Malazan Book of the Fallen: Is it worth it?

Having recently realised that I love fantasy novels, I searched for a new series to listen to on Audiobook for my daily commute. I thought I'd give a Song of Ice and Fire a bit of a rest, since I did the first three books all back to back.

I looked for similar novels and came accross Malazan Book of the Fallen and was pleased to find that it was a 10 book series that was near complete. I downloaded the first book: Gardens of the Moon, but I'm finding it terribly hard work listening to it. I guess it might be easier to follow if you read it yourself, but I must admit I'm very confused and can't really make heads or tails of wtf is going on.

What are your opinions on the series, is it worth me struggling through it?
(initially I didn't take to a Song of Ice and Fire as it goes... but I gave it time and now think it's one of the best stories ever told) has anyone else given up on the series or first book?

I read the first 2 or 3 books a few years ago and found them really hard going, they never really grabbed me like (most) other fantasy series.

Do it!

I didn't really like the first book, it's a novel and interesting setting but the story didn't really grab me. To be fair to the guy, it does seem like he sets up a lot of plotlines and characters that are just left hanging in the first one with the obvious intention of picking them up in future books, so it could just be that it was a crap first book simply because it was mainly intended as an introduction. But considering the size of his books I dont' think it's worth my while giving him another chance

My favourite sci-fi authors currently are Joe Abercrombie and R Scott Bakker. You can't go wrong with them. Abercrombie in particular writes great characters, great dialogue, and has a fantastic sense of humour. Imagine if Terry Pratchett's Discworld were inhabited entirely by evil, sadistic sociopaths - that's the kind of vibe I get from Abercrombie's books!

Bakker's nowhere near as funny but his books are also very well written, and philosophically very sophisticated. It's really the best kind of fantasy, the type that's used as a vehicle to think about the real world. Wouldn't recommend them as audiobooks, best to read them in print so you can think about them better. But Abercrombie on audiobook could work quite well, if whoever they got reading it is decent.

Neil Gaiman reads a lot of his own novels to tape, and he's a fantastic storyteller both to read and to listen to. I'm not a big fan of audiobooks, I tend to tune out, and i much prefer the sound of my own internal voice and the ability to set my own pace, but if I were going to trust anyone else to read a book to me it'd be Neil Gaiman! Actually I'd probably happily trust Tom Waits as well but I don't think he's recorded any fantasy audiobooks! But now that the thought has come into my head I might go back and re-read some Abercrombie books while imagining his voice reading them, they are THOSE KIND of books that you need a voice with Waits's range to read, from the deep growl to the plaintive screech, and that tired, disturbing chuckle he's got for the funny bits.

EDIT: Forgot about Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains! Also a great book, dark, gritty, mature, reminded me of Abercrombie in style. Sequel's coming out soon.

If you have the patience to read past the first book the payoff is well worth it.

Steven Erikson's writing can be fairly cryptic; seemingly irrelevant or obscure details can seem pointless at first but after a few books these details build up great histories and pictures of the Malazan universe (which makes sense considering he's an archaeologist!).

I started reading a few months before the sixth book was released, then went on to re-read the series each time the next book was published; I picked up so much more information on each read that the story constantly evolved for me - my perception of characters and their motives changed so that I would have to constantly evaluate their part in the story.

I would go into detail but I don't want to spoil anything - I would highly recommend it to anyone who isn't looking for an easy read.

Cheers for the responses guys.

To ask it more bluntly - I dont understand what the hell is going on. This is what I think I understand after a chaprter or so.

The books starts with a posh kid who rises through the ranks of the empire's army. The blue chick who banned magic is now somehow in charge. She has a bunch of ninja like folk called the claw doing her dirty business.

There are a bunch of wizards who kidnap a fisher's daughter, they are on an opposing side to the empire and are planning on PWNing a city, but some arch mage dude scares the crap out of them.

IS this even remotely correct .. if not I think im just going to quit.

ps: I should note that I have listened to many an Audiobook before, and Roy Dotrice is by far the best voice/reading actor Ive ever heard, the man in mind blowingly good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Dotrice

I managed to read all 10 books, and yes it is sometimes hard going/confusing, especially when the gods get involved, but there are also some really good bits in it as well. Definitely hard going reading though, i'd imagine having it read to you doesn't make it any easier to understand!

Think you're on the right lines with understanding what's going on

I gave up on gardens of the moon, after a couple of hundred pages. I couldnt figure out what the hell was goin on. I picked it up again a year or too later after running out of 'to read' books on the shelf. And im so glad i did. Malazan book of the fallen, and A song of ice and fire, are in my humble opinion the two greatest Fantasy series of our generation. (provided grrm ever finishes his). Erikson and Martin are a league above the rest of the authors in the genre.

He's a very unhelpful author. Plot lines all over the place. Characters (tons of them) who turn up with no explanation - at least initially - about who or what they are. The world is fully formed in the author's mind but at the start of Gardens you're being thrown into an existing conflict with all its factions and politicing fully fledged.

That said I love the series. The humour in it is very well done, there are decent light relief characters and a fair batch of GeorgeRRMartin-esque mortality rates.

Enjoy it for being a good book, and don't try to understand it too much at the start. It's definately a series that benefits from a second read through.

I started reading these.

I got up to the 5th novel.

The sheer complexity and the sheer size is daunting.

Havent had the time to get back in to it.

The problem for me was the size of the chapters.

2hours of reading to get through a single chapter means I couldnt find the time.

Im not one to ready half a chapter and save it for the next day.

Also if you have read it, the Game of thrones series is meant to be good.

I know the TV series has started, but it was one of those things I alwasy wanted to read, but didnt get round to it.

I have some other good recommendations for you.

Raymond E Feist: Riftwar Cycle (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon)

David Eddings: Both the Belgariad series and the The Malloreon series

Much easier to get in to and enjoy than Books in the Malazan Book of the Fallen or Game of Thrones.

Although Malazan Book of the Fallen or Game of Thrones are more for Adults and try to do things which are non cliche.

But Raymond E Feist & David Eddings are just easier, more enjoyable reads.

I tried giving a further go, but reckon I can get more pleasure listening to somethign else. I hate constantly trying to figure out whats going on. It's as you guys said, he's not helpful and just drops you straight into the series, without first establishing the characters and backgrounds.

I'll have look into some of the other suggestions in here and leave the Malazan series for when I can read it myself ( at least it's easier to page back then )

Supercow said:

I tried giving a further go, but reckon I can get more pleasure listening to somethign else. I hate constantly trying to figure out whats going on. It's as you guys said, he's not helpful and just drops you straight into the series, without first establishing the characters and backgrounds.

I'll have look into some of the other suggestions in here and leave the Malazan series for when I can read it myself ( at least it's easier to page back then )

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Thats not actually the case, what he is telling you in the first book is actually essential to building up the main characters that you will follow throughout the series.

Maybe its down to it being an audiobook, but I would really, really, really suggest you carry on and try and finish it and get into the series.

I find Malazan really... varied. A lot of it is quite dull, but then there are parts of some of the books that are simply amazing. And I mean AMAZING. Anywho, it's up to you if you can fight (read) through the rest to get to the good bits. I also found with the books that you wouldn't have a clue what was going on, and then suddenly half way through the book something you read 200 pages prior would make sense.

If you're looking for other stuff:

Patrick Rothfuss is one of the newer fantasy guys; both his books are very good.

Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn, Way of Kings, and the rest of the Wheel of Time series.

I'm not gonna lie, I just finished reading The Crippled God and don't have much of a clue about what just happened. I've been reading up on the Malazan wiki and am "oh - that's what happened, that's who that was". I think it'll be worth a second read through in a years time - some books are like that.

Edit: to answer the OP, yeah it was worth it

As an audio book I think it would be really hard going. They are awesome books but take a lot of figuring out and when I read them I have to go back and re-read previous bits of the book to try and understand things so I figure out what is going on.

Would definitely recommend if you are a reader, but, as I said not too sure they are a good audible book. The world is too vast, too strange and too much jumping between totally unrelated incidents that it would really be difficult to follow.

This is an old thread

Not really a need to answer the OP now but anyone wondering, read this series, brutal to get into but the most rewarding series of fantasy books ever written. It won't be as popular some due to the sheer and uncompromising complexity but any true fantasy fan has to read this series as it really sets the standard.

haha crap, never noticed the dates!! lol

I could have started a new thread, but worried about it being another zero-reply wonder, so bumped this one The question in the OP and the responses are still valid for anyone wondering about these books.

sink or swim.

I'm reading these now. About 3/4 through the house of chains. (book 4?)

The scope is pretty large, and book 1 makes no apology in dumping you into a world with a complex political structure and varied characters who all seem fairly disparate to begin with.

I have found loosing touch with some of the characters introduced in book 1 annoying, only to be rewarded with their reappearance later on as the story progresses through a changing continental power struggle.

Then there's the all of the stuff that happens in the past - the t'lan imass for example, how they came to be; all of these complex threads that seem to have no relation to eachother, and yet I constantly have those 'light bulb' moments when some later plot detail ties into a previous event where a juicy barb, designed to make you think 'wtf that all about, and why u leave me hanging?', is resolved, or at the least allows you a glimpse of something greater yet to be revealed.


There's plenty of humour, well rounded characters and motivations, epic heroism and appalling tragedy. Many of the incidental players serve to flesh out the main characters lives and sometimes evolve into significant players in their own right. The detail of the history of 'supernatural' side of things is vague, but in the same way the bermuda triangle is vague and full of tantalising mysteries, where you only know enough to perpetuate your curiosity.

So far, I love it. Without any spoilers, I was surprised at how some of the characters were killed off; especially if they are likeable and worthy of their storyline. And yet I can see why they had to go. I suppose it's a clue as to the strength of the characterisation that the reader feels empathy for them and sorrow at their demise, almost as though you share the world created with the other characters left behind.
There might not be any greater truth or moral to be espoused by such books, but their ability to draw you in, admittedly with some patience on your part, is as rewarding as it is enjoyable.

If you've ever read the chronicles of thomas covenant, then you have some idea of the scope of time lines that these books seem to encompass.

Amazon will soon have another order from me for the rest of the series.