Toll the Hounds (Malazan Book of the Fallen) [Hardcover]

An exhaustive review for this has already been given, so I'm just going share a few of my thoughts.

For me, this is the best book yet in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. It is certainly the most intricate so far with more characters and happenings than ever (at least it seems that way). It moves along through the first three parts at a fairly sedate pace laying the ground for an earth shattering final part. As mentioned in another review, at times in this book Erikson adopts a different writing style, in which he is actually speaking to you of the events occuring at the time. It's pretty much exclusive to the goings on in Darujhistan, and I rather enjoyed it, though I don't expect we'll be seeing it again. The book is filled with a sense of melancholy (a result of the focus given to the Tiste Andii and an unloved child called Harllo), and it gets downright tearful in places. Comic relief is provided by the incomparable Iskaral Pust, and, of course, Kruppe.

I loved this book and cannot wait for the concluding volumes.

I was extremely disappointed with this novel in the series. Every other book has been a 5 star, with maybe a couple of 4 stars' so far. In fact I read them all again a second time while I waited for this book to come out. This book is one of the hardest I have ever read...due to it being so ludicrously boring. Far too much of it focuses on groups of miserable characters (e.g. Clips' Tiste Andii troupe), that are an absolute chore to read about. There are three main story arcs, two of which (Clips' group and the Cult of the Redeemer/Dying God) are absolutely pointless, add nothing to the main series arc, and particularly in the case of the redeemer, seem to be extremely underdeveloped.

There are a few highlights, Karsa gets some page time which is always a bonus, and I genuinely loved the stuff with the little boy in the mining camp (can't remember his name). But unfortunately the interesting characters don't get enough story time.

However, don't give up hope, as I am glad to say I am halfway through Dust of Dreams so far and it is a definite return to form. Throughout my life I will read this series again and again, but I think each re-read will definitely miss out this pointless and boring book.

I started this one pretty reluctantly. I'd read the reviews, the vast majority of which all seemed to think that Toll the Hounds was a bit of a dud. But I really wanted to finish the series, but couldn't really face the prospect of starting out on a complex, 1,200 page novel which I was pretty sure was going to be bad in any case.

But I needn't have worried. Toll the Hounds is excellent. Yes, it's slower than the other books, and the scope is rather more limited than in, say, Reaper's Gale. But that's not saying much, given that we're talking about Steven Erikson. It's true that most of the action takes place in Darujhistan and Black Coral, but they only really provide the backdrop to a much bigger and richer story which takes us into all the places that you'd expect from Erikson. I'm not going to go into the story, as that has been covered by lots of reviewers already. I just wanted to say that those readers like me, who have plowed through seven books of the Malazan series already and are dismayed at the prospect of starting TTH, don't worry!

Many of these reviews are, I think, a bit unfair. No-one should be reading this novel unless they've read the other seven books in the series. And anyone who HAS read these books will know by now that the Malazan series is by turns awe inspiring, epic, brutal, moving, infuriating, dull, and impenetrable. TTH is no different, and it is all these things. They will already know that Erikson enjoys a bit of moody philosophizing: TTH contains quite a bit of this. There is quite a bit of staring into campfires and pontificating about the nature of things like guilt and honour. Still, again, anyone who has already read seven of these books will surely be okay with that by now. Yes, Kruppe is annoying, and gets a bit too much airtime. And so is Iskaral, and he gets a bit much at times too. But on the whole TTH gives a good pay-off: pretty much every character that you like is in here somewhere, there are the requisite twists, turns, and amazing plot developments, and the end is amazing.

TTH feels like a drawing together of the threads before the final push. The characters have been inching their way towards one another for the past seven books now, and by the end of TTH they are all pretty much in place for what looks sure to be an excellent denouement. We lose some along the way, and there are some really shocking moments which fans will not expect. I thoroughly enjoyed it and encourage anyone following the Malazan series not to be downhearted!