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A review by peter_xxx
Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Update after letting this book sink in a bit.
I think I gave this book a review that was a bit to harsh. While this criticism is valid I think I must have been annoyed by the humor (or have been in a bad mood while reading) because the humorous characters seem to have made a lasting impact on me. I'm really looking forward to meet them again. 4,5 stars.
Original review.
Book 5 in the Malazan book of the Fallen series and Erikson introduces a whole new set of characters again. This book feels most like a traditional fantasy book of the end of the 80, early 90's. There are quite some tropes and story structures that were common in fantasy back then. (back when I got into reading Fantasy :-) ) Erikson tries to play with these tropes and turn them around, plays with them and in some cases even turns them on their head. I think this leads to a bit of an uneven book tone wise. Malazan books are famed for combining the deeply tragic with quite some humor. I felt that in this book the balance between these two was sometimes lost inside a chapter. There are chapters that are very dark and philosophical that could use some humor to be bit more palatable, while other chapters have quite an overload on humor that even feels a bit like Terry Pratchett.
But all in all still a very good instalment in this series.
I think I gave this book a review that was a bit to harsh. While this criticism is valid I think I must have been annoyed by the humor (or have been in a bad mood while reading) because the humorous characters seem to have made a lasting impact on me. I'm really looking forward to meet them again. 4,5 stars.
Original review.
Book 5 in the Malazan book of the Fallen series and Erikson introduces a whole new set of characters again. This book feels most like a traditional fantasy book of the end of the 80, early 90's. There are quite some tropes and story structures that were common in fantasy back then. (back when I got into reading Fantasy :-) ) Erikson tries to play with these tropes and turn them around, plays with them and in some cases even turns them on their head. I think this leads to a bit of an uneven book tone wise. Malazan books are famed for combining the deeply tragic with quite some humor. I felt that in this book the balance between these two was sometimes lost inside a chapter. There are chapters that are very dark and philosophical that could use some humor to be bit more palatable, while other chapters have quite an overload on humor that even feels a bit like Terry Pratchett.
But all in all still a very good instalment in this series.