Synopsis:

It’s a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, the realm of Darkness, where Mother Dark reigns. But this ancient land was once home to many a power. and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners’ great hero, Vatha Urusander, is being promoted by his followers to take Mother Dark’s hand in marriage, but her Consort, Lord Draconus, stands in the way of such ambitions. The impending clash sends fissures throughout the realm, and as the rumors of civil war burn through the masses, an ancient power emerges from the long dead seas. Caught in the middle of it all are the First Sons of Darkness, Anomander, Andarist, and Silchas Ruin of the Purake Hold…

Review:

“There will be peace.”

I name you liar, Mr. Erikson! Peace? In this Malazan economy? In all seriousness this quote acts sort of as a deep introspection of what we know will never be. Malazan nor her readers will never know peace.

Forge of Darkness is brutal. It is emotionally and physically taxing. There are scenes that left me in absolute shock and drowning in tears. The relationships these characters have with one another is so endearing and that makes it all the worse when everything goes wrong. It’s very hard to talk about how much I loved this book without spoilers. Forge of Darkness is just a 900+ page long spoiler, but I will do my best.    

The first book in the Kharkanas Trilogy takes place thousands upon thousands of years before the events of Malazan Book of the Fallen. Now, add a few more thousands of years to that and you’ve got some semblance of just how far back Erikson has taken us. Even then, it’s difficult to understand that the events taking place in Forge of Darkness are things of myth and legend in the main series. Did you think that Kharkanas was this empty plane, filled with darkness and mist? It’s an entire city. A whole place filled buildings and roads and fortresses. People are traveling on horseback! HORSEBACK! While this may seem very silly and a total overreaction, I was genuinely shocked that these characters, who are God-like in the main series, sat at a table and ate dinner. What do you mean you eat?     

Those of you looking to get into this series thinking Forge of Darkness is going to be all about our favorite Tiste Andii, Anomander Rake, think again. When has Erikson ever—not including Part 1 of House of Chains—ever focused on a single character? Does the book include him? Oh yes, don’t you worry, but as usual there are a plethora of new and returning characters that Erikson utilizes to tell a far grander story. There is so much more happening than the origin of the Andii and it blows the mind right out of the skull. Every page created a thought that led to another thought that answered a question I had 7 books ago and explained origins I’ve been wondering about since the beginning of my Malazan journey!

Erikson’s prose is unmatched. Truly. I can think of no other author that draws me into not only the world, but the characters within it. His blend of plot and character driven arcs is so perfectly in sync that I can read pages upon pages of philosophical ruminations and find it all entirely fascinating. Which brings me to my next point, while Forge of Darkness is about much more than the Tiste Andii, it is this Malazan race that the book primarily focuses on. Which means there are going to be a lot of philosophical topics, for when are the Tiste Andii not pondering the mechanisms of human nature? If you have no interest in the Tiste Andii I doubt you will enjoy this book. If, however, you are frothing at the mouth to know the origins of so many Malazan Book of the Fallen characters, this book will simultaneously break your mind and your heart.

While the Kharkanas Trilogy is a prequel series, it is my opinion that Forge of Darkness is not meant to be read first. I do not think it’s even meant to be read after Malazan Book of the Fallen. There is some very important world-building information within ICE’s Novels of the Malazan Empire that I think is essential to understanding what’s happening in Forge of Darkness.

Reading Forge of Darkness is not like reading Malazan Book of the Fallen. I’ve always said that Malazan requires patience, that all will be explained in time, but that is simply not the case here. There is so much world-building and character nuance to read in-between the lines. It will be very difficult to understand the impact of certain plot threads if the magic system and worldbuilding is not understood. If you do not know the arcs of certain Tiste Andii characters, as well as the gods and goddesses from the main series, you will have little to no emotional connection with them at all. The emotional punch is that we know how this story ends and that’s why the quote above hits so hard.

Erikson’s worldbuilding is, of course, the crème de la crème. There are so many layers upon layers that this series could truly go on forever and feel like a new story every time. The characters are so real. They leap from the page and straight into my heart. Erikson continues to exceed my expectations on how fantasy is written. I could not love this book more if I tried, even if it hurt me so much. I cannot wait to dive into Fall of Light!  

Synopsis:

Greymane believed he’d outrun his past. With his school for swordsmanship in Falar, he was looking forward to a quiet life, although his colleague Kyle wasn’t as enamoured with things outside the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard.

However, it seems it is not so easy for an ex-Fist of the Malazan Empire to disappear, especially one under sentence of death from that same Empire. For there is a new Emperor on the throne of Malaz, and he is dwelling on the ignominy that is the Empire’s failed invasion of the Korel subcontinent. In the vaults beneath Unta, the Imperial capital, lie the answers to that disaster. And out of this buried history surfaces the name Stonewielder.

In Korel, Lord Protector Hiam, commander of the Stormguard, faces the potential annihilation of all that he holds dear. With few remaining men and a crumbling stone wall that has seen better days, he confronts an ancient the sea-borne Stormriders have returned. Religious war also threatens these lands. The cult of the Blessed Lady, which had stood firm against the Riders for millennia, now seeks to eradicate its rivals. And as chaos looms, a local magistrate investigating a series of murders suddenly finds himself at the heart of a far more ancient and terrifying crime — one that has tainted an entire land.

Review:

“And that makes it all the harder, doesn’t it? Not being special. Not having that funny mark or that omen at your birth. Just an ordinary person asked to step up and do the extraordinary.”

It’s happened folks! Esslemont has found his stride and it’s here in Stonewielder. Wow! What a book! If I said it once, I said it a million times. A book can have the greatest worldbuilding, and there are few epic fantasy worlds greater than Malazan, but if the story cannot make me care about the characters, then the world doesn’t do much for me. This is the issue I had with Return of the Crimson Guard but that is a distant memory now that I’ve finished Stonewielder. Every chapter was interesting. All the characters brought something to the table for me to eat and I feasted!

Per usual there will be some name drops here from Malazan Book of the Fallen up to The Bonehunters and Reapers Gale. If you’ve read up to those books, then there are no spoilers. If you have not, you will know whether these characters have made it up to that point in the main series, but that’s where the spoilers end.

I just want to take a moment to appreciate the growth Esslemont has gone through in writing this book. Night of Knives and Return of the Crimson Guard each had their strengths and weaknesses, but they felt very opposite of each other. Night of Knives lacked the worldbuilding of its sequel, which is not a criticism on my part. I loved the novella format of Night of Knives but Return of the Crimson Guard was missing the characterization that was in abundance in its predecessor. Now that I’ve finished Stonewielder I feel like Esslemont has finally found the balance to include both.

Once again, I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to repeat it, Esslemont’s battle sequences are absolute fire to read. I have a soft spot in my heart for any form of fantasy fight taking place on water. The stakes, at least for me, are far higher than one taking place on land. Nautical battles are amongst the most thrilling for me because there’s not much one can do to escape a brutal sea-faring assault. Stonewielder contains such a battle, and I loved every second of it! Esslemont takes us through multiple perspectives of this chaotic assault and shows us the impact it has on main characters and common folk alike. Every time I thought to put the book down to be an adult and get things done, Esslemont threw a Moranth munition to keep me in place.

I’m glad that I read Malazan Book of the Fallen before tackling Novels of the Malazan Empire. I feel like I have a more well-rounded view of the world and knowing how much of the story plays out helps in understanding references to the main series. Esslemont fills in the gaps otherwise left open from Malazan Book of the Fallen. There’s are some juicy bits in Stonewielder that foreshadows what’s going on towards the end of Erikson’s epic. It’s wild to think about when you’ve already finished the series. Esslemont’s novels adds so much flavor and spice to the worldbuilding! You think you know Malazan magic? You think the lore can’t get any deeper? Think again.   

Something I’ve always appreciated in Malazan is that there are few true villains in the story. I remember reading Gardens of the Moon and hating the Empire. Then reading Memories of Ice and ready to lay down my life for my fellow Malazan soldiers. Depending on where you are in the world, you can either be with the Malazan’s or against them. I’m not going to lie. The Malazan’s in Stonewielder were dishing out some fighting words and I was ready to knock a few down for their audacity. But then Esslemont drags me into the perspective of a solider within a squad made up of the most unique and lovable characters I immediately want to adopt. 

Esslemont did a phenomenal job with the character work here. Malazan is well known for its dynamic duos. Tool and Toc, Mappo and Icarium, Bugg and Tehol are all classic pairings that I came to love in the main series and here I am again, ready to lay down my life for another. Kiska and Jheval. I’m well aware that their storyline felt a bit out of place, but guess what? I don’t care. Their character chemistry was the best in this novel and by far my favorite sections of the book. Their traveling brought to light some new Malazan lore that I am so excited to learn more about. Jheval in particular was a pleasure to follow, especially when you know the background of his character. To see his growth from when I last saw him, to the man he is in Stonewielder is wild! It’s incredible to me that Esslemont can take characters Erikson wrote, continue their arc in his own way and make it a believable transition. It is paramount to remember that they are two different authors and the fact that they are capable of writing the same characters in a world they built together is a feat I don’t think enough people think about.

Another character I became utterly obsessed with was Ivanr. What is a man to do when he becomes a pacifist and takes a vow of no killing? Train an army of course! Ivanr was some high level full-circle-hindsight-is-20/20 kind of arc. This was a running theme in the novel. Most of these characters had the kind of growth that happens when the mistakes have already been made and the consequences are out of their control. Hiam found himself living within Les Miserables without the singing. Interpret that how you will. Characters like him, Greymane, and Iron Bars were so achingly human and it’s what made them such compelling people to follow. Just a side note, Iron Bars is one of the most badass characters in the whole Malazan series. There is a scene including him that made me feel like I was watching the most brutal MMA fight and I’m screaming in the audience for him to wipe the floor with his opponent. I wish I could expand on others such as Suth, Kyle, and Bakune, all excellent characters, but this review would turn into a dissertation. Suffice to say that I loved the journey of each one.

We got politics. We got Stormriders. We got Malazans. We got an actual Stormwall! Murder. Comedy. Religious heretics and mob mentality. Good times.

Stonewielder is, in my opinion, the best book out of Novels of the Malazan Empire so far. I greatly enjoyed this book and was eager to turn page after page to discover what was going to happen. It’s a testament to Esslemont’s talent that even if one were to finish Malazan Book of the Fallen, knowing how the series ends, and still manage to inspire new avenues of magic, mystery, worldbuilding, and lore, you’ve got one hell of a writer.  

Synopsis:

The returning mercenary Crimson Guard are sworn to oppose the Empire. Some elite Avowed scheme to open paths to power. Ascendants, ancient powerful entities, seek to exploit all sides for gain. “Traveller”, a swordsman, and his companion Ereko, confront successive enemies until the last from which none have returned. “Old Hands”, generals and mages from the previous Emperor, direct civil war. But Empress Laseen may draw out survivors for final elimination.

Review:

“Battle is for an army to win or lose; war is for civilization to win or lose.”

Another day, another Malazan novel checked off the tbr. Return of the Crimson Guard is much like many other epic fantasy books that need an entire encyclopedia to keep track of events, characters, settings, and plots. While its predecessor Night of Knives was condensed to only a few characters centralized on a single night within a city, Return of the Crimson Guard reminds the reader that there is still some traveling to do. See what I did there?

First of all, let me say that I hate comparing Esslemont and Erikson. They may write of the same world with overlapping characters, but they are completely two different authors. I don’t find it fair to weigh one against the other and I try my hardest not to. However, it’s very difficult considering that their books do overlap in timelines and cameos and references. It’s impossible to not compare at times, even when I do not want to. That being said, I will try to refer to Erikson as little as possible while reading Esslemont. The differences between them and their strengths and weakness in comparison to one another are a post for another day.

Another small note, I will be discussing a few characters from Malazan Book of the Fallen who appear in Return of the Crimson Guard. If you have read up to The Bonehunters, then you will be caught up character-wise. If you have not read The Bonehunters there is a small risk of spoilers for you. I do not discuss major events or detail plot twists. I’m merely speaking my feelings on their arcs as I feel is important to include. As I stated, if you have read up to The Bonehunters there is no risk of spoilers, but if you haven’t then there is a small risk as you will know whether these particular characters survive up to that point in the series. Now on with the review!

Return of the Crimson Guard has some truly heart-stopping moments and epic large-scale consequences that I did not see coming. There were some unexpected reveals and a lot of rage-inducing scenes that made me want to jump through the pages and throw a cusser towards some characters who personified toe-stubbing. I’m not sure what it is about Malazan that makes all the dads terrible at dading, but wow there is a terrible dad in this book that had me rage screaming to friends who could not understand why I was so upset. Malazan fans! Why is this small but not so small to me character sub-trait not talked about more? I feel like it should be talked about more! Especially considering who this character is! Anyways… almost lost my cool. I almost lost my cool several times through the course of this novel.

Let’s talk about Traveller for a moment. Oh, Traveller, how you break my heart. One of the benefits to reading Novels of the Malazan Empire after the main series is hindsight. I know what happens and how many of these character arcs conclude and knowing Traveller’s makes my journey with him that much more emotional. I understand the layers of foreshadowing and the cryptic conversations he has with people who know nothing of who he is or what he is working towards. It makes the book a special kind of read and more than once had me reaching for the tissues.

Something that Esslemont does exceptionally well are his battle scenes. They are well constructed and mind-numbingly brutal on a scale that is very much on par with the Malazan world. They are not only bloody with devastating consequences—they are emotional. Malazan’s brutality is its own grimdark genre in that that the story is not normally violent for the sake of violence. There is purpose to the grit, and it is shown through the characters arcs and actions. I love Malazan for its unique blend of character and plot driven storylines and Esslemont has done well with continuing that theme in his own novels.

One particular character that comes to mind is Laseen. You know her name and wonder what’s going on in her crafty empress mind and I’m still wondering. This installment into Malazan gave us readers a little insight into our morally ambiguous ruler and it was awesome! I’ve been wanting to know more about this character for ages and seeing her in her element trying to navigate the politics of ruling while also planning battles was so interesting to read. She’s always had an air of mystery surrounding her and Esslemont was, in my opinion, able to turn her into more than just a figure head. She became a multi-faceted person who makes just as many mistakes as the rest of us. I was glued to the page in every scene she was in! Reading a Malazan book means having to juggle lots of different storylines and Laseen was just one of many. My only complaint concerning her was that there was simply not enough of her. There were quite a few plots I felt could’ve been sacrificed so that we could’ve had more insight into a journey Esslemont was clearly taking us on to better understand her character.

Which brings me to my next point. A few complaints I’ve read about Night of Knives is that it was not Malazan enough. Where was the confusion? Where was the traveling and the dozens of povs to follow? Now, with Return of the Crimson Guard the complaint is that it is too Malazan. There is far too much moving around and too many pov’s to follow. It seems one cannot please everyone. I do agree to some extent with these criticisms concerning this book. Return of the Crimson Guard was not messy by any means, but I did feel like Esslemont was trying to tell too many stories at once. Every plot felt important, but I felt like it took too long to get to the point of why they were important.

I was missing that distinct Esslemont voice that was so fun to read in Night of Knives. What I mean to say is that it was hard to tell who was speaking and who wasn’t, which was not a problem in the previous book. It made it hard to keep track of where I was in this novel and who I was following. Normally when I am required to reread a section of a Malazan chapter it’s to burrow the information into my brain to make sure I understand it correctly. I had to reread multiple sections of Return of the Crimson Guard because I didn’t know where I was or which pov I was in. Malazan has a plethora of characters with unique voices and even when the character is not named, I can usually tell who is speaking just by the cadence of their words. Esslemont hasn’t quite mastered this yet. Was the book more epic in scale? Yes, but at the expense of voices without the proper characterization to make them distinguishable from the other. This was not true for every single character in the novel, but it was enough to hinder somewhat my enjoyment of the story.

By the time this review is released I will be about 25% into the sequel, Stonewielder, and let me just say, it gets better! Don’t let Return of the Crimson Guard stop you from continuing the series because Esslemont has found his balance in Stonewielder! So far, the book has been phenomenal in both plot and characterization. I’m so excited to continue and eventually share my thoughts on how Esslemont has grown as a writer.

In summary, Return of the Crimson Guard has its place in the Malazan story. There are some plot twists here that BLEW MY MIND. I cannot believe these twists exist in a series separate from the main one that not many people have read. Now that I know what I know, I cannot imagine not knowing it. If you are a Malazan fan who is in love with the lore and are in need of expansion on the world, yeet yourself into the warren and pick up these books. You are truly missing out on some wild events and explanation’s you will not see coming. I am only thinking of your Malazan health, but as I’ve said many times: I am the boss of no one. Read what you will.

This was a great read even if I had a harder time with it. I certainly still recommend reading Esslemont to any avid Malazan fan and can’t wait to know everything there is to know about this world!

Synopsis:

The empire is named for the tiny island and city of Malaz, now a sleepy, seedy backwater port. Tonight however, a once-in-a-generation Shadow Moon brings demon hounds and darker beings. Also, a prophecy promises the return of long missing Emperor Kellanved to the contended imperial throne. This night will determine the fate of the world.

Review:

“The Malazan way,’ he breathed. ‘The murderer’s touch. A brush of cloth. A sip of wine. The gleam of a blade as fine as a snake’s tooth. Your name whispered just as you fall into sleep.”

I think it’s fair to say at this point that Malazan might have, sort of, entirely taken over a good portion of my personality. I find myself whispering ‘Hoods breath!’ when I stub my toe and ‘First in last out.’ when I’m in need of reassurance. I could not merely stop reading about this world with the end of Malazan Book of the Fallen. I’m too invested, far too soul bound into this series that has everything I could want in fantasy. Imagine my child-like joy at discovering more books filled with all the gritty, mind-numbing, bloody, heart-breaking, worldbuilding and characters continued in many, and I do mean many, spin-off series. First of which I’ve body slammed through is Night of Knives, the first book in Novels of the Malazan Empire.

This series is sort of an accompaniment to the main Erikson 10 book Malazan epic. It follows plots that were mentioned in Malazan Book of the Fallen but fell to the side due to other, more important events happening. These threads are what Esslemont, Erikson’s friend and colleague who created the Malazan world with him, tackles. For those who have read Gardens of the Moon, you will remember the iconic prologue that started our Malazan journey. Night of Knives tells the tale of the night not long after the prologue, the night of Emperor Kellanved’s foretold return. This was always an event whispered with the utmost mistrust. No one is sure what really happened and there are many versions of it rumored throughout the main Malazan series. Night of Knives puts these rumors to rest and gives us the truth of what actually happened.

First let’s talk about the differences between Esslemont and Erikson. If you’re expecting a poem before each chapter, vague explanations of details you might have to read over in order to understand scenes, or the description of a flower on the wind to invoke a gut-wretching emotional response, reevaluate your expectations. Esslemont is not Erikson and that is not a fault. Erikson has the tendency to avoid holding hands with the reader as much as possible. He will explain nothing to you and expect you to be paying attention and to figure it all out for yourself. Esslemont is within hands reach. As soon as you feel yourself slipping, he reaches out with a quick explanation before letting you walk on your own again. Esslemont is much more direct in his approach to the world. His prose is not as profound as Erikson, who seems to make every chapter into just one long poem, but he is still able to convey the beautiful complexity that is Malazan. It’s dark humor and wit. The emotional nuance that feels unique to this world.

Esslemont writes on a much smaller scale. Night of Knives follows mainly two points of views with some others sprinkled in for spice. Temper is a grumpy war veteran with a heart of gold, who has seen far too much. A Malazan classic. I loved following this man’s perspective for the flashbacks in his chapters. This was amazing! These flashbacks were the best parts of the book, and I was transfixed by the fact that I was seeing actual history being played out from the main series that I never got to witness. The names that were dropped held me in nostalgic suspense, knowing where many of these characters ended up. The other perspective is Kiska, a young girl who wants nothing more than to be a soldier. Hmm, I wonder who this reminds me of? Pick another career, Kiska. Any. Other. Career. Anyways, I know she isn’t the most liked in the book nor the most interesting. But I have to say I was never irritated by her character. She very young and she acts like it. She has a really incredible arc of overcoming her fears and understanding that sometimes the world may not revolve around her. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing some wildly important characters have monumental conversations that effect books to come through her eyes. It really brings the Malazan world down to eye level and shows that some of these characters are just people trying to survive the next day with nothing special about them. Although Kiska does have something special about her, she’s just a kid and I was just as engaged in her chapters as I was with Temper.  

The climax was utterly unstoppable! Erikson writes either long, drawn out, and incredibly detailed battle sequences or short, wild west, over-in-two-paragraphs duels between two insanely powerful characters. Esslemont is somewhere in between that, which I loved. Don’t misunderstand me. I love Erikson’s battles. They’re some of the best in the genre, but Esslemont slower pace and attention to longer fight sequences on a smaller scale was a breath of fresh air. Night of Knives is the length of a regular novel, hence the series name Novels of the Malazan Empire. However, I could not help the feeling that I was reading a novella. Is it possible to write a novel length novella? Perhaps when compared to Erikson monolithic 10 book epic, Esslemont’s entry into the series is a novella.

I cannot imagine a brain that would inhabit my skull to think of a series so vast and elaborate as Malazan. It’s only by sheer brilliance that both Erikson and Esslemont possess the ability to have entirely two different writing styles and still be able to capture the essence of the setting and characters. Even though I’d met many of these characters in the main series, Esslemont managed to write them true to their identities while making them his own since this book is set before Malazan Book of the Fallen. Many of these characters have not grown into their grimdark personalities quite yet, so it was interesting to read them in a different but similar light.

This book isn’t perfect, but neither were many of Erikson’s. It doesn’t mean that Esslemont is not worth your time. It is different. Embrace the difference. The lore alone is reason enough to continue expanding your knowledge with Esslemont’s entries into Malazan. For my part, I enjoyed both the worldbuilding aspect and the storytelling craft. What I was most worried about was the story not feeling like Malazan and I’m happy to say that in my not so professional, and totally based on opinion take, that was not the case here. Night of Knives was absolutely epic on a more focused Malazan scale, which is exactly what it is trying to be by telling the smaller, but by no means less important events that happened off page in Erikson’s epic. There are many who are satisfied with ending their Malazan journey with Erikson and that is completely fine. Read what you want. Life is too short for anything else, but if you’re dying to see some truly epic happenings told but not shown in the main series, start Night of Knives and take the journey with me through Esslemont’s version of events. You might find yourself frothing at the mouth for more.      

Synopsis

The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.

Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.

Review

“It was bootless to consider what ifs and might have beens. What was, was, and it was the lot of the living to deal with it as best they could.”

In order to properly review this book, I need ya’ll to understand the impact the world of Alagaesia has had on me as a reader. The Inheritance Cycle was not just my introduction to fantasy, it was the door that opened epic fantasy in a way that led me to who I am as a consumer of fantastical worlds. Much of my fantasy trope idiosyncrasies originated in this series. The way that character arcs progress and the idea that doing the right thing doesn’t necessarily mean that happy endings are on the horizon. I was 17yrs old when Inheritance was released. I remember waiting in line at Barnes & Nobel for the midnight release. I recall shutting myself in my room and devouring the book in a single weekend. Throughout the years I’ve read The Inheritance Cycle at least once a year. It’s my comfort series. Now, here I am, a decade later and I love this world just as much, if not more, than all those years ago.

Full disclosure, I read this book with the full knowledge of The Inheritance Cycle. These characters feel like family and although I will try and keep this review as unbiased as I can, know that I unequivocally love this world and whatever issues I came across were inconsequential under the amount of adoration I have for this story and the characters within it.

First of all, I’d like to answer the question for those of you have who haven’t read the original series. Can you read Murtagh before The Inheritance Cycle? The short answer. No. Murtagh has been marketed as a book that can be a new readers introduction into the world of Alagaesia, but it is my opinion that this will severely hurt the reading experience. So much of the magic that is within Murtagh is knowing where the character comes from. There will be name drops of vital characters who played massive roles in the Inheritance Cycle, and it will mean absolutely nothing to those who haven’t read the original series. The magic system is complex and has severe consequences when used improperly, the rules will feel vague without the background knowledge to it. The emotional connection to the character Murtagh is half the battle and without knowing the tragedy that is his life, the reader who hasn’t read The Inheritance Cycle will not fully understand the arc and growth he goes through in his own novel. This, of course, is my own opinion. As a lifelong fan of the series my advice is to read The Inheritance Cycle before Murtagh, but ya’ll do what you want. I’m not the boss of you.

Now, for come chunky word vomit. Murtagh takes place about a year after the events of The Inheritance Cycle. He’s living it up as a wanderer, picking fights and trying to heal from some severe war trauma with his bonded dragon, Thorn. Their relationship is the heart of this novel. I’ve always loved the portrayal of rider and dragon in this series, and it just adds to the magic of the world. There was much left unsaid in the original series as to Murtagh’s upbringing and time spent in Galbatorix’s clutches. We knew the basics, but not much of the details. Paolini shares the horror of Murtagh’s past with heartbreaking detail and it gave me a far broader scope of just how hopelessly fated Murtagh was to become who he had. He never had much of a choice in anything and it made me want to hug him throughout the entire book.

Murtagh shines a light on events we’d been told about but not shown. Feelings that were glimpsed but not explained. Everything I ever wanted to know about my favorite character was told in ways that ripped my heart out of my chest. This book is entirely unhinged! It is dark and grim and provides no mercy on its characters or the readers. I had planned on enjoying the nostalgia, not calling the doctor for emergency heart surgery! While Eragon can be placed in the genre of YA and slowly grows more into the New Adult genre by Inheritance, I would place Murtagh firmly in the genre of Adult Fantasy. The last half is gnarly and the emotional trauma I was put through is no joke.

We spent most of the Inheritance Cycle in Eragon’s point of view and it’s so interesting how different Murtagh and the younger dragon rider are, especially when you know the details of just how complex their relationship is to one another. Eragon is more likely to throw a rock blind at an enemy and hope to hit someone. Murtagh is the opposite. His knowledge of the ancient language is not as vast as Eragon’s and so he is forced to improvise and use his wits to solve a problem. Eragon grew up illiterate and poor while Murtagh had the benefit of tutors and weapons training. There’s a reason I chose the quote above. We get to see more of Murtagh’s life and think on the what ifs and could’ve beens had events in the Inheritance Cycle played out differently. It literally kills me to think about it. Eragon and Saphira had a bond that would allow them to do anything for one another. Murtagh and Thorn do not. There are lines drawn and traumatic wall built that neither one of are willing nor able to climb over. Not even for each other. Their relationship is hard but the love that they share is their bridge to keep working to break down those barriers to better themselves and each other.

A little piece of worldbuilding that I want to comment on is the continuation of True Names. In The Inheritance Cycle we learn about True Names, which is essentially a magical set of words that describe the soul of your being. Who you are as a person at that moment in time. Most people in this world do not know their True Names and if they do it is a closely guarded secret as it can be used for nefarious purposes. The beauty of True Names is that they are constantly evolving. As humans, we are in a state of perpetual flux and I’ve always loved how this concept is integrated into the world of Alagaesia. It’s one of the originating factors of my love for character-driven stories, though I did not know it at the time. It’s such a great way of mixing world-building with the characters arc. I absolutely loved how it was used in The Inheritance Cycle and I was brought to tears as it was continued with Murtagh.

The arcs for both Murtagh and Thorn were phenomenal! This book ends with so many questions and lots of potential for a continuation in the world of Alagaesia. This is both a sequel to The Inheritance Cycle and not a sequel. All us fans know about the long awaited Book 5, but this is not the book 5 Paolini has been talking about these many years. Murtagh is more of a pathway to book 5 which is now book 6. It’s a glimpse into what’s to come. There are lots of loose threads left here on purpose with no resolution. There will be moments that will feel like a weird segue from the plot at hand, but if you know what had come before, you will have no issue writing some chaotic theories on your bedroom wall. I have THOUGHTS.

This book is not perfect. Like I said, some weird segues, but I had no issue with it because I opened Murtagh with the expectation that this is not a direct sequel. There was a bit of bending to the magical rules of this world that I side-eyed a bit, but it was only once towards the end and honestly, I couldn’t care less. I was so immersed into the story that I hardly noticed. Murtagh is a prime example on how a book does not need to be literary perfection to be a five-star. It’s all about how the story makes you feel, and wow did this book make me FEEL. If an author can accomplish writing multi-faceted characters with meaningful relationships and realistic decision making according to their personalities and past experiences, who cares if we lingered a bit too long on a side-quest? What does it matter if the magical rules bend a tad? Or time spent on a seemingly non-important scene that could’ve had a shorter word-count? All the in-between issues I had were small in comparison to the love I have for this world and the characters. A book doesn’t have to be perfect to be amazing and Murtagh is that book for me. I couldn’t have been happier to start off my year with it and I’m so excited for what else Paolini has in store for this world!

Synopsis

The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it.

It’s a bloody business overthrowing a king…
Field Marshal Tamas’ coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas’s supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.

Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.

But when gods are involved…
Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should…

In a rich, distinctive world that mixes magic with technology, who could stand against mages that control gunpowder and bullets?

Review

“You gorged them on the blood of the nobility. They drank, but were not filled. They ate of hatred and grew hungrier.”

Are ya’ll in need of a semi-familiar world with historic elements that is just foreign enough to be an entire fantasy universe with magic, blood, and head chopping royalist slayings? Have a seat and let me tell you about Promise of Blood.

This rich world of gunpowder and grudges held me hostage to the page. I am more of a character driven reader but doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy a plot driven story with some memorable character work and Promise of Blood is that story!

What’s not to like about people with the ability to chew on black powder and shoot bullets with their mind? What is there to complain about when there are others with a Knack for never sleeping? Or possessing the ability to remember everything? Perhaps the fault lies with those who are Privileged and can command the elements with nothing more than their fingers, but I can’t find it. The magic in this world is layered with rules and classed ability. No one ever truly knows what another is capable of and when it’s discovered, run for cover! It’s about to get a bit explosive.

McClellan has a crazy good eye for action sequences. It was thrilling to be in the pov of a powder mage as they try to fight with magic, gun, and sword. Honestly, whichever they could get their hands on the fastest. These characters have to be versatile in almost every form of combat and I love a capable character that is quick witted and multi-tasked when in stressful situations, which is almost every character in this world! When the going gets tough the powder mages start blowing it all up.

The world of Promise of Blood is certainly the biggest factor to my enjoyment of the book but fighting alongside characters like Olem, Tamas, Adamat, Taniel, and Ka-poel is what kept me turning the page long after I should’ve gone to bed. No other character captivated me quite like Tamas. He’s got solid sapper energy and the way he bulldozes into everything headfirst really tickles me. He never seems to have much of a plan, and I don’t mind that. He’s an intelligent character that accomplishes what needs to be done even if he’s got to improvise the whole way through. His sarcastic and snarky personality makes him the highest maintenance of all the characters. He certainly wouldn’t agree with that sentiment, but, honey… you’re my needy child. I live for it!

His son Taniel is also a pleasure to follow, even if he doesn’t know half of what he thinks he does. Many of these characters are the shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later kind of personality and Taniel is no exception to that. With an addiction to black powder, he takes the trophy for staring the answer in the face and completely missing it, but he is a good man that tries his best and that makes his faults understandable ones. Adamat, a soldier turned investigator, is equally interesting to follow. The man’s love for his family makes him a darling pov to be in and I loved being inside his sharp and inquisitive mind.

The only pov I was not much interested in was Nila, a woman who worked under the usurped king. She has a decent amount of page time, but she didn’t have much personality for me to attach myself too. She certainly makes choices that impact the story, but her character fell flat due to a lot of the focus being on the male characters which brings me to my next point. Promise of Blood has many female characters, but they are given very little page time. Most of them are background characters that fight alongside their male counterparts, an example being Ka-poel whom I adore. Now this isn’t much of a problem for me because while these characters may not have much of a voice (with the exception of Ka-poel who has a reason for her lack of voice), they are present and shown risking their lives just as much as the men. However, there is a certain female character introduced that served only to further the development of their male counterpart and had this character been completely taken out of the story nothing would’ve been impacted. It wasn’t something that reduced my enjoyment of the book, but it was something that I noticed, and it stuck with me after I finished. I have heard that this gets better as the series progresses.

McClellan’s prose is well thought out and engaging. His worldbuilding truly propels this story with multiple levels of magic wielding, a flint-lock fantasy setting, and twisted politicking. His character work rests on the shoulders of likable individuals who are short-tempered and trigger happy with hearts wrapped in grumpy, begrudged, sarcastic gold. I love the comradery in this book and now that the world and the enemy is established, I’m excited to get to know these characters more as their world changes and follow them through every battle.  

This has been my year of Malazan and I rarely ventured outside of the series to read anything else. So, here is my ranking of the ten book series and if you make it all the way to the end, I’ll reward you with a few honorable mentions that managed to sneak in between this soul-binding obsession of mine.

A small note to keep in mind. I loved every single one of these books. They all blew my mind, so ranking them was not only a challenge but hard on my heart. Just because I ranked one book lower than the other does not mean I didn’t enjoy the entry, I just enjoyed it less than its predecessor.

10. Dust of Dreams

My least favorite of the series is not without reason. I’ve always said that Malazan requires patience and that’s to prepare you for Dust of Dreams. There are a lot of new characters and crossing plotlines. It was difficult to keep track of it all. Keep in mind that Dust of Dreams is part one of The Crippled God. This helped a lot in managing my expectations and provided more enjoyment for my reading experience. There is also a storyline that is particularly brutal in this entry that leaves a bitter taste in a lot of reader’s mouths. However, there are some excellent highs here that kept me engaged and I’d gotten this far into the series. I wasn’t about to quit now!

9. House of Chains

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of millions of Karsa Orlong fans screaming in unison “Witness!” What even was this book?! If you’ve read Erikson then you know that the man likes to squeeze every possible pov into every single chapter he writes, but here? “For why?” he said. House of Chains spends the first part of the book in a single pov which is unheard of and almost sacrilegious when you’ve gotten this deep into the series. And that’s not even the kicker. It follows a character of the most despicable nature. Did this character become one of my favorites in the series? Mind your business… but yes, and considering how he’s introduced, I’d say it’s a true testament to Erikson’s ability to not only create epic worlds, but epic and absolutely insane character arcs. House of Chains has one of the best reveals in the entire series. Get ready Deadhouse Gates readers because you won’t see this one coming.

8. Gardens of the Moon

What’s to say about the book that started it all. He’s a comfort. He’s a warm hug. He’s that memory of better and less complicated times. My first love that I will never forget. Little did I know that Gardens of the Moon was merely a toe dip into what was in store for me. Remember Laseen? Hairlock? Tattersail? ADJUNCT LORN? Yeah… it feels so long ago. Oh, happy times… 

7. The Bonehunters

We’re walking again. We’re walking and we’re marching. Oh, and fighting. So much fighting. The Bonehunters contains the longest single battle chapter I’ve ever read in my life. It’s an actual novella long. I wanted to read it in one sitting but Hood’s balls I have a life! It took me almost three days to finish that chapter! If you ask any Malazan fan which battle is their favorite, bets are it’s the Siege of Y’Ghatan. Yes, it’s long. But oh, it’s worth it. I loved my time spent with my 16^th Army. Witnessing the birth of the Bonehunters was a heavy burden but so rewarding!

6. Reaper’s Gale

You know that villain that everybody hates and cannot wait to get their just rewards? Me neither. How about a villain who is a victim of circumstances? Wrong place wrong time and too young to understand the consequences of their choices? A villain who draws out pity in the reader until you are literally begging the author to just end their misery? You wish death upon the villain, a kind of mercy death that will finally grant them and you relief? Yes? You’re going to love Reaper’s Gale. It’s so painful. For everyone. Seriously. No one is having a good time in this book.   

5. Toll the Hounds

This is where my ranking becomes extremely painful, because honestly, I would consider these next five books my top three and, yes, that math makes sense to me. You know what Malazan needs more of? Brooding, and no book broods harder than Toll the Hounds. With the bright eye of Sauron (Erikson) heavily placed on the Tiste Andii race, happiness does not live here. I love my eternally sad ladies and gents of Mother Dark but wow… I needed all the happy meals after their pov’s. It’s all about the endings here in the Malazan world and wow does this book have an ENDING. Blew my brain right out of my skull and it remains one of my absolute favorites of the entire series.

4. The Crippled God

But Frankie… the final book isn’t #1? What do you mean? It means this is my list and not yours! I imagine your wondering if the payoff is worth it? The simple answer is yes but let me answer in the Bridgeburner way: FIRST IN LAST OUT!!!!! The moto really does encompass what it feels like to survive this series. This will not end in the way you expect it. This is the true convergence and it’ll crush what’s left of your heart into a fleshy pulp. There’s no way I could have predicted what was going to happen or the true motivations of what Erikson was working towards. It’s amazing how dark and bleak Malazan Book of the Fallen is and yet, at the end of it all, it’s about compassion.   

3. Midnight Tides

What is grimdark without gallows humor? I couldn’t rate Midnight Tides for days after I read it because I felt like my itty-bitty brain could not function properly. I opened this book frustrated because all the characters I knew were gone. The setting I had become accustomed to was completely different. Places, animals, cities, and people all had different names for the same thing. Midnight Tides is basically a prequel and I had to re-learn everything. Yet this book really threw down hands to break my top two of the series. I. Love. This. Book. So many of my favorite characters originated here and finally, FINALLY, this was the book where everything started to make sense. This is by far the funniest book of the series. It had me bursting in laughter with each page, but it was also so brutal with my emotions because of how attached I became to the characters. Trust me, this is a common favorite among Malazan readers for a reason.      

2. Deadhouse Gates

A moment of silence for the heart I lost while reading this book. I still haven’t recovered. I have never, in my life, had my heart ripped out so slowly and methodically as that. We are once again marching. Marching across a desert to deliver thousands of refugees to safety as we die of exhaustion and thirst and attacking enemies that have but one goal: To break the Chain of Dogs. Just as the Bridgeburners were born in the desert, I feel like I did not truly become Malazan Book of the Fallen born until I survived the Chain of Dogs. This is where my love of last stands originated. Deadhouse Gates is just one long, bloody last stand and I cannot even begin to describe the emotional impact this book left on me. I still can’t read the ending to this one and not collapse into sobs. By Duiker’s eyes, this one hurt in the best way possible. 

1. Memories of Ice

We’ve come to it at last! Here at the end of all things because, truly, Memories of Ice felt like the end of all things. The level of anxiety I had while consuming this book was UNREAL. Every chapter was a bomb. All things went from bad to worse in an instant and there was this constant feeling of utter dread weaved throughout the book like it was laced in poison. Every chapter flowed into the next with crude precision and granted us readers no relief. Alliances were made and broken, friendships created and torn, lovers discovered and lost. Memories of Ice made me feel, as the reader, like lifting up my sword to run towards a painful death, not because it was my duty, but because it was simply the right thing to do. This is the best fantasy book I’ve ever read. It is everything you could possibly want and the ending… wow. It lives in my mind rent free.     

As promised here are my honorable mentions!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Shadow Casket

Read my Goodreads Review here

Harbinger of Justice

Read my Goodreads review here

The Tyranny of Faith

Read my Goodreads review here

Aiduel’s Sin

Read my Goodreads review here

Synopsis

The Empire of the Wolf is on its knees, but there’s life in the great beast yet.
 
To save it, Sir Konrad Vonvalt and Helena must look beyond its borders for allies – to the wolfmen of the southern plains, and the pagan clans in the north. But old grievances run deep, and both factions would benefit from the fall of Sova.
 
Even these allies might not be enough. Their enemy, the zealot Bartholomew Claver, wields infernal powers bestowed on him by a mysterious demonic patron. If Vonvalt and Helena are to stand against him, they will need friends on both sides of the mortal plane—but such allegiances carry a heavy price.
 
As the battlelines are drawn in both Sova and the afterlife, the final reckoning draws close. Here, at the beating heart of the Empire, the two-headed wolf will be reborn in a blaze of justice . . . or crushed beneath the shadow of tyranny. 

Review

“Can a person ever truly be one thing to you? Fully friend or fully enemy? In the same way two nations at war might still covertly trade, do our friends not smile at our misfortune, too? Even but once, in the darkest, quietest hour of the night?”

Here it is. We come to the end at last. I feel like Frodo surrounded by fire and crashing volcanic rock, declaring “It’s done!” The Trials of Empire has been one of my most anticipated books since its announcement and I was lucky enough to have been offered an arc by the author himself! Thank you, Richard, for being a scholar in the necromantic arts and a gentleman.

Let’s get to it, shall we. Trials of Empire has the pace of a topless blender. There’s food everywhere and you don’t know where to start cleaning first. It’s on the ceiling, it’s in the grout, and somehow, it’s in your ear. Chaos is the word, and this remains a theme throughout the book. It’s organized in the way of storytelling in that one action leads to a consequence, but that consequence has sentience and decides to make everything as messy as humanly possible for both the reader and the characters.

As I have stated many, many times, I love the craft utilized to build this series. The prose is excellent, and the world is interesting, but it is the way Empire of the Wolf is written that has captured me since I first read The Justice of Kings. The idea that this is the story of Konrad Vonvalt, but told through the eyes of his clerk Helena took over my brain and ever since I have moments of blackout when hyping the series up to other readers. The complex relationship between the two and the blurred boundaries of their ever-teetering power dynamic is really what made Empire of the Wolf a late nighter for me. Throughout the series I often forgot that the story is told in first person because Helena is so astute in sensing Vonvalt’s idiosyncrasies and moods, but with this installment Swan makes certain we know that these are entirely two different people. I love how the emotional and psychological separation between Vonvalt and Helena is slowly built until we can no longer recognize Vonvalt because she no longer can. It proves to me that not only is Swan well versed in building his characters, but he also has no qualms against tearing them down.

I know quite a few people were not entirely pleased with the way that Helena’s and Vonvalt’s relationship developed in The Tyranny of Faith, but I for one loved it. I am happy with the dedication Swan took to flesh out their complexities in this installment, even if it wasn’t necessarily as far as I would’ve liked. And by far, I mean I would’ve liked to understand a little more how it was almost not talked about at all. It was pretty clear from the start of The Trials of Empire Helena’s state of mind concerning the former Justice and I had a hard time matching it up to how The Tyranny of Faith had led me to believe her stance. I think it progressed exactly as it should’ve in this novel, but the bridge between The Tyranny of Faith and The Trials of Empire seemed to be missing a plank of wood to complete the transition. But as I stated, I am pleased with how it was eventually shown through the devolution of a wildly powerful and imposing character. The writing for this transition is phenomenal! I loved reading the absolute trainwreck that is their rise and fall. It hurt me good.

Imagine in your mind, for a moment, Swan meeting with his editor:

Editor: How much horror is in this book?

Swan: Yes.

And end scene.

Simple really, isn’t it? Fans of fantasy horror are going to love this book! It is intense! I’m shocked that the characters who survived the end of this novel retained any sanity at all. I’m talking demons, a bloody afterlife, horrific science experiments, Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, possession, rituals, hallucinations, and every bodily fluid imaginable everywhere all the time. Just when you think it really can’t get any worse, it does.

The final battle is especially terrifying as Swan releases an arsenal of petrifying fighting sequences on both the mortal and spectral plane. I actually really enjoyed the way this one ended. It was not how I normally like my endings and I found it to be a breath of fresh air. The conclusion was satisfying and maintained the idea that this series was never Helena’s story.

There is some exquisite character arc candy here. Three Michelin Stars for being so yummy and making me want to come back for more. Swan has maintained a readership for this series, but with this conclusion to the trilogy, I believe there will be a lot of people coming back for what other books he has plotting in that crafty storytelling mind of his.

Although The Tyranny of Faith remains my favorite of the trilogy, I think this finale is amazing and is going to sweep the fantasy community off its feet! The Trials of Empire is a fast-paced, necromantic, bloody horror story that will keep you awake at night wondering what is watching you from the dark corners of your room. Grab your swords and join the ranks, Swan is lighting the beacons and there are demons to kill.