Toll the Hounds: Book Eight of The Malazan Book of the Fallen (Malazan Book of the Fallen, 8)

Erikson at his finest. By now he can write the best quality epic fiction effortlessly. If you know and love the Malazan books, this will be another masterpiece for you. Events come to a head in a BIG way, with big consequences. Some of my favorite under-exposed characters from previous books get the chance to shine. All in all a winner.

Unlike some other reviewers I found this to be one of Erikson's best books. Although the "action" for most of the story is slow, I found it a pleasure getting to know certain characters more thoroughly, Karsa anyone?...Rake!! Steven Erikson seems to have finally placed all the story lines and characters in a more coherent way than in last books. The use of krupe as storyteller was a good companion to the story. Anyways its a great read, and essential for any fantasy lover.

I don't know what to say, I just had to say something. This author is on a whole other level. I'm aware of all the criticisms heaped on him about length, divergent plots, overload of characters, dropping you right in the middle of things, but his writing is detailed and superb. The overall arc can be hard to follow and understanding things can be elusive but if you sit down and read through the whole series so far you'll find it's not nearly as complicated as you think. You will realize that instead of laying out the story as past present future, he builds the history and all necessary knowledge as you go along. Like life you never know the whole story or the history or the answer to everything or how to do anything or why something happened unless you keep going. It is unlike traditional fantasy which has a simple cut and paste storyline. Even the greatest fantasy writers suffer from the problem of taking Tolkien's Middle Earth and changing the details, as well as stories and plots that follow Tolkien's blueprint with the only variations caused by those varying minute details. Erickson however, deviates from the traditional model. There are always protagonists and antagonists but it's hard to find any truly good guys or bad guys. The guys you're egging on might capture a town, rape the women, and slit the throats of the others. While the guy you consider the bad guy might try to save those lives and give water to a thirsty enemy. Like real life, the lines are blurred and good or bad is often determined by the situation and the opponent rather than a specific moral bent. Because of that, the characters that are truly moral and good and the ones that are just hopelessly bad stand out from the rest of the gray area folk. I could go into the plot of this novel but if you haven't read books 1 - 7, there's no point. Read the series either you will hate it, or you will love it, but you won't be indifferent and without opinion.

If you know Erikson, if you know Malaz, Daru people, Karsa, Rake... is there any way to not read this? It's really great adventure into some fallen world. And best of all - is as good as ever! But - don't forget to read previous books or you lost best parts. I love this narration, this reachfull wordl, those characters and all this history.

Regardless of your taste in genre, Erikson's ability to develop literally dozens of characters, each with different and fully realized personalities, and place them into world's and cultures as vast and complex as our own makes this book worth getting to know. It's an insight into laughter and despair, hope and futility...it's an insight into our own lives in a way that leaves you entertained and wanting more.