A review by drollgorg
Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I think that Erikson's writing has definitely improved over the course of my reading the Malazan books, with the direct correlates being that I can tell what the hell is going on in most scenes, and that the quality of the constant asides where characters start some heavy pondering has become much better and more tolerable. This entry in the series is a very long one, but I found it easier to follow given that it returns to a part of the world and cast of characters that have mostly already appeared, with some new additions. I wouldn't say my enjoyment was directly tied to that fact, as I don't feel particularly attached to Darujhistan or to most of the characters there- in the case of Cutter I feel passionately dis-attached- but it was helpful to be able to have a good chunk of the story that felt solidly comprehensible. Not always a given with these books. Conceptually, the most interesting part of the book was the plot to do with the Dying God, and that was also one of the first times when I felt I'd gained enough understanding of how this universe worked that when the nature of the Dying God was revealed it made sense, instead of requiring me to figure out what the hell anyone was talking about. 

So it's a strange experience- I wouldn't say the storylines here were generally my favorite among the series, and this book also didn't feature any of the characters that I'm more invested in, but I still enjoyed it a lot, definitely more than some other entries. I think the smaller scale (relatively speaking) brought me more into the world and the story, it let me get more of a footing and feel like I understood enough of the characters to be invested in their future. Even if I didn't like a lot of them. Especially Cutter and Iskaral Pust. The fact that those two are such prominent fixtures in this entire series is utterly bewildering and kind of infuriating.