Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1)

by Steven Erikson

Kallor said: ‘I walked this land when the T’lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?’ ‘Yes,’ said Caladan Brood, ‘you never learn.’