The Crippled God: The Malazan Book of the Fallen 10

Die Bonehunters sind nach dem Angriff der Nah'ruk schwer angeschlagen, Tavore hat ihr Ziel aber immer noch fest im Blick: Kolanse und die dort alles terrorisierenden Forkrul Assail. Zusammen mit den Streitkräften der Letherii und den Perish Grey Helms zieht sie unbeirrbar weiter durch die Wüste, erste Verschleißerscheinungen zeigen sich jedoch und Bündnisse beginnen zu wackeln. Gleichzeitig bereiten sich die Forkrul Assail mit der erzwungenen Hilfe des Crippled Gods darauf vor, die gesamte Welt endgültig von allen Menschen zu reinigen und so ewig währenden Frieden herzustellen.Die Shake haben mittlerweile ihr Ziel in Kurald Galain erreicht: Die vergessene Tiste Andii-Stadt Kharkanas. Ihre Erleichterung währt jedoch nicht lange. Die Tiste Liosan rüsten sich zum Schlag auf die Stadt und die Shake unter der Führung von Yedan Derryg sind die einzige Verteidigungslinie. Können sie dem übermächtigen Feind tatsächlich standhalten und den Thron der Andii vor den Eindringlingen bewahren?In der Zwischenzeit schmieden die Elder Gods weiterhin an ihren Plänen und wecken eine schreckliche, alte Macht, die eine ungeahnte Bedrohung für die Welt darstellt, wenn sie nicht rechtzeitig aufgehalten werden kann.Ich mache es kurz, da alles andere zu viel von der Handlung von THE CRIPPLED GOD vorwegnehmen würde: Einerseits bin ich fast traurig, dass die Reise durch die faszinierende Welt von Steven Erikson mit diesem Band beendet ist und ich mich von vielen lieb gewonnenen Figuren verabschieden muss, andererseits bin ich wirklich erleichtert, dass das MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN ein so großartiges, stimmiges und rundum befriedigendes Ende bekommen hat. Steven Erikson führt seine zahlreichen Handlungsstränge in THE CRIPPLED GOD meisterhaft zusammen und liefert eine packende Auflösung nach der anderen. Alle wichtigen Fragen, die im Laufe der neun Vorgängerbände aufgeworfen wurden, werden befriedigend beantwortet und münden in einem spannenden und bittersüßen Finale. Besonders gut gefallen hat mir außerdem, dass in der dramatischen Handlung auch herzerwärmende und lustige Momente eingebaut werden, und die Action kommt sowieso auf keinen Fall zu kurz.Alle relevanten Figuren bekommen in THE CRIPPLED GOD einen Abschluss und auch wichtige Charaktere aus den Vorgängerbänden, deren Schicksal ungewiss war, werden nicht vernachlässigt und bekommen etwas Platz in der Handlung eingeräumt.Alles in allem war die Lektüre von THE CRIPPLED GOD wieder ein wahrer Hochgenuss. Steven Erikson kann erneut auf ganzer Linie überzeugen und das MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN ist für Fantasy-Fans in meinen Augen ein Muss. Sehr, sehr empfehlenswert!

In relation to the transport everything went according to my expectations. The book arrived in good condition. The problem is that the book is a big disappointment for me there are more than 75 different characters which make the story very very hard to follow. I won't be buying any more books written by Steven Erikson.

First things first: The Crippled God is a HUGE book and, for its first half, I didn't think I was going to like it. Much like Reaper's Gale and Dust of Dreams, my two least favourite books in the series, there is a lot of talk to start off with, a lot of build up, a lot of conversations between lesser characters who, by and large, aren't quite as familiar (or good) as those that have, erm, fallen along the way.As Adjunct Tavore is leading her army of Bonehunters and their various allies to a final confrontation much of the first half of the book is about the armies making their way east towards Kolanse, and the suffering they go through along the way. This is fine in theory but in practice it goes on a bit too long. Then, suddenly, about half way through, it's like Erikson flicks a switch, shifts through the gears, and suddenly he's back in the groove that I thought maybe he'd left behind at about book six. It suddenly gets very exciting, and he starts pulling together plot threads from the entire length of the series. Characters I thought he had forgotten about, and had been wishing would turn up, turned up. Suddenly I was reading with a big grin on my face, despite the odds facing my favourite characters. Suddenly it becomes a novel of epic, awe-inspiring moments of invention and quieter moments of humour and emotion. It's Erikson back to his best.I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil anything. If you're reading this then you've undoubtedly read the previous nine novels. You know what you're going to get. Yes, there are still unanswered questions after the final page is turned. But, still, I suspect that maybe some of these have been left for Ian Esslemont to deal with in his companion series. Perhaps that's too easy an answer, and perhaps it shouldn't be so, but at the moment I'm willing to forgive Erikson all his foibles, all his maddening unexplained events and over-wrought self-indulgence.Scoring this book is very difficult. Based on its own merits, the first half would get a 3, whilst the second half would get a 5. As a finale to such a mammoth series - well, as Nigel Tuffnell might say, this one goes to 11. It's that good.In the end these tales of The Malazan Book of the Fallen get the grandest of send-offs. I can't imagine that, given the scope of everything he has attempted over these ten novels, Erikson could have come up with anything closer to the perfect ending. He has delivered the most epic, sprawling, original, inventive, infuriating, exhilarating, amusing, confusing, heartbreaking, uplifting and uncompromising series that I have ever read.And, perhaps most (and best) of all, he did it his way.

the book is amazing - the paper quality is not!

Well, it’s over. It’s taken me almost two years, on and off, to finish this series, and while it’s been a struggle at times, I’m very glad I persevered.The series as a whole is work of flawed genius. The scope of the world-building, the convoluted plotting, the massive cast of characters, and the inventiveness of the magic systems and races mean that this isn’t really comparable to any other series. There are scenes from these books that will stay with me for a long time, and a few characters that I really cared about.On the other hand, there are a lot of characters who are quite two-dimensional, plenty of confusion, a large pinch of filler, and far too much philosophical waffling. Part of me wishes that each book had been ruthlessly edited to make it pacier; another part wishes that each book was split into ten so the sub-plots and characters could really be expanded (note – I haven’t read Ian C Esslemont’s companion books yet, so I hope they shed some light on things!)The Crippled God concludes the series in suitable form. There was no way that Erikson could tie up every loose end in this book, although he makes a fair go at it, with most of the old characters bought back even if just for a cameo role. The ending is therefore as satisfying as could be expected, while simultaneously defying expectations, particularly with regards to the role of the Crippled God himself.One gripe is that the “big bad” of this novel, the Forkrul Assail, have barely been introduced before this book, and seem a little more like a stereotypical evil fantasy race then Erikson’s other creations. Another is that, as the characters march ever closer to almost-certain death, the introspective monologues grow even longer.The battle scenes are some of the best in the whole series, and you really get a sense of the consequences facing the characters, even if sometimes their motivations may seem unlikely. There are also some very touching moments and reunions at the end of the book, which is a nice touch as some of these characters have really been put through hell!I still have about a thousand unanswered questions, and feel though at some points I’ve endured this series rather than enjoyed it, but at best it really is a masterpiece. I do feel that (when I feel up to it!) I will re-read these and a lot more things will become clearer. And of course, this series is really just the start, there are Esslemont’s books to read as well, not to mention Erikson’s new Kharkanas trilogy. A world as detailed as this certainly deserves more books, however I’m going to have a break before I venture back into the Malazan universe.