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mattleestew's review against another edition
4.0
This is an outstanding adventure by Ian C. Esselmont in the world of Malazan Book of the Fallen. In my opinion, this is his best work that I've read so far. Trailing into the jungles of Jacuruku, you'll find The Crimson Guard, a girl named Saeng, Malazan soldiers, the Thaumaturgs, and a few others If you remember much about what happened in Jacuruku from the main series, you might also be surprised to see who shows up in an attempt to destroy the Thaumaturgs, who are on their own crusade into Himatan themselves.
For those Malazan fans out there, this will surely not disappoint!
For those Malazan fans out there, this will surely not disappoint!
deathofrats's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mhedgescsus's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. A surprisingly dull book after a series of great books in this series
Check out my new youtube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books seconds after I finish the book.
I went into this book with pretty sky-high expectations, after giving the last three books in this series all at least 4.5 stars. The first book in this series was very weak, but I thought that was just a new author who was still finding his writing style. So it saddens me that I have to give this book a 2.5 star rating, as I really thought this would again be a wonderful book.
Sadly, this book just drags and drags and doesn't feel fresh at all. The first part of the book is great, and is classic Malazan. You are introduced to a ton of new characters who feel compelling, and the continent that they are on feels very fleshed out an interesting. But unlike other Malazan books, the plot just dragged on and on and didn't really have a great payoff. It feels like 80% of this book is about people going from Point A to Point B in a miserable jungle. It just feels depressing and doesn't take the plot in interesting directions.
I wish the ending of the book figured out a way to save this, but it also fell flat. The book isn't horrible, as a lot of the events do end up being interesting, but with this backdrop it feels like a lot of wasted opportunity.
Here's hoping book #6 bounces back!
Check out my new youtube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books seconds after I finish the book.
I went into this book with pretty sky-high expectations, after giving the last three books in this series all at least 4.5 stars. The first book in this series was very weak, but I thought that was just a new author who was still finding his writing style. So it saddens me that I have to give this book a 2.5 star rating, as I really thought this would again be a wonderful book.
Sadly, this book just drags and drags and doesn't feel fresh at all. The first part of the book is great, and is classic Malazan. You are introduced to a ton of new characters who feel compelling, and the continent that they are on feels very fleshed out an interesting. But unlike other Malazan books, the plot just dragged on and on and didn't really have a great payoff. It feels like 80% of this book is about people going from Point A to Point B in a miserable jungle. It just feels depressing and doesn't take the plot in interesting directions.
I wish the ending of the book figured out a way to save this, but it also fell flat. The book isn't horrible, as a lot of the events do end up being interesting, but with this backdrop it feels like a lot of wasted opportunity.
Here's hoping book #6 bounces back!
joeri81's review against another edition
3.0
Blood and Bone is the penultimate novel in the Malazan Empire series by Ian C. Esslemont. This book brings us to Jacuruku, one of the few continents that has not been fully explored in any of the Malazan books. The setting in this book is very interesting; on the one hand we have the Kingdom of the Thaumaturgs with the desert of the Adwami tribes to the south, on the other hand a large part of Jacuruku is taken in by Himatan. This is an impenetrable jungle ruled by the ancient goddess Arcata with in the centre Jakal Viharn, a magical city.
We have some Malazan mercenaries that are stranded in this land, we have the Crimson Guard, gods and ascendants, a Thaumaturg army on it's way to conquer Himatan, the Adwami tribes are invading Thaumarurg land and there's a threat that could wipe out Jacuruku.
This book has a lot of potential, but in the end I thought it couldn't fully deliver. I feel it's still a decent addition to the Malazan world, it was a pleasant and easy read, but I also feel that more could have been done with it.
Characters:
Personally I thought this books didn't give us too many great characters. Of the returning characters especially the Crimson Guard added to the story. We have K'azz and Shimmer of the Avowed, but there's also the return of Skinner and his disavowed.
Besides these we especially encounter new characters; we have a band of Malazan mercenaries. From them I thought Murk and Sour were nice additions to the story. There's Golan, the leader of the Thaumaturg army to invade Himatan; his interactions with principal scribe Thorn added a humorous note to the story, but unfortunately nothing much else.
Of the tribes of the Adwami it was Jatal, a prince of the Hafinaj tribe, that took most of the screen time for his part. Through him we follow the story of the invasion of the tribes into Thaumaturg land. Him and Scarza, the lieutenant of the warleader were both intruiging characters.
Finally there's also Saeng and her brother Hanu among the main characters in the story, but personally I didn't consider them as the most interesting characters in the book.
Story:
I felt that the setting was very nicely done by Esslemont. We get a great view on Himatan; a dangerous jungle, dark and gloomy, humid, inpenetrable, ... inhabited by countless viscious creatures, strange beasts, some more humanoid looking than others. These creatures seem to have a soletaken or divers edge to them. I thought the descriptions were very nicely done, too good even as Esslemont sometimes spends more time describing the surroundings then writing a superb story. Eventough I liked the setting, I felt that Esslemont overdid it a bit at moments. It seems Esslemont didn't always find a good balance in the storylines in Himatan.
This balance was way better in the setting of the Adwami tribes; together with a foreign warleader and his mercenaries the tribes are invading Thaumaturg land. We get a view on the hierarchy between the tribes and the difficulties that come from this. But with the promise of huge richess to be found in Thaumaturg land, these difficulties are finally set aside. We even have the burgeoning of an impossible relationship between two main characters.
As the story progresses, and the army pentrates more into Thaumaturg land, we also learn more about the Thaumaturg mages and the way they see life. They shape it like they seem fit and Esslemont gives us some atrocious views on this. Superbly done!
This story line was evolving in one of my favourites of the book up to a certain point, but in the end it couldn't fully deliver. We get some sort of a resolution, but not a fully satisfactory one I feel.
What with the Shaduwan Agon priests? They have wiped out the Thaumaturgs and continue with killing of the mercenaries and Adwami warriors. The Adwami tribes and mercenaries are finally left to die by Jatal and Scarza. Together they set out for revenge on Kallor, but in the end when it really comes to it, they don't even bother. I had some difficulties in fully following this reasoning.
The storyline added a lot to the overall worldbuilding and certainly explained some things but it could have added even more to the story itself. I'm now left with the question: What was the point? Especially if the outcome of the Adwami war isn't picked up in any of the future Malazan books (it isn't even the first time I have this feeling with Malazan Empire).
Unfortunately there were more storylines that suffered in the same manner. The Thaumaturg army in Himatan added some humour, but it didn't contribute much else to the overall story. There were other scenes with Saeng and Hanu, the Avowed and Disavowed that didn't add much more than giving a broader view on Himatan; the danger that resides there, the gloomy atmosphere ... on the one hand nicely done, but as said earlier, a bit overdone.
I did like how the history of the Crippled God was tied into the story and how this also played a larger part in the book. Some nice scenes were added with Skinner and his disavowed going after multiple shards of the Crippled God. It also explained some earlier events in Malazan Empire.
I however wasn't blown away by the ending. There wasn't really a huge convergence as we're used to with MBotF, and the ending also felt flat in comparison to RotCG, SW and OST. There was some fighting and some magic but I was never blown away. There was one scene in particular that could and should have been handled better.
A final drawback is that the resolution of the big threat was resolved a bit too messy; I didn't really figure out how everything played out in the end. Too much remained unexplained for me and it seems I wasn't the only one with this feeling. A shame!
Conclusion:
What I'm trying to say is that the story had a lot of potential, but Esslemont made a mess out of it, or at least for a large part. The book had a lot of filler and Esslemont didn't provide proper endings for some storylines and some things just remained unexplained. But still, despite these drawbacks I enjoyed the book. The atmosphere was great (although overdone). The addition of the Crimson Guard was again superb. There were some great scenes, some great humour ... but it wasn't enough to make it one of the top Malazan books. It's probably one of my least favourite books in the series so far.
Rating: 7.5/10
We have some Malazan mercenaries that are stranded in this land, we have the Crimson Guard, gods and ascendants, a Thaumaturg army on it's way to conquer Himatan, the Adwami tribes are invading Thaumarurg land and there's a threat that could wipe out Jacuruku.
This book has a lot of potential, but in the end I thought it couldn't fully deliver. I feel it's still a decent addition to the Malazan world, it was a pleasant and easy read, but I also feel that more could have been done with it.
Characters:
Personally I thought this books didn't give us too many great characters. Of the returning characters especially the Crimson Guard added to the story. We have K'azz and Shimmer of the Avowed, but there's also the return of Skinner and his disavowed.
Besides these we especially encounter new characters; we have a band of Malazan mercenaries. From them I thought Murk and Sour were nice additions to the story. There's Golan, the leader of the Thaumaturg army to invade Himatan; his interactions with principal scribe Thorn added a humorous note to the story, but unfortunately nothing much else.
Of the tribes of the Adwami it was Jatal, a prince of the Hafinaj tribe, that took most of the screen time for his part. Through him we follow the story of the invasion of the tribes into Thaumaturg land. Him and Scarza, the lieutenant of the warleader were both intruiging characters.
Finally there's also Saeng and her brother Hanu among the main characters in the story, but personally I didn't consider them as the most interesting characters in the book.
Story:
I felt that the setting was very nicely done by Esslemont. We get a great view on Himatan; a dangerous jungle, dark and gloomy, humid, inpenetrable, ... inhabited by countless viscious creatures, strange beasts, some more humanoid looking than others. These creatures seem to have a soletaken or divers edge to them. I thought the descriptions were very nicely done, too good even as Esslemont sometimes spends more time describing the surroundings then writing a superb story. Eventough I liked the setting, I felt that Esslemont overdid it a bit at moments. It seems Esslemont didn't always find a good balance in the storylines in Himatan.
This balance was way better in the setting of the Adwami tribes; together with a foreign warleader and his mercenaries the tribes are invading Thaumaturg land. We get a view on the hierarchy between the tribes and the difficulties that come from this. But with the promise of huge richess to be found in Thaumaturg land, these difficulties are finally set aside. We even have the burgeoning of an impossible relationship between two main characters.
As the story progresses, and the army pentrates more into Thaumaturg land, we also learn more about the Thaumaturg mages and the way they see life. They shape it like they seem fit and Esslemont gives us some atrocious views on this. Superbly done!
This story line was evolving in one of my favourites of the book up to a certain point, but in the end it couldn't fully deliver. We get some sort of a resolution, but not a fully satisfactory one I feel.
Spoiler
What follows the succesfull invasion of both Thaumaturg cities left me disappointed.What with the Shaduwan Agon priests? They have wiped out the Thaumaturgs and continue with killing of the mercenaries and Adwami warriors. The Adwami tribes and mercenaries are finally left to die by Jatal and Scarza. Together they set out for revenge on Kallor, but in the end when it really comes to it, they don't even bother. I had some difficulties in fully following this reasoning.
The storyline added a lot to the overall worldbuilding and certainly explained some things but it could have added even more to the story itself. I'm now left with the question: What was the point? Especially if the outcome of the Adwami war isn't picked up in any of the future Malazan books (it isn't even the first time I have this feeling with Malazan Empire).
Unfortunately there were more storylines that suffered in the same manner. The Thaumaturg army in Himatan added some humour, but it didn't contribute much else to the overall story. There were other scenes with Saeng and Hanu, the Avowed and Disavowed that didn't add much more than giving a broader view on Himatan; the danger that resides there, the gloomy atmosphere ... on the one hand nicely done, but as said earlier, a bit overdone.
I did like how the history of the Crippled God was tied into the story and how this also played a larger part in the book. Some nice scenes were added with Skinner and his disavowed going after multiple shards of the Crippled God. It also explained some earlier events in Malazan Empire.
Spoiler
I'm refering to the sudden arrival of Skinner and his disavowed at the end of StonewielderI however wasn't blown away by the ending. There wasn't really a huge convergence as we're used to with MBotF, and the ending also felt flat in comparison to RotCG, SW and OST. There was some fighting and some magic but I was never blown away. There was one scene in particular that could and should have been handled better.
Spoiler
I really didn't like how Skinner got to his ending. I thought this was a bit anti-climatic. This is one of the big vilains in the story and I felt that more could have been done with him.A final drawback is that the resolution of the big threat was resolved a bit too messy; I didn't really figure out how everything played out in the end. Too much remained unexplained for me and it seems I wasn't the only one with this feeling. A shame!
Conclusion:
What I'm trying to say is that the story had a lot of potential, but Esslemont made a mess out of it, or at least for a large part. The book had a lot of filler and Esslemont didn't provide proper endings for some storylines and some things just remained unexplained. But still, despite these drawbacks I enjoyed the book. The atmosphere was great (although overdone). The addition of the Crimson Guard was again superb. There were some great scenes, some great humour ... but it wasn't enough to make it one of the top Malazan books. It's probably one of my least favourite books in the series so far.
Rating: 7.5/10
mikehex's review against another edition
4.0
Best Malazan book by Esslemont. It felt like very few new pieces were added unlike his previous 4, so I could just enjoy it with the internal mysteries of the plot and characters.
The setting was truly a character of its own and just about all of the storylines were well paced.
I'm tempted to jump right to Assail.
The setting was truly a character of its own and just about all of the storylines were well paced.
I'm tempted to jump right to Assail.
blaiser34's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75