Well, I have finished the Malazan Series. Yes, I thought I'd read the side novels before diving into the final two books (which, as Erikson says in the beginning are basically one super huge book). But I had to know how the story ended. So I read Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God back to back. Warning: There will probably be SPOILERS in this so if you haven't read the series or the last two books, please skip ahead.
SPOILER WARNING CONCLUDED
I have to give it to Erikson. The man has some amazing stories to tell. Going into these books I thought the Crippled God was the enemy. When I discovered that he wasn't the enemy, but in fact the central reason behind the entire series, I was blown away. Initially, I was a little turned off. After all, this guy seemed like a villian. But, Erikson does a tremendous job of showing why we should like the Crippled God. In many ways, the Crippled God is humanity, enslaved by callous, uncaring Gods. This was just one long rollercoaster from start to finish. I thought we were going to see the end of the Bonehunters at the end of book 9. The way Erikson brings all of the races together is just breathtaking. I've said it before, but Erikson has incredible talent in moving whole armies through thousands of pages. I haven't seen it done this well before. Where we get to see and feel for armies as a whole and yet we get to see through the eyes of every aspect of those armies. The only series that can compare with breadth and scope is Wheel of Time. But whereas Wheel of Time is a story mainly of individuals, Malazan Book of the Fallen is definitely a tale of societies. Sure, there are individual stories, but there are more than just a few. Unlike WOT, I didn't get the feeling that it was three key players saving the world. Instead, I saw it as disparate groups of human/humanlike races coming together to do what is right.
Many will say that Erikson's books are dark, sarcastic, and not very uplifting. It's true. In many places he takes a dim view of the world. But the ultimate story, the reason for all of those pages, is about doing what is right. There's no real reward for the participants. Sure, there's the possiblity of the world ending well after their dead and there's the possiblity for massive changes in their world (loss of magic, etc.) but none of these is the reason for their actions. They are simply doing what is right. Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead.
I want to say thank you to WriterDan and Bookstory Guy for plugging Erikson even after I was less than enthralled with his first book. Definitely worth the read!
I'm leery of how series will end. I think of Stephen King's Dark Tower series and while I liked the ending, I didn't feel completely satisfied. I don't see how he could have finished it any other way, but it still left me wanting more. Then there's J.K. Rowling who had a decent ending and ruined it with that awful epilogue. Erikson's ending is the best I've read in recent memory. There are a lot of big time pay offs. By the end, that long, long breath we've been holding is finally allowed to exhale. And that was immensely satisfying.