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A review by mgerboc
House of Chains by Steven Erikson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Not sure why it took me so long to read this book. For some reason I typically read a ton in January and February and then have a major slump in March. Seems like 2021 is no different than the past couple of years.
ANYWAY, I loved this book. I feel like it's cliche at this point, but I feel completely in awe at the creativity in this series. The world of Malazan is so intricate and enormous and beautiful and frustratingly opaque at times, but the truths that are the real through-line of this series remain clear: empathy and compassion are the ultimate rewards of experience and wisdom. The quiet moments of mercy between these characters, often set against a backdrop of the most grisly types of large-scale violence, are heartbreaking and tear-jerking. Without spoilers, just some names/scenarios for my own remembrance and for those who know what I'm talking about: Pearl/Tavore - they're brief encounter near the end; Omtrack and Trull Sengar "I weep because he cannot."; Karsa Orlong's entire arc; The Ritual of Tellann as a stand-in for moral surrender.
And here are some quotes:
“And so, he faced only what every mortal faced. The solitude of death, and oblivion’s final gift that was indifference.”
- Heboric POV
“Duty and courage had been made animate, and this was all the T’lan Imass were, and had been for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet, without choice, such virtues as duty and courage were transformed into empty, worthless words. Without mortality, hovering like an unseen sword overhead, meaning was without relevance, no matter the nature - or even the motivation behind - an act. Any act.”
- Omtrack POV
“The stigma of meaning comes later, like a brushing away of dust to reveal shapes in stone.”
- Felisin POV
“‘When I began this journey, I was young. I believed in one thing. I believed in glory. I know now, ‘Siballe, that glory is nothing. Nothing. That is what I now understand.’
‘What else do you now understand, Karsa Orlong?’
‘Not much. Just one other thing. The same cannot be said for mercy.’”
- Karsa Orlong and 'Siballe
ANYWAY, I loved this book. I feel like it's cliche at this point, but I feel completely in awe at the creativity in this series. The world of Malazan is so intricate and enormous and beautiful and frustratingly opaque at times, but the truths that are the real through-line of this series remain clear: empathy and compassion are the ultimate rewards of experience and wisdom. The quiet moments of mercy between these characters, often set against a backdrop of the most grisly types of large-scale violence, are heartbreaking and tear-jerking. Without spoilers, just some names/scenarios for my own remembrance and for those who know what I'm talking about: Pearl/Tavore - they're brief encounter near the end; Omtrack and Trull Sengar "I weep because he cannot."; Karsa Orlong's entire arc; The Ritual of Tellann as a stand-in for moral surrender.
And here are some quotes:
“And so, he faced only what every mortal faced. The solitude of death, and oblivion’s final gift that was indifference.”
- Heboric POV
“Duty and courage had been made animate, and this was all the T’lan Imass were, and had been for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet, without choice, such virtues as duty and courage were transformed into empty, worthless words. Without mortality, hovering like an unseen sword overhead, meaning was without relevance, no matter the nature - or even the motivation behind - an act. Any act.”
- Omtrack POV
“The stigma of meaning comes later, like a brushing away of dust to reveal shapes in stone.”
- Felisin POV
“‘When I began this journey, I was young. I believed in one thing. I believed in glory. I know now, ‘Siballe, that glory is nothing. Nothing. That is what I now understand.’
‘What else do you now understand, Karsa Orlong?’
‘Not much. Just one other thing. The same cannot be said for mercy.’”
- Karsa Orlong and 'Siballe