Not as action-packed as the preceding installment, ‘The Bonehunters’, but even more emotionally devastating, edgy, and gripping, Book #7 in ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’ by Steven Erikson, ‘Reaper’s Gale’, blends some incredible moments of dark humour, utter savagery, tenderness, depravity, love, despair, and breathtaking courage in the face of adversity, into a heady cocktail of epic fantasy par excellence.
The convergence of the Malazan Fourteenth Army with the Letherii and Tiste Edur explodes bigger than Moranth munitions. The nomadic Awl will rise up against their oppressors, who seek to exterminate them, and a mysterious warleader named Redmask will lead them, bolstered and protected by the ancient powers of the K’Chain Che’Malle. Elient goddesses Menandore, Sheltatha Lore, and Sukul Ankhadu will form an uneasy alliance to slay their mutual enemies, and seek a precious repository of power that houses a treacherous god.
There will be heartbreaking collateral damage along the way, in the wake of all these major happenings, that will leave the reader reaching for the tissue box, as to be expected in any ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’, true to its moniker.
So many questions to begin this seventh novel in the series, after the events of ‘The Bonehunters’. Yet perhaps the most burning for ‘Reapers Gale’ are:
1)Is Adjunct Tavore capable of keeping the remnants of her host alive, leading them into yet another fearsome battle, especially considering their status with the empire?
2)With that, how on earth can they survive in strange new continent, dominated by the puissant Tiste Edur, under the sway of the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths and his master, the malevolent Crippled God?
3)While numerous intrigues, espionage, and relentless bloodletting plague the new empire, has the emperor finally attracted challengers in the form of famed champions, who might be able to kill him once and for all?
4)Conjointly, are even legendary warriors such as Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer doomed to fall to the emperor’s ruinous magical blade?
5)Can anyone – including gods such as Cotillion and Shadowthrone – stop the Crippled God, through his thrall, the emperor, from triumph?
Once again, Erikson does not disappoint with his brilliant characterization, and the cast of literally hundreds in this series who earn their own perspectives/POVs in the narrative, all somehow manage to grab the reader’s attention, due to the author’s skill.
Redmask, Onrack, Faradan Sort, Beak, all the Sengar brothers, Hedge, Toc the Younger, Tehol Beddict, and Bugg were all standouts for me in this book. Nonetheless, when ones like Icarium, Quick Ben and Fiddler, or Samar Dev and Karsa Orlong are on the pages, everything stops for me, and I really slow down, in order to truly savour their chapters.
There are those who rank among my favourites in this series, such as Kruppe, and Anomander Rake who are more spoken about rather than seen in ‘Reaper’s Gale’. But with the constantly shifting emphasis on various players in each book, there’s always enough to keep my interest peaked, especially knowing any whom I enjoy the most who remain living, will surely appear in future installments. Or, that some new character introduced slips into my list of favourites.
Yet perhaps the best plot line in my opinion involved my favourite character in ‘Reaper’s Gale’. This thread revolved around the unlikely, disparate band of Silchas Ruin, Seren Pedac, Fear Sengar, Udinaas, Kettle, and Wither and their travels together.
And it is the deadly, enigmatic Silchas, the ‘White Crow’, who earns my prize as best character in this novel, with his deadpan lines that made me laugh out loud, and his flashing blades that cut down all who oppose him.
The most complicated and inscrutable perhaps, of all Mother Dark’s cryptic children, Silchas is just a havoc-causer, and his nonchalant, clinical, extreme violence and unshakable surety in who deserves to be his victim is as awe-inspiring as it is chilling.
He’s by no means a thoughtless machine, and there is no doubt this highly efficient killer is tortured underneath a seemingly dispassionate façade, where he dispatches opponents in the blink of an eye without hesitation. Yet with the palpable, incomprehensible suffering and wrongful slander he has endured, it’s hard for me not to root for him. Knowing his tribulations, I could not help but cheer for him at certain moments, including when he rushes off to dispense justice for particularly abominable crimes, with either his two lethal blades or his ferocious dragon-claws.
One of the things I am absolutely loving about ‘Malazan’ is that no one’s arc typically plays out the way a reader might expect. I adore how players who initially seem more minor become instrumental in the overarching story, how heroes turn villain or betrayer in the eyes of the reader, only to revert to hero once more once more understanding is gained about them, or stay villain and go down an even darker path. Very few characters are completely ‘good’ or ‘evil’ and their morality, motivations, and natures are often highly speculative.
Erikson, often, masterfully pits your favourite character against your other favourite character, and asks not ‘who do you want to survive?’, or ‘who do you think deserves to survive?’, but simply keeps you on the edge of your seat, forcing you to watch the characters face the consequences of their actions, regardless of the outcome.
The character arcs being so tenuous, makes the story even more spectacular, more epic. The lowly are raised to glory, the great are beggared. Those who seem relatively safe from death end up dying and, conversely, those who are anticipated to die, live, usually in horrible fashion.
And to top it off, some who die can ascend to godhood/immortality. Yet, the gods themselves can also be destroyed. Ultimately no one is safe from dying, being reincarnated/resurrected with far more power, or diminished, only to die again, perhaps more than once.
This uncertainly and ambiguity makes the reader unable to truly predict what the fate of the characters will be, and that only accentuates the sense of suspense and drama. This is fabulous storytelling, and is truly addictive. That’s what makes me able to consume these behemoth books that AVERAGE 320k words in short order, as if they were half the size.
The worldbuilding continues to be monumental, absolutely staggering, reaching back thousands of years, spanning various continents, numerous cultures, and inhabited by a plethora of gods, demons, Soletaken shapeshifters, fantastic and fascinating creatures such as the advanced, terrifying lizard-like K’Chain Che’Malle, spirits, mages, assassins, soldiers, in both the ethereal plains of the frightening warrens, and the grim, tangible world.
The prose is beautiful, and I am seeing a trend in Erikson waxing more poetical, in evocative fashion, as the series draws closer to its finish. I am here for it, and soaking up every word.
When I made the choice to continue reading this series straight through after I had passed the halfway mark of this mammoth ten-book saga, I did not fully realize all the benefits of doing this at the time. However, now I am beginning to be really grateful for this choice.
With such an enormous cast of characters; the numerous main plots and endless subplots; the deeply engaging prose; the increasing overtly philosophical aspect of the writing; the complex magical apparatus – especially the oracular system, the shifting and expanding High Houses/pantheon of Ascendants and humans associated with them such as High Mages, Mortal Swords, and Shield Anvils, all the different warrens/portals – I do not consider any Malazan book individually, nor as a series on the whole, an easy read.
Yet the rewards here are considerable. As I read all the books in rapid succession, I am better positioned to appreciate the fabulous intricacies, scope and depth of this incredible work of fiction in a more cohesive manner.
I don’t claim to understand absolutely everything about this world. Still, I feel my comprehension is improving far more rapidly by driving straight onward through the series. Erikson has created a universe of great epochs that is easy to become completely enthralled and lost in. That’s how I feel overall about this series, irrespective of some moments of confusion.
The ending of this book was crushing. That’s all I will say about it. Read it for yourself, and cry your own tears please. I have my own.
Overall, ‘Reaper’s Gale’ was glorious, and now I am ready for ‘Toll the Hounds’. Or am I??? Nevertheless, I surge onward.
Add ‘Reaper’s Gale’ to Goodreads:
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