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jgshinton's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
asriram's review against another edition
4.0
Another fantastic Malazan novel - the pacing is kinda weird at times, but I found it overall quite enjoyable. The ending was amazing, though it was a tad bit confusing on a first read, which is ultimately the reason for the 1 missing star. Overall, fantastic novel, 4/5, looking forward to starting Dust of Dreams.
arrak1s's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.75
jimber101's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? N/A
4.75
julianiseternal2024's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure how I'm supposed to comprehend that ending
But I am happy
But I am happy
diarmuid's review against another edition
4.0
The worst (main) Malazan book yet is still a good read. Erikson's prose, world, and characters are a delight as usual, but the book is simply too long for what little happens. Previous Malazan entries have also been long, and for the most part slow, but this is really just a crawl. Pretty much nothing happens for the first 75% of the book, or ~950 pages! This problem seems to have started with Reapers Gale, but at least there it picked up the pace halfway through, and the first half wasn't so slow as this.
I loved the return to Genabackis, the opening was nice and well written, really got me invested, and the level of writing was very high even throughout the boring bits. Some scenes were just immaculately done, such as the "spiders" when Snell attacks Harlo.
Many of the storylines are decent on their own, there were just too many of them squeezed in (so it was a long time before we returned to any particular one) and a lot of them didn't have much impact in the end. Harlo, K'ruls Bar, Cutter & Chalice, Rallick, Torvald, everything Baruk, to name a few. Now, all of the above I would be happy to read, as of course we need some less important characters to flesh out the world and add texture to the story, but the ratio was just too heavily on people who didn't do anything. For example, Traveller and Karsa were interesting the whole way through as you _knew_ they would be doing something cool later.
The end is really what redeems the story, last 300 pages or so are easy 5 star. No more needs to be said really, it was just a lot of cool stuff and emotional beats. However, I feel like it didn't seem to come together cohesively as well as previous books, possibly because of the majority of the book being slow. It feels like the ending stood alone from the rest of the book, apart from some scene setting - could easily have cut the book down to 600 pages of plot. Maybe it's just that the magic of suspension of disbelief didn't kick in as hard as the book didn't have as much momentum going into the finale. Some things just felt contrived (and I know, Shafowthrone and Cotillion were pulling strings, but still). Why do Hood and Rake agree to have their meeting in Darujistan, a city full of powerful individuals and more coming? Could they not have done it in Black Coral, or a random field? Why did Dassem kill Rake, and what did Karsa mean that he cheated? Surely if he really wants Hood he would want to be slain by Dragnipur? Killing Rake literally gets him nothing, as evidenced by him just leaving afterwards. And why doesn't Rake tell him what's going on? Does he know he won't listen?
I felt the book suffered from a lot of tell, don't show. People kept saying "Darujistan is in danger" when the city looked totally fine. There really was no danger bubbling up, it was just that a few powerful guys showed up to duke it out. In fact, it was just the Hounds that did any damage of note (plus maybe a few streets taken out by Spite and Envy)! Still don't know why Shafowthrone let them loose. For all the time we spent in our tale of two cities, the dangers really felt external which feels like a missed opportunity for something to well up naturally. Like Humble Measure and his mines went nowhere, and Baruks plotline just died. That Tlan Imass being eaten by the Azath was very funny but unsatisfying. Baruk in particular was really annoying, as Darujistan being in danger was dropped, along with the T'orrud being immortal, by the Second when talking to Cutter all the way back in Bonehunters. Very cool! Something is happening in Darujistan and he must rush back to save it! Well, turns out nothing is happening atm, but in a while the city will be attacked and have one bad night. The epilogue seems to be hinting at this plotline being taken up in the later books, which feels a bit silly as I don't want another book about Darujistan being in danger! This is the second already. I know I'm focusing on Darujistan here, that is because of course Black Coral was the worse story. Once the people travelling ended up in Darujistan Erikson even stopped giving it whole chapters to itself. While I love a good Tiste Andii story, this place just seemed boring. I didn't much care for the city. And it seemed that Silanah and/or Rake could have sorted things out at any point but chose not to. Silanah doesn't even do anything all book! Itkovian returning was nice though, and this is the least I've disliked Nimanders crew. In fact, I actually liked them after Bastion. Maybe they just needed Clip so that they seemed less annoying in comparison.
While I'm focusing on the negatives here, I did ultimately enjoy the book, it's just that the positives are positives for every Malazan book, so don't bear mentioning. I just worry for the remaining books, as the first 6 despite being long and dense were definitely packed full of content. This and RG both suffered from an explosion in POVs and slow pacing (related?). This one didn't even have any military action! While RG managed to pull back together once the Bonehunters arrive, this one relies solely on its ending, and so doesn't quite reach the echelons of previous ones.
Now, finally time to read another book! No Malazan for a few months while I get my numbers up elsewhere.
Edit: Further: why did Rake fight Dassem instead of just killing himself? Where did the hounds of light come from, why are there 10, and who is the master (will probably be explained)? How convenient that the moon, after Bonehunters, decides to explode that day.
I loved the return to Genabackis, the opening was nice and well written, really got me invested, and the level of writing was very high even throughout the boring bits. Some scenes were just immaculately done, such as the "spiders" when Snell attacks Harlo.
Many of the storylines are decent on their own, there were just too many of them squeezed in (so it was a long time before we returned to any particular one) and a lot of them didn't have much impact in the end. Harlo, K'ruls Bar, Cutter & Chalice, Rallick, Torvald, everything Baruk, to name a few. Now, all of the above I would be happy to read, as of course we need some less important characters to flesh out the world and add texture to the story, but the ratio was just too heavily on people who didn't do anything. For example, Traveller and Karsa were interesting the whole way through as you _knew_ they would be doing something cool later.
The end is really what redeems the story, last 300 pages or so are easy 5 star. No more needs to be said really, it was just a lot of cool stuff and emotional beats. However, I feel like it didn't seem to come together cohesively as well as previous books, possibly because of the majority of the book being slow. It feels like the ending stood alone from the rest of the book, apart from some scene setting - could easily have cut the book down to 600 pages of plot. Maybe it's just that the magic of suspension of disbelief didn't kick in as hard as the book didn't have as much momentum going into the finale. Some things just felt contrived (and I know, Shafowthrone and Cotillion were pulling strings, but still). Why do Hood and Rake agree to have their meeting in Darujistan, a city full of powerful individuals and more coming? Could they not have done it in Black Coral, or a random field? Why did Dassem kill Rake, and what did Karsa mean that he cheated? Surely if he really wants Hood he would want to be slain by Dragnipur? Killing Rake literally gets him nothing, as evidenced by him just leaving afterwards. And why doesn't Rake tell him what's going on? Does he know he won't listen?
I felt the book suffered from a lot of tell, don't show. People kept saying "Darujistan is in danger" when the city looked totally fine. There really was no danger bubbling up, it was just that a few powerful guys showed up to duke it out. In fact, it was just the Hounds that did any damage of note (plus maybe a few streets taken out by Spite and Envy)! Still don't know why Shafowthrone let them loose. For all the time we spent in our tale of two cities, the dangers really felt external which feels like a missed opportunity for something to well up naturally. Like Humble Measure and his mines went nowhere, and Baruks plotline just died. That Tlan Imass being eaten by the Azath was very funny but unsatisfying. Baruk in particular was really annoying, as Darujistan being in danger was dropped, along with the T'orrud being immortal, by the Second when talking to Cutter all the way back in Bonehunters. Very cool! Something is happening in Darujistan and he must rush back to save it! Well, turns out nothing is happening atm, but in a while the city will be attacked and have one bad night. The epilogue seems to be hinting at this plotline being taken up in the later books, which feels a bit silly as I don't want another book about Darujistan being in danger! This is the second already. I know I'm focusing on Darujistan here, that is because of course Black Coral was the worse story. Once the people travelling ended up in Darujistan Erikson even stopped giving it whole chapters to itself. While I love a good Tiste Andii story, this place just seemed boring. I didn't much care for the city. And it seemed that Silanah and/or Rake could have sorted things out at any point but chose not to. Silanah doesn't even do anything all book! Itkovian returning was nice though, and this is the least I've disliked Nimanders crew. In fact, I actually liked them after Bastion. Maybe they just needed Clip so that they seemed less annoying in comparison.
While I'm focusing on the negatives here, I did ultimately enjoy the book, it's just that the positives are positives for every Malazan book, so don't bear mentioning. I just worry for the remaining books, as the first 6 despite being long and dense were definitely packed full of content. This and RG both suffered from an explosion in POVs and slow pacing (related?). This one didn't even have any military action! While RG managed to pull back together once the Bonehunters arrive, this one relies solely on its ending, and so doesn't quite reach the echelons of previous ones.
Now, finally time to read another book! No Malazan for a few months while I get my numbers up elsewhere.
Edit: Further: why did Rake fight Dassem instead of just killing himself? Where did the hounds of light come from, why are there 10, and who is the master (will probably be explained)? How convenient that the moon, after Bonehunters, decides to explode that day.
kaytee's review against another edition
Trigger warning - sexual assault.
I'm just so tired of fantasy writers sexually assaulting women. If you're creative enough to write a world without racism, you can dispense with the misogyny too. It's brutally uncreative.
I'm just so tired of fantasy writers sexually assaulting women. If you're creative enough to write a world without racism, you can dispense with the misogyny too. It's brutally uncreative.
chasejwise's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
4.0
wantonjohnson's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5