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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-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
Definitely a highlight of the series so far. Particularly interesting in the way it connects to past books despite being so different. Malazan at its best.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
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
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
This gets a 4.5 stars from me - The previous 4 books all got 5 stars. I had two main issues with this book:
1. It took me FOREVER to get through the first 150 pages...at least 3 weeks - because I just couldn't get into the story. I don't like the Tiste Edur and I didn't find Trull that interesting in the previous book, and it was just a real effort for me to get the pages turning. That being said - around page 150 I found the story really took off and I couldn't put the book down.
2. This book is so PREACHY - The previous books all had a bit of "preachiness" and soap-box moralizing in them, but not so much that it bugged me or seemed out of place. However, with this book, I feel like I was beat over the head with it at every turn. To me it began to border on the absurd, it felt like every other page was Erikson's views on war, capitalism, communism, socialism, greed, poverty etc. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with his opinions - I'm only saying that it felt very heavy handed in this book (way more than any of the others up to this point). This was the first book of the series where I found myself skipping paragraphs because they were entirely internal monologues of repetitive philosophizing.
Other minor issues:
* Udinaas and Feather Witch were so boring. I really disliked that POV.
* I also really hate
There was tons in this book that I love though:
* Tehol and Bugg - love, love, love - almost as funny as Iskaral Pust
* I enjoyed seeing the Ceda doing science. It's one of my pet peeves in fantasy that all scientific progress seems to cease because of magic
* I though Iron Bars and crew were amazing. I hope to see more of them in future books.
* I'm obsessed with the Tiste backstory (for all 3 races). I really enjoyed getting a bit more about all of that.
A really good, fun read, but probably my least favorite of them all so far.
1. It took me FOREVER to get through the first 150 pages...at least 3 weeks - because I just couldn't get into the story. I don't like the Tiste Edur and I didn't find Trull that interesting in the previous book, and it was just a real effort for me to get the pages turning. That being said - around page 150 I found the story really took off and I couldn't put the book down.
2. This book is so PREACHY - The previous books all had a bit of "preachiness" and soap-box moralizing in them, but not so much that it bugged me or seemed out of place. However, with this book, I feel like I was beat over the head with it at every turn. To me it began to border on the absurd, it felt like every other page was Erikson's views on war, capitalism, communism, socialism, greed, poverty etc. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with his opinions - I'm only saying that it felt very heavy handed in this book (way more than any of the others up to this point). This was the first book of the series where I found myself skipping paragraphs because they were entirely internal monologues of repetitive philosophizing.
Other minor issues:
* Udinaas and Feather Witch were so boring. I really disliked that POV.
* I also really hate
Spoiler
the plot device of having the Errant "nudge" a character to drink poison, simply because he thought it was poignant. It just made no senseThere was tons in this book that I love though:
* Tehol and Bugg - love, love, love - almost as funny as Iskaral Pust
* I enjoyed seeing the Ceda doing science. It's one of my pet peeves in fantasy that all scientific progress seems to cease because of magic
* I though Iron Bars and crew were amazing. I hope to see more of them in future books.
* I'm obsessed with the Tiste backstory (for all 3 races). I really enjoyed getting a bit more about all of that.
A really good, fun read, but probably my least favorite of them all so far.
Once again amazing. When I began I thought I wasn't going to like MT as much as previous Malazan books but by the end I was once again just along for the ride.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
slow-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:
Complicated