Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson

Epic is certainly the word for this, and long. As is Coltaine's Chain of Dogs, where this army general is responsible for leading a growing group of Malazan refugees to safety, with his own clan soldiers and the Malazan Seventh Army.

There are other groups with stories too - mine slaves, with priests and propecy, Corporal Kalam of the Bridgeburners and his assassination mission to kill the Empress, and others. Or, there are some serious leadership issues in the Empire.

Then there is all the crazy magic. The characters themselves are so used to this that it is like 'oh, a demon just slaughtered 100 of our soldiers, can one of the mages get an elemental or something to deal with that?'. The reactions to this are about on the level of someone here saying, see that interesting looking silver tail light on that new model Ford car, does that work out'?

Similarly one group coming across a sorcerous ship full of undead crew and founding race aliens wonders about how they can use it, more than being freaked out (even if that can come later). So super extreme magic and people being turned into gods, becoming gods, or being possessed by them, harassed by them, or weaking for them is all pretty de rigeur.

A rather brutal and surprising ending, too.


4 out of 5