Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Deadhouse Gates

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

10 reviews

froumts's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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nanitiq's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the Grimdark fantasy series you are looking for. It checks all the boxes you want in a grimdark book, with a fascinating world that does truly feel unique in the fantasy realm. Does anything happening make sense yet? No. Do I feel like I have a good grasp of the world after 2 books into the series? Yeah not really. But if you want something that you can go down a rabbit hole with and you want to commit lots of time and effort to a story, this is the series for you.

These books are complex. I very much recommend using the wiki's chapter by chapter synopsis as you are reading or this PowerPoint from https://twitter.com/SonAnomander

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-Rqhn-lK66YQKPwZQNbHmuCLBc0d7zwvRLUJFkM3s50/edit?usp=sharing

It may sound silly but I have missed a lot of things that I did not realize until I checked the powerpoint. I was following along as I finished a chapter.

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nice_frogboy's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this book is great, particularly the Chain of Dogs plotline, but i think Steven Erikson's mission statement "... [to] create a culture without gender bias so there would be no gender-based hierarchies of power... a world without sexism" is a bit risible in light of the Felisin plotline. you can't say that and then write a 15-year old girl to be on the receiving end of more sexual abuse than anything George R. R. Martin's written. that's just not how that works.

i have written a two line play to describe my feelings on this matter

[IN A WORLD WITHOUT GENDER-BASED HIERARCHIES OF POWER]
Felisin: i saved your life
Heboric: damn. you are a straight up motherfuckin dick pig

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tintendrache's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ich lasse meine alte Rezension stehen, aus Gründen der Ehrlichkeit. Der Reread der Reihe verändert meine Einschätzung ziemlich stark. Es ist meine absolute Lieblingsreihe, das beste, was ich je gelesen habe - merke ich aber erst im Reread und durch die intensive Beschäftigung mit dem Text. Dieser Band führt einige meiner liebsten Figuren ein; Duiker, Coltaine und Somo. Und ich könnte jetzt schon heulen, wenn ich an den nächsten Band denke. Einen Vorgeschmack des Schreckens bekommt man schon hier.
Generell empfinde ich diesen Band als deutlich düsterer und noch brutaler, gleichzeitig ist die Ausweitung des Magie-Systems auch faszinierend.
Die gewisse Adlige, Felisin, hat mich auch deutlich weniger genervt. Vielleicht, weil ich jetzt weiß, wo es hingehen soll mit ihr. Aber deswegen erübrigt sich der eine Stern Abzug. UND WIE KONNTE ICH IHRE TEILE ÜBERLESEN????? SIE SIND SO WICHTIG????
Okay, alles in den Büchern ist wichtig xD

Also, ich weiß einfach nicht, was ich mit dieser Buchreihe anfangen soll. Gefühlt habe ich immer noch keine Ahnung, worum es eigentlich geht, das Magie- und Göttersystem ist NOCH verwirrender geworden - aber irgendetwas an dieser Geschichte fesselt mich wahnsinnig. So sehr, dass ich immer weiter und weiter und weiter lesen möchte, dass es mir nichts ausmacht, verwirrt zu werden.
Der Schreibstil ist meiner Meinung nach nahezu einzigartig. Die Charaktere sind vielfältig und verrückt und genial.
Den Stern-Abzug gibt es allerdings für eine gewisse junge Adelige, die mir wahnsinnig auf die Nerven gegangen ist ab der zweiten Hälfte des Buches. Und tut mir leid, aber die Ausrede, dass sie viele schlimme Dinge erlebt hat, lasse ich nicht gelten. Sie ist anstrengend, unlogisch, unnötig gemein, überheblich und bis jetzt vollkommen überflüssig. Das hat mir den Spaß an dem Buch keinesfalls genommen - auch ihre Szenen habe ich mit einem gewissen Gefühl von abstoßender Faszination gelesen. Unterm Strich habe ich ihre Stellen jedoch nur noch überflogen und das bedeutet eben ein Stern weniger.
Wer den ersten Band mochte, wird auch vom zweiten nicht enttäuscht sein!

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bcrowes11's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.5

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badmc's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-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

4.5

Hook, line...

This book was hard to wade through because, as one reviewer aptly put it, it's about "sad people in a desert". It's also about war in a desert, sexual violence in the mines, and betrayal in the places that are in-between. We follow a wide range of characters, whose destinies get tangled up together with the upheaval of Seven cities, who rise with the Whirlwind to oppose the Malazan Empire and slaughter its citizens that occupy them.

I am sad we didn't get to see more of the Seven cities, because I really loved Darujhistan in the first book, but alas, we were stuck in Raraku desert, magical warrens, ruins, and Azath house for the most of the book. Oh, and the mines, of course. The POV of young girl (a child, really) that gets raped repeatedly, gets addicted as a way to power through it, develops Stockholm syndrome, and then becomes poisonous to the people that want to help her was torturous for me: the real (or imagined) betrayal she meets at every turn really killed my motivation and is the reason it took me almost 20 days to finish the book. I mean, we have enough of the slut shaming, disbelief, and guilting women and girls in the real life, I really struggle with it in book format, especially when I see some of the reactions to the depiction that just underline the misogyny that was shown here (I applaud Erikson for showing this form of depression and PTSD, as rage and hatred). On the other hand, we follow sturdy historian who chronicles the accomplishments of a barbarian war chief (I cried over this!), two friends with complicated past that broke my heart, a soldier you can depend on, and an assassin that seeks answers and gets more than he bargained for. We also get to see a plethora of characters, gods, creatures, and hints of the fate of civilizations and races past.

It is a sprawling saga that will have to be read more than once for the nuance and backstory to really sink in. There are some plot holes, the plot meanders everywhere, some characters don't have the chance to grow or to get fleshed out enough for you to care for them (I want more Apsalar, and Crokus was somehow diminished), and it would help to get a better sense for the slaughter we witness (a mass of bodies, blood, and guts stop being shocking, make me care!), but this book made me feel all the feels, and for that, I love it.

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