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A review by joeri81
Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
4.0
This is the fifth instalment of the MBotF series, and from what I understood from other readers, it should be one of the best ones in the series. This means I started with high expectations, and although it is a great book and an improvement over House of Chains, I still prefer DG and MoI over this one. I do have to say that the story starts off great with one of the best prologues so far in the series! What follows is also good, but it is especially the ending that delivers. The final chapter is really one of the highlights of the book; Erikson provides some great scenes in it and shines once more with his conclusion!
What is special about this book is that it starts out on a completely different continent/world with a load of new characters. There's actually only one character that returns from the previous books, this being Trull Sengar who made his appearance in "House of Chains". As from chapter one it tells in detail what happened to Trull Sengar, his family and kin before HoC.
The fact that the story starts from scratch seems to be raised as the greatest issue by readers, mostly because it takes some time to get accustomed to the new world and characters. I have to admit that the story felt a little bit different due to this, but after the amazing prologue I was immediately immersed in the story and I didn't have too much issues reading it. Erikson’s writing was again supurb, but if there really was something that I didn't like all that much, it were the parts where Erikson got a bit too philosophical.
The main conflict in this book is one between the Tiste Edur and the Letherii. The Letherii have the practice of conquering other races by introducing them to their way of life and the importance of wealth. The result is that many of these tribes are now indebted to the Letherii and work as slaves under their creditor. The Warlock King, current leader of the Tiste Edur and the one to have united the different Tiste Edur tribes, wants to prevent this to happen to his folk. The story is actually a struggle between a modern state based on greed, war, lack of compassion with the goal of progression and the conviction to always end up on top, with the less civilised tribes in the north who prefer a status quo.
It wouldn't be a true Malazan book if a lot of other story lines were gradually introduced. Gods come into play, demons are used in conflicts, we have the death of an Azath tower that generates its own consequences in Letheras ... and all this will play a mayor role in the Seventh Closure, the rise of a new empire.
Even though a lot happens, it's not an action packed story as DG and MoI were. After the great prologue the story slows down somewhat. Erikson adds some action packed chapters here and there, but I feel the story in this book is less about military action than it is about the characters. The book brings some great new characters to the fore. Tehol and Bugg are an amazing duo and they were by far my favourite characters in this book. Their conversations were often hilarious. I also had a lot of sympathy for Tehol's brother Brys. He is an important character in the events in the book (and he features in one of the best scenes in the book as well).
Later in the story we also get an introduction to some characters from the Crimson Guard. I am really intrigued by these characters, especially by Iron Bars, and I’m looking forward on reading more about them in the following books.
Trull Sengar was a character I didn't really care for in HoC, also because I didn't think his story arc was all that interesting then, but he really grew on me during MT. He was one of the better characters in this book as well.
I'm certain a lot of these characters will return in the following books and I expect some of them to be accorded a huge role in events to come.
Mayor themes in this book for me personally were the greed that dominates the Letherii society and their quest for expansion and growth. But it’s also a story about brotherhood. On the one hand we have the story of the Sengar family with brothers Fear, Trull, Binandas and Rhulad. On the other hand we also have the three Beddict brothers: Hull, Tehol and Brys with their tragic story. Both of these families are amazingly interwoven in the overall plot ... and it wouldn't be Erikson if this didn't deliver a tragic ending for some of them.
Conclusion:
So another good Malazan book, definitely an improvement over HoC, but not the best for me personally. It does something truly special with exploring a whole new world and story with new characters, and this with already four books into the series. It broadens up the scope of the world even more by doing this. I’m really loving the epicness of this series.
Rating: 8.5/10
What is special about this book is that it starts out on a completely different continent/world with a load of new characters. There's actually only one character that returns from the previous books, this being Trull Sengar who made his appearance in "House of Chains". As from chapter one it tells in detail what happened to Trull Sengar, his family and kin before HoC.
The fact that the story starts from scratch seems to be raised as the greatest issue by readers, mostly because it takes some time to get accustomed to the new world and characters. I have to admit that the story felt a little bit different due to this, but after the amazing prologue I was immediately immersed in the story and I didn't have too much issues reading it. Erikson’s writing was again supurb, but if there really was something that I didn't like all that much, it were the parts where Erikson got a bit too philosophical.
The main conflict in this book is one between the Tiste Edur and the Letherii. The Letherii have the practice of conquering other races by introducing them to their way of life and the importance of wealth. The result is that many of these tribes are now indebted to the Letherii and work as slaves under their creditor. The Warlock King, current leader of the Tiste Edur and the one to have united the different Tiste Edur tribes, wants to prevent this to happen to his folk. The story is actually a struggle between a modern state based on greed, war, lack of compassion with the goal of progression and the conviction to always end up on top, with the less civilised tribes in the north who prefer a status quo.
It wouldn't be a true Malazan book if a lot of other story lines were gradually introduced. Gods come into play, demons are used in conflicts, we have the death of an Azath tower that generates its own consequences in Letheras ... and all this will play a mayor role in the Seventh Closure, the rise of a new empire.
Even though a lot happens, it's not an action packed story as DG and MoI were. After the great prologue the story slows down somewhat. Erikson adds some action packed chapters here and there, but I feel the story in this book is less about military action than it is about the characters. The book brings some great new characters to the fore. Tehol and Bugg are an amazing duo and they were by far my favourite characters in this book. Their conversations were often hilarious. I also had a lot of sympathy for Tehol's brother Brys. He is an important character in the events in the book (and he features in one of the best scenes in the book as well).
Later in the story we also get an introduction to some characters from the Crimson Guard. I am really intrigued by these characters, especially by Iron Bars, and I’m looking forward on reading more about them in the following books.
Trull Sengar was a character I didn't really care for in HoC, also because I didn't think his story arc was all that interesting then, but he really grew on me during MT. He was one of the better characters in this book as well.
I'm certain a lot of these characters will return in the following books and I expect some of them to be accorded a huge role in events to come.
Mayor themes in this book for me personally were the greed that dominates the Letherii society and their quest for expansion and growth. But it’s also a story about brotherhood. On the one hand we have the story of the Sengar family with brothers Fear, Trull, Binandas and Rhulad. On the other hand we also have the three Beddict brothers: Hull, Tehol and Brys with their tragic story. Both of these families are amazingly interwoven in the overall plot ... and it wouldn't be Erikson if this didn't deliver a tragic ending for some of them.
Conclusion:
So another good Malazan book, definitely an improvement over HoC, but not the best for me personally. It does something truly special with exploring a whole new world and story with new characters, and this with already four books into the series. It broadens up the scope of the world even more by doing this. I’m really loving the epicness of this series.
Rating: 8.5/10