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The "Malazan Book of the Fallen" thread.


Doppelganger

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Hmm, considering I think I liked Bonehunters a little more than MT not sure how that works for me. It's not like I expect to be a sudden jump up in writing quality at this point in the series. So as long as it isn't a big drop down, then it seems good to me.

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Another guy from SFFWorld has reviewed the book as well:

Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson

I hesitate to utter the words "has he lost it?" because the howls of outrage will likely cause my dogs to bark and then my neighbors across the street to complain and then I'll have to go all passive-aggressive on them and refuse to sign for their packages when they get their usual haul from QVC. But this, like the last book, represented for me a bit of a slide in quality. Maybe having Esslemont enter the fray when he did was not a good thing for the overall series. But to quell those howls I did not provoke, it is not a bad book. It is not a messy rough book like the first and second in the series. And if I had to weigh carefully, I would say that I like it better than all first three combined. But not as well as four and five and six.

It should be pointed out that this poster's opinions are frequently strange (such as his strange belief that House of Chains and The Bonehunters are better than Memories of Ice and that Wheel of Time remains the pinnacle of fantasy fiction ever in the histoy of the universe), so make of it what you will.

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Wait...he thinks Midnight Tides is good? Or was that Werthead?

I think it's more useful to say what it's like instead of say if it is as good as certain books - because this series seems to be way weird in terms of who likes what. Is it like HoC or like DHG? Or is it like MOI or MT or what?

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No, the poster thinks Midnight Tide is good (MT is quite popular, actually, usually just behind MoI and DHG in most peoples' opinions). I though it was okay but would have worked better if the first half of the book had been chopped off with all its pointless naval-gazing and occasionally purple prose.

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I'm currently at page 669 of Deadhouse Gates. I prefer it to GotM in certain ways, it doesn't feel quite as D n' D - ish and the war depictions (combat and cost) are generally steller and, at times, rather moving. I do feel a bit of 'action fatigue' -- it's like he had a quota of battle sequences to intersperse every so many pages, and it bloats the book a bit near the end.

Sometimes he goes a bit overboard with the descriptions and there have been a few awkward parts, but for the most part it is smooth as butter, and, other than some repetitive names, less 'difficult' than GotM.

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Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson

And if I had to weigh carefully, I would say that I like it better than all first three combined. But not as well as four and five and six.

That review had me a little worried until this line, where the reviewers opinion suddenly lost all value.

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That review had me a little worried until this line, where the reviewers opinion suddenly lost all value.

Yeah, his opinion went straight to 'useless' in my mind after that comment. We're obviously not even close to on the same wavelength.

FYI - I think MT is up there with DG and MOI as one of the great books in the series.

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Has it been stated by any of the proof readers whoes in it?

Its about time more of the MoI cast made their returns.

It's going to take place on the Lether Continent, so not a return to the MoI crew - we'll see those in Toll the Hounds, I believe. From what I have gleaned, expect crossover between the cast of Midnight Tides and Bonehunters - the 14th sails for Letheras! (or somewhere nearby, at least)

Sir Thursday

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Finshed DHG yesterday. A friend had told me that the ending was a bit weak, and I have to agree. Although the image of the crows was a nice conclusion, as a whole it felt as if SE realized he was reaching a critical word-count and decided to wrap it up, slam-bang...alas, some of the "railroading" and melodrama breached my barrier of disbelief and/or the internal balance (for example, the rescue of Kalam, Shadowthrone's "get out of Malaz city" card), and I was none too pleased to see the last quarter of the Chain of Dogs skipped over.

After a lengthy discussion, my friend and I concluded that because some sections are so brilliantly written, they offset the weaker aspects (some of which are inherent in large-scale, hyper-epic fantasy) all the more strongly. Looking forward to MoI.

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It's going to take place on the Lether Continent, so not a return to the MoI crew - we'll see those in Toll the Hounds, I believe. From what I have gleaned, expect crossover between the cast of Midnight Tides and Bonehunters - the 14th sails for Letheras! (or somewhere nearby, at least)

Sir Thursday

Well, based on the Dramatis Personae of Reaper's Gale, it's going to be quite a party! :cheers: The index of characters alone takes 6 pages!

The Letherii crew is there in full effect, of course. Meaning that Tehol and Bugg are in the house, along with Shurq and Ublala and a bunch of others. The Tiste Edur contingent includes Rhulad and company. Icarium and Karsa arrive with the Edur fleet. Seren Pedac, Fear Sengar, Silchas Ruins, Udinaas and Kettle will also have a part to play. Tavore, Fiddler, Gesler and the rest of the Malazan posse are coming to the dance as well. :fence: Withal and Sandalath, and a whole bunch of others!

I daresay it looks as though the shit will hit the fan in this one! ;)

Patrick

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Well, based on the Dramatis Personae of Reaper's Gale, it's going to be quite a party! :cheers: The index of characters alone takes 6 pages!

The Letherii crew is there in full effect, of course. Meaning that Tehol and Bugg are in the house, along with Shurq and Ublala and a bunch of others. The Tiste Edur contingent includes Rhulad and company. Icarium and Karsa arrive with the Edur fleet. Seren Pedac, Fear Sengar, Silchas Ruins, Udinaas..

Heh, I was just reading along thinking, "what happened to that one slave, can never remember his name.. did he die? Don't think he did but hopefully I'm not remembering right..." Silchas Ruin, Udinaas... Bah, damnit! Can't win 'em all, I suppose. :P

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The Ruin, Fear & Co. storyline is what I'm looking forward to the most.

I'm starting to get excited. Just wish it was a March release. Lees sounds like it might be pretty good, though, so that should help tide me over.

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The Ruin, Fear & Co. storyline is what I'm looking forward to the most.

I'm starting to get excited. Just wish it was a March release. Lees sounds like it might be pretty good, though, so that should help tide me over.

Me too :D

and me too :bang: And me too :read:

I also want to see Icarium vs Rhulad vs Karsa :fence:

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