eight books deep into Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen and still quite a few to go. immensely captivating and his ruthlessness makes A Song of Ice and Fire look like child's play at times (a tad hyperbolic here, but still). if you are into Fantasy Epics and have...let's say...half a year or so to spare, there's little else I could recommend more.
I doubt I could like this post any more than I do right now.
I have a policy now to only start reading a series once it's completed. There is too much to read to have re-read a few books every half decade while keeping up with a longer series.
As to Erikson's Malazan I wasn't following this practice and the last book I read was the 8th. (Toll the Hounds) (Phenomenal book by the way, the last few hundred pages are outstanding)
The series is now complete so I'll be starting from Book one sometime later this year. I've been told that the story concludes satisfactorily, so I doubt I'll change my tune on what I'm about to say next.
At the moment, I'd say this is 1A or 1B as the
best epic fantasy series of all time.
It's absolutely incredible. It's characters are utterly fascinating, the plot incredibly complex, the intrigue and mystery unrivaled.
If you love the intricacies between Gods and Gods, and Gods and Man, and Man trying to survive the scheming of the Gods, and the pursuit of Man to attain Godhood, and the folly of both Gods and Man, then you'll find this series riveting.
In this story there are no little man, even the very ordinary possess strength of spirit, heart, and courage to rival the greater powers that are encountered.
A couple of warnings.
This is a dark series. People die, dreams are crushed, and sometimes in the most callous of manner a single whim brutally ends a monumental effort to survive.
If you're someone who constantly is rooting for the underdog to win and hate it if even once the underdog fails, then this series isn't for you. This story can be quite brutal and ruthless.
This series is incredibly complex and it's not a series that you can read off and on again between TV shows or dinner and think that you'll be able to comprehend what's going on. The series requires serious time and devotion, and in return it represents what I consider the current apex of epic fantasy literature. With that said, this series is also not remotely boring. I find Tolkien a bit boring and tedious (Yes, yes, I know he started it all so I'll give him his due, don't worry, but there is a reason why no author decided to steal his hobbits...because hobbits are sad little creatures), along with other series such as Williams' Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn (Loved Otherlands though) or J.V. Jones Book of Words.
This story is not in the least boring and is well worth the investment made to read it.
And the biggest word of warning I can give is this: This series is high level reading. And it's high level reading for the reasons I'll outline below.
1.) First the entire 10 book series is a giant jig-saw puzzle. As you read, Erikson will reveal a puzzle piece and it will be up to you, as the reader, to understand how that piece fits into the overall story being woven. He does not hold your hand and guide you through things, explaining every little detail on how the world works or what is happening, which authors do too often these days. He'll have a conversation or event happen between two characters/factions and though you'll understand the words or actions, and acknowledge that something important is being said/done, their meaning won't be entirely clear. Then perhaps 300 pages later or in the next book, or in a few later books, suddenly he'll add some context and you'll have this 'light bulb moment' which will bring that event, that you
knew was important, into a whole new light. It's the only series where I literally had all of the previous books in front of me so I could re-read conversations or revisit actions made because finally enough context was given to make those actions relevant.
2.) The story is not linear. The first book takes place at a certain period of time. Then the next book later, though it reveals some odd things. Then another book starts a millennia prior and ties elements to certain aspects taking place during the 'current' period. Then another book will be at a point where you think it's current time, but it is in reality prior to the first book, until certain elements finally reach the 'current' timeline. So all the characters are interwoven into the picture, but not necessarily all in the same timeline. This can be a bit confusing to readers who are used to 1-2-3 straight-line stories. For instance there is something that you see in the 2nd book, that is just strange and weird and just 'out there'. Then in the 5th book you're following a completely different set of characters and as they progress you see the actions which conclude in what was seen in the 2nd book, and of course if you've been paying attention, it all makes sense.
3.) Because the story is not linear, the first book just plops you right into the middle of the action and it's up to you to play catch-up and figure out what is going on, who is who, and why people are doing the things they are doing. For readers who like a story starting off with a young boy and follow that boy getting thrust into a situation until a hero emerges, this is not how this series works. You might run into a player who was at the peak of their power a 1000 years ago and might be there to witness their fall, or watch as two factions clash again in a useless struggle to achieve supremacy.
A good example would be if Lucas had The Empire Strikes Back as the very first movie. And then he filled in details by having a 20 minute movie through the eyes of Grand Moff Tarkin who was commander of the 1st Death Star, so through his eyes you'd see how things played out in regards to the destruction of Alderaan, the death of Obi Wan, ect. And even though he is dead by the time the Empire Strikes Back takes place, you'd know what essentially what happened in the previous movie.
4.) There are a lot of players and factions. Unlike some series where you might have a 1-2 protagonist factions and 1-2 antagonist factions and maybe a neutral faction, this story is incredibly complex. Much of the time you don't have any idea of the motives of half of the players/factions and to assign words such as antagonist or protagonist is usually useless. And there are so many different characters and factions, some with agendas, and some just trying to survive that it can get very complicated.
5.) Finally, it's a ten book series, and each book continues to get bigger. The last 3 books are all over 1100 pages long. (Mass Market Paperback) So it's a huge story.
So, anyway, if what I've just outlined intrigues you and you enjoy the fantasy authors (listed in alphabetical order to avoid bias, though I've enjoyed at least one work from each of these authors) such as Bertin, Brooks, Butcher, Clemens, Coe, Eddings, Farland, Feist, Friedman, Goodkind, Jordan, Martin, McCaffrey, Modesitt, Rawn, Rowley, Sanderson, Stackpole, Weeks, & Weis, then this series should sit sit at pretty much the top of all of these other author's works.
A final word. If you ever read Glen Cook's the Black Company series (and I don't really advise that you do), but if you have ever read it, one of Erikson's primary factions is a company of warriors, so there are some parallels between Cooks Black Company and Erikson's Bridgeburners. So if you even remotely enjoyed Cook, then you'll love Erikson, as Cooks the Black Company I'd rate around a 5.5 out of 10 with Erikson being a 10 out of 10.
For all of you who end up reading this series, all I can say is Enjoy the Ride!
but yeah, cosigned to everything you just said, especially the warnings about complexity and brutality. when they start using corpses as building material during the siege of Capustan, it does make you feel a little queasy at times. in fairness, that whole book ended up making me feel queasy. the only thing I might want to add to your fairly exhaustive description is that one of the things I've enjoyed the most about these books so far, is the way Erikson subverts genre conventions, stereotypes, and even gender roles. well, that and the way he allows his characters to grow. the story of Karsa Orlong is a great example of that, for instance.
