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A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
Steven Erikson
This is an epic series, 7 books strong now, each 1000+ pages, with the complexity and depth of a serious fantasy that I think will join the ranks of Tolkein, Jordan and Rowlins for its amazing world-creation, magic, conflict, military prowess and philosophy. If I remember correctly, Erikson, in an interview, said he was heavily influenced by his studies of Homer, particularly the Odyssey. There is a wit and humour, tragedy, brutality and a compelling portrayal of human nature embedded within every page. If you love battles this is permeated with them, described realistically in all their gore, tactic and maneuvering. If you love politics, the intrigue is complex. If you love fantasy worlds these tales will jump off the page. I've read each of the books several times and see something new each time. I highly recommend them for anyone who enjoys fantasy, war and empire building stories, or the study of human -- and not-so-human -- nature. The tales cross three continents, some occur simultaneously, each with a cast of characters that interconnect with the players in the other stories. It details the Malazan Empire's struggles against internal rot and greed, external rebellions and collapse, economic woes, plagues, and the meddling of a pantheon of gods who are at the same time at war with themselves.
The Paran noble house produces 3 of the main characters threaded through the story: Ganoes, who becomes the Master of the Deck, Tavore, the Empress' adjunct who eventually becomes high fist of the renegade Bonehunters, and Felisin, the youngest, who gets traded into slavery by her older sister, but survives to lead a rebellion which comes close to bringing the Malazan Empire down, and does destroy an entire army. Fiddler is a soldier who keeps re-enlisting. Anamandor Rake leads the Tiste Andi, a dragon-like race who have lived for thousands of years, but have lost and under his leadership, hope to recover the patronage of their goddess / mother. Tattersail is a sorceress who dies and is reborn as Silverfox, the living bonecaster of a race looking for redemption -- they are the ace in the hole for the Malazan defenses. The Panion Seer is a jaghut tyrant who brings together enemy forces to defeat him and his empire of religious fanatics, and K'rul is an elder god, revived and pulled to the center of the pantheon wars. As you can see, this is just a glimpse of the stories and characters within the whole series.
Here's the list of books in the series so far:
Gardens of the Moon
Deadhouse Gates
Memories of Ice
House of Chains
Midnight Tides
The Bonehunters
Reapers Gale
Toll of the Hounds
Dust of Dreams
All of these are published by Bantam Books, and can be found at Amazon, Chapters or most likely at your local bookstore. Dates of publication range from 1999 to 2009.
Here's a fan site with artwork, forums, and links to order. http://malazanempire.com/site/index.php ~~~~~~Signature's Off~~~~~~
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