Reviews

The ultimate case of a sequel that expands on the predecessor in almost every way but fails to capture what made it an exciting foray in the first place. Now, was that a bit of an exaggerated sentence to get people interested? Absolutely, but exaggerations are usually built on some manner of truth and that truth is what I hope to explain here.

I will lead with the positive, because, despite the low score, I did not hate this book. I don’t think I ever could hate something that was crafted with such intentionality, expertise, and well, love. The world of Malazan increased with this entry. We see more of Unta, more of Malaz, more of the gods and Warrens, more of the cultures and cities, and more of new and old characters. It is truly impressive that Erickson so wildly managed to switch gears and (largely) did it successfully. There a lot of great lines here that muse on the state of Malazan and humanity in general. “The lesson of history is that no-one learns.” He also describes scenes like no other, weaving together words with such preciseness that the tone of his world is so vividly clear to the careful reader (and the not so careful, me). The few “climactic” moments are also delivered well, punching their preceding sequences into the next. The ending felt good too, mostly, as it delivered on almost all promises. There was one disappointment, but that’s pretty spoiler-y, so won’t mention. The characters of Icarium and Mapo are also a highlight. Even when all else was meh for me, their sections always perked my interest and their friendship was wonderful to discover and read.

Now, unfortunately, for the negatives. The length of the book I felt was a bit much. Like, it doesn’t necessarily feel like pages are wasted, and I’ve never heard Erickson be accused of being too efficient a writer, but vast swaths of this book feel like such a slog in a manner Gardens never was. Now, that may draw from the subject matters of this story. In fact, that subject matter may explain most (if not all) the choices I criticize. And, again, I realize that they are choices rather than mistakes. Someone else can read these very same elements and come out loving them instead (I know this because, well, that’s what’s happened for years with this book). But the Chain of Dogs, Felisin’s miserable journey, Fiddler and crew’s elongated adventure, and the prolongated conclusion tired me at every read and made picking the book back up all the more difficult.

Another thing I noticed was the drop-off in POV count compared to Gardens. Yes, there are still quite a few of them but not nearly as many as before. This ends up being a good and bad thing. Good because you can latch onto the characters’ better. You’re going to get put through the ringer with Felisin, Duiker, Kalam, and many more, and the bonds you form with them can be all the better for it. I say CAN be because I am speaking mainly in theoretical terms – I did not feel that sense of attachment still from the characters, still feeling like I was experiencing them in the abstract terms from book 1, but because there was a lot more of a fewer number, it tended to become frustrating rather than interesting. And as Erickson was attempting more elaborate character arcs, I felt there were very few that ended up landing successfully for me (Duiker is really the only one that comes to mind). Also, on a minor point, though it very much feels like they’re cut from the same cloth, Pust is not Kruppe, and if you understand what I mean by that you can understand my feelings towards this book.

There is also a level of, I don’t know, freshness that oozed from each chapter of Gardens that is missing here. All the scheming, collaboration, betrayal doesn’t have to come back. I understand Erickson probably wanted to write a very different book. But there was a certain charm in the way that story was told that is absent here, in the same drudgery that we find all the characters in, the same few problems they seem to struggle with, the same types of issues that muse on. This also makes the endings feel less satisfying because it does not seem like a payoff for all these things we paid attention to coming together but rather different wisps ringing on the same thematic bell. This is not a necessarily negative way of doing it, but that is how it came off for me.

So, in the end, I guess I disagree with the common Malazan sentiment once more. I was told I would have to slog through the first book, and I found it a pleasing and satisfying adventure instead. I was told that I would enjoy the second book more, and I unfortunately didn’t. I was almost always interested, yes, but rarely intrigued and that’s the biggest shame of them all because that intrigue was that kept me going through the slow parts of Gardens. Here, however, I rarely knew what ends we were working towards or what I should look forward to, which ultimately made it a struggle to push through in the middle.

Oh, and now for the faves (spoilers):

Character: Icarium

PoV: Mapo

Chapter: 21

Moment: Shadowthrone and Cotillion’s reveal (you know the one) or the Ghost Ship

Mystery: What will happen with Icarium?

saitu282's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Feely as fuck. You have been warned. Totally worth it, though.

titannineteen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

The second book was definitely a smoother read than the first. A lot is happening in these books and there is a lot of hidden knowledge that is easy to miss. I've been reading a chapter review after each chapter to help me keep track of everything, otherwise I find I can get a bit lost at times. The story is challenging but enjoyable. I found myself a lot more invested in the characters and really curious about the world. I plan on reading the rest of the series!

seagul's review against another edition

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4.0

A good second book on the series, excited to read the 3rd and dive deeper into the world.

realhumanbean4u's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

moshikami's review against another edition

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5.0

After finishing Gardens of the Moon, I was looking forward to exploring the Malazan universe further, and Deadhouse Gates did not disappoint. From the beginning of the book, DG's writing is more polished and captivating than GotM's.
DG takes place on a different continent than GotM and introduces many new characters, while still following a few from GotM. Due to this, beginning to read DG was almost as intimidating as beginning to read GotM, though the knowledge of Malazan lore imparted by reading GotM did help somewhat.
I love how deep and detailed the Malazan universe is, and I love the overall bleak tone of the story.

“Children are dying."
Lull nodded. "That's a succinct summary of humankind, I'd say. Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words.”

This is one of the most popular quotes from the series and it does an excellent job of portraying the overall atmosphere of the novels thus far. Steven Erikson disperses social commentary and plays with moral ambiguity throughout his writing which adds to the book's depth. I enjoyed getting to know Fiddler as a character more in Deadhouse Gates, and I found his constant pondering of his cosmic insignificance to be refreshing and relatable. Kalam is also a BAD-ASS, his action scenes were very fun and exciting to read. He's my Malazan crush so far >////<.
Idk man, this series is just so exciting and there's so much to it and I love it a lot so far and aslkd;fjasl;dkfjasldf; it's fun to be on the precipice of such an amazing journey. I love the high fantasy elements because they encourage me to use my imagination to its maximum potential. I love how I haven't already seen a TV show of this that spoiled everything and clouded my mind with its portrayal of the characters and world.
Wow, I said "love" a lot in this review! I love Malazan <3, I can't wait to read Memories of Ice.

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