Review of Ian Esslemont’s Dancer’s Lament, book one of Path to Ascendancy 

Great video, and nice to see Esslemont's PtA series get some attention. I completely agree with you that quite a few readers would probably find this an easier entry point to both Esslemont's and Erikson's later series. It struck me that the more linear style, with the limited POVs, and the focalised setting made it a more 'traditional' fantasy read, and it might appeal to readers who were used to that style of storytelling, and by introducing the world and setting that way, would make the later books, with their more distinctive broad style and large casts, a great deal more accessible as the world, setting, and concepts, would be familiar and the therefore one less aspect challenging the reading norm and assumptions. As Esslemont and Erikson gamed many of the characters (if not necessarily the specific sequences or adventures) it seems a shared trait that they both write duos very well, and the back and forth between character pairings gains an added element if you imagine the two authors acting out the dialogue, at least in my estimation. Greatly looking forward to seeing your book by book series as and when you get to it.

Also, props on responding to literally everyone man. Nice stuff 😉

Ian's writing improves tremendously with each of his books, and with PtA I can say is genuinely the best he's ever been. IMO ICE reaches SE in quality here. So I'm not sure how you'll react to his older novels, if you haven't read them actually. It will surely be interesting to see.

I'm so glad you enjoyed Dancer's Lament! Esselmont tends to get a bit shafted by the greater Malazan community (mostly becauuse his writing style is quite different then Erikson's , which should obviously be expected from a different writer) but I think he's underrated. If you've seen any interviews with him/Erikson, he was also quite instrumental in creating the Malazan world and many of its most beloved characters. If you enjoy the older, more fast-paced swashbuckling swords-and-sorcery feel of Fritz Lieber or Robert Howard, he's a great fit.

As I decided to go with your suggestion to make Path of Ascendency my next Esslemont read I thought I treat myself to one of your excellent videos first. As expected it did not disapoint. Great job in presenting the key points. It's very obvious that you enjoyed this one. And as always your enthusiasm makes me want to dive straight into the book. So mission accomplished, Philip!😊

Brilliant, informed and spot on review..... you are in for a treat as the series grows... loads more Easter eggs, cameos and familiar races pop up... and 'Wu' and Dancer continue to delight. Also Yay for the Next Dresden book, will be interested to see what you think!

Great review, Philip! I'm glad to hear this one is an easier entry point and that it's tightly-plotted 1) because Kellanved and Dancer are my favorite characters from MBoF, but 2) because Crimson Guard is a wild mess. Listening to you guys talk about Malazan makes me want to release my qualms and read more of the side books (after finishing TCG)

This is really helpful. I haven't read the Malazan books yet, but I plan to make my way through them next year (I'm in the middle of Wheel of Time right now, and it would be too much to do them both at the same time). Most people talk about how overwhelming the Malazan books can be so the idea there's a softer point of entry into this massive world is highly appealing. Thanks for another great review.

Great review 👌 I've only read Gardens of the Moon but I was surprised to see little representation of the ICE books. Im glad you're shining a light on them.

I didn't even know this prequel series existed until you started mentioning it. I wonder how long that series will end up being. I already started my Malazan journey with Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates. My library hold on Memories of Ice just arrived, so I will be starting that soon. I'm trying to prolong that hold as much as possible so I can finish The Blade Itself, which I am loving! I'm excited to follow along on your Malazan reread!

Wow this world in Malazan seems so big and I’m very excited to be diving in next year. I’m excited that you’re going to be re-reading the series because I’ll be able to follow along and listen for things I may have missed. I’m expecting this series to be a bit of a challenge for me but I want to challenge myself.

Good review. You did a marvelous job there tip-toeing around the spoilers. Thanks for pointing out the humor, both in this book and in the main sequence. There a genuinely funny bits all throughout Erikson's work as well as the interactions you mentioned here. I think that gets forgotten sometimes. Lost, I suppose, against the darker and more serious backdrop.

Oh yes! I can’t wait to read all of the malazan books! Thanks for your suggestions!

When Path to Ascendancy came around Esslemont had already published several books that were really good . He deserves a lot more attention, but as long as his works are essentially an add-on to the greater Malazan world he's not likely to get that. I would be very curious what Esslemont would write outside their world. Having said that , as a Malazan lover I want both Esslemont and Erikson to keep writing more stories in that wonderful creation. His first one, maybe two, books were somewhat weak. They really just added 'more Malazan' to Malazan, fun for existing fans but little appeal beyond that. But from the start Esslemont proved to be the co-creator with a deep understanding of the world, similar sensibilities and like you said sense of humor . The scope and structure of his work is much more that of standard fantasy, and that makes them easier to read. But also less rewarding and comprehensive. I am not convinced that starting the Malazan journey with PtA caries the same weight and staying power that the BotF offer - but one of the beautiful perks of having such an expansive world and bibliography to choose from is that many of the books can be used as starting points. Excellent review as always - and looking forward to your thoughts on Dresden #2 (although, whatever they are.. read on!) 🤓

Thanks for covering ICE books. I never see youtubers review those books

I am excited to tackle Malazan at some point! Despite your well-thought-out suggestion that this prequel series is a good starting point, I'm a die-hard publication-order reader. (So much so, I think we need to coin a term for it; this needs an '-ist' suffix. Bibliographist? Publicationist?) Anyhow, I'll be excited to get to this prequel series once I get to it-thanks for the review!

Many thanks for this review. I'm still deep in Erikson's Malazan 'decalogy' (House of Chains is almost done) and will certainly be reading Esslemont's Malazan books too in due course. As I value your judgment, this bodes well for my reading future!

I have alot of questions about ascending. I never knew PtA existed.

Will watch review later, but just wanted to say am about 60 pages away from finishing Kellanved's Reach! Will be interested to hear your thoughts on ICE.

Man, Iko's character name reveal at the end of the book really got me excited, because I should have seen it coming but didn't. Both Iko (under the new name) and Silk are very familiar characters to those who read in publication order, because they are major players in the Novels of the Malazan Empire. I disagree that this is the best entry point, simply because many reveals and easter eggs will confuse readers as to why certain minor characters are getting a lot of page time. The small book climaxes might fall a bit flat to a fresh reader, because the reveals will not land. That said, I'm very excited for you to read Deadhouse Landing; we meet a lot of familiar faces, and their personalities are not what you would except them to be, they are naive and inexperienced (which makes sense in hindsight). The humour and action in the book is also top notch!

Do you think it's better to finish the Malazan series before reading this one? I've been wanting to read Dancer's Lament for some time but wonder if it might not detract from enjoying Erikson's series.

Bit late to this video. And, as always, it was a good one. And wow I got so much Malazan content in front of me lol

Esselmont's style has grown on me. I still personally prefer Erickson's but this one is my favorite of esselmont's.

Interested if/when you'll get to the ICE stand-alones - I'd certainly suggest them, but as books themselves I'm quite a bit more conflicted. Some I've enjoyed (Orb Sceptre Throne especially). But I hear once you get to Dancer's Lament, as you say his writing is quite good. Want to get there, but I've committed myself to finishing the others and got bogged down a bit. But - Though I haven't read this one I bet you're on to something with this being a nice introduction to the world. Malazan fans get very focused on "only the main 10 books, don't deviate" and... I think you're right, it turns people off. The series itself jumps perspective and time... it doesn't really feel to me that that order is particularly important other than "those are the fan favorites/best books/main series" I'd heartily recommend reading Night of Knives before Bonehunters for some backstory, and I can't see why throwing some of the prequel books in early on couldn't be a good thing.

Is there spoileryness for someone going through Book of the Fallen for the first time? Or would it diminish the experience of going through the big 10 for the first time?

I quite enjoyed Dancer's Lament but my major problem was that Dancer and Kellanved simply did not feel like the same characters as they were in the MBOTF. I very much had the same issues with Night of Knives. SE and ICE write them both quite differently. The same being who has the "Do you believe in failure" talk with Edgewalker is not there in the pages of Lament. For me, ICE's books really shine when he is writing a more separate story with characters that make only cameo appearances in MBOTF and not those that have already been deeply explored. Compare this to the masterful job he did with the Crimson guard members who have just a few lines in MBOTF and were turned into easily some of the best stories ever put to page in Return of the Crimson Guard and Stonewielder.

Well i just subscribed. Love this series. Esslemonts best writting is this series and Orb Sceptre Throne . In my opinion.

I kind of liked this one

Spoilers here?