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A review by niakantorka
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
In this second volume the reader follows some of the Bridgeburners to Raraku while Whiskeyjack and the rest of his party stay in Grenabackis. In Raraku there are also Seven Cities which fell under the regime of the empire but the inhabitants are not happy under its rule. An uprising is brewing among the cities and their surrounding tribes. It doesn’t take long and it looks as if the Malazan occupation has reached its ending. Again we follow different povs and beings through their story and perils:
- Historian Duiker, Fist Coltraine, and a huge tross of Malazan refugees,
- Felesin, Goran Paran’s youngest sister, and ex-priest Heboric who end up together in a slave mine,
- Mappo, a Trell who looks after his friend, burden, and inventor Icarium, a Jaghut,
- Fiddler, Apsalar and Crokus who do their utmost to stay together and protect each other
- Kalam whose homeland is Raraku and who has different agendas from the rest of his respective parties.
The plot was similarly grandiose and the different threads and characters met and got separated and met again in different constellations. Tbh, I found the maps of the second volume not particularly well drawn and had trouble to follow the characters on their routes. That they all spent time in Warrens where space and time flows differently only added to my problem. Raraku mostly felt like some huge inhabitable desert zone to me and I had trouble to get why everyone was running or riding through it or was sailing towards it or along its cost. I mean, some people didn’t have a choice, but others?
In the end I was surprised how many of our characters survived this ordeal- those who died did so in gruelling ways. That’s why I am going to take a break from this series. I do want to read more because there has to be some intention behind it all and I am still very interested in the different races and gods who all seem to have their own agendas. But the world building is not for the faint of heart and I definitely need to read something uplifting in the meantime. Until later, Malazan.
- Historian Duiker, Fist Coltraine, and a huge tross of Malazan refugees,
- Felesin, Goran Paran’s youngest sister, and ex-priest Heboric who end up together in a slave mine,
- Mappo, a Trell who looks after his friend, burden, and inventor Icarium, a Jaghut,
- Fiddler, Apsalar and Crokus who do their utmost to stay together and protect each other
- Kalam whose homeland is Raraku and who has different agendas from the rest of his respective parties.
The plot was similarly grandiose and the different threads and characters met and got separated and met again in different constellations. Tbh, I found the maps of the second volume not particularly well drawn and had trouble to follow the characters on their routes. That they all spent time in Warrens where space and time flows differently only added to my problem. Raraku mostly felt like some huge inhabitable desert zone to me and I had trouble to get why everyone was running or riding through it or was sailing towards it or along its cost. I mean, some people didn’t have a choice, but others?
In the end I was surprised how many of our characters survived this ordeal- those who died did so in gruelling ways. That’s why I am going to take a break from this series. I do want to read more because there has to be some intention behind it all and I am still very interested in the different races and gods who all seem to have their own agendas. But the world building is not for the faint of heart and I definitely need to read something uplifting in the meantime. Until later, Malazan.