Reviews with content warning for Violence - Malaz / Deadhouse Gates

Secondo volume molto più violento ed intenso del precedente. Dopo "La Dimora Fantasma" posso dire di essermi fatta finalmente un'idea della scrittura di Steven Erkson e del tipo di storia che vuole raccontare; una storia cruda che non fa sconti a nessuno, senza dei veri protagonisti e in cui è molto difficile riuscire a capire chi è l'eroe e chi il cattivo. Come nel primo romanzo, seguiamo diversi filoni narrativi; il più coivolgente per me è stato senza dubbio il viaggio della Catena dei Cani di Coltaine nel suo disperato tentativo di portare in salvo migliaia di fuggiaschi malazan ad Aren, l'unica città non ancora caduta nelle mani dei ribelli. Un viaggio estenuante, quasi impossibile e che riserva un finale sconvogente e agghiacciante. Facciamo poi la conoscenza del sacerdote senza mani Heboric e della sorella minore di Ganoes Paran, Felisin, un personaggio molto controverso che spesso fa scelte abbastanza discutibili ma per me giustificate dalla terribile situazione di schiavitù nelle miniere in cui si ritrova. Tra i vecchi personaggi ritroviamo Kalam, Crokus, Apsalar e il Violinista. Forse nel complesso l'ho trovato un po più lento del primo volume, anche per la mole, ma si riprende con una parte finale spettacolare.

Content Warnings

gilchrist's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

bcrowes11's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

badmc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Hook, line...

This book was hard to wade through because, as one reviewer aptly put it, it's about "sad people in a desert". It's also about war in a desert, sexual violence in the mines, and betrayal in the places that are in-between. We follow a wide range of characters, whose destinies get tangled up together with the upheaval of Seven cities, who rise with the Whirlwind to oppose the Malazan Empire and slaughter its citizens that occupy them.

I am sad we didn't get to see more of the Seven cities, because I really loved Darujhistan in the first book, but alas, we were stuck in Raraku desert, magical warrens, ruins, and Azath house for the most of the book. Oh, and the mines, of course. The POV of young girl (a child, really) that gets raped repeatedly, gets addicted as a way to power through it, develops Stockholm syndrome, and then becomes poisonous to the people that want to help her was torturous for me: the real (or imagined) betrayal she meets at every turn really killed my motivation and is the reason it took me almost 20 days to finish the book. I mean, we have enough of the slut shaming, disbelief, and guilting women and girls in the real life, I really struggle with it in book format, especially when I see some of the reactions to the depiction that just underline the misogyny that was shown here (I applaud Erikson for showing this form of depression and PTSD, as rage and hatred). On the other hand, we follow sturdy historian who chronicles the accomplishments of a barbarian war chief (I cried over this!), two friends with complicated past that broke my heart, a soldier you can depend on, and an assassin that seeks answers and gets more than he bargained for. We also get to see a plethora of characters, gods, creatures, and hints of the fate of civilizations and races past.

It is a sprawling saga that will have to be read more than once for the nuance and backstory to really sink in. There are some plot holes, the plot meanders everywhere, some characters don't have the chance to grow or to get fleshed out enough for you to care for them (I want more Apsalar, and Crokus was somehow diminished), and it would help to get a better sense for the slaughter we witness (a mass of bodies, blood, and guts stop being shocking, make me care!), but this book made me feel all the feels, and for that, I love it.

Content Warnings