Reviews and Comments

I found the writing for this noticeably better than Knight Of Knives; action was clearer and it just felt more like a malazan book. Saying that, given the large cast, people going under multiple names, and the number of different locations, I did find myself flicking back or checking names on the malazan wiki just to keep track of things.

Seeing the empire from a different viewpoint is really interesting, and encountering some familiar characters in a different light does feel like it adds to the whole malazan tale.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyable and I'm looking forward to continuing Esslemont's Malazan stories.

I enjoyed the start of this, and there are definitely some really fun short stories in there (Shoggoth's Old Peculiar), but as it went on I just lost the enthusiasm to keep going. My first did not finish for quite a while

Well that was quick - three days from start to finish while on holiday! Largely nothing much happens in this book but that's kind of the point. Becky drops you in an alien place with alien people and you just enjoy being there and finding out about the world you're now sharing for a few tens of hours. Great holiday read in the best sense.

I will usually grab any SF Masterworks book I find in second hand book shops because so far every one I've read has been brilliant. Unfortunately The Different Engine has broken that run by coming across as confused and mediocre.

There's interesting world building (maybe more "world describing") at play, and quite a pacey, engaging story thread that pulls you through the middle of the book. Either side though almost feels like completely unrelated tales that never really join up with everything else.

Great idea but executed in a way that didn't do it for me. Read a review that suggested this would have been a great short story or novella if trimmed down, and I think they've got it spot on.

So this brings the year of Sanderson to an end. All of the books have been fairly different but I've enjoyed them all and I'm now looking forward to getting into Sanderson's other series.

So that's it, the tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen complete. After spending a few years working through the series this is certainly going to leave a bit of a hole.

I'm definitely going to get to the other related series (Tales of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach!), but I don't think I'll rush. The MBotF feels like it needs some settling in time now that I've made it to the end - not a feeling I often have when completing a series, and that speaks of what Steven Erikson has managed to achieve with this.

Bleak, hopeful, often brutally uncaring about favourite characters yet full of moments of human connection and compassion, and flagrantly leaving so many questions unanswered - it's a malazan book through and through.

No thrilling mysteries, no pacey plot, but that's kind of the point.

I enjoyed just spending time in a different world being shown a different worldview, and see the characters own view of that world change. Did a really good job of quickly giving you the feel of a place.

Came from watching the series so there was always the chance of not getting on with the books. Shouldn't have worried though I found this to be a great step up from the series (which I still really like). Lots of extra depth here about what's going on in the story, and I especially appreciated the extra time spent getting to know Miller.

Definitely looking forward to the next one.