Malazan Book of the Fallen

I finished the series a few years ago (haven't attempted a reread) and thoroughly enjoyed them as well! I always recommend them to anyone who likes that genre. The scope is just so vast.

I would also agree that 2 and 3 are my favorites as well. Favorite character though....Tehol Beddict was the most entertaining to me, but I really admired Whiskeyjack and Fiddler, so it's kind of a toss up.

Ah i had forgotten about Tehol and Bugg - definitely two of my favorites and are really what make the whole Lether storyline click, along with Quick Ben (actually all four of those were my favorite at one point in the series). Also Karsa's opening 100 page scene (I forget which book, probably 4) showing him leaving the village is amazing.

The reread is definitely daunting - but goes much quicker than the first time around and is highly rewarding. I just have been blown away again by the depth and variety of the characters. The books are a challenging read and i definitely don't recommend many to start out with them. The opening scene of book 1 even is amazing with the carnage of the hounds.

Sort of half spoiler below::






One of the best parts is just the scope of the series, how it makes you think about the implications of immortality or long life (the T'Lan Imass soldier returning to mortality in a scene in the middle of the series comes to mind and really made me stop and think about what that would have been like for someone).

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One of my favorite things about the series is the complete lack of infodumps and spoonfeeding. You get the entire picture piece by piece throughout the series. Of course that is largely what makes them a challenging read for many and disliked by some.

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ya that is definitely the challenging part of the series - he also uses a very elevated vocabulary (i have had to look up words before and i read a pretty good bit).

But its also what makes the re-read so amazing - especially for book 1 when they introduce a tyrant and a bunch of other stuff rapidfire and you don't know whats going on at all. The second time is like a whole different story when you know the characters so well.

its not written in crayon (JK auburn fans)

Just finished Toll The Hounds on my re-read last night. Forgot how much i loved the ending of this book. It is probably one of the weaker offerings as the opening few hundred pages move very slows, but i really enjoyed it. Much of the action is following or seen by Kruppe, one of my favorite characters, so that probably has something to do with it.

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Forgot how much i loved the ending of this book. It is probably one of the weaker offerings as the opening few hundred pages move very slows, but i really enjoyed it.

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Yeah, Toll the Hounds is my second least favorite of the series I think, but the ending of that book is fantastic. (Dust of dreams is easily my least favorite, and the only one I'm not a fan of really)

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Books 2 and 3 are my favorites - although i do really like Midnight Tides as well.

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Those 3 are my top 3 as well, It'd be tough to decide which I like most. I'd probably go tiers with those books:

1st tier- Memories of Ice, Deadhouse gates, Midnight Tides

2nd tier- House of Chains and The Crippled God

3rd tier- Bonehunters, Reapers Gale, Gardens of the Moon

4th tier (slightly below 3rd)- Toll the hounds

5th tier (way way below 4th)- Dust of Dreams


I'd consider most of the ICE books on par with Toll the Hounds.

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I was very happy the closed it off will a really strong entry in The Crippled God

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Agreed, it was one of the strongest finishes I can think of for a recent series, I was very pleasantly surprised, particularly with how average Dust of Dreams was.

Can't believe I missed this thread since I probably promote the Malazan series around here the most

Hands down my absolute favorite series ever.

So many memorable characters.


And like many of you have mentioned, the way immortality is treated is completely different than most books. Erickson does an amazing job of really making you consider the negative aspects and of what it means to never die. The T'lann Imass especially punch you in the gut on this subject.

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I've got some other stuff I'm going to read once I finish up the crippled god on my re-read, but was considering looking into some of the other books in the Malazan world - any recommendations?

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Have you read the Esslemont books Sally? Or the Bauchelain and Broach novellas by Erikson?

The Bauchelain/Broach novellas are great, and pretty funny.

Most of Esslemont's books are pretty solid as well. His last two in particular are fantastic. Dancer's Lament and Deadhouse Landing are prequels to the Malazan series starring Dancer and Kellanved and are right behind the best books in the original Malazan series in quality IMO (if not equally as good).