Toll The Hounds
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Product Description
Book Description
With this, the eighth book in Erikson's extraordinary sequence, this acclaimed fantasy epic enters its climactic final stages...
Product Description
In Darujhistan, the saying goes that Love and Death shall arrive together, dancing...
It is summer and the heat is oppressive, yet the discomfiture of the small rotund man in the faded red waistcoat is not entirely due to the sun. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city's streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways but it seems the hunters have become the hunted. Hidden hands pluck the strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. Strangers have arrived, and while the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds. All is palpably not well. And in Black Coral too, ruled over by Anomander Rake Son of Darkness, something is afoot - memories of ancient crimes surface, clamouring for revenge, so it would seem that Love and Death are indeed about to make their entrance...
This is epic fantasy at its most imaginative, storytelling at its most exciting.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book starts off as the worst in the series so far for me.
The writing style seems to have turned to pages and pages of what a single character is thinking or extremely long-winded descriptions that took over 70% of the book's narration.
The dialogue between characters and action sequences remain as ever excellent, but sadly for some reason this book has very little of Erikson's best.
Having said that the book does eventually take off at a breakneck pace, with great story-telling, but only from the last 400 pages or so.
I hope the last 2 books in this otherwise great series return to Erikson's previous writing style as this book at times felt like someone else had written it.
The writing style seems to have turned to pages and pages of what a single character is thinking or extremely long-winded descriptions that took over 70% of the book's narration.
The dialogue between characters and action sequences remain as ever excellent, but sadly for some reason this book has very little of Erikson's best.
Having said that the book does eventually take off at a breakneck pace, with great story-telling, but only from the last 400 pages or so.
I hope the last 2 books in this otherwise great series return to Erikson's previous writing style as this book at times felt like someone else had written it.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
`Toll the Hounds is part of `The Malazan Book of the Fallen' series. Click on my name and check out the Malazan Listmania for the recommended reading order of the books by Erikson and Esslemont.
In the middle of yet another re-read of the Malazan series, I have just finished 'Toll the Hounds' and simply have to write about it.
Yes, this is definitely a book of two halves for me. The first halve for want of a better word is boring. The pace feels slow, the action lame and the characters at the centre of things don't stir me the way those from previous books have done. That's the bad news.
Enter the second half of the book. From the very bottom of Malazan reading experience to the very top over the space of a handful of pages. A tour de force of writing excellence containing story line drama of hitherto unimagined proportion. The most intricate weaving of separate threads into one found anywhere in this series so far. It reeled me in, hand over fist and at the end of it, I came out feeling I had just left an emotional roller coaster ride. The constant change of scenery in the final chapters, commented upon by some as undesirable, is a plus in my opinion. It gave me a real sense of all the events happening almost simultaneously and instilled a dreadful certainty that a hiccup in any one would have a devastating knock-on effect on all others.
If you are following the Malazan series, don't be put off by the mixed reviews. My guess is that people got so caught up in the lame first half that they were unable to appreciate just how much is happening in the second one. Having read 'Dust of Dreams', the next one in the series, and after my re-read of the rest, I am beginning to see how 'Toll the Hounds' fits into the overall story arch and it is plain that the events described will be vital to the understanding of the final book. As is Erikson's style, this one, too, is peppered with throw away comments and observations that will come back to haunt the reader. Yes, the first half is slow but why mind a starter of stale breadcrumbs when the main course full fills every desire of your palate.
If you have not yet read any of the Malazan books, than whatever you do, start with book one 'Gardens of the Moon' and none other. This book really won't mean much to you without some pre-knowledge. The Malazan series is ideal for people that like a re-read or those with pretty good recall. The author does not coddle his readers. Yes, there are obvious big events and immediately recognisable 'light bulb moments', but the series has more of an undercurrent than the Bristol Channel and half the fun is to spot them before a later event points them out.
Four stars because the one for the first half is set off by the second half deserving a five star plus rating.
In the middle of yet another re-read of the Malazan series, I have just finished 'Toll the Hounds' and simply have to write about it.
Yes, this is definitely a book of two halves for me. The first halve for want of a better word is boring. The pace feels slow, the action lame and the characters at the centre of things don't stir me the way those from previous books have done. That's the bad news.
Enter the second half of the book. From the very bottom of Malazan reading experience to the very top over the space of a handful of pages. A tour de force of writing excellence containing story line drama of hitherto unimagined proportion. The most intricate weaving of separate threads into one found anywhere in this series so far. It reeled me in, hand over fist and at the end of it, I came out feeling I had just left an emotional roller coaster ride. The constant change of scenery in the final chapters, commented upon by some as undesirable, is a plus in my opinion. It gave me a real sense of all the events happening almost simultaneously and instilled a dreadful certainty that a hiccup in any one would have a devastating knock-on effect on all others.
If you are following the Malazan series, don't be put off by the mixed reviews. My guess is that people got so caught up in the lame first half that they were unable to appreciate just how much is happening in the second one. Having read 'Dust of Dreams', the next one in the series, and after my re-read of the rest, I am beginning to see how 'Toll the Hounds' fits into the overall story arch and it is plain that the events described will be vital to the understanding of the final book. As is Erikson's style, this one, too, is peppered with throw away comments and observations that will come back to haunt the reader. Yes, the first half is slow but why mind a starter of stale breadcrumbs when the main course full fills every desire of your palate.
If you have not yet read any of the Malazan books, than whatever you do, start with book one 'Gardens of the Moon' and none other. This book really won't mean much to you without some pre-knowledge. The Malazan series is ideal for people that like a re-read or those with pretty good recall. The author does not coddle his readers. Yes, there are obvious big events and immediately recognisable 'light bulb moments', but the series has more of an undercurrent than the Bristol Channel and half the fun is to spot them before a later event points them out.
Four stars because the one for the first half is set off by the second half deserving a five star plus rating.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Three to four star read.
The fact that it has taken me over a month to read this book should say something about it.
Toll The Hounds is a big, big book easily breaking the thousand page mark,... Read more
Toll The Hounds is a big, big book easily breaking the thousand page mark,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Perpetual Man
*zzzzzzz*
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. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dan Ormisher
The Calm Before the Storm
This is a series that has always confounded traditional expectations, and even at this late stage continues to do so. Read more
Published 9 months ago by David Ford
Much better than other reviews would have you believe.
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. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Scifi Fan
one main thing wrong
said something minor would be wrong i.e. a tear etc. BUT it would not affect reading....
usually I have no problems with this seller (quick delivery). Read more
usually I have no problems with this seller (quick delivery). Read more
Published 24 months ago by Jessica Parker
WORST BOOK EVER
Just to make one thing clear: I love the Malazan Empire and loved every book.
But TTH is by far the worst book in this series. Read more
But TTH is by far the worst book in this series. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2009 by Ali Mohsenzadeh-rabbani
Disappointing and frustrating.
This is the worst Malazan book to date.
There is little of interest, the attempts at humour fall flat and the plot is confusing and doesn't make sense. Read more
There is little of interest, the attempts at humour fall flat and the plot is confusing and doesn't make sense. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2009 by plot hound
Alan Kirkham
I am a fan of Mr Eriksons Mazalan Book of the Fallen series and have spent many a sleepless night unable to put the previous books down. Read more
Published on 11 July 2009 by Alan Kirkham
Um What Hounds?
Wish I had read the previews first and not just gone by the lovely dust cover. A very melancholy book that was hard to understand. Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2009 by Mrs. Ann Macleod
Malazan History Follower
Again another story from the history of the imaginary Malazan Empire. These are always readable and interesting, but better read from the first to the last to be more easily... Read more
Published on 9 May 2009 by A. Dawson
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