I like the unique approach to magic the series offers and I also appreciate that it's not the chosen one versus the ultimate evil cliche. I feel the world building is rather immense and so far that I've only been introduced to a small fraction of said world. The characters are colorful and well thought out and you can't really point to anyone and say "yeah that's the bad guy" or "He's definitely one of the good guys." You kind of get the feel that it depends on whichever side of the war your on that makes those distinctions for you.
Yes, the characters are all varying shades of gray, only unlike other books, you don't even get to see which side of the spectrum most of them are on (with some minor exceptions). And I really like that about this series, and all other books where characters are like that.
Now, what I haven't liked...so far. Is how each book seems to change its focus. Meaning some of the main characters I've enjoyed in book one made absolutely no appearance in book two. Similarly from book two to book three, at least so far, I'm admittedly not that long into book three. However, with that being said you still get a decent feel for whats going on with the others so even though they don't make an appearance they are mentioned.
Yeah, that takes a lot of getting used to. Even when rereading the books, it's still difficult to put up with, lol. But on the other hand, I love the huge amount of characters it allows him to introduce, and the way the plotlines then eventually interweave.
My other semi-gripe is the endings to the books. Book one ended okay as there was some closure. However, book two kind of pissed me off. Not to say it was a bad ending but damn they killed off darn near everyone I got to know over the course of the book what the hell? And the ending confrontation with Empress Laseen and the assasin was kind of a let down as well, it was far too easy for him to infiltrate her hideout/fortress.
This part, I totally disagree with. The endings of the books are excellent! The very best part of the series, actually. But then I'm a fan of tragedy, and Malazan definitely fits that. And I love how everything comes together in the end in a truly epic conclusion. Hardly any books can even rival that.
All in all I'd give the series so far 4 out of 5 stars.
4.9 or so for me. It has its negatives too, but I believe the positive things Malazan has more than outweigh them.
What do you guys think? Am I way off on my assesment? Do they get more integrated later on in the series? A little faster paced maybe?
The pace... Stays basically the same, except as others have said, the later books are more like sequels, so you'll be returning to familiar characters - with plenty of additions, of course. And they start having more convergences - smaller than the final ones, of course, but still better than just a continuous build up during the first portion of the novel.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen *Spoilerish*
- 26/03/2010 07:57:01 PM
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Yeah, no, the pace kinda stays that way.
- 26/03/2010 08:38:07 PM
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Re: Yeah, no, the pace kinda stays that way.
- 26/03/2010 09:09:46 PM
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one more try. Send me a noteboard. and you are not *the* resident Husker fanatic 
*NM*
- 05/09/2010 09:16:01 AM
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*NM*
- 05/09/2010 09:16:01 AM
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You think they killed a lot of people you got to know in book 2???
- 26/03/2010 08:44:10 PM
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I think they're excellent
- 27/03/2010 01:57:25 AM
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