Return of the Crimson Guard

by Ian C. Esslemont

No cover — Ian C. Esslemont: Return of the Crimson Guard (2009, Transworld Publishers Limited)

1056 pages

English language

Published Sept. 12, 2009 by Transworld Publishers Limited.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-82447-6

(17 reviews)

Return of the Crimson Guard is a fantasy novel by Canadian author Ian Cameron Esslemont, his second book set in the world of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, co-created with friend and colleague Steven Erikson. Chronologically, Return of the Crimson Guard takes place after the events in Erikson's sixth Malazan novel, The Bonehunters. Return of the Crimson Guard is the second of six planned novels by Esslemont to take place in the Malazan world, starting with Night of Knives and followed by Stonewielder.Many characters and locations which appear in Return of the Crimson Guard also appear in Erikson's novels as well as Esslemont's Night of Knives.

3 editions

Wayne reviewed Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esslemont

Thoroughly Enjoyable

4 stars

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.

Scordatura reviewed Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esslemont

Review of 'Return of the Crimson Guard' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A quick review for (would-be) readers of the Malazan series: I am currently reading all of the Erikson and Esslemont books for the first time (and having an absolute (Moranth) blast with the series) and wanted to share my thoughts about this particular novel.

The reason for that is that this novel has a somewhat slow start, but I am extremely happy I finished it. If you're in doubt about continuing this book (or even if you're not sure about the other Esslemont Malazon books) my advice would be to keep going, if you liked previous Malazan stories.

The reason is that the book gets so much better in the second half: the pace picks up, some of the characters come alive (and there are some abolutely brilliant characters later on) and there is a lot that happens in the book that is absolutely worth reading here first, instead of …