Customer Reviews

Blood Follows

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So you are addicted to the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and have read all 6 published novels to date (up through the Bonehunters at present), even ordering the 5th and 6th used or from canada or the UK rather than wait, and now you have read them all and other authors just don't seem as interesting....then you notice these two 'short novels' about the necromancers from Memories of Ice (i think), Bauchelain and Korbal Broach....

1) these short novels are around 110-20 pages each, but that is only half the story. typeface is larger, the books themselves are quite small, and you end up with only 27 lines per page versus 37-38 avg in the larger books, and somewhat less letters per line to boot. I bet if reduced to the more narrow typeface of the main novels, these would be less than 75 pages each. These are short stories, and they go quite quickly.

2) you are going to pay for these short stories - even at the amazon price (34 bucks for both) you are paying more than you would for the first 4 in paperback, and we are talking about maybe 2500-3000 pages of story there versus a converted equivalent of maybe 150 in BOTH of these.

3) you are going to finish them FAST, as in a couple of hours.

all that considered, they are entertaining for what they are, with Blood Follows being the backstory on the origin of Emancipor Reese and how he came to be in the employ of the necromancers. There is a sub-plot involving their doings in the city of Moll, with some focus on a character leading the investigation of the murders by (surprise) Korbal Broach.

I did not include price in my star rating, but it is worth considering how annoyed you will be when you see the size of what you are buying.

If you have read Steven Erikson Books of the fallen you will love this account of his two anti-heroes involved of murder and magic of the worst kind. If you are not acclimatised to Erikson then you will probably find it an amusing if slightly bizarre/disturbing short story. This book was a signed limited edition and I was lucky to get hold off it but I believe that a limited edition reprint (of the paper back) is coming up May '04 so if you want to read this I would strongly recommend pre-ordering.

Another great story from Steven Erikson.

This is a short novella (121 pages long), but don't let the size fool you. It contains the same quality of story telling that fantasy readers have come to know and relish with this author's " Malazan Book of the Fallen" series. (in fact the story itself takes place in the Malazan sphere of influence)

I really like Erikson's descriptive narrative abilities; he has such a natural way of making the words on the page transport you to another place and make you feel a part of the surroundings. In this instance, it's a sombre mood with a chilling atmosphere in a town called "Lamentable Moll" (don't you just love the name). A place as seedy as they come, where there has been murder, multiple murders in fact, and the local gendarme has been charged to find out what is going on. And what he finds out is...well, lets say, unexpected.

All in all, a wonderful read; if you like the "Malazan" series you'll love this. Highly recommended!

This novella is a nice little story, but common to Erikson's style in that it takes a while to really get going. By the time he's really gotten things to a point where the reader is engrossed, the novella is almost over. Still, an excellent work of fantasy, and a fun diversion whilst waiting for the next Malazan book.

Steven Erikson's series "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" is widely considered one of today's Great Fantasy Series and he is often listed at or near the top of the list of the best fantasy authors writing today. He's good, but it'll take a few more books until I'm willing to anoint him above a certain George Martin. Thus far only three of his Malazan novels have been published in America and I'm waiting for the third volume, "The Memories of Ice", to come from the library. It's possible that Book 4, "House of Chains", is out, but my library certainly doesn't have it yet. Anyway, along with the primary Malazan series Erikson is also writing a series of novellas set in this same world/universe, but featuring secondary characters which may or may not appear in the main series. As the Malazan books progress we'll see how they tie together or if they even do. "Blood Follows" is the first of these novellas and it is described as being "A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach".

Who? I don't know, either. Maybe they show up in "The Memories of Ice", but I can't say for sure yet. The story of "Blood Follows" touches up this Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, but the story the novella is telling is two fold. First we have Emancipor Reece, a former coachman for a local merchant who was just killed by this serial killer who has been eviscerating his victims one a night for the past eleven nights. Reece is now out of a job and his wife is commanding that he not come home until he finds one. He does, of course, and it is in the employ of a Bauchelain as his manservant. There is also a sergeant of the city watch who has been ordered by the King to stop the murders and bring the killer to justice. The sergeant is good at his job. Since Reece's last three employers all have ended up dead he is someone the sergeant first talks to, but his investigation also takes him to the foreigners Bauchelain and the so far unseen Korbal Broach.

The novella is only 120 pages or so and Erikson does not have the space to indulge in slowing teasing the reader with little bits of detail across hundreds of pages and "Blood Follows" reads easier than the main Malazan books. It doesn't have the depth of satisfaction or richness as the Malazan books but it does add something to the world, that there is something else going on that may eventually tie in to the main story and how everything may connect. I'm actually looking forward to the novellas as much as I am the novels, if as much because the novellas are less of a time commitment. Finding out more about Bauchelain and Korbal Broach will be interesting and now that Reece has left the city with the two I can only wonder what darkness comes next.

Superb storytelling which sucks you in in the first page and actually makes you feel sorry for the manservant but almost jealous at the same time.
Amazing characterization, but only to be expected as he set the highest standard possible with the Malazan series, short but 'always leave them wanting more'.
Along with 'The Healthy Dead' well worth the money for a fan.

I hope for more of the same but in a much expanded format.

Steven Erikson, Blood Follows: A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach (Night Shade Books, 2005)

Discerning readers of martial fantasy-- that stuff that focuses more on the troops, the battles, and the strategy of fantasy campaigns instead of the fairies (Tolkein's Return of the King, Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and Moon's The Deed of Paksennarion are all excellent examples of the form) should take every possible chance they have to visit Genabackis, the fantastically detailed world in which Erikson sets the books in his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. The tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach are nonesuch tales, silly little side stories where Erikson can indulge an obvious predilection for base, somewhat infantile humor that's just as black as anything to be found in the main series.

This story centers on the pair's long-suffering manservant, Emancipor Reese, and tells the story of how he came to work for the lovably evil necromancers. Reese, drunk, answers an ad on a post in his hometown of Lamentable Moll, a nasty little place that is currently inhabited by a serial killer who murders, with increasing amounts of violence, one person per night. It's somewhat predictable (come on, you have to know who the murderer is, don't you?), but then, the murder mystery isn't the focus here. Emancipor's early encounters with Bauchelain (Broach, as usual, rarely emerges from the shadows in which he's most comfortable), and how the two of them form the bond that makes Reese both more valuable and more intimate than your usual manservant, are the focus. As always, Erikson's characters are perfectly drawn, and he uses no emotional shortcuts; despite Blood Follows being a fifth (or less) the length of the typical Malazan book, Erikson still builds everything the right way, so that the reader can genuinely empathize with, and enjoy, the characters Erikson presents, and the situations in which he puts them.

Another winner from Erikson. If you haven't yet encountered, him, start off with Gardens of the Moon and Deadouse Gates, and then slip these stories in somewhere between two of the later novels. ****

I picked this up at the library because I needed a break from the 900+ page doorstop fantasy novel I'm reading and I was struck by the production values of the book itself. (In true pulp tradition, the cover has nothing to do with the contents.)

My main response to this work is to say something I never thought would ever be said about any work set in an epic fantasy world: it's too short. For the most part, I really enjoyed reading this rich mess of characters in the city of Lamentable Moll (Moll --- as in droll). The word `Dickenesque' comes to mind to describe the odd collection of characters that populate this city. They are so much fun --- especially this hen-pecked working class husband who seems to have made a wrong turn on his way to casting for a suburban sitcom --- that you don't really care too much about the plot, which involves a serial killer on the loose. [No cliche there!]

In reading this piece, you're enjoying the indulgence of getting to know the characters and figure that the whole murder thing will eventually take shape. But then a shift occurs around page one hundred. The author seems to have realized, "Oh dear! I've written 25,000 words and I agreed to not go over 30,000!" Things start happening fast. The detective who hadn't been making much progress suddenly figures out what has been happening, and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure I understood the barrage of events over the last twenty pages.

Personally, if I were to do this again, I would instead seek out _Bauchelain and Korbal Broach: Three Short Novels of the Malazan Empire, Volume One_. This novella is the first story in it. I would only hunt down this particular volume if I were a collector as this is a pricey limited edition.

As a big fan of Steven Erikson's work I was very interested to try his novella Blood Follows: A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. This is essentially an introductory book that gives you part of the origin of these three characters that appear in Erikson's 3rd (or 4th depending on how you like to count them) Malazan novel. As I've come to expect, the characters are well developed, interesting, flawed and compelling. The story is not quite as interesting as it might be although using a shorter format keeps background and secondary information to a minimum. Nevertheless, it's a very entertaining read with the higher quality prose that Erikson is known for. My only complaint would be that this should have been a full length novel.

If you enjoy Erikson's main series this little, and I mean little, novel will only wet you appetite for more of Erikson's writing. This book looks short and is deceptively shorter, so paying full price might not be the best idea. If you like Erikson's style without having to juggle multiple storylines, you will definitely enjoy this novel. It lacks action but the town of Lamentable Moll comes to life without it. It basically gives you a back story to Bauchelain and Korbal Broach and their manservant Reese. I found the novel enjoyable even without the action. Overall I found it worth my time.