Night of Knives (Novels of the Malazan Empire, #1) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Oct 30, 2016 Markus rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, malazan, fantasy

Well, this seems incredibly underrated...

Night of Knives, first volume in the Novels of the Malazan Empire by Ian C. Esslemont, is not a huge brick of equal parts amazement and confusion like the doorstoppers of his friend Steven Erikson. It's a decidedly more standard fantasy novel, and it doesn't distinguish itself in the way of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. That does not mean, however, that it is any less impressive.

Esslemont's style is more simple, both in language and in plot, and in many ...more

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Apr 27, 2016 Scott Hitchcock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: malazan, grimdark

Reread Read

First read: 3*
Second read: 4*

I enjoyed this so much more the second time around. ICE does have a weird way of wording things but having read all 8 books published to this point I'm used to it and was able to enjoy the story a lot more. This book still unlike any of the others is more like a fantasy mystery blend with a good dose of horror to give it a truly eerie feeling. While still not SE's level or prose and layers I still think it's well worth reading. The introductions to Temper Reread Read

First read: 3*
Second read: 4*

I enjoyed this so much more the second time around. ICE does have a weird way of wording things but having read all 8 books published to this point I'm used to it and was able to enjoy the story a lot more. This book still unlike any of the others is more like a fantasy mystery blend with a good dose of horror to give it a truly eerie feeling. While still not SE's level or prose and layers I still think it's well worth reading. The introductions to Temper and Edgewalker alone make it worth it then you throw in learning about the old empire and a lot more about Daseem and it really complements BotF so well.

First Read
Going into this book I tried to clear my mind of any expectations. The reason being a lot of the reviews by other Book of the Fallen lovers were so varied.

The prologue was excellent and has that foreboding tone but is not the epic overtone that Erikson has in some of his works. Really Erikson is the king of the prologue in my opinion so NOK being good spoke well for this start.

Moving into the start of the book, and really throughout, I struggled with Esslemont's sentence structure. I'm hardly an English lit major but generally you pick up an author's cadence and once you have it figured out most stories flow from that point. His continued to be awkward and lacked Erikson's elegance. For better or worse there's no way to avoid the comparisons.

The story itself I really enjoyed. Still if you're looking for this to be Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice it isn't. It lacks that epic scale. But it's not meant to be either. Everything takes place in one earth shattering night. I loved guessing at who characters really were. I loved learning more about characters who aren't the main focus of the main series but are still important.

This book read more like an action, horror and war story all at once. The action was mostly fast and furious and I enjoyed it. I do wish there was more direct access to Dancer and Kellanved but the author went for more cloak and dagger action seen through the eyes of two characters on the peripheral edge of events and really it worked so I won't quibble.

If you love the main series you need to read this but don't think of it as the main series. The gaps it fills are invaluable and enjoyable. ...more

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Mar 30, 2016 Dan rated it liked it

Shelves: dark-fantasy, fantasy, high-fantasy

It was a while back that I'd read this book but I do remember enjoying it. Not a very florid prose, but a nice fast paced read with an original concept; one fateful night in the Malazan empire. It adds some nice back story to the ever entwining plots of the world of Malazan. Overall a solid first novel from Ian C. Esslemont.

~3.5/5 ...more

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May 08, 2023 Liam rated it liked it

For what this was, I think the structure would work better more sword and sorcery in mode, less epic fantasy.

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Nov 27, 2012 Christian Freed rated it really liked it

A fine accompaniment to the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Night of Knives takes place in a single night and explores what happens to the Emperor and his right hand as the Malazan Empire is usurped by one of the inner circle. Esslemont fills in the gaps Erickson leaves as his tomes rage on. Not the best books, but I am a huge fan. Worth the read.

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Oct 21, 2013 Xara Niouraki rated it liked it

I would have liked to see some major events through the eyes of Kellanved, Dancer or Surly. As it is, I feel that the events were not properly described and there were times that I was confused as to what happened. I wasn't really interested in Kiska but I loved Temper and the details of his past. ...more

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