As Malazan: Book of the Fallen enters its
second half, Steven Erikson finally begins to pull some threads together in the
sixth installment to give readers some of the trajectory that the series is
heading for. This also means that the
books from this point onwards are at their longest, with The Bonehunters
clocking in at 1,200 pages. As such,
this means that this is a book where a lot happens to a lot of characters, as
is known to happen with a lot of epic fantasy, so this review is not one which
can adequately discuss even a majority of the aspects of this novel, as with
every book in this series, there is a lot.
So this review is one looking at the aspects of The Bonehunters which
stand out to me. This is a book which
actually brings the threads from Gardens of the Moon/Memories of Ice and
Deadhouse Gates/House of Chains together as things finally begin to
cross. There is also an obvious
justification for Midnight Tides and the mythology explored in that
novel, meaning that the fifth book was obviously not meant to be a throwaway
diversion and necessary to actually continue the story from this point forward. There is this feeling that the stakes are getting
higher, that the Crippled God’s plans that seems to be a major part of the
backbone of Malazan as a world along with the expansion by the Mazalan
Empire under Laseen and Adjunct Tavore.
While Laseen is a character here, I think it’s Tavore
who is a more interesting character as you get some interesting contrast between
Tavore and Ganeos Paran. Tavore is a
woman blinded by ambition and expansion which makes the points in the book where
we actually see her grabbing for more power and moving pieces across the board. It makes her interesting as I suppose an
antagonist, though there is something in her philosophy and mindset that just
connects with me. She’s clearly not meant
to be a positive figure, but there is something there that screams humanity at
its most human. Meanwhile, Ganeos Paran
has the incredibly interesting arc where he doesn’t really meet his sister (I
think she thinks he’s actually dead, which yeah he kind of should be), but
there is something morose about the character.
He’s undergone great hardship and has assumed the role of the master of
the Deck of Dragons, and as a character I am reminded of a quote by the late
great Douglas Adams: “Anyone who is capable
of getting themselves made President should be on no account be allowed
to do the job”. Paran is a character who
didn’t want to have any power, at least any power of this kind. He is a man being forced among the gods in a
way that he clearly never wished to be.
There is this dread whenever you get to Paran’s segments of the book
where he is clearly trying his best, but needs to find something
different. It kind of helps that he was
one of the characters I grasped onto in Gardens of the Moon who actually
survived that book. There is also this power
play between him and the absent Anomander Rake which is hinted at here that I desperately
hope gets picked up on in later books.
The Bridgeburners also have a reunion here which makes
for some really interesting interactions early on in the novel. Having Fiddler/Strings seeing just where his crew
has scattered to is interesting and introspective as everyone’s goals has seemingly
changed greatly. Strings is also almost the
perfect character for a book like this as he’s slimy enough to survive, but his
actions never come across as a slimy character trying to survive a heartless
world. There’s also this hinted at
cleverness there. Cutter’s continuing
story with new character Scillara also does not bode well after the end of House
of Chains saw him essentially falling down into general darkness away from
Apsalar. Apsalar also it is noted has matured
and changed into a genuinely terrifying assassin here and this is where I think
The Bonehunters shines. Apsalar
actually reunites with Cotillion in this novel and their interactions makes for
an interesting commentary on abuse and how victims become survivors. Apsalar is most definitely a survivor by this
point, not falling into trappings of abuse and holding her own against a god
who still has some sort of a grip against the woman. She has grown and she is the one who can hold
her own.
Cotillion and Shadowthrone, however, may have the best
interactions in this book. This is a
book where the gods seem to be scared of something coming and that added threat
just builds the tension through the rest of the book. There’s a point where Shadowtrone goes missing
and Cotillion is the forefront of the domain of Shadow which for the first time
really separates the characters from each other. Erikson of course is brilliant in creating
double acts, but splitting up those double acts allows an exploration of what makes
the double act work. It’s also just a
sequence of events filled with tension and dread. The actual thrust of the formation of the Bonehunters
can be directly traced to every plot thread thus far, as Erikson excels at
making things in this book feel like something really is coming together. There is still the standard for Malazan
in not quite understanding everything intentionally, and ambiguity but this book
feels for the first time like a slow boil and build in tension to something absolutely
brilliant. The Bonehunters
perhaps might be my favorite installment thus far, as it takes what really
worked in Memories of Ice and House of Chains while still
bringing things together into a different ideas for what Erikson really is
working with. It’s a thrilling lead
whose last 400 pages especially building to a brilliant climax which shakes
every character we know, like, and dislike thus far into different scenarios
and the next book feels like it’s going to integrate lines further for a
conclusion. 10/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment