Product Description

The ravaged continent of Genabackis has given birth to a terrifying new empire: the Pannion Domin. Like a fanatical tide of corrupted blood, it seethes across the land, devouring all who fail to heed the Word of its elusive prophet, the Pannion Seer. In its path stands an uneasy alliance: Dujek Onearm's Host and the Bridgeburners - each now outlawed by the Empress - alongside their enemies of old including the grim forces of Warlord Caladan Brood, Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, and his Tiste Andii, and the Rhivi people of the Plains. But more ancient clans too are gathering. As if in answer to some primal summons, the massed ranks of the undead T'lan Imass have risen. For it would seem something altogether darker and more malign threatens the very substance of this world. The Warrens are poisoned and rumours abound of the Crippied God, now unchained and intent on a terrible revenge...Marking the return of many favourite characters from GARDENS OF THE MOON and-introducing a host of remarkable new players, MEMORIES OF ICE is a thrilling new chapter in Erikson's magnificent epic fantasy and another triumph of storytelling.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3451 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 709 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The third tale from the Mazalan Book of the Fallen, Memories of Ice is a convoluted military fantasy even more dense than its two predecessors. A deranged and not necessarily human prophet has set a cannibal rabble to conquer a continent, and various armies and wizards are out to stop him--but their reasons for doing this are many, various and often conflicting. The previous two books Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates were full of mysteries, some of them answered here--Erikson's is a world in which gods ascend from humanity to replace gods that fall or are overthrown and in which the world and the supernatural warrants that surround it are full of relics of past gods and past cultures. Young officer Paran tries to make sense of the return of his dead beloved as one of the four souls of a magical child; his commander Whiskeyjack tries to do the right thing as both soldier and human being; the scout Toc tries to survive hideous torture and pass on information he only partly knows. Erikson creates an impressive dark world of brutality and sudden beauty in which dizzying vistas of times past suddenly open; his work repays the concentration needed to follow his complex plotting and sentences. --Roz Kaveney

From the Back Cover
The ravaged continent of Genabackis has given birth to a terrifying new empire: the Pannion Domin. Like a tide of corrupted blood, it seethes across the land, devouring all who fail to heed the word of its prophet, the Pannion Seer. In its path stands an uneasy alliance: Dujek Onearm's Host and Whiskeyjack's veteran Bridgeburners alongside their enemies of old - the forces of Warlord Caladan Brood, Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, and the Rhivi people of the Plains. Outnumbered and mistrustful, they must get word to potential allies, including the mercenary brotherhood, the Grey Swords, whose orders are to hold the besieged city of Capustan at all costs.

But more ancient clans too are gathering. As if in answer to some primal summons, the T'lan Imass have risen. For it would seem something altogether darker and more malign threatens this world. The Warrens are poisoned and rumours abound that the Crippled God is now unchained and intent on a terrible revenge.

Marking the return of many characters from Gardens of the Moon and introducing a host of remarkable new players, Memories of Ice is both a momentous new chapter in Steven Erikson's magnificent epic fantasy and a triumph of storytelling.

About the Author
An archaeologist and anthropologist, and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Steven Erikson recently returned to Canada after a number of years in the UK and now lives in Winnipeg. His first fantasy novel, GARDENS OF THE MOON, was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award and the second, DEADHOUSE GATES, was voted 'one of the 10 best fantasy novels of the year'.

Customer Reviews

Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen)
This is definitely the best of the three books so far.

It would be too difficult to describe the story line here, because it involves so many plots and sub-plots and shifting back and forth between them, but which all do come together, as always in Erikson's books, to a final climax.

As always, there is so much happening in Erikson's books that it is difficult to keep up, remember all the names and the different sub plot lines. For a book that comprises nearly 1,000 pages it was impressive that my attention was grabbed from the beginning and I found it extremely difficult to put the book down right up the end. It was fast paced, loads of action and very eventful through out. Many of the old characters from the first book (Gardens of the Moon) were back in this book.

You begin to learn so much more about characters like Quick Ben the mage, Whiskeyjack, you learn more about the significance of Paran, it was also great to find out a bit more about the enigmatic Amandor Rake. There are also a host of new characters. This is the first time that we are introduced to the sinister Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. They are the main characters in Erikson's short novellas. I did want to find out more about them, but I still don't understand how they progressed the story. I guess these characters and many others just shows how VAST and EPIC the Malazan series of books are. At times it is difficult to maintain an understanding of all that is happening.

This is definitely fantasy, but not like the usual `run of the mill' fantasy books out there. There is no mention of Elves, dwarves, etc. However, Erikson has created in the Malazan series a world that has never before been even hinted at in any of the fantasy books I have ever read before. The scale and scope of the stories so far seems vast in that they encompass not only people but also, different geographic cilivilisations and races that are non-human in nature. The books describe histories that are hundreds of thousands of years old, it includes Gods and ascendants. It is a world where the gods also play an active role and have their own motives and characteristics. It is a dark, very savage and barbaric world that no other fantasy novel I have ever read can has been able to match (perhaps Donaldson's Thomas Covenenant Chronicles). The story, the grand scale of events and world building are truly epic and this is one of the few times that no one would be able to argue with that statement.

Praise to Erikson for his amazing imagination that has enabled him to create such a vast world and in such detail. He is obviously getting better and I have noticed the improvements in the three books so far. He is obviously one of the handful of top fantasy writers out there (Tolkien the master, Martin, Jordan and Hobb). I hope that he continues to improve and that I (as well as all other readers) continue to read and enjoy his work.

High Energy writing of the highest order
A fabulous work, loaded with gods, violence, vengence, war, intrigue and surprisingly humour. Welcome back to the waking nightmare that is the world of the Malazan Empire. Wading through layers of deceit and intrigue, we find the Malazan army trudging South ostensibly to fight the Pannion Seer, a crazed religous zealot. But (and there is always a but) beneath this lies the machinations of a crippled god, along side it lies the hopes of other gods, weaved through it is the desire for absolution of entities long dead powered by an ancient curse. Along the way we meet new characters, Lady Envy been especially good, accompanied by the supreme Seguleh warriors (much to their disgust). Remarkably Erikson holds it all together, and even through such a maelstrom of events makes you care about the central characters, from major players like Whiskeyjack, right down to the common soldiers of the Bridge Burners.

In typical Erikson style the story comes together beautifully and violently at the end. I won't give the plot away, but it left me surprised and shocked; high energy writing of the highest order. The only fault I can find is that sometimes Erikson's passages can be a tad too opaque, who said what to whom and why is not always as clear as it could be. In other words sometimes teh sign posts could be a little larger. Five stars.

The Best New Fantasy Series Continues
The structure of the Malazan Book of the Fallen is a bit odd, though nicely original: Book 2 (Deadhouse Gates) follows Book 1 (Gardens of the Moon) but features largely different characters in a different situation. Book 3 (this one) is a direct sequel to Book 1, but takes place simultaneously alongside Book 2 and the ending sets up some events in Book 4 (House of Chains). Got all that straight? Good. Memories of Ice picks up from the end of Gardens of the Moon. The Malazan Empire has failed to capture the city of Darujhistant on the continent of Genabackis due to the defection of the Malazan 2nd Army. The 2nd Army has now joined forces with its former enemies, the Tiste Andii of Moon's Spawn and the mercenary army under the Warlord Caladan Brood, to take on the Pannion Domin, a horrific force for evil which has conquered the south of Genabackis and is now about to lay siege to the city of Capustan. Memories of Ice is, like its predecessors, complex and dense, following dozens of characters across several major plot strands. The undead T'lan Imass warrior Tool (one of the best fantasy characters of recent years) and the unlucky Malazan soldier Toc are reunited in a plotline which is often humourous before becoming tragic and, by the end, bittersweet. In another plot strand, a whole host of fascinating new characters help defend Capustan from the bloodiest siege ever described in a fantasy novel, whilst heroes from the first book are forced to work alongside their former enemies (and discovering, by and large, that they all get on well). Erikson's writing, previously excellent but occasionally disjointed, reaches a new level of maturity here as he deepens the characterisation and detail given to each cast member. The hectic, can't-pause-for-breath nature of the previous books is slightly lessened here, which is a good thing, at least until the highly charged and ultra-violent ending. Memories of Ice is the best book yet in the series, although it is by far the bloodiest (yes, even more so than Deadhouse Gates). Erikson has started tying up some of his plot threads, explaining some odd events from Book 1 and forcing you to constantly re-evaluate your opinions of characters. This time around, the characters feel more human and slightly less like chess pieces being moved around by the gods (ironic, given that the level of interference by the gods in the affairs of mortals is quite high in this book). Also the ongoing storylines that are going to carry this series through another seven books after this one are becoming more fleshed out, with rumours of events on other, distant continents setting up the next phase of the series (Book 5 will take place in a totally new land remote from the three contients visited so far). Memories of Ice is bloody, brutal and audacious. Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin both have some serious competition to deal with.