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Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book 2)
Brand New. Will be shipped from US.
- GenresFantasyEpic Fantasy
960 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published November 27, 2001
About the author
Steven Erikson
137 books15.5k followersSteven 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...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 19, 2025
So well written. Even though war and grimdark subjects aren't really my jam, this book was REALLY good. And sad. So much devastation it made my heart hurt. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is an accurate name for this series. Coltain is a legend. Oooooooh the Council. Korbolo Dom. Nethpara, Pormqual. Mallick Rel. There are just some people who deserve to die. And some people deserve to live. It's not fair. This whole book. Excuse me while I go process...
March 8, 2026
Deadhouse Gates does what Steven Erikson claims Gardens of the Moon does- it drops you in the middle of the action and asks you to figure it out as you read. Where its predecessor left me feeling confused and, quite frankly, a little uncaring of the misfortunes that befell the main characters, Deadhouse Gates has an engaging plot and benefits from the hard yards readers put in getting through Gardens of the Moon.
There are four key storylines that underpin Deadhouse Gates. First is the journey of Felisin Paran, younger sister of Ganoes who we left in Genabackis. Felisin has been cast into slavery by her elder sister, Tavore, as part of Tavore’s attempt to demonstrate her loyalty to Empress Laseen. Her tale begins with her being chained to an ex-priest of Fener, Heboric and a thug named Baudin. From there she undergoes a bloody and brutal journey through the streets of the Malazan capital, Unta, and to a slave encampment among the Seven Cities.
The Seven Cities is the setting for much of the novel. It’s also where Crokus, Apsalar, Kalam and Fiddler have ended up after their journey from Genabackis. Crokus and Apsalar seek out Apsalar’s home and father but Kalam and Fiddler have an additional motive for accompanying the young pair- to hunt down the empress herself. As they make their way across the Seven Cities continent they get caught up in a rebellion led by the seer Sha’ik. The bloody conflict that follows sees the Malaz 7th Army, led by the Wickan general Coltaine and accompanied by imperial historian Duiker, escort a refugee train of 30,000 for several months across the Seven Cities plains and deserts enduring endless assaults from Seven Cities armies and remote horse tribes alike.
Meanwhile the Jhag known as Icarium- who built the time-measuring device we saw in Darujhistan- and his Trell companion Mappo, explore the Seven Cities in search of Icarium’s memories. Throughout it all, the characters journeys intersect one another as they get closer to what they seek.
Each one of these plot lines makes for interesting reading, even though the trek off the 7th Army across the continent came become a little repetitive. After a while the different battles began to blur in my memory- although arguably that was Erikson’s intent. The trek timelines also became a little uneven. The first half seemed to go on for months, while a similar distance covered in the second half, according to the books maps at any rate, took about a week. It’s almost as if Erikson realised things were taking too long so he rushed through the end. The spelling of places and geographic features in the maps is also sometimes different from their equivalents in the main text, which is mildly annoying.
I enjoyed watching there characters change as they faced their challenges. While some of the changes were quite overt and obvious- e.g. the peculiar physical transformations undergone by a coast guard trio- others, such as historian Duiker’s slow numbing to violence are gradual and subtle. Unfortunately, Felisin and Apsalar end up in very similar places and develop similar voices.
What Erikson does well in Deadhouse Gates is draw the curtain that little wider on the world in which he has set his novels. The whole thing comes together quite well and, after my interest was flagging after Gardens of the Moon, I’m interested to see how the story grows from here.
There are four key storylines that underpin Deadhouse Gates. First is the journey of Felisin Paran, younger sister of Ganoes who we left in Genabackis. Felisin has been cast into slavery by her elder sister, Tavore, as part of Tavore’s attempt to demonstrate her loyalty to Empress Laseen. Her tale begins with her being chained to an ex-priest of Fener, Heboric and a thug named Baudin. From there she undergoes a bloody and brutal journey through the streets of the Malazan capital, Unta, and to a slave encampment among the Seven Cities.
The Seven Cities is the setting for much of the novel. It’s also where Crokus, Apsalar, Kalam and Fiddler have ended up after their journey from Genabackis. Crokus and Apsalar seek out Apsalar’s home and father but Kalam and Fiddler have an additional motive for accompanying the young pair- to hunt down the empress herself. As they make their way across the Seven Cities continent they get caught up in a rebellion led by the seer Sha’ik. The bloody conflict that follows sees the Malaz 7th Army, led by the Wickan general Coltaine and accompanied by imperial historian Duiker, escort a refugee train of 30,000 for several months across the Seven Cities plains and deserts enduring endless assaults from Seven Cities armies and remote horse tribes alike.
Meanwhile the Jhag known as Icarium- who built the time-measuring device we saw in Darujhistan- and his Trell companion Mappo, explore the Seven Cities in search of Icarium’s memories. Throughout it all, the characters journeys intersect one another as they get closer to what they seek.
Each one of these plot lines makes for interesting reading, even though the trek off the 7th Army across the continent came become a little repetitive. After a while the different battles began to blur in my memory- although arguably that was Erikson’s intent. The trek timelines also became a little uneven. The first half seemed to go on for months, while a similar distance covered in the second half, according to the books maps at any rate, took about a week. It’s almost as if Erikson realised things were taking too long so he rushed through the end. The spelling of places and geographic features in the maps is also sometimes different from their equivalents in the main text, which is mildly annoying.
I enjoyed watching there characters change as they faced their challenges. While some of the changes were quite overt and obvious- e.g. the peculiar physical transformations undergone by a coast guard trio- others, such as historian Duiker’s slow numbing to violence are gradual and subtle. Unfortunately, Felisin and Apsalar end up in very similar places and develop similar voices.
What Erikson does well in Deadhouse Gates is draw the curtain that little wider on the world in which he has set his novels. The whole thing comes together quite well and, after my interest was flagging after Gardens of the Moon, I’m interested to see how the story grows from here.
May 17, 2026
People told me that once you walk the Chain of Dogs, you'll either put this series down or finish it, and 10 years ago I put it down. This time, don't know what it is, but it hit me like a train and I'm hooked, I have to read more.
The depth of characterization here is stunning, and with such a wide breadth of characters too. I don't know what it is yet about the world setting that is so compelling, but I have such questions and curiosity.
There is a scene near the end of the book, a long await confrontation, and I was so unprepared for the resolution of the scene that I had to pull out a notebook and write down my thoughts, then read it again and again. What I thought was the author's inconsistency turned out to be one of the most well thought out internal motivations of a villain I've ever come across.
Erikson's battle writing is second to none in my opinion. I would have liked the inclusion of some maps of the battles for clarity's sake, but the in-situ descriptions of the battles are fascinating to behold.
All of this to say, the sense of the world, the motivations of the characters, and the wonderful writing have given this series a sense of verisimilitude I've never encountered before, even in Tolkien. I'm converted.
The depth of characterization here is stunning, and with such a wide breadth of characters too. I don't know what it is yet about the world setting that is so compelling, but I have such questions and curiosity.
There is a scene near the end of the book, a long await confrontation, and I was so unprepared for the resolution of the scene that I had to pull out a notebook and write down my thoughts, then read it again and again. What I thought was the author's inconsistency turned out to be one of the most well thought out internal motivations of a villain I've ever come across.
Erikson's battle writing is second to none in my opinion. I would have liked the inclusion of some maps of the battles for clarity's sake, but the in-situ descriptions of the battles are fascinating to behold.
All of this to say, the sense of the world, the motivations of the characters, and the wonderful writing have given this series a sense of verisimilitude I've never encountered before, even in Tolkien. I'm converted.
August 3, 2025
This book unfolds at a leisurely pace, which can make it challenging to follow early on. The shift away from key characters from Gardens and the introduction of entirely new ones creates a crowded cast and a tangle of storylines that feel overwhelming at first. However, the narrative gradually finds its footing, gaining focus as it progresses. The story telling could still be better 3/5
July 8, 2025
A wonderful distraction marred by typos that spellcheck could not detect (form/from, out/our). An extra set of eyes from a human editor would have helped here.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews