By the end I loved this one almost as much as House of Chains, though I did find it a little slow to start. It was jarring to me to be brought to a new area of town, so to speak, and one so devoid of Malazan control. This at first made me question what the POINT of the novel was... but then I realized that a lot of little things referenced throughout the series were (somewhat) explained here. Also, it was freakin' hilarious; Erikson's word play and subtle humour just made this one for me. It's along the same line as the banter between soldiers in Memories of Ice, but much more of it. And there were a bit more love stories between characters which was nice. And a SEX scene! Wow!
It also had the best closing sentence of any book I've ever read.