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ktymick 's review for:
Deadhouse Gates
by Steven Erikson
Perhaps it was more appropriate to title this book "Chain of Dogs," as that plot-line of the book served as an immense emotional center to the book--it's up there as one of the all time great war epochs. Erikson is such a valuable asset to the fantasy genre. While the accessibility of the Malazan series is frustratingly difficult for readers to grasp everything, in both books now, once you get going you get whisked away into a world alive with culture and history. Fittingly, the Chain of Dogs subplot of Deadhouse Gates follows the perspective of an historian, Duiker, as a continent-wide revolt pushes the army he is assigned to across leagues of rebel-controlled lands. The only safe city lies on the other side of the continent, and Duiker must witness and record the army's impossible task to transport refugees while beleaguered by rebel armies that weaken the ragged group of soldiers battle after battle.
Other more pointed narratives center around a plot to assassinate an empress and a prison-break and its following journey to escape, all the while the reader knows that the events from the first book are still mobilizing the greater story in the background. The depth and management of all these different plot-lines are certainly impressive, but Erikson's ability to lend each its own emotional gravity is a feat not many fantasy writers are capable of.
Other more pointed narratives center around a plot to assassinate an empress and a prison-break and its following journey to escape, all the while the reader knows that the events from the first book are still mobilizing the greater story in the background. The depth and management of all these different plot-lines are certainly impressive, but Erikson's ability to lend each its own emotional gravity is a feat not many fantasy writers are capable of.