Product Description

After decades of warfare, the tribes of the Tiste Edur have at last united under the rule of the Warlock King. But peace has been exacted at a terrible price - a pact made with a hidden power whose motives are at best suspect, at worst deadly. To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether has devoured all of its less-civilised neighbours with rapacious hunger. All save one - the Tiste Edur. But Lether is approaching a long-prophesied renaissance - from kingdom and lost colony to Empire reborn - and has fixed its gaze on the rich lands of the Tiste Edur. It seems inevitable that the tribes will surrender, either to the suffocating weight of gold, or to slaughter at the edge of a sword. Or so Destiny has decreed. A pivotal treaty between the two sides nears - but unknown ancient forces are awakening. For the impending struggle between these two peoples is but a pale reflection of an altogether more profound, primal battle - a confrontation with the still-raw wound of betrayal and the craving for vengeance at its heart. War and confrontation, magic and myth collide in this, the stunning fifth chapter in Steven Erikson's magnificent 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' sequence, hailed as an epic of the imagination and a fantasy classic in the making.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14097 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 960 pages

Customer Reviews

None come close
I have read hundreds of Fantasy books from most of the top authors in the genre and have enjoyed the vast majority of them immensely. Along came Erikson's Malazan Empire Series though and it put a whole new set of standards on what I class as an excellent read. I have never experienced this level of engagement with any other books ever.

I suppose I'd better write a paragraph on the Midnight Tides book just to give my opinion on it as separate from the other books in the series. As has been mentioned in other reviews, most of the story and cast is completely new but it ties in with other occurrences in the story and gives some good background info. on the history of some of the more powerful characters and ambiguous events. I found it as awe inspiring as the other books. Erikson has created a whole host of new characters, some of whose dialogues are extermely funny, clever and (if you care to think about them) very insightful. The usual displays of mindblowing magic wielding/ amazing battle scenes and descriptions are still present. Basically, Midnight Tides kicks ass!

Just to say a small bit more about the series as a whole...Erikson has created a world of such depth and complexity that it will take your breath away. The scale of time (scope) passing between events, the power of some of the characters, the masterful way in which seemingly different storylines tie in with each other...all of these combine with so much more to create a world a lot different and way more engrossing than anything I've come across before. Perhaps the greatest difference noticeable is the lack of a 'hero' or champion of 'good'. There are no clearly defined boundaries in Eriksons world (much like our own). I have read it described as 'Shades of grey' and that's the best way of putting it that I've come across.

Anyway, I could say much much more but to sum it up, Erikson is by far and away my favourite author and all of his books are deserving of 5 stars. Keep them coming!

A Triumph of Fantasy!
Its not often that I'm moved to write a review, nor do I often bandy about expressions of extreme praise easily, but I must say that this is one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. I recall thinking as I was reading this, that Erikson seems to have crossed that often too yawning a chasm that seperates genre writing from literature. The world-building is exceptional in its detail and cultural insight - one really gets a feel for the different cultures of Lether and the Edur. The characters are all exceptionally well-drawn and almost universally memorably presented. At different times you understand and sympathise with all the major protagonists in the tale. The plotting is tight, with a fair share of 'gee-wow!' moments, a constant sense of development, even while Erikson takes his time in setting the stage for the tragic climax. All in all, I could find no fault at all with this book. And while the tale had a satisfactory conclusion, there were many plot threads left open for the reader to be left wanting more.

Some readers insist in comparing the different books in this series to each other. While Midnight Tides does not have an ending with the same kind of impact as 'Deadhouse Gates', or reach the breathless climax of the final battle in 'Memories of Ice', I would still rate it as the best one he has written so far. The balance of humour, drama, tragedy and excitement has never been as finely tuned as in 'Midnight Tides', and the cultures and societies never as intricately constructed. Neither has Erikson marshalled as varied and as finely wrought a cast of characters as he does here. I do feel this is his finest book.

I've read all the major fantasy writers of the last twenty years (with the exception of R. Scott Bakker, something I intend to remedy soon) and I would really put Erikson at the top of the list. Thats not something I would have ever said after reading 'Gardens of the Moon', and I would have been reluctant to make such a claim even after reading 'Deadhouse Gates', but I have no reluctance in doing so now.... Mr. Erikson, hats off to you!

Hugely enjoyable!
What a really great writer Steven Erikson is. I've devoured this book since Amazon popped it through my letterbox last week, and enjoyed every moment of it. 'Midnight Tides' maintains the standards of the previous Malazan books, but has a stronger vein of dark humour than the others, with some of the byplay between two characters (Tehol and Bugg) being especially good. It's typically Erikson in its multiple but converging plotlines, and as usual the structure of this book is one of its strengths.

While the plot of 'Midnight Tides' is pretty self contained, it refers to the larger conflict which is more centrally addressed to in 'House of Chains' and 'Memories of Ice', so if you've read up the previous four books.. go buy this! NOW! If you havent, you'll be wanting to order 'Gardens of the Moon'. You wont regret it.

To summarise.. Steven Erikson is the writer whos books I anticpate the most, this was great, lets have another one!

Oh... and Robert Jordan? I suggest you read this too, as Mr Erikson gets more plot and meaning into one chapter than you've got in 7 books!