Deadhouse Gates

I initially found the extremely dark atmosphere of the Deadhouse Gates a bit offputting, especially given that Gardens of the Moon had very different tone. However, it really grew on me and I realized that there is much more to this book.

I find it amazing how Erikson manages to encompass so much of the human experience in this book. Yes, it is mostly about various flavors of suffering, but there is also so much wisdom, wit, and hope to be found here. I especially love how he doesn't shy away from portraying some really painful situations and how they may impact certain people (see Felisin or Duiker).

This is certainly a difficult read at times, but definitely worth it. Not your typical escapist fantasy.

The second book of the Malazan Empire's escapades is not for the weak of heart. It is somewhat simpler - following fewer and more defined storylines, than its predecessor (Gardens of the Moon) which makes for an easier read. There's still plenty of characters you will need to take in, even though some of them were also in the last book chaining things a little bit together. You are still thrown into medias res without the author bothering to explain much about all those ancient races and civilisations, the concepts of soletaken, d'ivers, ascendancy etc. I sort of like this, reading slowly and taking notes... what is a Jhaghut? What is the Tiste Edur and what is their relationship with the Tiste Andii mentioned in the previous book? Ha, the author don't give a shit about our hardship and wont give you any explanation! You are on your own in this strange world. But at least you will early on come to understand how enormously complex the history of this place is.

Then there's the cruelty and the inhuman trials that the characters have to go through. The only book I can think of that matches it in this regard is Salammbô by Gustave Flaubert (which it actually has a lot of other things in common with). When you have finished this you can relax with a book about the siege of Stalingrad or the Mongol Invasions.

The book has (like the previous volume) a lot of interesting and unorthodox characters. It is heroic, epic and quite martial, but offers a lot of other flavours too - including a quirky humour. It is easier to read than Gardens of the Moon, but still complex beyond reason.

I like it.

This and the preceding book Gardens of the Moon have reinvigorated my love of fantasy literature. I have my issues with the way Erikson writes these books, but I'll come to them in a bit. What I love is the way that he introduces these incredibly rich and realistic characters into the story and it all threads together in the end. Erikson is balancing at least a half dozen different points of view throughout this novel, from characters in very different locations, and yet in their own way it always ends up having a purpose. The conclusions to these various threats of plot are almost always satisfying, even if they can be surprising and heartbreaking as well.

But I had to knock one star off. Erikson consistently leaves important and fundamental concepts unexplained, and no, I shouldn't have to read almost 1,500 pages to understand basic things like what the bloody hell Soletaken, D'ivers, the 'Path of Hands', or House of Azath are. Even fundamental things - like what Jhag, Trell, Tlan'Imass even are are left almost completely explained except for a very brief glossary at the back of the book. It also doesn't help that key areas in the plot don't feature at all on the map at the front of the book, so the sense of geography throughout this novel is continually confusing.

So I love the characters, I love the way they grew over this novel, and I loved the overall arc that I can see starting to be constructed here. I like how he isn't afraid to kill characters that readers become attached to, and yet it never feels particularly gratuitous or done for shock value. The world he's built is incredible, and the characters are so rich and vibrant it's hard to imagine this is merely fiction, and the scope of the narrative being spun is stunning. I just hope in future books Erikson does a better job of actually explaining the world he has created to the reader and letting us in to understand it.