- Paperback: 912 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Press; paperback / softcover edition (3 Dec 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0593046242
- ISBN-13: 978-0593046241
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 5.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 491,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Memories Of Ice
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The third tale from the Mazalan Book of the Fallen, Memories of Ice is a convoluted military fantasy even more dense than its two predecessors. A deranged and not necessarily human prophet has set a cannibal rabble to conquer a continent, and various armies and wizards are out to stop him--but their reasons for doing this are many, various and often conflicting. The previous two books Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates were full of mysteries, some of them answered here--Erikson's is a world in which gods ascend from humanity to replace gods that fall or are overthrown and in which the world and the supernatural warrants that surround it are full of relics of past gods and past cultures. Young officer Paran tries to make sense of the return of his dead beloved as one of the four souls of a magical child; his commander Whiskeyjack tries to do the right thing as both soldier and human being; the scout Toc tries to survive hideous torture and pass on information he only partly knows. Erikson creates an impressive dark world of brutality and sudden beauty in which dizzying vistas of times past suddenly open; his work repays the concentration needed to follow his complex plotting and sentences. --Roz Kaveney
Review
'Erikson is an extraordinary writer....treat yourself' Stephen R. Donaldson. 'A fantasy world as rich and detailed as you're likely to encounter....so engrossing you'll be hard-pressed to put it aside...an astounding debut' SF Site. 'Complex, challenging...Erikson's strengths are his grown-up characters and his ability to create a world every bit as intricate and messy as our own' J. V. Jones author of The Book of Words trilogy.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The structure of the Malazan Book of the Fallen is a bit odd, though nicely original: Book 2 (Deadhouse Gates) follows Book 1 (Gardens of the Moon) but features largely different characters in a different situation. Book 3 (this one) is a direct sequel to Book 1, but takes place simultaneously alongside Book 2 and the ending sets up some events in Book 4 (House of Chains). Got all that straight? Good. Memories of Ice picks up from the end of Gardens of the Moon. The Malazan Empire has failed to capture the city of Darujhistant on the continent of Genabackis due to the defection of the Malazan 2nd Army. The 2nd Army has now joined forces with its former enemies, the Tiste Andii of Moon's Spawn and the mercenary army under the Warlord Caladan Brood, to take on the Pannion Domin, a horrific force for evil which has conquered the south of Genabackis and is now about to lay siege to the city of Capustan. Memories of Ice is, like its predecessors, complex and dense, following dozens of characters across several major plot strands. The undead T'lan Imass warrior Tool (one of the best fantasy characters of recent years) and the unlucky Malazan soldier Toc are reunited in a plotline which is often humourous before becoming tragic and, by the end, bittersweet. In another plot strand, a whole host of fascinating new characters help defend Capustan from the bloodiest siege ever described in a fantasy novel, whilst heroes from the first book are forced to work alongside their former enemies (and discovering, by and large, that they all get on well). Erikson's writing, previously excellent but occasionally disjointed, reaches a new level of maturity here as he deepens the characterisation and detail given to each cast member. The hectic, can't-pause-for-breath nature of the previous books is slightly lessened here, which is a good thing, at least until the highly charged and ultra-violent ending. Memories of Ice is the best book yet in the series, although it is by far the bloodiest (yes, even more so than Deadhouse Gates). Erikson has started tying up some of his plot threads, explaining some odd events from Book 1 and forcing you to constantly re-evaluate your opinions of characters. This time around, the characters feel more human and slightly less like chess pieces being moved around by the gods (ironic, given that the level of interference by the gods in the affairs of mortals is quite high in this book). Also the ongoing storylines that are going to carry this series through another seven books after this one are becoming more fleshed out, with rumours of events on other, distant continents setting up the next phase of the series (Book 5 will take place in a totally new land remote from the three contients visited so far). Memories of Ice is bloody, brutal and audacious. Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin both have some serious competition to deal with.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A fabulous work, loaded with gods, violence, vengence, war, intrigue and surprisingly humour. Welcome back to the waking nightmare that is the world of the Malazan Empire. Wading through layers of deceit and intrigue, we find the Malazan army trudging South ostensibly to fight the Pannion Seer, a crazed religous zealot. But (and there is always a but) beneath this lies the machinations of a crippled god, along side it lies the hopes of other gods, weaved through it is the desire for absolution of entities long dead powered by an ancient curse. Along the way we meet new characters, Lady Envy been especially good, accompanied by the supreme Seguleh warriors (much to their disgust). Remarkably Erikson holds it all together, and even through such a maelstrom of events makes you care about the central characters, from major players like Whiskeyjack, right down to the common soldiers of the Bridge Burners.
In typical Erikson style the story comes together beautifully and violently at the end. I won't give the plot away, but it left me surprised and shocked; high energy writing of the highest order. The only fault I can find is that sometimes Erikson's passages can be a tad too opaque, who said what to whom and why is not always as clear as it could be. In other words sometimes teh sign posts could be a little larger. Five stars.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I stumbled across erikson on a trip to europe, eagerly looked for more on a return to US and found he had no American publisher! Ridiculous...I hope soon to be corrected. This, and its predecessors, are masterful works of a gritty, complex heroic fantasy. carefully plotted, well written and genuinely original (unlike most fantasies that steal from a mix of king arthur and tolkien, this is really something new and different). far better than the drowning morass of silly scenes and characters robert jordan's later books have been reduced to, the only comparable current writers are george rr martin and thomas harlan, and erikson is handily superior to both. heartily recommended
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
At the risk of sounding unpopular
I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but Memories of Ice falls very, very flat for me. Erikson seems to like telling everyone how much he has defied convention in the way... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Richard Williams
Great
Complex but very nicely written. Lots of characters and lots of different story lines but if you like tis kind of fantasy book I recommend reading it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. Helen C. H. Kenyon
I have run aground!
No doubt, Steven Erikson has created an AWE-INSPIRING piece of fantasy with his Malazan series and it will take me many years to be able to read, digest and understand it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Alexander J. Dunn
Good but not as good as the previous two.
This book has many of the same character as previous ones as well as introducing some new ones.
We get to see some of the plot threads from the previous books expended... Read more
We get to see some of the plot threads from the previous books expended... Read more
Published 5 months ago by plot hound
Fantastic and epic in scope. Well worth a read.
I recently read this for the 2nd time as the first time i read it i was quite a bit younger and struggled with the amount of detail, but now that I am older i was able to fully... Read more
Published 6 months ago by SilverSurfer
Once again, WOW!
I read this series and I live in this world. I live with the characters. It has become a part of me.
Erikson knows how to touch the hidden strings of a reader. Read more
Erikson knows how to touch the hidden strings of a reader. Read more
Published 7 months ago by _astra_
Excellent
Brilliant book! One of the best that I have ever read. I would recommend the series, starting with gardens of the moon, to anyone. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Luke
Absolutely Stunning
If anyone thought that the Book of the Fallen could not get any better after the first two more than impressive installments, Memories of Ice proves them gloriously wrong. Read more
Published 9 months ago by David Ford
On The Up
What to make of the Books of the Fallen? I was rather lukewarm to the Malazan series after the first two volumes. Read more
Published 10 months ago by DRFP
The finest example of fantasy fiction
Well, now... It's hard to marshal my thoughts on this one--but what I can immediately verbalise is the fact that it would be impossible to pick a favourite part of the novel,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by A. L. Rutter
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