Take a photo of a barcode or cover
jai_sedai 's review for:
House of Chains
by Steven Erikson
5.00/5.00
Lead us, Warleader.
We all long ago made our choices, L’oric. Behind us, our paths stretch, long and worn deep. There is bitter pathos in the prospect of retracing them. Yet, for those of us who remain… awake, it seems we do nothing but just that. An endless retracing of paths, yet each step we take is forward, for the path has proved itself to be a circle. Yet— and here is the true pathos— the knowledge never slows our steps.
“Wide-eyed stupid”, the Malazans say.
House of Chains is the emotional-intellectual journey that I have been waiting for in Malazan. Thank you, Steven Ericksen for this incredible work of fantasy storytelling. The story of the Malazan Empire claws into its deeply human themes and connects to its inhuman characters while overwhelming me with its brilliantly layered plot. The power of comradery ascending into the main story proves that Malazan is deeply thematic. Karsa Orlong's journey is among the best of main protagonist plots in fantasy, rivalling the tales of Kaladin and Logan Ninefingers. The world of Malazan is unbelievably complex and internally consistent. We cannot forget Erickson's prose, whether we need emotions, visuals, action or humor, it is just brilliant. The fact that this man pumped out these books one every year is just stunning.
Karsa shrugged. ‘Two weighted chains about me, then. The warcries of your stomachs leave me deafened. So be it. We shall camp.’
The huge savage bared his teeth at Leoman. ‘I hear a lizard hissing from under its rock, Leoman of the Flails. Such bravado is quickly ended with the heel of a boot.’
In the first three books, I struggled to connect deeply with characters. I enjoyed the humor with Iskaral Pust and Kruppe but did feel the weight of leadership with Rake, or price of humanity with Whiskeyjack. I attribute this disconnection to the total lack of exposition with character decisions and emotions in the early books. House of Chains, on the other hand, holds my hand a little more in telling the emotions of the characters. This "telling" is used scarcely and it fit perfectly into this story. Or maybe the general chaos and confusion of the early books kept me from comprehending everything, I will not know until I re-read the first three books.
Bairoth made no move. ‘You do not see what I see,’ he said quietly. ‘There is the potential within you, Karsa Orlong, to be your father’s son. I lied earlier when I said I prayed that you would remain free of doubt. I pray for the very opposite, Warleader. I pray that doubt comes to you, that it tempers you with its wisdom. Those heroes in our legends, Karsa Orlong, they were terrible, they were monsters, for they were strangers to uncertainty.’
Erickson also delivers with characters from early books. Apsalar and Crokus are such a delight to read and follow in this book. Heboric, Lostara, Pearl, Fiddler, Sha'ik, L'orin, Onrack, Trull Sengar, and most importantly Gamet, Bairoth Gild and Delum Thord form a exquisite cast that most fantasy books can only dream about. Gamet's personal journey from wisdom to fear to bravery to loss of self to resolve made me cry. Gamet and Karsa join my top fantasy characters list.
If you're in love with Malazan after Deadhouse Gates, you will love it more and more. If you're not sure about Malazan at the end of Memories of Ice, keep reading. I fell in love in this book! House of Chains is the book where Malazan becomes Malazan for me.
From Lord to Lady's Luck.