A review by itkovian_books
House of Chains by Steven Erikson

5.0

This might by my favorite Malazan book, though it's hard to say since my preferences change upon every read. The very beginning is a bit jarring, since Erikson follows a single perspective for the first 200+ pages, instead of hopping around as he usually does. But Karsa's character arc within this book is one of my favorites in the series, and these opening chapters are some of the best. After switching back to the multi-POV story we're used to, the tension is already high after the ending of Deadhouse Gates, and it remains so throughout. The battle between Sha'ik and Tavore remains in the forefront, but I also enjoyed a lot of the "side" plots, such as Lostara and Pearl journeying in search of Felisin, Cutter and Apsalar's exploration of Drift Avalii, Onrack's developing friendship with Trull, and Karsa's second major journey following what was already a mostly-complete redemption arc in the beginning. A lot of my questions about the world and history were answered, though as these characters journeyed beyond the smaller scope of the war, the world also expanded in other ways. I don't think anyone succeeds at worldbuilding that is both broad and deep as well as Erikson.

My only partial criticism is the use of rape and sexual assault, as has occurred in other Malazan books. Erikson states his goal as wanting to depict/mirror all sorts of horrors that have occurred in the real world, and I understand his perspective and don't believe anything depicted in this book was particularly gratuitous, but this might be off-putting to other readers. So definitely a trigger warning for that.

Rating: 10/10