My Read Through of Malazan Books of the Fallen

[Bookstore Guy]

once i got going, HoC became very enjoyable. Karsa is freaking awesome once you realize what he is.

[Patriotic Kaz]

I'm assuming he is the human version of otaral...well Heboric said it is made of fat so it could be a condensed form of teblor flesh... though i doubt that

[Patriotic Kaz]

Im on book 4 of House of Chains named HoC... its after Karsa makes his sword and gets his horse... I looked into the glossary of Tool of Hounds and saw that the holds and houses are missing which leads me to the guess that everything by the master of the deck or for other reasons reverts back to "wandering" or migration...Heboric being more or less young again is going to be badass i've been waiting to read more of him and Kalam who i like alot

[Patriotic Kaz]

I finished HoC... where did Apsalar go? i thought she was leading the defense of the first throne but she isn't...

[Andrew the Great]

Karsa = Awesome. That's pretty much all I have to say about him.

Midnight Tides = The hardest book in the entire series for me. I had real difficulty with the fact that it was the fifth in the series, and I only really got 1 familiar character. Of course, I loved the ending, though I still wish I'd had more of the other plotlines and less of the Tiste Edur. Plot wise, it was great, character wise it was great.... it just lacked some of the familiarity. I don't know if that's an issue for anyone else but it was for me.

That said, about 3/4 of the way through, I grew to like it. A lot. If you don't mind that familiarity thing, this one will probably be one of your favorites.

In my opinion, this series is just barely above WOT, whoever said it was just below.

My favorites = Fiddler and Whiskeyjack, although Quick Ben is pretty awesome and Karsa just makes me happy.

[Patriotic Kaz]

I said it was just below WoT.... and i prefer Midnight Tides to House of Chains and Trull and Udinass are amazing i have about 150 pages left... though i think Kalam when he finnally ascends can take on any of the other houses knights including Karsa he will probably give Cotilton a run for his money to

[Bookstore Guy]

there are different aspects of each that I like (between HoC and MT). HoC because of the Karsa angle, but I think MT really shows Erikson's skill at character. He gets a lot of criticism by readers of book 1 who say that there is no character at all. MT really shows how absurd that criticism is. I also really enjoy the humor in MT. That part where he is deciding to either make a pair of shorts or a pair of pants with only 1 leg was so absurd, but it felt so natural in the moment. Awesome.

[Andrew the Great]

Yeah, I really did like Midnight Tides once I got into it. I just struggled getting into it. Once I decided I liked all of the new characters as much as the old, I was great.

I forgot to add Trull to my list of favorite characters. And Tehol goes on for favorite humor, though not for favorite character. And for some reason, I have this fascination with Ceda Kuru Khan. However you spell his name. I can't figure out why, but I just like him.

My hardest moment was when I looked through the glossary thing at the beginning of the book and saw approximately 2 names that seemed familiar. I liked Midnight Tides a lot, looking back on it. It was just the hardest one for me to get into.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Well since Pust was absent they needed comedic relief hence you have Tehol

[Andrew the Great]

Honestly I'm glad for the change. I like Tehol MUCH Better than Pust. Pust just annoys me.

[Patriotic Kaz]

I like him only because it proves that Shadowthrone finds high priest that are while supremely competent have agendas of their own and really do little to worship their god...

[mtlhddoc2]

just found this thread...   I powered through this series in about 6 weeks. Just sent Toll the Hounds back to the library this weekend.

And I am still confused. And not a good confused either. I like the books, I like the author, love alot of teh charachters, but there are no less than 5 magic systems and none of them really make any sense.

biggest complaint is the overabundance of words. Really, he does not need to descibe the chair, the jacket on the chair, and the length of time the jacket has been on the chair, for two paragraphs, and then have the chair mean absolutely nothing to the story, or even the scene.

[Andrew the Great]

Ummmm..... Five Magic Systems? Pretty Sure Not. In fact, I recall one, maybe two, and both very well explained. Sure, we may not understand exactly how/why everything works the way it does, but we understand enough for the books to make sense, and for us to be able to see how the magic could be used. It also lets us have that, "Oh, so that's how he's going to do it," moment when something epically awesome happens. None of the magic systems are clear cut, and they're all complex (like huge), but they are well explained, and they do make sense.

But even if there were 5 magic systems, does that really matter? I've never seen this series described without the words epic or huge scale attached to it. And magic, if used right, can really add to a world. The more systems, the more opportunities to change your setting into something unique.

What are you still confused about? Plot? Magic systems? All of the above? None of the above? I'll do my best to help clear up your confusion if you would like.

I never had much of an issue with overabundance of words, though I can see how others might. It's the same as with Jordan. I personally felt it was great, but I have lots of friends who think it's too long and long-winded.

[Patriotic Kaz]

First off before this gets any further im just past the 1st book of Bonehunters so please no spoilers... the only problem i have with erikson's writing is each book takes me about 150 pages to get into it but once everything gets going its gone!!! Now the magic system is explained pretty well but there are some contradictions on warrens. Originally Erickson speaks of warrens as paths and Quick Ben and Harlock go to the beggining of the paths on the bordering of chaos, later the are explained as worlds unto themselves i admit i am somewhat confused.

[Andrew the Great]

I always assumed that the warrens were more of their own little worlds, and they described them as paths because of a) their usefulness in transportation, and b) the fact that they are all "branches" if you will of the complete magic system based around K'rul.