Gardens of the Moon -
Review
The
vast Malazan Empire simmers with discontent,
yet the Empress's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw
assassins. However, a more sinister force is poised to make its first
move, as Captain Ganoes Paran, aide to the Empress's Adjunct, is about
to discover.
Deadhouse Gates - Review
Licking
its wounds after the events in
Darujhistan, the Malazan Empire now faces unrest in Seven Cities. Too
soon, the rumblings of disquiet explode into a fully fledged uprising,
drawing the Empire into the bloodiest conflict it has ever known.
Memories of Ice - Review
The ravaged continent of Genabackis has given birth to a terrifying new
empire: the Pannion Domin. Like a tide of corrupted blood, it seethes
across the land, devouring all – kingdoms and cities alike – who fail
to heed the word of its elusive prophet, the Pannion Seer. In its path
stands an uneasy alliance: Dujek Onearm’s Host and Whiskeyjack’s
veteran Bridgeburners – each now outlawed by the Empress – alongside
their enemies of old, including the grim forces of Warlord Caladan
Brood, Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, and his Tiste Andii, and the
Rhivi people of the Plains. Outnumbered by the Seer’s army of fanatics
and struggling to put aside their differences, it is vital they get
word to potential allies, including an unknown mercenary brotherhood,
the Grey Swords, who have been contracted to hold Capustan, the next
city in the Domin’s path.
But
more ancient clans too are gathering. As if in answer to some
primal summons, the massed ranks of the undead T’lan Imass have risen.
For it would appear something altogether darker and more malign
threatens the very substance of this world. The Warrens are poisoned,
and rumours abound of the Crippled God, now unchained and intent on a
terrible revenge...
Marking
the return of many key characters from Gardens of the Moon and
introducing a host of remarkable new players, Memories of Ice is not
only the momentous new chapter in Steven Erikson’s magnificent epic
fantasy but also another triumph of storytelling.
House of Chains
It is
the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs.
Coltaine is dead. And now the untried new Adjunct, Tavore, must
urgently raise an army able to withstand the forces of the Sha'ik's
Whirlwind that are massing in Raraku. The few remaining veterans from
Coltaine's march are her only hope.
Midnight
Tides
After
decades of warfare, the five tribes of the
Tiste Edur have finally united under the implacable rule of the Warlock
King of the Hiroth. But among the Tiste Edur it is believed that the
darkest hungers of the spirit arrive on the tides from the south, and
these tides come at midnight.
The Bonehunters
The Seven Cities
Rebellion has been crushed.
Sha'ik is dead. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of
Y'Ghatan and under the fanatical command of Leoman of the Flails. The
prospect of laying siege to this ancient fortress makes the
battle-weary Malaz 14th Army uneasy. For it was here that the Empire's
greatest champion Dassem Ultor was slain and a tide of Malazan blood
spilled. A place of foreboding, its smell is of death. But elsewhere,
agents of a far greater conflict have made their opening moves. The
Crippled God has been granted a place in the pantheon, a schism
threatens and sides must be chosen. Whatever each god decides, the
ground-rules have changed, irrevocably, terrifyingly and the first
blood spilled will be in the mortal world. A world in which a host of
characters, familiar and new, including Heboric Ghost Hands, the
possessed Apsalar, Cutter, once a thief now a killer, the warrior Karsa
Orlong and the two ancient wanderers Icarium and Mappo, each searching
for such a fate as they might fashion with their own hands, guided by
their own will. If only the gods would leave them alone. But now that
knives have been unsheathed, the gods are disinclined to be kind. There
shall be war, war in the heavens. And, the prize? Nothing less than
existence itself...
Reaper's Gale
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, while the Letherii secret police conduct a campaign of
terror against its 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. And the
great Edur
fleet - its warriors selected from countless people - draws ever
closer. Amongst them 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...
Tehol Beddict's manipulation of the Letherii economy continues whilst a
grand conspiracy between nations beyond the new Empire's borders
gathers pace. Meanwhile, from the sea comes word of a huge flotilla of
ships from a remote empire on the far side of the world, who have come
in search of the homeland of the Edur fleets scattered across the
globe. The Malazan 14th Army has come to pay its respects to the
Emperor of a Thousand Deaths...
Toll
of the Hounds
In
Darujhistan, the saying goes that Love and Death shall arrive
together, dancing... It is summer and the heat is oppressive, yet the
discomfiture of the small rotund man in the faded red waistcoat is not
entirely due to the sun. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the
city's streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways but
it seems the hunters have become the hunted. Hidden hands pluck the
strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. Strangers have arrived, and
while the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can
be heard the baying of hounds. All is palpably not well. And in Black
Coral too, ruled over by Anomander Rake,
Son of Darkness, something is afoot - memories of ancient crimes
surface, clamouring for revenge, so it would seem that Love and Death
are indeed about to make their entrance...
Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach
Blood Follows
All
is not well in Lamentable Moll.
A
sinister, diabolical killer stalks the port city's narrow,
barrow-humped streets, and panic grips the citizens like a fever.
Emancipor
Reese is no exception, and indeed, with his legendary ill
luck, it's worse for him than for most. Not only was his previous
employer the unknown killer's latest victim, but Emancipor is out of
work. And, with his dearest wife terminally comfortable with the manner
of life to which she asserts she has become accustomed (or at least to
which she aspires) - for her and their two whelps - all other terrors
grow limp and pale for poor Emancipor.
But
perhaps his luck has finally changed, for two strangers have come
to Lamentable Moll... and they have nailed to the centre post in
Fishmonger's Round a note requesting the services of a manservant.
This
is surely a remarkable opportunity for the hapless Emancipor
Reese... no matter that the note reeks with death-warded magic; no
matter that the barrow ghosts themselves howl with fear every night;
and certainly no matter that Lamentable Moll itself is about to erupt
in a frenzy of terror-inspired anarchy.... After all, it's work... and
working is better than not working.
Isn't
it?
The Healthy Dead
Things
are going all too well in the city of
Quaint. So well, in fact, that something has to be done. The zeal for
goodness can be catastrophic, and no-one knows this better than
Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, two stalwart champions of all things bad.
For
the innumerable citizens of Quaint, driven to neurotic distraction
and overwhelmed with good living, desperation breeds nefarious
bed-mates, and before long the two homicidal necromancers - and their
beleaguered and substance-addled manservant, Emancipor Reese - find
themselves ensnared in a scheme to bring goodness into disrepute, if
not utter ruination.
To
Reese's bemusement, laudable motivations are, in a bizarre twist,
uncharacteristically relevant to Master Bauchelain, although, of
course, the payment of a chest filled with gold helps.
Even
so, sometimes, it turns out, one must bring down civilisation... in the
name of civilisation.
Additonal Cover
Art
Steven
Erikson
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