Swept Away by the Tide - Backburner Books/Series

One thing I think people like myself who read review books regularly experience is that the more we read, the more we want to read. Despite Sturgeon's Law, there are indeed a fairly high percentage of good books being published.  At least from what I've been reading in the SFF realm of things.  To that point, keeping up with the new releases from popular authors and the hot and flashy debut authors can be a challenge. As my blog, review activity at SFFWorld and the SFFWorld Blog, as well as recent reviews at Tor.com, attest, I read a lot. I read, on average, about a book per week.  In more realistic numbers, take that "about one per week" to its annual conclusion, I've been averaging reading between 60 and 70 books read per year.  Even with that number, I feel like don't get to all the books I'd like to read.

One side effect is that focusing more on the newer releases of a given year means that a fair number of series I enjoy and have read over the years have tended to fall by the wayside. This is unfortunate, because at one point I enjoyed the authors a great deal. The evidence of my enjoyment of these books & series can be seen in the positive reviews I've posted to SFFWorld, discussions I've had in the SFFWorld forums,  or the posts I've made about those books/series/authors here on my blog.

Some of these series I feel guilty for not continuing because I did enjoy the books in the series; I want to support authors who have connected with me and entertained me. On the other hand, I’m curious if my lack of finishing them/continuing on with the series speaks to the quality of the series and my overall enjoyment of them rather than the annual, continuing tidal wave of new releases pushing them into more unreachable slopes of Mount Toberead. 

In the summaries of the series below, I assess my enjoyment of the books in the series and determine if I will (ever) forge ahead with those series. The reasons will be a mix of both of these eventual outcomes, because for some of these series, I will catch up with them and others the chances of that happening aren’t quite as good.

A last bit of preamble, these are series in which I’ve ventured fairly significantly. At the very least more than one book/the first book, none of these series “falloffs” involve me just not reading the final book, nor will any of the series be those where I’ve totally given up on the series, nor will these be series I am plodding forth (Dresden Files, Vorkosigan Series, etc). So, without further ado, here are the books/series that were swept away by the tide of review/current year releases.

Wess’har by Karen Traviss

I really enjoyed the first three installments of this Military SF series for a lot of reasons. From reading the first three novels, I felt Traviss had great POV characters, interesting alien cultures and overall, just entertaining stories.

Proof is in the pudding: My reviews of City of Pearl and the sequel Crossing the Line.  Books remaining to be read: Matriarch, Ally and Judge.

Chance of returning to this series? I'd say dead even at 50% mainly because I’ve gone 50% through them, they are relatively short and I recall them being fairly quick reads.

Side note, Traviss has a new novel, Going Gray, publishing in 2014 seemingly unrelated.

Marla Mason by Tim Pratt

I first read about Marla in The Solaris Book of New Fantasy edited by George Mann (2007) and was very intrigued.  I read the first two books back to back.

Proof is in the pudding: My reviews of enjoyed the first three novels Blood Engines and Poison Sleep. I’ve had a copy of the third book Dead Reign on Mount Toberead for nearly five years in what is one of the books I’ve had for the longest amount of time. Since reading the second book, I’ve noticed that Pratt has been self-publishing these books, including (I think) at least one of them through Kickstarter.

Chance of returning to this series - Better than 50%, I’ve got the third book and loved the world Pratt created around Marla, particularly the Lovecraftian feel. The nature of Urban Fantasy novels such as these seems more conducive to being read as standalone and might work with such a time lapse. 

Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont

Yeah, this is a big one, right? I’ve read the first seven by Erikson (up to Reaper's Gale) and Esslemont’s first. For the most part, I enjoyed them a great deal, but reading Forge of Darkness last year really soured me on attempting to finish out either the mainline series by Erikson or the books Esslemont’s been writing. I've also seen less than positive response to the series' conclusion.

Proof in the pudding: My blog post and reaction to The Bonehunters (also here) and my review of Night of Knives. It has now been 5 years since I last read a mainline Malazan novel and I’m concerned about the challenge of remembering past elements of the series were I to pick up book eight, Toll the Hounds.

Chance of returning to this series - Less than 50%. Even though I have the final three books in physical form, they are huge books and as I’ve said, Forge of Darkness was such a difficult book for me to read.

Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott

I loved the first four King’s Dragon, Prince of Dogs, The Burning Stone, and Child of Flame, giving them (in my personal spreadsheet/reading log) scores ranging from 7 to 8.5, but this series really suffered from the Wave of Review books/reviewing.  My concern with this series, even more so than Malazan is just how much I likely have forgotten since reading Child of Flame back in 2003. Also, these books tend to be on the doorstopper side of the fence. I loved the worldbuilding in these books, but my other concern is how much my enjoyment dipped on her recent series Spiritwalker, enjoying the first Cold Magic but not quite so much with Cold Fire, book 2 to the point that I didn’t and don’t plan on reading the final installment. 

Proof in the Pudding: No reviews on this series as I read through the first four before I started writing book reviews for SFFWorld.

Chance of returning to this series - I’d say dead even at 50% because so much of the feel of these books still rumbles around in my head and I am more than 50% through the series, with only 3 of the remaining 7 books yet to be read.

Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust

I had been catching up with this series through each of the omnibus editions released The Book of Jhereg, The Book of Taltos, The Book of Athyra, and Dragon & Issola (one of many, many great Science Fiction Book Club Omnibus editions that make SFBC worth joining, quitting, and rejoining) and up to Dzur. 

Proof in the pudding: No reviews except for, like The Bonehunters, a blog post professing my enjoyment of the book and series as a whole.

Chance of returning to this series - This is probably the series I’m most likely to pick up again as the Taltos books, of those mentioned in this post, are the books I’ve enjoyed the most. I’ve read 10 of the 13 books published and only have three to read to be caught up, or four if you count the forthcoming Hawk publishing in 2014. I also happen to own book 11, Jhegaala, so if Tor decides to omnibify books 12 and 13 Iorich and Tiassa, my decision to jump back into the world of Vlad Taltos would be even easier to make.

So, am I the only reader/blogger/reviewer who has experienced this Sweeping/Backburner effect?

Hester, Kent, Esslemont and Wendig at the SFFWorld Blog!

Mark and I have posted Lots of new content on the SFFWorld blog over the past week, a few new reviews and what turned out to be the first interview for the SFFWorld blog since the soft launch/reboot.

Today, I posted my review of a novella from blogger and author Patrick Hester. He launched the Cord Cahill serials with the entertaining novella Cahill’s Homecoming:

When Cord attempts to ask people he knew, friends and former acquaintances, about his sister’s death, few are willing to answer. Cord searches out his sister’s estranged husband Charlie, who has become the town drunk as a result of first, their failed marriage and then, Kate’s death. The two men come to an uncomfortable understanding in their quest for justice.

The immediate thing that came to mind, that resonated with me while reading Cahill’s Homecoming was the television show Firefly, mainly because of the mix of far future and frontier settings. I wouldn’t say Cahill might resemble Malcolm Reynolds, but both men have a gruff exterior which belie a more sympathetic heart. This is best evidenced in Cord’s his words to Charlie, despite their differences and Cord’s displeasure with how Charlie treated Kate, “Today we’re family and family takes care of its own.”

On Sunday, Mark posted his review of the second installment of Steven L. Kent’s Clone Rebellion series, Rogue Clone. The series, initially published by Ace in the US is being issued in the UK by Titan Books. Mark likes how the series is shaping up.

Rogue Clone manages something very difficult from the off: to summarize the events of Book One without too much information dump and move the story on, all within the first thirty pages or so. Whilst war is brewing between the Unified Authority of the Orion Arm (that’s Earth to you and me) and the rebellious Outer Worlds, led by Crowley and the Morgan-Atkins (Mogat) separatists, Wayson Harris of the Unified Authority, now presumed dead, and his mercenary colleague Ray Freeman, are on the hunt for the leaders of the Mogat rebellion. Whilst reporting under cover back to his old mentor, Admiral Klyber, Wayson soon discovers where his nemesis, Amos Crowley of the Galactic Central Fleet, is hiding. We spend much of the beginning of this novel in space, with Harris undercover, guarding Admiral Klyber at a conference on board the Doctrinaire. Harris meets Admiral Huang again, a political enemy of Klyber’s and no friend of the Liberator clones, of which Harris is one of those remaining. Despite this, the conference appears to pass fairly successfully. However an incident after the conference leads to a plot which involves betrayal, political manoeuvring and a coup attempt, whilst in the background the influence of other partners in some rather fragile coalitions become increasingly important.

Yesterday, an interview Mark and I conducted with Ian C. Esslemont, co-creator of the Malazan world was posted on the SFFWorld blog to help celebrate the publication of his latest Malzan Tale Blood and Bone. Here's the direct link to the interview: http://sffworld.blogspot.com/2013/05/ian-c-esslemont-interview-for-blood-and.html.

A week ago, I posted my review to Chuck Wending’s The Blue Blazes, which publishes today. Although this was the first novel I read by the great bearded one of Pennsylvania, I’ve been following him on twitter pretty much since I joined and it will NOT be the last novel I read from him.

What could be a simple novel takes on an air of gravitas because of Wendig’s subtle yet powerful writing. Giving these totems, places, and people titles like The Underworld, The Boss, and The Organization, Wendig lends them a resonance that gives the story great, almost mythic power. This is further enhanced by the “journal clippings” prefacing each chapter, the journal of a lost, possibly insane and possibly fictitious, cartographer of The Great Below, John Atticus Oakes. Such chapter prefaces often work very well for my reading sensibilities and the fact that I found a resonance of sorts with what Chuck Wendig did here to what Mathew Stover (a favorite writer of mine) did in Blade of Tyshalle only heightened my enjoyment because Wendig did just as an effective job with these lost journal fragments.

…

It may be reductive to do the whole combine-and-compare thing, but think one part Hellboy, one part Mathew Stover, one part Big Trouble in Little China, and throw in a dash of The Sopranos, the film The Wrestler and pulp sensibilities, and you might have an idea of what a great stew of fun this novel really is. Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Mookie is a killer on the same level of Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski, there’s a similar dichotomy and divide between the family life and the “work life” of the two men. What’s even better is that Wendig seems to only given readers a peek into the world Mookie and his daughter Nora inhabit.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2013-05-18)

A small batch this week, all three of them from the fine folks at Tor

Blood and Bone (A Novel of the Malazan Empire) by Ian Cameron Esslemont (Tor Hardcover 05/21/2013) – I’ve only read Night of Knives in this second Malazan sequence, so I’ve got some catching up to do with ICE’s brand of Malazan stories. Mark and I will have an interview with him up at the SFFWorld blog in the near future:

In the western sky the bright emerald banner of the Visitor descends like a portent of annihilation. On the continent of Jacuruku, the Thaumaturgs have mounted another expedition in a bid to tame the neighbouring wild jungle. Yet this is no normal wilderness. It is called Himatan, and it is said to be half of the spirit-realm and half of the earth. And it is said to be ruled by a powerful entity who some name the Queen of Witches and some a goddess: the ancient Ardata.

Saeng grew up knowing only the rule of the magus Thaumaturgs but it was the voices from that land’s forgotten past that she listened to. And when her rulers launch their invasion of this jungle, those voices send her and her brother on a desperate mission.

To the south, the desert tribes are united by the arrival of a foreign warleader, a veteran commander in battered ashen mail men call the Grey Ghost. This warrior leads these tribes on a raid unlike any other, deep into the heart of Thaumaturg lands.

While word comes to K’azz, and mercenary company the Crimson Guard, of a contract in Jacuruku. And their employer? Could it be the goddess herself...

Tarnished by Rhiannon Held (Tor, Hardcover 05/21/2013) – Second in Held’s werewolf series which began with Slivers and she is ‘promoted’ to hardcover with this release.

Andrew Dare has found his mate in Silver, but they haven’t found the pack they can call home. Some of his old friends think he should return and challenge Roanoke for leadership of all the werewolf packs on the East Coast. But Andrew has baggage—his violent history with the packs of Spain and the rumors of his lack of control. And then there’s Silver—the werewolf who has lost her wild self to a monster’s assault, and who can no longer shift forms. But perhaps together they can overcome all the doubters.

The second book in this wonderful urban fantasy series plunges readers into the world of the shape-shifter packs who live hidden among us. 

The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos (Tor, Hardcover 05/21/2013) – This is Kostos’s first novel in a new sf series and second overall. This looks like it could be a lot of fun. That is a great eye-popping cover.

The Planet Thieves is the first thrilling installment of a new middle-grade series by Dan Krokos.

Two weeks ago, thirteen-year-old Mason Stark and seventeen of his fellow cadets from the Academy for Earth Space Command boarded the SS Egypt. The trip was supposed to be a short routine voyage to log their required spacetime for summer quarter.

But routine goes out the airlock when they’re attacked by the Tremist, an alien race who have been at war with humanity for the last sixty years.

With the captain and crew dead, injured, or taken prisoner, Mason and the cadets are all that’s left to warn the ESC. And soon they find out exactly why the Tremist chose this ship to attack: the Egypt is carrying a weapon that could change the war forever.

Now Mason will have to lead the cadets in a daring assault to take back the ship, rescue the survivors, and recover the weapon. Before there isn’t a war left to fight.

Books in the Mail (W/E 2012-05-12)

It’s about time I did the whole preface to the Books in the Mail post, so here goes….

As a reviewer for SFFWorld and maybe because of this blog, I receive a lot of books for review from various publishers. Since I can't possibly read everything that arrives, I figure the least I can do (like some of my fellow bloggers) is mention the books I receive for review on the blog to at least acknowledge the books even if I don't read them.

Some publishers are on a very predictable schedule of releases, making this blog post fairly easy to compose. For example, the fine folks at Del Rey/Spectra publish quite a few books per month, in mass market paperback, trade paperback and hardcover. Most often, they send their books about a month prior to the actual publication date.

Sometimes I get one or two books, other weeks I'll get nearly a dozen books. Some weeks, I’ll receive a finished (i.e. the version people see on bookshelves) copy of a book for which I received an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) weeks or months prior to the actual publication of the book. Sometimes I'll want to read everything that arrives, other weeks, the books immediately go into the "I'll never read this book" pile, while still others go into the nebulous "maybe-I'll-read-it-category." More often than not, it is a mix of books that appeal to me at different levels (i.e. from "this book holds ZERO appeal for me" to "I cannot WAIT to read this book yesterday"). Have a guess in the comments about which book fits my reading labels “I’ll Never Read…” “Zero Appeal” or “cannot wait” "maybe I'll get to it later" and so forth...


Blackwood by Gwenda Bond (Strange Chemistry, Paperback 09/04/2012) – Gwenda’s been blogging and writing about the genre for quite a while now, this is her debut novel and one of the launch titles for Strange Chemistry, the new YA imprint of Angry Robot Books, so no pressure, right? Right. The premise sounds interesting as I’ve have a bit of a fascination for the lost Roanoke colony.


On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island's most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can't dodge is each other.

Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America's oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.

Undead and Unstable (The Undead Series - Betsy #11 #10) by MaryJanice Davidson (Berkeley, Hardcover 06/05/2012) – The continuing humorous adventures of Betsy the vampire.


“If you’re fans of Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake, don’t miss Betsy Taylor. She rocks” (The Best Reviews)—and she’s back once again as a vampire queen who finds herself an unlucky (but fashionable) passenger on the road to damnation…

Betsy’s heartbroken over her friend Marc’s death, but at least his sacrifice should change the future—her future­—for the better. But it’s not as if Betsy’s next few hundred years will be perfect. After all, her half-sister Laura is the AntiChrist, Laura’s mother is Satan, and family gatherings will always be more than a little awkward.

What’s really bothering Betsy is that ever since she and Laura returned from visiting her mom in Hell, Laura’s been acting increasingly peculiar. Maybe it’s Laura’s new job offer: as Satan’s replacement down under. Unfortunately, the position comes at a damnable price: killing Betsy, her own flesh-and-blood.

Over Betsy’s dead body. And for that matter Marc’s, too, since he’s not quite as buried as everyone thought. Now a war has been waged—one that’s going to take sibling rivalry to a whole new level, and a dimension where only one sister can survive.

Orb Sceptre Throne (A Novel of the Malazan Empire ) by Ian Cameron Esslemont (Tor Trade Paperback 05/22/2012) – I’m a big fan of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, though of Esslemont’s contributions, I’ve only read Night of Knives and from Erikson up to Reaper’s Gale. So yeah, I’ve got some catching up to do with this series:

The epic new chapter in the history of Malaz—the new epic fantasy from Steven Erikson's friend and co-creator of this extraordinary and exciting imagined world.

Darujhistan, city of dreams, city of blue flames, is peaceful at last; its citizens free to return to politicking, bickering, trading and, above all, enjoying the good things in life. Yet there are those who will not allow the past to remain buried. A scholar digging in the plains stumbles across an ancient sealed vault. The merchant Humble Measure schemes to drive out the remaining Malazan invaders. And the surviving agents of a long-lost power are stirring, for they sense change and so, opportunity. While, as ever at the centre of everything, a thief in a red waistcoat and of rotund proportions walks the streets, juggling in one hand custard pastries, and in the other the fate of the city itself.

Casket of Souls (Nightrunner, Book 6) by Lynn Flewelling (Bantam Mass Market 05/29/2012)– I read a couple of Flewelling’s novles, The Bone Doll’s Twin was the SFFWorld Fantasy Book Club selection back in June 2003. I’ve always meant to go back and finish reading the series, but well, that’s how things go.

The Nightrunners are back in this gripping novel full of Lynn Flewelling’s trademark action, intrigue, and richly imagined characters.

More than the dissolute noblemen they appear to be, Alec and Seregil are skillful spies, dedicated to serving queen and country. But when they stumble across evidence of a plot pitting Queen Phoria against Princess Klia, the two Nightrunners will find their loyalties torn as never before. Even at the best of times, the royal court at Rhíminee is a serpents’ nest of intrigue, but with the war against Plenimar going badly, treason simmers just below the surface.

And that’s not all that poses a threat: A mysterious plague is spreading through the crowded streets of the city, striking young and old alike. Now, as panic mounts and the body count rises, hidden secrets emerge. And as Seregil and Alec are about to learn, conspiracies and plagues have one thing in common: The cure can be as deadly as the disease.

Blackout (Newsflesh Trilogy #3) by Mira Grant (Orbit Tall Paperback 05/22/2012) – FEED blew me away and Deadline lived up to the promise laid out in the first book. This is one of my top 2 or 3 anticipated releases of 2012 so I’ve got high hopes.

Rise up while you can. -Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn't end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there's one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it's this:

Things can always get worse.

BLACKOUT is the conclusion to the epic trilogy that began in the Hugo-nominated FEED and the sequel, DEADLINE.

The Mandel Files, Volume 2 - The Nano Flower by Peter F. Hamilton. (Del Rey Trade Paperback 05/29/2012) – This brings Hamilton’s take on the psychic detective to close, with the third novel in the Greg Mandel trilogy.

Peter F. Hamilton’s groundbreaking Mandel Files series concludes with The Nano Flower, a tour de force of unbridled imagination and cutting-edge scientific speculation.

Greg Mandel is a psychic detective whose skills have been augmented by powerful but dangerous biotechnology. Those abilities have won him success and almost killed him many times over. Little wonder that he has settled down to the life of a gentleman farmer.

But Greg’s former employer, the mighty tech company Event Horizon, needs him once more. After Royan, hacker-genius and husband to company owner Julia Evans, mysteriously vanishes, a business rival suddenly boasts an incredible new technology. Has Royan been kidnapped and forced to work for his captors, or is the truth far stranger? The answer may lie in a gift of flowers received by Julia—flowers with DNA like nothing on Earth. Greg already has his hands full with corporate killers and other unsavory characters. Is he going to have to add aliens to the list?

The Greg Mandel trilogy—which also includes Mindstar Rising and A Quantum Murder, available in Volume 1—set a new standard for science fiction when it first appeared in the 1990s. The Nano Flower is every bit as gripping today—and even more timely.

The Twelfth Enchantment by David Liss (Ballantine Trade Paperback 05/29/2012) – Liss has penned quite a few novels of historical fiction, this seems to be the first one which is infused with bits of fantasy

Lucy Derrick is a young woman of good breeding and poor finances. After the death of her beloved father, she becomes the unwanted boarder of her tyrannical uncle, fending off marriage to a local mill owner. But just as she is resigned to a life of misery, a handsome stranger—the poet and notorious rake Lord Byron—arrives at her house, stricken by what seems to be a curse, and with a cryptic message for Lucy.

With England on the cusp of revolution, Lucy inexplicably finds herself awakened to a world where magic and mortals collide, and the forces of ancient nature and modern progress are at war for the soul of England . . . and the world. The key to victory may be connected to a cryptic volume whose powers of enchantment are unbounded. Now, challenged by ruthless enemies with ancient powers at their command, Lucy must harness newfound mystical skills to preserve humanity’s future. And enthralled by two exceptional men with designs on her heart, she must master her own desires to claim the destiny she deserves.

Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more.



Blue Remembered Earth (Poseidon’s Children #1) by Alastair Reynolds (Ace Hardcover Paperback 06/05/2012) – Reynolds is, arguably one of the top selling and most acclaimed SF writers currently publishing today. I’d be on the side of the argument that would say “Yes indeed.” This is the launch of a new series for him that is already garnering a fair amount of praise.

With his critically acclaimed Revelation Space novels, Alastair Reynolds confirmed “his place among the leaders of the hard-science space opera renaissance.” (Publishers Weekly) With Blue Remembered Earth, the award-winning author begins a new epic, tracing generations of one family across more than ten thousand years of future history—into interstellar space and the dawn of galactic society…

One hundred and fifty years from now, Africa has become the world’s dominant technological and economic power. Crime, war, disease and poverty have been eliminated. The Moon and Mars are settled, and colonies stretch all the way out to the edge of the solar system. And Ocular, the largest scientific instrument in history, is about to make an epochal discovery…

Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his long-running studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey’s family, who control the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans for him. After the death of his grandmother Eunice—the erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur—something awkward has come to light on the Moon, so Geoffrey is dispatched there to ensure the family name remains untarnished. But the secrets Eunice died with are about to be revealed—secrets that could change everything...or tear this near utopia apart.

Dust, Night, and Gale - Reviews and Thoughts on Three Malazan Novels

It has been Malazan this and Malazan that the past handful of days. Yesterday, Owen posted his insightful review of the penultimate volume in the über-saga, Dust of Dreams

Thus the end begins oddly in places new - such as the fortress of an insane K’chain Che’malle matron, following a line of malnourished and tortured children out of a dark place infected by the Crippled God - and old, the court of blanket-wearing sovereign Tehol the Only. At the court of the king where an Elder God does all the work, we are surprisingly offered a few clear answers. Of the connection between warrens and decks, gods and mortals, between the things we have suspected and the little we know to this point. For its honesty; where whence there was only subterfuge and shadows, it is all the more refreshing. Don’t get used to it.

Dust of Dreams is not like the other books. It starts fast, the disparate fragments of places not yet seen and characters not yet met in the prologue give way to one of the most tense and exciting scenes in the series. Old favourites and new wards face a reading of the Deck of Dragons like no other and isn’t everybody just happy to be a part of it. Plans are laid, the board is set and the shocks have only just begun.

For my part(s), my review of Night of Knives, the first novel entry of co-creator Ian Cameron Esslemont. I thought the book was enjoyable and as a novel-length prologue to the entire series, quite effective.

One of the things that stuck with me is how little page time the three most powerful characters get in the novel. Granted, Laseen doesn’t get much play in the series books written by Erikson, either. Here, she is known as Surly and is the third most powerful person in the Malazan Empire, just under the Emperor and Dancer. Esslemont makes it pretty clear that Dancer and Kellenvad have things much loftier than ruling an empire on their mind. All told, the events of the novel take place in a 24-hour period and Esslement really maintains a frantic tense, pacing throughout the novel.

Lastly, I finished Reaper’s Gale over the weekend and thought it another solid entry in Erikson/Esslemont’s enormous world. Like most of the Malazan novels Erikson has authored, this one was both exhausting and rewarding. I won’t go into a full review here, but I’ll say that I thought the insanity and chaos inherit in the character of Rhulad Sengar paralleld some of the chaos of the series itself.




I also liked just about all the scenes involving Tehol Beddict and his ‘manservant’ Bugg, especially knowing Bugg’s true nature. Icarium was once again an imposing character, but didn’t do quite as much here. Karsa Orlong continues to be one of my favorite characters in the series, if for nothing else because of how his sheer force of will comes across so well on the page. Despite being a violent, sadistic giant, I was still rooting for Karsa. It was nice to see Quick Ben again, and his true power came across subtly, I thought. His speech patterns and interactions with Hedge were a lot fun. My only negative for both Ben and Karsa is that I would have liked to see more of both in this volume. In Ben’s case, his power and

Throughout, Erikson’s (and maybe by proxy Laseen’s) full plan comes to light through Ben and his travels in the warrens as well as the Malazan fleet that arrives in the Letherii Empire.

The pacing was a bit uneven, but that may not be surprising in a book with a page count well over 800 (in US edition and at 900 in the UK edition). At around the 3/4 mark of the book (page 700 or so in the edition I was reading) ,the pacing seemed to come to a halt and I felt as if I was forcing myself to read the book. Fortunately, about 50 or so pages later the pacing picked up again, which led to a satisfying conclusion.

In short, with each book, Steven Erikson / Ian Cameron Esslemont’s Malazan series climbs up the chart of my favorite fantasy series. The books are often chaotic, but that adds to the good ol’ sense-of-wonder and Holy Shit aspect of the series.