Steven Erikson: Malazan Book of the Fallen

Has anyone heard of Steven Erikson and his series "The Malazan book of the Fallen"? I'm reading the first book, Gardens of the Moon, and it's just awesome. Everybody is saying that the series is marvellous.

Such series consists of 10 books but he's been able to make each book better than the previous one; the guy's just good at what he does and what's more, he writes fast!There're six mamoth books out already and I haven't seen many disappointments on the readers in terms of delay or quality, thing that saddly happens with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, Stephen King's Darktower, or Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series respectively. So if you haven't read him, make sure you do.

Definetively recommended for lovers of high cuality fantasy.

Is Steven Ericksons Malazan Books of the Fallen the best dark fantasy ever?

I am currently reading the eighth book of the Malazan series and am still impressed with Ericksons ability to keep the stories of so many characters flowing and not repeating character traits or the choices they make. I have read probably around 600 or so books and the only series i like as much was
Glenn cooks Black Company series for characters to keep interest at a peak and keep the pages turning.

I think the series is a remarkable achievement. My only complaint is that sometimes the scope is a bit too wide -- too many characters to keep track of, and too much going on.

For example, in Reaper's Gale, we see the end of a relationship that began almost 1,000 pages earlier (in another book) and which was barely touched on in Reaper's Gale. The event that ended the relationship should have had a huge impact, but unless you're the kind of reader who can keep every. single. little. thing. in your head from one book to the next, it was "Meh. Move on. Nothing to see here."

I felt cheated. I wanted to care about the tragic event but I couldn't. It's like someone telling you Franklin Roosevelt died. Who? Oh yeah, him.

My other complaint is that people die and they don't stay dead. This also diminishes the impact.

I've read all of them up to "Toll the Hounds". This is a fantastic series. If you are a serious fantasy reader this is the series for you. My kids (in their 20s) tell me it's tough for them to get through the first book because there are so many characters, but once they made it through they are loving the series. So be warned there are probably over a hundred characters that play an important enough role that you need to pay attention to them (and probably over 1000 characters in all). Erikson builds the major characters over the first 5 books then you start to get into a grove where he's telling their stories.

Bottom line, because of the complex nature of the series it's one that you should own and read more than once. I enjoyed it much more on my second reading.

I've read the first three or four and I've enjoyed all of them but the books are getting too long. Is it too much to ask to stay under, oh I don't know, say, 1,200 pages? He ought to make them half as long and make the series 20 books instead of 10.

I actually enjoy the long books...cause I know what I'll be reading for the next 3 months.

Mazalan Book of the Fallen

What do you guys think of Mazalan Book of the Fallen? im halfway done with book 5 right now and i have to say its amazing! Once you get into the book you'll love it. It has a giant history with a complicated magic very good. The thing i found with it though is that its very complicated. The world is just so big and there are so many things going on its hard to follow til you get into it. The only problem i have with it is that its 9 (soon to be 10) books long and the main characters only appear in 3-4 books each. But i would definitely recommend this book.