by Scrappy » Mon Sep 19, 2016 1:37 pm
So I'm deep into the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Only on the first one, Gardens of the Moon but boy it's so good. There's a lot that's not explained to you, and you kinda have to piece some stuff together but it's really worth it. I'm finding out new stuff constantly and the first book is just ramping up to a big conclusion. The fact the series is 10 books long now is perfect. I've found very little I want to read this year and this will be perfect to tide me over until Rothfuss decides to release his last book.
Apparently it was written from the two creators DnD session and was then wrote for a TV series and a couple of movies but got rejected every time so he decided to write it as a novel instead. He's admitted the first book is really, really hard to get into (I don't think it is but it's not easy) as he doesn't spoon feed you all the details and history of the World. You have to slowly unravel it through reading and connecting dots. It's meant I'm reading the book very slowly, but once you get two things connected together and figure it out before you're told in the book by the characters, it's so rewarding.
" The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake, lord of Moon's Spawn, and his Tiste Andii. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.
For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the Siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out and it is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.
However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand..."
It sounds so mundane and generic, and yet he breaks all the tropes of Fantasy at every stage. If you're looking for an epic fantasy novel, this is it.