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In Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that love and death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small round man in the faded red waistcoat, discomfiture is not just because of the sun. All is not well. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways, but the quarry has turned and the hunters become the hunted. Hidden hands pluck the strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. While the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of Hounds, and in the distant city of Black Coral, where rules Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, ancient crimes awaken, intent on revenge. It seems Love and Death are indeed about to arrive hand in hand, dancing.… (more)
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- Traveller”
Finally. Finally I can allow myself to give five stars to one book of the malazan series. I liked all the previous books a lot, but I never got around to giving the full five stars.
What was different this time? A lot. Some of my favorite characters (Rake! Envy!) are protagonists, sometimes even very important ones. Also, for the first time, we get a closer look at the society of the Andii, something I have been wanting to get since the first book.
Also, the writing style has changed. For the first time, we have a narrator that talks like he is telling a story, a change that I enjoyed very much. The book also had a tighter emotional grip on me (Erikson, for gods sake, stop killing my favorite characters already!). Some changes in the style might not suit everyone, for example the frequent use of explicit curses. Personally, that did not bother me all too much, although sometimes they did not quite fit the situation.
All in all, I enjoyed the book very much, especially since the finale begins 200 pages before the end of the book and just keeps going. I lost quite a few hours today to this book, and that is exactly what I needed.
Consider these five stars reparations for all the previous four star ratings. The Series earned it.
In a sense this is the true successor to the original volume, "Gardens of the Moon" featuring a return to the city of Darujhistan. It's a refreshing change from the seventh volume and brings back many characters I've missed since the first and third books. If you've a soft spot for the Hounds of Shadow as I do and anticipated this title, you won't be disappointed. The plot presents its own ciphers, as many characters (especially the Tiste Andii) speak often about how pending events make them feel, but little about what those events will be until they happen. Reading the ending will tempt you to conduct a re-read in order to find all the clues, with your new understanding of the context of those thoughts. This may be suggesting there's a surprise ending in store for the series that will invite a re-read under a new perspective.
'Cipher' as key also applies thematically, the word 'compassion' being frequently mentioned. A great deal of space in this volume is dedicated to interior monologue about the need for it (or hopelessness of it) - or rather, internal philosophizing: characters thinking very deep thoughts about their circumstances and their views on life and its travails. Every one of them speaks with brazen certainty, and many share a very pessimistic attitude - almost depressingly so - but frequently they contradict one another in the details or choice of metaphor. There is more variety of opinion among them than at first meets the casual eye, and I likely missed many of the subtleties.
I've received what I anticipated from this eighth volume: something daring that emphasizes the unique qualities about this series against the backdrop of so many lacklustre template fantasy novels. As readers we are being prepared for more than just the typical final confrontation between good and evil. Something more is waiting to be brought full circle in the final two volumes. Erikson is aiming higher than surface-level entertainment (though that is always provided in spades); there are layers here, and how fulfilled this reading experience will make you feel depends on how deep you choose to look.
It is said that Hood waits at the end of every plot, every scheme, each grandiose ambition. But this time it is different. This time the Lord of Death is there at the beginning. Darujhistan swelters in the summer heat and seethes with portents, rumors and whispers. Strangers have
Toll the Hounds is the Eight Tale of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. And boy are we in for a ride! As we close in on the grand finale of this epic series story threads are really coming together. Things hinted at from book one finally come to fruition here. Many characters we haven't seen in a couple books are back and it's both great and painful to catch up with them.
There is a change in writing style where the two main story lines are told by different narrators, one of which is by one of the story's characters. I quite liked this as it provided a larger scope of how events affect the area around them from points of view normally not seen. It also added the character's touch of flare and poetry to those sections that were beautiful to read. Erikson has mastered how, in two or three pages, he can relate a small scene to greater events with such depth and detail that you almost come to care for a character that has no impact on the overall story.
Erikson continues to weave humorous parts throughout the story to help lighten up what is otherwise a fairly dark book. This culminates in one scene I'd secretly been hoping to see but never imagined it would really happen. All I have to say is Iskarul Pust and Kruppe.
My main criticism of the book is that it is very slow moving in parts. This does not make the book boring however. It is a slow build of 800 pages or so which, compare to earlier books that had small climaxes throughout, make this one feel like it plods along initially. But once it takes off hold on tight!
As always, the book ends in a massive convergence, this time on a scale not previously seen so far. Many story lines are nicely tied up and we are left with several set ups for the ending to come.
There was nothing wrong with the actual story. It was good with a lot of twists, surprises and major plot developments, especially towards the
a) Verbosity found a new meaning in this book. There are pages and pages of endless, meaningless philosophising and musings about past event that add nothing to the story. Instead you have to plod through the dros until something of substance comes up. I had to force myself to continue reading when I reached the halfway mark. The book could easily have been half its length with some judicious editing.
b) Erikson jumped between characters like a jack in the box. You barely figured out amid all the prose which character's POV you're now sharing, before he jumps to the next one. This completely eliminates continuety and makes it harder to identify with the characters.
c) In his previous books, Erikson often used the macabre and select obscenities for morbid humour and comic relief. This time, however, almost every scene contained murder, abuse, sex or some kind of depravity without the saving grace of being funny. Instead it felt gratuitous. Or else everyone in the Malazan empire has lost touch with morality. In previous books, a veil of lighthearted humour covered the very serious underlying tone of the story. This time, it was a veil of despair/depravity.
I will definitely read the next book in the series as the overall story remains interesting, but this was by far the worst installment in the series thus far.
In addition, it's structured as a multitude of apparently disparate story lines, often told in very short (1-3 paragraph) chunks before hopping to another story line; a style I particularly
Despite that, this still gets 4.5 stars from me. Why? Because, yet again, Erikson has taken my expectations in a number of places and totally subverted them for one. For another, there are huge, massive plot developments and although at moments I was left wondering if they'd be properly handled, the pay-off (although delayed) was beautifully done and far, far more satisfying than I'd initially expected. Details are, of course, spoilers, so I'll spare them.
I'm looking forward to the next book immensely.
Erikson’s narrative style has varied quite a bit from book to book in the series, and this one is squarely back in “myriad storylines which ever so slowly move towards a cataclysmic multi layered climax” mode. Chapters in this book alternate between Darujhistan and environs (as observed from Kruppe’s perspective) and Black Coral and environs (as observed, presumably, from Crone’s perspective). By my count there are a dizzying fifteen distinct stories going on here, and while several of them worked quite well for me (particularly the Torvold Nom storyline, the K’rul’s Bar storyline, Harlo’s tale, and the adventures of the Trygalle Trade Guild), Erikson never really sold me on other critical parts of the story (especially the Clip and Nimander group, The Redeemer and his pilgrims storyline, and the denizens of Dragnipur). In several cases I struggled to understand what was happening and why characters were doing what they were doing, and somehow this bothered me more in the eighth book of a series than it did in the first. Toll the Hounds never really built momentum for me, and is missing the intermediate peaks that released tension in the earlier books. Compared to earlier books Toll features far less action, nary a single military battle, and only hints of the stunning imagery that has made for the most compelling highlights of the series.
Having said all that, even the weakest book of this phenomenal series offers plenty of things to admire. For me, the most impressive thing about this book was the poetry and architecture of the various Darujhistan chapters, many of which felt to me like miniature masterpieces, nimbly moving from tragedy to comedy, and from outrage at injustice to an acceptance of inevitability. I also enjoyed returning to locales and long neglected characters from both Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice. We learn what has happened to the various survivors (for whom many years have passed since we last saw them), and see the threads of their existence being pulled back together. We get a few new characters, some bad, some good, and as usual in this series most drawn in shades of grey. We also learn more about the backstory of the Tiste Andii. The fact that I had recently reread Gardens helped a lot; I would probably have been better prepared for this book if I had also recently re-read books Memories of Ice and House of Chains.
fuck! i haven't write a review in ages... still! i need to give this shit a try! god damn this shit its good! as some of y'all know and by some i mean 2... i've been re-reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen series! not only because its awesome... but also cuz i'm broke and i aint
I know I joke a lot about world domination! the big ol' fantasy of me taking over and imposing my will over everything that lives in this sad ball of fucked up that we call our home planet... but deep down i have huge issues with tyranny! i think it be retarded! still! its fun to imagine my sexy self as Supreme Dominator! dressed all sexy, with a red cape and awesome leather clothes like Neo! giving some retarded orders from my Fuzzy Throne (its big and pink and fuzzy! just like my inner me!) screaming crazy shit like "i'll finish what y'all started!!! i'll end y'all holy wars!!!!!" guaaaaa! but again... those thoughts are there just for my own amusement! nothing serious!
Then you start reading about the real Tyrants in Erickson's world! and you get sad and shit! i hate feeling sad! and i hate feeling shit! maybe Tyranny ain't as fun as i imagine... maybe all it does is spread misery all over the place... enter Kallor!!! that High King! cursed to rise and fall... damn it! i'm already feeling it! the "alfonso, nobody cares about what you think is "deep shit" from those nerdy fantasy books you read! shut up! shut up! shut up! nobody cares!!!!" but this time... this time a nerd will have it his way!!!! i will talk about Kallor! and you gonna like it!!!! fuck you!
where was i? oh yeah! Kallor! he this dude who was into dominating people! cuz let's face it! its fun! tell me you dont wanna wear funky capes and sit in fuzzy thrones and i will think you crazy! so... back to Kallor! (i really wish i could stay focused on one subject!!! it will make so much sense!)
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meh! i lost interest! maybe i'll come back and finish this review later! now i need to go and cook dinner!!!!
y'all suck!!!
Most of my problem with this tome was the way Erikson changed the point of view (POV). It's pretty standard fare to have multiple POVs throughout and, typically, I like that device. However, Erikson seemed to bounce between a pseudo-first person perspective and then a third person perspective that I found really off putting. Adding to my overall level of discomfort Erikson decided to wax poetic far more often in this book and, at times, it seemed as if he were babbling on paper rather than telling the story.
Some of the story arcs that were followed were interesting and seemed to offer a lot of promise but, overall, I thought they all fell short. A lot of time was spent with a small group of Tiste Andii led by Nimander as they accompanied Clip toward a meeting with Rake. Yet, the group's story never seemed very compelling to me and, frankly, I could have dealt without their inclusion in the book. By the third entry related to this small band I was already inwardly groaning that I had to read more about them; each scene just seemed like a repetition of the one before it.
My favorite character, Karsa, was also in this book and, it seemed like, there was a lot of potential for him as well; but overall he seemed to be glossed over.
The whole book just felt disjointed and poorly planned; even the climactic scene seemed to be missing something. It was weird putting down a book and not wishing it wasn't done. Hopefully the next edition in the story improves.
The ending is moderately poignant, and many of
I think in hindsight this series will be recognized as entirely a product of its era. There is so, so much naked criticism of unregulated capitalism (which doesn't really make a ton of sense in mercantile-at-best Darujhistan, unlike the crafted-to-order Letherii Empire.) It's not that I disagree with it ideologically, it's that I get damned tired of the repeated interruptions for yet another sermon directed at the choir. This volume was particularly tedious in this regard.
I liked this one fine, overall, but it wasn't a standout. I vaguely recall loathing the following one beyond any other, so I'm not super excited about rereading it.
As with many of the other books in this series, this is a better book upon the second reading. This is a bit too slow in sections but makes up for it with an extremely fast paced, hectic and extremely impressive final 100 pages where the story takes you from laughing out loud, to sadness to
It's not to say this is an awful book, I just wonder how much any of what happens here will impact the last two books, and whether (as it seems now) it isn't all just filler and fluff.
I wanted to give this book 4.5 stars (with a half knocked off for the slow pace) but really couldn't justify that rating; as awesome as the ending is, looking back, it's hard to say WHY events happened the way they did. That won't stop a diehard Malazan fan from loving this latest entry, however.