Product Description

With this, the eighth book in Erikson's extraordinary sequence, this acclaimed fantasy epic enters its climactic final stages...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #659 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 896 pages

Synopsis
In Darujhistan, the saying goes that Love and Death shall arrive together, dancing...It is summer and the heat is oppressive, yet the discomfiture of the small rotund man in the faded red waistcoat is not entirely due to the sun. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city's streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways but it seems the hunters have become the hunted. Hidden hands pluck the strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. Strangers have arrived, and while the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds. All is palpably not well. And in Black Coral too, ruled over by Anomander Rake Son of Darkness, something is afoot - memories of ancient crimes surface, clamouring for revenge, so it would seem that Love and Death are indeed about to make their entrance...This is epic fantasy at its most imaginative, storytelling at its most exciting.

From the Inside Flap
It is said that Hood, Lord of Death, gathered unto himself a host of gods, in a place beyond the reach of mortals. It is said that Hood waits at the end of every plot, every scheme, each grandiose ambition. But this time it is different. This time he’s there at the beginning…

Darujhistan swelters in the summer heat and seethes with dire portents, unsettling rumours and insidious whispers. Strangers have arrived, a murderer is at work, and past tyrannies might be reawakening. The retired Bridgeburners of K’rul’s Bar have been singled out by the city's assassins with deadly consequences, and a small, rotund, red-waistcoat-clad man, while dismayed by his expanding girth, knows that this is the very least of his worries. For somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds.

And far away in Black Coral, the Tiste Andii rule with seeming indifference. At a massive barrow outside the city, thousands gather – adherents to the cult of the Redeemer, a once-mortal man whose virtue and honour seem defenceless against the twisted ambitions of his followers.
So, as Hood stands at the beginning of a conspiracy that will shake the cosmos, at its end, there waits another. For Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, the time has come to right an ancient and terrible wrong …

With this epic new chapter, Steven Erikson’s awesome fantasy adventure enters its final, climactic stages.

About the Author
Archaeologist and anthropologist Steven Erikson's first fantasy novel, Gardens of the Moon, marked the opening chapter in his epic 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' sequence and was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award. Seven equally acclaimed bestselling volumes have followed. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Customer Reviews

The bell tolls for Erikson
I'm an enormous Erikson fan, and read all seven of his previous novels with relish. I was eagerly awaiting the release of 'Toll the Hounds.'
Sadly, this novel is a significant fall for Erikson from the ranks of the fantasy mighty.

The novel is largely set in Dariujistan, where the entire cast of characters ultimately converge, including Cutter, Iskaral Pust and the beligerant Karsa Orlong. The city is also the setting for such notables as Anomander Rake and the broken remnants of the Bridgeburners.

Darujistan itself is cloaked in a darkness, and Anomander Rake broods within; in short, his usual enigmatic self.

Effectively, the plot builds upon the basis that a Tyrant is prophesised to conquer Darujistan. As the characters and plot slowly converge upon this single thread, Erikson uses the opportunity to explore the characters motivations and personalities in depth. This is where the novel fundamentally differs from those previous, in that this is what dominates the novel - motivations and character development and frankly random dialogue and theorisation on the part of the characters, that ultimately leads nowhere. Unusually for Erikson novels, there is very little that actually happens in this book in terms of plot. The characters thoughts and even dialogue therefore seem like so much padding.

There is also a truly huge cast of characters covering perhaps eight broad groups of people. Erikson has a frustrating tendancy to write just a couple of pages on each group and then flit to the next group. This technique pevades the whole book and gives the whole plot a sense of randomness and lack of co-ordination that I've not seen in his novels before. Erikson also fails to join up many of the diverse plotlines, and it is unclear, even at the end of the novel what value or contribution they really made.

The novel is truly epic in size (though for Erikson quite normal) at 900+ pages. The real action only begins after some 600 pages though, and only there does it start to make any sense. So, it takes considerable patience to get that far. The final 300 pages, without spoiling it, are not as dramatic or even original as we are used to from Erikson.

In summary, 'Toll the Hounds' falls well short of the standard that we have come to expect from the genius that is Erikson. It's probably a novel for his most devout fans, others can happily (and sadly) pass it by.

Toll the Hounds Rings the Bell
Erikson does a masterful job with this newest installment of the tale of the Fallen. Particularly intriguing is the careful development of characters from past novels, and how they have matured since the first installment. This is good stuff. A number of seemingly invicible characters from earlier novels are now a step slower, fatally in some cases. I rated the last book at 4/5 stars which was probably overly harsh, and was hoping that this one would hit the high standard set by Memories of Ice (my personal favorite). Tolls the Hound is a fantastic read, advancing many of the intricate plots set in motion in Gardens of the Moon. Bravo Steven Erikson, you have done it again!

Unbeatable
Firstly I will admit that this is not as good as earlier books in the series, Deadhouse Gates being by far the best in my own opinion. But the series has not faltered at all as some previous reviewers point out, its on equally as brilliant a level as always but some will always have their personal preferences about what is best (and also most people only seem to find or atleast admit that things are brilliant until they are older, why?)

I could go on and point out all the different things in this book which I do find brilliant but I am not going to do that, I simply wish to share the one thing that I find in Eriksons writing style which makes him by the far the most superior writer in this genre and indeed I would go as far as to say in any genere (I am not just making this statement I read anything from Akunin to Erikson, W. Smith to Tolkien or Tolstoy to Feist)

The way Erikson portrays his characters are unbelievable even "fringe" characters of which there are quite a few in this book you cant help but make an attachment too. Characters who spend anything from a page or a chapter in one of his books Erikson always portrays them so well as to leave you wanting to know more about them and hoping they do well and in most cases wanting them to live.

Thus Erikson always manages to stun me with the cruelty and harsh reality of life which is portrayed within his books. There is no great hero transcending all, with perfect virtues always knowing what is good and wishing to do it. Everyone is flawed, everyone is in someway not what you quite expect or want from them, in a fantasy book he has managed to hold a mirror up to life which i think is a fantastic acheivment.

This mirror is what makes his books most effective, very rarely can an author write so well that I am forced to put down a book in shock as I have to consider what has just been said. Erikson manages this with aplomb, who can forget the moment Coltaines army fell within view of Aren? With a full army watching as a coward holds them back.? Well in this book I find the same thing happening as *SPOILER HERE* Anomander Rake dies fighting traveller. Anomander is a hero in this book, flawed as all others but with a certain dark destiny and noble soul that you cant help but feel an attachment too, you can feel a sense of purpose about him. So when he died I was truly shocked and even saddened. This is what amkes Erikson a great author not just the sweeping story, the great characters but the fact that he is an author who can still effect you with his words.

His most recent books are not as good as the earlier ones, but they are still BRILLIANT and far better than anything else on offer out there. The day this series finishes will be a sad day indeed.