Review: "The Bonehunters" By Steven Erikson

Well, we've officially turned the corner in this series--there is a dim light ahead that is the end of the tunnel.  The pieces are all on the chess-board now, and 'The Game' has begun.  The Bonehunters is Steven Erikson's sixth book in his multi-layered epic high fantasy series, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen."  I've actually moved far beyond just recommending this series for folks who love fantasy fiction.  This is a complex tale that breathes life into Erikson's fictional world; a world comprised of a uniquely awesome mythology, philosophical examinations, geo-politics, archaeology, anthropology, military tactics, a truly fascinating magical scheme, and character development and world-building that is beyond amazing.

The first five novels in the series (i.e., Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, and Midnight Tides) carefully, and quite originally, place the reader in the world of the Malazan Empire.  It is an ambiguous and grey world, where sometimes right is wrong, or where wrong is actually right.  Where what occurs, what you see and what you hear is not always precisely is as it ought to be interpreted.  The Bonehunters only reinforces this notion.  

A couple of 'rules' to keep in mind as you read these novels--The First Eriksonian Law--Pay very close attention to every word written; and the Second Eriksonian Law--Not everything can be interpreted correctly initially.  I also cannot stress enough the reliance the reader must place on the maps, 'Dramatis Personae' and the 'Glossary' included in each novel.  I would also encourage the reader to carefully read and think about each of the epigraphs that Erikson leads each chapter off with.  There are always valuable little 'nuggets' that can be gleaned from these bits of prose or poetry.  It is my experience that to fully experience all that Erikson offers, the reader must simply and unhesitatingly yield and immerse themselves in the Malazan world.  And trust me, it ain't hard to do with this series!

The Bonehunters is largely the story of the Malazan 14th Army, under the command of Adjunct Tavore Paran, and its pursuit of the remnants of 'Sha'ik's' The Whirlwind' rebellion on the continent of 'Seven Cities.' The siege and battle at the city of Y'Ghatan is not only some of the most riveting military fiction you'll ever read, but the reception the Malazan 14th Army receives after the battle from the Malazan Empress Laseen in Malaz City is jaw-droppingly suspenseful.  The geo-political events/conundrums and mysteries that Erikson introduces in this novel are really nothing short of amazing and mind-boggling.  There are truly mysteries layered upon mysteries nested in this novel, and I can only look forward to the remaining novels to answer the new batch of questions that I now have.

Erikson, it now seems, has now developed and cleverly woven into the story-line all of the major and minor characters into this massive and clever plot.  While there are very, very many characters, not only in this novel, but each of the previous books; we are now reaching the stage in the series that we can see that convergences are beginning to form.  For this novel, the reader is treated to approximately 700 pages of character and plot development/build-up, and then the novel's pacing kicks into an afterburner and you simply can't put it down (I dare you!).  Fortunately, I had a long (very long) day-trip flight from Burbank, California to Denver, Colorado (and return) for a meeting yesterday, and I was able to plow through the remaining 500 pages virtually non-stop!  It bears repeating, but this series really is some of the most clever and smartest fiction that I've ever encountered.

All I can say is that if you are with the series this far; well, there is then absolutely nothing that I need tell you.  Frankly, for anyone who has read the first five novels in this series, the only question I have is--How could you quit now?  Yeah, I know, you can't.  And I completely agree.  I couldn't stop reading these books even if I wanted to--I must see how it ends, and so should you!  The plot of The Bonehunters is an eye-opener, it answers a ton of questions, and it raises a million more.  Oh, how Eriksonian is that?

By the bye, the first cover shown (at top) is the Tor hardcover edition, and the second cover shown is the mass-market paperback edition, and they're both big-time 'fat-books.'  Happy Reading!

Review: "Deadhouse Gates" By Steven Erikson

I nearly couldn't put this novel down once started!  From page one on, the pace is utterly relentless.  This is the second volume in Steven Erikson's brilliant and uber-epic fantasy series, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen."  This installment, Deadhouse Gates, is nothing short of a nail-biter from the get-go.  There are plots and sub-plots galore swirling around throughout this 800+ page novel, and each of them is an attention-grabber.

The main plot of the novel is the one just takes your breath away--rebellion has broken out on one of the continents that the Malazan Empire controls--and this is the story of Coltaine's 'Chain of Dogs' march of one of the Malazan armies over several hundred leagues (over several months) from one city to another.  What makes it incredibly remarkable is that it is not just 'a march' of the Malazan 7th Army.  It is both a strategic and tactical retreat of the army while several huge enemy armies continually attack and harass the Malazan forces the entire distance.  Not only does Coltaine (The 7th's commander, or 'Fist') need to try and preserve his army and tactically respond to the enemy, he also must simultaneously protect nearly 50,000 displaced civilians that he acquires along the way (i.e., evacuees and refugees).

Erikson's description of this epic and heartbreaking journey, and the battles fought along the way, rivals any that have been written about in numerous superb military histories.  Examples that come to my mind include Field Marshal Erich von Manstein's strategic retreat of several German armies across the frozen steppes of southern Russia in early 1942 (after the fall of Stalingrad); or Sherman's "March to the Sea" bisecting the Confederacy.  This is stuff for the ages, and what Erikson writes about in Deadhouse Gates, with Coltaine's march as the focus, is that intense and dramatic, and really is some of the very best in military fiction.  Somehow, I can honestly see students at military academies around the world reading Erikson too.  There are huge lessons here.

By way of disclosure, while I have only read two books in this series so far (with eight more to go!), I am absolutely blown away with the sheer quality of the writing, the plotting, the character development (bordering on Dickensian or Tolstoyan), the pacing, the pathos and drama, and just the sheer inventiveness and originality of the world that Erikson has created. Mr. Erikson doesn't pull his punches, this is truly some hard, bleak, and dark fiction; and at times viscerally tragic and profoundly sad.  At the same time though, Erikson soars to heights almost unknown in fantasy fiction with his moments of triumph, success, and the joy of experiencing those fleeting instants of pure and unbridled goodness and humanity.

I highly and unhesitatingly recommend this series; and, in my opinion, Deadhouse Gates is much more than a quantum step forward from the first novel in the series, Gardens of the Moon.  Read it--you'll become a believer too!

Review: "Gardens of the Moon" By Steven Erikson

By way of introduction to this book review, I have to tell you that I first tried to read this novel approximately ten years ago, shortly after it was first published in the U.S.  Gardens of the Moon is Canadian author, Steven Erikson's, first installment in his ten-volume series entitled, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen."  On my first go, I honestly tried to like the book and was stymied.  For whatever reason, I just never took to it and it languished on my shelf for a couple of years.  Eventually I picked it up again, and gave it another go.  Alas, this second attempt was futile as well, and I then packed it off with a box a books to to my favorite used bookstore.  At the time I was in the midst of Robert Jordan's massive "Wheel of Time" epic fantasy series, and I wasn't terribly distraught at letting another multi-volume high fantasy series slip through my fingers.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Over the past few months I have encountered so much positive feedback about Erikson and his "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" series that I just knew that I'd have to try again.  Over the holidays I bought the first four 'fat-books' in the series, and made the mental commitment to finally read them and see, for myself, what all of the 'buzz' was about.  So, without any further ado, here is my review of the first volume in the series.

It has taken me a couple of days to formulate my thoughts and impressions about Gardens of the Moon and shape them into this review.  First, I must say to Mr. Erikson, "Bravo! and Brilliant!"  Secondly, I am still rendered nearly speechless after reading this first installment in his hugely fascinating and sophisticated epic fantasy series, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen."  This book hurls the reader into a red-hot frying pan face down!  As it is so darned intellectually creative, the novel requires a significant amount of work on the part of the reader, but it is ever so worthwhile.  While clearly dark, and at times bleak, the plot is stunningly complex but absolutely riveting; and the characters are just about the most original I've encountered in fiction, and feel so damned realistic.  From my perspective, there are also a host of connections to the great literature of the ages in this first book--from the classics of the ancient Greeks and Romans, Arthurian legend, the Norse mythology in the Poetic Edda and the Ragnarok, to the naturalism of Edith Wharton and Thomas Hardy--it is all here.

The plot of the novel, and the series for that matter, in a nutshell is this--the Malazan Empire, ruled by the megalomaniacal Empress Laseen, is a militaristic human society that has ambitions for conquering most, if not all, of its known world.  Erikson's background as an archaeologist and anthropologist shines through in his description of the various cultures and peoples that occupy the various continents and countries of this fascinating world that the Malazan Empire is trying to control, and one can't help but hearken back to the days of the Roman empire at its heyday.  Now throw in mages and their use of some complex and intriguing forms of sorcery, near-constant interactions with gods (good and evil) that take great delight in meddling and influencing the events and actions of the mortal protagonists on the planet, and finally Erikson's creation of several unique non-human races of sentient beings that have been on this world for hundreds of thousands of years!  Altogether this makes for a very potent and heady brew that needs to be imbibed slowly.  Read carefully and just take it all in word-by-word.  There is some seriously scary shit going on here that simply makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up!  I can only bow down and marvel at the imagination of Mr. Erikson. 

My final word--strap yourself in and brace yourself for the ride!  Erikson's "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" is an epic fantasy series that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go, not for one second.  Honestly, if you like creative and detailed high fantasy that is also amazingly fresh and original, you won't want to miss one word of this series.  For me, now it is on to the second volume, "Deadhouse Gates."

For your information, here is the complete list of the titles in Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and date of first publication:

Gardens of the Moon (1999)
Deadhouse Gates (2000)
Memories of Ice (2001)
House of Chains (2002)
Midnight Tides (2004)
The Bonehunters (2006)
Reaper's Gale (2007)
Toll the Hounds (2008)
Dust of Dreams (2009)
The Crippled God (forthcoming final volume in the series, January/February 2011)