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lvl52_grant's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
This book is dense, but rad. The setting is so interesting, and Erikson's dedication to making the world feel alive and we are only witnessing one slice of it is what makes it difficult but intriguing. The reader gets thrown into a conflict with implications going back over thousands of years of history and you just need to work through it until it makes sense. I'm very excited to see what happens next with the Bridgeburners and the Malazan Empire.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Genocide, Colonisation, Alcoholism, and Body horror
chungledown_bim's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-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? N/A
4.0
Well. You're not coddled by Erikson, that's for sure. The agendas, factions, nations, species, history, pantheon(s?), rules of magic- the lore is dense. I feel the characters suffer a bit for it but they're cool, if a bit monodimensional. Still, there's dragons, explosions, lil bit of smooching, wizard battles... Shit's freaking awesome. I've heard that subsequent Malazan books get a bit sexual-violence-y so here's where I get off, having bloody enjoyed a ripsnorter of a ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Slavery
froumts's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i liked this one a lot
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gore
voelve's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
This book does not hold your hand, and you are along for a ride with rapidly changing POVs where you only have context clues to rely on to understand the structure of the world - which I love; nothing is more jarring than lore dumps from characters who live in and presumably know the world and would have no need to explain it. It's a really cool read, with fascinating worldbuilding, and I am so excited for the other nine books in the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism
oldladysadie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I really wanted to like this book - there were multiple characters I found so interesting throughout, and I wish we could’ve learned more about them than we did.
The writing style of this book was incredibly difficult for me to sink my teeth into. The story is constructed in such a way that it isn’t always obvious who is doing what in the plot, or why - indeed, there were multiple moments of characters even pondering “she didn’t know why this was happening” or “he didn’t know why he felt compelled to do this”. And honestly? Same.
My husband loved this book and how it was told - said he liked not knowing everything and “just letting the story wash over him”. I had a miserable time, and this book is just 100% Not For Me. And that’s fine.
The writing style of this book was incredibly difficult for me to sink my teeth into. The story is constructed in such a way that it isn’t always obvious who is doing what in the plot, or why - indeed, there were multiple moments of characters even pondering “she didn’t know why this was happening” or “he didn’t know why he felt compelled to do this”. And honestly? Same.
My husband loved this book and how it was told - said he liked not knowing everything and “just letting the story wash over him”. I had a miserable time, and this book is just 100% Not For Me. And that’s fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Colonisation
isegal1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Gore
josiah17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
While being certainly confusing, as it's intended to be by Erikson's writing style, I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I was really nervous going in because I desperately want to enjoy this series, and I'm glad to say that I couldn't be more excited going forward.
Erikson's prose is absolutely magnificent. It might be the best I've read so far. He writes incredibly dialogue, makes mundane scenes interesting with the way his language flows, and creates an incredibly atmosphere through the descriptors and words he's used and created for this world.
The action sequences are cinematic. I don't typically like a soft magic system, but I absolutely loved whatever the magic is in this series. It creates some jaw dropping moments.
Characters and worldbuilding were also great. I would die for Kruppe. It was an absolute joy to read every scene he was in.
I'm very pleased with the beginning to this series.
Erikson's prose is absolutely magnificent. It might be the best I've read so far. He writes incredibly dialogue, makes mundane scenes interesting with the way his language flows, and creates an incredibly atmosphere through the descriptors and words he's used and created for this world.
The action sequences are cinematic. I don't typically like a soft magic system, but I absolutely loved whatever the magic is in this series. It creates some jaw dropping moments.
Characters and worldbuilding were also great. I would die for Kruppe. It was an absolute joy to read every scene he was in.
I'm very pleased with the beginning to this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
farleighelse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.25
would read again. Magic. Magic realms. Magical creatures. War and genocide. young and eld gods. possession. Picks up towards the middle end of the book. Looking forwards to seeing more of Paran and Sorry. Assassination and sabatoge. older audian
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Death, Cursing, and Grief
.jerkysnax's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
annapox's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Medical content, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Rape, Colonisation, and Genocide