fanifesto | Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson Fanifesto (Reply)

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Caveat: It's been a few years (anywhere between 4-7) since I read the series in its entirety and I may be forgetting a few things, and my stance towards some details I don't remember clearly may have changed in the meantime. Also, the first book was written in 1992 and the whole world developed in the 80s (I'm getting to that), so the series may have a few plot points and tropes that a reader today looks at differently.

Cool? Cool.

Because I forgot it the last time I made a post like this:

What is the story, actually?

It's hard to say! XD

Ok, that doesn't help at all. It's a collection of interconnected epic fantasy series that is extremely complex and spans various continents and many many many years. It has several storylines it follows, some of those are the personal stories of characters, some of them are about nothing less than saving the world while showing us how the characters we get to know manage it, what it costs them, and where they mess up. It is a little bit the history of the world it's set in, which makes it extremely intriguing, and one novel might cover one geographic area while the next covers around the same time frame but in a different location. A lot of these different stories do interconnect later.

The last time I made a post like this I said, "That's because this is spanning continents and people and situations, and it's a bit as if you wanted to summarize the history of Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia at the time of Trajan without going into the history and socioeconomic situation of each people and continent separately", and that pretty much holds true. How do you give a summary about all of that in a few sentences. This series is, in the best sense of the word, an epic fantasy series.

Okay so what is this?

It's an epic fantasy novel series jointly written by two authors (Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont), each focusing on specific aspects of the overall world. Actually, it's composed of five interconnected series:

Malazan Book of the Fallen (by Erikson, 10 books)

Novels of the Malazan Empire (by Esslemont, 6 books)

Path to Ascendancy (by Esslemont, 3 of 4 books published, prequel)

Karkhanas Trilogy (by Erikson, 2 of 3 books published, prequel)

The Witness Trilogy (by Erikson, 1 of 3 books published, sequel)

I highly recommend to read the two main series first and only then get into the prequels. They're dealing with characters you already know, and I think it's best if you already know them.

Is it gritty?

Yeah. A lot of characters you like will die (some of them will get better though). But there are no useless deaths, even if sometimes it seems like it. There is a lot of suffering in this series, a lot of hardship and war and death, but it ends in hope.

And I honestly think that sets it apart from a lot of other epic fantasy out there in the last few decades.

So it's basically like "A Song of Ice and Fire"?

Hah. Nope. Nope nope nope. This series is actually good. I gave up on ASoIaF after book 2, because of many reasons (that it wasn't going forward was one of them, and I can't believe a year after the original post it still hasn't).

Both Erikson and Esslemont published their books like clockwork, the main series was published between 1999 and 2011, that's almost a book a year and these volumes are dense. The last of the prequel series is missing, and Erikson is on record saying he's struggling but this is the only book that was ever really delayed by a long time. The main series are both finished.

Also, both authors deal deftly with the tropes of epic fantasy, but despite the fact that these books have a lot of blood and war and suffering, it's never glorified. There's no revelling in sexualized violence; we know it happens a few times, but we are not constantly confronted with play-by-play rapes and it's not used as a frequent device to drive the plot forward. It's a bit sad that this is something I have to note, but I've turned away from a lot of novels in annoyance because of it.

It's also written very well! Imo, Erikson is the superior author of the two, his style is really great even if he likes a few turns of phrase too much. The characters are all fleshed out, there's quite a bit of trope subversion, all plot points that matter are resolved, everyone has an ending, you'll walk away from this very satisfied.

So who are these guys?

Erikson is an anthropologist and archaeologist, Esslemont is an archaeologist. Their training shows in the worldbuilding, which is beyond epic. They're friends and the world was originally developed as a backdrop for a GURPS campaign in the 80s. I actually think it works out because there's two of them; everyone needs a sounding board for their fiction that isn't their agent or their editor, unless your editor is also a writer/deep in the canon all the time.

Erikson at least is also very willing to engage with fans/critical reception of his work but not in a 4th wall breaking way. He has a blog and I know he at least used to respond to fanmail. He can probably think and plot circles around me and I appreciate that a lot.

16 books in the main series, what is the reading order???

Several have been suggested, but I honestly think order of publication is best (see Wikipedia for details).

However! And here comes my caveat and something I alluded to above: The first book is Gardens of the Moon and while it was published in 1999, it was written in 1992. Personally, I like it a lot, but the style is somewhat different from the later books and I'm always on the fence on whether it is a good introduction. It throws you right into the story with completely no introduction, no warning, and as I mentioned the style isn't as evolved as the later books.

So for newbies, I usually recommend to start with either Deadhouse Gates (Book 2) or Memories of Ice (Book 3). This is possible, because Books 1-5 are theoretically closed in themselves, each with a different narrative strand that are then interwoven starting in Book 6. "Novels of the Malazan Empire" splits off at some point and takes up a different narrative strand with a different focus.

Whether you start with Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice honestly depends a little. Deadhouse Gates introduces a whole different set of characters, but the events (and the end) are a bit hard to stomach and in a very visceral way. Memories of Ice revisits some of the characters from Gardens of the Moon but still makes sense without that context. And it is, perhaps, more exemplary of the rest of the books.

You should still read Gardens of the Moon eventually. It's a great book and we meet a bunch of characters and see some of the worldbuilding in action.

First things first, does it have dragons? :D

It has...at least one extant dragon?

There are shapeshifters in this world, they can either turn into one shift (in which case they're "Soletaken"), so for example a dragon, or into a swarm of beings (in which case they're "D'ivers"). There is no genetic relation to shifters necessarily, they can be from different species and it's not necessarily hereditary.

The world

We move on four different continents (Gennabakis, Seven Cities, Lether, and Assail), and each has their own events and socioeconomic circumstances. They're loosely interconnected by characters moving around.

The titular Malazan Empire is vaguely reminiscent of the Roman Empire at first, because of its expansionist purpose, they recruit and build roads, they spread their influence. There are several rebellions against the Empire, for different reasons, but we also learn that the Empire of Malaz has a stabilizing influence that is lacking in some other places and some of those are actually unstable in ways that are harmful and create global problems. I don't want to spoil, so this is all you get. ;)

Oh but we do get some social commentary. The Letherii Empire is driven by capitalism for example and we see all the challenges and also opportunities that brings with it, and also how to subvert it and still gain power, even if all you own is a skirt.

Don't be mistaken though: War is very very much a constant topic here, so if you don't like war in your fantasy books, this series is not for you. However, this war is not just imperialistic bullcrap, actually that's a very small part of it.

The people/characters/entities

So many. Sooo many.

As I mentioned, both Erikson and Esslemont are archaeologists/anthropologists and this was originally a roleplaying campaign, so we're not just faced with humans.

This world is shared among. So. Many. Species. It's so awesome, all of them are unique, they have their own motivations, their own history, characteristics, magic, etc. There even is a species of hyperintelligent raptors with swords for hands (who are nominally extinct….). No, I'm not kidding.

There are three Elder Races, who use a different kind of magic than e.g., humans do, and who are long-lived to almost immortal. All of their numbers are dwindling or were not populous to start with. There are humans, of whom some can access magic. There are humanoid species, of whom some are compatible with humans or Elder Races, hinting that that there is possibly a common ancestor somewhere. There are species that are not even vaguely humanoid, like the raptors or the Assail who have too many joints in their extremities and will kill when they perceive injustice.

While almost all pov characters are male, there are a lot of strong female characters that play crucial parts and without whom none of the plot could be resolved. Male and female characters are treated equally in importance though, often with the female ones keeping a clear head and calling the shots.

There are some divisive characters (I mentioned this above; theoretically Karsa Orlong fulfills all the noble savage tropes, except where he basically thinks with his dick for a long time, but that isn't actually the case and we get a lot of deeper insights into him as the story progresses), some loveable characters, some sympathetic characters who don't survive even though we want them to, some characters you will absolutely hate but who still have their own motivation beyond 'hur dur, I am ze villain', and characters you know you should probably hate but who you will like anyway, and also those who will infuriate you because they're too nice/loyal/whatever.

Loyalties will shift. There are armies that fight against each other one book, and then fight side by side in another because circumstances have changed. There's quite a bit of enemies to friends.

There are gods. The gods have their own motivations and agendas, and some of them will interfere, some won't, some will be fought against, some will fight with the people we like. They have good reasons to do what they do!

Relationships: They're not the focus of these books. There are some, and some of them are actually also very crucial to the story, there are some f/f relationships that are alluded to or outright depicted, but ultimately romance isn't the focus of these books at all. Which I really appreciated, actually.

Magic!

The magic system is so intricate. It has layers.

I can't imagine how much work they put into this. It evolves constantly, it evolved in the past and it keeps evolving throughout the story.

As I said, there are several layers to the magic system. The Elder Races have "Holds" and these are associated with the "Tiles of the Holds", which is essentially like throwing knuckles to predict the future. Holds can become inactive and also become active again, and all Holds are either affiliated with a god or an entity (like, there is the Hold of Darkness, Shadow, and Light but also Ice, and the Beast Hold). Holds are a little bit like parallel worlds, in that they can be travelled through and in that they confer power (energy blasts, healing, etc).

An evolved version of the Holds are "Warrens", made from the blood of a god. Humans who have magic access Warrens and these are usually associated with a god who is responsible for certain characteristics (like healing, fire, etc). Warrens, too, are like realms of their own that confer power.

Not all humans have magic, and as far as I understand it the ability to draw on a Warren is something you're born with and that's connected to your soul, not something you can learn. [I may remember this incorrectly, though.]

Warrens are associated with the Deck of Dragons, which is a little bit like a Tarot deck, although it's dynamic. Cards can become active and inactive, new cards can be added and then just appear in the deck. You need some inherent or at least latent skill in order to read it or predict the future with it, and even then it's not said in clear words, as per usual.

Ooph.

Srsly, these are really good books.

Don't be mistaken: They're not easy reads. A friend of mine recently said that it was a process to read them, but oh so worth it. I carried these around for years in backpacks to and from uni, on the train, bus etc, so you can absolutely read these on your commute, but this isn't a fluffy fic, and it's dense writing. Very satisfying though, and I personally really like the style (especially Erikson's).

Bottom line is, this series (at least the two main series) was thought through from start to finish, they're well written, super imaginative, and to my mind very unique.

And if you're still reading and have questions, I'm willing to answer them to the best of my ability.