The Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 1

Malazan Book of the Fallen #1-2

by Steven Erikson

GARDENS OF THE MOON

Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and confrontations with Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, the Malazan Empire simmers with discontent. Sinister forces gather as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

DEADHOUSE GATES

In the Holy Desert Raraku, a long prophesied uprising has begun and an untried commander battles to save the lives of thirty thousand refugees. War and betrayal, intrigue and roiling magic collide as destines are shaped and legends born...

'Homeric in scope and vision...a story that never fails to thrill and entertain...a saga that lives up to its name, both intellectually and in its dramatic, visually rich and lavish storytelling'

SFSITE

Genres: Fantasy, Ebooks, Fiction, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

2130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2009

About the author

Steven Erikson is the pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a Canadian novelist, who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist. His best-known work is the series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...

Reviews

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the whole series, all ten books of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I am a fantasy and sci fi buff. I read Tolkien when I was 11 and have read most of the big names in the genre. Even though I enjoyed a lot of them in my mind there are only two authors that automatically carry a stamp of quality of uber writing with their name, Steven Erikson and Terry Pratchett. There is no need to talk about Terry Pratchett as his 40+ books, plays etc says it all. However it is frustrating that so many people talk about George RR Martin, Tolkien, Robert Jordan etc yet so few talk about Erikson. His book defines epic. His books blows your mind. His books are worth rereads several times, and considering there are 10 of them, each about 800-1000+ pages long, this says a lot about how good they are.

I love seeing the LoTR made into movie and Game of Thrones into series. But I think I would hate it if they tried to film TMBotF because I believe there is no way to make the story justice. The production value would just bankrupt any studio if they tried it.

If you like high fantasy with vast armies, powerful magics, scheming gods and rulers, epic battles between uber mensch or armies, a vast and intricate history and worldbuilding, harrowing sacrifices, Men ascending goodhood, gods dying - all written in exquisite language and minute details (you end up realising that three books ago a hint was dropped on the current situation)you should start reading them. What are you waiting for!

[Jay Traub · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a fantasy series of such scope. The story starts out slow, and the development of the main arch is not spectacular, but the imagination of Erikson is evident in the characters and cultures he creates. I have yet to read any other author who writes insanity in a more engaging and entertaining matter. It is definitely not a series for people who are not interested in fantasy or stories containing lots of characters and places, but if the reader appreciates these things, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" series is pure magic.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Quiere saber más de estos dos libros, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Yong En · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unmatched in its complexity and depth, this mindblowing fantasy epic promises to break you, and break you again.

Your mind will yanked and wrenched like a dirty washcloth as you try to devour the details of a profound and insane world, built on the plot that runs on hundreds of thousands of deaths as gods war with gods, and mortals war with gods, and mortals war with mortals and armies clash with armies, and races clash with gods, and the players of the game fall into each others' games, before it all comes to a jarring end.

People too important to die will die. People too pure to be hurt will hurt. Everything is magical yet real. Everything can be broken.

Before all is through, you will have tasted pure grief, sadness, joy, relief. You will be shaken. You will be thrown. You will be crushed. You will be uplifted, then you will be crushed again.

If you can follow this story, if you can withstand it all, you will be duly rewarded as towers of plot built up on deaths and ploys and more crash down and swallow you whole.

I have read mountains of fantasy books. I have found no equal to Steven Erikson. If you are a serious fantasy reader, devour these books.

[Casey Ponton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many have said it, but this series *is* one of the definitive works of fantasy of our time. No other author has sealed so much detail, historical depth, character development on a mass scale, continent spanning world-effecting plots, yet still make you love and hate each character on their own merits. As an author, it took him a book or two to get into his 'style' as it were, but as a creator of worlds and memories these books do so like no other.

I couldn't stop reading the series until I ended The Crippled God with a serious twitch for more.

[Borko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. I really liked the writing style too, although I often needed to reread passages I initially skimmed through. You get thrown "in medias res" and have to figure things out by yourself, which I really found refreshing and rewarding. Plot-wise, it reminded me of the first book of Sanderson's Mistborn saga, sharing the merry band of misfits theme, the oppression of the empire, the secret uprising etc. It's a great introduction into something that will undoubtedly be a story worth reading. Another thing I really liked was the character neutrality. While well developed, the characters are neither particularly likable nor unlikable. This gives the story a really life-like dimension in contrast to the chosen one syndrome most fantasy novels suffer from. The only thing I found lacking was resolution. Namely, the antagonists are presented as devastating forces bound to wreak havoc upon the world of mortals. Over and over again you get the feeling of impending doom. Call me brutal, but I expected far more collateral damage in the clash aftermath. I blame George Martin for the irreparable emotional damage and grim expectations, but still, I feel the ending is too much of a happy one to be a perfect fit to an otherwise well organized plot. Apart from that, I wholeheartedly recommend this one and can't wait to see what the next book has in store.

[Leah Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantasy series for serious readers - so complicated at times that you will find yourself lost, only to figure everything out twenty pages later. And unlike most fantasy books you find on the shelves, it's incredibly well written. Erikson is truly a master of complex cultures and magical systems, unlike anything else you'll read. If you're a big fan of the Song of Ice and Fire series, and haven't been able to find anything else nearly as satisfying, this series will quench that thirst - and yet it's less 'realistic' (as in less relatable to our world, historical or otherwise) and more complicated (if you can believe that after Martin's whirlwind of characters). My only complaint, in fact, is that this series might be a little TOO complex. Don't get too attached to any one character - they come and go and there are far too many of them! Very original concepts, excellent writing, engrossing story.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of the first five books (spoiler free):
Extremely convoluted. As deep and wide as all the oceans combined. There are so many characters, peoples, races (of humans and other humanoids), tribes, Gods, places, cities, continents, warrens/dimensions, magic systems and other named things that you can't possibly remember even a tenth of them. While the overarching story is enjoyable and the characters are well written, the sheer complexity of the world is mind numbing. There are so many different magic systems, and they are so poorly explained that half of the time you don't know what's going on. The magic systems also don't seem to follow any specific rules, like, e.g Wheel of Time or anything by Brandon Sanderson.

The world is gritty and dark. The characters are well written. But the narration is distant, cold and "impersonal". Most of the books consist of background, inner monologue, history, and exposition. You're also following a huge amount of characters in each book. Since there are so many, you'll often think "who the heck is this person, again?". All of this makes it feel less like you're following a story, and more like you're reading old history books. Like the story has already happened, and you're reading a historian's recount of said story. Because of the forementioned, you often don't know what's going on, what "those words mean" or who "those people" are. Some of the story also takes place over several hundred thousand years before the main story, and the time of the 'current' PoV often change throughout the story, which makes it hard to establish a timeline while you're reading. A very important event in the story that I thought only happened 1150 years prior, turned out to have happened over 200 000 years prior. This messed up my entire view of several important characters and events, and I didn't realize my mistake until I looked up a certain character on the book's (dare I say, amazing, with sorted and marked spoilers) wiki.

Overall it feels like the author improvised all the way through, instead of establishing clear rules regarding his magic system, which, since it's such a large and extremely complex part of the story makes it all feels kind of nonsensical; plot maps for the overarching story/stories, which sometimes makes it very hard to follow; or character maps for the most important characters, which often leaves you wondering what's going on with these people you can't even remember.

TLDR: Too many names/named things and characters, no clear rules regarding anything, overall slow and very hard to follow. You'll never know exactly what's going on, and it's quite frustrating. If you like more "realistic" fantasy with clear rules and a living, breathing world (Wheel of Time; anything by Brandon Sanderson; etc.), this is not it.

[A.G.R. Goff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Malazan Books of the Fallen are described as one of the lengthiest in fantasy. And wow, are they long or at least Gardens of the moon is. This book is not for people who like short or middle length fantasy stories.
Steven Erikson created the Malazan world in the early 1980’s, and Garden of the moon is the first book of 10. A lot of the time the story is confusing because Erikson doesn’t explain why things are happening. He provides some context, but most of the time the reader just has to guess. Also, he switches from a 3rd person viewpoint to viewpoints from other characters without an indication. This makes The Malazan Book of the Falle: Gardens of the moon a tough fantasy book to read. There are a lot of characters, plots and cultures. Very complicated. It contains a lot of fights and violence being described in detail. I was told the first book of the series, Gardens of the Moon, is the hardest because the reader is not used to Steven Erikson's style and I tend to agree, even though I have not read any of the other books yet. Gardens of the moon has over thirty significant characters who change names during this story. Generally one can say it's highly complicated but if you can get over that or even love stories like this to start with, it's a great book. If not, you're in for a challenging ride.

[Himanish Prabhakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book series is really awesome one. For me this whole book series is 4.3 stars. Someone suggested me that this series is worth reading and I take the world and went for it. Each and every book in this series is good and the fantasy created is really good.

An Awesome Plot.
Gripping Stories.
Marvelous Characters.
Engaging Scenes.
Beautiful Dialogues.

From the start of Book #1 to Book #10 there was no stopping since the start. The series was so captivating that the excitement didn't stopped. I loved it and really recommend this book to each and every fantasy lover out there.

[Selah Kone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Epic Fantasy. Totally a nerdfest (in the best way). You really get sort of thrust into the deep end and have to grasp on tight to make it through. There's schemes and politics and assassins and seedy bars and magic and gods and sword-fights and all manners of different characters to follow. There's even a bit of romance, if you can call it that.
I would recommend to someone who's definitely down for a good ol fantasy journey and who doesn't have a problem with being tossed around a bit.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, a good fantasy book, with a good plot, wyzards and all...

[Soma · Rating 4 out of 5]

preferred this one to deadhouse gates because the 'ascendants' were more prominently featured and there was more action generally

[Natalie]

Tristan rec

[Duncan Mandel]

Gardens Of The Moon: Malazan Book Of The Fallen 1Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, the vast, sprawling Malazan empire simmers with discontent. Even its imperial legions yearn for some respite. For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his Bridgeburners and for Tattersail, sole surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, still holds out - and Empress Lasseen-s ambition knows no bounds.However, it seems the empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister forces gather as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand-Conceived and written on an epic scale, Gardens of the Moon is a breathtaking achievement - a novel in which grand design, a dark and complex mythology, wild and wayward magic and a host of enduring characters combine with thrilling, powerful storytelling to resounding effect. Acclaimed by writers, critics and readers alike, here is the opening chapter in what has been hailed a landmark of epic fantasy: the awesome -The Malazan Book of the Fallen-. Deadhouse Gates: Malazan: Book Of The Fallen 2Weakened by events in Darujhistan, the Malazan Empire teeters on the brink of anarchy. In the vast dominion ofSeven Cities, in the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha-ik gathers an army around her in preparation for the long-prophesied uprising named the Whirlwind. Unprecedented in its size and savagery, it will embroil in one of the bloodiest conflicts it has ever known: a maelstrom of fanaticism and bloodlust that will shape destinies and give birth to legends-In the Otataral mines, Felisin, youngest daughter of the disgraced House of Paran, dreams of revenge against the sister who sentenced her to a life of slavery. Escape leads her to raraku, where her soul will be reborn and her future made clear. The now-outlawed Bridgeburners, Fiddler and the assassin Kalam, have vowed to return the once god-possessed Apsalar to her homeland, and to confront and kill the Empress Laseen, but events will overtake them too. Meanwhile, Coltaine, the charismatic commander of the Malaz 7th Army, will lead his battered, war-weary troops in a last, valient running battle to save the lives of thirty thousand refugees and, in so doing, secure an illustrious place in the Empire-s chequered history. And into this blighted land come two ancient wanderers, Mappo and his half-Jaghut companion Icarium, bearers of a devastating secret that threatens to break free of its chains-Set in a brilliantly-realized world ravaged by anarchy and dark, uncontrollable magic, Deadhouse Gates is the thrilling, brutal second chapter in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. A powerful novel of war, intrigue and betrayal, it confirms Steven Erikson as a storyteller of breathtaking skill, imagination and originality - a new master of epic fantasy.

[Antonis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished Gardens of the Moon; I found it chaotic in the beginning & in the first chapters it was difficult for me to identify with any of the characters or to understand what is going on, for that matter. Fortunately, it got better further on, especially after the action moved to Darujhistan & the various threads of the plot intertwined. 3,5 stars so far, but I have to read the next book of the series to give a more definite opinion.

6/6/2017 UPDATE
Deadhouse Gates is way much better than Gardens of the Moon; a very exciting plot (especially the Chain of the Dogs part), much more developed new and old characters, superbly laid "non-genre" philosophical notions and questions, a very nice flavour of humor, and great prose for the most part of the book, made this second book of the series a unique reading experience. The only thing that still troubles me is Erikson's habit to give too many hints about things that haven't -yet- appeared in the main plot.
If it weren't for the size of the series, I would keep reading them, but now I think I will take a break from the Books of the Fallen...

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is so detailed and so epic it is hard to convey.

I thoroughly enjoyed this whole series. My first thought is to say that it reminds me almost of reading non-fiction history as everything seems to be so well thought out and synchronized. ( after conclusions and multiple books)
I Love fantasy and this was fantasy of the highest order.. however definitely a different twist but solid foundational rules and amazing characters drew me in and kept me coming back for more books.

I love being able to get totally immersed in a world and this series did that and more. I cannot wait to re-read these again soon.

There was one plot line or Book that I did not enjoy as much.. but it did have an impact on the series as a whole so I am glad I read it.. I think I just had a hard time liking any of the characters in that particular story.. where as in the others I always found characters to like.. does that sound strange? :)

[Merle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erikson is a brilliant and subtle writer - this is anything but genre trash. He trashes genre stereotypes and tropes, creating a fantasy world like no other. Some of the books drag a bit but the payoff at the end is always worth it. The ending of several books will overawe you with the bang of their climax and confluence of powers. Some will break your heart.

Despite the above, I do feel the books could be improved by cutting out a lot of the philosophical ramblings and gloomy ruminations of characters in the later books. Erikson is again a brilliant writer and thinker, and I enjoy his writing far more than most others putting out fantasy nowadays - but some of these books could be "tighter". But that might not be what he was going for.

Would give 5 star if the books were more tightly and aggressively edited.

[T.l. Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review only covers the first book. Definitely impressed by the sheer amount of detail of Erikson's world, and some of the characters are quite fascinating. Lots of tedious moments, though, as Erikson gets lost in name dropping characters and locations that he takes little to no time explaining. That said this series has come to me so highly recommended that I will try to find time to read at least one more book in the series.

[Alan Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic fantasy masterpiece. Complicated, rewarding and amazing. Don't take this one on lightly, it will consume your life for days, weeks, months. Amazing.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brainy, fun and intricate, I loved this entire series. Great characters, convoluted plot and superb reversals, what more could a fantasy reader wish for? Oh, that's right, more.

[Remko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Af en toe goed onthouden hoe het in elkaar zit.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit long to get rolling, but massive in scope and worth the effort

[Christa Rembold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw, gritty, original.

[Clinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5