House of Chains (Book 4 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen) by Steven Erikson (1-Sep-2003) Mass Market Paperback

What an absolute pleasure to read. The overall complexity of the story, the revealing of characters that make them increasingly tangible, and the constant intrigue (even from newly introduced elements in the series), continue to impress me. I hope that Steven continues to write many more novels, because I'm now convinced that I'll be hooked on whatever fantasy he pens.

I have been particularly impressed with the narrative of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. It is very well written with complex characters that you become invested in. I recommend these books to any and all fans of fantasy literature.

First part of the book is almost linear and contains the best part of the series so far -- the part when Karsa Orlong (Lead Us, Warleader!) is introduced. That is complex character I really enjoy and hopefully it is not the last time we meet!

On the other hand, the goddess of the Apocalypse makes too many mistakes, surrounded by treacherous allies and if she is indeed powerful, one has to ask, why is she so stupid. The plot around the goddess is just 3 stars.

Veterans of the Malazan army are described hard as ever, without knowing what they do and why they do it -- which may be ok if it is not same as in previous books.

If the pace of the first part endures throughout the book, it will be the best book of the series. Unfortunately that is not the case. Anyway more plots gets unveiled, old/new characters are developed and definitely worth reading.

This series of books, fantasy bound only by the reality of the characters therein. Thousands of pages, greater and lesser stories, woven, threads pulled by an artist. Colours emerge,disappear and show again, subtly harmony, savage clash and abrupt termination. Pure joy and true sorrow

The first two books of the series are a little weak, but the third and fourth, that's what I've read up to this point, are really good. The fourth isn't as good as the third, but it's good, and it introduces one great character.

I started this book with the knowledge that many of Erikson's fans say that Memories of Ice, the last book, was their favourite of the series. With that, does it mean that the rest of the series is downhill until he finally finishes it? Definitely not.

If I had to vote, I would say that this is my favourite of the series so far... far better than Memories of Ice.

If you're looking for a novel in the same vein as Erikson or GRRM, give Blood of the Land (From the Sea, From the Earth)a go.

As with the previous three books, four was a great read. Erikson is a master writer whose prose is amazing and whose world is both detailed and massive in its scope. Can't wait to start the next book!

The beginning of this book really didn't work for me. I forced my way through due to the goodwill created by my enjoyment of the previous books, and having been pre-warned by fans of the series. Over one hundred pages at the beginning of the book of one character: Karsa Orlong. And he's really hard to take. He's initially a completely awful person. Even setting aside the pillaging and raping that make me wince at the idea of recommending this to my female friends, he's also an arrogant jerk. This background on Karsa, aside from being unpleasant, difficult reading, also just does not fit with the format of this book, or the previous books. It's really inconsistent, and I don't care for that.

After we get past the intolerably long stretch of Karsa Orlong, the book moves on to the familiar format of the previous books, with the storyline moving between several main characters. This was a great relief, although I found things somewhat slower than past books, particularly after the gripping emotional roller coaster that was Memories of Ice. Until the climax, this book is just far less eventful than the previous book.

I was happy to see familiar faces that I didn't get to see in a while. Particularly, Cotillion was just about all over the place. I had the sense that he must be cooking up something huge, and that I was going to love it. Ultimately, I have yet to see if that was going anywhere. But I still enjoyed seeing him meddling in human affairs, and I realize this series often has long-term payoffs.

The center of this particular story was the impending confrontation between Sha'ik's army and Adjunct Tavore's. Sha'ik has the advantage of numbers, and Tavore appears to be without a chance, but of course there wouldn't be much of a story if it were really that simple. The conclusion of this particular conflict was a punch in the gut. I'm still reeling from the tragedy of it, while realizing that there was no happy way it could have ended. But nobody reads this series expecting happy conclusions by now, right? The conclusion was the right one. It made up for a great deal of my previous issues. As far as the central story went, to me it was perfection.

Other plot threads were enjoyable but had far less closure. I'm hoping to see more of Trull Sengar and Onrack, for instance, quite soon. I would have liked to see more of where they were going.

Overall, despite portions of this book that could have been better, it is an enjoyable, well-orchestrated story that left me feeling satisfied.

Well, you've made it this far so you're committed now. HoC is a great read for the same reasons you enjoyed the previous books: complex plots and sub-plots and middle-plots, excellent characters (Iskaral Pust and his mule really come into their own, Corabb Bhilan Thenu'alas is just as mad and equally as fun), and Erikson's signature move, the ever burgeoning convergence. It is tedious and hard-going for the same reasons too: Erikson's philosophy of life pervades characters' thoughts at times, especially when they're on their own and a much kinder narrative move would be to end scene; the book is long and sweeping and frustrating when just as you get a hold of a plot and new character they disappear for 300 pages only to reappear and scold you for forgetting who they are; the beginning of the book (and I use beginning relative to the length of it) is slow and when things aren't converging you really wish you could give them a nudge in the right direction. But, as you already know, subjective flaws are as much a part of the story as the quirks. Best start reading, since there are still six to go after this afternoon delight.

This was a pretty decent read.... It diverged significantly from the core characters of the previous books... Which is what I was hoping to get to continue reading. The book starts with an anti-hero who metamorphoses throughout the book... It drags quite a bit, and really just stands on it's own as a single book, not a part of a series... simply set in the same world. Not Erikson's finest work, but still an interesting read for sure.

I still like this series and I intend to finish if but the farther I get into the more drawn out the books become. Almost like the author is just looking for filler. It's worth the read if you don't have anything else but there is better series and authors out there namely Joe Acbercrombie, Mark Lawrence and RR Martin. Brent weeks and Richard K Morgan are good also.

I love this author, his imagination and writing style speak to me. This series is comparable to Game of Thrones but actually way, way more in depth philosophically than George R R R R R Martin and look, the author finished this wonderful story in a reasonable amount of time unlike some authors.

I absolutely devoured these books. They very likely cause my mediocre grade for my masters thesis, as I spent a good two weeks reading these and barely getting food in my mouth instead of expanding on my Discussion and Results sections.

A+, would get a C again.

I cannot overstate how much I love this series. I always recommend it. The characters and depth of creativity in the world building have enchanted me from the first book. I love Mr. Erickson's writing. I picked up the kindle versions of the books for my second read-through. There seems to have been no editing whatsoever in formatting it for the kindle. An editor would have noticed the predominance of capital "T"s that replace other letters throughout the book. Or the changing of names. For example, the character Silgar was 60 percent of the time called Sugar, and Toc was Toe. Having to guess at what words are or who they are talking about really takes away from the enjoyment.

Again, read this series. I highly recommend it. But get the paper version.

I'm a fan of this series, but this volume is the weakest so far. The humor is nearly absent, and where it exists, falls flat, but my biggest problem with this book is the lack of truely likeable charactors. By the end of the story Karsa becomes an interesting, tho, still unlikeable charactor, and there are some devolopments for others. The whole feeling is murky and ambigious. There's no decernable heroes or villains here. Fiddler is back, but he seemed rather lost in enui. It just came off feeling kinda dry. I plowed thru the first three books in a couple days each and this one took me a couple of weeks to work my way to the end.

This book introduces a new character that quickly grows into a very enjoyable anti hero. The gritty squad based storyline from the first three books is superseded a bit by this new character but the overall blending of the stories makes this less jarring. Some fan favorites from previous books are missing, but this book does resolve some plot lines will, as usual, introducing new ones.

If like me you were disappointed in the last book, then this book is a welcome surprise! I reluctantly read this book because I had trouble getting through the last one. This has reinvigorated my interest in this series.

Once again Steven Erickson shows an extreme arrogance and contempt for his audience.

While the stories of the Malazan world are intriguing and intricate, Erickson's story telling is so terrible it makes his books almost unreadable. The first two books of the series are almost prologues to the actual story, they are vague, poorly explained and very poorly written, however it eventually pays off in the third installment, where our understanding of the character and events of the first two allow us to finally enjoy the events that unfold in the third.

House of Chains returns us to the world, at a different time, in a different place with mostly new characters, and the same painful grind the first two books presented.

I give up, I've tried to enjoy this series and look for the flashes of brilliance hidden amongst Erickson's rambling poorly written dialogue, but I'm done with this author. There are plenty of other authors out there that don't treat their audience with contempt.

The writing style for this book is different from the first few for the first quarter of the book, but it is still amazing! Great back story, as always... New characters, races, places... I love this series!

North Genabackis. Karsa Orlong of the Teblor tribe sets out on a raid that will go down in infamy among his people and their neighbours. He plans to carve his name in blood and chaos across the north, and succeeds far beyond his original aims. But Karsa's journey also opens his eyes to a world that is far stranger than what he thought it would be.

Months later, the Malazan 14th Army arrives in Seven Cities to crush the rebellion known as the Whirlwind. Newly-appointed Adjunct Tavore Paran is untested, and so are most of her troops. Only a few key veterans can be found to hold the force together. Ranged against them are veterans of years of raiding and war, the Dogslayers and the formidable sorcery of the Whirlwind Goddess herself. The seeress Sha'ik's victory appears inevitable, but internal divisions threaten to tear her army apart. As the 14th Army marches on the Holy Desert, the Seeress chooses to wait. Elsewhere, a new threat has arisen: strange ships bearing powerful warriors sailing out of the western seas, seeking the Throne of Shadow on remote Drift Avalii. The god known as Cotillion seeks champions to defend the Throne, whilst one of those strange warriors - the disgraced Trull Sengar - turns traitor to redeem his honour, and that of his entire race.

For the three previous books in the Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson adopted a similar structure: the introduction of multiple plot threads which proceed in apparently isolated tandem for many hundreds of pages before meeting in an almighty final battle at the end. This structure didn't entirely work for Gardens of the Moon (due to a somewhat confusing opening) but was spectacularly successful for Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice, two of the finest epic fantasy novels published this century so far. For House of Chains, Erikson decided to change things up.

This is more of a collection of two separate novels rather than one long narrative. The first 270 pages or so form a continuous, self-contained story focusing on Karsa Orlong (think of Conan the Barbarian dialed up to 11) and his quite spectacularly bloody journey of self-realisation across Genabackis, a bit like The Pilgrim's Progress if the pilgrim was a psychotic ten-foot tall barbarian warrior wielding a sword so massive it would struggle to get into a Final Fantasy game. Karsa is the favourite character of many Malazan readers, for his clear character arc and growth (from psychopathic murderer to philosophical warrior-savant), his straightforward approach to solving problems (destroying them utterly), his clear nod to fantasy antecedents (like Conan and Fafhrd) and his cool action scenes. However, it's also worth noting that in his origin story, he's also a bloodthirsty maniac, repeat rapist and murderer. Erikson himself has noted that Karsa is a problematic character and was intended to be so. Karsa's odyssey is fascinating, well-written (Erikson's growing confidence in his prose skills from book to book is impressive to behold) and raises important questions, such as interrogating Robert E. Howard's old notion that barbarism is the natural state of humanity with civilisation as a brief interregnum which will end as soon as natural resources run out. There's plenty of black humour in the sequence as well, and it does explain at least part of what on earth was going on with that ship in the Nascent (a plot thread that's been running for three books now), but it's hard to entirely enjoy a story which relies so much on human suffering.

The remaining 750-odd pages of the book return to a more traditional format, with multiple story threads unfolding in tandem: Trull Sengar and his rescue from the Nascent by a band of T'lan Imass; the misadventures of a Tiste Liosan warrior party (who learn that their overwhelming arrogance is not helpful when asking others for help); scheming and backstabbing in the Whirlwind camp; Crokus, Apaslar and Kalam being recruited by Cotillion for various missions; and the march of the 14th Army towards Raraku (a sort-of reverse Chain of Dogs, except we spend far fewer pages on it). The shorter page count for this sequence requires greater focus from Erikson, which he achieves admirably: each story unfolds with verve and pace, and there's less long-winded moments of moral reflection as Memories of Ice occasionally threatened to unleash. The shorter page count does occasionally mean that some story arcs are sold a bit short, and the occasional Gardens of the Moon-esque moment of total confusion (such as the introduction of a new pack of psychotic magical hounds who are not the same pack of psychotic magical hounds as those who appeared in the three previous books, but are very similar) does threaten, but is mostly averted.

The book is also something of an anti-epic fantasy, and indeed, an anti-Malazan novel in structural terms. When I first read the book fifteen years ago I regarded it as a massive anti-climax, as the novel builds and builds to what appears to be a huge conflagration which never quite arrives (we do get it in the sixth volume, The Bonehunters, instead, which makes me occasionally wonder if Erikson could have restructured things so Karsa's arc was removed to its own novel and the Battle of Y'Ghatan was moved into the end of House of Chains; I suspect this would not be practical). On rereads the reasoning behind the far less epic (although still very bloody) ending is much clearer, and more laudable. House of Chains is a dark book in a sometimes very dark series, but also a series where compassion and shared humanity are key themes. These themes are explored further in this novel and given greater weight, contrasted against the dark insanity of characters such as the loathsome Bidithal. This is good, but it can make for hard going at times.

House of Chains (****) is not operating on quite the same qualitative plain as Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice. It's a faster and more concentrated read, but it's also a darker and much murkier one, where the reader has to follow some very unpleasant characters for large stretches of the book. It's also the most philosophically and intellectually stimulating book in the series so far, asking big questions and refusing to offer pat answers. For some readers House of Chains marks a shift in the tone and feel of series which they don't much care for, away from a epic fantasy narrative and more towards musings on the human soul (which threaten to overtake later books in the series altogether), but for others it's the moment that Malazan grew up and started staking a claim to being the most literate epic fantasy ever attempted.

My feelings about this book (as well as the first three Malazan books) is summed up in this description of a book given by Dorian Gray: “I didn’t say I liked it…I said it fascinated me. There is a great difference.” With the whole series being titled The Book of the Fallen it shouldn’t be surprising that it revels in the slaughter of innocents, rapes, cruel twists of fate, betrayals, and sundry other horrors and shattered dreams at every turn. I don’t mind some dark fantasy, but I probably would have given up on this grim series if it wasn’t for the fascinating, complex world-building and intricate plot.

There is no simple way to describe the plot(s). Each major character (and there are a LOT of them) has not only their own motivation, but also their own goal(s) that may or may not coincide with what any of the other characters are trying to accomplish. It makes for a much more “real world” feel than a more classic fantasy where everything centers on a single objective. That is what draws me to the story, but also what can make it very frustrating to follow. The author is completely unhelpful (seemingly, deliberately so) when it comes to keeping track of how things tie together…it feels like the kind of “art” that the artist makes purely for himself and gives a big “@$%! you if you don’t get it! I’m a genius!” to the public.

I feel like in this book (which focuses mostly on the Sha’ik rebellion), some of the overarching things that were going on on the ascendant/god level starting making a little more sense. I’m not sure if that is because the author subtly plotted it that way or because I consulted the Malazan wiki fairly frequently to keep track of what had happened to a character in previous books when they waltzed “on screen” after a 1,000+ page absence. At the end of the book, several of the big confrontations on the human level that had been building for the entire book were rather anti-climactic, but that’s par for the course in this series. I’ll eventually move on to the next book, but I definitely need a break from it for a while.

I love Erickson's ability to weave a multitude of conflicts together into a coherent and seamless whole. I am in awe of his ability to do that. Frankly, I'm just in love with these "books of the Fallen," series.

The only thing that troubled me is that sometimes his story telling can bog down into "two heads talking history while a tortoise wanders by," and those who've read this book will know the reference, well at this point the pace dragged and became - with no pun intended - tortoise like.

As for Karsa - loved him from the start - what a majestic, charismatic character, and I look forward to finding out what happens next.

Strongly recommend this book and the series for anyone with a passion for epic, heroic, dark, gritty fantasy. Sure it can be confusing at times, but everything comes out and explanations become clear, it just takes time.

A highly enjoyable, moving, interesting read.

It is astonishing how every book in this series seems to get better than the one before. The sheer size of the cast is phenomenal however it seems like each character has an important role to play in the grand scheme of things and there are no 'bit-part' players. New characters such as Karsa Orlong, L'oric and Trull Sengar become favourites straight away and that is down to Erikson's skill as a writer. I will admit that I go a bit sentimental when we find out what characters such as Quick Ben, Kalam and Fiddler are up to when reading.. To the extent where it transpires that Strings is Fiddler I actually did a mini fist bump and silent wooop to myself lol. In the first few books the world Erikson was describing was so vast and complicated it was sometimes confusing and I had to read certain sections more than once. Yet, now that we are revisiting some of these places again it adds to the overall creation and heightening of the picture that Erikson is trying to paint for us. The book takes place after the events of Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice. A lot of the story is almost the opposite of the path Coltaine walked on the Chain of Dogs. As previous books in the series I love finding out about the God's motives and as a previous reviewer stated - these sections are 'Homeric' when the God's converse with humans/mortals. I am interested to find out more about Cotillion. This book made him seem more human and emotional than we were given witness to before and that intrigues me. I won't delve too much about the plot. I will say that I am looking to start reading Midnight Tides straight away as I can't wait to be thrown headfirst back in to Erikson's world. Peace. James x /// youandi.wordpress.com

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is an experience, man. If you are looking for a fully realized world to dive into, with as much rich, detailed history as our own, then look no further. Not to mention characters that are deeply individual, and unforgettable. Erikson does so much right in this series there is undoubtedly something for everyone.

House of Chains picks back up where Deadhouse Gates left off, and it was really great to settle back in with these characters. Erikson does military interaction and soldier POV's so well. Always interesting and often hilarious, I absolutely loved Fiddler's plot in this one. And of course, the unforgettable Karsa Orlong. I can hardly wait to witness where his story goes.

As is typical of the Malazan novels, HoC wrapped up with a bang. A convergence you might say. And while it didn't have the emotional impact on me that Memories of Ice did, I can see that it is setting up for events to come.

House of Chains begins a number of years before Gardens of the Moon, and introduces us to Karsa Orlong, a proud, stubborn Teblor warrior and his decision to lead a war party to attack the children's (human) settlement. About eight feet tall, at least, Karsa was first, briefly introduced in Deadhouse Gates as Toblakai. This beginning takes up a good fifth of the book, and although it is a slower beginning than memories of Ice, it is better than the first two books in the series, and it is worth it just for how good a character Karsa Orlong is and how well he is developed throughout.
House of Chains then introduces Tavore, younger sister of Ganoes Paran and elder sister of Felisin, first heard about in Deadhouse Gates, as she takes command of the fourteenth army and leads them into the Seven Cities to crush the Whirlwind Rebellion.
We have a soldier and a Claw sent out together to recover Felisin from the Otataral mines, the continuation of the story of Sha'ik Reborn and Heboric Ghosthands, and we learn a bit more about the hounds of Shadow (Hint: the front cover has something to do with it). We also learn more about the Crippled God, the main antagonist for the series, as how his machinations will impact everything to come
House of Chains follows the usual style of many characters, each with their own distinctive voice and view on life, with multiple plot threads intricately interwoven and changing in ways that you can never quite predict.

A fairly common opinion is that House of Chains, while good, is a step down in quality from the second and third Malazan books. I disagree. While I wouldn’t go so far as to insist that HoC is the best in the series up to this point-there is obviously some stiff competition-multiple readings have convinced me that this book holds its own with its predecessors.

I admit that it took a while to “get into” HoC, which is structured somewhat differently than the earlier volumes. The first quarter of this 1000+ page book is basically a novella dealing exclusively with a seemingly new character; the remainder of the tale follows Erikson’s typical multiple plot thread approach and is centrally focused on the family showdown-looming since the end of Deadhouse Gates- between the forces of the Malazan Adjunct Tavore and Felisin’s (Sha’ik’s) Army of the Apocalypse for control of Seven Cities. At the beginning of the book, the reader may understandably be forgiven for wondering: “who the heck is Karsa Orlong and why am I being served up hundreds of pages about him?” However, the Karsa section ultimately proves very solid work, and ties in well with the rest of the book, which is splendid.

Karsa Orlong looms large throughout HoC. His initial quest for martial glory with his 2 fellow warrior companions; his developing friendship with the Daru, Torvald Nom; his internal changes brought about by trying circumstances and newly acquired knowledge; the powerful but subservient role fashioned for him which comes to fruition later in the book and which clashes with his monumentally stubborn independence; Karsa’s story is undeniably fascinating and important, and he will obviously be making an appearance further down the line in this series.

Karsa also seems to illustrate well what one might call Erikson’s deliberate ambivalence with regards to civilization. The tide of civilization is in some sense inexorable: relatively isolated, “primitive” societies, less technologically advanced and socially differentiated than their “civilized” neighbors, are at a natural disadvantage and are in danger of disappearing. Civilization represents a powerful threat to Karsa’s barbarian way of life. And even as it threatens the old ways (which are not always palatable to us), civilization can come across to those it threatens as in some ways admirable, as Karsa acknowledges when he comes to appreciate the Malazan concern for justice and decides the Malazans are not his enemy. Nevertheless, through Karsa, Erikson also clearly valorizes certain aspects of the “primitive warrior,” who is presented in some ways as being more of a “real man” than his civilized counterpart. (Yes, I know Karsa is not technically human, but the point still holds.) It is worth mentioning that in Deadhouse Gates, Erikson fashioned a “best of both worlds” symbiosis of civilization and barbarism through the figure of Coltaine, who chose to fight for the Malazans and not against them in order to end incessant and brutal inter-tribal warfare amongst the Crow Clan. Whether or not Erikson eventually has something similar in mind for Karsa remains to be seen.

The aforementioned conflict in Seven Cities is a tale of two armies. The Malazans are led by an unproven Adjunct and a self-doubting High Fist who must bring cohesion and effectiveness to a group comprised largely of raw Malazan recruits and scarred remnants from Coltaine’s earlier struggle. The Malazans manage to pull together quite effectively, and no one is more important for this task than Fiddler (now known as Sergeant Strings.) Strings really shines in this book, and at this point is emerging as my favorite Bridgeburner. And Erikson almost rivals Heinlein as someone who can write convincingly, entertainingly, and instructively about military culture.

The Army of the Apocalypse, which seemingly has all the advantages, is beset by inner conflict. Felisin struggles to maintain her mental integrity in the face of the Whirlwind Goddess’s insane rage. And many notable figures in Sha’ik’s army are not to be trusted: this brood of vipers has come up with various and conflicting schemes to utilize and/or get rid of Felisin for their own purposes. Intrigue abounds. And since (as the title of the book suggests), the Master of the Deck of Dragons has decided to accept the House of Chains into the Deck (not a surprise to anyone who has read Memories of Ice), the Crippled God himself has made his own plans for the desert of Raraku where Sha’ik has made her stand.

The resolution of the Seven Cities conflict does not involve an epic military showdown. Though there is some conventional fighting, the issue is settled through a convergence of several factors (many of them magical) that come to a head in Raraku. Erikson weaves the various threads and builds up the tension with a master’s hand, and I found the conclusion satisfying and poignant.

There are other plot threads as well. Apsalar and Crokus, who now goes by the name of Cutter, are working for Cotillion. They end of accomplishing something significant on the floating island of Drift Avilii, and seemingly piece together something of Shadowthrone and Cotillion’s larger designs in the process. The Claw Pearl and the Red Blade Lostara Yill are sent by Tavore on special mission, though Cotillion makes his own secret agreement with Lostara. Cotillion-quite busy in this book- also has a mission in mind for Kalam. Heboric undergoes significant changes. And two new characters, the Tiste Edur Tull Sengar and the T’lann Imass Onrack meet and develop a friendship while chasing after T’lann Imass renegades. We also are introduced to Osseric, a Tistii Liosan counterpart to Anomander Rake, and get to know his son. These threads are enjoyable for their own sake, and help advance Erikson’s meta-narrative.

In general, yet another great book from Erikson.

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House of Chains is just as good as all the others so far. I can't get over how much I love this series, and how after so many books it is still great! Sometimes books fail after the first, but this series just keeps on going. Every book is just as good or better than the last.

I have to say that it gets really confusing because these books are not in chronological order. Just as Memories of Ice was a sequel to Gardens of the Moon, House of Chains is a direct sequel to Dead House Gates. However, events in this book occur during Gardens of the Moon all the way through DeadHouse Gates. I really need to print up a timeline to figure all this out!

Anyway, this is a fantastic addition to the series. Its main focus is the war between Tavore/Malazans and Whirlwind Goddess/Sha'ik. However, the book begins so differently from all the others that it seems completely unrelated to the rest of the story. I felt as if I was reading a different book! We start out by following Karsa Orlong of the Teblor on his journey to bring glory to his tribe by raiding the lowlanders and killing as many people as he can. I just loved how personal this part was and how we see him develop as a character as he learns more about his world. This part was just easy to follow and understand, and there wasn't that constant switching back and forth between tons of characters. After awhile, we learn that Karsa was a secondary character in book 2, but we just didn't know his name at the time.

Eventually, we pick up where book 2 left off with Sha'ik and Felisin Younger. For those of you who have read book 2 and 3 you probably remember that there are two Felisin's, but I didn't and was completely confused. However, I eventually cleared that up and was able to better follow the story. Felisin adopted an orphan and named her after herself, except she calls her Felisin Younger. I felt like the part about the Whirlwind rebellion was a little slow, and hard to follow with so many other characters, all of whom seem so important. This story picked up by the end of the book, but the final confrontation between Sha'ik and Tavore, was not at all what I expected. I thought after such a huge build-up that there would have been something more. I was a bit disappointed. Not that it wasn't good, because the entire book is awesome, but this one part was disappointing.

As I said before, there are tons of characters in this book, many are new, but some are returning characters. It was very difficult to keep track of them all, especially when they all seem so important to the story. I felt like I didn't get to know any of them very well, except of course Karsa Orlong and some returning characters. Instead of a major focus on Ganoes Paran or Felisin Paran as in the previous books, this one has a focus on their sister Tavore. Even though we see a lot of her, it really isn't from her point-of-view. We see her through the eyes of her soldiers, Sargents, Captains, Fists, etc., which doesn't allow us to really get to know her. Maybe we learn more later on.

The Gods are beginning to play much more of a role as we see in this book. We actually get to see Cotillion physically materialize (which I believe is dangerous for him) several times in the book. There is also more about Shadowthrone, as well as the House of Chains.

The world building is amazing! In this book we are introduced to a new founding race. We already know about the Jaghut, T'lan Imass, and the K'chain Che'malle, but we finally meet a Forkrul Assail. We don't know much about them, but they are introduced and probably play more of a role in a later book.

Overall, it was a great book. I couldn't believe how it all came together and how everything is connected. I also couldn't figure out who to root for in the final battle because I love both sides! I recommend reading this if you have read the others. Read it now! If you are new to the series I do suggest trying to read them back to back or with little time in between because it can be confusing and there is no way to catch up if you get lost since Erikson doesn't repeat anything. I had this problem before reading this book, and I now realize I will have to read all the others right away before I forget all those little important details. Steven Erikson is an amazing writer and storyteller and I suggest picking up his Malazan series right away.

This is the 4th book of the Malazan series, and although the story is just as involved as before. I listened to this novel through audible, and I would have rated it higher had they stuck with the original narrator, Ralph Lister. Lister was able to bring more to the story with a wide range of voices as well as intoning the proper emotions the situations called for. The new narrator, Michael Page, seems to have a limited number of voices, most of which sound alike and are mostly emotionless. This, to me, makes the story lose a great deal that helped paint the scenes more accurately in the listeners head and helping to really engage someone in the story. Now with the new narrator, I do not find myself paying as much attention as before, and I end up missing details of the plot. Again, this is based off of the audible or brilliance house audio version; the book is still good, just loses some of its edge here.

I figured, at the end of the previous entry "Memories of Ice", that House of Chains would switch back to the setting of Deadhouse Gates, the second of the two major settings presented so far in the series. This turned out to be the case, but it took a while getting there.

The entire first section of House of Chains is dedicated to the history of someone who was previously a side-character, and whose importance as a character becomes obvious as the book goes on. It was a bit jarring to be put into an entirely new setting. However, we spend this whole time from the perspective of this one character, which, at a guess, is probably the most time spent with any single character throughout the entire series up to this point. It's engaging, and it shows the potential Erikson has for forging a setting to make characters highly engaging.

However, then we get back to the main storyline. On the bright side, for most of the book there's extended periods of time we get to spend with certain characters; long enough to begin drawing the reader in to like the character more. However, the breadth of the series, while having certain benefits, can act as an enemy here. Sometimes things happen which drew me right in, had me on the edge of my seat, but then the chapter would end and by the time Erikson cycles back around to the initial characters perspective the raw attentiveness that had been generated is gone.

The story itself remains interesting, though still slides into moments of dullness where whatever's happening isn't all that interesting. There's also alot to keep track of, so sometimes it takes a while to fully understand why things are happening the way they are.

As for the writing itself, well, it's improved significantly since Gardens of the Moon, the first book in the series. Erikson's use (or abuse) of adjectives is a little odd, and it makes for clunky, awkward sentences. He's still beginning a good number of scenes which begin with just a setting, or a description of the environment, which is still confusing until a character is introduced.

All in all, though, a solid and entertaining effort, which looks to be building momentum.

4/5

Steven Erikson's series `the mazalan book of the fallen' has to be the most original, inspired creation within the fantasy genre that is comparable to the genius Kate Elliot or Terry Brooks. The striking, imaginative front covers capture readers' attention, especially
for those who love fantasy fiction most of all. The series begins with `gardens of the moon' followed then by `Deadhouse gates' and `memories of ice' with this volume as number four in an already epic saga. This author has so much creative imagination that
you cannot compare to any other writer, being full of compelling drama and thrilling action. What is so outstanding is how Steven Erikson draws upon our own history and myths & legends to create a masterpiece that is comparable to JRR Tolkien in its realism
as to be believable.

The rich, complex and original world that you explore is so breathtaking, I felt as if I was actually there. But it is the detail of its history and background knowledge that is so complex which makes it not just your average fantasy story but rather something much deeper on a vast scale. The mythic vision and the whole concept in its entirety is something to be marveled at, displaying how accomplished and talented a writer he is. Fast moving and full of suspense this tale will have you running along with it at tremendous speed, within an intricate and authentic world that is just as real as our own. Voyaging into the unknown where Demons lurk and Gods observe all, this book is like a chocolate box of delights with each one adding to a most wondrous phenomenon.

An absorbing magical experience here is a series that many readers will treasure and re-read for many years to come, that is totally matchless and distinctive. Whilst weaving your way through a complex labyrinth of an immense plot that is multi-layered, you cannot help but get lost within the saga and the pages of the book. If you want to read this particular genre at its very best, then I cannot enthuse enough about Steven Erikson's `the mazalan book of the fallen' series with House of Chains as my favorite book. It deserves huge praise and acclaim being totally incredible, that I urge you to discover if you have not already done so.

Memories of Ice for me, is my favorite book in the series. I enjoyed it the most. It had a huge cast of characters that meshed so well. Didn't seem forced. So now we revisit contents that happened in Deadhouse Gates and continue its story into House of Chains...

House of Chains flings you to a character that was in Deadhouse Gates that will effect the series for many books to come. Karsa Orlong. A chunk of the early part of the book catalogues him and his background and his doings and how he came about into the current happenings of the series. As time continues and the writer details his adventures it can definetly make you feel disgusted by him but than again root for him too. Due to his badass and hold holds barred act first question later mindframe. Strange huh ?

The story continues with Shai'k and Adjunct Tavores battles amongst eachother. The setting is still in the Holy Desert of Raraku where it will lead to a final showdown between them. Both are headstrong women who are confident and ambitious. Both sides bloodlust for eachother and know eachother all too well. There's history between Shai'k and Tavore. Shai'k has the upper hand with her Goddess by her side as well as commanders/mages that are very experienced. Yet, Tavore has her big guns too. primairly Quick Ben, Sinn and both wickans Nil and Nether.

Another part of the story is Crokus and Apaslar journey to Drift Avalii where they meet an Edur and more history is revealed about them. Up until now, the Andii have takes on a major role in the series and that will soon change because the Edur will splash into the series and take up a lot of content from here on out. Also, an older verison of Tiste names Tiste Liosan debuts in this book as well.

Another new character is introduced as well. Trull Sengar. He too will shape the series immensly in the books to come. He is a Tiste Edur and travels with a T'lan Imass named Onrack to The First Throne, yet nothing comes easy for them. Danger lurks beyond this world and means them much harm.

Also, Mapp and Icarium's friendship continues to flower and we begin to learn more and more little by little why Mappo is always at his side. Lets say he is to contain Icarium. Their story is very fascintating due to the bond they share in the series. Cant help but root for both fellas.

Overall the book was very interesting. It dives into new characters quite well. Karsa and Tavores storylines are what intrigues me the most. Continue on in this series..its only beginning to heat up.

Ok. After some stops and starts while reading this series, I have finally come to understand what it is about the Malazan novels that keep bringing me back. Plain and simply stated: They are uniquely interesting to this genre.

You see, recently I have been doing something I've never really done before which is to abandon a book without finishing it. For example, I tried to read Tad William's Dragonbone Chair. I tried to read the second book in Michael Sullivan's Ryria Revelations series. And while I will probably finish it, I find myself pausing while reading the Heritage of Shannara series by Terry Brooks. The reason is that compared to the Malazan series, these other books are too simple, too predictable, and the characters are just too wimpy.

House of Chains, the fourth book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series is another long novel at over 1000 pages. Even for a voracious reader like me, it takes a few weeks of time to get through. The first section of the book is about a character named Karsa Orlong, a warrior from one of the ancient races, which in my opinion represents some of Erikson's best character development to date. It was refreshing to have a span of 250 pages centered around just one character, because if you have read this series, you know that Erikson likes to skip around a lot. Karsa plan is to raid some nearby villages, but it turns out that Karsa has a larger destiny.

The rest of the book primarily deals with the aftermath of Deadhouse Gates (the 2nd book) and the conflict between the Whirlwind Forces of Sha'ik (Felisin Paran) against the Malazan force led by Felisin's sister Tavore (the Adjunct to the Emperor Laseen). This occurs in the desert Raraku. Of course, there are always peripheral stories playing out that one can assume will tie in later. And characters both familiar and unfamiliar pop in and out unexpectedly. I've noticed that there always seems to be a convergence of sorts (where a few of the plots come together) at the end of each novel. This is also true of House of Chains, although the ending is not as dramatic as the previous novel, Memories of Ice.

I've learned that you have to expect some slow pacing in these books, but in the end there is a payoff, if only in that you are exposed to a world that is not simple, not predictable and where the characters are not wimps. I'm looking forward to continuing this series because it is unique and interesting.

See my review of Deadhouse Gates for context if you wish.

Erikson's first book was a fun, if confusing fantasy novel. His 2nd book was a gore and rape filled horror slog through hell. I understand some of that was necessary for the point he was trying to make, but I felt it was over the top.

With the third and fourth books of the series he has finally found the balance he needs to bring all his elements together. He is still 1/2 horror novelist, 1/2 fantasy novelist, but the mix of these two elements comes more naturally and there is more humor, and pleasant characterization going on. The plot is intensely complicated, and each book adds even more characters to learn about. Read the other reviews for plot elements and such, but here are the few things you really need to know:
Erikson is a great writer of very complex stories. If you like world building you will be wildly impressed, but often confused!
He likes war, soldiers, strategy, gods and magic and the books are FULL of these elements
He dislikes romantic stuff. People do care for each other and there have been some meaningful story lines that have a relationship bent, but in general he avoids them. Even when it happens it is never "romantic"
He has a sarcastic and cutting sense of humor that I really enjoy

Try the first three books (you'll make it through the 2nd I promise... jsut keep going) and you'll know exactly what you're going to get.

Well, I've promised you Steven Erikson, and I am delivering you Steven Erikson. House of Chains is probably the hardest book in the series to get into. Once you make it past the first three to four hundred pages then the reading gets much easier. However, the first two hundred plus pages of the book are a painful introduction to Karsa Orlong, one of the best characters in the series - and one of the best examples of character growth that I have ever seen. That being said, if you don't hate Karsa in the beginning of this book, then there is something seriously wrong with you. When you have what amounts to a regular size novel all about a character you hate doing horrible things - well, it makes the book hard to get into. Honestly, I almost gave up on the series while reading House of Chains because I hated Karsa so much. Now, in Reaper's Gale, Karsa has become one of my favorite characters. Like I said, he is an amazing example of character growth.

Overall: 7.0/10

House of Chains is very difficult to get into. It is also one of the least memorable books of the series (in my opinion). In fact I think House of Chains is probably my least favorite book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. However, it is a necessary book. House of Chains introduces Karsa Orlong, one of the most important characters in the series, and develops the character of Icarium, another of the most important characters. House of Chains also ties up many of the plot threads opened in Deadhouse Gates and/or opens new ones to replace them. All in all, if you are going to read the Malazan Book of the Fallen you have to read House of Chains, and there is a lot to value in this book. However, it is not the most enjoyable book in the series.

Writing: 9.0/10

Erikson's writing is very wordy again. However, while I could tell that it was wordy, it didn't feel as wordy as it actually was...if that makes any sense. The writing throughout the book is generally strong, and it is difficult to read because of the content, not because of the writing.

Characters: 10/10

Alright, let me warn you now. You will HATE Karsa Orlong in this book. If you don't hate him, then you are a very twisted person - and it's me telling you this, so that should add a little emphasis to it, because I'm pretty twisted already. However, by the end of this book if you don't like Karsa, you will at least respect him. Karsa Orlong is one of the best examples of growth in a character to be found in the fiction market. The changes that his character goes through are not only completely real/believable, but also extreme. Add to this the fact that some of the best characters (i.e. Fiddler, Iskaral Pust, and Heboric among others) return in this novel, and you have a win in the character department. While I love Erikson's characters in general, this novel definitely stands out.

World: 9.0/10

You will see a little bit of Genabackis in House of Chains, but like Deadhouse Gates this novel takes place primarily in the Seven Cities. Seven Cities is one of my favorite locations in the world of Malaz, but most of House of Chains takes place in the desert, or in Raraku. Because of this, you don't actually see that much more of the Seven Cities than you do in Deadhouse Gates. However, you will get a much better picture of what it is like to be a part of the Malazan military.

Plot: 7.0/10

What can I say? House of Chains is pretty much about marching to a war that never happens, and Karsa Orlong turning from an evil S.O.B. badass into an awesome badass. This novel is necessary to understand the rest of the series, but it is generally about wrapping up old plots and opening new ones. House of Chains is a transitional novel that would not stand well on its own.

Pacing: 6.0/10

Like Memories of Ice, House of Chains moves back and forth between intense action, and very little action. When combined with the difficulty of reading Karsa Orlong' s beginnings, this makes it a novel that is easy to put down. That being said, it's worth it to keep going.

Commentary: 5.0/10

House of Chains opens a lot of questions, but it doesn't answer many. Again, this novel is primarily about character development, and moving the overall plot of the series forward. However, there is some commentary in it.

Conclusion:

While Memories of Ice was the most difficult book in the series to read, House of Chains is the hardest book in the series to not put down. It probably doesn't feel like there should be a difference between these two, but there is. Memories of Ice is a challenging book that makes you consider your preconceptions. House of Chains is a painful book, necessarily so, that exposes you to a lot of evil, and then allows you to watch as that evil turns into something good. While it is very easy to put this book down early on, it gets easier to read as you go - and it is worth it in the end.

The Malazan series redefines the meanings of "grand" and "epic" in fantasy- the scale of Erikson's endeavor is breathtaking.

Karsa Orlong's character arc (which gets quite a bit of screen time) was interesting to follow in this volume, and the reader isn't swamped with as many new characters as in the previous volumes. Erikson's books take a long time for the plot to build momentum--reading Memories of Ice sometimes felt like a long, wearing treck before reaching the thrilling resolution-- but by focusing on fewer plot threads, the Houe of Chains begins to "pay out" much sooner.

Yet while I'm enjoying these doorstopper novels, it is with a mild interest. The Malazan series certainly has a devout fan following, but it does not have a universal appeal for all fantasy readers. And if you've read the first three books of the series, you probably know whether or not you're a fan.

House of Chains is more tightly knit than its predecessors (despite its gargantuan size) and I've enjoyed it best of the four Malazan books I've read at this point. If you liked Memories of Ice and Deadhouse Gates, then you won't be disappointed by House of Chains. However, if reading the first 3000 pages of the Malazan series has been more of a chore than a pleasure, don't expect anything radically different from book four; rather, see if you like the writing of George R. R. Martin or R. Scott Bakker better instead.

This series is just amazing. I found the start of this book a bit tough, not because it wasn't good, but because Karsa is such a horrible person (and it was strange having the first 200 pages all his POV). Karsa just doesn't appeal to me even at the end I still dislike him.

I loved seeing more of Cotillion. He's starting to become one of my favorites. Here's one thing though that bothers me a bit about this series...Why do gods/ascendants need followers/servants. Why don't they just handle things themselves?

I know some people have an issue with the ending of this book, but I thought it was nice to not have another ending that caused me to be emotionally devastated for a week.

This is still a readable book but it is no where near as good as the first three books.
of the new characters, Tavore (and the surrounding cast) is a good character, but Karsa is just a horridly developed character. If you can get through multiple books where he is so badly created as a dumb (and evil) clone of Conan the Barbarian to the point where he develops even the slightest interesting personality, then you have my sympathy.
Half the book is good, but Erikson gets over enamored with his ability to create new cultures and he really loses his main talent which is mercenary fantasy. His scenes that don't involve military action are not nearly as good.

Still it is readable.

The Seven Cities plot is 4 Stars, the rest 2 Stars.

"House of Chains" started rather slow and I found it difficult to identify with the characters in the first 200 pages or so. These characters gradually became more palatable. That being said, it was the return of characters from the previous books that made this an enjoyable read for me.

Frankly, it was those original characters (the Bridgeburners especially but also the Daru characters) that made the first three books so engaging. As Erikson moves away from those characters, I find myself caring much less about the world he has created. So, while I did enjoy this fourth entry in the series, it has also made me somewhat reluctant to continue reading future entries. Erikson is capable of creating some extremely dynamic characters but he is also capable of creating characters at the opposite end of the spectrum.

This was a facinating and challenging read. If you're interested in reading House of Chains then I can only assume you've already read the first three books in the series (if not, turn back now and read those, don't attempt this without their background). This is the best book but most challenging book in the series yet. The book requires that recall quite a bit from the first three books and that you pay very close attention without getting bogged down in the scale of the book.

For me, House of Chains was worth the effort, it made me want to dismiss my other reading plans and read the entire series back to back. I felt some of the weaknesses of Erickson's writing in the earlier books had been cleaned up. Each time I picked up the book and read even a page I was quickly immersed in his amazing word.

As you already know this book follows Deadhouse Gates (Book 2), so you know where this book takes place. And it mentions events of Deadhouse Gates all the time, so do not read out of order.

When I first started to read this book I was thinking it would take me 2 months to read if not longer. Why you ask? Deadhouse Gates was good but slow, so I was not all that interested in the events in Raraku. But with the end goal of reading the whole series.... I started it. WOW it was a good book, keep my interest throughout the whole book. In the end I read it in just under one month.

Breakdown:
Begining ~ Nothing to do with Raraku, very entertaining.
Middle ~ A little slow, but with enough going on to hold your attention.
End ~ Best part of the book, you will learn a lot and its fun to read how everything falls apart.

If you have already read the first 3 books you will read this one, just be content to know that this one will keep you picking up the book everyday.

Enjoy!

I've read all the previous Malazan books but this one starts off significantly more brutal than all the other three combined. The story introduces you to a brand new character who is not exactly "the nicest guy in the world". I'm not a fan of reading about those kind of actions but they happen every day in our own world and it does provide some history for a very important character within the Malazan story. Still a great read if you love the Malazan series which I clearly do.

House of Chains continues the story of the Raraku Desert clash between Sha'ik and Adjunct Tavore, leading the ragged remnants of the Malazan forces back south after Coltaine's fall at Aren. Also, it spends the first 1/5th of the book introducing us to one bad-ass new player in the game, Karsa Orlong (he is renamed later in the book). Readers will remember him as one of Sha'ik's 2 bodyguards.
The story is good, but not gripping. My favorite characters - Anomaker Rake, Quick Ben, and Capt. Paran - aren't in this book to speak of. There is a slow & steady buildup to a final battle of sorts in the desert, but it's not nearly as captivating or emotional as the battle of Coral featured in book 3, Memories of Ice.
Still, the book is excellent, and demonstrates the continued poisoning of the world by the Crippled God. Definitely a fun installment to read!

In Northern Genabackis, the raiders leave the mountains to bring death and destruction to those lowlanders they hate residing in the southern flatlands. Amidst these brutal warriors is Karsa Orlong the Teblor who is unaware at this time he has just begun an odyssey that will spin into the middle of a future confrontation between the Malazan Empire and Sha'ik's Army of the Apocalypse.

Meanwhile some time in the future, Tavore, the Adjunct to the Malazon Empress, arrives at the Seven Cities, the last Malazan stronghold of Seven Cities. Her assignment is to turn a force of twelve thousand inexperienced former civilians into a powerful fighting force prepared to battle with the overwhelming armies of her sister, Sha'ik. Tavore herself lacks leadership experience so fears she is not up to the job as the enemy is so much more powerful. However, she does have a few experienced survivors from Coltaine's march, who she depends on to shape her soldiers so that they stand a chance when the latest hostilities in the hundred years of war heat up in the Holy Desert.

Series fans will be shocked by the long opening sequence as the fourth book of The Malazan Book of the Fallen stays with Karsa rather than the usual constant changing of the point of view. However, Steven Erikson reverts to form as the rest of the exhilarating story line is anything but linear. The key to this superior fantasy, as is the case with its predecessors is no one is 100 percent good or evil; instead readers understand motives on both sides of the conflict and feel for those caught in epic events. Though better to have read the previous entries, HOUSE OF CHAINS is a great entry in a terrific saga.

Harriet Klausner

With each book in the series I am coming to enjoy Erikson more and more. With House of Chains we see new characters and races introduced with ease, fitting perfectly within the story. With some authors inserting new characters, and more so races, slows the pace down and oftentimes makes the story disjointed and unreal, as real as fantasy can be that is. But Erikson does it with ease as the Teblor, Liosan and other people are introduced.

The beginning of the book is different than Erikson's normal style, but this is done just as well! As we watch the Teblor we feel that sense of awe at such a powerful character, we see the difference between the Teblor and everyone else. This is one of the reasons I enjoy Erikson so much because he is able to write about gods and goddesses, mages, warlocks and other larger than life characters and make them really and truly seem larger than life. His descriptions show us why they are as powerful as they are and we can believe it, which is the important element to making this work.

With House of Chains we see all of this. Especially with Karsa Orlong in the thick of things. One downside to this epic series that Erikson is creating is that there are so many characters and there is nothing to reference them. There is a list of characters in the back, but this is just that, a list. I oftentimes found I could not remember why such and such character is important from the previous books, or the myth or legend revolving around something. The book is still good, but I wish there was something to help the flow from one sweeping book to the next.

All in all, a definite recommend.

4 stars.

Need more details on the ascension of the bridgeburners.... Iskaral Pust, as good of a comedic relief as he may be, is hardly a good surrogate for Kruppe. I know more is coming... but there is a lot to be said about the combination of personalities in the previous books. I started the book completely loathing Karsa Orlong... but I have grown to admire him, then be completely ambivalent towards him. I think that speaks volumes about the author and his ability to develop characters. I've since started the next book, and feel awkwardly disappointed about the lack of continuity. Seeing a pattern in his style of writing, I'm confident he will tie everything up... but my lack of short term memory keeps me from progressing the storyline at a pace that suits my patience (I'm constantly referencing previous books). Never the less, I am immensely gratified by his work and look forward to some semblance of closure. Or at least I hope to... I've already bought the rest in this series!

This is the first of the Steven Erikson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series that I did not enjoy as much as the preceding ones... let me explain.

Unlike previous books in this series, (where there many short chapters introducing many different characters and multiple story lines), the "House of Chains" begins with a long section (263 pages) envolving one person and one theme. This particular character I did not really "bond" with; thus this first part of this book I found somewhat tedious and took me a long time to get through. After this initial slow beginning the author then reverted to his normal style of story telling and I found this much more interesting and I had that urge to get back to this book and read whenever I could.

The other area of concern (at least to me) was the ending; with so many characters in so many different places that I found it difficult to tell just what was going on, to whom and where events were happening.

All in all a good book 4, in this otherwise magnificent series; just not quite up quality of the previous three.

"House of Chains", the fourth novel in "The Malazan Book of the Fallen", begins chronologically during "Gardens of the Moon" then leaps forward after the prior novel. The series continues its disturbing spiral regardless of the exceptional authorship. Additional characters and races are incorporated in an already overwhelming saga.

The first part covers Karsa Orlong of the Uryd tribe, who has a troubling background and eventually becomes Sha'ik's bodyguard, as the archetypal pillaging, raping, and murdering anti-hero. A good portion later includes Strings as the other protagonist of interest. The greatest problem is how overpowered most characters are becoming. The playing field shifts every novel with ascensions and ancient powers released and unleashed on a mostly human world. I suspect the next book will have something to further top the power level already set.

The pitiful appendix is pretty much useless and the novel therefore will receive one less star. Given the abundant quantity of characters, an improved comprehensive appendix is necessary including racial characteristics, relating magical powers, and describing creatures.

Thank you.

In the 4th installment of the 10 volume epic fantasy series, Steven Erikson delivers his second strong novel. Memories of Ice was a drastic improvement of the previous two, and in House of Chains he once again improves his technical writing skills and characterization. Despite all this, the heart of the story got lost somewhere in all the different plots and subplots that were present. Not only that, Erikson decides to start the first quarter of the novel entirely from one point of view, which both frustrated and confused me.

House of Chains opens with introducing barbarian Karsa Orlong, who is destined for greatness. He is caught up in his own importance that he really comes across as an ass, and doesn't see how the world around him is changing. Of course, a lot of events are about to transpire that will force him to adapt. It was this first quarter I had the most problems with. Many people argue it is the tightest and most exciting section perhaps of the entire Malazan series, but I saw it differently. For the whole series, Erikson has been showing many different point of view characters with a multitude of subplots. This was a big reason why I got involved in the series. Switching like this so dramatically just seems to go against the very nature of the books. And unlike others, I found it the slowest section of the book. It was the classical "person living in a small village destined for greatness and learns a lot of things along the way" storyline that has been done so many times.

Things really start to pick up later when we meet Adjunct Tavore. She has been given the duty of taking a bunch of raw recruits and transforming them into an army. The mission is to head back into Raraku and destroy Sha'ik's army. As they march back into the desert, the entire army starts to see the legacy of Coltaine and his sacrifice in every step they take. Meanwhile, Sha'ik -- also known as Felisin, daughter of Tavore -- is struggling to hold her army together within the Whirlwind. Many different factions within the army are opposing each other to help move along their own plans. Other subplots include Apsalar and Crokus travelling to Drift Avalii to protect the Throne of Shadow from an unknown threat and a Tiste Edur and a T'lan Imass befriend each other and accidently release a few Hounds of Darkness (and you thought the Hounds of Shadow were tough!) in the process.

The story is at its best when it centers around the heart of the story: two sisters, leading their respective armies, to the inevitable fight. Tragedy is coming, and one sister will kill the other. This is what really drew me into the story. Unfortunately, this conflict gets lost in all the other things going on. A lot of time is spent with Karsa Orlong, probably too much time. The subplot with the Edur and T'lan Imass could never quite keep me interested, and there is no real resolution. Erikson spent many pages establishing their relationship simply as a set-up for future novels. I really enjoyed the plotline with Crokus and Apsalar. Cotillion makes many appearances this time around, and his presence starts to fracture the two's relationship. The Rope's very presence is haunting, yet suprisingly human at the same time. Many people complain of an anti-climax at the end of House of Chains. I must disagree. It was a climax of a different sort, but it was still there. And despite not enough time being given to the Tavore-Felisin impending doom, it was still fairly emotional when the two meet. This speaks to Erikson's growth as an author, as I didn't feel that emotion with Whiskeyjack's death in Memories of Ice even though he spent a lot more time with that chracter.

Erikson once against ties up a lot of the plotlines while leaving many still open. Trull Sengar still has a story to tell, Cotillion sends some people out on a mission, and a few antagonistic characters are still around. It is good to see Erikson is able to effectively convey a full story while still leaving things open for the future. Oh, and The Crippled God is back yet again. With each novel, the Gods seem to play a larger role.

Despite a slow beginning (I heard he wrote that section purely for egotistical purposes) and perhaps a plotline too many, House of Chains is still a good volume in the Malazan series. It isn't quite as good as Memories of Ice, but much better than Gardens of the Moon or Deadhouse Gates. I look forward to reading Midnight Tides!

3.5/5

Erikson returns to the Raraku Holy Desert with House of Chains as Sha'ik (Felisin Paran) has her army set to face an invasion by the Malazan Empire with an army led by her sister, the Adjunct Tavore Paran. Tavore does not know that her sister is now the leader of the whirlwind, all Tavore knows is that Felisin is no longer in the prison mine Tavore left her in. Tavore sets two agents to find Felisin's path.

But before we can get to the story about the impending battle between the Whirlind Goddess and the Malazans Erikson opens with an entirely new character: Karsa Orlong, a Teblor Warrior. For the first couple hundred pages we follow Karsa as he leaves his village with two warriors under his command and through his success and rare defeats he grows stronger (you know all those heroes from legend and other novels from other authors? Karsa is likely greater than all of those combined) and stronger and then we realize that Karsa is with Sha'ik as a bodyguard and that Erikson was bringing us up to speed in how this great warrior became part of Sha'ik retinue.

As the fourth book in a series most authors would let us follow the same group of characters from book to book but Erikson opens up new characters and new settings and makes them feel real and distinct and raw. At the start I wondered who this Karsa Orlong character was and why I should care, but after a while I was wrapped in his story. This man, this Teblor, may legitimately challenge a God. Or several gods.

Erikson would never limit the scope of his novel to simply two events. Oh, no! We have the Karsa Orlong Story, A Claw and a Red Blade searching for Felisin, a new T'lan Imass and a Tiste Edur on some sort of quest with an unknown goal, a Malazan sergeant named Strings on the march with the army heading to Raraku and oh yeah, Strings happens to be the Bridgeburner Fiddler, the Bridgeburner assassin Kalam heading towards the desert, Apsalar and Crokus (from Gardens of the Moon) questing for the Throne of Shadow and then set on something else, Ascendents, Intrigue in the leadership of Sha'ik's following, Shai'ik's adopted daughter Felisin the Younger, the fallout of the massacre of the Chain of Dogs (Deadhouse Gates), and the Fist Gamet.

Phew. It is tiring to try to list everything that Erikson is doing with House of Chains and this is standard for one of his novels. There is even more to the book but to go into greater detail would ruin some of the pleasure in discovering what is going on and what we think is going on, and what the characters suspect might be going on. It's crazy.

It's also a damn good novel. I tend to prefer the ones which have a greater emphasis on the Bridgeburners (Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice) so the Fiddler / Strings and the Kalam sections were the most interesting here (besides something at the end which I absolutely will not get into), but Erikson is spinning a story so vast that it takes several hundred pages to grasp what he is doing with this individual novel let alone with the series and how it connects with the previous novels and possibly the future novels. One could argue that Erikson needs an editor badly, but everything in the novel is building to something else and we just may not realize it until much later. There is also a real pleasure in reading these epic tomes of The Malazan Book of the Fallen and seeing how Erikson is fitting the puzzle pieces together.

Normally I have no intention of going back and reading an entire series, let alone one which each volume is at least 600 pages and is projected to be ten volumes, plus several novellas, plus another five by a second author who helped Erikson create this world, but I think that I would read earlier events differently knowing what happens later (and in some cases earlier because Erikson messes with some chronologies, like the early Karsa chapters are set even before Deadhouse Gates but the later chapters are set after Memories of Ice). This is an impressive work of fantasy.

-Joe Sherry

Steven Erikson, House of Chains (Tor, 2002)

Steven Erikson and George R. R. Martin released Memories of Ice and A Storm of Swords, the third massive novels in their respective fantasy series, within a year of one another. Both turned out to be one of the best books released in their respective years, and solidified the two series as two of the foremost works in the genre.

Martin took five years to deliver novel number four (and, as of this writing, novel number five is nowhere in sight), and it turned out to be, in the eyes of most critics (and not an inconsiderable number of his fans), a vast letdown after the brilliance of the first three novels. Erikson, on the other hand, delivered book number four less than eighteen months later, and The Malazan Book of the Fallen (which is unfortunately the victim of a long and completely inexplicable lag in publishing in America; House of Chains is newly-released in America as of November 2006, while England and Canada will be seeing book seven in April 2007) just kept roaring along at the same breakneck pace.

The disparate threads that have been explored in previous novels are beginning to come together now, as what's left of the Bridgeburners, the Malazan's army on Genabackis, and Sha'ik's Army of the Whirlwind all move towards collision for very different reasons. The Tiste Edur and T'lan Imass, who have been bit players throughout, get a little more exploration here, and we're introduced to the Tiste Liosan, the light-aspected brothers of the Edur and the Andii. As always, there's a vast web of plots, subplots, sub-sub-plots, and farther on down the line at work here, not only in Erikson's structuring of the book but in the motivations of his characters, as well. Sometimes it's hard to believe that in Erikson's cast-of-thousands universe, there's a single character on whom Erikson hasn't written a full biography in his notes. It's the attention to detail that makes these books so fantastic, and fantastic it is. This is another incredible novel. If you haven't made Erikson's acquaintance yet, you owe it to yourself to do so. **** ½

This is a tale of two armies.
In the aftermath of Coltaine's death, the Adjunct Tavore must lead her rag-tag collection of soldiers into Raraku, the holy desert, in hopes of defeating Sha'ik's dreaded Army of the Apocalypse. Her army is uneasy. They are a patched together group of raw recruits, hoary old veterans and the broken survivors of Coltaine's army and they know nothing of the Adjunct, seeing her as untried and aloof.
In the meantime, Sha'ik is beset within her own army. The wily Korbolo Dom and his triumphant Dogslayers are the backbone of her fighting forces, yet they have their own agenda. The High Mages Bidithal and Febryl can't be trusted but they are necessary for Sha'ik's plans. Betrayal seems imminent from all sides. And Sha'ik herself is in turmoil as the Goddess of the Whirlwind and Felisin battle for the soul of the person they both inhabit.
The two armies meet one fateful night and two sisters will clash. Only one will remain standing.
While the two armies prepare for their monumental clash, we travel the journey of discovery with a remarkable warrior named Karsa Orlong. We watch as Lostara Yil, one of the formidable Red Blades, and a Claw named Pearl set out on a task set for them by Adjunct Tavore only to be horrified and saddened by what they discover.
This is the fourth book of the Tale of the Malazan but it picks up the thread of the story that ends in the second book, The Deadhouse Gates.
I had a hard time getting into this book at first because the first 200 pages details the exploits of a seemingly unknown warrior named Karsa Orlong. The events told actually pre-date the events of the first book of the series. As Karsa's story begins to unfold we start to catch up with the current time in the series. And as this first section ends, we realize that we have already met Karsa Orlong in the previous books, only by another name.
As is his M.O. with this series, Erikson starts slow but kicks into stride as the book moves along and we get to "current" events and the imminent clash of the two armies. Felisin, who had become hard and vengeful in book 2 as a result of her feelings of betrayal by her sister and the horrors she experienced as a slave, seems to be trying to find something of the old Felisin as she struggles with the Goddess. Erikson does a wonderful job conveying the suffocating atmosphere of distrust and imminent betrayal in Sha'ik's army while at the same time allows the slow coming together and gelling of Tavore's army. And there are great moments of soldier humor studded throughout the book.
Winding throughout is a bit more deep background of the beginnings of the Malazan Empire with Kellanved. Rope is portrayed as surprisingly human despite the fact that he's a God. And we get to watch (and mourn again) as people learn about the demise of the Bridgeburners.
Even though this is a good book to read, it was somewhat disappointing following the magnificent drama that was the third book, Memories of Ice. But the ending is spectacular (another of Erikson's M.O.s with this series) and once again is heartbreaking and leaves one with the astonished realization that he has managed to turn your assumptions or expectations of a character completely around and in a very realistic way.
Not the very best of the series, but still very good and better than many other books being written in the genre.

Fantasy writers tell usually tales about power , quests and the eternal struggle between good and evil .
G.R.R Martin is not .
S.Erikson is not either .
There is a dark poesy in this series that takes you and carries you along .
Every character is a world in itself .
Let us not be mistaken , there is a lot of action and it IS an epic tale with a huge scope and a highly detailed world .
But Erikson somehow succeeds to give to each and every character a unique greatness .
There are no flat , mindless characters (like f.ex Goodkind's Rahl who is so stereotypical that it borders on parody) , the people you meet here are like nothing you have ever seen .
By any means , read it and have an experience that will make you wanting much more of S.Erikson .

No mas...struggled with Gardens of the Moon, but recognized the potential. Found enough enjoyment with Deadhouse Gates to continue, but the magic confused me and the constantly shifting perspectives/alliances/timeframes lost me. Still, when there was clarity, it was fantastic. Loved Memories of Ice, even when it got so manic it gave me a headache. Really enjoyed the first part of House of Chains (Karsa's story) because it was linear and engaging. But, as I started the second half of the book, and was re-introduced to characters from Deadhouse Gates, and forced to recall minor incidents from each of the previous books, and once again forced to make sense of the incomprehensible magic (what is with the deck of cards????)...I realized the series had shifted from escapism to labor. George RR Martin introduces tons of characters and multiple perspectives, but he is more skilled at keeping the plot tight and comprehensible and connected. Erickson is all over the place...moments of brilliance weighed down by byzantine plot threads. Too much mental energy required for fantasy. For a while, I couldn't quit. Now, I'm done.

The Malazan books are too complex and I get lost. Even though I'm on the 4th book I don't really know what's going on. I gave the book 4 stars because the writing is great and I enjoyed the experience of reading it. There were some scenes in this book and previous books that were so moving that while the storyline is lost in a fog, the emotional impact sticks with me.

If you are a casual reader, you may want to skip this series altogether. If you don't mind investing some time (and a little research) this series is worth your while.

I'm more of a casual reader to I don't know when I'll break down and stuggle through the 5th book in the series.

Steven Erikson is hardly known here in the states, where he's yet to publish, but his four fantasy novels are unequivocal modern classics. "House of Chains," the newest entry in the long-winded "A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen" series, continues the fascinating saga.
Fans of Jordan and Martin will be wowed by Erikson's epic, sweeping narrative and complex plots. Stephen R. Donaldson is quoted on the back of House of Chains, and for good reason. Comparisons could also be made to Glen Cook's "fantasy-noir" style, and other postmodern fantasy/scifi authors who effectively blur the lines between notions of good and evil.
Erikson's world is endlessly complex, replete with thousands of societies, deep history, vast geographies, and unique magic. There is plenty of humor, a fair amount of gore, and constant action. And an important, unavoidable facet of Erikson's writing style is that he challenges the reader. He doesn't deliver stock characters and cliched, predictable plots on a silver platter.
Start with "Gardens of the Moon," and order from the store.co.uk if you must. Fingers crossed, Erickson will publish domestically, and all of those weak, poorly written, hackneyed derivative juvenile fantasy books currently choking the shelves of your local bookstore will be swept aside.

For those of you out there that still subscribe to the "Tolkien is God" theory of Fantasy, this book probably would drive you insane. While the sheer mass of the book and the number of characters are reminicent of the Lord of the Rings, that is where the comparison ends. Nowhere in Erikson's work will you find an elf, a dwarf, a dark lord, or a downtrodden youth turned hero. What you will find is a deliciously dark story full of courage and cowardice, complex and extremely flawed characters, and a plot line that moves with the feeling of the Fourteenth Army. There are no "good guys" in shining armor. Even the heroes are twisted, pulled by the forces of the greater struggle facing the Malazan Empire. Even the pantheon of "gods" in the book are strikingly ambiguous in their alignment. There is no good god, but those that we meet and get to know become strikingly human. There is no better example than Cotillion, the patron god of assassins, who becomes almost devestated when he is forced to use children to defend the Shadow Throne and also when he accepts the return of Apsalar.

For those that would say that the first 200 pages that chronicle the exploits of Karsa Orslong are a weakness to the story, I would have to say that I initially felt the same way. After reading the rest of the book, I have since changed my mind. Although he is not my favorite character (that distinction would have to go to Ganoes Paran or Fiddler), he has become an important part of the story.

Although this is not the best book in the Malazan series (that would have to be either Memories of Ice or The Bonehunters), this book gives important background into the mind of the Crippled God, as well as gives the "humanity" of Cotillion and Shadowthrone.

The sheer scope and magnitude of this tale is staggering, which is what makes the emotions run so strong at the climactic moments, the characters and their fates so important to Erikson's readers, and the grand tale he unfolds so stirring and powerful. Mr. Erikson, I salute you. And I can't wait to start Midnight Tides.

Love this series. This one started slow for me, but likely that was more my fault that the author's... Seemed to me that there was a more consistent theme in this book (being called House of Chains), however I admit that I wasn't exactly seeking that type of unifying theme in the others. Very enjoyable read!

House of Chains (2002) is the fourth Fantasy novel of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, following Memories of Ice. In the previous volume, Lieutenant Picker blamed herself for the Bridgeburner deaths in Coral. Anomander Rake walked with his allies to Itkovian's funeral, where the survivors buried the body beneath a cairn of gifts. The Bridgeburner dead are entombed in the sinking Moon's Spawn and Captain Paran blessed them.

The Mott Irregulars got their table back. Jib Bole and his brothers announced that they would be visiting Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. Gruntle suggested to Anaster that he relax and go with the flow. Anaster met Tool again, but did not recognize him in his restored body. Dujek Onearm released the company's back pay to the Bridgeburner survivors and they opened K'rul's Bar in Darujhistan. Duiker told the story of the Chain of Dogs on opening day.

In this novel, Karsa Orlong is a young warrior in the Uryd Tribe of the Teblor. He has grown up listening to his grandfather Pahlk's stories and relishes their glories. Of course, he is ashamed of his own father Synyg's unexceptionable actions. Karsa would follow the path of Pahlk, leading his followers on a raid against the "children" of Silver Lake.

Karsa pledges himself to the Faces in the Rock, then joins Delum Thord and Bairoth Gild. He expects Dayliss to see him off, but she blesses Bairoth instead. His father gives his prized destrier Havok to Karsa, but refuses to bless him. After Karsa leaves, Synyg orders Pahlk out of his tent and never to return.

The path to Silver Lake passes through the territories of the Rathyd and Sunyd Tribes. Karsa leads Delum and Bairoth to the Rathyd lands and wreaks havoc as they go. Yet they find puzzling signs of older raids and abandoned villages in the Rathyd area and then only evidence of death and destruction in the Sunyd lands.

In this story, Karsa discovers that his grandfather is known to the other Teblor tribes and even to the folk of Silver Lake, but not as a raider. Pahlk has embellished his tales with deeds of prowess and violence that never occurred. Karsa also discovers that the Teblor are much larger than the inhabitants of Silver Lake, but loses both Delum and Bairoth to these "children".

Moreover, Silver Lake is now the location of a large town rather than just a farmstead. The Silver Lake inhabitants have raided the Sunyd and Rathyd tribes, taking the survivors as slaves. Moreover, the town is now within the Malazan Empire and is occupied by Malazan troops.

At Silver Lake, Karsa is captured and enslaved, becoming the property of Slavemaster Silgar. Karsa escapes, but is fated to have more encounters with Silgar. Eventually, the two find themselves in the Holy Desert of Raraku in the Army of the Apocalypse under Sha'ik, the Chosen One.

This first part of this tale is the backstory of Karsa prior to becoming a bodyguard of Sha'ik. The tale then merges with the story of Felisin Paran from Deadhouse Gates and her assumption of the role of The Chosen One. It then continues on to Felisin's encounter with her sister Tavore, Adjunct of the Malazan Empire.

This story expands the mythology and history of this world and advances the tale of the Malazan Empire on Genabackis. It includes various characters from the previous books, including the Claw assassin Pearl, Lostara Yil of the Red Blades, and some survivors of the Bridgeburners. It also introduces Onrack, the Broken One of the Logros T'lan Imass, and Trull Sengar of the Triste Edur.

Highly recommended for Erikson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of imperial politics, rebel conspiracies and ambitious godlings.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This collosul work continues and as with the previous three titles, I devour it. I delight in it and marvel at the talentof Erickson as he spins an unforgetable tale.

I understand that the series will continue but I would put a bookmark here and reread the first four consequetively so as to keep the characters fresh in your mind at all times because sometimes they fade away only to explode onto the scene as somewhat of a person requiring re-introduction.

If you enjoy good literature and want to enter into a "Fantasorical"[my word and not in the dictionary but I think it is the only way to describe Mr.Erikson's work and vision] saga. This one is a must for you!

For those of you who have made it this far, you can't turn back now. The story grows more complex and tragic from here on out, but it is some of the best fantasy that I have ever read. The characters are interesting and much of what goes on is just fun to read about. If you are struggling keeping up with who everyone is and what they are about then you are normal, but isn't it so interesting?

I am a huge fan of Fantasy and these books are definitely in my top 5 series.

Steven Erikson is, without a doubt, my second favourite writer (first being Tolkien), and he sometimes equals and surpasses the Master (and that says a lot, coming from me).
The story is, yet again, solid and intriguing, and many of the questions that were raised in the first three books have been answered (thank god), while we are left with a pile of fresh ones (thank god). Steven Erikson's work is a puzzle: when you start reading, you have no idea what you're reading. It's like you have begun reading the complete History of Earth, and started somewhere in the middle.
Erikson's world is incredibly well developed, and both the mythology/pantheon(which play an active part) and the landscape, feel very real, and give the suggestion of immense depth.
The characters are as we hoped and expected them to be. Solid, funny, and believeable.
As in the second book, the (sub)continent on which most of the action takes place is Seven Cities. That means, a lot of knives, dust, sand and blood.
If you liked parts 1, 2 and 3, you'll definately love House of Chains.
And mr. Erikson, keep it up ;)

This book continues the tale where it was left off in the second book and leads us through to the meeting of forces in the holy desert of Raraku. The pace is fast and the characters memorable. Although it can be read as an individual book I would strongly recommend reading the series in the published order:-
1) Gardens of the Moon
2) Deadhouse Gates
3) Memories of Ice
4) House of Chains
The reason (apart from it being one of the best series I have ever read, see the reviews and ratings 4.5-5 stars each!) is that to gain the maximum enjoyment you need to understand the characters which have been built up over the previous 3 books into some of the most memorable I have the pleasure to experience. Fiddler and his love of explosive munitions, which he uses too close to allow his squad to feel comfortable.
A number of new characters that played small rolls in the previous books are brought to the fore as we see the interlacing of stories that helps explain some of the previous unexplained questions from previous books but also raises new ones. The best thing is that the story lines are separate but interlaced in a way that actually closes some of your unanswered questions! Unlike some series.
I am eagerly awaiting the 5th book, that I will undoubtedly buy as soon as it appears

House of Chains taught me that although Steven Erikson is easily one of the best writers (not just in fantasy) working today, he is not perfect, but that's OK. In fact, I loved this novel right up until the somewhat anticlimactic ending that, to me, was nowhere near as earth-shattering as those of the previous entries in the series. (OK, Gardens of the Moon's ending wasn't earth-shattering but at least it was *satisfying*) Overall, I think this was the weakest book of the series so far. The most worrisome aspect is that a large portion of the book (after the highly engaging extended introduction to Karsa Orlong; I actually liked his scenes the best) deals with the armies of Team Malazan and Team Apocalypse preparing for the final thrown-down between the two forces. Luckily, where most other authors (perhaps with the initials R.J.) would turn this into dreary drek of the worst order, Erikson is able to make the endless marching and psychological preparation for impending battle (on both sides) readable material, but only barely. Further weakness arrives in the form of a dull subplot involving top-notch Claw assassin Pearl and Red Blade Lostara Yil and their secret mission for Adjunct Tavore. Ultimately, Pearl and Yil serve little purpose except to provide a gratuitous (if not graphic) sex scene and provide somewhat for the circumstances of the story's let-down ending. The POV scenes for High Fist Gamet, a typical "I'm Getting Too Old for this ****" veteran, are also uninteresting and pretty much go nowhere. Also, a few principal characters undergo name changes, i.e. Crokus becomes Cutter, Fiddler becomes Strings, Karsa Orlong becomes... well, you'll see. I didn't really see the point of this, except in Karsa's case. Also, the epilogue and final lines of the novel bordered on the incomprehensible and had me saying "huh?" but maybe it just went over my head. I did enjoy, as I said, Karsa's storyline, as well as the buddy cop-esque rapport of Trull Sengar the exiled Tiste Edur and Onrack the similarly exiled T'lan Imass. And of course Kalam Mekhar is back and kicking tail in fine form, and with no (permanent) name change! Ultimately there were more pros than cons so wasn't bad enough to make me lose faith in Erikson and I have already pre-ordered Midnight Tides and I am eager for it's release.

This book is not as good as the last one, which was unbelievable.
this book as a very slow and boring start, and I just wanted it to end! but I got used to it in the end, and now I can see why it was impotent.
a great tale from the best fantasy author alive.

Over thepast few years I;ve become disenchanted with fantasy novels. It seems you can;t buy a single novel- they all come in trilogies! And the quality of writing overall has declined. Not so with Steven erickson's Malazan Books of the Fallen. Each book in the series has proved to be excellent- better than the last. As always Erickson fills his books with unforgettable characters and multiple storylines. The only bad thing is...there's only one more book in the series available- after that, cold turkey.

Good read!

This wasn't as good as Memories of Ice, or as good as the next book in the series Midnight Tides. It however was still a pretty good book, better than most fantasy offerings.

Erikson is tops, I cant say enough good things about this author or his series

If you like your fantasy with a strong sense of gritty reality ,where the magical elements are seamlessly integrated with the more mundane aspects, and which reads like very well written historical fiction, then you will love Steven Erickson's THE MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN, of which THE HOUSE OF CHAINS is the fourth book. Like Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, Erickson will have me waiting for each new book as it comes along. There is a dark tone here which reminds me of C.J.Cherryh's FORTRESS and WORLD GATE series also. All in all it my favorite, most satisfying kind of fiction.

This is the 4th book in the Malazan series. This is the book that introduced one of my favorite characters in the Malazan series, Karsa Orlong. He makes a grand entrance and does not let up. Any fan of Erikson will love this book.

awesome. do yourself a favour and get into this series. Erickson will throw you for a loop every time. And he actually seems to be sticking with his publishing deadlines. A massive series filled with horror, brutality, darkness and war but also humour, faith, hope and awe. This is a great 4th book that leaves you dying for the 5th.

I loved the first book of the series, Gardens of the moon. Unfortunately each new book is a little bit less then the previous one, and this one is the worst of the 4 i've red so far.

First, how annoying is it to have new major charachters in ever single book? What's the point of sequels if i have to deal with hundreds of boring pages that bring new charachters to life over and over again? By the time you reach the forth book of epic fantasy, it's inexcuable.

Second, since Deathhouse gate the story drags to much. The whole books consist of one little element that is streched thru enitre book, at the end of which only 10% of developed polots are concluded, making you feel like an idiot for reading 800 pages to find out almost nothing - pretty cheap trick from Mr. Erikson to ensure a million sequels. In which the same thing starts over again.

And finaly, since Gardens of the moon, there has been to much characher's invards thoughts, particularly consiting of cheap philosphy. Do we really need that in fantasy books? The whole series it starting to get a little bit to "outthere", to apstract, almost like he's losing touch with ceirtan forms of reality that are desirable in fantasy. Wonder if he'll come up with a fifth race now, that is even more ancients than the already superpowerfull ons that followed them.

This book is the first where i actually started to skip pages because it was to boring and pointless...i knew i wouldn't miss anything since the story drags so. Well, the whole Mhybe thing in the third book was wreched as well, but there were other charachters that more than made up for it.

Those are the bad things, however there is a lot of good things that continue over from previous books so by now you should know them. Overall i love this series and will place an order for books 5&6, hoping they will be as good as book number 1, or at least not as bad as book number 4. Thou i was shocked some people dare compare it to Martin. We need faster turn of events with less dancing around the subject, charachters we love on regulars basis, less introspection of such constant basis and more substance and conclusion per book. Then we can talk about this series being a contender for top3 places of modern epic fantasy.

Lots of layers to the book, very intricate plots, lots of story lines firing off and have no idea how they will all link back but as with the other books you know some will be left dangling while the rest will come to a monumental conclusion. Only 1/2 way through but at this point am completely hooked.

What I liked about this book was the part dealing exclusively with Karsa. I got as strong a sense of wonder as in fiction like Conan, Death Dealer or The Chosen (The Stone Dance of the Chameleon). If you're estrogen heavy then I don't suppose you'd like it much, otherwise it's a must read.

The rest of the book is tedious.

After the snivelling stupidity of the previous two efforts, and the total lack of purpose, character and story that was Gardens of the Moon, Erikson has finally written a Malazan Tale that I'm not throwing at the wall every ten minutes in rage and frustration.

It's still all preachy about post-Modernist, pseudo-Marxist values in a faux-medieval fantasy realm where everyone has the right to bear arms, the right of free assembly, the right to free speech (including the right to sneer at and insult the "nobleborn" to the point of physical violence and beyond without fear of consequence), women in iron armour having equal status and efficiency in combat forces and so forth without any legal basis, constitutional government, "rule of law" or enforcement, let alone any idea of the physical strength required for military combat service in a pre-industrial context.

The idea that medieval nobility were the military, scholarly and political class and trained as warriors from the age of seven, had the good diet to build up strength and so forth - and would basically wipe the floor with any of the malnourished-from-birth street-scum and field-hands Erikson so favours - does not register with the post-Modern fantasy writers, in which all "nobleborn" (unless they hate themselves) are arrogant, stupid, incompetent, traitorous and weak for no other reason than to highlight the author's pseudo-Marxist contempt of the concept of "nobleborn" removed from its historical context.

Despite all this, and the superhero characters and gods that can leap tall buildings or get rescued from nowhere whenever the author needs them to for his comic-book . . . uh, story, House of Chains is not 1000 pages of whining self-pity like Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice, with storylines so ridiculous they are unbelievable even for fantasy - at least so far.

So I am writing a positive review of this book, because it is significantly better than the previous ones, before it all goes to hell, as I expect it will.

This effort does have some structure and sense of purpose, and one actually responds, in however trivial a fashion, to the Paran sisters and the news of their brother from Genabackis. I'm actually curious for the first time how the relationship of Cutter (Crokus) and Apsalar will work out. The absence of Kruppe (how tempting to alter that `u'!) is always a positive in any Malazan book, although the annoying Iskaral Pust has just appeared.

So if you are used to the absurd Malazan realm and don't mind the sophomoric post-Modernist activist philosophy spouted by every harlot and fisherman encountered, House of Chains isn't too bad a read. At least, so far.

I have thoroughly enjoyed each of his novels, and THe House Of Chains is no exception. He continues his unique blend of fantastic, almost poetic prose and uses it to convey the gritty realism of a bloody and violent war.

This book is essentially split two parts: The emergence of Karsa Orlong (200 pages, basically an extended prologue) and an extension of the events that take place directly after book 2, The Deadhouse Gates (800 pages).

The extended prologue introduces/elaborates on the back story of a new character to the series which we encountered briefly in book 2 under a different name. Erikson loves to change people's names. It's an awesome and very creative writing device...sarcasm intended. In just 4 books Surly became Laseen, Dancer became Cotillion, Dassem Ultor became Traveller, Kellanved became Ammanas, Crokus became Cutter, Sorry became Apsalar, Fiddler becomes Strings, and Karsa Orlong became....well you get the idea. I guess that in Erikson's world the path to ascendancy requires that a bunch of cool magic crap happens to you (normally out of circumstance rather than intent/ambition), and you change your name, it's just that easy.

That rant aside, the first 200+ pages of the book only serve to show that Karsa is a savage except (as Voren has noted in his review) when Karsa and his crew pillage and rape a neighboring village the women actually seem to enjoy/make the best of it. Oh yeah, and he's really big, strong, and a bad-ass with a really cool wooden sword. And he likes to kill children (smaller stature humans) for no apparent reason other than he seems to think that it brings him and his gods glory. Also the magic system just doesn't work. I've never read another fantasy novel where so many characters were hit with "a wave of sorcery". How very creative and descriptive. This reeks of fan fiction at its greatest...

Erikson should get credit for his ability to build worlds and create histories, but it seems with this installment he just seems to tack on random crap to the ever growing mythology of the Malazan world. I can't wait until the next book when he tacks on some race of people that are even older than the ancient founding races. Very clever. Instead of creating bunches of faceless, self-deprecating, angsty cardboard characters, Erikson would be better served to develop those characters that are central to the plot of the story. You know, so we actually care when they die, or when they get mortally wounded only to have a god magically show up and save their backside...how convenient!

Bailout mechanisms like this make reading this series ponderous. From the first 400 pages of the book you should probably be able to figure out all of the characters that will die, and all of those that will live. It's funny that those with actual motivations and ambitions are often the ones killed, but those that walk around for 800 pages feeling sorry for themselves generally survive.

The last 800 pages of the novel see to further the storyline of the characters Heboric, Felisin, Fiddler, and Kalam from the Deadhouse Gates, while at the same time give us new perspective from some new "good guys" Adjunt Tavore, Fist Gamet, and Loric. The only character that I found somewhat interesting was Loric, as he actually seems to have actual motivations and ambitions, even though he does whine and complain for several hundred pages about not being able to live up to his Ascendant father's expectations. Tavore and Gamet fall into typical fantasy character archetypes, namely the untested, unproven, and unorthodox leader for the former, and the grizzled, aged veteran, who's done being a soldier for the latter. Oh and Tavore is a lesbian, awesome, geeky fantasy boy's dream come true!

I guess that Erikson does have a particular audience to cater to. The more big bad-ass swords, ultra-powerful gods, gratuitous sex, and lesbians the better the book sales. Focus on real, human motivations probably doesn't appeal to the fantasy community as a whole, because lets face it, that's why we read fantasy. We need an escape from the real world where swords and magic are commonplace, because reading about real human motivations and elements only seek to shatter our fantasy dreamworld bubble.

So now that the pieces are set we're looking at a inevitable showdown between the Whirlwind Army (Felisin and Co.) versus the Malazan Army (Tavore and Co.) Also there's a bunch of Ascendants vying for power as the the armies march towards each other over the blasted desert wasteland of Raraku setting the stage for an inevitable convergence/smackdown! Where Erikson was brilliant at times in Memories of Ice when threading the story of the Malazan campaign with the motivations of the Ascendants, in House of Chains this is where Erikson falls flat on his face.

After 900+ pages of buildup, this novel arrives at an anti-climax where mostly a bunch of fringe characters you never cared about die, and most of the main characters almost die, but narrowly survive due to Ascendant interaction. There are also a bunch of WTF moments, especailly in the last 50 pages, were its rather unclear what just happened. I'm sure Erikson will explain it all through internal monologue in the next installment....which I won't be reading...

The second book in the Malazan saga, Deadhouse Gates, which this book is a continuation of, did not need to be written. All the conclusions of each plot thread were offered at the ending of the first book, Gardens of the Moon, which is: Seven Cities is beating the crap out of the Malazans. That's all. There was no need to witness a stereotypically savage Fist Coltaine (the Malazan term for Commander is Fist which unfortunately has no homoerotic undertones or comedic suggestions by anyone in the story so when people said, "Fist Coltaine," sometimes it sounded like a proposition as it does when people address the other uh...Fists...in this story) drag refugees across tons of battles looking bleak but ultimately fruitful because of Deus ex Machina's, only at the end to repeat the message again: Seven Cities is beating the crap out of the Malazans. Nor was there any need for Felisin's journey since all we learned was that Felisin is miserable and scarred from prostituting herself among other things, who would later get all her disfigurements cured from a magic desert ointment and become the rebel leader out of nowhere even though we already had a rebel leader rarin' to go. Icarium's journey was completely irrelevant to the point of comedy. Fiddler and Kalam forgave Empress Laseen as soon as she essentially said, "Hey guys I didn't try to have you killed ever since I took office it was...uh...let's be friends again! Yay!" and Apsalar and Crokus played no part except that we learned Apsalar was conflicted which for anyone whose read Gardens of the Moon (FYI on Apsalar: Learned she was possessed by a murderous God who stole several years of her life away), shouldn't be surprised.

House of Chains opens in much the same way. We are opened with the story of Karsa Orlong, a character briefly acting in Deadhouse Gates only under another name. After 200 pages of his travels leading to his position in the present we finally get along with the story. Or something resembling that anyway. Tavore Paran, Felisin's sister who sold her out to prove her loyalty to Laseen, ("She's not my sister. She's Adjunct Tavore now," Felisin said at one point, in the same cheesy comic book fashion where super villains renounce their old identities in an overdone event of evil followed by a DUN DUN DUN!) has arrived at Seven Cities to help the war effort against the rebels. Despite that she's young and untested as a military commander, sorry, Adjunct (Why that title anyway, which essentially means a lowly assistant as opposed to a respectable general title?), compared to other real soldiers the Empress has, she's sent as head of the Malazan forces stop Felisin where they will doubtlessly have an epic battle in the end. Said epic battle really was the whole point of Felisin. Oh and Tavore has a hot blonde lesbian lover. That got your attention, yeah?

Tavore's les-tastic relationship alone should make her more of a Fist than anyone but I digress.

Meanwhile Fiddler's back too to fight against the Seven Cities, all old enmities forgiven with Laseen in the blink of an eye meaning that all his old enmities with Laseen contained as much bile as the spit in your sink. Apsalar and Crokus are also back in town searching for, what else is there in this world, but magic power.

There is something disturbing in how despite all the world building of these books, every different culture and character personalities remain constant with each other. Everyone talks the same such in these ghastly dialogue cliches: "Here you could use a little...comfort." Or, "We will slaughter them...quickly." These are used so often even by hardened murderers who live and breathe blood and guts that the sheer silliness of its attempt at emphasis masks the other dichotomy of character stereotypes. Namely normal people filled with miserable soliloquies and zany characters talking in fashions that would render them psychos without a purpose if they didn't have super magic powers or they were hiding something. Close male friends actually refer to each other as friend like we need to be reminded or told. It's the fantasy equivalent of frat boys talking to each other with, "Sup brah! Wanna go hit some brewskis?" but since they're warriors who kill giant sharks, most people don't notice how shallow they are.

None of these characters have any normal convictions like trying to get a prestigious job or seducing the hottest girl in town, they're all miserable aphorisms because of long ago betrayals or tragedy like murder and rape (betrayals and murder and rape hardly being mutually exclusive) where everyone is sure to remind you about their angst. Everyone is joyless because if they're depressed enough, you won't notice how dull they are. Or if they do have normal convictions like Crokus's misguided infatuation in Gardens of the Moon, it's swept aside for more magic nonsense or tragedy because joy is nonexistent in Malazan. And zany people are zany because zany is fun, especially when they might have super duper magic powers behind them. It's all the depth of a cackling madman villain or cliché old witch characters without having the awareness or honesty to admit what it is. Cliché old witch characters also compose all of the female characters save main female characters and main female characters exist solely to be victimized, titillate the male audience, or both. The rare female strong independent characters are cold-hearted lesbians like Tavore. In spite of all this there are no screaming madmen who behead for fun except in the case of the cannibal army from book 3. But even those characters lacked dialect and had a rational leader even though we're dealing with the fantasy equivalent of Deliverance. Normal people become deified or watch their closest friends become deified with little to no reaction. This isn't realistic characterization, this is the odor of nerds arguing on message boards about how cool or strong Character X is where everyone important is or becomes a Character X (and that its X and not a boring letter like A or B makes all the difference in Malazan).

But you actually can't call the enterprise joyless because joyless requires the acknowledgment of joy at all. I can't not hate characters like Iskaral Pust who being solely defined by his quirks, talks like a gabby old woman screaming as loudly and obnoxiously as possible about other things happening while secretly planning things out related to Gods. What matters is not what he's planning but that he's planning something at all and that he screams like a gabby old woman while doing it! Same goes for other "charming" characters like Pearl (and what kind of name is Pearl for a friggin' guy anyway?) who when greeted by superior officers, take the time to showcase their fine tastes in wine and dick around, then get to the point to give the illusion they're not one-dimensional like the rest. I can't not hate Apsalar and Fiddler, two characters both deeply beset by personal demons who instead of grappling with their issues and showing that if they can't break free they can at least try to loosen their nooses and make progress in ordinary society or they return to their fates from misguided folly and pressure more than anything else. Instead they do the equivalent of running from a pack of bloodthirsty wolves and give up soon after. But that's not all, they go one step farther, throwing their weapons down, stripping naked, and running headfirst at the wolves only to become heads of the wolf pack out of nowhere. I can't not hate the internal dialogue that serve no purpose other than to reinforce character traits that we as readers in the hands of a good author should not need to be reminded of or situations where character traits are introduced via said monologues in the first place where instead of any real events showing that Bob is miserable we learn that Bob is miserable because he tells us he's miserable. Or the internal dialogue is purely for snark and everyone is snarky. I can't not hate the narrator devoting paragraphs to the characters' pasts or their feelings where their actions should show the latter and if the former is necessary, they'll come be announced via the story as opposed to the narrator screwing around. I can't not hate the rampant Deus ex machina's that admit the foolishness of this venture yet he treats the whole story seriously from top to bottom without any real humor or self awareness at the long monologues of angst or the inconsistent character archetypes. As a result those last childishly convenient events mentioned happening in the midst of a serious story come off as exceptionally surreal and the return to normalcy is no less jarring. The long serious monologues, the dark elves and ogres who aren't called dark elves and ogres, come off as faux and that becomes the whole gist of these books. A joke that's told too much and loses its effect where you start hate hating the one-trick pony comedian parroting it.

After all, the Malazan books are essentially con games relying on things like briefly mentioning things readers will forget while they read the book, like a wolf on page 3 who we later learn was not just a wolf but a wolf GOD and it was because he was there that all the zany stuff on page 3 happened. Nobody actually goes back and remembers these things because that would require the penning of every obscure detail such as someone's red shoes which we learn are magic if you clack them thrice and make a wish! Not that the pitiful attempt at complexity matters since it's all revealed anyway, just too late for you to care and if it's not revealed, you still don't care. Or characters like Iskaral Pust and Kruppe who are all persuasion but no content, where their "unique" personalities have the effect of a screaming infomercial salesman in a land of depressed old fogies which instead of livening things up has the effect of being in an insane asylum while hopped up on Valium. We continue listening to that infomercial guy because holy crap that snake oil might just cure my depression, in the same fashion that maybe, just maybe, we'll finally know what their game is if we dissect their dialogue hard enough despite no interesting personalities present to play the game. But conmen must give the idea they believe their con and Erikson refuses to commit.

Karsa's tale is particularly notable in this level of nonsense. He starts out as a tribal raider with a party of savages. There is no level of insight or science provided save exposition about their past for the sake of world building, some of it involving characters like Icarium and the Tellann Imass to cater reader interest. Certainly noble savages are just as vile a stereotype as plain out and out savages but there has been no sense of culture or real mythology in the societies shown. Rather cultures are either good or bad. As a result when coupled with the above complaint about the silly character stereotypes thrown throughout there is no real individuality or flair to anyone or anything. Horrible actions like murder and rape are given criminal treatments, particularly when Karsa conquers another town and decides to bed every single woman. What should be shown as rape instead comes off as misogyny, suggesting that women love any and all men even though the context paints it otherwise and the dialogue to the marauding men of their village is tame. There's no hint of any trauma involved save the narrator telling us that Karsa, "brought grief to her soul," or something like that, instead of showing her in pain. Even though she was making witticisms about Karsa's erect genitalia two sentences before and showed no fear, now she's in pain. What should come off as horrific has no effect at all. And of course none of this is relevant to the actual story except for brief mentions of other characters and events for world building purposes or for giving background to a character that in the hands of this inept author, needs 200 pages to accomplish such a trifling task.

Speaking of incapable writing, I read Karsa's opening story and the opening chapter of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury side-by-side. The former concerns a tribal raider attacking villages and beheading sharks where the latter involves the first-person perspective of a retarded man simply making observations around him of, among other things, his pseudo-incestual feelings for his sister and seeing his mother go insane. Surprise, surprise, The Sound and the Fury was more fun to read.

It's simply just random nations and people doing random actions. The Gods are one-dimensional cliches without personalities whose competition for power is all they care about and every God has a beef to pick with the other but you don't know what or why. You don't ever see Gods actually competing with each other or showing how petty they really are which would be helpful given the series' contempt for the Gods. There are no distortions of what the Gods traditionally represent, like how a God of wisdom might make laughably stupid mistakes in contrast to his otherwise brilliant nature. As a result they're as memorable as squabbling kids who you don't pay attention to and as a result, all you hear is their crying to themselves but nothing else.

I noticed that much of this critique applies equally to the other books and that I've had similar qualms with the last three. That's the problem. Once you've read one of these books you've read them all. There's no reason to read anymore because everyone is a sweltering pot of angst or a loon for no reasons other than stuff happened. It doesn't matter what stuff happened or why stuff happened, no, what matters is that stuff happened. And stuff continues happening because stuff happened and if you learn why stuff happened, then that's no oasis, it's just more stuff happening. Like Deadhouse Gates in its entirety and the majority of these mammoth sized books, it's a waste of time. Funnily enough there is nothing you'll miss out on by skipping any "important" details that happen along like how So-and-So in Book 2 died and went on to be reincarnated as a GOD in this book (Wow cool! the fan things say to themselves even if they don't know it.), because, it's just stuff happening and even expected. Didn't know the character? Don't worry, Erikson will make sure the other characters whine enough and talk about the new character and their times with the old iteration, the latter reminiscing constituting everything there was to the emotional depth of the character's time in Book 2, so much that you'll realize bonding and friendships in Malazan is the Big Lie: If you tell something to somebody enough, they'll start believing it.

Some critics of the latest book Toll the Hounds accuse of it artistic excess like hundreds of pages devoted to the thoughts of an ox. If so, then I can only imagine people are upset because Erikson has finally conceded that this is a jest with the gentleness of your wife emailing you videos of her cheating on you while laughing that she only married you for your money. That scenario isn't far from the author's real motivations I imagine.