Toll the Hounds: Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 8

The eighth book of this ten book series was a catastrophe! A horrendous mess and challenging to read, agonizing. The book launches with new characters, surprise, surprise! This book begins in the town of Darujhistan. The city has defied the Malazans. The Reaper’s Gale started in a non-descript place, but this book started in a familiar place, much better. There is a certain festival going on. We see Vidikas and her husband celebrating the festival in the royal palace. Antsy and Bluepearl are at the festival as well. In another part of town, a man named Dester has a clan, follows a cult group.I feel that the amazing storyline of The Reaper’s Gale should have continued in this book, but it did not. I enjoyed reading Reaper’s Gale, especially about the tension between the Lethari who have been subjected by the Tiste Edur, and the Malazans who were arriving to invade Letharas, the capital, I was hoping the story would continue, but evidently, it did not.This book starts very sluggishly. The Guild storyline was murky, and appalling, I must say. It didn’t have anywhere the amount of drama that I read in Reaper’s Gale, nowhere near, it is devoid of drama for so long! But I recall that The Reaper’s Gale also started slowly. This book’s plot is not clear, I did not understand what was going on.The character conundrum continues to rankle on. The author has an insatiable inclination for creating new characters. With every new book I have read out, it seems there is no slowing down on the introduction of new characters, not at all, it is very baffling. The author gives all characters equal time--the supporting characters almost outshine the central characters, I really don’t know who the central characters are evidently. Once again, we see characters names that are everyday words, very frustrating. Here they are: Antsy, Bluepearl, Giddyun the Quick (cousin of Quick Ben? joking), Cutter, Tarp, Younger, Throw, Blend, Picker, Spite, Bluepearl, Antsy, Fisher, Challice, Faint, Door, Madrun, Scorch, Skintick, Clip, Blind, Edgewalker, Gear, Worrier, Gruntle, Gulls, etc.House of Chains (Book 4) was a disaster in my book, it was terrible, I almost contemplated ending reading the entire series, but I decided to give Midnight Tides a chance, and it payed off! It was a magnificent book, it was great, in spite of the character proplems, it was far better than its predecessor. Then came what most people consider to be the best book in the series, Bonehunters, it was easier to follow, marvelous indeed, then came Reaper’s Gale, which I consider to be the best book in the series thus far, with an epic convergence of characters and conflict of the Tiste Endi vs Lethari vs Malazans vs others! Then comes this Toll the Hounds (more like toll the boredom) that didn’t continue the fabulous story of Reaper’s Gale. I wish he had continued the captivating storyline; it would have been much better.This book killed all the momentum that originated from Midnight Tides! It was excruciating, but I was determined to read on to finish all books in the series. Bluntly, this book wasn’t going to prevent me from finishing it. Just like I did not permit House of Chains to cause me to abandon the series. I sense like déjà vu! I couldn’t figure out what the purpose of this book is, it was going in a very dreary, boring, and unclear tangent, on the other hand, with Reaper’s Gale, it was a very riveting and engaging and entertaining and amazing storyline, you had a good hint, there was this intriguing crescendo and momentum towards epic battles and confrontations, the title Reaper’s Gale is so suitable, but with Toll the Hounds I just sensed nothing! There were so many bar visits in the city of Darujhistan, that was mind-bogglingly too many. Hounds….terribly boring storyline! The Hounds come across as an afterthought. If I was given a quiz on this book, I would fail it.I went from what I deem to be the most excellent book in the series, that is, Reaper’s Gale to one of the worst namely this book. There was truly little mention of what happened in Reaper’s Gale in this book. Very scant reference, I wish he had continued that narrative in this book. The Guild storyline was the weakest and horrid point of the book! It was dreadful!The book does end dramatically, however, most of the book was disappointing! It wasn’t enough to make this a successful book. I rate this book as the worst book in the series. Despite a dramatic ending, I give this book a rating of 1.

I thoroughly enjoyed the massive 8th book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Almost all of my favorite characters were present in an epic march towards a dramatic conclusion where many previously-independent story-lines came crashing together. There is way too much content to offer any kind of effective summary, but excellent plot-lines revolved around Karsa Orlong, Nimander and Clip, the Malazan marines in Darujhistan, and Seerdomin and Salind. Anomander Rake is prominently featured in this book, along with many other characters from Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice, including Kallor, Caladan Brood, the sisters Spite and Envy, and Crokus-now-Cutter.Some of my favorite moments in this book included Karsa’s encounter with the spirit-possessed plains bandit-king, the joining of the Malazan marines with Scillara and company, and Cutter’s meeting with Gorlas Vidikas. I also enjoyed the entire story-line of Harllo as well as the confusing, but captivating drama within Dragnipur. The ending of this book was perhaps the most captivating of the series. I could hardly put the book down as I learned the fate of the those trapped in Dragnipur, witnessed the conflict between the Hounds of Light and the Hounds of Shadow, and discovered Karsa Orlong’s and Cutter’s fated roles in the war of the gods.One curveball that I did not enjoy was the use of Kruppe as the narrator. While he seems to be a fan-favorite, his long-winded, allegorical, distracting, not-quite-funny, run-on sentences were an annoyance for me. Still, this is an excellent and worthy addition to the most challenging epic fantasy series I’ve encountered.

Its hard to review these books. I want to gush and ramble about all the little specifics that I loved about the book, but Goodreads isn't the place for that. Reddit however, is. So I'll leave it there. The best I can do here is try to give a broad sense of why I enjoyed it so much, and why, yet again, this Malazan book pulled another 5-stars from me. It's not that rare for me, I know, I know. But still.I started this one expecting a slow build-up. The first quarter or half of these books are typically slower than the back half (as is true of many books), but I expected this one to be especially slow, because of the collective opinion I have seen from readers of the series. Its no secret that Toll the Hounds is a bit slower than the others. And while typically a collective opinion of that sort might cause some trepidation as I began my reading, I think that it actually enhanced my enjoyment of the book. I went in with no expectations, and therefore was in no rush to get anywhere. I let the story unfold in front of me at its own pace, and enjoyed it immensely.I was especially pleased to be reunited with a few characters that I haven't seen in several books. Getting reacquainted with them was fun, and seeing several other characters meet up in unexpected ways was satisfying as well.While Toll the Hounds is heavily introspective compared to the other books, it has perhaps the most entertaining ending of any of the books thus far. Absolutely gripping. I teared up, I fist-pumped, I held my breath, I literally stamped my feet in excitement. It was just so damn good. One hundred percent worth a somewhat slower build-up. Now, from what I understand, the next two books are really one book split into two (a result of sheer length I presume). So after a quick break, it'll be onward to the two-part finale. At this point, I think Erikson will have a tough time showing himself up after that ending.

Steven Erikson is the best Fantasy Writer that I have encountered beating games of thrones, Tolkien and all the rest. I have read his books of the Malazan Book of the fallen several times and each time I read them, new plots etc emerge that I didn't see the previous time. Its the type of series of books that once read will never be forgotten and can be read again and again (and no, I am not one of those people who can read books more than once, Mr. Erickson is the exception to the rule.) Its innovative, unexpected, multiple plots within plots within plots, filled with laugh out loud humour, but also terribly poignant and sad in parts and the author is not afraid to kill off much beloved characters (no spoiler alerts here as he kills off plenty of characters). Its an adult only series of books. I cannot say how much I love the story and the Author who is a complete literary genius.

I started rereading this series when I saw the final book was due to be released. Doing so I noticed the author had written a new preface to the first book, essentially saying that if you don’t like his books, you aren’t bright enough to read them.Now, that came across as incredibly arrogant, but fortunately for him, he is an incredibly talented author, and I have enjoyed the previous books hugely.HOWEVER, in this book, the author has finally disappeared up his own a**e, and is so keen to show us how clever he is that it is almost unintelligible. A real struggle to finish this book, I will finish the series as it seems a waste not to this far in, but I hope the next few are a bit more ending!

I guess most people thinking of reading this book will have read the previous 7 books. Whilst the book includes many of the characters from earlier books and their story lines develop well, I have to say that I found this book hard work. Erikson veers off into a world of philosophy with brief bouts of activity divided by lengthy sections on various views on life, dark, light, chaos etc.. The author also introduces a new approach, where he adopts a detached commentary on characters and events rather than the third party story telling in the previous 6 books. Seemed a bit weird changing styles this far through a series, maybe he had bored himself with all the philosophy stuff.If you have got this far through the series, it's worth getting the book if only in the hope that subsequent books return to faster paced action.

This was not up to Erikson's usual standard. Mainly, I think, because it took us away from the ongoing action and intrigue on the continent of Lether. The events of this book feel mostly like the aftermath of book 3 'Memories of Ice' - except without all the compelling characters.I'm aware that Erikson likes the 'slow build' style - which usually concludes with a stunning convergence of characters and an epic conclusion. Even for Erikson, this book felt slow - almost nothing happens until the final quarter, and even then, I found myself not nearly as invested in the outcome as I have been in previous books.Not to say I hated this book - I particularly enjoyed the segments involving the former Bridgeburner's - it just didn't feel relevant to the overall plot. And at over 1,200 pages, it's one long slog to the end.I'm hopeful that the next book in the series, 'Dust of Dreams' will be a significant improvement over this volume, as we return to the continent of Lether and all those character's we enjoy so much - Fiddler, Quick Ben, Tavore and the rest of the Bonehunter's.

This is a series that has always confounded traditional expectations, and even at this late stage continues to do so. With the main plot built to a crescendo both in terms of epic action and breathless tension... Erikson chooses to pause and take stock before delivering the conclusion.This is a much more low-key, intimate book than recent installments, with the story more personal and effecting than is usual.We rejoin a few scattered Bridgeburner survivors, as well as Crokus and his disparate group as they come full circle to the city of Darujhistan. Their travails may not be as mammoth as some in the series, but they are perhaps just as important.Erikson continues to juggle dozens of characters with skill, and still manages not to disappoint with a finale that sees many of the most powerful figures in the series come together in a clash that ends in a very important death or two...The writing is as good as ever, and I get the feeling that the small pause provided by this novel will be more than welcome as the grand finale of this already impressive series begins.