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69 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely stunning. A remarkable achievement., March 31, 2005
Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates (Tor, 2000)
I finished up page 598 of Deadhouse Gates, and my next act was to go to my library's website and put the third book in the series, Memories of Ice, on hold.
Deadhouse Gates is Erikson's second entry in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, which, despite its rather clumsy series name, is bang-up stuff. Few authors write martial scenes quite this well in high fantasy; Tolkein's final battle in Return of the King, Elizabeth Moon's depictions of day-to-day troop life in The Deed of Paksennarion, just about every aspect of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Yes, I'd rank Erikson with those three. Easily.
Readers of Gardens of the Moon may find themselves slightly confused when opening up Deadhouse Gates, no doubt because it takes place half a world away from Darujhistan, the city at the heart of Gardens of the Moon. You'll remember that everyone was worried, at the end of that novel, about something called the Pannion Seer. Well, you'll not see the Pannion Seer, nor most of the surviving characters from Gardens of the Moon, here (from the description I just read, that tale continues in Memories of Ice). Instead, a select few characters have fled east across the sea for various reasons, and only they link the tales.
Like Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates is an ensemble tale, but is even more sprawling in scope; at any given time, Erikson is following between two and six plot threads in alternating sections of any given chapter. There are four main plot threads, through they meander towards and away from each other, split off, and join together differently, throughout the text. The first concerns a trio pressed into slavery-- an ex-priest of Fener the Boar God, a noble-born teen, and a barbarian, none of whom seem to have anything in common, yet who are forced by circumstances to forge an uneasy bond. The second revolves around Duiker, the Imperial Historian (mentioned, but never met, in Gardens of the Moon), who accompanies the Seventh Army on a grueling overland journey from the northern city of Hissar to the southern city of Aren. The third involves Crokus, Apsalar, and Fiddler, three of the characters from Gardens of the Moon, who have come east to try and get Apsalar home to her father. The fourth involves another refugee, Kalam, who has come east for decidedly different means.
Deadhouse Gates is, essentially, a tale of journeys. In epic fantasy series (and this one is truly epic in scope; the first three books alone total close to twenty-five hundred pages), the book of journeys, or the book of transitions, is often the weakest in the series (cf. Martin's A Clash of Kings, or King's The Waste Lands). Erikson, on the other hand, has crafted an amazing piece of work in Deadhouse Gates, investing the journeys, and the underlying transitions, with more than enough action and intelligence to keep the reader going, while still getting all the boring stuff out of the way under the surface. Everyone gets where they're going, all the plot threads are eventually sewn up (except those left as obvious hooks into the remainder of the series), all the details that one almost expects, these days, to see disappear into the dust of all these riders on their journeys come to satisfying conclusions. Erikson's eye for detail is truly astounding in some cases.
One word of warning, though, in case you hadn't yet realized it after reading Gardens of the Moon. Erikson is just as hard on his main characters as is George R. R. Martin; some of the characters in this novel have a decidedly Janet Leigh air about them, but Erikson never once, in the hundreds of pages before he dispatches them, lets you know which ones they'll be, and their deaths often come with the same surprise (and surprisingly-felt sorrow) as the surprising death at the climax of A Game of Thrones (the identity of the victim of which I shall not reveal here to spare those handful of you who have not yet started that equally brilliant series).
An incredible piece of work, quite likely to find its way onto my Best-I-Read list for 2005. **** ½
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful and imaginative, February 10, 2005
It is actually a tribute to Steven Erikson's writing that this book is so hard to plow through. This is because his vivid descriptions of the central heroic event of the novel -- a retreat from a conquering army that is akin to Mao's Long March (although it's the potential "good guys" who are retreating, not a future oppressor of 1/2 of Asia) -- is so realistic. The retreating army's despair, desperation, resignation, determination, heroism, intelligence, brutality (and those of its enemy) are palpable to the point that it is difficult to read of the dire straits of the heroes. The second main plot thread is nearly as dreary as the youngest sister of Gardens of the Moon (book 1) hero Ganoes Paran is captured and sentenced to imprisonment in a mining camp. Her transformation from happy noble youth to defeated young woman to embodying a cultural icon conveys numerous tribulations, and few triumphs.
Deadhouse Gates also has three or more other major story threads that are largely separate from Gardens of the Moon (book 1 of the Malazan Empire series), and is essentially a stand-alone novel. Nonetheless, Deadhouse Gates fits squarely within the overarching narrative that connects all the books in the series (and which becomes more apparent in Memories of Ice, book 3 of the series). It contains the story elements that have launched Erikson's career -- gritty stories of heroism and villainy, vivid action, intriguing cultural elements, a long and rich history preceding the story at hand, unquestioned originality (especially in comparison to 95% of the fantasy fiction available) and the feel that the world he created is starting toward a gargantuan eruption with innumerable initial tremors.
Note that the whole Malazan Cycle is projected at 10 books total, but Erikson writes relatively fast (he's slowed to about 3 Malazan books per every four years, which is pretty good considering the size of the books and the side projects he is working on). Nonetheless, they're worth the time and effort to procure and read.
Highly Recommended.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantasy at its best, February 26, 2001
A Kid's Review
If you're looking for a low-calorie dish of light fantasy, this ain't it. If you're looking for a nine-course riot of taste and texture, exotically spiced to make your eyes water, your heart pump faster and your brain do cartwheels inside your cranium, I know a great little Thai place downtown. Or, if you want something analogous to that in your reading, stop at the 'E's and pick up the latest from Steven Erikson. Like 'Gardens of the Moon', and indeed like the whole concept for the 10-volume Malazan series, Deadhouse Gates is an ambitious work that is sometimes in danger of over-reaching itself. But if you can buckle down for the ride, it sure is a frightening one. I don't know what to say, this is the greatest fantasy book I have read ever for a few years. The book starts of a bit slow and your not sure what is happening, as you read on you start to understand what is happening. The book is not just focused on one Character, but serveral. Like most fantasy goods, its good vs Evil, this is different, Good guys do bad things and bad guys do good things and sometimes things that look good are actually bad. So you don't know who's side you are on. In GOTM (Gardens of the Moon), people were say there was not enough history background info, but you find out much in this book, and I'm sure we will find out much more in the future books. The second half of the book, starts to set off fireworks, fast pace action, this book makes you think. Kalam, Crokus, Apsalar, and Fiddler are back, and they got business to sort out. The characters have totally different personalities, and aims. Also we see alot of Parans younger sister Fesilin, and hear much about his older sister. The book is building up to a massive climax for the seven cities, where each side will later have to gamble, take risks, and have the nerves to do what they need to. Also you learn much more about Shadowthrone's and co, history. And the new characters are wicked. S.E really knows all about writing battles, and descripbing exactly what is happening. You'll know what I mean when you read about the Chain Of Dogs. It is quite challenging to read, but when you have finished it, you'll be demanding more. I just can't wait for the next one to come out when they return to Genabackis, coming out in Sep 2001 called 'Memories of Ice'.
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