The Bonehunters

He's...not shy about killing people is he?

Not as good as Midnight Tides or Memories of Ice, but definitely about as good as Deadhouse Gates. Five stars, anyway. Will actually think more about the series once I'm finished reading it. ( )

War, assassins, treason, mages on crack, psychopathic alcoholics, maniac depressive gods, retarded magi, horny spirits from the past, and a stubborn mo fo warrior!! You name this book got it!!! Pure gold!!! ( )

I read this book while I was in Cleveland for Christmas and I have to say it was, possibly, my favorite book in the series. The overall pacing and the events in general just really appealed to me. Add in to the fact that one of my favorite characters, Kalam, got to be a bad-ass and how could I not like this book? ( )

The Bonehunters has a bad case of Middle Book Syndrome. All of the previous volumes were more or less complete novels in themselves, but Bonehunters feels like two or three awkwardly strung together. I like it quite a bit better than Midnight Tides, for that - the Malazan army and Brigdeburner stuff is consistently the best - but it's definitely not up to the standards of Deadhouse Gates, which it more or less follows. It does do a good job of setting up the next book, which pulls Midnight Tides into the arc more directly.

To its credit, it definitely ended well and drew me back in to the larger story, and I vaguely remember that the next one was pretty good. But still, not one of the best entries in the series. ( )

The Whirlwind rebellion has been crushed. The 14th army, commanded by Adjunct Tavore Paran, is chasing the last of the rebels, a force lead by Leoman of the Fails, to Y'Gathan, a city where they are expected to make their last stand. The prospect of a siege to this ancient city makes the Malazan Army wary: it is the place where the Empire's greatest champion, Dassem Ultor, was slain and much Malazan blood spilled. Bad omens and uncertainty about their leader worry the 14th as they head into what looks to be a difficult assault. Rumors of a plague on the continent decides the Adjunct: there will be no time to starve the rebels out, the city needs to be taken quickly.

In other parts of the world, agents of a far greater conflict begin making their moves. The Crippled God has been granted a place in the pantheon and a war among the gods threatens, sides must be chosen.

The Bonehhunters is the sixth novel of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. At just over 1200 pages it is easily the longest book in the series so far. It is also a direct follow up to book four, House of Chains. While I don't think the novel is as strong as some of the ones prior, we definitely hit a pivotal point in the series, a transition from the first half to the second half. Erikson begins splitting us away from the Malazan Empire events as we wind up for what is to come. The military element of the story plays a lesser role as the war amongst the gods and ascendants starts coming to the forefront.

As before, we have a large cast of characters. Many familiar faces are back and several new ones are introduced.

Erikson explores a more philosophical view in this novel. We see several examples of extreme religious practices and how easily they can lead to violence. Through character dialog we are treated to some pretty deep concepts of how the relationship between gods and mortals is a two way street and that neither is safe from the other. While the gods maybe at war, they better watch out for the mortals caught in between.

I admire Erkison's writing style more with each book. The descriptions make this world come alive for me. And his battle scenes are some of the best I've read.

This book was different from previous books in that it didn't build to a climax the way the others did. Instead there were plenty of awesome moments with several build ups and peaks throughout the book. The biggest build up was for the events at Y'Ghatan which happens fairly early on. It is an interesting change. I think my expectations may have been built up based on the flow of previous books that, while the ending was still amazing, it didn't carry the impact I was waiting for. I think this is what decided me on the half a star instead of four. I wonder how I'll feel about it on a future reread. ( )