everyone. It's a difficult book to read, and even more difficult to understand in the greater scheme of things. And anyway, the first three books in this particular series are not as well written as the seven others. I have one more so-so book to go through.
Maybe it will get better after that. I hope so.
Reading such a book is a tiring experience. Your brain gets so tired that you're unable to think anything else. When you think about the events in the book and their timelines, your whole sense of time gets warped, and even if it's fiction, you can't help but think in those massive timeframes.
It can get painful. There is absolutely zero hand-holding in Malazan books and you're mostly thrown in the middle of things to figure them out on your own.
So, if you like your fiction easy, pain-free, and light, give Malazan a skip, but if you like to torture yourself a bit, dig in.
That said, it's not a book for everyone. It's a difficult book to read, and even more difficult to understand in the greater scheme of things. And anyway, the first three books in this particular series are not as well written as the seven others. I have one more so-so book to go through.
Maybe it will get better after that. I hope so.
Reading such a book is a tiring experience. Your brain gets so tired that you're unable to think anything else. When you think about the events in the book and their timelines, your whole sense of time gets warped, and even if it's fiction, you can't help but think in those massive timeframes.
It can get painful. There is absolutely zero hand-holding in Malazan books and you're mostly thrown in the middle of things to figure them out on your own.
So, if you like your fiction easy, pain-free, and light, give Malazan a skip, but if you like to torture yourself a bit, dig in.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated