A quick hint for the whole series

books:


	• Reaper's Gale: Book Seven of The Malazan Book of the Fallen Steven Erikson Tor Books, 2008 - 832 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent

Can't say enough about Erikson and the Malazan Book of the Fallen. However, this trade paperback of Reaper's Gale had a packet missing in it. 32 pages were repeated after page 544, so I missed 32 pages of action. Very annoying. I don't know if it was just my copy or all of them, but I was pretty upset about this. TOR really should proof their ashcans before sending them to press, or at least pull the bad copies before shipping them to market.

Solid Entry In Malazan Saga

The 7th book in the series is a well told tale in the saga. Its not the best of the series (Memories of Ice, Bonehunters, Gardens of the Moon) but it is welldone nonetheless. The last 250 pages just race by and you will not want to put down to stop. The first 2/3 of the book is hard to put down as well. Throughout, there are tragedies and triumphs, grief and humor.

Its a truly complex book and ultimately rewarding, as well.

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A quick hint for the whole series

For those of you who have only been introduced to the Malazan Empire through American publishers, you should know that you can order these same books through amazon.uk.co (you get the books from Europe). Erikson's eighth (8th) book has been released and like all the others it is fantastic. I strongly urge you to order the books through the European sellers, mainly because the content has not been as edited or watered down as the American versions. If you compare his Gardens of the Moon through the UK publisher to TOR there is a significant difference in book length. He's a fantastic author. His books and Ian Cameron Esslemont's books come out ahead of time through the European vendors and are not as diluted. Plus you are not paying $65.00 for a book in the U.S. when you can pay much less through the UK site. I know that this is not a book review (they are all awesome) as much as it is advice for you to check out other amazon vendors. Sorry, I really enjoy his books, I live in NY and I always order and pre-order through amazon.uk.co to get the books ahead of time and to not have them watered down.

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History book?

This book was the first of the Malazan saga that I found myself skimming. Previous books in this series compelled more interest and a thorough reading as introductions of new fascinating arenas/characters overcame shotgun character development.

Erikson's gift in crafting a believable messy universe is undeniable. Unfortunately, a loosely common yarn he threads to present this vast realm to the readers includes too many protagonists and excessive focus on peripheral players with cryptic powers whose actions often remain perplexing before and after (even volumes later) the deeds. His style of intermixing short snippets of events from many different characters within a page or two further discourages readers' involvement.

By sacrificing character development in the previous volumes, the conclusions reached with more or less the same characters in Reaper's Gale seem impersonal and uninvolving. Often, I had to remind myself that I am reading a fantasy novel not a history book. Maybe if Erikson took Tolkien's apprach to Arda... or introduced a Thomas Covenant or two!!!

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10 stars out of 5

With every book Erikson writes I become more and more impressed. In the beginning I thought it was good writing, interesting story and world, but wasn't too sure. Book 1 was pretty good, book 2 fell a little short, but book 3 picked up and from then on each successive book got that much better, which brings us to the most recent book, by far the best so far.

Erikson writes epic fantasy on a level all his own. The world is massive and engaging. It is at once believable and yet otherworldly, creating a fusion of worlds that leaves your jaw hanging. I am amazed at how well he writes the characters and holds such a complex and huge story together, with each book at least 800 pages.

In Reaper's Gale we finally see the two worlds, the Malazan and the Letherii, finally begin to converge. We get to see the Bonehunters as well as the Tiste Edur. But it wouldn't be Erikson if some new aspect were not introduced to add such color and flavor to an already mind numbingly full bodied book. We see the Awl, the Benetract, an Ascendent previously undisclosed and a bunch of Elder gods.

I could go on and on but I wouldn't do the book or Erikson justice. His writing is amazing. His world is amazing. Everything is amazing about this series. I think he is by far my favorite fantasy author out there right now, and is one of the few authors who can write more than a three book series and make every single one of them an amazingly complex book that is also a page turner. Bravo Erikson.

If I could give this a 10 out of 5, I wouldn't hesitate. And the upside? Book 8 is coming out in a few months so we don't have long to wait to indulge ourselves once again.

5 stars.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

All is not well in the Letherii Empire. Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, spirals into madness, surrounded by sycophants and agents of his Machiavellian chancellor. Meanwhile, the Letherii secret police conduct a campaign of terror against their own people. The Errant, once a farseeing god, is suddenly blind to the future. Conspiracies seethe throughout the palace, as the empire - driven by the corrupt and self-interested - edges ever-closer to all-out war with the neighboring kingdoms. The great Edur fleet--its warriors selected from countless numbers of people--draws closer. Amongst the warriors are Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer--each destined to cross blades with the emperor himself. That yet more blood is to be spilled is inevitable... Against this backdrop, a band of fugitives seek a way out of the empire, but one of them, Fear Sengar, must find the soul of Scabandari Bloodeye. It is his hope that the soul might help halt the Tiste Edur, and so save his brother, the emperor. Yet, traveling with them is Scabandari's most ancient foe: Silchas Ruin, brother of Anomander Rake. And his motives are anything but certain - for the wounds he carries on his back, made by the blades of Scabandari, are still fresh. Fate decrees that there is to be a reckoning, for such bloodshed cannot go unanswered--and it will be a reckoning on an unimaginable scale. This is a brutal, harrowing novel of war, intrigue and dark, uncontrollable magic; this is epic fantasy at its most imaginative, storytelling at its most thrilling.

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