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Malazan Re-read Order


Relic
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On 6/12/2021 at 9:55 AM, Derfel Cadarn said:

Doing a chronological re-read - was a first-time read of Fall of Light (big meh) and the Dancer novels.

So far, I’ve read the Kharkanas novels, the Dancer trilogy (weird timeline shenanigans with Malazan dating), the necromancer novellas set before Memories of Ice, and currently reading Midnight Tides. Next will be book1 of House of Chains, and then Gardens of the Moon.

that's quite the epic re-read. How is it going so far?

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57 minutes ago, Relic said:

that's quite the epic re-read. How is it going so far?

The Karkanas books dragged, Fall of Light a real slog, far too long for what happens. Also doesnt really track with how the Tiste origins were told in other books.

The Dancer books were good, but ICE does a weird thing at the end, suggesting the Malazan Empire is only 20-odd years old, which is flatly contradicted  by other books, not least in that rhe Crimson Guard have opposed it for almost a century.

 

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I'll have to say, I needed three tries to even get through Fall of Light. Actually rereading it is not and will never be on my horizon.

That book is terribly written, in terms of length and content. Should have had a decent editor.

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2 hours ago, Nero C. C. A. Germanicus said:

I'll have to say, I needed three tries to even get through Fall of Light. Actually rereading it is not and will never be on my horizon.

That book is terribly written, in terms of length and content. Should have had a decent editor.

I had to make several runs of it, too.  The only impression left on me I remember was repeatedly thinking “Wait, who is this and why should I care about them and their emo?  This seems like an alternate history to what I thought was explained in the last books about Dark/Light/Andii/Liosan, etc.  Ah shit, more emo.”

I like the Malazan series a lot - I did a reread for the kharkhanas books, but am not sure I have the heart (and time) to do it again for Karsa.

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On 6/12/2021 at 4:51 AM, TazerFace! said:

Hmm, I wonder what Tor thinks of as their top priority these days. Looking at the schedule I don't see anything really huge, but my tastes probably don't match up.

I believe that the Kharkanas books bombed even harder in the US than they did elsewhere, so Erikson got knocked way back on their priority list.

It's at least not the five-year gap between the UK and US publications of Gardens of the Moon.

Quote

The Dancer books were good, but ICE does a weird thing at the end, suggesting the Malazan Empire is only 20-odd years old, which is flatly contradicted  by other books, not least in that rhe Crimson Guard have opposed it for almost a century.

This was to fix the Dujek Onearm age contradiction. The solution was that the Malazan Empire dates its founding from the birth of the Emperor, not the actual founding date, so the Empire was founded in Year 70 of its own existence. Gardens of the Moon takes place in Year 105, so 35 years later.

As quite a few people have noted, though whilst that solves that one problem it just creates a shitload of other problems elsewhere, and because it causes more problems than it solves, people have mostly rejected it as an explanation.

Needless to say, The God is Not Willing adds more fuel to the fire of the timeline problems.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Werthead said:

I believe that the Kharkanas books bombed even harder in the US than they did elsewhere, so Erikson got knocked way back on their priority list.

It's at least not the five-year gap between the UK and US publications of Gardens of the Moon.

This was to fix the Dujek Onearm age contradiction. The solution was that the Malazan Empire dates its founding from the birth of the Emperor, not the actual founding date, so the Empire was founded in Year 70 of its own existence. Gardens of the Moon takes place in Year 105, so 35 years later.

As quite a few people have noted, though whilst that solves that one problem it just creates a shitload of other problems elsewhere, and because it causes more problems than it solves, people have mostly rejected it as an explanation.

Needless to say, The God is Not Willing adds more fuel to the fire of the timeline problems.

 

 

 

Yeah it seemed like a way to explain to casual readers why so many of the Empire’s founders were still around a century later, while more invokved readers can assume Heboric’s dating scheme was dumped.

Weirdly the Dancer novels ignore that the Old Guard lived in the Deadhouse and hence became linger lived. Other Imperial highers-up (Dujek?)were given alchemical potions to extend their lifespan.

Also Whiskyjack. Wtf? In the Book of thr Fallen he’s from a low-class family, worked as a mason originally, and Fiddler knew his young sister.

In Dancer novels, he’s an aristocrat who got expelled from some fighting school(I think). So are his sister and Fiddler also really old?

Also Kharkanas books? Almost everythinf of note that happened over the course of 300k years seems to have happened in the span of 3-6 months...

Edited by Derfel Cadarn
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15 hours ago, TazerFace! said:

How were the sales for Rejoice, a Knife to the Heart? I'm assuming not good just by the lack of awareness I see that it even exists, which is sad, I thought it was amazing.

I don't believe they were anything special.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/26/2021 at 12:43 AM, Rhom said:

I’ve recently been reading the Black Company omnibuses.  Kinda makes me want to reread the Malazan books.

How does the third omnibus, The Books of Glittering Stone, stand up? I never fancied them given that they were told from Murgen's pov.

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18 hours ago, Zuzu Bolin said:

How does the third omnibus, The Books of Glittering Stone, stand up? I never fancied them given that they were told from Murgen's pov.

 

11 hours ago, Lord Patrek said:

The first two are good. The last two omnibus volumes haven't aged well and clearly aren't as good.

I would tend to agree.  It’s fair at best.  I’m slow getting into the fourth omnibus.

Murgen as a narrator was actually decent.  And I would say that I was mostly okay with the two collected volumes… however, had I been reading the two books individually; I would have been pissed at the ending of the first book since it really left almost nothing accomplished.

On the subject of not aging well, there was a lot of modern (for the time) slang that I recall well from my high school days in the mid 90s that was definitely out of place.  I’m sure it was distracting in the 90s and even more so now… but I can only take One Eye referring to ramming something “up the poop chute” so many times.  :rolleyes:

I don’t regret reading it and do look forward to taking time with the fourth one, but it was definitely a step down.

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I'm not far into it, but that's because one part busy and the other not wanting it to end too quick. 20% in, according to Kindle. 

Stillwater is laugh out loud fucking hilarious, but the straight men make it work. 

 

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Yeah, ok, Wert was right-- pretty tight book.

Some of the things that started to pick my ass about Erikson's writing are extra slim in this offering. New editor? Don't know, but I'm all the way down for more like this. Very enjoyable.  

Edited by JEORDHl
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Will someone please refresh me on how Karsa became a god? Erickson's rules of ascending are kind of vague at best but I thought one had to die. 

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26 minutes ago, Jerol said:

Erickson's rules of ascending are kind of vague at best but I thought one had to die. 

 

 

Naw. Not even Shadowthrone and Cotillion actually died, they just faked it and went off to ascend. 

 

In Karsa's case there isn't a clear point he went from near-ascended to ascended, but he's not the only one - Coltaine, Gesler and Stormy are described similarly. Karsa's particular path seemed to be the sheer stubborn unwillingness not to be powerful, though it's possible there's also a cult towards him growing for him at home throughout the series that we don't know that is pushing him that way. It's also implied he's manifested a Warren within himself, which could be fun...

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 7/2/2021 at 1:26 PM, Zuzu Bolin said:

How does the third omnibus, The Books of Glittering Stone, stand up? I never fancied them given that they were told from Murgen's pov.

I just finished the fourth omnibus and REALLY enjoyed the conclusion.  Makes the third omnibus worth reading in retrospect.

And with that conclusion, I have zero desire to read any possible future book.  The series is done.

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  • 1 month later...

Plot synopses for Ian C. Esslemont's next three novels in the Path to Ascendancy series:

Book 4:

This volume develops and details the Malazan expansion into the Falari Peninsula region. Kellanved and Dancer, impatient with the slow and methodical consolidation of the continent of Quon Tali, are up to no good and embroil the Malazan forces in an uprising against the ruling Theocracy of Falar.

These priests have maintained power over all the many islands through the threat of their terror-weapon: the dread 'Jhistal'...

Here readers will discover just what this weapon is, meet a younger Mallick Rel and find out just how the Malazans took the region into their grip.

 

Book 5:

Here we will be documenting and following the emerging Malazan Empire's first landings and foothold in the region of the Seven Cities. Central to this account will be the monumental and notorious attack on the Holy City of Aren.

The emergence of Dassem Ultor, his rising influence and popularity among the military of the empire - together with Surly's growing wariness of it - is all suggestive of his death before the walls of Y'ghatan.

Another path of this story will follow Kellanved and Dancer's exploration of Shadow and beyond, and further steps towards the former's ascension as Shadowthrone.

 

Book 6:

Kellanved and Dancer and company have become ever more powerful and elevated, and are now distant players as we dig down to follow Bridgeburners themselves: Whiskeyjack, Fiddler, Hedge, Trotts, Mallet and others. Yes, the gang's all here and readers will relish being in their company once more!

Battles and encounters in Mott Woods and Black Dog Forest abound and all of this leads readers up to to the point at which this extraordinary multi-faceted, multi-layered epic fantasy saga first began: Gardens of the Moon.

 

I found these blurbs from Edelweiss catalogue.

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