Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson (Not Quite A Review)

Well, over at the Tor Re-read for Malazan we have now finished Memories of Ice, so here, as per usual, is my book wrap-up. It's not quite a review, more a few overall thoughts. If you are planning to embark on the Malazan series, then you could do worse than follow the re-read and join the discussion.

Well, now... It’s hard to marshal my thoughts on this one—but what I can immediately verbalise is the fact that it would be impossible to pick a favourite part of the novel, unlike with Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates. For me, I pretty much loved every part of Memories of Ice.

I also want to mention just how tight Erikson’s writing is. I was thinking about what a tome Memories of Ice is—well over one thousand pages in my edition—and yet there is not one redundant scene, in my opinion. Not one part that could easily be excised. For someone who is used to reading bloated fantasy epics, it comes as a real breath of fresh air to realise that, despite its length, Memories of Ice is an incredibly honed book.

My over-riding feeling when coming out of the read last night was one of loss and sorrow. Despite some of the lighter moments within Memories of Ice, this is a novel where real life hits. Not everyone is safe. Characters you love will succumb to this tragic war. None of the deaths felt gratuitous either—done for shock value. All of them felt incredibly fitting given the events of the novel.

And what about the classic moments—where Moon’s Spawn comes crashing down into the Keep; the release of Toc from his torment; Itkovian’s desire to free an entire race from their burden; and Whiskeyjack... This novel is chock-full of moments to cherish and read back.

I loved the banter of the Bridgeburners. I loved the change in Gruntle, and his mocking of the Gods. I loved (and hated) the siege of Capustan. I loved the way Quick Ben tweaked the Crippled God’s nose.

From huge epic sweeping moments, to the mundane talk between soldiers waiting for the next battle, this is a supreme novel and the very finest example of what can be accomplished within fantasy fiction.

A Different Sort of Review - Deadhouse Gates

We have reached the final stage of the Deadhouse Gates read in the Tor.com Malazan Re-read, and here are my thoughts about the novel in its entirety:

Oh. Em. Gee. What a bloody ride! I feel absolutely wrung out by this reading experience, completely exhausted, rundown, joyful, hopeful and a myriad other emotions that I have hopefully articulated well enough over the course of this novel.

I did feel worried broaching Deadhouse Gates at the idea that I wouldn’t be spending time with many of those I’d come to love within the pages of Gardens of the Moon - and yet I’ve found even more characters to love. Dear Lord, I think with pity on all those people who put down Gardens of the Moon and never continued through the Malazan series - they would have missed out on Icarium and Mappo, on Duiker, on Pust (whether loving him or loathing him)! What a truly horrible thought.

You know what I appreciate most having now read two of Erikson’s books? The way he has absolute confidence in his readers. DG is a much smoother ride to GotM, in terms of immersing in the world, in terms of the degree of explanation required to help the reader along a little, in terms of the prose. It is a far superior book in every way - and yet still doesn’t try and baby the reader along. We are forced to engage our brain, to remember occurrences from hundreds of pages previously, to note seemingly throwaway lines. We are treated like scholars, and our patience and energetic reasoning is paid back one-thousandfold.

Deadhouse Gates is probably the most fun you can have over the course of a thousand pages, although I do use the word “fun” loosely. Mostly I was cringing, crying like a babe and carolling my fervent joy about events from the novel. Deadhouse Gates is not a “fun” read, rather an intense and utter submersion into another world.

Erikson’s background as an archaeologist certainly comes to the fore in this novel - he explores themes to a lesser and deeper level through the pages, like death and redemption, courage and the reason for being. And his research gives it all a ring of authenticity that allows the reader to trust in what Erikson is saying.

There was a heavy hint of the philosophising that, I am led to believe, becomes rife in later novels of the series but here it merely helped to lend weight to some of the events, such as that final battle between Coltaine and Korbolo Dom and Duiker’s thoughts leading up to it.

My favourite characters? Will it come as any surprise right now that I say Icarium and Mappo - the deeply tragic nature of their friendship provides subtle nuances to every series of dialogue they conduct. The loyalty, the appreciation for each other - all is written perfectly.

My favourite part of the novel? I think the sappers of the Seventh *grins* If not for them, the last few battles would have been unrelentingly bleak and they helped give some hope and humour to proceedings.

All in all, Deadhouse Gates was a tour de force. I honestly don’t see how Erikson can improve on this in later volumes, but I’m chafing at the bit now to go and find out! Simply tremendous!

Malazan Book of the Fallen giveaway - Winner!

So, after hundreds of entries - thank you so much to everyone who emailed through - I can finally pick a winner.

The answer to the question "Which is the first book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen?" is, of course, Gardens of the Moon. I'm happy to say that no one got that wrong!

Seriously, I wish I could give all of you this prize, so that I can share my love of Erikson's work, but there can only be one winner and that person is:

Robert Uden

Congratulations Robert, and enjoy your books!

To everyone else, so sorry that you were not lucky on this occasion - but remember that The Crippled God is now out in shops (in the UK, at least!) and so this is the perfect time to start your Malazan journey.

HUGE Malazan Book of the Fallen giveaway!

Okay... Anyone who is a reader of the Malazan Book of the Fallen is getting just a little bit excited right now.

This man:

is releasing this book:

which is the 10th novel in the Malazan Book of the Fallen!

To celebrate this fact, I have a wonderful giveaway for someone who is ready to embark on this most brilliant of series.

I've teamed up with Transworld to bring one lucky winner ALL TEN BOOKS of the Malazan Book of the Fallen! Yes, that is the WHOLE series!

Not only that, but The Crippled God will be a signed copy by the man himself.

To be in with a chance of winning this awesome prize, simply send an email to magemanda AT gmail DOT com, with the subject line MALAZAN GIVEAWAY and give the answer to this insultingly easy question:

What was the title of the first Malazan Book of the Fallen?

Please provide your mailing address so that I can pass it onto the publishers, who will be sending out the prize on my behalf.

Any duplicate entries will be deleted. The contest is open worldwide. It will run until the date The Crippled God is released, which is 21st February.

Good luck!

Want to Meet Steven Erikson?

Well, you can!

Steven Erikson will be going on tour to sign copies of The Crippled God, the final volume in the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Here are the dates:

Monday 21st February:

Birmingham

Waterstone’s, High Street - 1.00pm: public signing.

Manchester

Waterstone’s Deansgate – 6.30 pm: ticketed event. £3 redeemable against the book on the night


Tuesday 22nd February:

Derby

Waterstone’s, Peter’s Street - 1.00pm: public signing.

Leeds

Waterstone’s, Albion Street - 7.00pm: ticketed event. £3 redeemable against the book on the night.


Wednesday 23rd February:

Nottingham

Waterstone’s, Bridlesmith Gate - 1.00pm: Public signing

York

Waterstone’s, High Ousegate - 6.30pm: ticketed event (£2)


Thursday 24th February:

Edinburgh

Waterstone’s, 125 Prince St - 12.30pm: public signing

Glasgow

Waterstone’s, Sauchiehall Street - 6.30pm: ticketed event. £3 redeemable against the book on the night


Friday 25th February:

Milton Keynes

Waterstone’s, Midsummer Place - 7.00pm: ticketed event. £3


Saturday 26th February:

London

Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Ave - 12.30pm: public signing


Monday 28th February:

Truro

Waterstone’s, Boscawen St - 6.30pm: ticketed event. £3 redeemable against the book on the night

I am hoping to attend the signing on Saturday 26th February!

A Different Sort of Review - Night of Knives by Ian Esslemont

Once again, having finished a book on the Tor Malazan Re-read, I bring you my overall thoughts of the novel. Here are my feelings about Night of Knives by Ian Esslemont:

This first encounter with Esslemont’s side of the Malazan world has sure been a bumpy ride. For every Temper there was a Kiska, basically *grins*. I don’t think I need to re-emphasise my dislike of the young naive character. She was an effective tool in Esslemont’s hands to help any info-dumping go smoothly and feel realistic, but, by all the Gods, she got annoying damn quickly.


My over-riding impression of the novel is that is was basically a novella to start with, and got padded out to fit a novel length. There isn’t a great deal of real action here, in terms of moving along the story, and the biggest scene by far is the ascension of Kellanved and Dancer, but I found myself rather confused about it rather than thrilled.


At times the prose was weak when it should have been exciting, with clumsy exposition and characterisation.


With that said, I did enjoy a lot of what was on show here. I loved the horror aspect of the novel - something that we haven’t seen from Erikson in the same way. Anything involving Temper, especially the flashbacks with Dassem and the final showdown between him and Jhenna, was just brilliant. I also enjoyed seeing an entirely different perspective of Tayschrenn compared to Gardens of the Moon - I join other people now in finding him entirely intriguing. Definitely more to come.


My favourite character from Night of Knives was definitely Temper - from his grizzled resignation to his flash of pride to the potential of what is yet to come. How about you? And why?


In summary, this will never be my favourite part of the Malazan series, but I have not been deterred from Esslemont’s future works. I think this was a slightly simplistic read in comparison to Gardens of the Moon - however, I do firmly believe that Esslemont can only improve going forwards, and I’m looking forward to Return of the Crimson Guard when we hit that as part of the re-read.


So, onto Deadhouse Gates.... I am apprehensive, pleased, excited, and already confused :-p