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A review by drquaxx
The Complete Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
5.0
The good:
The series is amazing. I've never before been so invested in a world as I was with this book. The way Erikson made me feel connected with the characters/world in this book was something that I've never experienced before.
The world is absolutely massive. There are tons of different species, races, ethnicities, cultures, etc. Like how small it makes you feel while reading is a feeling I've never felt before in a book. At first it seems like a big empty world but throughout the series there is so much attention to detail it had me blown away. Imo the best way Erikson immerses you into this is that the characters themselves are often reminded of how big the world is by travelling to other countries/cities/continents and seeing a whole different civilization than they are used to. I'll see if I can find a map of the Malazan universe and show you the number of different locations the books explore throughout. (unless you don't want me to spoil that)
The character development is on a whole different level. Now of course I've never read a book this long so I guess that adds to some of it where the author has a lot more time to flesh them out. But what I loved is that Erikson does this without some random backstory or the hero trope. He makes the characters almost overly human. Like most of the characters are not "good"/"bad". Some (very few) have really good intentions and moral character but even with those characters they are prone to make mistakes that end up causing a whole lot of bad things. To add to this each character has a wonderful flavor of personality, no two are the same and there aren't really any "filler" characters. I could go on forever about the characters but I might dive into spoiler levels so I wont.
The fighting itself is amazing, and this guy is a big fan of D&D and roleplaying so he does a really good job at acting the scenes out. He also knows a lot of military stuff and different types of weapons and strategies. The fight scenes are very realistic without much "plot armor" to the characters. I.e. if a character is against 6 dudes with swords and they have a match stick and some rocks then they are probably gonna die, Erikson does not beat around the bush with fairness.
Along with fighting there are consistently throughout the books these things called "convergences" (not called that in the books, just what I call them) where a bunch of different stories sort of tie together for an epic battle/scene/moment. Those are what kept me reading. You get a taste for them in the first few chapters of the first book and it just keeps you coming back.
My favorite part about the series is the magic system. This system is insanely complex and very fleshed out throughout the series. But I will say that it's never plainly explained to the reader (which I sort of enjoyed). No character ever stops and goes "so here is how I used my magic" it's more like you gotta just start to pick up clues on how it works. It's crazy complex but so cool when you start to understand it. And the sheer amount of power different characters have is awesome.
One thing I rarely see from reviews online is the amount of comedy. I loled more times than I'd like to admit while reading this series. Some of it is dry humor, some of it is puns, and some of it is just laughing at some crazy situations. Erikson has a very fun sense of humor and it clearly shows in his writing.
In relation to the plot: It does not follow the typical fantasy savior/hero trope, which I found very refreshing in relation the fantasy I have read. There are things characters are seeking to achieve but there is no set in stone "good guys" vs. the "big bad". It's very much so a collection of events with gray characters where you might be rooting for both sides at the same time. Personally I loved this but I understand that some may not.
The bad:
With such a vast world you often feel confused. Some people hate this feeling and I'll admit when I hit the fourth book I kinda did too. But after a while you sort of get into a mindset of "I don't know what this means, but I'll learn more about it later". I will say though that I loved that Erikson rarely did the ol trick of throwing you into a backstory to explain present events. Instead he mostly just continues on and you get a sense of what was currently happening without needing to have read about the past events. Like if someone was to be dropped into America right now with no clue what a presidential election was they wouldn't have to be told the story of our founding fathers, and instead could just observe and learn how elections work by watching a present one. (Hope that makes sense)
I also will say that with so many different species and races I wish that he would be a bit more descriptive with their attributes. Throughout my reading I would look up a characters name on google, or even just a characters name, and click images to see what they looked like, and I will say this really helped with remembering different characters/species. The pictures are almost always spoiler free. I think I got spoiled once or twice while reading a wiki but that was my fault and also I don't mind as much.
The Military aspect of the books was awesome. But as someone with not a whole ton of military knowledge I had to look up a bunch of terms and rankings of different soldiers.
To summarize:
You're dropped into a complex world and will follow a VAST array of characters. Pay close attention and read the stories they tell. Some are happy, some are sad, some show the brutality of life, others show the gifts. Enjoy the ride and don't worry if not everything makes sense to begin with.
The series is amazing. I've never before been so invested in a world as I was with this book. The way Erikson made me feel connected with the characters/world in this book was something that I've never experienced before.
The world is absolutely massive. There are tons of different species, races, ethnicities, cultures, etc. Like how small it makes you feel while reading is a feeling I've never felt before in a book. At first it seems like a big empty world but throughout the series there is so much attention to detail it had me blown away. Imo the best way Erikson immerses you into this is that the characters themselves are often reminded of how big the world is by travelling to other countries/cities/continents and seeing a whole different civilization than they are used to. I'll see if I can find a map of the Malazan universe and show you the number of different locations the books explore throughout. (unless you don't want me to spoil that)
The character development is on a whole different level. Now of course I've never read a book this long so I guess that adds to some of it where the author has a lot more time to flesh them out. But what I loved is that Erikson does this without some random backstory or the hero trope. He makes the characters almost overly human. Like most of the characters are not "good"/"bad". Some (very few) have really good intentions and moral character but even with those characters they are prone to make mistakes that end up causing a whole lot of bad things. To add to this each character has a wonderful flavor of personality, no two are the same and there aren't really any "filler" characters. I could go on forever about the characters but I might dive into spoiler levels so I wont.
The fighting itself is amazing, and this guy is a big fan of D&D and roleplaying so he does a really good job at acting the scenes out. He also knows a lot of military stuff and different types of weapons and strategies. The fight scenes are very realistic without much "plot armor" to the characters. I.e. if a character is against 6 dudes with swords and they have a match stick and some rocks then they are probably gonna die, Erikson does not beat around the bush with fairness.
Along with fighting there are consistently throughout the books these things called "convergences" (not called that in the books, just what I call them) where a bunch of different stories sort of tie together for an epic battle/scene/moment. Those are what kept me reading. You get a taste for them in the first few chapters of the first book and it just keeps you coming back.
My favorite part about the series is the magic system. This system is insanely complex and very fleshed out throughout the series. But I will say that it's never plainly explained to the reader (which I sort of enjoyed). No character ever stops and goes "so here is how I used my magic" it's more like you gotta just start to pick up clues on how it works. It's crazy complex but so cool when you start to understand it. And the sheer amount of power different characters have is awesome.
One thing I rarely see from reviews online is the amount of comedy. I loled more times than I'd like to admit while reading this series. Some of it is dry humor, some of it is puns, and some of it is just laughing at some crazy situations. Erikson has a very fun sense of humor and it clearly shows in his writing.
In relation to the plot: It does not follow the typical fantasy savior/hero trope, which I found very refreshing in relation the fantasy I have read. There are things characters are seeking to achieve but there is no set in stone "good guys" vs. the "big bad". It's very much so a collection of events with gray characters where you might be rooting for both sides at the same time. Personally I loved this but I understand that some may not.
The bad:
With such a vast world you often feel confused. Some people hate this feeling and I'll admit when I hit the fourth book I kinda did too. But after a while you sort of get into a mindset of "I don't know what this means, but I'll learn more about it later". I will say though that I loved that Erikson rarely did the ol trick of throwing you into a backstory to explain present events. Instead he mostly just continues on and you get a sense of what was currently happening without needing to have read about the past events. Like if someone was to be dropped into America right now with no clue what a presidential election was they wouldn't have to be told the story of our founding fathers, and instead could just observe and learn how elections work by watching a present one. (Hope that makes sense)
I also will say that with so many different species and races I wish that he would be a bit more descriptive with their attributes. Throughout my reading I would look up a characters name on google, or even just a characters name, and click images to see what they looked like, and I will say this really helped with remembering different characters/species. The pictures are almost always spoiler free. I think I got spoiled once or twice while reading a wiki but that was my fault and also I don't mind as much.
The Military aspect of the books was awesome. But as someone with not a whole ton of military knowledge I had to look up a bunch of terms and rankings of different soldiers.
To summarize:
You're dropped into a complex world and will follow a VAST array of characters. Pay close attention and read the stories they tell. Some are happy, some are sad, some show the brutality of life, others show the gifts. Enjoy the ride and don't worry if not everything makes sense to begin with.