What is this lol? also wth that cant be bakker! Doesnt look like him at all!

Btw, glad to see you posting again

Thank you!

Everyone on this forum is very polite. I'm not posting that often but I read here frequently. I think it's mostly because there are so many other knowledge people than me . I hope I didn't go too much off topic now!

I've read all Malazan books quite recently. Never understood why people think they are so good; I personally think its one of the worst fantasy series I've read, with book 2 and 3 only being the really good books (book 3 in particular). My overall objection to the series is that it feels... contrived. It feels like Erikson is trying to imitate the complexity of an author like, for instance, Bakker, but failing horribly at wrapping the storylines/characters up, while also failing to make the individual storylines/characters themselves interesting. There is just so many things going on in the books, so many storylines and characters and its far form obvious how they are all entertwined. There are also many storylines that simply abrubtly end and as a reader you have no idea why they were there taking up space in the books in the first place. Also, there are hardly any really likeable characters and even if you find one, chances are that in the next book you read you aren't gonna be reading about that character again (i.e. same problem as the last 2 GRRM books).

The only thing that really impressed me was some of the tragic moments throughout the series. Given the scope of the series, it hardly makes it worth sloughing through all of the books just for those few pieces. I strongly recommend all my friends to stop reading these books after book 3.

I guess a good way of describing the overall quality of this series would be the following: Due to the complexity of the series, it feels that as a reader you are pretty much required to re-read the series. Whereas this can sometimes be exiciting to gain a deeper understanding of the series (as is the case with Bakker's works. I felt immediately while reading the books that I wanted to read them again), it just felt laboursome to read the Malazan books because I knew there were so many things that I didnt understand but that I felt was needed to be understood to understand the point of the things transpiring in the story. Compare again with Bakker. Bakker's 'show, dont tell' way of writing is mainly concerned with the world-building and it enhanced the books greatly, giving them this sense of 'mystery' (answers are like opium etc). You dont NEED to know everything about the nonmen and the first apocalypse to understand the forward-going story, but you certainly do want to understand more. Whereas in the Malazan books it felt like the story got so stunted by there simply being to many things that you didnt understand, and many of those things at least I felt were needed to be understood in order to understand what was actually happening present-time in the story.

I'm just really disappointed by how good I've heard the Malazan books to be, and it actually turned out to be a labour to understand crucial points of the books. Sure, Bakker's works has some esoteric writing and stuff as well but I have never felt that some of the more abstract themes etc have been crucial to understand the story; they are merely means to get a deeper understanding of it.

I have to say this is the first Bakker book that I have mixed feelings about, agreeing with much of what you said. I didn't have any issues with any individual scenes (I thought the Nuke was a pretty smart move; the Tekne is about invention rather than magic, right?). The exception to this would be Ishterebinth I guess, which I felt was way too long-winded and too abstract in its narrative. I actually found myself very nearly skipping some passages because it just felt that the story was in slow motion during those chapters.

Anyway apart from that what worries me the most is mainly the Momemn (and Meepa) storylines. So much space has been given in the books to tell us what is happening  there but for what reason? The only thing that really matters is what is happening in the north which, by the way, makes Kellhus appearance very hard to justify. Why does he care what happens there? Even if he did, how could it possibly warrant leaving the great ordeal? So basically, a lot of cool stuffs happen in Momemn but the events are tinted by the fact that as a reader I fail to see the significance of it.

Overall I liked the book though and I hope the issues I had largely depend on the book being cut in half!

I would personally burn all my Bakker books on a pyre if it turns out that Earwa is just a computer simulation. In fact, it would be even more stupid than the ending of  Ender's game.

Hello everyone, long time lurker, rarely poster here:

One of the things that has always impressed me about Bakker is his incredible ability in making depravity seem glorious. I really cant think of any other author that so depicts the barbarity of human fanaticism. Without further ado (my emphasis):

Within days, it seemed, the entire host had set aside its scruples and fell to their grisly fare with relish, even celebratory enthusiasm. Tongues and hearts became the preferred delicacies among the Nansur kjineta. The Ainoni prized the cheeks. The Tydonni took to boiling the creatures before searing them over flame. To a man they discovered the peculiar mingling of triumph and transgression that comes upon those who battle against what they would eat. For they could not bite without suffering some glimmer of the affinity between Sranc and Men—the sordid spectre of cannibalism— and they could not chew and swallow without some sense of predatory domination. The immeasurable Horde, which had been the object of so much foreboding and terror, became small with hilarity and devious wit. At the latrines they traded jokes about justice and Fate.

reading above was harrowing for sure

Hello everyone!

I just finished my first re-read of the whole series and I have to say that, in a way, I actually enjoyed reading the books MORE this time. Simply amazing, I have much to thank Bakker for, what a splendid author.

Anyway, when I read the battle between Akka and Nil'giccas (secretly hoping they'd just reconcile and be friends, despite knowing differently!) I ponder how it was possible for Akka to strike Nil'giccas down. Supposedly, Nil'giccas is one of the most powerful beings alive. I get Akka isn't your ordinary schoolman either, but really? Though, Akka seems to be distracting Nil'giccas by saying that he wouldn't strike him, and then directly after that hitting him with a concussion cant so I guess Akka had the element of surprise but still. What are your thoughts on this encounter?

Also, is it only me who is secretly hoping for some kind of redemption of the nonmen? Such a tragic fate, theirs is.