A review by zeph1337
Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So, at this point all of these are pretty much bangers and it is getting a little hard to rank them internally. But I am gonna do my best here.

Reaper’s Gale is the continuation of all the storylines started in Midnight Tides which then intermingle with some of the events from The Bonehunters. There is also one completely new storyline being introduced here. 

The one thing that drags this book down somewhat is that new storyline. It wasn’t that I disliked this part, in fact I enjoyed seeing both parts of this new conflict between the big empire and some tribal people and I think it probably has a big influence in the overall scope of the story (especially the intermingling with parts of the story from Memories of Ice) but I just felt like I was way less invested in it compared to the rest of the book. Still good but kind of just the weakest part of the book for me. Also how the whole storyline got resolved within this book felt very anticlimactic to me and also just poses more questions than answers. So it ended up being a little frustrating. 

Lack of investment is not something I can fault the rest of the book for. In fact at this point it seems crazy to me that I complained about a lack of emotional investment in one of my previous reviews. I teared up multiple times during my reading of this. Man, these characters really go through some stuff and I’m just gonna say that tragedy really strikes hard here and you can’t just help but feel for them. It is often just magnificently epic and tear jerkingly sad at the same time. 

It is a credit to Erikson’s characterization that even completely new characters that are just seemingly not very important side characters can produce moments like these. His ability to do a lot with very little time seems unmatched.

On the topic of characters let’s briefly touch upon some beloved returning characters. Gotta mention Karsa Orlong even though he didn’t have that much to do, he just steals every scene he is in and the ending of that plot was incredible. Tehol and Bugg are still the funniest duo in this universe and I absolutely loved every bit of the continuation of their story. Trull and Onrack and their beautiful friendship are just a gem and the Malazan 14th army just has way too many colorful characters to choose from, and of course there is Udinaas and his unlikely set of traveling companions that always just feels like a powder keg just waiting to explode. So much tension!

I think as the continuation (and culmination) of Midnight Tides I have to rank Reaper’s Gale higher than that book and also there is no way that I am gonna rank it higher than The Bonehunters which just was a book that I loved the whole way through and that just doesn’t hold through for one part of Reaper’s Gale. I also think that I am still gonna hold House of Chains in higher regard as it was the book that finally made me fall in love with the series. With that being said Reaper’s Gale is, as of now, my third favorite Malazan novel. 

I will probably pick up Toll the Hounds pretty soon as I would love to finish the series before the end of the year.