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Nov 02, 2007

John rated it:

Deadhouse Gates is the second book in The Malazan Book of the Fallen series. As I neared the end of this novel, I had this realization: Steven Erikson understands epic fantasy in a unique and interesting way. To understand what I mean, let's consider a few issues. A big decision that any writer has to make involves the point-of-view character. It's important to have someone in this role who is actually going to be present at all important events, a convention which in the past has led to fiction More...

1 comment like (18 people liked it)

Apr 12, 2011

Christopher rated it:

I nearly couldn't put this novel down once started! From page one on, the pace is utterly relentless. This is the second volume in Steven Erikson's brilliant and uber-epic fantasy series, "The Malazan Book of the Fallen." This installment, Deadhouse Gates, is nothing short of a nail-biter from the get-go. There are plots and sub-plots galore swirling around throughout this 800+ page novel, and each of them is an attention-grabber.

The main plot of the novel is the one ju More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2011

Jonathan rated it:

I have a massive confession to make: it took me more than two and a half years to read Deadhouse Gates. Let me explain.

It's summer 2008 and I have just finished Gardens of the Moon, Steven Erikson's first part in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I'm riding a Darujhistan-gas high and could take on at least one Hound of Shadow, perhaps two if one of them is Blind. Then I run into a smörgåsbord of problems: Deadhouse begins with a whack of new characters, is a semi-unrelated stor More...

4 comments like (7 people liked it)

Sep 18, 2008

Clay rated it:

After devouring Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon I, like an especially good child awaits Saint Nick on Christmas Eve, eagerly awaited the coming of his second Malazan Book of the Fallen novel Deadhouse Gates. I was not disappointed. It surpassed my expectations and permanently solidified my die-hard Erikson fan status. It delivered on all the promises subtly implied in it's predecessor Gardens of the Moon and went on to give so much more.

New characters to love - new charact More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2011

Joro rated it:

This one still suffers from the same flaws as the first book - 3/4 of it is definitely nothing I would consider a masterpiece in fantasy. I liked the end of the book - I guess most people who read it did - but the inability of Erikson to create descriptions and his awkward writing style ruins almost any pleasure I get from this series. This man definitely created an amazing world and premise to his story but he just can't write in a way to make you read "just another chapter". There i More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2009

Susanne rated it:

This was an excellent read but I found it much harder than Gardens of the Moon. I didn't think it was going to be possible to write an even more dense plot, but Erikson did, oh boy, did he ever. I won't even attempt a summary here. Just some points that stuck with me the most:

I still love the world-building very very much, especially the mythology.

Kalam is one of my favourite characters, and reading about his exploits was hugely enjoyable.

The Mappo Trell and More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2011

Collin rated it:

If you ask most Steven Erikson fans, they'll probably list this book as one of the best, if not the best, volume of the Malazan series. It is definitely praise worthy but is also the beginning of a trend that may bother some readers. With this book, Erikson takes his story to another part of his vast world, introduces an entirely new cast of characters and tells a tale that only tangentially relates to the events in "Gardens of the Moon". As it happens, Erikson will do this a lot, s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 23, 2008

Lori rated it:

Dark, grim and grisly yet with flashes of brilliant humanity. Had a love/hate reaction to the whole Chain of Dogs part, which encompasses 1/2 the book, just because I hate war, cruelty and violence. But couldn't put it down. Rushing right into the third of the series - then I'll need a break!

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 08, 2008

Guy rated it:

Ouch, my brain hurts. Trying to keep all of the characters and races and tribes and magical domains and creatures and places (and, and, and) in memory while reading is a challenge. But the effort is worthwhile... what a tapestry! This is truly grand-scale fantasy.

So, what is there to quibble about? Not much. About the only thing I'd note is that as of the end of this book I'm not yet convinced that the stated and/or revealed motivations of the various characters are sufficient t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2011

Zeruhur rated it:

Nel grande mosaico che va a comporsi seguendo il Libro Malazan dei caduti, questa volta Steven Erikson ci regala un romanzo più maturo ed equilibrato del precedente I giardini della luna. Resta ancora la sensazione di smarrimento di fronte alle prime pagine, ma di certo non si può dire che di eventi non ne accadano, una delle maggiori critiche che ho sentito riguardato a questa complessa saga. In realtà la saga di Malazan è da intendersi come un grande affresco, dove ogni avvenimento contenuto n More...

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Feb 08, 2012

Πέτρος rated it:

This is a follow-up of my previous review of the first book, so I just analyze my thoughts further on. It is recommended to be aware of my opinion of the first book before reading this.

The style of narration is the same as in the first book. If seen from afar you get an amazingly complicating world, analyzed by being broken down to tiny events. Only by getting together all the events you get to see the big picture. The hardcore fans of fantasy will definitely get kicks out of the com More...

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Oct 13, 2011

Kiel rated it:

Overview
Erikson has a talent for writing fast-paced books. He pulls you along through action sequences, teasing you with enough background information to keep you interested, while not making you feel like a scene wasn't given its full due. His novels, so far, read like scripts.

Plot
I was a little dismayed when I saw in the frontmatter that the Cast of Characters wasn't including everyone we'd met in Gardens of the Moon. He'd plucked a few characters off, some of whom I barel More...

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Mar 20, 2011

Books-treasureortrash rated it:

Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes

The unique and interesting story continues in this second book. It still focuses on the Bridgeburners but it also has some new characters that it focuses on. In this novel, the Bridgeburners get separated to go onto different adventures. There is the introduction of new characters and new concepts.

Steven Erikson is the author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen Series which comprises 10 books and 4 novellas. Deadhouse Gates is the second book More...

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Feb 28, 2011

Bob rated it:

Everything that Gardens of the Moon promised, this book delivers. Stronger and more focussed than the first volume, Deadhouse Gates adds a few 'quest' threads to the militaristic fantasy tapestry, taking us into a part of the world that is even more sordid and violent than anything we've enountered before.

The epic quest of Felisin, Baudin, Hedoric, and Kulp drags us into physical, moral, and philosophical depths that are as uncomfortable for the reader as they are for the characters. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 29, 2010

Owen rated it:

While, similar to Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates is another fantastic novel by Steven Erikson. I would also say that, starting with this book in the series, things are a bit easier to pick up on earlier in the novel. There is much less opening confusion that in Gardens of the Moon, familiarity with the world and some of the characters obviously playing a large role in that.

That said, new and interesting characters are added in as our Bridgeburner squad has now been split apart More...

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Sep 11, 2010

Aaron rated it:

This book is on a much higher level than the first book in the series, and it is very obvious that SE's writing ability is growing as he writes. I won't add to the detail of the other reviews, they cover it. I'll just say this...

This book is relentless. The pacing is unforgiving to the reader, and setting the book down once it is running on all cylinders is very hard to do. Not only that, but every storyline holds interest, so I didn't mind leaving one narrative thread to pick u More...

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Aug 04, 2010

Forrest rated it:

This book, the series to which it belongs, and the writing style of the author are all far from flawless, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book anyway. Erikson has clearly spent a lot of time and effort on his act of subcreation, and while the seams show (with names like D'ivers and Skara Brae a little too on the nose), his world has a solidity that allows it to exist with no debt to our own, no matter how disguised. The way he manages to evoke a desert religion of prophets of the whirlwind and rel More...

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Jun 27, 2011

Desert rated it:

Like many readers, I at first had a lot of difficulty accepting that the author had moved us to an entirely different continent with a whole new set of characters. In fact, this initially annoys me about every book in this series -- Erikson continually moves us around and has a vast cast of characters. As others have mentioned, it is quite characteristic of the books in this series to start out slow and build to an incredible, wrenching, glorious conclusion.

I have mixed feelings abo More...

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Jun 22, 2007

Dayne rated it:

Second book... this one was pretty hard to get through. First 2/3's of the book you feel like you trudging through a desert with people trying to kill you. Really hard to keep caring. Only reason I made it through this was that I was warned ahead of time about this book not being that great but that the next one in the series was worth it. The last 1/3 of the book though.. holy cow! Awesome. Things started happening and I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 05, 2011

Brian rated it:

Series 6/30/08 - 9/10
The Malazan series is one of the better fantasy series I've read in a while. It's extremely densely plotted, in a very vast and detailed world. Each book takes a new jump that leaves you wondering. Sometimes the books can be a little tough to follow and the characters are not the most detailed, but I really enjoyed these books overall. I can't wait to reread and catch up with the newer books I haven't read yet.

For more info, check out:
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Malazan on wikipedia
Malazan Si More...

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Aug 13, 2011

Craig rated it:

I'm not really sure what I expected coming into this series, but it certainly wasn't this. I'd heard a great many things about Erikson being a "fantastic world-builder" and how his degrees in anthropology and archaeology really shine through in his work - and I suppose that these endorsements led me to believe that the books would be sort of... textbook-y, perhaps.

That is most emphatically not the case.

Deadhouse Gates starts out a bit slowly - but that only las More...

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Sep 05, 2011

Derrick rated it:

Read July 2008
Read December 2009

July 2008 Review:
oh man, where to start? I'm not really going into the plot, too many different threads, almost Dickensesque. I really enjoy this series. Erikson pays attention to detail, has a very fullbodied storyline and obviously has an overarching storyline.
First thing though, it all gets confusing. Creatures more powerful than gods. So many different kinds, names, etc, etc. It seems to be getting to the point where being a god More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 03, 2010

Khemba rated it:

Painful. This one badly needed an editor as did Gardens of the Moon. Erikson is prone to cramming too many things into scenes without setting them up properly e.g., Kalam's encounter with the pirates, the marines, the refugees or the sea snake. Big events like these required a deft hand to set up. Something that Erikson failed miserably at doing.

Character development is shortsighted and grossly inconsistent e.g., Felisin apparently had a deep affection for Beneth (even if he pass More...

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Jun 11, 2011

Arthur rated it:

9.5 /10
Brilliant characters. Tons of unexpected moments and twists in the plot. Impossible to say which is good and bad side. No clear definition. The line is blurred.
Once again, the scope of world is mind boggling.

0.5 star off because too many details for each battle. Not the gore part but the actual technical details. I would settle for more general approach to the battles.
Otherwise fantastic book.

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2010

Lightreads rated it:

Epic fantasy. Eeepic. I knew I wasn't doing this book any favors when I cued up the audio to go with my 200 sit-ups workouts, and indeed I did find myself halfway through being all, inhale, up, hold, exhale, down, inha—hey, who's this guy again? What side is he on? . . . Whose army of the apocalypse?.

But it was a positive in the end, because it turns out the only thing this series really has going for it is plot. It's a positive, just stay with me. Because when you can come off a dis More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 10, 2010

Steve rated it:

For some reason, the second _______ in a series (where the blank can be any form of media you want to choose), seems to always be somehow... special. I'm not sure I can describe how exactly,without going into spoilers for a bunch of unrelated series (not to mention the specialness manifests itself differently each time), but think back to some of your favorites, and see if you can see what I mean.

At this point, I'm not sure I do either :)

In any case, Erikson makes what I More...

1 comment like

Sep 06, 2011

Michele rated it:

Given how often my eyes glazed over with intense boredom whenever the story is about "the plight of the refugees", which is basically every other chapter in this book (it's like a bag of assorted nuts, where you feel like 50% of the nuts are low-grade peanuts and you cant get enough of the other nuts that are actually tasty), I can't give it even 4 stars, but 3.5.

Granted, the refugees thingie was touching for the first few repetitions, but after a lot of the same story of woe More...

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Nov 10, 2010

Robin rated it:

Excellent second book in this series. Erikson's world is vast and in this book he takes us off to yet another place in the World of the Malazan, this time to the continent of Seven Cities. He picks up the tale about 10 years after the Malazans have taken over Seven Cities. For 10 years, rumblings of rebellion against the Empire have been heard, but now things seem to have come to a head and at the very beginning of the book, the uprising seems poised to happen.

We are introduced to More...

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Apr 13, 2011

Kay rated it:

This is the second book in the Malazon Book of the Fallen series. It takes place on a different continent from the last book and while there are still some characters from the first book in this one there are also new characters introduced. The events in this book were very different from that of the first book but I am sure this will all come together further into the series. The best word I can think of to describe the book is bleak. There were several scenes of the book that I just felt shock More...

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Jul 04, 2011

Poopoo rated it:

Deadhouse Gates is the second book in Steven Erikson's ten-book Malazan epic, and presents a considerable change in style from Gardens of the Moon (written 10-15 years earlier and left in publishing limbo for a while). The good news is, this change is definitely for the better.

The book follows three main plots, though each have many characters and branches of their own. One being the adventures of some old GotM friends - Fiddler, Kalam, Crokus and Apsalar - as they attempt to return More...

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