Daniel Cunningham’s Reviews > The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen > Status Update

I have heard mixed things about this series, ranging from "the best fantasy series ever written" to "incredibly thought out yet incredibly dull" to "unnecessarily complicated in structure." I look forward to your thoughts when you finish it! (and congrats on your pace!)

Christopher wrote: "I have heard mixed things about this series..."

And I can see all those reactions. Easily.

The book is demanding in the sense that it plops you into a fully formed world; and you're either just flailing and sinking or you're gonna just bask in it. People, political units, history, geography, gods, magic systems (plural), a... system... of godhood, separate from the actual gods... There is like a 5- or 7-page dramatis personae at the start, which is hilariously useless (read many phonebooks, lately?), but right there tells you loads. I should note that all of that is great for me; I love that.

I do think the books go for something like a "narrative of WWII" or "dramatic telling of Roman conquests" kind of vibe. That's certainly the context of the stories. There are multiple POVs, political machinations, secret plans, and you're bouncing between them all and it might seem overwhelming, but it is very much part of a cohesive whole. I can see people who would never read an 800-page history of WWII picking up this and finding it the worst thing ever.

The writing is good, certainly "good enough", but not great (so far.) For fantasy, though, I gotta say it's definitely better than average.

Book 2 was heavy on the "soldiers are great and tough and cool, the bonds of soldiering are amazing and... and cool, and... and... did you know that soldiers are really great?! Soldiers!" vibe, and it took me out of the story in several places. Book 1 had some of the same, but I think it was just dialed down, or better balanced.

Also specific to book 2, it's a little hard, and I hate this kind of critique, but it's a little hard not to read this and make some kind of Said-esque, "Orientalism" comments. Which is maybe just a product of my brain (and the times.) Now having opened that Pandora's Box and thrown a grenade in, I think it's also fair to read the series (which I am ~1400 pages into, but still only 14%) as trying to portray empire as the mixed bag it has been throughout human history while portraying the kind of vengeance, cruelty, and terror that populations have visited on other populations who were (or were deemed to be) occupiers, intruders, collaborators, despised sub-populations, etc.

Anyway, I bring up the "I'm a snowflake and this made me uncomfortable" comments because... well, on top of the wholesale slaughter, torture, and rape.. did I mention yet that there is some dark shit in here?

There is humor threaded throughout the book, which is good because, by the way, there is some dark shit in there. But the humor sometimes comes off as almost... slapstick? Campy? A little too joshing-my-brave-comrades-around-the-campfire... Something. For me, it kind of grates against the story in places, even as it gives a sometimes much-needed break.

Daniel wrote: "And I can see all those reactions. Easily.

The book is demanding in the sense that it plops you into a fully formed world; and ..."

From the last bit you wrote, I have heard it is a "grimdark" novel, so I'm glad to hear there is some levity, even if the author isn't super humorous.

I'm glad to hear you describe it as more akin to grandiose historical fiction because that will help with expectations. I started book one last year and didn't get past 40 or so pages but had completely planned to go back to it at some point. I found it interesting, what with the usurper sitting the throne and the strange magic and dark tone, but the writing itself was a bit bland (and you seem to feel similarly).

Thanks for the thoughtful response! I'll keep watching your updates to see how your journey goes. :D