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: #326 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• 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

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.

Toll the Hounds
Throughout the series, questions have been raised that have never been answered. This book acts as a explaination to the previous novels and also introduces a range of new characters. It was a little slow to start but by the middle, it was a true Malazan epic.

Oh dear oh dear!!!
This will be painful for some so let me start by saying that I am a big fan of the series despite one or two weak books in the series.I place the order and waited so anxiously for this book to arrive after I ordered it but I was very disapointed. There are some good bits in this book but it is nothing like Erikson at his best.In fact I feel this is the most annoying book in the series. It had the right mix of characters to have been the best book so far but instead of advancing the story Erikson chose to write about nothing for 800 pages. Even characters like Karsa, cotillion and Rake lost their edge and did nothing but talk. I didnt feel involved with them, even as the usual expected toll was literally presented to Hood at the end.I had high hopes for Moppo but he like rest of the book didnt get any where. Erikson has droped the ball but I hope he gets back to form for the last two books. But before he starts writing the next book, some body please get him some anti depressants or get him to see a shrink because his writing has become too gloomy and depressing.