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Took me a while to finish this third book, not necessarily because of the book, but it is somewhat less fluently written than especially its predecessor, Deadhouse Gates.

The weight of the myriad of characters who all have to be revisited makes for a less concentrated tale, and as we are back on the continent of Genabackis where the first book ended there are a lot of destinies we have to return to.

But that aside the book is still a weird and surprising kaleidoscope in a world that is truly original. No obvious template lifted from history, like when a people is modelled over the Romans, the Vikings or the Mongols. The cruelty of the previous book is also there in all its macabre glory... as in really nasty macabre. The author seems to try to counter weigh it with some almost Jesus-like characters. Not my favourite element in the books, which also goes for the slightly sentimental solemn passages. But there's humour and imagination to make this minor flaws - thinned into only small nuicanses over the 1000 pages.

So all in all a fine reading experience that demands a lot of the reader - and now that you got this far you just have to go all the way anyway, right?

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.

As soon as you turn the first pages of this book you know that you are in the high fantasy genre. You are thrown in medias res, and have to cling to the sentences to understand what all those names and concepts mean. There are some very pictorial scenes of magical battle that fascinates and some rather quirky characters who amuses... but it is a bit of a mouthful.

Then you start realising that this is not the common high fantasy fare after all. There are no direct analogue in human history, as is otherwise typical of fantasy universes (ie. those are Romans, those are European medieval kingdoms etc.). There's an originality to the people and customs described, and beneath it all the complexity of the history of not one, but several ancient civilisations lurks.

The tone might at times be a little too heroic and grandly, and there's a lot of recurring inner dialogue used to characterise that might have been skipped. But all in all the sheer richness of the world and the originality of the characters compensate these minor flaws. The book is hard to get hold of, but you have nine more books in which you can get familiar with the universe, so read slowly and enjoy being in a world that only resembles ours in its cruelty.

Definitely recommended.