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What is the Malazan series?
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<blockquote data-quote="Dakkareth" data-source="post: 1877590" data-attributes="member: 9928"><p>Try it out, I'd say. You might be disappointed, but you also might find a revelation occuring to you <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The things that IMO distinguish Steven Erikson's <em>Malazan Book of the Fallen</em> books are (in no particular order) the following:</p><p></p><p>- Grown up, intelligent and complex characters. No blank-slate farmboys, who eventually discover their great destiny, but believable persons with good reasons for being there, for being what they are, for doing what they do. They aren't 'good', because the world isn't good and often there's no 'right thing' to do. Still, they struggle. Friendship and companionship in the face of a twisted world, where senseless wars are being fought over nothing and humans have perfected evil, is one of the core themes in the Malazan books.</p><p></p><p>- Truly epic scope. Great wars for dominance, freedom for the fighters or the freedom of others. The gods interfering directly and indirectly, playing their own game and being beaten by the mortals they manipulate. An old menace humanity brought upon themselves still bound, but plotting the descent of the world into barbarism. Incredible tragedies. The gritty, realistic feel makes the events all the more worthy of song and remembrance.</p><p></p><p>- An amazing depth of history. The world is alive and has been for hundreds of millenia. Threads of action begun before humans lived have direct consequences for the events of the present and plots so convoluted the gods themselves don't grasp them are in motion. Every time you read the books, you find new connections and hints to events that seem at first unrelated. In truth everything is connected in a vast network of consequence and influence.</p><p></p><p></p><p>You should definitely start with the first book, <em>Gardens of the Moon</em> and follow the course of the books from there. While not entirely chronological and very good on their own, the latter books shine all the more, if you have read those coming before. Plus it furthers your understanding of all the neat little details you'd overlook otherwise. The thing you always have to consider is, that the books are narrated from the position of the characters and you can never be entirely sure, what is truth and what is Truth ...</p><p></p><p>Summarized again, it might clash with some of your preferences, depending on the interpretation (for example many protagonists are not larger-than-life *heroes*, but many possess great power and act according to their own concepts of what's importand and what's right). At other points it would be fully in-line with them (about the only 'whiny' character you'll find is a 14 year old girl send into slavery by her own sister and forced to sell out her body - who can blame her?). Again I say, <strong>try out</strong> the first book and make up you mind then <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>Of course I'm a big fan, so my opinion is biased. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dakkareth, post: 1877590, member: 9928"] Try it out, I'd say. You might be disappointed, but you also might find a revelation occuring to you ;). The things that IMO distinguish Steven Erikson's [i]Malazan Book of the Fallen[/i] books are (in no particular order) the following: - Grown up, intelligent and complex characters. No blank-slate farmboys, who eventually discover their great destiny, but believable persons with good reasons for being there, for being what they are, for doing what they do. They aren't 'good', because the world isn't good and often there's no 'right thing' to do. Still, they struggle. Friendship and companionship in the face of a twisted world, where senseless wars are being fought over nothing and humans have perfected evil, is one of the core themes in the Malazan books. - Truly epic scope. Great wars for dominance, freedom for the fighters or the freedom of others. The gods interfering directly and indirectly, playing their own game and being beaten by the mortals they manipulate. An old menace humanity brought upon themselves still bound, but plotting the descent of the world into barbarism. Incredible tragedies. The gritty, realistic feel makes the events all the more worthy of song and remembrance. - An amazing depth of history. The world is alive and has been for hundreds of millenia. Threads of action begun before humans lived have direct consequences for the events of the present and plots so convoluted the gods themselves don't grasp them are in motion. Every time you read the books, you find new connections and hints to events that seem at first unrelated. In truth everything is connected in a vast network of consequence and influence. You should definitely start with the first book, [i]Gardens of the Moon[/i] and follow the course of the books from there. While not entirely chronological and very good on their own, the latter books shine all the more, if you have read those coming before. Plus it furthers your understanding of all the neat little details you'd overlook otherwise. The thing you always have to consider is, that the books are narrated from the position of the characters and you can never be entirely sure, what is truth and what is Truth ... Summarized again, it might clash with some of your preferences, depending on the interpretation (for example many protagonists are not larger-than-life *heroes*, but many possess great power and act according to their own concepts of what's importand and what's right). At other points it would be fully in-line with them (about the only 'whiny' character you'll find is a 14 year old girl send into slavery by her own sister and forced to sell out her body - who can blame her?). Again I say, [b]try out[/b] the first book and make up you mind then :) Of course I'm a big fan, so my opinion is biased. ;) [/QUOTE]
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