The Crippled God

Malazan Book of the Fallen #10

by Steven Erikson

Savaged by the K'Chain Nah'Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods - if her own troops don't kill her first.

Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal.

In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.

Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will rise as a force of devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world.

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

908 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2011

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

[Petrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic, masterful, and scintillating in every sense of these words; The Crippled God is an unforgettable magnum opus that concludes Steven Erikson’s genre-defining series: Malazan Book of the Fallen.

11,216 pages (Bantam paperback edition) and 3.3 million words read in exactly two months and two weeks; I’m done, it’s finally over. The entire ten-volume of Malazan Book of the Fallen has been in my TBR pile for almost two years long, and now it has been read, dusted and shelved. Erikson has raised the benchmark for Epic/military fantasy ridiculously high with what he created in this series. Together with Wrath by John Gwynne and Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb, The Crippled God stands among the top of the best final book of a series I’ve ever read, and there’s a definite probability that it will always stay on that list.

"I have enjoyed our long conversation. What's three and a half million words between friends?" – Steven Erikson

Where do I even begin? Is it even possible for anyone to write a review that can give the series the justice it deserves? I know I can’t. Alas, a review must be written; I’ll try to keep it as short as possible. Having slept on it and waking up thinking about it, I’ve come to realize that I probably will never encounter another fantasy series as complex and massive in scope like this series. Erikson’s achievement in writing Malazan Book of the Fallen and completing the massive series in the span of twelve years deserves a standing ovation from the entire SFF community. Accompanying demonic ambition, writing speed, dedication, and hard work, Erikson has created a series brimming with stellar content that can last a lifetime; I can already envision that rereading the series will be immensely rewarding.

The Crippled God is the tenth and the final book in the highly acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen series and if you’re reading this review, you probably already know that the finale of the series itself was divided into two books, Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God. I personally think that it was unnecessary to divide the finale into two books. Erikson put everything I disliked about the series into Dust of Dreams and everything I loved about the series into The Crippled God. The result? Dust of Dreams became my least favorite book of the series and The Crippled God became one of my absolute favorite books of the series; I loved it as much as I loved Memories of Ice and The Bonehunters. Erikson has successfully delivered an extremely rewarding experience to readers who managed to commit and complete reading the series.

Excluding the close to pointless Snake plotline, I thoroughly enjoyed reading every single page of this book. The build-up, the characters’ development, the world-building, and the themes that ran throughout the entire series came to an explosive denouement. The refrains of sacrifice, an orchestra of bittersweet poignancy, impactful themes of faith, despair, redemption, regret, compassion, loyalty, honor, resilience, and friendship; all of these collaborate to give the unwitnessed heroic deeds the proper respect they rightfully deserved.

“It is not enough to wish for a better world for the children. It is not enough to shield them with ease and comfort. …if we do not sacrifice our own ease, our own comfort, to make the future's world a better one, then we curse our own children. We leave them a misery they do not deserve; we leave them a host of lessons unearned.”

There were a myriad thought-provoking, inspiring, and resonating philosophical discussions implemented into the story line; combined with the stunningly written act of devastations brought in this last installment, suffice to say that I was repeatedly astonished by Erikson’s tremendous capability as an author. The last two chapters (which lasted approximately 300 pages and took me four hours to read) of The Crippled God were extremely well-written, keeping me on the edge of my seat, and pretty much summed up the best kind of experience that epic fantasy has to offer. Blistering battles for dominance, swirling grief, brutal annihilation, and inescapable casualties from all factions; firestorm, thunderstorm, maelstrom, and many more large-scale action sequences create an exhilarating and emotional cinematic experience. Plus, the accumulation of the tension, build-up, and information that has been established, either explicitly or subtly, throughout the series right from the first installment culminated to bring the most groundbreaking convergence of epic proportions into the last two chapters; it was easily the best climactic sequences of the series and that’s saying a lot.

To choose one or five favorite characters from the series is as difficult as being asked to choose which favorite series you’ll burn. Usually, there are less than ten memorable characters within a single trilogy. For example, if I ask who your favorite characters from Mistborn trilogy are, the answers are almost guaranteed to be Kelsier, Kelsier, Kelsier, Kelsier, Kelsier, and Vin; this won’t happen with this series. There are an incredibly high amount of memorable and pivotal characters that being asked to choose only five favorite characters will be such an unfair task. Characterizations have always been the most important aspect in every single book I read. The series has the biggest cast of characters I’ve ever read by far. I’m not joking, there were more than 300 characters throughout the series to keep track of, the dramatis personae in this final installment alone have 212 characters in it. I won’t lie, the characterizations in the second half of the series suffer a lot in my opinion. Erikson introduced new characters mercilessly and the majority of them sounded the same to me. This was especially true in Reaper’s Gale and Dust of Dreams. Fortunately, Erikson didn’t do this in The Crippled God. Only a few new characters were introduced and they were all fantastic to read. By focusing the storytelling and narrative on characters we’re familiar with, regardless of their quantity, made the characters dynamics, interactions, and dialogues an absolute delight to read.

I don’t have anything left to say regarding the installment, or the series itself except that Erikson’s world-building was unparalleled. In this blazing colossal conclusion, Erikson unleashed all the races throughout the series. The humans, the gods, the ascendants, K’Chain Chemalle, Forkrul Assail, T’lan Imass, Barghast, Tiste Andii, Tiste Liosan, Tiste Edur, Eleint, practically every kind of factions converged. I have never read a series as massive as this one. Every place, buildings, weapons, characters, and locations - all have their own history. Erikson could seriously write about anything in this world and it would still work. That’s how massive and intricate this series is. Right now, the only thing that in my opinion can be compared to Erikson’s world-building skill is Sanderson’s Cosmere universe, but that’s totally different as Sanderson’s Cosmere spans across worlds and many series instead of taking place in a single world as Malazan did.

My advice if you’re new to the series: patience and commitment. Look, there’s no way around it, it doesn’t matter how much you love the series, I guarantee you that these two are necessary. This is especially true in the second half of the series where the scope of the story grew more complex, massive, and difficult than the first half. From my experience, I simply can’t take a break from the series too long otherwise I risk forgetting even more details than I already did; many readers said I finished this series very quickly, I took a one week break twice and even then, I forgot some details already. It’s also impossible to gauge whether you’ll like the series or not just from the first book. My recommendation is this. Give the series a go until Memories of Ice. If upon finishing Memories of Ice you feel the series was just okay, or not suitable to your reading preference, continuing the series from there on will most likely be futile. Memories of Ice is considered by a lot of the fans to be one of the, if not the best installment of the series. However, if you find that you’re blown away already by Gardens of the Moon, you’ll probably experience an escapism fantasy unlike any other.

Picture: The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen. Cover art by Kekai Kotaki.



I didn’t find Malazan Book of the Fallen as flawless—to be fair, no series is ever totally perfect—as what the rabid fans claimed to be. However, despite some issues I had with it, I rank the series as a whole to be my current number one favorite series of all time together with The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne and The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. Don’t make me choose which one I love more, they’re different from each other, and each of them has their own strengths. Brilliantly complex and extremely rewarding in all its might, Malazan Book of the Fallen is a transcending and triumphant genre-defining series, and if you’re an epic fantasy fans, you owe it to yourself to give the series a try. I, as a reader, am genuinely gratified to have read the everlasting adventures penned in Malazan Book of the Fallen. The series and many other incredible series have cemented the fact that epic fantasy, or just fantasy in general, will always be my favorite genre and escapism read.

“And now the page before us blurs.
An age is done. The book must close.
We are abandoned to history.
Raise high one more time the tattered standard
Of the Fallen. See through the drifting smoke
To the dark stains upon the fabric.
This is the blood of our lives, this is the
Payment of our deeds, all soon to be
Forgotten.
We were never what people could be.
We were only what we were.

Remember us.”

Joining many other witnessed and unwitnessed readers, I have unchained the Book of Fallen. It’s your turn to carve the tales of the Fallen to your memory and remember them.

Series review:

Gardens of the Moon: 4/5 stars
Deadhouse Gates: 4.5/5 stars
Memories of Ice: 5/5 stars
House of Chains: 3/5 stars
Midnight Tides: 5/5 stars
The Bonehunters: 5/5 stars
Reaper’s Gale: 4/5 stars
Toll the Hounds: 5/5 stars
Dust of Dreams: 2/5 stars
The Crippled God: 5/5 stars

Malazan Book of the Fallen: 42.5/50 stars

Side note:
Special thanks to my friends, TS and Emma, who listened to my all my theories and ramblings (for better or worse) about the series without giving spoilers or being judgmental. Lastly, I know some of you have asked about the proposal I mentioned in my Gardens of the Moon review. The answer is yes! It won’t be soon, I still have some things to prepare but fingers crossed it will happen next year. For now, let’s just say that the stoppage light has turned green by completing this series. Wish us the best of luck! :)

You can order the book HERE!

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

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

Check out my YouTube channel where I show my instant reactions upon finishing reading fantasy books.

This is the greatest book ever written. A masterpiece in every conceivable way

I'm going to break this review down into two parts. A review of this book in particular, and a review of the series as a whole given this is the last book.

First -- this book. I cannot get over how perfect this book is, and what Steven Erikson has achieved here. All of the events of the previous books culminated into one insane, glorious, over-the-top ending that will likely never be topped by any book ever. This series is known for having the ending of each book be a "convergence" of all the characters in a spectacular finale -- but this book essentially does that from start to finish. And the last few hundred pages of the book in particular is the biggest, grandest, most epic thing ever written. The very end of the book is also done with perfection, which can very rarely be said for fantasy series.

Second -- the series. This book cements for me that Malazan: Book of the Fallen is the best fantasy series ever written. There is not a single book in this series that is anything less than amazing, and did not ever feel needless. That's an incredible feat for a series that is over 7,000 pages long.

The events of all the books marches towards a definitive goal, but it did it in a way that feels truly genius. Unlike a series like A Wheel of Time (a series I love), it didn't attempt to explain every single thing and make the conflict these characters are going through feel like the only conflict that is occurring on this world. Malazan gives you the only real sense in fantasy that these events are happening across an entire world -- not in a country or a single continent, or even a couple continents -- but over an entire planet. Not all plot threads have a nice tidy conclusion. You have characters that go off to do their own thing while the events of the book move on without them, as you would expect to happen in a real world. This happens to critical characters where you think, "Wait, what is this book even about?" several times. But you just have to trust the author that he is marching you towards something that is incredible and perfect.

If you haven't picked up this series yet, or are feeling overly daunted by the prospect of both something so long, and so complicated. Just give it a try -if you get hooked on this series the payoff is unimaginably glorious.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review now up!

I can’t believe I finally finished this series. Ten books, seven months, thousands of pages, and countless characters later here I am. Wondering how long it will take me before I re-read this series. I know I just finished it, but after spending so many months reading it I find myself out of my routine. I want to march the Chain of Dogs with Coltaine again, I want to fight the Pannion Domin with the Bridgeburners at Coral, and witness the Bonehunters at Y’Ghatan and Malaz City. Oh so many books on my TBR list and I just want to start this series over. Alas, it is time to move on…..for now.

Someone told me the end of this series was satisfying, but kept you wanting more. I have to say I strongly agree with that statement. Most of the storylines were wrapped up nicely, but I am left wondering about a few. No worries! I will not divulge my curiousness in this review, so you need not worry about spoilers going forward.

There are so many amazing things about this series. It is really hard to pick out what I loved most about it. Definitely some of the best and most memorable characters I have ever read about. A world so vast it boggles the mind that anyone could come up with such a detailed piece of art. Or maybe the raw emotion the story brings out in the reader. I can’t pick just one, so I will go with all of the above.

“You walk the steps of your life, and always that dream beckons, that dream waits. You don’t know if it can ever be made real. You don’t know that, even should you somehow stumble upon it, you won’t find it less than it was, less than it could have been – if only you could have kept that distance, kept it just outside arm’s reach. For ever shining. For ever unsullied by the all-to-real flaws of your own making.”

The main thing that caught me of guard in The Crippled God was my feelings towards one of the characters. I had come to detest him so much throughout the other books, and at the end I found myself feeling only compassion for him. Erikson is always flipping the switch on the reader’s emotions, and he really caught me off guard with this one.

With The Book of The Fallen series wrapped up I look forward to the other books in the Malazan world from Erikson and Esslemont both. Sooner rather than later more than likely. For anyone searching for the most epic fantasy series out there you can look no further. This has it all and much much more.

“There shall be a Book and it shall be written by my hand. Wheel and seek the faces of a thousand gods! None can do what I can do! Not one can give voice to this holy creations. But this is not bravado For this, my Book of the Fallen, the only god worthy of its telling is the crippled one. The broken one. And has it not always been thus?
I never hid my hurts.
I never disguised my dreams.
And I never lost my way.
And only the fallen can rise again.”

[TS Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Crippled God is a breathtaking conclusion to an outstanding series; Malazan Book of the Fallen is a masterpiece of its genre and has affirmed its place as my favourite epic grimdark fantasy series.

The Crippled God didn't leave much room for breathers and I am sure this is the least amount of time I've spent finishing a novel in this series - the exception being Gardens of the Moon, which is the shortest book by far. I will also not spend much time relating about this final instalment, save that it was brilliantly handled with an emotionally exhausting, and wholly satisfying denouement. All the major open threads and even some smaller ones came together most compellingly. The very end of this book was of the most sublime symmetry to the beginning in Gardens of the Moon.

The word epic does not even seem to do any justice to this expansive tale and the world in which it takes place. Erikson has skilfully crafted a story with such breadth and depth of worldbuilding and characterisation, and plot complexity, that it seriously challenges the readers. But, in spite of the work and commitment involved in finishing these ten books, it was also one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had.

Malazan Book of the Fallen is exquisitely soul-crushing and yet it can also make your heart soar - even when you're crying your eyes out. The narrative is crazily dense, filled with deep melancholic introspection and philosophical discourse, a mind-boggling number of intertwining storylines and a massive cast of characters. A stellar cast of characters for that matter, for whom any attempt to assuage emotional investment is futile. Believe me, Erikson will make you care – even for that minor side character that appeared for mere pages. He is a master at strumming powerful chords of emotion. So much grief, pain, sorrow and regret emanate from within its pages, beautifully tempered with empathy, compassion, kindness, loyalty and honour. These are stories of true friendships and enduring love; stories of the best of humanity in its darkest, and most dire, hours; delivered in a prose that is elegant and profound.

The violence in this series is brutal and visceral, but never gratuitous. The battle and action scenes are in equal measures sweeping and intimate; cinematic scenes of clashing soldiers and sorcerous conflagration seen from a wide-angle, and combat sequences in close confines, moving from one squad, or an individual, to another. Although the level of power or ability commanded by some of the characters can be ridiculously off-the-charts, it is somehow appropriate in the context of this world. To me, that is part of the fun of reading Malazan which alleviated what seemed like hard work a lot of times. Admit it, badass characters are the most memorable and to partake in fantasy is to get swept away by the unreal awesomeness that you don't encounter in literary fiction.

Having said that, while the story is told in a fantasy world, its allegory to our real world is staggeringly on point. To readers who scoff at the genre merely being escapism which never deals with real-life issues, I invite you to partake in this gritty epoch-spanning tale which echoes our actual bloody history – the horrors and grave errors perpetrated by humanity, repeated time and time again.

I highly recommend anyone who loves fantasy, especially fans of grimdark, to read this series. Be patient, and you shall be rewarded.

With choked emotions barely in check, I bid this world goodbye… for now.

And now the page before us blurs.
An age is done. The book must close.
We are abandoned to history.
Raise high one more time the tattered standard
Of the Fallen. See through the drifting smoke
To the dark stains upon the fabric.
This is the blood of our lives, this is the
Payment of our deeds, all soon to be
Forgotten.
We were never what people could be.
We were only what we were.

Remember us.

Series rating:

Gardens of the Moon: 5/5 stars
Deadhouse Gates: 5/5 stars
Memories of Ice: 5/5 stars
House of Chains: 4/5 stars
Midnight Tides: 4.5/5 stars
The Bonehunters: 5/5 stars
Reaper’s Gale: 4.5/5 stars
Toll The Hounds: 5/5 stars
Dust of Dreams: 5/5 stars
The Crippled God: 5/5 stars.
Overall: 48/50 stars

You can purchase the book from Book Depository (Free Shipping) | Bookshop.Org (Support Independent Bookstores | Amazon US | Amazon UK

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

[Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The Bonehunters march alone, leaking blood with every step.’

There are so many bloody memorable lines in this book I need to collect them somewhere. Combined, they read like a movie trailer!

‘In that Malazan Book of the Fallen, the historians will write of our suffering, and they will speak of it as the suffering of those who served the Crippled God. As something … fitting. And for our seeming fanaticism they will dismiss all that we were, and think only of what we achieved. Or failed to achieve.
And in so doing, they will miss the whole fucking point.’

Shadowthrone hissed. ‘Well? Is that it?’
‘Is what it?’
‘That’s all you have to say? This is a momentous scene, you fat fool! This is where everything really, truly, finally begins! So squeeze the ale from your brain, mortal, and say something worthy of your kind. You stand before a god! Speak your eloquence for all posterity. Be profound!’
‘Profound … huh.’ Temper was silent for a long moment, studying the cobbles of the alley mouth. And then he lifted his helmed head, faced Shadowthrone, and said, ‘Fuck off.’

You cannot kill us any more, but we can kill you, and so we shall. We are the sword of ancient memories. Memories of fire, memories of ice, memories of the pain you delivered upon us. I shall answer your crime. I shall be the hand of your utter annihilation.

I dream of returning, swords blazing with holy vengeance. I dream, Shadowthrone, of murdering every one of those fuckers. Is this what it means to be a god?

And the most haunting one of them all

‘Quick Ben, we're soldiers of the Emperor. It's all we ever have been.’

This has been a buddy read that's been ongoing for more than four years, with many casualties along the way (including myself for a short while). Big kudos to my friends Gavin & Kaora for sticking with it until the very last book.

The Crippled God is, in the end, one of the best instalments in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. As shocking as that may seem to anyone who has attempted reading it, most of the plotlines, characters and themes do come together in the end.

I am finding it extremely hard to sort through my thoughts enough to actually write a proper review for this last Malazan book. I suspect it (and the whole series) will inevitably warrant a reread, but until then, I will leave it at that.

A fitting end to an exceptional series.

Malazan Book of the Fallen reviews:
#1 Gardens of the Moon
#2 Deadhouse Gates
#3 Memories of Ice
#4 House of Chains
#5 Midnight Tides
#6 The Bonehunters
#7 Reaper's Gale
#8 Toll the Hounds
#9 Dust of Dreams
#10 The Crippled God

[Samir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished Malazan!

I...finished...Malazan...

[Scott Hitchcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read

I started a new job right about the time I finished Dust of Dreams which was 13 months ago. With time constraints personally and professionally, not to mention Covid, I just didn't have the energy required for Malazan for a long time. I'm glad I finished up the re-read but something was definitely lost in waiting so long between books. People who were reading these before all the books were published must have struggled mightily with this.
--------------
First read

Almost a year later and the 20th book total and 10th of the main series I’m done. What an epic ride that simply never disappointed. Not that I didn’t have doubts early in the series a few times.

But this series really has it all and I mean that literally. Elf’s, Dragons, Trolls, Ogres, shaper shifters, gods, magic of many forms and a system to back it up, religion, politics, humanity, violence, battles, war, love, history, ancient civilizations, action across better than five continents, divination, mysticism……I could go on and on.

And yet all that doesn’t begin to tell the story of why it’s great. The compassion weaved into the world and characters is beyond comparison.

Simply the greatest series I’ve ever read.

As for this book it’s really hard to say much without giving things away. I will say everything gets wrapped up. At the end there were tears in my eyes. So many characters had such crucial roles. Some always there unsuspecting.

[Mayim de Vries · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chapter 24: Only the fallen can rise again.* May, but this series has fallen (and none of the epilogues changed that).

Chapter 23: Oh no. What do you mean "DIFFERENT TOES?!" You just rendered a couple of hundreds of pages an entirely meaningless waste of time on my part. Seriously. If I quit now, nobody is going to blame me.

Chapter 22: Guess what, I can see the light at the end of this tunnel!

Chapter 21: Tavore Paran, let it be known that you are the only reason for my perseverance.

Chapter 20: Honorary marine. That is nice.

Chapter 19: Yes, yes. At last, this behemoth of a plot starts showing some tentative signs of life.

Chapter 18: Oh, NOW are the oldies popping up out of atrophied plots? Well, finally.

Chapter 17: [two months later] This book might yet bee a death of me.

Chapter 16: Honestly, I expect Greta Thunberg to have her own POV any time now.

Chapter 15: At this point I just hope everybody dies in the next chapter to ease their pain. And mine.

Chapter 14: Never can have too many kittens, can we? Precisely, sir.

Chapter 13: What do I care about all these new protagonists who popped up a book or two ago? Nothing! Give me the old ones! I miss #sorrynotsorry and the whole lot I loved in the first three books that somehow got abandoned along the way.

Chapter 12: I am trying to remember what this chapter was about and why it matters. Alas, I fail.

Chapter 11: With all this anti-civilisational anti-human rubbish strewn across those chapters, I am truly surprised this series is not a holy book of Extinction Rebellion. I expect they would gob it up without editing.

Chapter 10: Confession time: I skip all the poems. Tolkien this is not.

Chapter 9: [the pages go by]

Chapter 8: I can see what you are doing here with the Dark and the Light. I can see and I don't like it, Mr Erikson.

Chapter 7: Truly, my trial of going through all of this is... unwitnessed.

Chapter 6: I always knew it was not healthy to be a dragon.

Chapter 5: Something seems to be happening. Or planning/plotting/scheming/walking to be happening. But hard to say what. Also, it is hardly interesting.

Chapter 4: A kindly fisted army. Some genuine enjoyment at last.

Chapter 3: [snip! snip! snip!] That's me mentally cutting huge, redundant chunks of this "story".

Chapter 2: I don't really know who half of the cast is at this stage. I barely care for the other half.

Chapter 1: The Adjunct. I am here for the Adjunct.

Prologue: I cannot believe I am here already.

* I am not going to even pretend that I could in any way give a pale shadow of justice to this book or indeed a whole series in a proper review. There are many better than me, here on Goodreads (and many of those I'm lucky to have among my friends), who managed to grasp and convey the sheer brilliance of what awaits those who open the Malazan Book of the Fallen. All I can give you is a chapter breakdown of how this book crippled me forever.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen:

1. Gardens of the Moon ★★★★★
2. Deadhouse Gates ★★★★★
3. Memories of Ice ★★★★★
4. House of Chains ★★★★★
5. Midnight Tides ★★★★★
6. The Bonehunters ★★★★★
7. Reaper's Gale ★★★★☆
8. Toll the Hounds ★★★★★
9. Dust of Dreams ★★★☆☆ (and the third star is a testament to my generosity)

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

And the journey ends. It's been a long one,after 10 books 9000 pages it's hard to say goodbye but like every Erikson's ending last pages of The Crippled god where epic and satisfying. It's impossible to say something about last book without spoilers so I won't. This will be review of the whole series.


My journey started rough. Initially I DNF-ed first book @50%. It was because of enthusiasm of my GR friend Molly (sadly she hasn't been fully active in long time now) that I decided to give this series another go. On second try I managed to survive first book and seen potential. Rest of the series realizes that potential and Malazan book of fallen becomes everything people said it would be.

And what is Malazan book of fallen? What makes it so unique?:

Well it's combination of of heroic fantasy with heroes larger than life, gods, ancient evils and powerful magic and gimdark military fantasy with clash of big armies and how it affects common solider and people, all that spiced up with criticism of religion, capitalism but most of all strong anti-war message.What also makes this series unique is that it lacks classical protagonist. Instead, throughout the series we get several dozen of different PoVs and many more charters. Some have more screen time, some less but hey are all just pieces that paint much larger canvas. Canvas that has battles of gods, armies and mortals. Where magic, steel and gunpowder clash and heroes die.There are many story lines that intertwine and there are practically no wasted effort, everything that happens affects events later.Sometimes in next book, sometimes after six books. Since second and especially third book Erikson makes clear that nothing is sacred and that every character can die no matter how much you love him. Of course Martin is famous for doing that but Erikson's characters are much more epic and likable and I was genuinely sad when characters dies in Malazan book of fallen as Malazan contains some of most epic and intriguing characters in fantasy. Some deaths even broke my hearth. What is also unique is Erikson's writing style. He doesn't even try to go for something realistic and instead dialogues are rather epic and absurd. It's one of main things that made me DNF first book and indeed some dialogues there where very weird but as series progresses Erikson becomes much better at that style.

Worldbuild:

Well simply put there is no book that matches Malazan book of fallen in this regard. This is most fascinating, complex world with hundreds of thousands years of history. Erikson seem to be more efficient and puts more events, worldbuilding and characters per page than any other fantasy author


Flaws? Three worth mentioning.

First, books in second half of the series sometimes drag on and felt bit too long.
Second, there is lot of philosophy in this book and sometimes it's intriguing and on point but sometimes it's boring and feels like verbal masturbation.
Third that comes from one of series's strengths. You need good memory or you need to read books in short span, preferably both. As mentioned above there are many characters and small events that affect story but not for several books.

Conclusion:

I didn't rate all books in the series 5 stars but as a whole this series deserves more than 5 stars and that's why it goes to favorites shelf. This is maybe the best fantasy series I read and something all other fantasy series will be measured against.

[Books with Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book ripped out my heart and because that wasn’t enough, it tore me apart entirely for good measure. This series has frequently done this to me, so it’s no surprise this final installment of the Malazan Book of the Fallen has devastated me yet again. I ran the whole spectrum of emotions, from elation and profound happiness to bone-deep grief and soul-crushing heartbreak – and anything in between. This book was both emotionally rewarding and exhausting. And I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. This is how you end a series, so many threads of the previous books weaving together in an epic finale, and then culminating in a magnificent convergence hundreds of pages long. I have never seen the like and I could not have asked for more.

That very ending sequence mirrored the epilogue of the first book in such a beautiful, meaningful way - Shadowthrone and Cotillion standing on the wayside, without unleashing the Hounds, Apsalar not far off; a young boy being encouraged instead of discouraged to become a soldier; and finally the weathervane in chains. Full circle. Perfection.

But not just The Crippled God was perfection; every novel in this series was a masterpiece, showcasing Erikson‘s genius – part of which is creating a world with an extensive cast of characters that is beyond compare. You will be sucked into that world, feel yourself become a part of it, it’s grittiness, its misery, its beauty. I would love to show my mother, who derides the fantasy genre and my love for it, how so much of these books is relatable to the human experience, how universal feelings – like grief and pain, like empathy and compassion, like love and loyalty – are stirred in anyone who chooses to open themselves to this magnificent world.

I would also love to show her that his mastery of creating an extensive cast of characters is unparalleled, as is his ability to make you care about even the minor ones – and he only needs a few pages to do it. You have your competent, badass warriors; your humorous, helpful god; your alcoholic but weirdly successful soldier; your lost, damaged children; your delusional, unhinged priest; your self-conscious, guileless mage; your undead, lustful thief/pirate – you name it.

And finally I‘d love to show her Erikson‘s gift for composing the most versatile, inimitable prose; he is capable of beautiful introspection and philosophical discourse, but also of humorous, witty dialogue, vivid descriptions, and epic battle scenes. How he manages to juggle so many plotlines and characters will forever inspire awe and admiration in me.

I will say once you have immersed yourself in Erikson‘s world, once you’re part of it, once you feel what our characters feel, you will inevitably also feel all the violence they suffer even more acutely. And let me tell you, that is extremely painful at times. Be it rape, torture, or death, the violence is never gratuitous but it is explicit and graphic. I wouldn’t call Malazan grimdark as there is compassion and redemption to balance the darkness, but it will occasionally horrify you. On a happier note, there is no sexism in Malazan; it’s just a given, never debated. Women can be anything, warrior, mage, whatever. And wasn‘t that refreshing!

So. Here we are. This journey that took me almost 1.5 years to complete is finally over. I know there is more to discover in that universe, both by Esslemont and Erikson, which might help with the book hangover that is surely to come. I don’t know yet what I‘m going to read next. If I stick with Malazan, it’ll probably be Esslemont‘s books.

"For this, my Book of the Fallen, the only god worthy of its telling is the crippled one. The broken one. And has it not always been thus?
I never hid my hurts.
I never disguised my dreams.
And I never lost my way.
And only the fallen can rise again.“

[Wick Welker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ecstasy and agony of Malazan.

The first part of this review is a spoiler free review and concluding thoughts about the entire 10 books series Malazan Book of the Fallen (around 12,000 pages or 4M words) with all the praise and criticism that I believe this epic series deserves. After is a brief and spoiler-full review of The Crippled God.

For almost everything I loved about the series, there is a diametrically opposed flaw for that exact reason. I’m going to pair what I liked with its opposed weakness. Only very mild spoilers only about how much characters are involved in the series follows. Here we go:

Good: The characters are absolutely amazing. Bad: The amazing characters are almost never on stage. I can unfurl a mile long scroll of all of the amazing characters in this series. What makes them amazing is their epic decision-making, origins and the significance of their existence. What I mean is that the main characters have enormous weight to move the story along simply by their words or timely actions. None of the characters however, are really fully fleshed out because the story-telling is too opaque. They are more set-pieces within an immersive setting and are often very inscrutable. I understand it is nearly impossible to have such a sprawling fantasy world and actually flesh out all the main characters (there are probably hundreds of important characters amongst thousands of other characters). But here is the biggest flaw in this series: the amazing main characters get very, very little screen time. In a nutshell, Malazan is a story of epic characters occasionally doing epic things strung together by the connective tissue of ancillary characters having mundane conversations. I’m not exaggerating in the least. The majority of the series are scenes of ancillary characters talking. Why do minor characters like Helian or Withal for example get more screen time than Ganoes Paran or Tatteraill? Why don’t we hear from Caladin Brood anymore? Why is half a book dedicated to Karsa Orlong when he only makes cameos in every book thereafter? I’ll be puzzled for the rest of my life that Erikson made these decisions with this story. He emphatically doesn’t give the reader what initially interested them in the series for roughly 70% of each book. It is extremely frustrating. Who exactly did he write this series for? Fans of a bunch of nondescript marines complaining in a trench? I’m not exaggerating: that is a large portion of this series. It’s mind boggling if I think about it too long. So I won’t because I want to like this series.

Good: The world building is the most immersive I’ve ever read in fantasy. Bad: The world building never ends and gets in the way of the story telling. Malazan is debatably the most immersive fantasy world I’ve ever read. You can feel, smell, see and experience the world in an almost visceral way. It’s absolutely enchanting to sink into the terrain, continents, peoples, tribes, armies, empires, races, kingdoms and all their arcane lore and relationships. The mystery and lore presented are exciting and entice the reader to keep going. It’s staggering to think that it all came from one writer’s mind. At some points, it was the only thing that kept me going through such a long series. The problem is that the world is so expansive, that just like in real life, you can never cease to describe its details. The problem is that Erikson just keeps going. What I mean by this is by book 9 in Dust of Dreams the world is still expanding with two new kingdoms, new tribes, new enemies, new protagonists, new back story and new conflicts. There is a point where the world building gets so much that it all becomes kind of arbitrary and paradoxically saps the story of its drama. Erikson, unfortunately, reached this point. There is a saturation point that the average reader gets to where your eyes start glazing over. That was book 9 for me. I stopped caring about all the new characters and world that was being thrown at me and I just wanted some resolution. Book 9 was my low point for this series and it irreparably damaged my opinion of the entire series.

Good: The writing is phenomenal. Bad: The writing also is almost completely void of exposition. Erikson loves to wrap each and every scene in incredible immersion that the reader can lose themselves in on almost every page. Erikson cares deeply about every scene coming alive and does very, very, little telling in his writing. This is usually a great strength, but for this series it becomes an almost fatal flaw. I can’t tell you how many times an entire scene goes on and on and Erikson hasn’t even provided the identity of who is speaking let alone where the scene is happening or even when it’s happening. I sometimes didn’t even know what continent I was on or even what dimension (warren) the scene was taking place! Through ten books, the reader is dropped into a scene and it could be a god who is talking or a street rat and you’d have no idea. And then even when you do know who the character is, there is no narrative hand-holding to remind you of desperately needed context. A sprawling world and character list like this needs narrative help or else it’s an astronomical amount of work for the reader to keep things straight. There is a three paragraph scene between two main characters in the last book where some basic plot points are summed up and it did wonders to help me understand just what in the hell had been going on for the last 1,000 pages. After I finished The Crippled God I still had many questions so I had to go on Reddit. The answers were combinations of a bunch of speculation from die hard fans saying to read on with the subsequent series and also Erikson saying that the ending is up to the reader’s interpretation. I’m sorry, but all of this together is a big sign that something is deeply wrong with the story crafting. Which there most definitely is. All of this absolutely wears down on you after ten books and can be outright demoralizing to the reader. The lack of exposition does way, way more harm to the reader experience than it does to enhance it. Erikson is needlessly coy with the storytelling and the entire series suffers for it.

I’m about to say something that will anger Malazan puritans but let’s get real: this series desperately needs to be abridged. You could cut out around 30-40% of this series and it would be an improvement. All the wonder and mystery of the world wouldn’t seem so arbitrary any more. The stakes would matter more because they would be more present in the reader’s mind. We wouldn’t forget about key characters and we wouldn’t get lost in redundant exchanges and pointless scenes of characters who have little bearing on the plot.

So the million dollar question: is this series worth reading? The answer depends on what kind of reader you are. If you only like easy and leisure fantasy, like Sanderson, Gwynne or Harry Potter, given to you in bite-size chunks to enjoy, then you should definitely not even start this series at all. If you’re middle road and enjoy Tolkien, Hobb, Abercrombie, Anthony Ryan, RF Kuang, then you should read up to the first three books of this series to see if it's for you. If you don’t like the third book, Memories of Ice then I think you should DNF the series. If you are a reader who enjoys being challenged, taking notes, or likes constantly looking things up on a Wiki Fandom page and are okay with confusion and uncertainty that can last thousands of pages and millions of words, then you should push through to the end. Am I glad I finished this series? Yes, but seriously by only like 2 or 3 percentage points. This was a very hard series to get through, particularly toward the end. If you want to read this series, you also need to take into account the opportunity loss of reading something else instead of the 12,000 pages of these tomes. The decision is yours. As for me, I am DONE with this series. I won’t be reading anything else from this world or any re-reads. Malazan Book of the Fallen is most certainly not the best fantasy book series ever written. It could've been but failed on multiple counts.

Final point: I weep for anyone who tries to do a screen adaptation of Malazan.

Here’s my obligatory ranking of all ten books:
1. Memories of Ice
2. Toll the Hounds
3. Midnight Tides
4. The Crippled God
5. House of Chains
6. Gardens of the Moon
7. Bonehunters
8. Deadhouse Gates
9. Reaper’s Gale
10. Dust of Dreams

My average star rating of the entire series: 4.2
The star rating of the entire series based on my feelings after finishing: 3.5


Here’s my SPOILER review of The Crippled God

The first word that comes to mind when thinking about the final book is epic. The second word that comes to mind is disappointed. Is this a conclusion? Yes… And a whole lot of unanswered questions and ambiguous resolutions. I loved that this book focused on the incredibly interesting character of Tavore. I loved Ganoes Paran, Quick Ben and Kalam. I really enjoyed Brys and Aranict. I loved the convergence of plot lines, many going ten books back. There are epic, epic battles that I was very much invested in. That’s it. Those are the good things over the last 1200 pages. The rest of this book is typical Malazan fare: a bunch of random scenes of ancillary characters that have little bearing on the overall plot, conflict and resolution. This book should have been 500 pages.

I just can’t help but have a sense that the conflicts and resolutions were arbitrary. I found that I didn’t really care about what happened in the end. It was cool to read but Erikson didn’t make me care about The Crippled God. He didn’t make me care about vanquishing the Forkul Assail. He certainly didn’t make me care about The Shake, The Snake, The Grey Swords and much more. When Fener appears in the sky and then Orlong for whatever reason just kills him. I still didn’t care. Why would I care about some god whose only screen time is watching his acolytes do vague and ambiguous things like 5 books ago? There are so many things like this in the series for me. And if the answer is “well go read the next series to find out more”. My answer is that this in no way justifies bad storytelling and underdeveloped characters.

I think Erikson is an amazing writer with great skill with his prose and characters but in the end, the story he tells is just too inaccessible and the entire reader experience suffers. I don’t know what else to say. I’m done with this series and I hope I haven’t been too discouraging to the uninitiated but I have to be honest: these books are very, very flawed and are not for everyone.

[James Tivendale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple review. If you have gotten this far you do not need an introduction. If you have made it this far then you do not want me to spoil the plot. People have analysed that the ending of the series is weak. I completely disagree. This is up there with Deadhouse Gates, Memories Of Ice and Midnight Tides. Everything is written perfectly. Poetic. I cared about all the point of view characters. Even the storylines I did not care about too much in the prior instalment Dust Of Dreams, such as the Shake come to fruition here and you understand the necessity for the journey. You need to just read it. There are so many great scenes combining a huge amount of the big players that we have been following over what is a span of about ten years in this saga. Characters meet each other again after say 8-9 books apart and some of those moments are heart-wrenching. You will know the points when you get to them. There are so many amazing stand out dramatic scenes. A lot of the plots are wrapped up but you will still leave with so many questions. Ublula and Draconus are up there with Tehol and Bugg for their comedy gold. Forget this review. Just read this is you haven't already. Fiction especially fantasy will not compare to me anymore. I feel like part of my life is over now completing it. Take care all. Peace x.
www.youandibooks.wordpress.com

[Krell75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"E ora la pagina davanti a noi appare sfocata.
È finita un'epoca. Il libro deve chiudersi.
Siamo abbandonati alla storia.
Si leva alto, per l'ultima volta, il logoro stendardo dei Caduti.
Osservando attraverso la coltre di fumo si vedono le macchie scure sul tessuto.
È il sangue delle nostre vite, è il tributo versato per le nostre azioni, che presto saranno dimenticate.
Non siamo mai stati ciò che la gente potrebbe essere. Siamo stati solo ciò che siamo stati.
Ricordatevi di noi."

Ogni volta che leggo queste parole ho i brividi ripensando all'epopea vissuta.
Esiste il genere fantasy e poi c'è Malazan che lo riscrive e lo porta su un altro livello.
Se disprezzate il fantasy perché pensate sia una letteratura di poco conto o rivolta a giovani lettori vi sfido a leggere la saga Malazan fino alla fine. Ne rimarrete sorpresi e se non cambierete idea allora il problema siete voi.

Le emozioni che il lettore temerario prova quando termina l'ultima pagina dell'enorme saga Malazan sono indescrivibili. Un'esperienza unica. Si ha la certezza di essere stati testimoni di qualcosa di pazzesco. Non riesco a paragonarla ad altro, forse solo il mastodontico lavoro nella cura dell'ambientazione di Tolkien si avvicina e l'inarrivabile ciclo di Dune di Herbert per portata tematica e immaginifica.

Stiamo parlando di EPICA allo stato puro, tutto quello che cerco in una lettura fantasy adulta è racchiuso in questi dieci romanzi e non solo, Erikson si spinge ben oltre, infarcendo il suo mondo di antropologia, filosofia, etica, archeologia, storia e decine di tradizioni diverse, con un centinaio di sottotrame e un corollario di oltre 600 personaggi per renderlo vivo e unico.

E' proprio qui la forza della scrittura di Erikson, oltre all'enorme lavoro di ambientazione dipinge una moltitudine di personaggi di cui per ognuno è possibile scrivere un libro a lui dedicato grazie alle informazioni fornite direttamente o indirettamente che vanno a creare una storia intrecciata con quella di altre decine di personaggi.

Saga non perfetta in tutto, naturalmente. Alcune sottotrame vengono solo accennate, lasciate in bilico o al lavoro di Esslemont, co-creatore della saga, per svilupparle e poi concluderle nei suoi altri romanzi. Per il resto lo reputo un capolavoro assoluto e granitico termine di paragone per le future letture del genere. Dopo questa esperienza leggere fantasy non è stato più lo stesso.

-------------------------------
"And now the page in front of us appears blurry.
An era is over. The book must close.
We are abandoned to history.
The worn banner of the Fallen rises high for the last time.
Looking through the blanket of smoke you can see the dark stains on the fabric.
It is the blood of our lives, it is the tribute paid for our actions, which will soon be forgotten.
We have never been what people could be. We were only what we were.
Remember us."

Every time I read these words I shudder when I think back to the epic story I experienced.
There is the fantasy genre and then there is Malazan which rewrites it.
If you despise fantasy because you think it is a literature of little importance or aimed at young readers, I challenge you to read the Malazan saga until the end. You will be surprised and perhaps you will change your mind.

The emotions that the daring reader feels when he finishes the last page of the enormous Malazan saga are indescribable. A unique experience. You have the certainty of having witnessed something crazy. I can't compare it to anything else, perhaps only Tolkien's mammoth work in curating the setting comes close and Herbert's unrivaled Dune cycle in terms of thematic and imaginative scope.

We are talking about EPIC in its pure state, everything I look for in an adult fantasy reading is contained in these ten novels and not only that, Erikson goes much further, peppering his world with anthropology, philosophy, ethics, archaeology, history and dozens of different traditions, with a hundred subplots and a corollary of over 600 characters to make it lively and unique.

This is precisely the strength of Erikson's writing, in addition to the enormous setting work he paints a multitude of characters of which it is possible to write a book dedicated to each of them thanks to the information provided directly or indirectly which creates a story intertwined with that of dozens of other characters.

Saga not perfect in every way, of course. Some subplots are only hinted at, left in the balance or to the work of Esslemont, co-creator of the saga, to develop them and then conclude them in his other novels. For the rest, I consider it an absolute and granitic masterpiece, a point of comparison for future readings of the genre. After this experience, reading fantasy was never the same again.

[seak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen just over four years ago, so finishing the final book of this ten volume epic is kind of a big deal for me. It's been a big part of my life in fact and it's odd to be at the end even though I know there are plenty more to go.

So you can imagine this series has had quite the impact on my life. When I go through my books to see which ones to sell or give away I call it "culling the nobility." It's pervasive. :) (wait, are emoticons allowed in Malazan reviews?)

Gardens of the Moon was actually the first present my wife gave me for my birthday. We didn't have tons of money then (and still don't), but I couldn't have been happier receiving hours of entertainment and who'd've thunk how many hours it would end up being. Best. Wife. Ever.

I was immediately drawn in and stunned by the vast imagination that is contained within those pages of even the first book and to come to the end it's even more amazing to see how far the story develops. At the moment, I'm even doing a reread of Gardens, which is like reading a completely new (and easily understandable) book. To see these characters early on and how far they come has been pretty fun already.

The Crippled God actually has a lot of parallels with the first book and to warn you right now, we're headed into spoiler territory, but I assume if you've read this far, you've probably already read the whole series as it is anyway.

In Gardens of the Moon, I loved the idea of that the whole plan was to release something of great power that would force your enemy to do battle and then your enemy would be weakened enough for you take on and beat. Yes, that is exactly how Erikson puts it, he's THAT good of a writer. :)

Gardens uses this to weaken Anomander Rake, at least that's the goal and The Crippled God a similar tactic is used by the Gods Errastas, Sechul Lath, and Kilmandaros, but on a grander scale - releasing the Otatarial dragon to weaken Draconus among others.

Both Gardens and TCG focus on the adjunct, although different adjuncts, and TCG mentions lots of events that happen in Gardens - talking about Lorn, the scene in the prologue to Gardens where Whiskeyjack talks to Ganoes, and Moon Spawn among others. We've come back around and I really appreciated these nods to the earlier work.

My one major criticism of this series is that it tends to be a downer for much of the book. Words like "gritty" and "realistic" follow this series and while for the most part it's true, I have a hard time saying something is realistic when it ignores the good in people and society completely and focuses and has a cynical outlook on just about everything. That's not to say this series does, there are moments of awe-inspiring goodness, but they are few and far between. I prefer to think of it as this world and its gods are unredeemable, which is to say it's not that realistic. I don't think Erikson has claimed as such either, it's been the reviewers and fans.

While I have had my difficulties with some of the previous volumes, they fail to take away from the fact that this series is incredible. Everything about it blows my mind and even some of the difficulties I've had I have been able to resolve.

One of those being the fact that everyone, rich or poor, old or young, seems to have the need to philosophize. It was in a recent interview or podcast (I just can't quite remember which) that Erikson mentioned essentially that those who have been through the most are the wisest among us. This is something I had actually already known, but needed reacquainting with the idea. Not that I am wise, I've lived quite the privileged life even without any money, but I've talked with people who've been through a whole lot more than me, like an African refugee who left his country because his government was trying to kill him, and he and his family could tell you what life's all about. For some reason I didn't realize until then how much it applies to these characters in this book who are really suffering.

There's really not much more to say than what I've said in my article, Why You Should Read The Malazan Book of the Fallen, where I've attempted to convince people to read the series. In addition, I just don't have time to really get into a good review (yes, I'm studying for the bar...again), especially one that this series deserves, so below are a number of quotes with some commentary here and there throughout.

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The humor is still there, at times even Tehol makes "appearances" though not actually in person, which is always a good thing since he's arguably my favorite character in the entire series. Here's one instance I found terribly funny especially in my stage of life (baby twins and two year old):

"'Then I'm going with you. My wife can go somewhere else. She keeps talking about babies but I don't want babies - they get in the way of having fun, and people who end up having them spend all day talking about how great it is, but they look miserable even when they're smiling. Or worse, there're those ones who think their baby is the God of Genius reborn and even its poo smells like flowers, and all they do is talk about them for ever and ever and it's so boring I want to run away...'
'A rather uncharitable view, Ublala.'
'I don't give nothing for free, that's for sure. Whole people disappear when a baby arrives. Poof! Where'd they go? Oh, I know, they're crawling around making baby noises. It makes me sick." He ducked the rock Ralata threw at him..." p. 522

But of course, Erikson delves deeper as well, leaving you to ponder your existence, to see the futilities, the baseness, but also very often he leads you to hope:

"I could run until I wear out. Every joint, every bone and every muscle. I could run until my heart groans older than its years, and finally bursts.
I could damn the poets and make the metaphor real. We are all self-destructive. It is integral to our nature. And we will run even when there's nowhere to run to, and nothing terrible to run from. Why? Because to walk is just as meaningless. It just takes longer." p. 389

This took me a few times, but it's dead on:

"'"When wisdom drips blood fools stand triumphant."'" p. 628 (Brother Diligence quoting Gothos' Folly)

I recently moved from a smaller town to a big city and this one really got me thinking:

"He wondered at all those lives, the way few would meet the gazes of their fellows, as if crowds demanded wilful anonymity, when the truth was they were all in it together - all these people, facing much the same struggles, the same fears. And yet, it seemed, each one was determined to survive them alone, or with but a few kin and friends offering paltry allegiance. Perhaps they each believed themselves unique, like a knot-stone in the centre of the world's mill wheel, but the truth was there were very few who could truly make claim to such a pivotal existence." p. 749

It's sad we tend to look away or even attempt to work things out on our own when it's unnecessary. Why can't we just help each other along through this existence instead of ignoring, judging, and leaving people behind. My wife says that this is why things like the shootings in Sandy Hook happened - people just don't get enough love in their lives. I can't say I disagree.

I fitting summary of the series title and it's meaning:

"In that Malazan Book of the Fallen, the historians will write of our suffering, and they will speak of it as the suffering of those who served the Crippled God. As something ... fitting. And for our seeming fanaticism they will dismiss all that we were, and think only of what we achieved. Or failed to achieve." p. 330

Here's one I found particularly humbling, I didn't know Erikson even read my blog:

"Gesler took her face in his hands and kissed her hard on the lips. 'Teach these lizards, Kalyth, only the best in us humans. Only the best.'" p. 771

Another very interesting quote that I heartily agree with:

"'It is not enough to wish for a better world for the children. It is not enough to shield them with ease and comfort, to make the future's world a better one, then we curse our own children. We leave them a misery they do not deserve; we leave them a host of lessons unearned.'" p. 783
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The Crippled God is a fitting ending to quite possibly my favorite series of all time. It's more epic than I could have ever imagined and the action does not disappoint especially in the end of each book. Neither does Erikson's ability to drag emotions from you whether you want it or not. The Malazan Book of the Fallen will be the high water mark for epic fantasy for years to come, it's brutal, it's genius, it's an experience unlike anything else.

5 out of 5 Stars (A Masterpiece of Epic Proportions!)

[Deborah Obida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trust me when I say this will be the biggest the world has ever seen, bigger even than the chaining of the Crippled God.

There are too many rogue players in this game. Icarium. Draconus. The First Sword of the T’lan Imass. Olar Ethil, Silchas Ruin, Tulas Shorn, Kilava – even Gruntle, the Mortal Sword of Treach. And now the Eleint, and how many dragons have come or are coming through the gate? A hundred? A thousand? Oh, and the Elder Gods: Errastas, the past Master of the Tiles, and Kilmandaros and her son.....

‘Let’s just add the K’Chain Che’Malle and the Jaghut, and oh, we should probably mention Hood himself – no longer dragging the Throne of Death by one ankle. And who knows how many slavering fanatics of the Wolves of Winter! And what about the Crippled God himself – will he go quietly?

That quote sums up the whole book, its the final stand for everybody. This series is now my favourite series of all time, I doubt any fantasy series can live up to this series.

World building and Writing
The world building is out of this world, its so well depicted, The glass desert is even worse than anyone would have anticipated and Steven Erickson still wowed me. Do not even get me started on the writing, they are like a zillion POVs, I have to admit it took a while to get used to, after that it was a piece of cake. Everyone that survived the past 9 books are all in this, sadly not all of them made it to the ending of the book. *sniffles*

"Grieving had nothing to do with the ones gone, and everything to do with the ones left behind. We feel the absences in our life like open wounds, and they never really close, no matter how many years pass."

Characters
The Malazans
The Bonehunters survivors after the incident with the K'chain Nahruk are still trying to cross the glass desert which has never been crossed in like forever, they lost most of the company, to thirst but the few survivors were still willing to die to do what needs to be done. To fight the Forkrall Assail who is determined to end humanity, then there's the thing with the crippled god that is a major spoiler.

The Adjunt's allies
They include the Letherris, Bolkando, the grey helms, the burned tears and The K'chain Chemelle, yea them. These ones took a shortcut to get to the enemies, but even them lost a sustainable number of their company.


T'lan Imass
They are also here, they are just marching in the glass desert, they were all summoned here to come fight a war they know nothing about. Lots of the Imass here have POVs so we know what is going on in their head and its so sad, but it all paid off at the end, Fener died and his blood made them flesh and blood again, saldy it happened during battle so they sustained mortal injury and died, but Onoos Toolan survived though more than half of them died.

The Tiste andiis and Liosan
The pretentious liosans wants to continue their war on the andiis, due to the rip in the realm, the same rip that brought the Eleint to this world. But the andiis are not in Kharkanas, the people they met were formidable fighters, they held the gate.

The Snake
These children will make you weep at the same time be happy for the life you have. They are brave courageous and just refused to give up, I hope they get the best out of life.

I am as true as anything you have ever seen. A dying child, abandoned by the world. And I say this: there is nothing truer. Nothing.
Flee from me if you can. I promise I will haunt you. This is my only purpose now, the only one left to me. I am history made alive, holding on but failing.

The Assail
These is the race that judged humans unworthy to be alive. They are ready to do anything to annihilate humans. They magic and warren is so ancient that they can control not only mind but body. What they did not anticipate is human's will to live.

The Elient
The gate is once again open, the last time the dragons were in this world they destroyed lots of continents and now they are back. T'am the mother of dragons is also on her way, not to mention Otataral that negates magic and lay waste to anywhere she passes.

The gods
The gods in this series are worse than the greek gods, they love to meddle so much, they all want one thing, more power.
They are willing to use humans to get what they want, its doesn't matter whether or not the people make it. To say they are selfish is an understatement.

We are sickened by the unknown, but knowledge can prove poisonous. And drifting lost between the two is no better.

[Michael Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

"And now the page before us blurs. An age is done. The book must close."

Wow, all things considered, that was the best ending I could've hoped for for a series so tragic. I'll share my thoughts on this book and then the series as a whole. Keeping it spoiler free, per usual.

After the slow pace of Dust of Dreams, this installment seemed more fast paced than the other books. I think going in with low expectations helped, as well. Even though we didnt get resolution on everything, we still got closure on so many other things. I did feel like some characters were under utilized, one in particular, in these last 2 novels. While I was disappointed that we didnt see him much, Erikson more than made up for it with some of my older favorites. The OG's, if you will.

There's not really much I can say about this novel without spoilers, so I'll conclude with this: this is a book that ramps up the epicness of this series from a 10 to a 20. And he also gives us a conclusion that is as fulfilling as you can hope for without sacrificing the tragic theme for sake of having a happy ending just because.

"What's three and a half million words between friends?- from Acknowledgements

Now, on to my thoughts on this series as whole, since this wraps up almost all of the plots. There are so many. So many that I'm pretty sure I missed a lot of what others might have seen clearly.

This is by far the most epic series in all of Fantasy, in every sense of the word and in every aspect. The cast rivals any series out there. I can't recall any series to use a cast this big. And with this big of a cast comes so many different story arcs. All of this is my favorite part of the series, but it was also the focal point of many of my frustrations. Especially in Dust of Dreams. Sometimes you won't see a character til 3, 4 or even 5 books later. Usually that's not a big problem, but keeping track of a cast this size can get pretty exhausting. I had to forgo the Dramatis Personae and very carefully wade through the wiki.

This is the most rewarding series I have yet to read. While it gets frustrating having to remember who is doing what, the payoffs from all that work far outweighs any frustrations. While most of the books have a relatively slow beginning, the payoff you get, when you finally get there has never disappointed.

Now, onto my favorite part of any series, the characters. One of the things I love most about this series, in particular, are the characters. More so their development. I also love how grey most of the cast is. Some do some terrible things, but for reasons you cant quite comprehend just then. I also love how he wrote most of his female characters. Most of the time I couldn't discern the males from the females unless there were either anatomical descriptors or a he/she put after the sentence. We got some really bad ass females in this series, too.

All the different plots and story arcs were interesting. Or they were to ne, at least. I never found myself disliking the arcs for any specific race. Although, the K'Chain Che'Malle were among my favorites, by far.

That's really about all I have to say regarding this book and the series. All-in-all, i highly recommend this series to anyone looking for something that's more epic than any Epic Fantasy series out. Plus, IT'S AN EPIC FANTASY SERIES THAT IS FINISHED. Which finishing a series seems like a hard thing to do, so I felt I should mention it.

[Jake Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cinema

If this book didn't have Ublala Pung it would be the best MBOTF book. Change my mind

9.3/10

[Велислав Върбанов · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Защото всички ние сме обвързани в истории и докато годините се трупат, те стават на камък, пласт подир пласт, и съграждат живота ни...“


В абсолютен възторг съм, завършвайки Малазанската поредица! „Сакатият бог“ е отлична последна част и представлява достоен завършек на многопластовите и вълнуващи сюжетни линии, които напълно си заслужават отделеното време и внимание. Стивън Ериксън е създал грандиозен фентъзи епос, тъй като по удивителен начин е съчетал епично напрегнато действие и философски размисли... Изключително загадъчната история е фокусирана предимно върху жестоки битки и тежък войнишки начин на живот, но далеч не се изчерпва само с това, а съдържа и най-различни значими послания. Великолепната поредица е изпълнена с незабравими сложни и ярки герои (или пък асценденти), чиито заплетени премеждия се оказаха страшно впечатляващи... За мен, „Малазанската книга на падналите“ е всеобхватно и пленително книжно преживяване, към което определено ще се завръщам.






„— Звучи малко горчиво.
— Това е вкусът на самопоздравлението. Всички тези приказки са за нарцисизма. Измамата е в огледалния образ на героя — принцеса за принц, принц за принцеса — но всъщност всичко е едно. Любовта на благородството към самото себе си.“


„Драконъс стоеше загледан на север, нещо, което правеше доста често напоследък.
Хора като него имаха твърде много мисли, реши Ублала. Толкова много му бяха мислите, че не можеше дори да си отдъхне от себе си...“


„Из тези пустини витаеха такива ужасни сили, че можеха да стреснат дори безсмъртната вещица, закрачила тъй устремено пред тях. „Не призовавай богове тук.“ Странно предупреждение. Беше ли се молил някой? Торент изсумтя. „Че кога молитвата е постигала нещо друго освен безмълвие? Нещо друго освен жалко отсъствие, изпълнило въздуха и набъбващо като мехур от празнота в душата.“


„— Сънищата и кошмарите, Гедоран, се крият в една и съща дупка. Бръкнеш и не знаеш какво ще извадиш.“


„— Правосъдие… — Банашар извади малка делва изпод наметалото си. — Сладкото противоречие, за което са се хванали, като… — Погледна делвата в ръката си. — Като за вино. Няма истинско правосъдие, ще кажат, без най-основното право, което е възмездието. Опасно е да разхищавате света, скъпи приятели. Един ден някой ще реши да заговори от името на този свят. Един ден някой ще потърси сметка.“


„— Ловците на кости ще продължат похода си сами — заяви Тавори.
— Нима ни казвате, че нямате повече нужда от нас? — попита Брис.
— Не, нуждата ми от вас никога не е била по-голяма.“


„...Пътят, който очаква теб и тази прокълната армия, е също толкова горчив като моя. За страданието, което предстои… ах, никакви дарове няма за това.
— Трябва да има, Котильон. Съществуват. Винаги.
— Ще умрете ли всички в името на любовта? — Въпросът сякаш се откъсна от нещо вътре в него.
— Ако трябва да умрем, каква по-добра причина?“


„— Понесохте жесток удар, адюнкта…
— И бях отмъстена от вас и вашите Че’Малле. — Приближи се още към него и сниши глас. — Сторми, когато вестта за победата ви се пръсне из армията ми, много от това, което сега я мъчи, ще заглъхне. Няма да има радостни възгласи — не съм толкова глупава да очаквам нещо подобно. Но най-малкото ще има удовлетворение.“


„Десемврий се обърна рязко към Сенкотрон.
— Какво беше всичко това? Що за коварна игра ни въртиш тук?
Тоягата на Сенкотрон се завъртя и шибна Бога на трагедията през носа. Той залитна и падна по задник.
— Най-доброто от теб странства в смъртния свят, стари приятелю — изсъска Сенкотрон. — Преди много време ти изостави онази празнота, наречена гордост. Най-после виждам къде се е дянала тя...“


„— Чух едно-друго на влизане. Твърде много всъщност. — Погледна адюнктата. — „Благословени с истината.“ Скъпа ми адюнкта, би трябвало вече да го знаеш. Истината не благославя никого. Истината може само да проклина.
Адюнктата сякаш се сви. Погледът ѝ се смъкна към картата на масата и тя промълви:
— Тогава моля, септарх, прокълнете ни с няколко думи истина...“


„Фидлър не се изненада, че укоризненият глас вътре в него, гласът на всички онези корави избори напред, беше на Уискиджак. Почти виждаше очите на сержанта си, синкавосиви, с цвета на наточено оръжие, цвета на зимно небе, приковани в него с онзи разбиращ поглед, който казва:
„Ще се справиш, войник, защото не знаеш да правиш нищо друго. Справянето, войник, е единственото нещо, в което си добър.“


„Виждам истинския ни проблем, приятели. Не искаме бъдещето, искаме миналото. С ново име. Но все пак миналото, онзи измислен свят на носталгията, всички нащърбени краища загладени. Рай… за кръвопийците.“


„Силхас се изсмя горчиво.
— Огън на Зората, Тюлас! Загубил си форма, приятелю. Беше ирония. Брат ми криел неща от мен? Едва ли е толкова съкрушително разкритие. Аномандър ми е давал много уроци за гордостта ми. Все нещо е прихванало.
— Светът е необятен, но…
— … истините са рядкост. Точно така.“


„Напред, в авангарда на колоната, видя няколко души. Изправени. Будни. „Сега трябва да намеря достойна лъжа. И ако името ми трябва да бъде прокълнато с последния дъх на тези човешки същества, така да бъде. Престъплението ми беше надеждата. Наказанието ми е да видя как се проваля.“
„Но Т’лан Имасс са понасяли това наказание дълго, а провалът на надеждата си има име. Нарича се страдание.“


„— Тези, които спомена… богове ли са?
Качулатия сви рамене.
— Асценденти. Сложността на това е невъобразима, честно казано. Чистият мащаб на непредвидимите случайности… е, при всичките му особености нека не обвиняваме Сенкотрон в непрозорливост. Същото може да се каже и за Котильон, защото Покровителят на убийците добре проумя, че точно както определени индивиди заслужават нож в сърцето, така го заслужават и определени… идеи.“


„...Въпросът е несъществен, капитан Елале. Тъкмо незнаещият най-много копнее за изкупление.
Тя се отдръпна, отиде до перилото и загледа вълните. Точно на тези Скорген им казваше „шупнали“.


„При хората всяка вяра не бе нищо повече от дим, понякога толкова гъст, че да заслепи, а понякога — цинично прозрачен. И всяка вяра бе огън, който поглъщаше собственото си гориво, докато не остане само пепел. Доколкото Гу’Рул можеше да прецени, единствената добродетел, която притежаваха хората, бе този техен талант да започват наново, с крепка решимост, възстановена във внезапния блясък на подновения оптимизъм, в пълно пренебрежение към уроците, които можеха да им предложат миналите провали. И нямаше друг избор освен да призн��е силата на тази добродетел.“


„Онос Т’уулан, издигнат на мястото на Тор, нямаше никакъв недостатък. Всъщност, ако може да се вярва на определени слухове, този воин е по-стар от боговете ни, а мощта му с кремъчния му меч изобщо не подлагам на съмнение. Не, той прие тази титла от любов — към единствената дъщеря на Хъмбръл. Не притежаваше фанатизма, който по-младите воини толкова искаха да видят у своя водач. Очите му не блестяха жадни за воинска слава, а в гласа му — колкото и мъдри да бяха думите му — нямаше никакъв плам.
— Накратко казано, не е бил политик.“


„Тези сънища бяха като мед на езика ѝ, натежал от соковете на наслада и задоволство. Подозираше, че такива сънища се крият в сърцата на всички. Копнежи за справедливост, за отплата, за изравняване на везните. И, разбира се, онова горчиво подмолно течение на знание, че всичко това е невъзможно, че толкова много би се вдигнало в съпротива, в самосъхранение дори, за да съкруши този сън, крехките му кости, туптенето на сърцето му — дори то не можеше да отнеме сладката радост, драгоценната надежда.“


„— Боговете ни подритваха дълго време. Кога казваме стига?
— А ако ги нямаше, Върховен юмрук, щяхме ли да се справим по-добре?
— Не — отвърна Паран и добави през рамо, след като го подмина: — Но тогава поне нямаше да имаме възможност да обвиняваме някой друг.“


„Бързия Бен изглеждаше така, все едно са го пребили. А и погледът му бе станал някак плашлив, сякаш изпълнен с болка.
Паран кимна.
— Висш маг. Толкова зле ли беше, колкото виждам по лицето ти?
— Не чак. Просто съм поизгубил практика. Финес ми липсваше, мисля.“


„Никой офицер, който ни тупваха на главата, не можеше да издържи. Бяхме част, командвана от сержанти, Уискиджак преди всичко, и сержантите съгласуваха помежду си заповедите, които да дадат на капитаните и лейтенантите, и заповедите, които да спуснат на нас. Както можеш да си представиш, висшето командване не харесваше много това. О, слушахме неколцина, тези, за които знаехме, че ще са с нас — Дасем, Дужек, тези, за които знаехме, че ги бива. Но останалите? Забрави.“


„Техол се бои, че няма да се видим повече. Въпреки всички досадни глупости се е доближил толкова до това да каже „сбогом“, колкото би могъл да го направи човек, без да използва самата дума.“


„Значи, като всички нас, й даде всичко, което имаше. Как го прави Тавори това?
— Просто ти казва — отвърна Калам.
— И толкова? — изсумтя Бързия Бен.
— Да. Никакви предложения — никакви богатства, титли, нищо, което някой от нас би приел като отплащане или награда. Не, просто те гледа право в очите и ти го казва.“


„Първи меч, приемаме с радост възможността, която ни даде. Днес ние ще бъдем твоите ближни. Днес ние ще бъдем твои сестри и братя.“
На това Онос Т’уулан не можа да намери отговор. Поколеба се сякаш дълго, много дълго време. А след това от дълбините на съществото му се надигна странно чувство, усещане за… за разпознаване.
— Значи ще сте мои ближни на този ден. А сред своите ближни, не съм ли най-сетне у дома?“


„Кой е врагът? Врагът е поражението. Къде е бойното поле? В сърцето на отчаянието. Как се печели победата? Тя е на ръка разстояние. Трябва само да избереш да я познаеш. Иначе винаги можеш да измамиш...“


„Не се съмняваше в благородството на мотивите на адюнктата, нито в искреното й състрадание, тласкащо я да се стреми към нещо, което в очите на повечето хора беше буквално непостижимо. Но тук имаше още нещо, нещо, което все още оставаше скрито.
Колко ли големи състрадания се пораждат от тъмен източник? От съкровено място на тайни провали?“


„Световете ни са толкова малки. Струват ни се безкрайни само защото умовете ни побират хиляди от тях наведнъж. Но ако спрем да се движим, ако се задържим на едно място, ако си поемем дъх и огледаме наоколо… всичко си е все същото. Освен някои малки подробности. Изгубените векове не са нито повече, нито по-малко дълбоки от този, в който живеем сега. Мислим си, че всичко е някаква инерция напред, безкрайно оставяне на неща зад нас и посягане напред. Но истината е, че на което и място да се озовем — с всичките му блестящи дарове, — ние просто се движим в кръгове.“


„Ние войниците имаме само една монета, която струва нещо, и тя се нарича уважение. И я кътаме, крием я и няма никой, който би могъл да ни нарече щедри. Не харчим лесно. Но има нещо по-лошо от това да трябва да похарчиш монетата — то е когато някой излезе и ни я хвърли обратно.“


„Поставяше го да командва центъра — вероятно срещу тежка пехота — сред малазански войници, които го презираха. Беше спасила живота му само за да го захвърли сега — и как в това изобщо можеше да има някаква логика?
— Адюнкта, очаквате ли да ви благодаря?
— Единственото очакване, което е от някаква важност, Юмрук, засяга командването на центъра по най-добрия възможен начин.
— Няма да ми се подчинят.
— Ще се подчинят.
— Защо?
— Защото няма да има никой друг.
„Никой друг?!“


„И само падналите могат да се вдигнат отново.“


„Фидлър впи поглед в магьосника.
— Истинско ли беше, Бързак? Това, което видях — дали не…
Магьосникът махна с ръка да го последват към ръба на площадката. Посочи една самотна фигура далече долу, не повече от силует, с гръб към тях.
— Държиш ли да го попиташ, Фид?
„Да го попитам? След всичко, което направихме… как да разбирам това? Да го попитам? А ако ми отговори?“
— Не — отвърна той.“


„...Знаеше значи?
— Разбира се. И като нищо би могло да те стъписа, но одобрявам.
Котильон се извърна към него и го изгледа изненадано.
— Подозирах, че все трябва да имаш сърце.
— Не бъди идиот. Просто обичам… симетрията.“


„...Воини Джагът се бяха събрали около могила, вдигната да побере падналите Имасс.
Мълчаха, както подобава за такъв миг — миг изпълнен с почит и с дълбока скръб за другари, паднали в обща битка, за време, изживяно напълно — но при все това беше мълчание, натежало от ирония.“


„— Никога не ми е харесвала тази история.
— Коя? — попита тя.
— За любимата… изгубена под луната, гледа градината си сама.
— Не е съвсем така. Историята имам предвид.“

[Carmine R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In marcia verso la fine

"Non ricordava di aver vissuto un momento così bello e così dolce - anche se per poco tempo, aveva provato l'ebbrezza di respirare di nuovo, aveva sentito la pelle morbida e le lacrime le riempivano gli occhi - si era ritrovata con la vista offuscata, con sensazioni che aveva dimenticato. Se la vita era stata quella, se era quella la realtà della mortalità...non riusciva a immaginare che qualcuno potesse decidere di rinunciarvi, per quanto disperato potesse essere."

"Morte. Era un concetto alquanto interessante. Un concetto con cui, forse, avrebbe dovuto avere più dimestichezza di qualsiasi altro essere, ma la verità era che non ne sapeva assolutamente nulla. Gli Jaghut erano andati a combattere contro la morte. Molti di loro consideravano quel concetto con sufficienza, o scetticismo. Non riuscivano a capire. Chi è il nemico? Il nemico è la resa. Dov'è il campo di battaglia? Nel cuore della disperazione. Come si ottiene la vittoria? E' a portata di mano. Non devi fare altro che scegliere di riconoscerla. In mancanza di ciò, puoi sempre barare. Che è poi quello che ho fatto io. Come ho sconfitto la morte? Conquistando il suo trono."

"Facciamo in modo che lo vengano a sapere. Tutti gli dei dimenticati. Tutti i popoli dimenticati. Tutte le epoche passate, tutti i misteri andati perduti. Questo inesauribile flusso di ascesa e caduta, di sogno e disperazione, di amore e di rinuncia. Si meritano qualche parola, ancora una volta. Un'ultima volta. "

"L'unica fine alla disperazione delle bestie sarà per mano degli umani - e ai Lupi consiglierei una grande pazienza. Non c'è bisogno che facciano altro, perché noi umani ci distruggeremo da soli. Potrà volerci un po' di tempo, perché siamo in tanti, ma alla fine è quello che succederà, perché una cosa è certa: siamo scrupolosi."

Siamo forse colpevoli di fronte alla storia, di fronte alla cecità comune che impedisce di realizzare quanto siamo impermeabili alle lezioni? E perché dovremmo pagare, noi tutti, per tutti gli altri che mai sapranno? Siamo umani, sfuggiremo al verdetto di colpevolezza; siamo umani e nell'estinzione vi è il nostro destino. Perseguiremo la via della dissoluzione interiore come ultima speranza; spezzati e spezzati ancora, finché riusciremo a dare un nome al signore delle tenebre: e abbracceremo il nostro completo fallimento. In un mondo dove la compassione è stata dimenticata, soppiantata dalla volontà del giudizio verso gli altri - teatrini che la storia ha già visto e continuerà a proporre -, noi ci ergeremo questa volta, l'ultima volta, per dare un esempio.
Nel nostro sacrificio l'esempio; nel vostro giudizio le tombe e il beffardo potere della parola.
Fate in modo che le nostre memorie non vengano dilapidate nella polvere della storia.
Siamo stati solo uomini.

Epitaffio di una saga smisurata, fuori controllo e senza mezze misure; parca nell'elargire dettagli e così meravigliosamente pulsante di vita, di una moltitudine di vite che si avvicendano nello sprazzo di un minuto o condannate alla sopravvivenza di ere.
Erikson imposta l'ultimo atto in un "confortante" scontro tra eserciti, cliché tanto caro al genere fantasy. Eppure, prima che si giunga alla resa dei conti, il cui perno centrale risponde al nome di Kaminsod, la costruzione degli schieramenti rifugge le banalità e passa per la ricerca di redenzione da parte dei T'lan Imass, l'anelito alla libertà di Korabas, l'ultima resistenza della Prima Costa, la ricerca perpetua d'espiazione condotta dal mietitore; l'epurazione totale per sradicare alla base la contraddizione del conflitto.
Romanzo perfetto? No, molti percorsi rimangono insoluti e probabilmente serviva maggior chiarezza per delineare il background che regge la marcia di Tavore e Cacciatori; inoltre un paio di deus ex machina risaltano con dissonanza rispetto al resto del tessuto narrativo (difetto che Erikson ha già palesato nei romanzi precedenti).
Conclusione soddisfacente? Sì, l'approccio corale è riuscito; e la poetica di saga esplode con una forza immaginifica senza rivali, a mio modesto parere, all'interno del genere in cui si inserisce l'opera.
Saga per tutti? Nì, complessa per larghi tratti e vincolata a riletture tattiche, ma incredibilmente eclettica per registri stilistici, contenuti, brillantezza nei dialoghi e capacità d'intreccio.

Se avessi saputo dove portava questo sentiero, lo avresti percorso ugualmente?
Se avessi conosciuto il dolore della fine di un amore, lo avresti risvegliato comunque?
Se avessi compreso i pensieri della tua mente, li avresti esternati ugualmente?
Se con una parola avessi potuto tradire un amico, l'avresti pronunciata comunque?
Se avessi conosciuto il volto della morte, avresti osato toccarlo ugualmente?
Se questa moneta avesse potuto pagare il viaggio di un'anima, l'avresti rubata comunque?
- Cantico Sparak, Salmo VII "La risata dell'avvoltoio"

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to say too much about this final instalment of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Mostly because I've prattled on long enough in my previous 9 reviews about all the reasons why this is such a great series. If you have made it to this 10th book chances are you already know about them as well! I do think The Crippled God was a satisfying conclusion to the series and that on the whole Malazan is one of the two true epics the fantasy genre has to offer. The other series being WoT and Malazan probably tops that in terms of scope and epic feel!

In terms of storyline this was a direct continuation from the 9th book with the Malazan's and their various allies heading to Kolanse for an epic battle. As far as the Gods and Ascendants were concerned they were all heading to Kolanse as well for and epic Convergence!

It all made for compelling reading. The Bonehunters featured heavily, as one might expect, but I was happy to see the return of a lot of our favourites from the earlier books even if the likes of K'rul and Kruppe did just pop up in cameos.

As always Erikson did a good job of balancing the social commentary and story. I feel like his musings were a little grim and he botched the delivery of a few relevant points he was trying to make a couple of times but that on the whole I felt like his observations were fun and enhanced my enjoyment of the story.

Most of the reason why this final instalment of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series was so satisfying was because Erikson got the balance spot on. This was a dark book with tons or war and violence but I feel like Erikson still managed to offer a satisfying balance between the tragedy and triumph and the hope and despair within the story. The ending was also very good! Both the final mega convergence and the wrap up were fun. The absolute toughest thing to get right is the ending of a long running series so credit to Erikson for delivering a truly satisfying and fitting ending to this series!

I think that is all I have to say. This was a great ending to a great series and thankfully I'm not done with it yet as I still have a bunch of Esslemont's companion Malazan books to go.

Rating: 5 stars. Not my favourite book in the Malazan series but it was still very good and well worth 5 stars. It was a continuation of the 9th book in many ways but it also eliminated a lot of that instalments main flaws.

Audio Note: Michael Page did a great job as always. Between Lister, Page, and Banks I've listened to a few different authors take on Malazan and am happy to say all three narrators do an excellent job and jumping between them was surprisingly smooth and not at all jarring!

[Choko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't give anything but a 5 ***** rating for the whole series!!!

"... “Nostalgia was like a disease, one that crept in and stole the colour from the world and the time you lived in. Made for bitter people. Dangerous people, when they wanted back what never was.”...

However, this was one of the most difficult on my psyche read I have ever embarked on... And I recommend it to every adult out there... !

"... “Against a broken heart, even absurdity falters.
Because words fall away.
A dialogue of silence.
That deafens.”...

I finished... I feel like I have been run over by a bulldozer!!! I am emotionally exhausted and completely spent... I have no coherent thoughts at the moment... I need a drink! And some chocolate ice cream... Review? Eventually, when I can actually give the thinking to my brain, not to my soul...

"... “And now the page before us blurs.
An age is done. The book must close.
We are abandoned to history.
Raise high one more time the tattered standard
Of the Fallen. See through the drifting smoke
To the dark stains upon the fabric.
This is the blood of our lives, this is the
Payment of our deeds, all soon to be
Forgotten.
We were never what people could be.
We were only what we were.

Remember us.”
― Steven Erikson, The Crippled God...

[Alex W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speechless.

Let the Malazan hangover commence in 3, 2, 1…

[Librukie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Ha sido un largo viaje a lo largo de muchísimas páginas durante estos dos años en los que he estado leyendo la saga. No ha sido un viaje fácil. Ha tenido altibajos, y como sabéis, momentos muy cerca del final que me hicieron pensar que terminaría esta saga con mal pie, a pesar de que hasta el séptimo libro prácticamente todos los libros se iban llevando la puntuación máxima.
"Polvo de sueños" no me gustó, y pensaba que este, al ser realmente su segunda mitad, iría por el mismo camino. No ha sido así. Aún no sé si es cosa mía que lo he cogido con más gana, si realmente es mejor libro, o si es el hecho de que Erikson se suele lucir en los finales... El caso es que "El dios tullido" me ha transportado a la experiencia leyendo libros anteriores de la saga y me ha recordado por qué me gusta tanto, a pesar de que a veces pueda hacerse un poquito cuesta arriba.

No tiene la puntuación máxima porque no voy a mentir, tampoco es mi libro favorito de los diez, creo que hay otros mejores. También he echado en falta la presencia de algunos personajes en este final, y sentido que algunos no tenían mayor relevancia a pesar de que durante el resto de los libros parecía que iban a tener un papel fundamental. Sin embargo... Erikson me lo ha compensado con otros personajes muy queridos que sí hacen por fin acto de presencia, con momentos tiernos, emotivos y épicos entre ellos, y con un final para mi perfectamente cerrado y a la altura de la saga. Me ha hecho llorar en varios momentos y estar pegada a las páginas. Los dos últimos capítulos (largos como un día sin pan) son absolutamente increíbles.
Empecé el libro con poca fe, pero sobre el 30% ya fue un no parar y supe que la experiencia sería totalmente diferente a la de "Polvo de sueños". Cosa que no sabéis cuando me alegra y alivia, porque no quería cerrar este libro con mal sabor de boca después de lo mucho que he recomendado esta saga y de lo mucho que me ha llegado a transmitir.

¿Qué más puedo decir? Insistir en lo que siempre digo: dadle una oportunidad a Malaz y no os dejéis llevar por el aura de complejidad que tiene la saga (muchas veces un poco inflada por los propios lectores). Que no os intimide. Si probáis y no es para vosotros, está bien. Hay mil sagas de fantasía que os pueden gustar. Pero no os la perdáis por "miedo". Tiene muchos personajes, es algo confusa en muchas ocasiones, y hay que leerla con atención y paciencia. Pero todo lo que os da, es muy superior a lo que os exige. Personajes profundos, bien construidos y variados, siendo un gran porcentaje de ellos femeninos (cosa que valoro enormemente). Reflexiones sobre la vida, la muerte, la guerra, la compasión... Que muchas veces te pondrán los pelos de punta. Momentos épicos que te van a dejar con la boca abierta. Personajes que te harán soltar carcajadas en esos momentos en los que parecía que todo era gris. Y tanto escenas que te van a romper el corazón, como otras que te lo dejarán calentito.
Malaz lo tiene todo. Y estoy segura de que, si le dais una oportunidad, muchos ya no vais a poder volver atrás, y seguiréis a los caídos hasta el final.
Uníos a este largo viaje. Estoy segura de que no lo terminaréis igual que lo empezasteis.

[Ana Tijanić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Na kraju knjige imam dubok i uznemirujući osećaj gubitka. Kao da sam izgubila nešto fenomenalno. Sa druge strane, jako mi je drago što sam se upustila u avanturu zvanu The Malazan Book of the Fallen pre svega zahvaljujući ljudima na Goodreads-u koji mi svakodnevno omogućavaju da otkrijem toliko dobrih knjiga koje ovako nikada ne bih pročitala.

Ova poslednja knjiga ima mana. Ima, i te kako.
-Postoji dosta pitanja na koja nisam dobila odgovore.
-Ima dosta sporednih priča koje se nisu razjasnile.
-Ima dosta važnih likova koji su zapostavljeni u ovoj knjizi a zaslužuju mnogo više pažnje.
-Generalno, ima dosta likova koji su jednostavno nestali iz ovog serijala, mislila sam da će se pojaviti ovde, ali nisu. A možda sam i zaboravila šta se sa njima desilo. Zbog toga postoji reread, zar ne? :)

Ipak, u ovaj roman sam ušla sa nekom posebnom emocijom i ne mogu da ne budem velikodušna pri ocenjivanju. Ako ništa drugo, neka to bude ocena za ukupni serijal.

I pored mana završetak romana ipak nije nezadovoljavajući. Onaj glavni deo radnje je u potpunosti razrešen i razjašnjen. Početak je kao i u svim knjigama ovog serijala spor. Autor nas polako priprema za urnebes na poslednjih 300 strana. :) Toliko ima tužnih scena. Pravi emotivni rolerkoster.
Ova knjiga obiluje požrtvovanjem, herojstvom i saosećanjem kako među ljudima, tako i među bogovima.
Neke priče koje su mi bile nejasne i pitala sam se kako se one uopšte uklapaju u glavni deo priče
( npr. The Shake storyline ili The Snake storyline) ovde dobijaju smisao i prosto me teraju da se zastidim što sam u nekoliko navrata pomislila da su dosadne.

Što se čitavog serijala tiče mogu da kažem sledeće:
Iako sam dosta toga zaboravila do sada scene poput: Chain of Dogs, The Siege of Coral, Y'Ghatan ili The Spire su mi toliko duboko urezane u sećanje da mislim da ih nikada neću zaboraviti.
Ono što čini ovaj serijal magičnim jesu likovi. Eriksonov uvid u ljudsku prirodu je fantastičan. Nema dobrih i loših momaka, svi imaju mane i to mi se sviđa. Moj omiljeni lik ( sa svim manama i vrlinama) je Cotillion. Slede: Quick Ben, Brys Beddict, Fiddler, Tavore, Kalam, Tehol, Toc, Ganoes, Trull, Coltaine, Hellian, Rake.... Lik koji sam najviše mrzela je Mallick Rel ( bez konkurencije je).
Dijalozi među likovima su neverovatni. Samo na jednoj stranici knjige možete doći u situaciju da se rasplačete a ubrzo i nasmejete.

Ovo je zaista bilo nezaboravno putovanje.

I za kraj:
The Malazan Book of the Fallen book ratings ( from best to worst)

1. Midnight Tides
2. Memories of Ice
3. Deadhouse Gates
4. The Bonehunters
5. Dust of Dreams
6. The Crippled God
7. Reaper's Gale
8. Gardens of the Moon/ House of Chains
9. Toll the Hounds

[Jenna Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow. It took me a long time to get to this point, but it was so worth it. I can't say much about the book itself because I would just have to mark the whole review as a spoiler, but what I will say is Erikson has truly created a masterpiece.

Having so many characters and plot-lines makes it really difficult to tie together, and sometimes authors flop at the end or just never finish. Erikson is not one of those authors. He has one of the largest worlds, if not the largest, in fantasy fiction and yet he perfectly finishes this amazingly epic series.

If you're reading this review and you haven't yet started Malazan, now is the time to jump into Erikson's vast and beautiful world. Starting Gardens of the Moon is a daunting task: a huge book that is super confusing with 9 more super huge books to follow. I'm here to tell you that it is all worth it. This book, and this series, now proudly sits at the top of my favourites list and will likely not move from its position.

[David Sven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread Review

Some six months after reading this book the first time I, along with some other hardcore Malazan veterans, with a lot of virgin Malazan readers in tow undertook the epic task of rereading the entire Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Sixteen months later here we are, finished again. Well done.

I'm not going to change my initial review of the book itself because I feel what I have already written(below) is sufficient for that purpose. What I really want to comment on is the experience of rereading the entire series. Having a look at my initial comments here I see that reading this series the first time around was at once very rewarding, but also quite frustrating at times. I am happy to report that the reread was a far superior experience to the extent that I would say the reward for reading this series is in being able to read it again.

A lot of my frustrations in not being able to connect the dots initially to a lot of the plot arcs turned into the satisfaction of discovering nuggets of missing links that had eluded me, and possibly would always have eluded me except I had undertaken to search for them retrospectively. On top of this was the added enjoyment that could only come from the discussion and sharing of ideas with new and old Malazan readers alike at The Malazan Fallen Book Club. I think this series, more than a lot of epic fantasy out there lends itself well to in depth group analysis and conversation. I think that the result of both the density of content in the books as well as Erikson's use of the unreliable narrator. I think there is only one or maybe two times in the whole series where we get an impartial omniscient view of the lay of the land. Most of the narration otherwise comes from POV characters who are imperfect and have an incomplete and often flawed perspective of what is actually true in the story. As such, you can have a single event described in different and often contradictory ways depending on who is telling a story. As such, even right at the end, there is no consensus of interpretations among members of the book club - which I like even if everyone else is wrong.

I think Erikson has succeeded in simulating somewhat the experience of archaeologists and anthropologists(of whom he is one) who must try to put together pieces of the past from fragments of scrolls, and ancient ruins, and bits of bone. Like all stories of the past we attempt to reconstruct, the evidence does not necessarily speak for itself (contrary to what Grissom on CSI says) - all evidence, particularly of the past, is interpreted through the filters of our individual biases and opinions and experience. And so we have had a book club that looks at the same book, the same evidence, and yet at times comes up with a variety of interpretations that has made for some very satisfying interaction.

I would also like to think that we have left behind a useful resource for other readers of the series who come after us - I'm not sure of anywhere else online where there is a separate non-spoilery thread for each and every chapter for each and every book of the whole Malazan Book of the Fallen series, so that regardless of where someone is in the series they can safely look for answers that may have eluded them.

To those Malazan fans who were there from the beginning, to those who joined us on the way, to those who contributed for a portion of the way - I salute you all. Thank you for marching with me through the oases as well the wastelands of this series and making the journey all that more enjoyable.



Initial review


Here ends my epic read of an epic series. I consider the completion of these 10 books as a personal achievement. To say I have enjoyed the series would be over simplistic. Certainly there have been some very memorable moments and some very memorable characters throughout the series. But there have also been a plethora of generic and non interesting characters. There have been story lines/arcs that have been fast paced - but also a lot of story arcs that appear painfully slow, pointless and uninteresting. The writing style also is difficult at times with Erikson having the annoying habit of assuming the reader should know or remember small tidbits or clues to puzzles so that when the final piece is delivered there is no need for him to describe the final picture. And often he doesn't. While this can be very rewarding at those times when I figure stuff out on my own, there are a lot of times when I'm not sure if I got everything or if I missed something on the way.

Having said all this, I have yet to read a book in the series where I felt I wasted my time. The battle and action sequences are intense. The world building and magic system is generally consistent and interesting. And the interesting characters are really interesting. I will hold on to a lot of memorable moments like Quick Ben outwitting Korbal Broach and Bauchelain, Anomander Rake and his sky keep, Kruppe moving deftly through the streets of Darujhistan using his immense powers to steal and consume cakes from venders, Ganoes Paran who became "Master of the Deck," Fiddler and his explosives, Kalam the Assassin, Whiskey Jack, Icarium Lifestealer, Tehol and Bugg, and there are more.

Reflecting on the series now I remember nearly giving up on the first book thinking that there were very few characters I cared about - but by this last book I have found myself attached to many of The Fallen and so take a moment to shed a tear for comrades lost either to battles within the pages or to those I have had to leave behind to fates I will never learn . . .sniff.


Spoilers for anyone who hasn't got this far yet

But enough of that. In this last book of the series we rejoin Tavore and the Bonehunters on a gruelling march across a glassy waste to cheat the gods and to right an ancient injustice. By the end of the previous book we have an almost complete picture now of the plan for the Crippled God - a plan hatched by Shadowthrone and Cotillion along with Rake, Hood and later on Ganoes Paran. The plan was simple - just release the Crippled God from his chains so he can go back to where he came from. What's so hard about that? Forkrul Assail for one. An elder race who intend to feed off the Crippled gods power to bring an end to the universe. And maybe we throw in some Elder god has-beens who intend to release the Otateral Dragon and bring an end to the world.

So did Shadow have a brilliant plan for countering all this magic and universe ending power? Well that's what the mere mortals are for. With blood and steel and a special one finger salute for anything with the word "elder" or/and "god" in front of it.

4 stars from me.

[Tanner Sturgeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need a cigarette

[Chris Berko · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were three different times in the last forty pages where I was emarrassingly sobbing. Thank god I was home alone and avoided having to explain myself to people that don't read. Explaining the impact of this stunning conclusion to those that need their entertainment spoon fed to them is beyond my capacity. That may sound judgemental but I try to expalin books to friends and they look at me like I'm crazy, they just don't get it. But you guys get it, and for that I'm grateful.
As others have stated sharing any favorite parts would be spoilers for earlier books so I wont go there but the bringing together of all that came before is ten to fifteen minute standing ovation worthy and maybe the satisfying in terms of how everything concluded. Ive only re-read maybe six or seven books my whole life but the complexity and flat out funness of this story demands a second go around to which I am very much looking forard to.
All ten books took roughly seven months to read and every book is a step above everything else in any category IMHO.