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A review by syinhui
Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
While I consider this book another magnificent entry to the Malazan Book of the Fallen, I must be honest – it's been a frustrating read. Not the same kind of frustration as the earlier books, because we are still relatively new and confused and overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of this world. No, not that kind of frustrating. This is the seventh book, and I think we're all past that. It's more akin to what's often referred to as "Middle Book Syndrome," as close as a Malazan book can get, where the author struggled to match the brilliance of their earlier works, resulting in a mediocre middle book that is either disappointing or plain boring. It's the same feeling but no, don't get me wrong, Reaper's Gale is fantastic. It's why it's maintained the 4.5 star for me but that rating won't stop me from nitpicking.
The frustration stems from the fact that this book unfolds at an incredibly (painfully) slow pace, yet it offers the least satisfying ending and character conclusions thus far. Although I've grown accustomed to Erikson's merciless treatment of his characters, I still hoped for something better. I was left wanting for more. Trull, Toc and even Rhulad deserved better. There was a lot of build-up for Redmask and the Awl storyline however, the conclusion proved to be rather pointless. I didn't think it was even necessary. The huge chunks of POVs from the new Letherii characters - who also happen to be utterly repugnant and corrupt - failed to capture my interest. I didn't care a whit about them and I couldn't wait for the lot of them to drop dead at some point so the narrative can shift to more engaging plotlines. Moreover, I was also slightly unimpressed with Tehol's resolution but good thing for Lether I guess. For some reason, I was never convinced of his diabolical genius, since practically every scene with him, as in Midnight Tides, he comes across as nothing more than a lazy bum. There were more ridiculous bickerings about the hens than an actual not-so-vague explanation as to how this financial genius orchestrated an empire-wide economic collapse, with only Bugg doing most of the work. While the interactions between them had moments of humor, often times the jokes felt nonsensical for me to really enjoy and get a laugh out of.
These are all minor complaints on my part that in no way undermine all the greatness packed within this book. It may be a bit anticlimactic and slightly disappointing especially when compared to the 6/5 star rating banger that is The Bonehunters, but it remains absolutely terrific. It's so hard to talk about characters without revealing spoilers. So I'm just gonna go over my favorite ones: Fiddler's squad, the marines and the mage, Beak, who in my opinion, might be the most endearing character ever in Malazan. It was a delight to get to know him and his story was very hard hitting. He was such a pure and precious soul the world didn't deserve.
At this point, I assumed I had become somewhat numb or at least partially desensitized to all the violence and cruelty in this world. However, certain scenes proved to be simply too heart-wrenching. It felt as if I'd been physically jolted to my core and once again, I was reminded just how brutal, how depressing and unforgiving MBotF truly is. I've seen people alternatively call this "Weeper's Gale" and with the amount of tears shed by Trull Sengar here, I think that's quite apt.
3 more books to go, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be doing a lot of weeping myself by the time I reach the series' conclusion.
The frustration stems from the fact that this book unfolds at an incredibly (painfully) slow pace, yet it offers the least satisfying ending and character conclusions thus far. Although I've grown accustomed to Erikson's merciless treatment of his characters, I still hoped for something better. I was left wanting for more. Trull, Toc and even Rhulad deserved better. There was a lot of build-up for Redmask and the Awl storyline however, the conclusion proved to be rather pointless. I didn't think it was even necessary. The huge chunks of POVs from the new Letherii characters - who also happen to be utterly repugnant and corrupt - failed to capture my interest. I didn't care a whit about them and I couldn't wait for the lot of them to drop dead at some point so the narrative can shift to more engaging plotlines. Moreover, I was also slightly unimpressed with Tehol's resolution but good thing for Lether I guess. For some reason, I was never convinced of his diabolical genius, since practically every scene with him, as in Midnight Tides, he comes across as nothing more than a lazy bum. There were more ridiculous bickerings about the hens than an actual not-so-vague explanation as to how this financial genius orchestrated an empire-wide economic collapse, with only Bugg doing most of the work. While the interactions between them had moments of humor, often times the jokes felt nonsensical for me to really enjoy and get a laugh out of.
These are all minor complaints on my part that in no way undermine all the greatness packed within this book. It may be a bit anticlimactic and slightly disappointing especially when compared to the 6/5 star rating banger that is The Bonehunters, but it remains absolutely terrific. It's so hard to talk about characters without revealing spoilers. So I'm just gonna go over my favorite ones: Fiddler's squad, the marines and the mage, Beak, who in my opinion, might be the most endearing character ever in Malazan. It was a delight to get to know him and his story was very hard hitting. He was such a pure and precious soul the world didn't deserve.
At this point, I assumed I had become somewhat numb or at least partially desensitized to all the violence and cruelty in this world. However, certain scenes proved to be simply too heart-wrenching. It felt as if I'd been physically jolted to my core and once again, I was reminded just how brutal, how depressing and unforgiving MBotF truly is. I've seen people alternatively call this "Weeper's Gale" and with the amount of tears shed by Trull Sengar here, I think that's quite apt.
3 more books to go, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be doing a lot of weeping myself by the time I reach the series' conclusion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Animal death, Violence, War, Genocide, Rape, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual violence, Grief, and Confinement
Minor: Incest, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia