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troutman · 11-19-2008, 08:59 AM

With my first pick in the draft (in the Fantasy category, acquired from Mean Mr. Mustard), I select not one book, but TEN - THE MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN by Canadian author Steven Erikson:

STEVEN ERIKSON is an archaeologist and anthropologist and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His previous novels in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series--Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, and Midnight Tides--have met with widespread international acclaim and established him as a major voice in the world of fantasy fiction. He lives in Canada.

http://us.macmillan.com/deadhousegates

http://www.sfsite.com/09a/dg88.htm

Book snobs tend to look down on fantasy literature, but this series stacks up just fine vs. any literature you care to name. I have mentioned this series many times in these forums - it is excellent - complex, dark, funny. Grand themes, vast military campaigns, layers of history. It does require a certain amount of concentration from the reader, but it is pure pleasure for me to read these books. In theory, a person could start with any volume, but it is best read in order. The second book, Deadhouse Gates is stunning - you will never forget the Chain of Dogs.

"Steven Erikson afflicts me with awe. Vast in scope, almost frighteningly fecund in imagination, and rich in sympathy, his work does something that only the rarest of books can manage: it alters the reader's perceptions of reality."--Stephen R. Donaldson on Deadhouse Gates

"I stand slack-jawed in awe of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. This masterwork of imagination may be the high water mark of epic fantasy. This marathon of ambition has a depth and breadth and sense of vast reaches of inimical time unlike anything else available today. The Black Company, Zelazny's Amber, Vance's Dying Earth, and other mighty drumbeats are but foreshadowings of this dark dragon's hoard."--Glen Cook on The Malazan Book of the Fallen

“Truly epic in scope, Erikson has no peer when it comes to action and imagination, and joins the ranks of Tolkien and Donaldson in his mythic vision and perhaps then goes one better.”--SF Site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is an epic fantasy series written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, published in ten volumes starting with Gardens of the Moon. Eight books are available as of July 2008 and two are forthcoming. It is wide in scope and encompassing the stories of a very large cast of characters. Each book tells a different chapter in the ongoing saga of the world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. For the first five books, each volume is relatively self-contained, in that the primary conflict of each novel is resolved within that novel. However, many underlying characters and events are interwoven throughout the works of the series, binding it together. The second half of the series is much more traditionally structured with events in one novel leading into the next.

http://www.malazanempire.com/IPBforum/

11-19-2008, 08:59 AM	#111
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	With my first pick in the draft (in the Fantasy category, acquired from Mean Mr. Mustard), I select not one book, but TEN - THE MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN by Canadian author Steven Erikson: STEVEN ERIKSON is an archaeologist and anthropologist and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His previous novels in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series--Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, and Midnight Tides--have met with widespread international acclaim and established him as a major voice in the world of fantasy fiction. He lives in Canada. http://us.macmillan.com/deadhousegates http://www.sfsite.com/09a/dg88.htm Book snobs tend to look down on fantasy literature, but this series stacks up just fine vs. any literature you care to name. I have mentioned this series many times in these forums - it is excellent - complex, dark, funny. Grand themes, vast military campaigns, layers of history. It does require a certain amount of concentration from the reader, but it is pure pleasure for me to read these books. In theory, a person could start with any volume, but it is best read in order. The second book, Deadhouse Gates is stunning - you will never forget the Chain of Dogs. "Steven Erikson afflicts me with awe. Vast in scope, almost frighteningly fecund in imagination, and rich in sympathy, his work does something that only the rarest of books can manage: it alters the reader's perceptions of reality."--Stephen R. Donaldson on Deadhouse Gates "I stand slack-jawed in awe of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. This masterwork of imagination may be the high water mark of epic fantasy. This marathon of ambition has a depth and breadth and sense of vast reaches of inimical time unlike anything else available today. The Black Company, Zelazny's Amber, Vance's Dying Earth, and other mighty drumbeats are but foreshadowings of this dark dragon's hoard."--Glen Cook on The Malazan Book of the Fallen “Truly epic in scope, Erikson has no peer when it comes to action and imagination, and joins the ranks of Tolkien and Donaldson in his mythic vision and perhaps then goes one better.”--SF Site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen The Malazan Book of the Fallen is an epic fantasy series written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, published in ten volumes starting with Gardens of the Moon. Eight books are available as of July 2008 and two are forthcoming. It is wide in scope and encompassing the stories of a very large cast of characters. Each book tells a different chapter in the ongoing saga of the world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. For the first five books, each volume is relatively self-contained, in that the primary conflict of each novel is resolved within that novel. However, many underlying characters and events are interwoven throughout the works of the series, binding it together. The second half of the series is much more traditionally structured with events in one novel leading into the next. http://www.malazanempire.com/IPBforum/ Last edited by troutman; 11-19-2008 at 04:27 PM.