Night of Knives (Malazan Empire, #1) in The Bridgeburners

Aug 03, 2014 Duffy Pratt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, shared-world

I came into this book with certain expectations. I thought that the writing would be shoddy and the characterizations poor. I thought the book would mostly be fun because it shed new light on things that were left mysterious in the Erikson series. I thought I was finally going to understand what was going on with Kellanved and Dancer on the night when they became Shadowthrone and Cotillion. But this is a Malazan book, and it thus thumbed its nose at all my expectations.

First, I thought the writi I came into this book with certain expectations. I thought that the writing would be shoddy and the characterizations poor. I thought the book would mostly be fun because it shed new light on things that were left mysterious in the Erikson series. I thought I was finally going to understand what was going on with Kellanved and Dancer on the night when they became Shadowthrone and Cotillion. But this is a Malazan book, and it thus thumbed its nose at all my expectations.

First, I thought the writing was surprisingly tight and well-paced. I liked the two main characters very much: Temper and Kiska. Temper is a surprising badass, and in other circumstances, I expect he would be a shield anvil. That's definitely the function he seems to perform here, but if he is shield anvil, its very unclear for what God. Kiska is a young rogue, anxious to prove herself. As a result, she continually sinks herself into stuff that is way out of her depth. And yet, she has surprising resiliency and ends up winning the grudging respect of Tayschrenn, which is no small feat. It seems she is a natural adept at magic, but has neither the patience nor discipline to actually master or control her talent. The real surprise here is that both of these story arcs end up with surprisingly upbeat endings, a real oddity for a Malazan book.

The secondary characters feature a number of people that appear in the Books of the Fallen: Kellanved, Dancer, Tayschrenn, Surly, Edgewalker, and Dassem. (I may be missing some.) I loved the backstory with Dassem and Temper. It goes a long way further to convincing me that whatever end befell Surly, it probably could not have been bad enough for my taste. I almost wish that Kalam had followed through further in his efforts to assassinate her. I also had a somewhat better, but still sketchy, understanding of Edgewalker.

The revelation, however, was Tayschrenn. Esslemont did a great job portraying him, and he seemed to me to be a much more complex figure than I gave him credit for in the Erikson books. His actions here strike me as being totally consistent with what happened in the siege at Pale. He simultaneously tries to do good, to stand aloof, and to advance his own interests, while posing something of a check to the Emperor's power (whether Kellanved or Laseen). That's a tough tightrope to walk. With this book, Esslemont managed to make him one of my favorite characters in the Malazan world, and that's a pretty good testament to how strong this book is, because I strongly disliked him before.

As for Kellanved and Dancer, the main events of their ascendancy happen off camera. (Spoilers coming in this paragraph.) We get to hear what passes for their assassination by Surly. It involves a long fall out of a tower onto the rocks. But we don't see it, and we don't know what, if anything, passed between Kellanved and Surly, except that it ultimately involved some Otateral dust and Dancer killing about a dozen of the Claw. Then we see them passing into the back door of the Deadhouse, but we don't see how they then ascend.

(Spoilers continuing in this paragraph) What's cooler here is the hint of the depth of Kellanved's plan. He's let Surly become regent and disappeared, knowing that Surly would betray him by setting a trap. He also seems to have known that Surly would outlaw magery on Malaz Island, this disturbing a delicate balance of power. On this night of Convergence, he planned to re-arrive on Malaz, knowing that a Jaghut imprisoned in an Azath house would try to take advantage of the shifting magical forces to manage his escape. This escape would be so dangerous that the strong magicians would all have to focus on preventing it, thus ignoring his and Dancer's plan to enter House Shadow and usurp the empty throne. There are even hints that he is somehow behind Temper and Corinn's presence on the island. This is a small scale example of the kind of far-reaching plan that he puts into effect in The Books of the Fallen. Ironically, it also bears a strong resemblance to Surly's plan in Gardens of the Moon, where she has her adjunct set free Raest, a Jaghut tyrant, so that Rake will have to fight him and thus weaken himself.

Spoilers are over now. Despite being short, and having an upbeat ending, this book felt very much like a Malazan book. Esslemont's writing is more direct, and he seems to play fewer games with the reader than Erikson. He definitely spends less time delving into philosophical motives. I am almost tempted to think that this book would be a better introduction to the Malazan world than Gardens of the Moon. But, as for that, I really can't say. I already understood quite a bit of how things work in this world, and it's tough for me to judge how lost a newbie would be if they started on this book.

Finally, I would like to comment a little on the Erikson introduction to the book. In it, he says that this book is not fan fiction. I almost wish that he hadn't said so. It's possible to read that as saying, "even though this looks inferior to my stuff, it should really stand on the same level." Erikson also points out that, to a large extent, he writes his books for Esslemont. And I get the impression that that works the other way around as well. Since the two of them already know so much about the world they are writing about, they don't feel the need to explain it. I get the impression that some of the small things I don't understand in these books might just be in-jokes between the two of them. I don't know if that's a bad thing or not, but even if I'm right, I wouldn't take them too strongly to task for it, especially considering all the enjoyment they have already given to me. ...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Lori rated it liked it · review of another edition

So much joy to return to the Malazan world! Nothing earth shattering here, and nowhere the level of Erikson, but still well done. I've heard he gets better, very much looking forward for the ride. And wow, so THAT'S who the Riders are, huh. At least on the surface, their existence is left a mystery. I can see why these books are so helpful to read in addendum with the Malazan series. ...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Steve rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Really enjoyed this welcome addition to the world Malazan. Not what I initially expected, but thoroughly pleasing as well.
It's a good old fashioned yarn that at first provides filler to the Malazan mythos, but then you realize amid all the familiar places, names and events, these are new characters you come to care for, and the previous players M. Erickson introduced us to are being told from an entirely different perspective.
I happen to like this a bit more than most reviewers, but that's alr ...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Jason rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Entertaining. It belongs in the Malazan world, uses the same characters, and is thematically aligned, but the voice is definitely different as is the prose. Enjoyed it and will pick up the next.

Fits in the first book in the Malazan Tales of the Fallen series, I believe after the prologue and before chapter 1.

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