Le Seuil de la Maison des Morts

Path to Ascendancy #2

by Ian C. Esslemont, Erwan Devos (Translator), Hermine Hémon (Translator)

Après leurs déconvenues de Li Heng, Danseur et Wu échouent sur une petite île insignifiante du nom de Malaz, véritable repaire de pirates.

Immédiatement, bien sûr, ils projettent de s’en emparer. À cette fin, ils s'allient à un petit groupe de Napiens qui ont fui une guerre civile faisant rage sur leur île natale. Mais ces projets se voient rapidement entravés quand Wu développe une étrange et dangereuse fascination pour une ancienne et mystérieuse structure de l'île...

Le chaos ébranlant la région s'empare rapidement des plans métaphysiques alors que Tayschrenn, un jeune prêtre de D’rek, commence à prendre conscience de la corruption qui s'est installée au coeur-même du culte du dieu de la décomposition et du déclin. À Li Heng, Dassem, Glaive de Goule proclamé, se retrouve accusé d'être responsable d’une épidémie de peste, ce qui le mène à reconsidérer sa foi.

Alors que la guerre couve entre Malaz et l’île voisine de Nap, mettant en lumière les pouvoirs de la mystérieuse Loquevoile, les nouveaux alliés de Wu doutent de ses choix et s'inquiètent des entités puissantes qui s’intéressent de plus en plus près au petit mage dal-honien. Danseur se retrouve alors face à une question délicate : devrait-il renoncer à ce partenariat ?

Après tout, qui serait assez dérangé pour vouloir pénétrer un mystère des Anciens connu sous le nom de « Maison des Morts » ?



Poursuivant le récit de la folle ascension du duo le plus baroque de la fantasy épique, Ian Cameron Esslemont nous plonge au cœur de Malaz, petite île appelée à devenir l’épicentre de l’empire tentaculaire au cœur du Livre des Martyrs de Steven Erikson. Il en profite pour introduire quelques-uns des personnages clefs de la décalogie malazéenne, que le lecteur découvrira avec plaisir quelques années avant leur apparition dans Les Jardins de la Lune...

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Audiobook, Dark Fantasy, Epic

586 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 14, 2017

About the author

IAN CAMERON ESSLEMONT was born in 1962 in Winnipeg, Canada. He has a degree in Creative Writing, studied and worked as an archaeologist, travelled extensively in South East Asia, and lived in Thailand and Japan for several years. He now lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, with his wife and children and is currently working on his PhD in English Literature.

Ian C. Esslemont and Steven Erikson co-created the Malazan world in 1982 as a backdrop for role-playing games. In 1991 they collaborated on a feature film script set in the same world, entitled Gardens of the Moon. When the script did not sell, Erikson greatly expanded the story and turned it into a novel.

Reviews

[Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful Malazan book that should be a must read for any fan of the series

Check out my new youtube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books seconds after I finish the book.

I absolutely loved this book, and think it's probably the best Esslemont Malazan book. My expectations were relatively high for this book, given that I gave the first one 4/5 stars, but it far exceeded my expectations in virtually every way.

This book takes up right where the last one leaves off, with the two main characters moving cities -- this time to Malaz Island. And right from the get-go the reader is introduced to a large number of familiar characters from the Book of the Fallen series. It was actually a bit worrisome for me because I usually do not enjoy books that try to show the backstory of characters, but this book did it in a wonderful way and it makes me extremely eager to go back and re-read the main series so that I can have all this background information about many of my favorite characters.

The story in this book was wonderful as well, and did a solid job at creating both a riveting story, and a great convergence of events that the Erikson books are best known for.

I know a lot of Malazan fans that don't get Esslemont a fair shot, but they are seriously missing out on some wonderful books - with Deadhouse Landing right at the top of that list.

[James Tivendale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy of Deadhouse Landing in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Ian C. Esslemont and Macmillan/Forge for this opportunity.

Deadhouse Landing is the engaging and stunning second novel within the Path to Ascendancy trilogy and is set prior to the events of Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen and Esslemont's Malazan Empire. We are presented an incredibly detailed world that the two friends co-created and share in their literary endeavours right down to the places, characters, histories, terminology, and magic. If you aren't familiar with their works then this would be a terrible place to start.

After the finale of Dancer's Lament the assassin, Dancer, and his mysterious mage companion, Wu fled Li Heng after complications and now find themselves at the shores of Malaz City. Wu purchases a run-down bar called Smiley's which is found in the worst part of town, employing Napan staff including a barmaid named Surly. The public house will become the duos base of operations as Wu weaves another plot for world domination.

Wu thumped elbows to the desk and set his chin in his fists, frowning in hard thought. ‘Yes. Our plans. No sense tackling one of the corsair captains here – the crew wouldn’t follow us. I’ve never sailed. Mock rules from his Hold, but he probably doesn’t care who runs the streets. So, for now, we limit our attention to the shore. The merchants and bosses who control the markets and warehouses.’

Dancer had pursed his lips, considering. ‘What do you propose?’

Wu raised his head, smiling. ‘Why, our forte, of course. Ambush and hijacking.’

Dancer is still the main character and focus during this narrative. Wu is as complicated, interesting and potentially insane as ever. He often wanders off for days, perhaps playing with shadows to the extent that even his best friend and trusted partner has no idea what he's plotting or thinking. I found that Dancer's Lament could be a wise first step into the Malazan world following only 3 point of view perspectives. This book, although not as complex and occasionally confusing as say, The Return of the Crimson Guard, isn't as easy to read as the previous book and now the narrative features about 12 character viewpoints. The majority of these players are based in Malaz and many of their paths cross. It's definitely more linear in presentation than the 1000+ page 'door-stoppers' and is more story focused because of that. I'm aware that people will be reading the prelude trilogies for answers, however, nothing is that simple in the world of Malazan and just as many interesting questions have been crafted which means I'll read the follow-up as soon as I can. The points of view chapters include some of Malazan's most important players including Dancer, Tattersail, Tayschrenn, and Dassem Ultor as-well as new creations to an ensemble that must already be 4000+ strong.

Luel licked his bloodied lips and whispered, 'Who are you?' 'I am Dassem Ultor.'

Esslemont has improved his writing drastically since Night of Knives and in my opinion, his most recent releases have a stunningly flow and swagger. The perspectives switch a few times per chapter giving an overview of all happenings. The majority of these chapters take around 20 minutes to read so it seems the days have passed since you could read a full book in the same time as an Esslemont chapter. The pacing throughout is top-notch and the culmination is brilliantly realised. We get 'master-assassin' showdowns, exploration of warrens, finding out more regarding the Azath houses and most importantly - we see scenes and actions that showcase why some of these characters will become legends across the complete Malazan universe and timeline. As mentioned before regarding cast size, the dramatis personae contains around fourty names. A small quantity for this series perhaps, however, the character index omits about half the individuals involved. About 5 times I thought 'surely they can't be referring to XXX, what? It's him. He's in THIS book! I did not expect that.' It may just be me. I'm over-excitable.

The finale is fully realised as Dancer's Lament's was and introduces within the epilogue the new directions that this tale may present readers next. If you're familiar with the Old Empire history then one possibility is unbelievably intriguing. Kellanved is slowly making his mark on what we know becomes his empire yet it's super exciting seeing how he gets there. Deadhouse Landing is a masterclass of Malazan awesomeness, it may be Esslemont's finest book to date and unlike Dancer and Wu, he is no longer in the shadows.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full series review to come 🗡🗡🗡🗡🗡

[Scott Hitchcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 1: 5*'s
Book 2: Even better

When you've been looking forward to a release for forever there's a tendency to set the bar so high there's no way it can live up to expectations. Then there's that rare book that smashes those expectations.

It really is amazing how much ICE has grown as an author. Reading his first book Night of Knives at some point last year his prose was clunky, the story somewhat disjointed but hey it was still the Malazan world. Every book in Empire you could see him grow and yet he never really was at Erikson's level. That's not to say Malazan fans shouldn't read Empire. It's a good but not great series which helps fill in some of SE's brilliant cryptology.

The we get to Path to Ascendency. Dancer's Lament put him on a new plain. Simply a great story and part of that is finally getting the entire backstory of all these iconic characters. But the other part is ICE has arrived as an author. He's not SE nor is he trying to be to his credit. He has his own style and I think he's comfortable with that whereas a few times during Empire I felt he might be too heavily influenced by SE.

To give further context to BotF fans who haven't given ICE a shot this series is superior to Kharkanas. SE has gone too far over the edge with the political and social economic messages in that series and forgotten the story. Still an amazing series but this one has that Malazan feel more than Kharkanas. Yes Kharkanas is the story of the three Tiste tribes but still.

This borders on the edge of the 5 great BotF novels DH, MOI, MT, TBH and TCG. It doesn't have the earth shattering emotional trauma you associate with reading those. This is an exciting tale of conquest and contains hidden secrets of the empire laid out for you.

And then there's the characters. Kellanved, Dancer, Dassem, Surly, Tayschrenn, Crust, Urko, Nightchill, Obo, Agayla............and a host of other hidden for you to find out about.

Those last 100 pages were one hell of a convergence.

[TS Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deadhouse Landing was another fantastic novel in this prequel trilogy of two of the most notorious characters from the Malazan series.

This sequel continued to expand on the origins story of Dancer and Kellanved, by bringing us to the infamous Malaz Island - where it all began. For readers of Malazan, some of the names in the Dramatis Personae were enough to make one incredibly excited for what's in store. It was so hard for me to write this review without giving away even the smallest detail, which might diminish the impact of the "Aha!" or the "OMG, it is HIM/HER!" moments. These names alone aren't actually spoilers in its truest sense. Nonetheless, my take is that a Malazan fan will derive more delight from reading these prequel books without prior knowledge of whom among the Old Guard might be featured.

The bond between Dancer and Kellanved grew stronger in this instalment; it was heartwarming to see how protective the former can be over the latter, who can be downright infuriating with his obscure, shadowy schemes. Their story was told from only Dancer's POV so far and it remained so in this book, ever keeping the mage an enigma. As Kellanved pursued his path to power with Dancer in tow and causing disturbances among the Warrens, the assassin's prowess and growing notoriety attracted the attention of another highly talented and dangerous individual. I literally bolted up when this person's name was first revealed as it did not appear in the Dramatis Personae. The other main POVs aside from Dancer, were of two mages, a naval captain and a swordsman. Take a guess if you would like to, but I would mention no more.

As with all Malazan novels, intricate politics and war were always brewing somewhere. However, compared to the larger series, the narrative in this trilogy had been far simpler to comprehend. Esslemont's writing managed to achieve a remarkable balance to the tone of the story. It was grim, epic and, most oddly, fun at the same time. I had bestowed many superlative compliments to the Malazan series, but fun was never one of them, until now. One example was how Kellanved got his name. While Dancer had a touchingly poignant story behind his, the Dal Honese mage's one was most random and hilarious.

The ending chapters recalled that familiar epic feel of Malazan novels, where powerful coruscating Warren magic and astonishing mastery of martial/fighting skills melded to produce a rousing and intense climactic sequence. As a whole, Deadhouse Landing rounded up some of the earlier significant events (and its main characters) in the history of the Malazan Empire, as well as shed a tiny bit of light on the Azath.  Just on these points alone, I would probably have awarded this book 5-stars.  Coupled with the effortless writing that Esslemont has blessed these books with, it was simply a joy to read. Another favourite Malazan novel, and potentially a favourite trilogy.

You can order this book from: Book Depository (Free shipping worldwide)

You can also find this and my other reviews at Novel Notions.

[Bookwraiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths.

Deadhouse Landing is the second installment of Ian C. Esslemont’s Path to Ascendancy trilogy; this series set prior to the events in Steven Erikson’s The Malazan Book of the Fallen and Esslemont’s Malazan Empire. Never having read any of the Malazan books before receiving a review copy of this novel from the publisher, I immediately procured a copy of Dancer’s Lament, dove right in, and found myself quickly immersed in a massive, beautifully complex world.

This book picks up directly after the events of Dancer’s Lament with Dancer the assassin and his mysterious companion Wu the mage finding themselves cast upon new shores and in a new city — Malaz City to be exact. Wu quickly informs Dancer they will be continuing their plot for world domination, purchases a run-down bar in the worst part of town as their new base of operations, hires Napan refugees to run the place, then wanders off on a strange, personal quest to explore a long forgotten and dissolving realm of magic. Dancer, of course, is thus left alone to make a string of head-scratching decisions which lead to less than satisfactory results.

For a Malazan noob like me, Dancer’s Lament and Deadhouse Landing were my first introduction to this world, these characters. Not sure if that makes my experience with this novel better or worse, but I can truthfully say I went into the story with no expectations, having no idea what becomes of these characters in the future novels. But this clean slate allowed me to learn about everyone introduced here, grow to like them for who they now are, and slowly grow fond of the sprawling world that they live in. And it was this amazing introduction and the fact I felt I was truly beginning my journey at the beginning with these characters that was the best part of the novel for me personally.

The one element of the narrative I struggled with was the overwhelming number of point-of-view characters. All these different people are introduced, cross paths with one another at one point or another, then exit off stage. I’ve read that many of these individuals are characters of importance in the other Malazan books, which meant frequent readers already knew and had an attachment for them, but I personally struggled at times to keep all of them straight in my memory, not able to appreciate the name dropping and foreshadowing of future events.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel, finding it a very interesting story with a number of approachable characters and a great introduction to the Malazan world. I can’t say if long time Malazan fans will appreciate the book as much as I did, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say they would enjoy it as well.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank them for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadhouse Landing, second book in Path to Ascendancy series and sequel to magnificent Dancer’s Lament, managed to stay a good book (not as good as the first one, sadly) despite constantly being tripped by none other but author himself.

The story starts not long after misadventure in Li Heng happened, where Wu and Dorin, now Kelanved and Dancer, were thrown away from after their disastrous attempt on usurping the throne, which leads them running with a tail between their legs, to a familiar surroundings – Malaz City.
And in it, Kelanved storms headfast into a myriad of questionable decisions.

No, it’s not just the fact how he heedlessly explores broken, long forgotten and dissolving into chaos itself, magic realm all by himself – which, of course, leads Dancer to feel worried and being left out – but he buys a stinky, s*ithole tavern, filed with Napan refugees. And on top of that, he spends their lifesavings onto buying a ship for those same Napan refugees. Ship which is, of course, cursed.
In the spare time, and when he remembers to include Dancer, together they explore realm of Shadow.

And, oh yes, they never worked more as a couple than they did in this book. Which is really great since in their history (or more likely future since main series happens later on) they were shown as partners with a similar agenda and the same goal, and it happens how they simply have to learn to coexist.
Here, in this book, Ian made an effort to show us how they actually care for one another, and I think this is my biggest impression of the book:
Kelanved and Dancer’s relationship build up.

What about those Napans? Who and what…?
Napans are Civil War refugees, naval/pirate crew stranded on main rival’s territory, accompanied with exiled Napan royalty. It’s more than obvious that they plan revenge. Revenge for which they need a ship, no matter how daunting and cursed that ‘floating bucket’ actually is. Since that ship is just one wave from sinking, they have to work in a tavern, run by Kelanved.
What kind of work? Well…

Tattersail, my most beloved mage in the main series, once was - would you believe that - a main captain of the pirate crew with her strike force of three ships (much like Columbus's trio Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina).
But instead in service of exploration they are fat barques armed with siege catapults, onagers and blazing, monstrous, cannons: Insufferable, Intolerable and Insolent.
And yes, we have a great naval battle. Where we realize cannons are futile when Sail is on board.

I was actually so glad I could read about her past, that I am quite prone to forgive her companion’s, Admiral Mock’s, utter one-dimensionality of the character, spattered with various pirate clichés, which basically served more to signify Sail’s personal, and prepare her future story, than to tell their combine efforts of “Bony & Clyde meets Romancing the Stone” kinda narrative.
That’s a pity, I believe we had something there, but I’ll pretend how I understand why Ian did this. (Not to mention how I’m probably the only one who wished for that kind of plot in Malazan books.)

One more new (old) face we see is Tayschreen.
If Tattersail was my favorite mage in the main series, than Tayschreen in it was her polar opposite.
Here, however, he is one of my favorite characters. Which basically means how even greatest bastards once were good kids you could actually understand and possibly root for.
(OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves)
There isn’t much of him in this book, so I’ll refrain myself from spoiling something. I’ll just say that he was the second most tragic character in Deadhouse Landing.

Which leads me to most tragic character: Dassem Ultor.
Have I ever mentioned that Dessembrae is my favorite character in all Malazan books? No.
Well, those of you who’ve read main series know exactly why he is my favorite character.
Those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about – that’s great.
That’s how it should be.

In all seriousness. At the beginning we find Dassem in plagued city Li Heng, still as a Knight of High House Death and its First Sword, taking the knee and for the first time asking something of his God, Hood. He asks him to spare someone’s life.
Now, inability to apprehend lack of omnipotence of his God, and failing to understand how his powers do (not) work in its core, he resigns from his post and seeks refuge somewhere else. Yes, Malaz City.

When it comes to nostalgia, as well as discovering, explaining and reminding of those things that were once known but now strangely forgotten – this book gets an A. 5 out of 5.
But when it comes to structural narrative, characters, story and plot – it’s much less stellar.

Unlike the previous book, Dancer’s Lament, this one has far more POV characters. And although stories in which we are following all of them is mostly occurring in one place, Malaz City, there are few excursions out of that place, on the open sea, in previous setting Li Heng, as well as another cognitive realm of existence.
And strangely this brings a pacing issue.

One character barefoot comes to Malaz City from another continent, a naval battle is being prepared and it happens - all while two characters are spending most of their time in another realm without any water or food to sustain them.
Now, these are not glaringly obvious problems, but I wished, here and there, a simple sentence explained better how much time is in-between all these occurrences.

And as I’ve mentioned, there are characters in this book that are simply - there. Doing nothing of significance. Even when they storm a Hold. And reading Malazan book, having that is really strange, because you got used to paying close attention especially to those seemingly insignificant characters, least you miss some big revelation. So having an insignificant character ending up to be indeed insignificant is something to get used to.

Similar thing bogs even main characters Dancer and Kelanved. 70% of the book and much of their story consists of strolling around a wasteland, running from Hounds, experiencing very little.
There would be much more complaining if their banters, humor and surprisingly warmth and emotion weren’t so highlighted and well delivered.
Sure, last one hundred pages are great. But book isn’t just its last one hundred pages.

Overall, in the end, when I start dissecting and nitpicking to see if the sum of positives is bigger than that of negatives, I did came to a conclusion: yes, most definitely, yes. This is a good book and great addition in the series overall.



2.83/5

Path to Ascendancy series:
Dancer's Lament

Kharkanas series:
Forge of Darkness
Fall of Light

Ultimate Malazan Chronological Reading Order

[Mpauli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book clearly dedicated to Malazan aficionados.

Once again we're following the duo of Wu and Dancer and see their first steps on Malaz Island.
We also see a lot of the people that will become important players within the Empire.
We learn about the relationship of Surly with her Nappan crew including Cartheron and Urko Crust.
We learn of Dassem Ultor and how he became the Mortal Sword of Hood.
We learn of Tayschrenn and his days on Kartool as a priest of D'rek.
We learn of Tattersail and her life in Mock's hold, while Mock is still alive.
We learn of a few of the people who will later oppose the Malzan Empire.
We learn of some elder gods and ascendants who always mingle behind everyone's back.

And we all learn this in a rather short entry of the Malazan world, as the book doesn't even reach the 400 page mark.
I really enjoy Esslemont's approach with his Path to Ascendancy series. There's a lot of name dropping and foreshadowing (no pun intended :P) if you know your Malazan. But overall the series is very focused and straight-forward, which makes it a bit more approachable compared to his and Erikson's larger tomes.
So for the die hard fan of the Malazan world this is an enjoyable must-read as it puts a lot of puzzle pieces together. For non-Malazan readers though, this will be a book and maybe even a series with way less appeal, because you miss out on a lot of the little fist-bump moments.

[Michael Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I really have to say is....wow. I almost, ALMOST prefer this series to the BotF. It’s not nearly as epic, but it’s much more....enjoyable, if that’s the right word. His writing style is much “tighter” than SE, by that I mean he doesn’t have these inner philosophical musings that SE tends to ramble on. I absolutely LOVED BotF, but I love this series, so far, for different reasons.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. ICE even made me like Tayschren - who I never liked at all in the main series. A few small things bugged me where the timeline doesn't really gel with the rest of the series (like WhiskeyJack being there at the beginning of the empire), but the series is riddled with issues like that so I'm willing to let it go.

I have seen others complaining that the series is too simplistic and not as detailed as the main series - I totally disagree. I love that this series isn't majorly complicated and there aren't superfluous characters and overly long political rants.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite Esslemont work of fiction to date. His pacing and prose have certainly improved over time from his earlier days. When you read Gardens of the Moon you are of course made to feel like you've landed in the middle of something that has been going for a long time. This book is something of a reward to long-time readers, letting us in the inner-circle finally get to know things we've been wanting to know for years. How characters met, how plans formed, and an entertaining, action-packed, book to boot.

[RuinEleint · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb follow up to Dancer's Lament.

This book does an outstanding job of introducing the "Old Guard". Readers also receive some much yearned for insight into the abilities of our two primary protagonists. A whole host of new characters are introduced. The storytelling is just as good, if not better as the first book.

The next book cannot come fast enough.

[Kaminsod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelent follow up to a book which was already great on its own!

But I have to say, after reading this, Dancer's Lament feels like a prologue - this is where the real story starts. Path to Ascendancy is shaping up to be Esslemont's best work by far. He just knows how to write Kellanved and Dancer, he mixes the humor and serious scenes amazingly well and somehow he manages to work with so many easter eggs etc without making the story feel too predictible.

These novels are by far the simpliest Malazan books out there I would say, they have much lower stakes, the themes are not as strong there, but they add so much to the worldbuilding and they are extremely entertaining. Plus, this one felt much better structured and paced than the first one and Esslemont really surprised me with how well he handled a different versions of characters we know from the main series - especially Surly!

My only concern is, that there is still so much story to tell and from what I have heard, Kellanved's Reach should conclude the Kellanved/Dancer plotline of this series... so I am a bit affraid the pacing of that novel is going to be too much. But for now all I can say is, that this was an amazing read. 9/10!

[Raffaello · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was no longer just the two of them. Things would be much more complicated.

Com'è clientelare questo Kellanved...un servizio per un servizio...ma le fondamenta dell'impero vanno costruendosi.

Peice of art della produzione di Esselmont, questo Deadhouse landing mi è entrato nel cuore fin dall'inizio, fin dalla scoperta della quinta entro cui muovono i passi i nostri eroi...finalmente Malaz Island. A onor del vero non tutti i filoni narrativi si concludono con i fuochi artificiali sperati, ma questo è voler essere proprio pignoli. Il libro scorre che è un piacere. La nostra coppia preferita da vita a conversazioni tutte da gustare e poi ci sono le new entry. Surly, e Tayschreen su tutti (sono molto contento che Esselmont abbia dato il meritato spazio a quest'ultimo. È sempre stato un personaggio poco sfruttato da Erikson, e mi ha sempre intrigato) ma ce ne sono molti altri...diciamo che ce n'è per tutti i gusti. Scoprire la storia di figure leggendarie del mondo Malazan è quel che cerco da un prequel e questa serie di libri (path of ascendancy) non si limita al compitino e lascia definitivamente alle spalle gli inciampi narrativi dei primi libri di Esselmont. Ottimo lavoro Ian.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟

This series is really rounding into form. Phenomenal so far. Humorous tone, many major character origin stories, cut throat action, and epic mage battles. A must read for Malazan fans.

Book 1: Dancers Lament 5🌟
Book 3: Kellanved's Reach 2.5🌟

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esslemont has really evolved as a writer. This book was fantastic. It had a lot of things I never realised I wanted. Dancer and Kellanved forays into Warrens; how did so many of the characters meet; how did the Malazan Empire start to form? There were so many characters from Book of the Fallen that it was a delight to see their much younger selves. Esselmont was able to cleverly weave a tale and allow us to see glimpses of the characters we know from previous books.

I made it. I'm as up to date on Malazan as I can be. It's taken me two years and two months to say that. A special thank you to my fellow buddy readers. Samir, who started this journey with me. I loved our discussions. To Miche, who kept me going for the last 12 months. You helped me get through the bulk of the series. To Scott, who has a wonderful Malazan brain, that kept me going through the whole series, with his knowledge and theories. I couldn't have done it without you guys.

[CHIP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esslemont and Erikson are just built different authors. Everyone else in fantasy should take notes.

[Lady*M · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+ stars

Everyone who has read Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen knows the story of Dancer and Kellanved, two friends who started the Empire in a pub and, later, went on to usurp the throne of the House of Shadow, reaching ascendancy.

I compared previous book, Dancer's Lament, to the first grade period. We are well past that in this one. We watch as Kellanved takes giant steps in conquering the Warren of Meanas and creating the ripples which attract attention of the magical world while Dancer's prowess with knives attracts attention of this-worldly heroes and villains. Together with the Deadhouse in Malaz City, they act as a maelstrom that slowly but surely pulls all the players of the future Malazan Empire together: from Dassem to Surly, from Tayschrenn to Opal, you name them, they are here in some capacity.

But, more than all the connections, beautiful Easter eggs , lovely character moments for Kellanved and Dancer, this book is so much fun. And, more importantly, it seems that Esslemont had a lot of fun too as this just might be one of his best books I have read. The novel has incredible pace and Esslemont writes with remarkable assuredness I don't think we have seen from him before. I firmly believe that any fan of Malazan world will find great enjoyment in Deadhouse Landing and I hope that Esslemont will consider expanding the trilogy. I don't need everything explained to me, far from it, but it seems impossible to me to even hit the major story points of Kellanved's conquests in a single book. But, who knows, maybe ICE will surprise me again.

Highly recommended.

[Krell75 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dopo secoli e numerosi tentativi falliti di accedervi, l'attesa della Casa della Morte è forse giunta al termine.

Dancer e Kellanved dopo aver lasciato la città di Li Heng giungono a Malaz, isola dei pirati, per progredire nel tortuoso e folle piano del mago dell'Ombra. Una convergenza di poteri è in arrivo e
un gruppo di personalità che cambieranno le sorti del mondo sta per riunirsi.

Un ottimo secondo romanzo, pieno di azione e misteri, piani all'apparenza oscuri ed eventi stupefacenti, degni della saga Malazan dei Caduti, si chiudono in un intreccio ben calibrato e avvincente.

Come da tradizione Malazan alcuni personaggi secondari sono solo accennati e alcuni eventi che appaiono nella storia non sono del tutto chiari, tutto normale, il mondo Malazan non è famoso per spiegare tutto subito, è la sua caratteristica e marchio di fabbrica. Sicuramente un particolare sarà accennato da qualche personaggio da qualche parte tra i libri della saga e darà la risposta capace di dipanare il dubbio. (esiste anche una wiki apposta).

Per un lettore digiuno della saga principale questo porterà confusione o semplicemente reputerà alcuni eventi risolti con un deus ex machina o magari senza senso. Per un veterano sarà una sfida a capire il perchè, chi o cosa lo ha risolto ed allora l'entusiasmo sale alle stelle.
Sta tutto nell'approccio e nella personale esperienza e conoscenza del mondo Malazan.

Tra Dei Antichi, Azath, Ascendenti, Guardiani, Spade Mortali e Campioni, Canali e Antiche Fortezze, maghi del mare, assassini, pirati e Segugi dell'Ombra e Cavalieri del Mare sarà difficile annoiarsi. Buona lettura.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been reading some of the reviews of this novel, and I can’t but wonder whether I’m reading the same book. One review in particular struck me. The author feels that Esslemont has only grown as a writer and that this entry in the series is his best work yet.

I couldn’t disagree more.

In fact, I just finished a section where the author told us (secondhand, no less) what he most definitely should have shown us – how Dassem became Hood’s Mortal Sword. It comes as an awkward, ill-timed info dump that ends with a sex scene (thankfully cut off at the first kiss, leaving the rest of the encounter to the reader’s imagination).

Not to say that ICE isn’t a competent writer. I give him credit for some effective, atmospheric passages when he’s writing about Himatan and the physical and mental price it exacts from anyone entering it in his earlier novels, but I find his writing doesn’t excite me because none of his characters have yet to come alive to me the way Tavore, Trull or Tattersail (all too briefly) did in The Book of the Fallen.

I’ll probably still give this book three stars as I’ve done for the Crimson Guard/Malazan Empire novels and for this one’s predecessor, Dancer's Lament, but they’re really only coming up to 2.5 stars, if I were being more objective.

[R Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn these go to quick.
I think I’m going to have to reread everything for a real fix 💜

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, not surprisingly, I gave this 5 stars. It was great second installment of this prequel trilogy, which is doing an amazing job of showing the founding of the Malazan Empire.

It’s so very cool getting see young Dancer and Kelanved and Dassem come together in these books. Some pretty great cameos too with other well-known Malazan stars. Any fans of this world have to read these books

[Adam Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Empires are usually born from great deeds and mighty events, order and victories rather than chaos and shadows. But a new power now stands on the brink of realisation. A crew of renegade Napans have washed ashore on remote Malaz Island and formed an alliance of convenience with a mad mage and an assassin. From the mainland comes a swordsman without equal. On neighbouring Kartool Island a high priest in the cult of D'rek is betrayed and seeks a new home where he can belong. Great powers are drawn to Malaz City, where a new empire will be born when it is least expected and, at its heart, lies the mysterious ruin known as the Deadhouse.

Dancer's Lament, the first novel in the Path to Ascendancy series, introduced the characters of Wu and Dorin, whom history will remember as Kellanved and Dancer, Ammanas and Cotillion, Shadowthrone and the Rope. That book chronicled their first meeting, their first acquaintance with Dassem Ultor, the Mortal Sword of Hood, and their first explorations of the mysterious Realm of Shadow. Deadhouse Landing is its direct sequel but in many respects is the book that I think more established Malazan fans were expecting first time out.

Deadhouse Landing is, simply put, the story of how Kellanved and Dancer recruited their "old guard" of friends and allies and took control of Malaz Island. It turns out this was less pre-planned than previous novels indicated, with Kellanved and Dancer's rise to power emerging from a sequence of improvisations, holding actions and comedies of error, most of them stemming from the idiocy of those who try to oppose them.

This is, remarkably, a slightly shorter book than Dancer's Lament (already one of the shortest books in the Malazan canon) but one that has a much bigger cast. As well as Dancer and Kellanved, the book focuses on the Napan refugees led by Princess Sureth (now reduced to a reluctant barmaid named Surly), Dassem Ultor's journey from Li Heng to Malaz City via a chance meeting with the Seguleh, the misadventures of the priest Tayschrenn in Kartool and the long-suffering indulgences of Tattersail, the mage-mistress of Mock. These are all major figures from the Malazan novels, legends we meet now in their younger days when they were far less wise, less seasoned and more human. We also see some pretty major events alluded to in later books, such as Kellanved's first entry to the Malaz Deadhouse and the running battles through the streets of the city with various criminal gangs.

These struggles in the Malaz City criminal underworld feel a bit overindulged, but at the end of the book makes it clear why we are spending so much time with these knife-hands and thugs, as many of them also show up in Steven Erikson's novels (particularly the early ones), almost all under different names.

Prequels can often feel creatively stifled, the author stymied by the import of actually depicting events which later books talk about as hushed legends. Esslemont has no such reluctance here. Instead, as with Dancer's Lament, this book fairly overflows with enthusiasm and energy. We lose the tight focus of the earlier novel on just three core characters, with the story rotating through a larger number of characters, with less time for each one. But Esslemont makes this work with short and punchy chapters which relate the story with relentless inevitability.

The book doesn't have too many weaknesses. One Malazan fan-favourite villain shows up but doesn't really accomplish anything. His story feels like it could have been dropped in favour of more focus on one of the other storylines, but then this isn't a long book and his total number of pages in the novel isn't very high. Others may complain that too many characters in this book show up to be previously-established Malazan characters from the chronologically later novels, but then that's kind of the point. These are the events that drew the "old guard" and many other famous faces together, so that's less of a bug and more of a feature.

Ultimately, Deadhouse Landing (****½) is another tight and enjoyable read, all the best for its focus and short length even as it describes the mighty events that shaped the Malazan Empire. It builds on the very fine foundation stones laid by Dancer's Lament. It is available now (UK, USA). The third book in the Path to Ascendancy series has the working title Kellanved's Reach and should be out in late 2018 or early 2019.

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as stunning as the first book, but still very enjoyable. It remains fascinating too see the world of the Malazan Book of the Fallen come together in these early days.

I also only now realised that this isn't a trilogy, but that there are several more books coming!

[Tom Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it - just a whole lot of Malazan fun that sucked me in and left me wanting more. It almost seems like Erikson feels free to do his ancient history thing because he knows the most popular part of the series is still being written about and I for one am delighted they are. They've created a sufficiently rich world that while I know how this part is going to turn out, there's a lot of detail i want to see filled in rather than my usual apathy towards a prequel series. The cynic in me might wonder if there weren't too many of the famous names turning up in one book, but they became famous because of the events these books are following so it's hardly a great complaint. Total book hangover when I finished too so it's lucky I've already got book 3 downloaded.

[Fernando Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selo Malazano 5 estrelas de qualidade.

O único ruim do livro é só ter 380 páginas. Eu quero mais! Mais OLD GUARD, please!

[BJ Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

--2021 Update--
I absolutely loved this book the first time through, but the third in the series had not yet been released. I finally got around to putting my hands on a copy of that third book, so I figured I would give this one another read before tackling Kellenved's Reach. I have to say, it was just as good the second time around. This book is an origin story for so many of the characters we have come to know and love (or hate) in Erickson's Malazan series. However, I think this is one of those few times where you do not want to read the books in chronological order. All of the name drops and character reveals here would, imho, mean so much less if you were not already familiar with them from Erickson's Malazan and Esslemont's Crimson Guard series.
--- End Update---

Wow. It's almost December and I think I have just finished the best work of fiction I have read this year. This book is just that good. Seriously.

In the original Malazan series, we see a world that has a rich backstory spanning eons of time and multiple continents all with a full rich history. Outside of Tolkien, I do not think there exists a fantasy world as deep and full as these two authors (Esslemont and Erikson) have created. When the first book was read there was a queen of an ever-expanding empire who had many years earlier planned and carried out a coup on two others who in turn ascended to become the god of shadow and the patron of assassins.

This series tells us of the early history of these two future gods and also how that empire came to be. The first book, Dancer's Lament gives us their background and how the two came to so closely work together. This second book brings the two to Malazan and shows how many of the great, tragic heroes of the early empire were assembled around the two. For any fan of Malazan, this is not just a good read, it is a must-read. You will not only see one great hero after another come on to the scene, but you will get glimpses into their early personality which will help explain some of the character traits and decisions they made in earlier books (which occur much later in life). This book flows so seamlessly into the established storyline and world that it almost seems as though everything else was written knowing that this book was coming. Bravo ICE, you have blown away my already incredibly high expectations. Now, how long must I wait for the final installment in this trilogy?

[Federica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, Ian, not bad.
Rispetto al primo volume, tornano le linee narrative molteplici spostando l'attenzione da Dancer e Kellanved soltanto alla loro "famiglia" che conosciamo bene dalla saga principale.

Qualcosa che mi piacerebbe vedere nell'ultimo libro è il punto di vista del nostro mago preferito, per ora descritto solo da terzi occhi.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid sequel to Esslemont's wonderful Dancer's Lament.

What stands out here is the cast of characters. While the first book in this series gave us the earliest glimpses of a small but important group of characters we'd recognize from Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, this book really doubles down on that and introduces the reader to virtually everyone else. From the time the reader sees the dramatis personae, the book is really exciting and compelling.

I don't think that excitement is ever lost. This is especially because there are a few characters who aren't listed on the dramatis personae. One reason for this is a technique that Esslemont unfortunately overuses: characters will introduce themselves as something we don't recognize, and then someone else will declare that they need a new name and then re-name them... with a name that is very familiar to the reader. This move loses its force after applications in this rather short book.

I was rather pleased and certainly very surprised to see that there was a Malazan book that clocks in under four-hundred pages. One of the best things about Deadhouse Landing is that it ends before the reader can get tired of it.

But there is still a lot of the book that could be, and should have been, cut. In fact, this is my central issue with the book. While I loved the characters, the plot was overwrought -- which is saying something because this book is quite short. I think that Esslemont should have cut whole sub-arcs in the story. There are times when characters are on their way to do something, get distracted for many pages, and then go resume that thing. Just cut out the distraction. It added nothing -- and, even worse, detracted from the main plot of going to do something. It felt like Esslemont thought the book had to be longer than it was, which I don't think was the case at all.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any fan of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.