Deadhouse Gates is the second book in
Steven Erikson's epic
Malazan Books of the Fallen.
I had some idea what to expect having read
Gardens of the Moon, and also being aware that the action in
Deadhouse Gates was centred away from the setting of
Gardens of the Moon (in fact the events in the 3rd book;
Memories of Ice, apparently run concurrently with a lot of
Deadhouse Gates), and would follow a different set of characters.
There are different groups of characters with their own agendas in
Deadhouse Gates, and they converge a little towards the end. While the storylines are wrapped up this is far from standalone and you know there's a definite continuation.
It took
Erikson, and his co creator
Ian Cameron Esslemont, some time to secure a publishing deal for
Gardens of the Moon, and the result is that
Deadhouse Gates was written some years after the first book of the series.
Steven Erikson did grow and improve as a writer in that time, there was less influence of
Glen Cook's Black Company in
Deadhouse Gates, although it was still present at times. The game play aspect was not so evident either.
One thing
Erikson could use is a ruthless editor. All his books are long, and they don't need to be as long as they are. A good editor could easily cut 200 - 300 pages from
Deadhouse Gates and not lose anything in the process, in fact it may have even improved the narrative, at times I did find my eyes glazing over a little and wondering why I need to read what I was reading. It took over 100 pages before the main set of characters had been introduced and the stories set in motion.
Because of the cast of characters,
George Martin puts a lot of characters in his epic
A Song of Ice and Fire series, but he's got nothing on
Steven Erikson, I found it a little difficult to connect with many of them. Too many of the cast of thousands seem similar. Three that will stay with me are Corporal List, the little soldier reminded me of
Colonel Huxley's aide
Corporal Zilch, from
Leon Uris' WW II epic
Battle Cry, and I always liked
Zilch. Coltaine, the driven Wickan leader who was trying to get his vast train of refugees across hostile territory to safety. The Wickan horse warriors themselves were a great idea and something that I enjoyed reading about. Then there was Felisin. Felisin seems to rub readers up the wrong way. I started out feeling sorry for the fallen, pampered noble girl, but while she was trying to escape slavery with the discommunicated handless priest Helboric and the huge psychotic murderer Baudin, she became thoroughly unlikeable. I was actually hoping that Baudin may twist her head off, but unfortunately it stayed attached to her shoulders. Crokus the young thief from
Gardens of the Moon returned, but I found him less interesting this time around, I did like his familiar, the bok'haral Moby, although in typical
Malazan Books of the Fallen fashion I don't think he's what he appears to be.
The twists and turns that the story took and the sheer breadth of
Erikson's creation plus his stunning ideas that are well presented did my head in, and I really want to see where he takes this and how it turns out.
I loved this one, although it melted my braincell :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I've heard I'm not the only one it's had that effect on.
ReplyDelete