Ian Cameron Esslemont, Assail (spoilers)

[Larry.]

From my mixed-to-negative review:

Stop me if you've heard this before: a powerful character, presumed dead for several books, is found revived somehow, yet largely bereft of his memories. Or how about this: after hundreds of millennia, a long-presumed dead member of a powerful yet persecuted race is discovered to be at the heart of something mysterious that transpires on a hither-to unvisited part of the fantasy world. Maybe this will jog your memory: an intrepid band of plucky adventurers, wise-cracking former soldiers, and a likeable yet utterly youthful-seeming bearer of a powerful sword risk their lives and more to uncover the mystery behind a legend of wealth and terrifying danger. Then again, maybe this will seem familiar: after all of these disparate groups begin their journeys, a convergence of sorts takes place and the plot threads resolve themselves in a matter of a handful of pages.

After finishing Ian Cameron Esslemont's sixth Malazan-related novel, Assail, I felt as though I had read almost the same book, with almost the same characters, with almost the same progression of scenes and action. It was all-too-familiar reading an account of how characters/groups covered in Esslemont's previous novels (the Crimson Guard, Kyle, the various Elder Races and their epoch-spanning conflicts) work their way from an initial mystery (just what is transpiring on the dangerous, isolated continent of Assail; is there truly a treasure trove to be mountain in the mountains to the north; what is causing the Jaghut-created ice fields to melt; what has happened to the missing T'lan Imass tribes) through encounters along the way until all meet together in the end. If this does not sound interesting, it is perhaps less due to the macro plot developments and more because of a lack of differentiation in the smaller details.

On the surface, the various plots would be entertaining in isolation. Seeing the fruition of Kyle's character arc is something that did hold promise before I read the book. The same goes for discovering just what was transpiring at Assail or the reason behind the seeming age-defying Crimson Guard, as over the course of the previous fifteen Malazan books, Esslemont and Steven Erikson had dropped enough hints as to make their resolutions tantalizing for those readers who had read all of the volumes. Yet there were times in the past where certain resolutions did not carry the punch that readers might have anticipated. For every The Crippled God finale, there was the revelation behind Darujistan's Tyrants that fell a little flat. Esslemont's novels especially have been hit-or-miss, with the relative quality of Return of the Crimson Guard or Blood and Bone being balanced by the unevenness of Night of Knives or Orb Sceptre Throne. Unfortunately, Assail is among the weaker of Esslemont's novels, not so much because of dampened expectations but because of certain redundancies in his storytelling.

The story opens, as do most Malazan books, with a prologue that transpires tens of thousands of years before the narrative present. This itself is not a problem, but when the prologue progression follows so closely to that of Memories of Ice that it is easy to guess what a major revelation will be late in the novel, this lessens the impact of the scene. This important subplot is also hampered in its effectiveness by a lack of development of the conflicts between the living Imass Bonecaster Silverfox and the returning "lost" Imass tribes that still seek their eternal war against the Jaghut. There is little "why" explored, as Esslemont too quickly moves onto a chase narrative for these scenes.

Assail also suffers from other half-baked narrative elements. The (re)introduction of a major character is handled rather poorly here. His momentary amnesia is too closely related to that of another returning character in a previous Esslemont novel that it felt as though entire lines could have been transposed from one character/novel to another and little would have been confusing or out of place. This was just sheer lazy writing, as the plot and dialogue should have been better differentiated in order to escape the feeling of narrative deja vu.

And yet despite all of these shortcomings, the actual concluding story almost made up for it all. While the convergence plot device is rather passé this far into the combined Malazan series, the conclusions promise a new chapter in this world. In addition, there are certainly enough open threads for both Erikson and Esslemont to explore more of this setting and the new developments revealed in the final two chapters. Certainly Assail is not the end of Esslemont's contributions, despite long-standing claims (the inside flap even perpetuates it) that it would be the conclusion of Esslemont's side-series (Esslemont has signed for three more Malazan-based books). Hopefully Esslemont will not repeat the mistakes of this pedestrian novel and will try to craft something approaching an original narrative progression for his next book. As it stands, Assail is one of the two weakest novels in the entire Malazan sequence.

[Calibandar]

Totally see your point.

On the other hand, I feel that this is exactly, or largely, what Malazan readers want. This storyline set up that you discuss is what people find cool, and that's why the writers and their editors keep replicating it.

[Larry.]

I know and I understand Esslemont going back to the well yet one more time to replicate what he and Erikson have done before. My opinion may be a minority one on it. Of course, I probably abet this in that I'll probably buy a few more in their series, but this one just was a mediocre effort by their own standards.

Oh, and for those who want direct spoilers, here's a little tidbit from the epilogue:

"Jethiss" is bearing a new sword for his Andii people, one fashioned for him by the Forkul Assail from his left arm.

That bit alone intrigues me for some reason. There are others, but that one I think won't spoil the rest of this book's plot too much.

[Gigei]

On the other hand, I feel that this is exactly, or largely, what Malazan readers want.

Actually that part was exactly the part that I didn't like.

And have we not already had a one-armed guy? What's the point of repeating things this much?

I did like the rest of the book, just that part was annoying. And thank goodness we do finally

get to find out what Tattersail has been doing all this time.

[polishgenius]

Can we make this a more definite spoiler topic? We already have a regular Malazan topic for more general talk and it just seems pointless to have this dedicated topic and have to tag everything more specific.


I'll do so for now, though:

Anyway, for the most part I really liked it. There were a few too many plot threads going on at once so at times some of them were being skimmed over too quickly, but I was satisfied by all of them in the end even though right until very close I was worried there was no chance of wrapping everything up properly in the pages there were left. It was all very well seeded so it didn't need massive drama; although one key scene was dealt with perhaps just a little too fast, it was fine really.
Also, as a book that acts as the resolution to several plot threads running throughout the series (both ICE and SE), I think this worked as a finale better than the Crippled God, in a lot of ways.

The other thing that I really enjoyed was just the atmosphere. Once you got past the silly place names, ICE really knows how to build the mood and sense of place of his world- he showed it to great effect in Blood and Bone, and does so in a place almost the opposite of that here.

The 'revelation' of the Crimson Guard had been pretty obvious since at least Blood and Bone, so it was hardly a surprise, but that's no bad thing- seeding a revelation with some non-obvious clues that can nonetheless be worked out, then following up on that - it's a storytelling skill sometimes overlooked in this twist-ending focused age and it's done well here.

I was initially a bit annoyed that Lanas Tog turned out to be fibbing about the human tyrants and the true nature of Assail, but in the end it was a far more logical, and satisfying, route to go than yet another mysterious new power. The whole genocide and rejecting the Summoner both highlighted the true brutality of the Vow and added nuance to the previously fairly monolithic nature of the species. You're maybe right that a bit more reflection and a bit less chasing might have been effective, but I liked it as a whole.

The final confrontation at the mountain peak was the bit that I felt a bit short-changed by, though. Like I say it's not bad, but after so much time hearing about the Jaghut and the T'lan, and this whole book being the slow march of the players to here, it was just over too rapidly. I'm not on about there not being some big enormous smackdown - I'm actually quite a fan of the way it subverted the 'convergence' theme while simultaneously staying true to the concepts of the series, as this kind of gathering of powers to make pacts is, while not as often seen in the series proper as the big smackdown kind, a key element of several backstories. It's just that there wasn't enough weight to the moment (not the first time I've felt this about an ICE book. Stonewielder was particularly guilty). It's one of a couple of instances where I think the book could have been a little longer.

I was initially a bit annoyed that Jethiss seemingly turned out to be Rake after all - the constant resurrections of meaningful sacrifices are the biggest flaw in this series, and I was sure the very obvious hinting was a double-bluff- but then (with the help of those who've re-read the books more recently than me) I realised it almost certainly was, since it's much more likely to be Spinnock Durav. I hope we do find out for certain in future books, whether ICE or SE (do we know what ICE will be writing about in his new novels? This is the first I heard of him getting three more, but someone on the Malaz forums referred to the 'early Empire' books so possibly he's writing prequels and that's why this is constantly referred to as the 'final' novel?).

Kyle's character was a great improvement on his previous appearances, particularly RotCG, yet felt like a natural growth from there to here. Well done. I find this ICE's biggest advantage over SE in comparative writing styles- his ability to make his characters feel like actual people rather than/as well as mythic archetypes.

The Forkrul Assail, despite their brief appearance, were a lot more interesting than their presentation in tCG, and far more like the alienness we were initially promised in the early hints of their existence.

Overall, yeah, I disagree with Larry: I found it to be a strong book and a satisfying conclusion to several of the main threads of the series.

[Larry.]

Edited the title for ya.

Yeah, I can see where fans would enjoy the content, but nothing you said invalidates my critique of the delivery system. I just don't think it was a well-plotted or written novel, but the information and potential would certainly be enough for those who enjoyed (despite/because of narrative flaws) his earlier books to be willing to read on. I certainly plan on reading whatever Malazan-related novel he pens next.

[polishgenius]

I don't disagree that many of your critiques exist, tbh- it's just that they didn't inhibit my enjoyment anywhere near as much as they did yours. I don't have a problem with books in a series following similar patterns to one another - I greatly enjoy the Dresden Files after all- and I don't think it was quite as samey as you're making out, because while yeah at the broadest glance it follows the same various-plotlines-converge-to-the-finish structure as previous books, it makes use of that very fact to build a different sort of rhythm, since every character knows where they're going, and several of them know at least some of what it is that's going on, allowing for a more structured layering of the plots and the tension within and between them than the usual semi-controlled havoc this series displays.

[Larry.]

True, there is more structure to the layout here, but Jethiss's character/plot arc just resembled too much what happened to Tayschrenn in OST for me to think it was anything but lazy redundancy. But it's more a matter of personal taste and alas, for me it just wasn't as enjoyable as it was for you.

[polishgenius]

It's possible that if I'd had the chance to do a piecemeal re-read of OST the way I did the earlier Malazan books that would have bothered me more, but as it is I've been in a different country to my Malazan collection for most of the last two years and so can barely remember that particular thread from OST so I barely noticed.

I think there was a lot less trying to convince us that the character is someone they're almost certainly not than here, though.

[Larry.]

Maybe so. Some things just stick out more for some readers than others :D

By the way, someone found confirmation (from Erikson) to my earlier comment inside my review that Esslemont has signed on for three more Malazan-related books, on the early Empire. So there is still that (and I wouldn't be surprised after that and the Karsa trilogy there'll be a revisit to this particular period) to look forward to, I suppose.

[polishgenius]

Good to know, cheers.

And yeah, I would be Jack's complete lack of surprise if it turned out there were plenty more stories to come. It's not as if the world can't support them.

[Gormenghast]

For what is worth, Erikson says:

For what it's worth, I just read Assail and think it Cam's best to date. Beautiful writing start to finish.

I also spotted Neth of Neth Space site on twitter and he also said he thinks its Esslemont's best.

So, once again, everyone takes the books much differently.

[Werthead]

Assail by Ian Cameron Esslemont

South of Genabackis and east of Korel and Stratem lies the mysterious continent of Assail. It is known for its inaccessibility and hostility, populated by tribes and mage-ruled kingdoms who slay outsiders on sight. Clans of T'lan Imass and companies of the Crimson Guard have disappeared on missions there. It has a reputation for being so unrelentingly hostile that even the formidable Malazan Empire has never tried to conquer it.

That has now changed. Across the world, massive ice floes are melting and new sea routes are opening up. Rumours of rivers of gold being found in the Salt Mountains of north Assail are spreading, luring thousands of adventurers, treasure-seekers and merchants to the continent. Converging on the land are the leaders of the Crimson Guard, the Summoner of the Imass known as Silverfox, ex-Malazan mercenaries and foolhardy treasure seekers from distant Lether. In the heights of the mountains they will find their treasure...and something far more dangerous.

Assail is the sixth and concluding book in the Novels of the Malazan Empire sequence by Ian Esslemont. Set on the world he co-created with Steven Erikson, Esslemont's latest book wraps up story and character arcs he set in motion with Night of Knives and Return of the Crimson Guard (written in the 1980s but only published a decade ago), as well as drawing on elements established by Erikson in his own ten-volume Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence. It's not the best place for newcomers to start, although the primary storyline of the book is contained within this one novel.

Esslemont has a tough job to do here. The continent of Assail is first mentioned in Erikson's Memories of Ice and is reported to be a place of ceaseless hostility where entire T'lan Imass armies are ground to dust in endless battle against remorseless, tyrannical foes. Repeated mentions in other novels only added to its mystique, with even gods and Ascendants urging avoidance of the continent at all costs. As it turns out the reality doesn't quite match up: there are extremely powerful, lethal sorcerers on the continent but they are indolent and not quite up to speed with the magical powers commanded by outsiders. There are fanatically xenophobic tribes who immediately attack outsiders on sight (or after a brief rest-break if they are sufficiently skilled) but who could probably be taken out by a determined-enough Malazan army. Amusingly, Assail not being as quite as lethal as previously hinted feeds into the narrative, with the fact that you can set foot on Assail without dying leading to overconfidence on the part of the invaders. There's also the late revelation that what lurks in the mountains is so potentially lethal to the entire planet that there's certainly a good enough reason to avoid the place.

In terms of longer-running story arcs, Esslemont does a good job here of wrapping up the storyline of Kyle and the Crimson Guard (even if their eventual destiny remains unclear), which has been a consistent thread throughout these books. However, other plot threads are left less clearly resolved. The Malazans now have a diplomatic toehold on Assail and there is still work to be done there, whilst the biggest unresolved plot element is the T'lan Imass. The Imass/Silverfox/Kilava storyline which Erikson kicked off fifteen years ago is still left unfinished at the end of Assail. Hopefully the Imass will return in Erikson's Toblakai Trilogy, otherwise their fate is both underwhelming and unsatisfying.

In other areas the book is a mixed bag. There is a lot of travelogue in this novel, with multiple characters crossing Assail from different directions to get to the Salt Range. However, several groups brave the Sea of Dread (noted for its somnambulist and lethal effects) and, as effective as Esslemont's descriptions of this dangerous route are, it does get a little repetitive. Fortunately, the characters are, for the most part, an interesting bunch. One character in particular, Jethiss, risks cliche by being an amnesiac Tiste Andii who is clearly an already-established character from earlier in the series. When he turns out not to be the character I thought he was going to be, there was a major sigh of relief. Erikson and Esslemont are both guilty of nullifying and cheapening previously powerful death scenes by resurrecting the slain character too easily and they dodged a bullet here by making sure the most iconic character in the series stayed in the ground.

The book ends in a massive convergence, as is traditional, which does two things. First, it establishes a reason for why the whole world has gone to hell in the last few years and how this can be resolved. This does explain what has been a weakness of the series, namely how with so many mages, races and elemental forces rolling around with continent-devastating abilities that the whole planet hasn't been blown up yet. This does suggest that the world will be a calmer place going forwards, at least until Karsa Orlong (not invited to the deal) decides to destroy everything a few years down the line. Secondly, the convergence explains the backstory behind the Crimson Guard's Vow and how they are so amazingly badass. The problem here is that everyone figured this out before Return of the Crimson Guard was done and Esslemont doesn't throw any curveballs into the mix, so this isn't hugely surprising. It also leaves the future direction of the Guard wide open, handy if the authors choose to revisit these characters later on.

Assail (****) is a mostly well-written, enjoyable novel that will satisfy Malazan fans for its resolution of long-running plot threads and its addressing of major backstory mysteries. What it definitely isn't (and it was partially billed as) is the grand mega-finale of the entire combined Erikson/Esslemont series which will out-climax Erikson's Crippled God. With at least three more post-Assail novels from Erikson on the horizon, it never could be this and I'm glad I always took this with a pinch of Salt (Range) as I'd have been more disappointed otherwise. Instead, we have a reasonably good book in the series, although not Esslemont's best. The novel is available now in the UK and USA.

[Wilbur]

Another interesting review of Assail - thank you, Wert and Larry.

For me, this book was probably my favorite ICE novel yet - I found it to be far, far superior to B&B, its immediate predecessor, a book I cared for not at all.

I enjoyed the inversion of the convergence paradigm used in other Malazan books, and the structural differences and the setting caused me to mentally reference Njal's Saga several times in a very positive way.

At the same time, I also enjoyed the use of the Malazan trope of "old powers being surprised by the new powers' ability and effectiveness", since the continent of Assail has always been a background Big Bad in the books. However, ICE then turns this trope on its head as well in the latter portions of the book, which again I found very attractive.

The character of Kyle also becomes one of the better-rounded protagonists of these books in Assail, and since ICE showed a lot of early promise with him and then sort of let him stagnate a bit as a person, this was satisfying as well. Fortunately, his moustaches are still luxuriant even after all his exertions.

At the end I still wasn't sure why or how Jethiss was alive. I also wasn't sure if he was supposed to be

Orfantal or Spinnock Durav.

I don't really understand why either of them would be resurrected.

Finally, please will someone set out clearly and explicitly how the Crimson Guard vow was so important to everything? The sense I got out of the final chapters of Assail was one of, "I know this already, it has been clear for a long time," but surely there is a deeper meaning that those of you who are more sensitive and intelligent than I can unfold for me. Thank you!