Customer Reviews

Night of Knives: A Novel of the Melazan Empire

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Night of Knives is the first addition to the Malazan series by Ian C. Esslemont (ICE). The fantasy world featured in the Malazan Book of the Fallen was co-created by ICE and Steven Erikson, who has published 7 full-length novels and 3 novellas set in the world.

I loved Steven Erikson's works and was worried to see the world in the hands of another author. However, ICE did not let me down. Night of Knives features all the epic fantasy storytelling action that I've come to expect in a Malazan novel. He has shown the potential to write a series just as grand and Erikson's.

The story takes place before the action of all the other novels. The story is told mostly through the perspective of two characters: Temper, a retired veteran of many campaigns, and Kiska and young female talent with aspirations for greatness. Many characters from Erikson's works are featured and we get to learn more about there background. Dassem Ultor, Surly, Topper, The Claw, The Talon, Tayschrenn, Kellanved , Dancer, Edgewalker all show up. We also get to meet some new Bridgeburners! The events all unfold over a 24 hr period, the night of the Shadow Moon when it is rumored that Emperor Kellanved and his lieutenant Dancer will return after years of traveling the world. A proposition not everyone is thrilled about.

This book is a must read for any fan of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Though I recommend not reading this until after completing all of Erikson's current novels. It will spoil some plot points and reveals in Erikson's stories.

Night of Knives is the first addition to the Malazan series by Ian C. Esslemont (ICE). The fantasy world featured in the Malazan Book of the Fallen was co-created by ICE and Steven Erikson, who has published 7 full-length novels and 3 novellas set in the world.

I loved Steven Erikson's works and was worried to see the world in the hands of another author. However, ICE did not let me down. Night of Knives features all the epic fantasy storytelling action that I've come to expect in a Malazan novel. He has shown the potential to write a series just as grand and Erikson's.

The story takes place before the action of all the other novels. The story is told mostly through the perspective of two characters: Temper, a retired veteran of many campaigns, and Kiska and young female talent with aspirations for greatness. Many characters from Erikson's works are featured and we get to learn more about there background. Dassem Ultor, Surly, Topper, The Claw, The Talon, Tayschrenn, Kellanved , Dancer, Edgewalker all show up. We also get to meet some new Bridgeburners! The events all unfold over a 24 hr period, the night of the Shadow Moon when it is rumored that Emperor Kellanved and his lieutenant Dancer will return after years of traveling the world. A proposition not everyone is thrilled about.

This book is a must read for any fan of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Though I recommend not reading this until after completing all of Erikson's current novels. It will spoil some plot points and reveals in Erikson's stories.

Another interesting Malazan story! This novel takes place in the city of Malaz; the time frame is in the early days of the ascent of the Malazan empire.

This novel is extremely well written, captivating and well paced. Like Erikson, Esslemont has that intangible skill with prose that draws you into the tale, almost making you feel like your right there. I had difficultly putting this book down...it just got better and better.

There is also an excellent map of Malaz City that helps sort out some of the geographic twists and turns that occur in the telling of this tale.

And finally...I find it hard to believe that another writer could pen a Malazan tale as well as the original author, but it has actually happened. This is a wonderful addition to the ongoing story of Erikson's Malazan Empire. Anyone who has enjoyed the previous books will want to read the newest edition of this series. 5 Stars. (more if I could)

R.Nicholson

P.S.

Apparently Erikson and Esslemont are 'co-founders' of the Malazan world, and both have agreed to and have welcomed each others contributions.

I enjoyed Ian C Esslemont's first entry in the world he shares with Erikson. It's a different style, more expository, wonderfully describes and realizes the setting of Malaz City, and follows two characters instead of...well, a bunch. He makes the world seen in Erikson's works his own, which makes sense since he did cocreate it.

However, it simply isn't of the same quality. It's nice that the events take place over the course of one night instead of an extended period time, as this adds a degree of action and suspense to the story. And it elaborates upon how Kellanved and Dancer ascended, something hardcore fans of the series such as myself can appreciate.

But both of these aspects of Night of Knives, it's strongest positives, also contribute to it's strongest negatives. Because of the confines of the story's timeline and setting (one night, one city) it is much less complex than Erikson's works, and is at times a bit too simplistic. Someone expecting a story of the same depth and quality will be very disappointed.

Second, the plot is good, but not great. It zooms along and has an exciting climax, but the major event of this book is the ascending of Kellanved and Dancer...and yet we hardly ever see them except for two times each, and don't receive any development or insight into their characters whatsoever. There is still plenty for Mala-fans to enjoy, such as some great moments with Tayschrenn and Dassemer Ultor, but not as much as they might hope. I read this after Memories of Ice and understood everything that was going on. Still, as a standalone fantasy, it really doesn't have that much to offer, as fans unfamiliar with the Malazan Empire and the importance of the events they are reading about will probably just be bored and confused.

Finally, one of Erikson's greatest strengths, in my opinion, is his characterization and ability to complexly develop his characters, main and supporting. Esslemont, not so much. Well, aside from Tayschrenn, whom after this and Memories of Ice, I'm coming to like more and more, the supporting players are weak and come off as stereotypical characterizations. Same for the protagonists. Temper is the stereotypical bad-ass, grizzled, world-weary soldier with a dark past, and Kiska is the precocious street girl who has big dreams and yearns to escape her hometown, of which she knows all the secrets and hiding places. Both could've been main characters in any generic fantasy yarn. Kiska never elevates beyond this shallow characterization, and towards the end I was tempted to skip her parts, though Temper comes into his own.

I've read other reviews that say you have to read Esslemont's book on his own merits and to not compare it to Erikson's books. I disagree. As a standalone fantasy novel it is extremely average, and as a book that is supposed to be analogous to Erikson's Malazan series, since it shares the same setting and characters and is 'canon,' I feel you can compare it with his books as well and it pales in comparison. Only Mala-fans will enjoy this book, and even then may be disappointed there wasn't more to enjoy. Still, I'm eagerly waiting Esslemont's next book about the Crimson Guard. Perhaps there are much better things to come from him.

I live close to the Canadian border, and on a trip to a bookstore there I was pleased to find the MMPB version of this book (US release is TBD).

Esselmont co-created the Malazan world with Steven Erikson. I am here to tell you that Esselmont has the same ability to tell an engaging tale with action, detail, intrigue, etc....just as Erikson.

This book is jam-packed with action and is virtually non-stop from the beginning. The story takes place on the Isle of Malaz, in some of the earlier days of the Malazan Empire (before Surly became Laseen, Empress of the Empire). You'll meet a couple new characters, but will also come across some familiar ones too. The entire book takes place in one night in Malaz City - The Shadow Moon.

If you were curious about how some of the Malazan characters in Gardens of the Moon (Erikson's 1st in his series) got where they were, pick this book up. I highly recommend this book to any Malazan fan out there!

I wasn't sure how I was going to like a different author after having grown used to Steven Erikson's writing, but I was quickly converted to Ian Esslemont's style. I think he uses some big vocabulary words in places where they don't add anything to the text, but that is my only criticism.
The plot moves along pretty well for the first 150 pages and then just takes off until the end. This is pretty typical of the other Erikson books in the series as well. It is nice to get a snapshot of history as to what happened with Malaz Island and Kellanved / Dancer before they ascended.

I've had this book for awhile, and finally got around to reading it. I've begun the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Erikson, though I'm taking a break until the last novel is written and I can start from the beginning again.

In spite of a few flaws in Erikson's works, I greatly enjoy his novels. I was looking forward to an expansion of the world and the 'main event' in this novel, the ultimate fate of Emperor Kellanved and Dancer. Alas, I found this book to have many more flaws, and very disappointingly the main event is really only hinted at. This is due to the perspective of the novel, through the eyes of two characters.. one a grizzled veteran who finds a chance for one more moment of glory, and a young girl desperate to escape the island she's on. The structure of the story reminds me of a role playing game, where a GM might involve low level characters in world changing events by giving them missions which affect the event enough to allow it to come to pass, but due to the severe danger of directly participating in the event, doesn't allow them to do so. In fact, given that the Malazan 'world' was a role playing game created by Erikson and Esselmont, this could very well be the exact reason for the structure of the novel.

So what you have is, two characters who really have no idea what's going to happen, being manipulated by numerous forces for goals and missions which make little sense to these characters, and they only hear and see the very edges of the main event. This type of structure can be quite effective, if done right, but here I just found it frustrating.

The dialogue was really very poor at times. The worst scene was when a powerful wizard arrives to help hold back a threat to the island. Stripped to its core, the exchange seemed to go like this:

Newcomer Wizard: Well, you called me here, so here I am to save the day. What's the problem? And why should I help you? I'm not really sure I want to.
Local Wizards: We're not sure we want your help at all.
Newcomer Wizard: What? Why not? I'm powerful!
Local Wizards: Well, it doesn't matter. You'll step in if we fail to stop the threat..
Newcomer Wizard: I may. I may not.
Local Wizards: Yes you will. Here's the threat. (They show him)
Newcomer Wizard: Oh no. You're right, I would have to stand against that if you two fell.

Very confusing motives and almost childish reactions and dialogue by the characters were evident here and in other places. Oh, and the threat they faced was indeed huge, but the way it is resolved is pretty much all 'off camera'.

There's also the problem that there are a host of different factions and personalities and places in this novel. Those who read Erikson know that this is the case in his novels too, but he tends to have many more pages to tie everything together and get the reader up to speed. Here, I honestly doubt I could describe each group, their motivation and what 'side' they were on. Reading Erikson's books awhile back helped some, and I can only imagine that a newcomer to the Malazan world would be completely befuddled.

There's lots of action, and much of it is confusing, but some of it is well written.

One minor nit I have to pick is that by the time this novel occurs, 'Surly' had taken the name of Empress Laseen (according to the prologue in Gardens of the Moon), and yet she is called only Surly by everyone in this novel, even by those who would certainly know about her and her name change.

So why does this get two stars instead of one star? Well, there are moments of good writing and imagery, particularly the prologue. It does flesh out some elements of the Malazan world, though barely. And I did read it through to the end, where the epilogue is pretty well penned also. Still, I can't really recommend this except to a Malazan world completist. Since I already picked up "The Crimson Guard" I will likely give Esselmont one more chance to impress me.

Night of Knives is Ian C. Esslemont's first contribution (in novel form--he was there from the beginning in terms of creation) to the Malazan universe, better known through the many large novels by Steven Erikson. Esslemont is writing several books in that world and Night of Knives, the first, takes us back to a hugely important night in the series' history--the night the Emperor Kallenvad and Dancer ascended and entered the realm of Shadow as Shadowthrone and Cotillion.

The book is much more constrained than the other Malazan novels--taking place over the span of a single night and set in a single small geography. It's also much shorter and its point of view narration is limited to two: Temper, an old veteran of the Malazan Army who fought side by side with Dassesm Ultor, the Empire's First Sword allegedly killed in the final battle of an overseas campaign; and Kiska, a young girl desperate to get off the island and thus willing to put her good but inexperienced talents to use in trying to become a player/observer in this night's machinations.

And there are a lot of machinations: Surly's attempt to kill Kallenvad and Dancer, their attempt to ascend, a fierce magical attack on the island by the semi-mythical Stormriders, war being waged between Surly's Claw and Shadow Cultists, with a familiar archmage in the mix as well. While the book's conciseness may seem a breath of fresh air from Erikson's tomes, I think Esslemont's brevity does him a disservice here--several plot points feel either a bit sudden in appearance, a bit rushed in conclusion, or too abstract in that they take place off-stage where all the reader sees is the aftermath. I admit to a little disappointment in the plot, especially in the finale. I also admit to a bit of frustration, similar to what I feel at times with Erikson, with the whole power scale deal with characters in this universe, as time and again characters do the "impossible" or take on the "unbeatable." But at least it happens less in this shorter book.

Those fans of the series coming to it with hopes of "answers" to questions in Erikson's novels will find little satisfaction--there are some answers, and important scenes are expanded, but as with Erikson, we're getting certain points-of-views here and we're not as readers necessarily clear on whose take is the "right" one. And certainly the book raises as many questions as it answers.

Where the book shines, though, is in its characterization. Kiska is endearing and likable and her confusion does a nice job of standing in for the reader's own such, but the real compelling figure for me is Temper: compelling in his background, compelling in his unwillingness to lay down the burdens of responsibility and power, though he's been trying, compelling in his inner thought processes.

Night of Knives does a nice job of filling in some gaps in the Malazan world and timeline and does so via strong characters, one in particular, though it falls down a bit in terms of plot. Fans of Erikson will find Esslemont a bit wanting, I'm guessing, but the comparison isn't quite a fair one at this point as Erikson has had many years to hone his craft/stories. Certainly the potential is there for Esslemont as shown by the character of Temper; Night of Knives was slightly disappointing, but only slightly, and I look forward to Return of the Crimson Guard to see how his writing improves. I'm already happy it's a longer book.

This is a good book. It isn't a great book. It sorta falls in the middle.

What I liked: the pace of the action. It's pretty steady throughout the book. I also like how the plot is centered around a single night in Malazan history, a very important night indeed. I liked the main characters (Temper and Kiska) and thought they were explored fairly deeply. The ending was satisfactory on the whole, seeming to wrap everything up nicely. I absolutely loved Temper's backstory, and his relationship to the Malazan Empire as revealed through the tale.

What I disliked: too often I found myself going, "do what?" There seemed to be a lot of moments in the story that seemed random and mismatched. Some of the encounters and Kiska's travels through the warrens seemed unnecessary to tell her tale. I was often confused whenever someone reached out and snatched her from behind and tied her up. What side are they on? Who are they? Why are they here? There wasn't a definite Side A vs. Side B struggle going on here; it often seemed like pure chaos, and it was hard to keep track of. And yes, I think Kiska got captured more times than a Robert Jordan novice smoothes out her skirts in a single volume.

That aside, there can be a positive said about the confusion. It was a confusing night, the Shadow Moon. Kiska was clueless, and so were the readers that followed from her perspective. As she learned what the hell was going on, so did we. So ultimately, that worked out. Esslemont just isn't as intriguing a writer as his co-conspirator in the Malazan world, Steven Erikson. Steven confuses us too, but his narrative makes it forgivable, most of the time.

So all in all, I enjoyed it and it was a quick read. If you're a Malazan fan, it's a must read. If not, skip it......

"'If you'd been born here, you'd stay put tonight, believe me. You'd know. The riots an' killin' and such this year prophesized it. Maybe even summoned it. A Shadow Moon. The souls of the dead come out under a shadow Moon. Them and worse.'"

From the start, the thought of Esslemont cowriting Malazan made me nervous. Writing thousand page epics is a dangerous game. There've been some splendid successes in recent years, but it's a form where a mediocre novel inevitably wears out whatever welcome it might once have had and simply becomes unbearable as it goes on and on and on (and on). How could a wholly untested author expect to jump into the middle of the largest giant in a field characterized by behemoths? Thankfully, I needn't have worried. The helm is passed from one hand to another, but the ride proceeds smoothly.

A large part of that easy transition is that Esslemont didn't just jump in and hope for the best. Night of Knives is far more streamlined than any of the preceding Malazan novels; though we're seeing a key piece of the world's history, the novel's roughly a third of the length of Erikson's slimmest contribution, and we're doing it from two new, easily accessible view points.

Temper is a character type familiar to all Malazan fans: the grizzled veteran. Esslemont doesn't do anything particularly new with him, but it's not really needed. He's a good way for the reader to acquaint themselves with the word, he's a badass, and the flashback to just why he's standing guard in some backwater shithole under an assumed name is the highlight of the book.

Kiska is, at first, another perfect archetype. We have the local girl, master of stealth and assassination, and we have the short sighted officials who just won't see her skill for what it is. As the book progresses, however, Esslemont brings an enjoyable amount of depth to his up and coming rogue. Her endless early arrogance is hard to reconcile with her less than stellar performance, and we learn that, if she'd only been a bit more patient, she could've become a full blown mage. It's worth noting, however, that this added layer is more of a bonus than anything else. This isn't Abercrombie; Kiska is, primarily, what she looks like, just with a bit of spice added to the mix.

Night of Knives looks a bit odd sitting on a shelf with the rest of the series, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that Esslemont has managed to condense one of Erikson's epic arcs into a bite sized format. No, not quite. Night of Knives feels like the first fifty pages of Memories of Ice (all set up), then the last two hundred pages (all climax). The fast pace is handled quite well for the most part, and character development progresses consistently throughout. That being said, an unavoidable result of playing on ten all the time is that whole sections get lost in the din. An entire seemingly apocalyptic plotline is built up, only to fizzle out off screen.

The combat is generally quite well written, which is good considering how much of it there is. I suppose that a convergence featuring assassins, demons, sorcerers, hounds, etc, would not be a peaceful affair, but some fights seem to exist for no purpose save to add to the already ludicrous body count. In addition, Esslemont's ability to make battle feel, well, dangerous, is somewhat negated in the first half of the novel by needless dues ex machine, providing us with filler fights resolved in unbelievable ways.

In the end, Night of Knives's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. The novel showcases the events surrounding Kellanved and Dancer, something that every fan's no doubt been dying to see. The problem is that the big twist is given away in Deadhouse Gates, and the rest of the events are sprinkled throughout the following books. Though the anticipated event in and of itself is decently satisfying, there's nothing at all unexpected about it. As a result, you're far better off viewing this as Temper and Kiska's story, rather than that of Kellanved's, so that you get a well told tale with a cinematic background, rather than an already revealed twist with a bunch of filler stuffed in.

Night of Knives isn't an amazing book, but it lays all of my fears to rest. Esslemont is worthy to write Malazan, though I hope he picks a less foreshadowed aspect of it to write in for his future works.