The Bonehunters

This book was actually delayed for over 6 months when it was to come out in the UK and Canada..."to make maps" it was said. More like it needed some re-edits to be more coherent...and that struggle still shows. Erikson, at times, seems to shovel with glee great heaps of info while losing the gist and flow of his novel. He twists and turns the plot and adds characters, sometimes at the great loss of other stories....notions, which his series brim with, get lost between startling developments, plot points, and abrupt dialogue. Perhaps he reading to much his own Malazan forums, and losing plot and going for the "Erikson effect". Or he's just struggling on the immense scale and proportions that his books reach. All this said, one only has to read the drivel that Jordan and Goodkind pound out to appreciate Erikson, despite those aforementioned flaws. In one chapter of Bonehunters, the plot moves faster than the last 4 books of Jordan. In one scene between Kalam and Quick Ben, more savage wit and interest is generated than the entire David Eddings library. You will be hard-pressed to find more interesting characters, diabolical plans, blood flow, glory and guts in anything in the fantasy section. Erikson's Malazan series goes to places that J. K. Rowling can only allude to...the heart of darkness. And there is stays and finds new areas and ideas. Bonehunters is a great book, though at times, hard to follow. If Erikson had a better Editor, he would be better served. Erikson needs to clean up his style just a tad...but there is no doubt that his characters and plot still brim with the greatness that makes this series lightyears ahead of anything else out there. Bonehunters does one great service, however, and that is to remind everyone that Ganoes Paran is still the very center of this book series, and the Master of the Deck of Dragons could be the very fulcrum of the pitched fall of the Malazan Empire. His return to the main plot, as well as Fiddler, Quick Ben and Kalam, help return the reader to the best Erikson does...dialogue, wit, irony and mischief. Bonehunters is the return to the Fantasy war that made Gardens of the Moon, Memories of Ice, and House of Chains great tomes to this series. It is slightly below their level b/c of it's flaws, but the end chapters really reclaim a lot that was lost earlier in the novel. And, the characters still crackle off the pages. Memorable characters are always a constant to great fantasy...yet Erikson has a calvacade, each one grand, tragic, hilarious, and brutal.

This book was actually delayed for over 6 months when it was to come out in the UK and Canada..."to make maps" it was said. More like it needed some re-edits to be more coherent...and that struggle still shows. Erikson, at times, seems to shovel with glee great heaps of info while losing the gist and flow of his novel. He twists and turns the plot and adds characters, sometimes at the great loss of other stories....notions, which his series brim with, get lost between startling developments, plot points, and abrupt dialogue. Perhaps he reading to much his own Malazan forums, and losing plot and going for the "Erikson effect". Or he's just struggling on the immense scale and proportions that his books reach. All this said, one only has to read the drivel that Jordan and Goodkind pound out to appreciate Erikson, despite those aforementioned flaws. In one chapter of Bonehunters, the plot moves faster than the last 4 books of Jordan. In one scene between Kalam and Quick Ben, more savage wit and interest is generated than the entire David Eddings library. You will be hard-pressed to find more interesting characters, diabolical plans, blood flow, glory and guts in anything in the fantasy section. Erikson's Malazan series goes to places that J. K. Rowling can only allude to...the heart of darkness. And there is stays and finds new areas and ideas. Bonehunters is a great book, though at times, hard to follow. If Erikson had a better Editor, he would be better served. Erikson needs to clean up his style just a tad...but there is no doubt that his characters and plot still brim with the greatness that makes this series lightyears ahead of anything else out there. Bonehunters does one great service, however, and that is to remind everyone that Ganoes Paran is still the very center of this book series, and the Master of the Deck of Dragons could be the very fulcrum of the pitched fall of the Malazan Empire. His return to the main plot, as well as Fiddler, Quick Ben and Kalam, help return the reader to the best Erikson does...dialogue, wit, irony and mischief. Bonehunters is the return to the Fantasy war that made Gardens of the Moon, Memories of Ice, and House of Chains great tomes to this series. It is slightly below their level b/c of it's flaws, but the end chapters really reclaim a lot that was lost earlier in the novel. And, the characters still crackle off the pages. Memorable characters are always a constant to great fantasy...yet Erikson has a calvacade, each one grand, tragic, hilarious, and brutal.

When you find yourself turning pages at 5am, constantly checking your alarm clock because you have work in 3 hours, you know that you have come across a book that belongs in top 5 fantasy books of all time. After the magnificient 'Midnight tides' Erikson takes us back to the continent of Seven cities and proceeds to up the pace and excitement from chapter to chapter. Many old and favoured characters are back and Erikson amazing ability for pathos is once again revealed. The entire section devoted to the battle of Y'Ghatan was the cause for the aforementioned 5am reading time.I was simply unable to put it down. A number of previous subplots plots (e.g. Herboric) are closed out. However, 'Bonehunters' is certainly a spring board for setting the stage for the final four books of the series. The final events of the book in Malaz city, the forthcoming convergence of Karsa and Icarium,are all introduced here and by the end of the book the thought that Reapers Gale is a year away is frustrating. If you like your Fantasy complicated, rich and captivating then Steven Erikson has done an outstanding job. Simply one of the best Fantasy series available. Roll on 'Reapers Gale'

Nobody can pull off fantasy of such an epic, mind-bending scale the way Erikson does. Some get pretty close (GRR Martin) but Erikson still owns the throne. I always nervously anticipate Erikson's novels, mainly because I'm always a little afraid that he can not keep up the brilliance of his previous novels. I mean, after 5 brilliant books you've got be thinking; can this guy churn out another one? Most authors have 2 or 3 books that really stand out, with others being mediocre rehashes of prev novels. Some reviewers complain that the story is getting too complicated, ie too many characters, races, plot-threads etc. Sure, you need a fair bit of concentration when digging into an Erikson novel, but this is what makes it so much more interesting than a story that force-feeds the plot, almost spelling out certain twists and revelations, whereas Erikson relies on the intelligence of the reader to make sense of what's happening. I can think of no other writer who breathes life into a fantasy world so realistically, and certainly no who one should even attempt it.