Malazan Empire: New Read Order (+ost) - Malazan Empire

Jump to content

  • 2 Pages +
  • 1
  • 2
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

New Read Order (+ost)

#1 User is offline   chris777 

  • Sergeant
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 83
  • Joined: 01-February 12

Posted 01 February 2012 - 07:32 PM

So I have researched a bit, and am looking for others advice. On Wert's blog he claims the new read order should be.


Gardens of the Moon
Deadhouse Gates
Memories of Ice
House of Chains
Midnight Tides
Night of Knives
The Bonehunters
Return of the Crimson Guard
Reaper's Gale
Toll the Hounds
Stonewielder
Orb Sceptre Throne
Dust of Dreams
The Crippled God


I just finished The Bonehunters and am currently reading RotCG. I will read Reapers Gale after. But I have heard others say it is better to read Stonewielder directly after RG.Also before OST was released people were saying to read Stoneweilder after DoD and before CG.The one Read-Order thread on this website suggests:
GotM
DG
MoI
HoC
MT
NoK
tBH
RG
RotCG
TtH
DoD
SW
tCG


I am curious as to why RotCG after RG? And why SW between DoD and CG?

Also I don't know how well it's accepted to post another forum, but I have a big thread going in sffworld about Malazan and my thoughts. Many questions in that thread that people have still yet to comment on. Always welcome the malazan regs.
0

#2 User is offline   D'rek 

  • Consort of High House Mafia
  • Group: Super Moderators
  • Posts: 14,599
  • Joined: 08-August 07
  • Location::

Posted 01 February 2012 - 08:16 PM

My opinion, with rational >>>

TMBotF should of course go in sequential order:

GotM >> DG >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> BH >> RG >> TtH >> DoD >> TCG

Of course you can read it in other orders, especially the first 5 but this is the undisputed default order.

Then the NotME should of course go in their own sequential order:

NoK >> RotCG >> SW >> OST ( >> CitJ/B&B >> Assail)

Reading these out of order would be even weirder than reading MbotF out of order.

Adding NotME to MBotF one at a time:

NoK:
-chronologically occurs before all of the main plots of MBotF
-should be before tBH due to NoK characters cameo'ing in tBH

This one is fairly debateable as going anywhere from before GotM to between MT and tBH. It also generates some spoiler conflict between itself and DG (the early Kel=ST reveal) and itself and MoI (you will know Artan[thos] is Tayschrenn the second time he uses that name, whichever one is second). There's no right answer here, numerous people have started Malazan with NoK and it's been fine.


RotCG:
-chronologically takes place after tBH
-does not intersect with RG in any way (except a teeny bit of Mael which doesn't matter either way)
-has a major plot thread which leads straight into a major TtH plot thread
-foreshadows events in TtH (draconus)

Verdict: between RG and TtH, because it precedes TtH much better than RG.


SW:
-Spoilers some bits of TtH (I think...?)
-is partially spoilered by elements of DoD/TCG
-kinda foreshadows DoD/TCG a bit

Verdict: between TtH and DoD (not b/w DoD and TCG because those should be read together)


And I haven't read OST yet, but since it takes place after TCG I am anticipating I would put it after that.

So my preferred reading order is:

GotM >> DG >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> BH >> RG >> RotCG >> TtH >> SW >> DoD >> TCG >> OST ( >> CitJ/B&B >> Assail)

w/ NoK somewhere from start to BH depending on your personal preference (since all I can do now is re-read, I put it first but for a first-timer that may not be the preferred spot).

and of course then there's the B&KB novellas...

NoK >> GotM >> DG >> BF >> tLoLE >> tWoBM >> MoI >> HoC >> PCT >> MT >> tHD >> BH >> RG >> RotCG >> TtH >> SW >> DoD >> TCG >> OST ( >> CitJ/B&B >> Assail >> FoD >> AndiiTrilogy#2 >> AndiiTrilogy#3 >> ToblakaiTrilogy#1-3)

View Postworrywort, on 14 September 2012 - 08:07 PM, said:

I kinda love it when D'rek unleashes her nerd wrath, as I knew she would here. Sorry innocent bystanders, but someone's gotta be the kindling.
1

#3 User is offline   chris777 

  • Sergeant
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 83
  • Joined: 01-February 12

Posted 01 February 2012 - 08:34 PM

For a first time reader I think NoK right after Midnight Tides is perfect. That was what I was told, and I felt it worked perfectly.

I see your reasoning for reading RotCG right before Hounds. The reasoning I guess to read RotCG before RG is:
** Return of the Crimson Guard picks up shortly after The Bonehunters, whilst Reaper's Gale tells us explicitly that a year has passed since the events of TBH.
For that reason I am reading that now, and will read RG right after. I guess I will know soon if that was the right choice or not. Or I guess I won't know for sure until after I finish Toll the Hounds..

Also on the B&KB note. I haven't, and don't plan to, read any of these. Should I? Are they just cool stories or do they supply any plot advancement to the series?

This post has been edited by chris777: 01 February 2012 - 08:37 PM

0

#4 User is offline   Greyfrog32 

  • Recruit
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 9
  • Joined: 25-June 09

Posted 01 February 2012 - 11:32 PM

OMG chris you have to read B&Kb they might not be apart of main plot lines but they are just great books to read absolutely hilarious. I have never laughed out loud to reading a book till i read the novellas. especially tLOLE.
"So where are my masked stick-pivoting compatriots hiding?"
0

#5 User is offline   worry 

  • Master of the Deck
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 14,563
  • Joined: 24-February 10
  • Location:the buried west

Posted 01 February 2012 - 11:37 PM

You should definitely schedule a few days to construct an elaborate plan to read them.
They came with white hands and left with red hands.
0

#6 User is offline   Defiance 

  • Vicariously I live while the whole world dies
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 1,472
  • Joined: 24-December 09
  • Location:IA
  • Interests:Malazan, RPGs, writing

Posted 02 February 2012 - 02:19 AM

You can read OST after Dust of Dreams. OST takes place during, not after, DoD and TCG. However, I wouldn't recommend reading it then, as DoD and TCG work best when read one after the other.
uhm, that should be 'stuff.' My stiff is never nihilistic.
~Steven Erikson


Mythwood: Play-by-post RP board.
0

#7 User is offline   chris777 

  • Sergeant
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 83
  • Joined: 01-February 12

Posted 02 February 2012 - 02:38 PM

Doesn't take much to convince me to read Malazan books. They are now on my to-read list.
0

#8 User is offline   chris777 

  • Sergeant
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 83
  • Joined: 01-February 12

Posted 02 February 2012 - 05:32 PM

View PostD, on 01 February 2012 - 08:16 PM, said:


So my preferred reading order is:

GotM >> DG >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> BH >> RG >> RotCG >> TtH >> SW >> DoD >> TCG >> OST ( >> CitJ/B&B >> Assail)


In Esslemont's own words, Orb Scepter Throne takes place "more or less contemporaneous with Stonewielder," and, again in Esslemont's own words, "follows up on Toll the Hounds quite closely."<src>
0

#9 User is offline   D'rek 

  • Consort of High House Mafia
  • Group: Super Moderators
  • Posts: 14,599
  • Joined: 08-August 07
  • Location::

Posted 03 February 2012 - 07:19 PM

View Postchris777, on 02 February 2012 - 05:32 PM, said:

View PostD, on 01 February 2012 - 08:16 PM, said:

So my preferred reading order is:

GotM >> DG >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> BH >> RG >> RotCG >> TtH >> SW >> DoD >> TCG >> OST ( >> CitJ/B&B >> Assail)


In Esslemont's own words, Orb Scepter Throne takes place "more or less contemporaneous with Stonewielder," and, again in Esslemont's own words, "follows up on Toll the Hounds quite closely."<src>


So?

In going BH >> RG >> RotCG >> TtH you've already just jumped from 7C to Lether to Quon Tali to Genebackis. You should be used to that enough that a jump back to Lether and then back again to Genebackis is no big deal. And if reading chronologically was important, MT would be first.

Then again I haven't read OST yet so I can't comment on thematics. But the first two chapters, IMO, make enough distance between itself and TtH that it doesn't seem to need to be read right after TtH just for the sake of the continued plots and characters.



Edit: and lastly, it doesn't spoil anything, but RotCG takes place after RG chronologically based on
Spoiler

This post has been edited by D'rek: 05 February 2012 - 10:29 PM

View Postworrywort, on 14 September 2012 - 08:07 PM, said:

I kinda love it when D'rek unleashes her nerd wrath, as I knew she would here. Sorry innocent bystanders, but someone's gotta be the kindling.
0

#10 User is offline   Kanese S's 

  • TMI Frigate Bird of Low House PEN
  • Group: Mott Irregulars
  • Posts: 1,947
  • Joined: 26-April 11

Posted 07 February 2012 - 11:14 AM

View Postchris777, on 01 February 2012 - 08:34 PM, said:

Also on the B&KB note. I haven't, and don't plan to, read any of these. Should I? Are they just cool stories or do they supply any plot advancement to the series?


What?! You don't plan to read Bauchelain and Korbal Broach? What's wrong with you? Those stories are awesome. Choosing to deprive yourself of them makes about as much sense to me as intentionally punching yourself repeatedly in the gut.
Laseen did nothing wrong.

I demand Telorast & Curdle plushies.
0

#11 User is offline   CrossSide 

  • Recruit
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 14
  • Joined: 09-October 10

Posted 12 March 2012 - 08:19 AM

Really? I hated the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach books. Stopped in the middle of them. Maybe I should consider a re-read then :p
I'm about the finish BH now. So best afterwards to continue like this: NoK>>RG >> RotCG >> TtH >> SW >> DoD >> TCG >> OST ?

This post has been edited by CrossSide: 12 March 2012 - 08:20 AM

0

#12 User is offline   chris777 

  • Sergeant
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 83
  • Joined: 01-February 12

Posted 14 April 2012 - 07:07 PM

I just finished RG, my plan was to read TTH->SW->OST->DoD->CG.
Someone on a different forum really pushed that you should read SW->TTH->OST, in that order.
"Several storylines in TTH are basically set up for OST, and they don’t deliver until OST. Reading Stonewielder in-between them takes away some of the momentum."

Any thoughts?
0

#13 User is offline   worry 

  • Master of the Deck
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 14,563
  • Joined: 24-February 10
  • Location:the buried west

Posted 14 April 2012 - 07:24 PM

Eh, if you're not waiting the years it takes to publish them like a lot of folks did, it's not that big a deal to read SW after TTH and before OST. Your brain can handle it. Plus there's not really a momentum issue as there's some in-world time separating TTH and OST. IMO your plan is safe.
They came with white hands and left with red hands.
0

#14 User is offline   Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast 

  • Knight Seneschal
  • Group: Team Quick Ben
  • Posts: 1,551
  • Joined: 31-August 10
  • Location:London, UK
  • Interests:Fencing, ninpo, didjeridu, good books, good films and irn-bru.
  • Pre-dinner mayonnaise -- it's good for you!

Posted 14 April 2012 - 07:56 PM

View Postchris777, on 14 April 2012 - 07:07 PM, said:

Someone on a different forum...


Say what now?
The love I bear thee can afford no better term than this: thou art a villain.

"Perhaps we think up our own destinies and so, in a sense, deserve whatever happens to us, for not having had the wit to imagine something better." Iain Banks
0

#15 User is offline   blackzoid 

  • Mortal Sword
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 1,066
  • Joined: 13-September 07

Posted 15 April 2012 - 09:32 PM

Ok, I believe this reading order will work best. Its a staggering of the ICE books in between the SE books.

GOTM
DG
MOI
HOC
MT
NOK
TBH
RoTCG
RG
SW
TTH
OST
DOD
TCG

As you can see its an equal staggering of the ICE books in between the later SE books. I think it works well. I really like TTH and OST following each other. SW been read earlier is fine I believe. I don't think it spoils any of the later SE books. I am going to guess that the order of ICE's last books will be such that B&B(Blood and Bone) should be set during DoD/TCG and Ass (Assail) should be the last book of the combined series to be read.

This post has been edited by blackzoid: 15 April 2012 - 09:34 PM

1

#16 User is offline   Abey1245 

  • Corporal
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 32
  • Joined: 18-March 12

Posted 09 May 2012 - 12:46 AM

Am I the only one who would read Night of Knives first?
0

#17 User is offline   worry 

  • Master of the Deck
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 14,563
  • Joined: 24-February 10
  • Location:the buried west

Posted 09 May 2012 - 02:57 AM

Yah you are.
They came with white hands and left with red hands.
0

#18 User is offline   Deck of Dragons 

  • Lieutenant
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 100
  • Joined: 01-January 12

Posted 09 May 2012 - 01:25 PM

View PostAbey1245, on 09 May 2012 - 12:46 AM, said:

Am I the only one who would read Night of Knives first?

Nope. It is the first Malazan book ever written and technically it happens chronologically before all the others as well.

But I read it later because it was published after the first few books though.
0

#19 User is offline   Salt-Man Z 

  • My pen halts, though I do not
  • View gallery
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 4,159
  • Joined: 07-February 08
  • Location:Apple Valley, MN

Posted 09 May 2012 - 08:55 PM

View PostAbey1245, on 09 May 2012 - 12:46 AM, said:

Am I the only one who would read Night of Knives first?

In the Tor.com reread, they read GotM first, followed by NoK, and most of the oldtimers thought slotting NoK in that early was...weird. The early-DG reveal of Shadowthrone and Cotillion's identity takes the biggest hit; Tayschrenn's "Artanthos" disguise from MoI is mildly compromised; the strong character ties to TBH are weakened significantly. It's not the end of the world to read NoK first, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Deck of Dragons said:

It is the first Malazan book ever written

Actually, I believe that would be RotCG. (Either way, I'm sure both RotCG and NoK got heavily edited before publication.)
"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch
0

#20 User is offline   Abey1245 

  • Corporal
  • Group: Malaz Regular
  • Posts: 32
  • Joined: 18-March 12

Posted 13 May 2012 - 07:22 PM

LOL Worrywort you crack me up!! :doh: Not surprising though, I'm usually the odd (wo)man out...

I guess it all comes down to preference, whether one likes to read the books chronologically, as a timeline does not NoK take place 10 years prior to the events in Garden of the Moon?
Otherwise I can see how it would make sense to group it close to the other books taking place on Malaz Isle with the deadhouse or what have you.

Just finished re-reading all the SE books, now refreshing myself with RoTCG before reading OST.
0

Share this topic:


  • 2 Pages +
  • 1
  • 2
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

1 User(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users