MALAZAN BREAKDOWN! 

I already wish I’d included main POVs for each book. What other buts of info would you like to see included in later Breakdowns?

I, too, am constantly breaking down because of Malazan. EDIT: I have been informed this is a video about the background and history of Malazan.

I'm a simple man, I see Malazan content, I spread it like the plague.

This is the series that absolutely broke my tiny teenage mind wide open to the sheer detail and scale a fantasy series could have. As a small example, I remember spending so much of the second book somewhat impatiently waiting to get back to the characters/events from the first book, and when it clicked that it maybe wasn't going to, and I realized that hey, maybe it didn't HAVE to and that it was WORKING - something in my perception of what a body of creative work could be absolutely shifted. My love for this series will stay infinite, even though I haven't had a chance to properly finish it. It's just so... IMPRESSIVE.

Just started Reaper's Gale....I love this series so much every book so far has been a 10/10 for me and I'm glad you're back to making content for it Daniel!!!!

I always found something so incredibly literary about the cryptic world of Dark Souls when I was younger and always wanted a novel of it. I remember looking online for a book that could scratch that itch and Malazan came up a lot. I started reading it recently and I wish I'd started sooner. I wouldn't be surprised if Hidetaka Miyazaki is a fan of this series. To any Dark Souls fans who feel the same as I did, I can't recommend these books enough. Yes, I realise I'm technically saying that Malazan is the Dark Souls of literature.

It took me 2 years to get through the 10 malazan books. It's an experience I can describe as frustrating but rewarding. It's even more rewarding when you are done the series and are able to look back and reflect on everything that happened. I do recommend reading this series on a kindle for a few reasons but the biggest one being x-ray mode which helps you keep track of names and terms.

The Chain of Dogs and Coltaine's ultimate fate genuinely broke my heart when I read it. I was angry at what had been done.

I've just started reading the Cosmere and plan to read the Malazan books next. Between just Sanderson and Erickson, I'll have plenty of books to read for years. Even longer if I include the Wheel of Time after Malazan.

Definitely do a re-read, your head will pop off when you realize how much of it was foreshadowed in first books and many things will fall into place. Read it in publication order, meaning read ICE's books in between Erikson's based on when they came out. Except for Night of Knives they are happening in parallel anyway with the last 3 NOTME books taking place after Crippled God. Do what you want with prequels, both of those aren't finished yet.

This exactly the type of video I think the book tube community needed. A good way to introduce and explain to people what they are getting into with a series. Would love to see more videos like this. Great video.

I just finished Memories of Ice a few days ago. Holy crap, this is an amazing series. I can easily see this becoming my favorite series. Steven Erikson's writing style is really clicking with me. Thank you for this series Daniel. I can't wait to see what your next episode in this series will be featuring.

Right now I am on book 9, Dust of Dreams, and I have loved every second of it. My favorite character who I feel does not get talked about enough is Tavore. The character's journey is so well done. I think you should read Esslemont next because he gives even more context to the Malazan world that shows how interconnected it is.

I’m on House of Chains, but decided to reread the first three because I felt a little lost. I paid a bit more attention my second time through and wow. It was 100% worth restarting when I felt stuck.

Tried these books and I've been a reader since like the early 90s and it was just random words and names bouncing off me with no context. Gave up.

Love Malazan so much. The sheer humanity encompassed is unmatched. The series makes you feel every kind of way. Having multiple authors who are on the same page plot-wise but have very different writing styles is a game changer. Super happy you're talking about this series. Thank you.

Love this! This kind of video is super helpful for preparing to read large series. I still need to read Malazan and Stormlight Archive, but it can be so intimidating to mentally be ready to start.

I actually finished TCG this week. Phenomenal stuff

I coincidentally finished the first book, Gardens of the Moon, today. I'm still not completely sure I understand what all I read, and there were certainly tedious parts, but I loved just about everything that took place in Darujhistan, and would love to be able to explore that city more. I'm really glad you're going to be doing more Malazan videos, as I expect they'll keep me interested in working through the rest of the series. Thanks, Daniel!

I recently started Malazan and 200 pages in I'm already loving Gardens of the Moon. If this is the weakest book in the series, I'm even more excited to read the rest of the series! This is truly EPIC fantasy.

I would recommend a re-read in published order, weaving the Esslemont books in between the Erikson ones. I've done this myself. Personally, I would say Malazan is even better on a re-read than on the original read.

I just want to thank you, Daniel, for introducing me to Malazan. I had never heard of it until hearing you talk of it and I started reading Erikson’s books last year. I am now on book 9 and Malazan has consistently been a cathartic experience for me. I’ve never read a book series that makes me feel like I am having the mother of all drug highs. It has enriched my life more than I can put into words. Thank you thank you thank you.

"Several books down the road you get the full context ..." - that is a typical misrepresentation by Malazan fanboys of what is actually happening; I've just finished Reaper's Gale (Vol. VII) and I am about to give up, because instead of getting some kind of explanation along the way Erickson piles characters on characters, locations on locations, eras onto eras, events onto events, so that I finally do not care anymore about any of them - apart from the fact that dead characters randomly and frequently appear again in the following chapters or books. Thanks - but no. This post will certainly get a lot of hate, but let me assure you I am an experienced reader (I don't have to give my credentials here), but Erickson writes brilliant sentences, very good paragraphs, good chapters, but bad books. Try to find a concise synopsis of the Malazan story anywhere on the internet - I would be really grateful (and I am not talking about the chapter by chapter summaries on the Malazan wiki). I just would like to get to know the general arc (or even arcs) in order to get back on track - 3 more books to go and my motivation its at its lowest. And do not tell me that I will finally get the answers - that is what I was promised by the fans after each book and it never happened. Sorry, but I had to vent my anger somewhere, because somehow I seem to be only one with these problems. I couldn't find any negative comment on the whole internet on Malazan - it must by some kind of conspiracy. Fare thee well, Nali :)

Malazan: Book of the Fallen is absolutely Great. I am reading Esslemont now I am on Stormwielder. All of these books are at least 9/10. Anyone who disagrees should be circumcised by Karsa Orlong.

I finished Toll the Hounds last week I’m having a little break before starting Dust of Dreams and I think I’ll go straight into The Crippled God from there I’m only on my first read of Book of The Fallen but it already feels like the crowning achievement and measure of what high epic fantasy can accomplish

Nice timing, I just restarted Malazan this weekend

My all-time favourite book series. No other series in the genre (at least in my opinion) can match the sheer scope of what Erikson achieved with MBotF.

This is by far my favorite series. Now there are a couple books that have some storylines that I had a hard time with, it just wasn't enjoyable... Like the kids and the crystals in the desert. But I've read this 10 book series 3 times. Each time is better as I can catch something that I missed previously. Like you said, he goes straight in and it take several books before you catch up and start understanding the world. And as you mention there are a LOT of great female characters of all types. It's not forced like today's movies and books, it is easily integrated in with great characters.

Each book following the first is just one soul-crushing phyrric victory after another, and I'm here for it.

I think Deadhouse Gates is the most underrated book in the series. The entire chain of dogs storyline, beginning with Coltaine taking command of the 7th Army in Hissar and then the long, long running battle / evacuation of refugees all the way until the last stand outside the gates of Aren is legitimately one of the greatest storylines I have read in Fantasy Fiction. A couple of the other storylines in the book aren't quite as strong, but overall Deadhouse Gates is still possibly my favourite Malazan book (although Memories of Ice probably takes the title). Reapers Gale is also very underrated. The marines of the Bonehunters invading the Letherii Empire on their own, with Beak and his candles, is another one of my favourite storylines in the entire series.

Will there be a Wheel of time/Cosmere breakdown in the future?

Just finished reading The Wheel of time for the first time, and was gonna take a break from reading for a couple weeks. But I am actually itching to read something else, so might as well jump into another epic saga after watching this :)

I really love this “breakdown” video format. It’s a really good way to understand whether reading a series aligns with my tastes. I’m excited to see more in the future!

I've read the first two books and with a gun to my head I couldn't give an accurate synopsis of what happened. Had to give up after the second one because it started to feel like I was reading a book in another language. There's complicated/overstuffed narrative and then there's complicated/overstuffed narrative and then there's malazan. These books make ASOIAF look like Harry Potter

Yay Malazan! I just finished The Wheel Of Time and planned to start Malazan afterwards. Even while reading Wheel Of Time, Malazan has always been on my mind. I love the idea of getting tossed randomly into a world of complex fantasy and having to fend for myself by discovering things out on my own. So I have never read The Lord Of The Ring books, but I do adore the movies. I am thinking maybe I should read The Lord Of The Rings before starting Malazan, since it's shorter in length. Once I start Malazan I am going to want to keep on going. Admittedly since I have already seen the movies for Lord Of The Rings, it affects my desire to read the books since I already seen the journey and how it ends. I know I will probably still immensely enjoy The Lord Of The Rings books, and it is something I must accomplish before I die, but Malazan would be something new. Should I read The Lord Of The Rings before starting Malazan, or go ahead and start Malazan?

Daniel, we don't have a very good record, you and I. Most of what you recommend to me, I don't end up liking at all. Initially, after about 12 of those with only 1 success, I gave up on your opinions... but recently I've gone back and discovered that two of the ones I had previously discounted without reading them actually turned out to be good. We still have about an 80% fail rate, but that's better than the 39% we got up to, so let's hope the trend continues. It also helps that you aren't the only one who has recommended this series to me, so I'm going to dig in.

Would have appreciated some sort of breakdown what the major themes of the series is, not just which book followed which and the wordcount. That's kind of...uninteresting.

Bonehunters is my favorite book of the whole original series and one of my favorite all time books in general. 10/10 is underscoring, should be 25/10.

Coltaine rattles slow across the burning land. The wind howls through the bones of his hate-ridden command. Coltaine leads a chain of dogs ever snapping at his hand. Coltaine's fist bleeds the journey home along rivers of red-soaked sand. His train howls through his bones in spiteful reprimand. Coltaine leads a chain of dogs ever snapping at his hand. Coltaine.

*thank you* for doing this Daniel - my Canadian partner (who passed in 2007) put me onto this (Canadian) author (I've still got his copy of Forge of Darkness, which he bought with him on his way to Aotearoa/New Zealand, after I have lived with him in Canada) - he was excited to read it as it had just been published and he found it at the airport NOBODY I knew had heard of this awesome series - still haven't read them all, so dense, so intense (technically Forge of Darkness is part of the prequel series, set 300,000 years before the events in the Book of the Fallen (only *300,000 years* !!!) - really enjoy both the depth & complexity (OMG the depth, the complexity... - people I knew were complaining of how complex GoT was - bahhahahaha) of the world, and the philosophy ("major theme in the novel is how stories and history often blur together and the way the present is continuous and eternally reshapes itself in response to the past...questions of religion, justice, empathy.... Erikson also muses on the core questions of culture, of civilization and of being....). a series once I'm finally done reading, will likely start all over again, and get so much more each time

When confronted with a re-read or go to ICE books, I decided for re-read. ICE books contain pretty much all the hanging threads that Erikson left, such as the Storm wall, Crimson Guard, and Kallor. Going back through gave me the questions to look for in ICE books, which he does a good job in showing. A word of "warning" (which I'm sure, you'd understand Daniel, but other reading may not), ICE is not Erikson. They do not write the same way. I'd leave the Prequel series alone until after ICE. I'm reading the sequel book now.

I listened to all of Malazan in about a month on my first reread which was a very immersive experience. For a reread that goes into the other books as well I would recommend starting with Ian C. Esslemont's Path To Ascendancy, then slipping in his Novels of the Malazan Empire where they take place in the overall timeline and read The God Is Not Willing after the rest. Kharkanas is so far removed from the other books that it can be read whenever really but I would just wait and hope the final book comes out soon so it is a finished trilogy.

As reapers gale sits on my shelf staring at me yelling at me to continue through.... This video is helping to convince me to.

Im on Memories of ice as of now, finishing it in the coming week or two. Thing is, this is my first book ever that i read in english, and its REALLY HARD and time-consuming. Im a slow reader as is, but reading the first two books in my native language felt a lot faster. Its just that translation of Memories of ice is god-awful (and i assume the latter books as well) that i decided to dare the series in its original form. Wish me luck 🤞

Hello! Pretty extreme Malazan fanboy here (nomen omen), I think reading Esslemont and/or prequels by both authors would enhance the experience of a MBotF reread, and you can refer back to other resources if you need reminders on certain characters from time to time. In general I love these kinds of breakdowns, but I am pretty surprised that Reaper's Gale is the one book you struggle to remember, the ending on that one hits worse than Truck-kun

The only Malazan breakdown I have is the breakdown that occurs whenever I have to start from *Gardens of the Moon* again because my ADHD makes me forget most of the stuff that's happened by the time I get to fourth book

Absolutely do a reread, in my entire journey of fantasy related fiction specifically the Malazan reread is one of the adventures I treasure the most

Definitely read Esslemont's novellas before doing a re-read of the main one. They take place during different times throughout the series so you're gonna want to include the novellas in your re-read.

Inject this Malazan content into my veins

This is the only fantasy series where I’ve read the first three books and cannot name a character, remember what happened or know anything about anything.

Unfortunately I haven’t read this series, YET. But when I do I will watch this video.

This is a greatly edited video. Beautiful eye candy. Thank you for this it was interesting to learn about this. Can you do a breakdown for WOT? :))) And dune. Ty Ty

How about you read the books in the recommended timeline order? Doing the books by ICE and a reread of MBotF at the same time?

Erikson could write a shopping list and get 10/10 from these people 😂😂

Thanks Daniel for doing these reviews - I actually picked up Malazan based on your recommendations, got Gardens of the Moon as audio and... wtf.... it's like starting reading in the middle of WoT. Additionally Erickson's writing style and language make this a huge challenge. I'm happy to hear it will get better with consequent books. Maybe the prequels written after the core series deliver a smoother introduction to the Malazan world. That's something I would have loved to hear here. Btw. you know how we are all different in terms of which senses we use most as basis of our cognition, with visual, auditory, kinesthetic, haptic style etc.? I guess we prefer or find it easier to understand authors using the same sensory processing as we do. While Jordan's prose e.g. is very visual, Sandersons visual but already quite kinesthetic, Eriksons is very much on the kinesthetic and olfactory side or at least distinctively different from my own (strongly visual) perception so much so that I really need to concentrate to follow the action descriptions. With Erikson I often feel like I'm looking at sth half blind, the descriptions not making as much sense as they would with other (more visually engaged) authors. That's something you could factor in your reviews as well.

I remember watching Daniel's reviews as he went through them as they progressed - huh?, I don't get it, I think I am seeing what is going on, ok this is getting good and ending with a holy crap.

A little bit of feedback, the audio is a little tinny/ echoey. Not sure what’s causing it but hopefully you can fix it for the next video. I’ve tried it on multiple devices so I’m hoping it’s not my ears 😂. Love the idea of this series, looking forward to the next one

Should I reread the series, or should I try one of the non-10 novels? Yes, Daniel. You should.

Hello Daniel! This couldn’t have been a better timing as I just started my journey in the world. I finished the first book and it was daunting how much information was absent from the jargon being used, but it made me fall for it even more. Halfway through the second and I’m still falling in love! Great video.

What if...? You start a read along for Malazan as well as CONTINUE THE WHEEL OF TIME CZ I'M WAITING FOR YA ON BOOK 6

I tried so hard to get into this series. Mostly just because Daniel stanned it so hard. I just couldn't.

Honestly, I'm so glad that I persisted with these novels. Just started on The Bonehunters and I'm 100% invested. Deadhouse Gates was one of the most inspiring and soul-crushing reads I've ever embarked upon and Midnight Tides was such an amazing, palate-cleansing detour after House of Chains. Can't wait to witness the back half of this tale!

Gardens of the Moon felt designed to filter me with no clear plot or foundation to get a foot hold on as character after character and scene after scene is established and moved on from. They were highly interesting though and in particular ONE of the various opening scenes was very cinematic that captured me. Then I got filtered anyway when I actually did see where the plot was going and found half the characters boring to read. It was Croppa. I think Croppa is gatekeeping me.

so many words and i m currently reading the french version so it s even more longuer LOL

Great series, great characters, great development. Once you get through the information overload of the first couple of books and the pieces start fitting together as the series goes on, it really gets you. Nothing like when 5 different storylines come together at once.

I stopped after reading book 2. such a freaking slog

Toll the Hounds is one of those rare books that leaves a lasting impression on me. Especially that last third of the book. The culminating events in that book are some of the greatest I have ever read. Ever.

I really really wanted to get into Malazan, and Gardens of the Moon was alright, it really peaked my interest. But Deadhouse Gates just killed all enthusiasm I had, it was unimaginably boring to read through. By the point I started reading Memories of Ice I just couldn't motivate myself anymore. A big L for me :/

My suggestion, after reading (almost) all of Malazan and having lots of discussions on the Subreddit. 1. Read Esslemont’s Novels of the Malazan Empire. 2. Re-read the Book of the Fallen, with the greater context of reading it already and the Novels of the Malazan Empire. If you want, you can re-read the other novels too, and there’s a few different suggested orders to do so, but IMO it doesn’t do the experience too many favours. 3. Read the other prequel/sequel series as you wish, but keep in mind the authors reference back (slightly) to things already published. In publication order then, I’d suggest first the Kharkanas Trilogy by Erikson (2/3 published); then Path to Ascendancy by Esslemont (3/6 published); then the Witness Trilogy by Erikson (1/3 published). Especially Kharkanas and Witness are good with the Book of the Fallen and Novels of the Malazan Empire fresh in your mind. BONUS: At pretty much anytime now you could also read the 7 Bauchelain & Korbal Broach novellas (7/9 published, the first 6 are in easy-to-find collections), or the short story The Goats of Glory (published in an anthology called Swords and Dark Magic, but you can also find it online). These are mostly irrelevant to the other stories as a whole, but are just simply a fun time to read.

Currently going through Deadhouse Gates as the Whirlwind has started to unfold...man it is brutal but I can't stop reading!

I love the idea of a series synopsis like this. Looking at series like this or WoT can be daunting, so knowing what to expect is helpful. I'd like to know if you recommend book or audiobook format for each series and why. Whether it is because the audiobook is fantastically performed like in First Law, or the book is dense enough to warrant flipping back to previous chapters to understand what is happening, there can be benefits to both. Of course not everyone will align with your recommendation, having that recommendation can provide a baseline.

I was a little skeptical of listening to this in case there were spoilers... Happy that there weren't any Might be good to indicate that in the title or description. This series was not on my radar and I might give it a try now!

Gardens of the Moon is exactly 203,893 words from the first word of the excerpt of Felisin right before the prologue to the last word of the epilogue. A little trick to get precise word counts is to convert the epub into a docx, open it in Word, delete all the fluff at the front and back that isn't part of the main story, and poof, you have the word count.

It blows my mind that people almost always say gardens of the moon is their least favorite entry. I'm only most of the way through memories of ice and so far its my least favorite. Granted that could change and its still very good but if garden's of the moon is the worst one in the series this has to be one of the best series ever written.

I couldn't finish gardens of the moon

This series is my absolute favorite. The only series that made me tear up multiple times reading the series

Why is he holding a raptor claw?

My favorite Malazan books are Deadhouse Gates and The Bonehunters. And my next favorites are Midnight Tides and Memories of Ice. The only book I didn't love was Dust of Dreams, but even that one is good. I will definitely reread this series one day.

So my input on what to read for you, Daniel, is to reread the series. In the later books and side stories, there are details that you will miss if you aren't familiar with that core decalogy, things like character relations and bits of backstory that will only click into place with those small details in your mind. Smaller, side characters are more easily explored without the seemingly oppressive massive cast of the Book of the Fallen weighing them down. Things like the Kharkanas trilogy, Orb Scepter Throne, the Path to Ascendancy are much more self-contained stories that, while still telling very large stories, do not cover an entire globe with overlapping time periods across three books with four more spaced in-between them.

If you're torn between rereading the Book of the Fallen or checking out the other books, you could do a bit of both with the combined reading order of Book of the Fallen and Esslemont's Novels of the Malazan Empire. There's different recommendations for exactly how to do that, but I think the general consensus is that you insert Night of Knives after Midnight Tides, Return of the Crimson Guard after Reaper's Gale, and then Stonewielder either right before or right after Dust of Dreams (publication order puts it after DoD, but a lot of people think it makes more sense to read it before). The remaining three Novels of the Malazan Empire should then be read after The Crippled God

What exactly is the story about

I definitely want to try this series. It seems a little daunting, even though I've read long books.

Gardens of the Moon is the perfect beginning to the series, but only makes sense on a re-read (as in it being the beginning makes sense, not the story itself). Once I went back, it all clicked into place fairly easily why Erikson started there. I wouldn't suggest anyone read out of order even first time readers because of that revelation. That being said, I still want an omnibus version of it in chronological order. Even if I made it myself. The story structures would be ruined, but the I would have THE Book of the Fallen. I'm still waiting for Erikson to get back with us on the 2 volume leather bound Omnibus he mused on a while ago. I'd kill for it.

I really like the idea behind the series breakdown video series! You included just about everything I would want except maybe a world map and maybe an overall series chronology for where the different sub-series fit in.

The imagination, world making and characters along with their stories is fucking amazing, i simply LOVE malazan

I really liked the video and hope there are a lot more to come. As someone who read maybe 1/10 of the first Malazon book and was as confused as you described I would really appreciate some form of comprehension video per book. Like "This is what you should take from Book one". As someone who knows the spoilers in the next book I often feel like I missed major plot points in "confusing" books and only find them on a reread. So a form of "Hey character x meat up with y and it was only 10 pages but you should keep that in mind" etc. would help me a lot. Not sure if that acutally makes for good youtube content since it's probably mostly interesting for people who are currently reading through the books but that would be what I would like in terms of content. Other then that thanks for all the cool content you provide.

Re-read the core books. I just finished Memories of Ice, and everything is clearer now because you already know who these characters are. Onrack is mentioned in Memories of Ice, for example. Olar Ethil is brought up in book 1. When I first read these books without knowing who was who, these lines made no sense. Now, it gives a sense of depth and even foreboding to what was happening. The world feels even more alive

I love this series so much and I will always take more content about it. I know that it started as a role playing game and thanks to your interview with the author I seem to remember that at least one of the major battles was was decided by dice rolls. I love Dungeons & Dragons but I almost never purchase never purchase source books beyond beyond the core trio is trio. That said, if I could get a rule book is a rule book for playing in the world of malazan I would drop 50 bucks in a heart beat. I just think there are so many unique fantasy races and you don't see much of that anymore.

Why is Memories of Ice so great? There was one major battle that the Malazan team never showed up for and then everyone sat around in military tents and talked for 700 pages.

My favourite book had been The Bonhunters followed by Toll The Hounds and then MOI. But then, its been a few years since I have given it a read (just 5, but, it seems so long). But, I agree with you that GOTM is the weakest of them all. Also, I, personally had read the main series a second time before reading the other novels in the series. That way, the many events of the main series got cemented in my mind. Also, I was making mental notes about the story lines that SE just dropped off and which should reach a resolution in ICE's books. Also, IMO, ICE is just not that good. It is easier to get through him once you have recharged yourself with a reread. On the other hand, the first reread of the main series is extremely satisfying. You recognize so many subtle hints that you had missed the first time around and things really do make sense (sort of).

I would recommend re-reading Book of the Fallen. I read two of Esselmont’s books and they were tough to get through. A lot of what he does just feels like fan service.

I think a great way to reread BotF and read the other books would be to read all books in publication order. That's actually something Erikson and Esselmont recommend doing for people who have some experience with the series. For example, that means you would read Return of the Crimson Guard in between The Bonehunters and Reaper's Gale, because RotCG takes place chronologically in the time between those two books.

My ranking of the main series: 1. The Bonehunters 2. Deadhouse Gates 3. Toll the Hounds 4. Midnight Tides 5. Memories of Ice 6. House of Chains 7. The Crippled God 8. Gardens of the Moon 9. Dust of Dreams 10. Reaper's Gale

The main problem with Malazan (BOTF) is that after you've read it every other book feels...... underwhelming. Erikson has scary talent.

I love how Erikson writes humorous, outlandish characters like Kruppe, Iskaral Pust, and Crone. Pust reminds me of those "I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" Scooby-Doo villains. 😂 He's hilarious yet incredibly layered and well-written.

Every time I find myself thinking about getting into Malazan someone will say something like "It really starts clicking in book 8" and I just can't get behind a series that I will *maybe* start to like several million words in.

I feel kind of lucky in that as soon as I started reading Gardens of the Moon, I was hooked. Of course there was a lot of times I didn't understand something, but I found using the world map helped a TON to keep everything in a frame of reference, and also just thinking a lot about why things are happening and coming to my own logical conclusions made it much easier to digest. I find it hard to rate any book in the series under a 10 just because its all part of the amazingness that is Malazan. Is it my favorite fantasy story? Idk, I'm one of those people that despite all the bullshit still holds ASOIAF above pretty much anything else, as I've yet to read something that felt as much like our world but was still fantasy as ASOIAF, with the family histories that I devour. And I've never done that with Malazan. ASOIAF does something special with families and lineage that I can't think of seeing in anything else, including Malazan. It does have some stuff like that, but it's just not the same. Maybe its all the heraldry ?

QUESTION:Which editions have these covers??- they're incredible. Anyone know?

Just chiming in to say I've just finished my first reread of forge of darkness and fall of light and they're the best books I've ever read. Can't wait for walk in shadow.

Unpopular take, but I'd suggest reading the Kharkanas trilogy next (3rd booking pending). It's really cool reading about the Tiste, Azathanai, and Jaghut thousands of years before MBotF.