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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/re283.htm  popomo | Jan 22, 2009 |  Valashain | Sep 7, 2008 | This one was a big disappointment for me. A LOT of build-up towards...nothing, really. Large chunks of the book just seemed too meandering, random, and pointless, and the POV-fragmentation is ramped up beyond a tolerable level. Those harsh words aside, it was still an enjoyable book, but it feels like it could have been so much more. Still eagerly awaiting the next book, but this was easily the low point of the series so far. (  ) saltmanz | Sep 2, 2008 | scifi_nut | Aug 27, 2008 | Much of my March reading time was taken up with this doorstopper entry in Erikson's Malazan Empire series. Seventh in the series, Reaper's Gale weaves together the plotlines from the previous two novels and weaves them together. The action is firmly set (with some otherworld exceptions) in the Lether Empire. Rhulad, the Emperor who dies only to come back from the dead again and again, is still seeking people to fight. And with both Icarium and Karsa Oolong at hand, he might get his biggest challenges yet. Tehol has another plan for financial skullduggery, aided by Bugg (who we learned is much more than just a manservant). The Lether really are running the empire behind the back of the ostensible rulers, the Tiste Edur. The refugees from the previous book are still running ahead of pursuit. A new threat rises in the east, one who has a pair of elder race K'Chain'Che'Malle on his team. Oh, and the Malazans arrive on the shores, with a misconception of the political structure of the Lether Empire. They are expecting to have the Lether welcome them as liberators... So its a classic Erikson book with tons of characters, plots, locations and entanglements. And yet for all of this, I think this is Erikson's weakest book since his first, and possibly weaker than this. I got the impression as I reading it that Erikson did not like writing this book very much. I hope its not an indication of future volumes or quality. Fates of several characters are handled in a very abrupt fashion. Conflicts and long built up confrontations and resolutions come off, frankly, as flat and insipid. Oh, its not all bad. There were scenes and (new) characters and locations that I liked. But it seemed like it was a lot more work to get through this book than previous ones, and the end left me dissatisfied rather than eager for the next book in the series. This was definitely a step backward in the Malazan saga. ( ) Jvstin | Apr 12, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0765310074, Hardcover)All is not well in the Letherii Empire. Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, spirals into madness, surrounded by sycophants and agents of his Machiavellian chancellor. Meanwhile, the Letherii secret police conduct a campaign of terror against their own people. The Errant, once a farseeing god, is suddenly blind to the future. Conspiracies seethe throughout the palace, as the empire - driven by the corrupt and self-interested - edges ever-closer to all-out war with the neighboring kingdoms. The great Edur fleet--its warriors selected from countless numbers of people--draws closer. Amongst the warriors are Karsa Orlong and Icarium Lifestealer--each destined to cross blades with the emperor himself. That yet more blood is to be spilled is inevitable... Against this backdrop, a band of fugitives seek a way out of the empire, but one of them, Fear Sengar, must find the soul of Scabandari Bloodeye. It is his hope that the soul might help halt the Tiste Edur, and so save his brother, the emperor. Yet, traveling with them is Scabandari's most ancient foe: Silchas Ruin, brother of Anomander Rake. And his motives are anything but certain - for the wounds he carries on his back, made by the blades of Scabandari, are still fresh. Fate decrees that there is to be a reckoning, for such bloodshed cannot go unanswered--and it will be a reckoning on an unimaginable scale. This is a brutal, harrowing novel of war, intrigue and dark, uncontrollable magic; this is epic fantasy at its most imaginative, storytelling at its most thrilling. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:03 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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