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A review by woahno
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
3.0
Book 2 of Malazan proved to be a much more enjoyable experience for me than book 1. You get all the good from GotM but you also get more time in this complex world that Erikson has created. I feel like I need all the time I can make for this world just to understand what exactly is going on. This is no light task, reading this novel. It is at times profound, always complex, thousands of years of history in each landscape, and a magic system that is very mysterious with little in the way of explanations.
I appreciated the added exposition in Deadhouse Gates compared to GotM. I also appreciate the better understanding of how some things work within the world like warrens or knowing what a soultaken was or how Claw assassins operate. There is nothing in the way of an info dump in Erikson's first two books, however. And when you do get some hints to how things work there is little repetition to really ingrain the meaning of what you just read.
This can be at times very frustrating. The only reason this book isn't a higher rating is because of how lost I felt during certain parts of the novel. At the end of the book even, I was left grasping at straws trying to figure out what had just happened and what it meant in the grand scheme of things. I did what I always do when this happens, I took to the internet. I spent a couples hours reading summaries of the book I had just read to see all the seemingly obvious things that I just missed. I read a list of characters on wikis and their backgrounds and what they do in this book to help my understanding. I see the TOR reread and think it has to have most of if not all the answers I am searching for but it looks like I'm better off reading that after having read all 10 books at least.
To continue on about the negatives, I also find it a bit strange that we travel to a new continent to follow mostly new characters while the people we were with from GotM are in their own apocalypse type situation. Or so it would seem from the little we hear from or about those characters. I have to trust the hype around the series here to know this is for the best. I also trust that I will gain more understanding of what is happening as I continue to read the series. There is so much to like in these books but my lasting impression is that they simply left me confused.
On to some positives, Kalam is the man. He is easy to cheer for and brings his own complexities to the table. Warrens seem like a multifaceted magic system with tons of different applications and implications throughout the world. I love that. But I have no idea how they work or what they are even doing or how they are effecting events in the story. I just go, "oh okay warrens are doing the things they do" at various parts of Deadhouse Gates. It is great and confusing all at once.
These first two books have everything I love about fantasy epics. The things I love about LOTR and GoT and Stormlight are present here plus some. I just fee so lost and that sucks. I think that if I were to get through all ten books and then go back and reread these stories I would have a much better experience. Until then, I will add Memories of Ice to the list and find time for it in the near future.
I appreciated the added exposition in Deadhouse Gates compared to GotM. I also appreciate the better understanding of how some things work within the world like warrens or knowing what a soultaken was or how Claw assassins operate. There is nothing in the way of an info dump in Erikson's first two books, however. And when you do get some hints to how things work there is little repetition to really ingrain the meaning of what you just read.
This can be at times very frustrating. The only reason this book isn't a higher rating is because of how lost I felt during certain parts of the novel. At the end of the book even, I was left grasping at straws trying to figure out what had just happened and what it meant in the grand scheme of things. I did what I always do when this happens, I took to the internet. I spent a couples hours reading summaries of the book I had just read to see all the seemingly obvious things that I just missed. I read a list of characters on wikis and their backgrounds and what they do in this book to help my understanding. I see the TOR reread and think it has to have most of if not all the answers I am searching for but it looks like I'm better off reading that after having read all 10 books at least.
To continue on about the negatives, I also find it a bit strange that we travel to a new continent to follow mostly new characters while the people we were with from GotM are in their own apocalypse type situation. Or so it would seem from the little we hear from or about those characters. I have to trust the hype around the series here to know this is for the best. I also trust that I will gain more understanding of what is happening as I continue to read the series. There is so much to like in these books but my lasting impression is that they simply left me confused.
On to some positives, Kalam is the man. He is easy to cheer for and brings his own complexities to the table. Warrens seem like a multifaceted magic system with tons of different applications and implications throughout the world. I love that. But I have no idea how they work or what they are even doing or how they are effecting events in the story. I just go, "oh okay warrens are doing the things they do" at various parts of Deadhouse Gates. It is great and confusing all at once.
These first two books have everything I love about fantasy epics. The things I love about LOTR and GoT and Stormlight are present here plus some. I just fee so lost and that sucks. I think that if I were to get through all ten books and then go back and reread these stories I would have a much better experience. Until then, I will add Memories of Ice to the list and find time for it in the near future.