Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2) in The Bridgeburners

Apr 18, 2010 Duffy Pratt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, shared-world

In lots of fantasy, and in series in particular, I get frustrated with authors continually repeating their explanations and descriptions of certain things. For example, how many times does Robert Jordan remind the reader that an Aes Sedai has an ageless face? Goodkind's Sword of Truth series would probably be less than half of its current length if not for all the needless repetition.

No-one will ever accuse Erikson of having this failing? The main frustration I have in these first books is that In lots of fantasy, and in series in particular, I get frustrated with authors continually repeating their explanations and descriptions of certain things. For example, how many times does Robert Jordan remind the reader that an Aes Sedai has an ageless face? Goodkind's Sword of Truth series would probably be less than half of its current length if not for all the needless repetition.

No-one will ever accuse Erikson of having this failing? The main frustration I have in these first books is that there is never reminders of who someone is, or what some race is, etc... In this book, one of the main characters is Mappo. He is a Trell. What's a Trell? I still have no idea. It's possible that Erikson told me somewhere in the beginning. But he doesn't distinguish between what's important and what isn't as he is writing, so I didn't catch it, if he did say so. Mappo has a companion named Icarium, who is a Jhag. What's a Jhag? I still don't know. Again, its possible that its in the book, but its not brought out in a way that held my attention. Maybe this is my laziness, and maybe not. My sense, however, is that Erikson prefers to hide information from the reader, and sometimes it feels to me like he's hiding it simply for the sake of hiding it.

So why four stars? Mostly because the book unfolded in a way that was very satisfying. The ending is really great. There are more than a handful of characters that I liked following. And it does now feel like this is shaping up to be a really big story that may be worthwhile when completely told.

ON REREAD: Bumped to five stars. The structure of this book is much tighter than I realized on the first read. And I came to have genuine felling for several of the characters, making the various endings even more heartbreaking than they were on first read.

Looking at my early review, I now know what a Trell is, and what a Jhag is. Does it matter all that much for my appreciation? Hard to say. I think its more important to understand the relationship between Mappo and Icarium, and how touching that relationship is. If I had understood what it meant that Icarium is a Jhag, I might have gotten more the first time around from the stunning reveal in the Azath house at the end of this book.

I no longer think Erikson hides information for the sake of hiding it, or at least not solely for that reason. He's an archeologist, and he's trying to give some of the pleasures of archeology to his readers. But that means that the readers, like the archeologist, must often dig with teaspoons, and must also keep careful track of what they have already found. The job of making the connections is the reader's job, not Eriksons. This can be frustrating, and first go round, it definitely was. But the second time through, it was even more enjoyable. And I still have the sense that I would probably discover more on another reading.

And then for the great stuff: Erikson has a tremendous sense of humor, and its needed, because he also has one of the keenest gifts for tragedy. And this book delivers both on very grand scale. In the Gardens of the Moon there is a passage where a character asks a T'lann Imass what he is thinking about. "Futility." he answers. The questioner then asks if that is what other T'lann Imass think of. He says: "No, they mostly refrain from thinking at all." Why? the questioner asks. "Because it is futile."

This book takes the question of futility and lifts it up for study. The entire Chain of Dogs can be seen as either impossibly heroic, or impossibly futile. Perhaps both. And the same goes for Mappo's "guidance" of Icarium, and for Kalam's quest to assassinate Laseen. ...more

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Oct 30, 2010 Robin 55077 rated it it was amazing

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 a whole new se ...more

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Dec 19, 2010 Asgar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, five-star

EDIT - I just finished Memories of Ice, the sequel that is actually set in the same time frame as Deadhouse Gates. For those critics and readers who claim that Deadhouse Gates is just a chaotic mess of random events and rife with desultory cases of deus ex machina: you are sorely wrong. If you read on, you will realize that every event, even the smallest little details you don't remember, has a meaning, and every occurrence has an origin. Nothing is random or superficial, everything is perfectly ...more

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Feb 24, 2011 Aaron Singleton rated it really liked it

Shelves: sf, fantasy

DG is book 2 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen series and follows a few of the characters from the first book while introducing many new ones. It also introduces us to a new part of the world: Seven Cities, a kind of fantasy version of our own Middle East.

I have nothing negative to say about this book. I fell in love with Erikson's world and characters because of it. While I enjoyed GotM, this book was the one that hooked me. Everything about it is a cut above its predecessor. Its structure is ...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Ana Barbuta rated it it was amazing

One of my favourite books in the Malazan series and fantasy literature in general. It is incredibly gripping and sparks off strong emotions in the reader (ok, I cried really hard at the end). The main plot is simpler than most other Malazan books, but the twists and turns still make you hold your breath in places. A beautiful and very sad tale.

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