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I'll start by saying that, in terms of writing quality, it was good. Solid. In fact, it was quite impressive that this was the same person as had written RotCG, which, though I don't hate it, certainly struck me as the lowest-quality read of any Malazan book. ICE has improved immeasureably in terms of characterisation and description. However, having said that, SW also struck me as being unfinished. It's a big ask to flesh out an entirely new landmass, with its own distinct peoples, regions, and problems, but this was also a fantastic opportunity - and, at first, ICE didn't disappoint. The early build up was great, the situation in Korel was something that no one had even guessed at and yet it seemed wholly believable.
But the resolution left me feeling underwhelmed. I know it's a staple of the Malazan books to leave questions unanswered, but whereas SE does so whilst still being able to leave you feeling satisfied, ICE hasn't quite got this knack. The questions he leaves are ones I, as the reader, felt should have been resolved within the book. ICE's books are different to MBotF. They do not follow on in the same way to each other, they are far more standalone novels, and, as such, they need to feel more fleshed out and fully formed. This is 'A Novel of the Malazan Empire' - not 'The Malazan Empire - Part 3'. And, as we can be pretty certain that we won't be seeing Korel to the same extent ever again, I really felt we'd left it too soon, having only just got around to exploring it. On that note:
PROS:
- Korel: A fantastic, vividly realised continent/sub-continent/group of small islands. Everything we expected, and yet entirely surprising at the same time. ICE does a good job at showing why it is that we've seen so few natives of Korel, as well as weaving a complex socio-political setup, with the Fistian natives ruled by the remnants of the Malazan hierarchy - a closed aristocracy - with various other tiny states inhabiting the islands (I smiled at the name 'The Jourilan Empire', when it is in fact such a tiny insignificant speck in the world - further evidence of the closed nature of Korel society), and all in fearful respect of the Korelri whom they all seem to resent but acknowledge as necessary to their continued safety. Then there was the lack of magic in Korel and the highly intriguing Cult of the Blessed Lady.
- The Stormwall: I swear I got colder just reading about the Stormwall. The ice, the freezing water pounding incessantly against the walls, the cold halls and dungeons and towers, the prisoners and the Stormguard - it was a magnificent construction by the author. The only slight point I'd make is that it seemed unrealistic to have Hiam running from one tower to another all the time, these are enormous distances after all. Why not design some sort of transportation system, like a cable car powered by prisoners turning the levers?
- The Stormguard: No matter how arrogant and holier-than-thou they got, you couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor misguided fools, tricked into thinking they were doing all this for the safety of the land. The interaction between Hiam and Quint was great, allowing us to see two sides of the same coin. Quint the traditionalist, Hiam the progressive (though still entirely bound by his religious fervour and thus blind to truly progressive notions). As a fighting force, you really got the sense that the Stormguard could hold their own with anyone, and considering the conditions they put up with, it wasn't surprising. The Lady's Blessing/Wrath was also a great power-up.
- The Malaz 6th Army: Whereas in earlier books we've seen an army only go pretend-renegade (Dujek's), and another still serving the Empire in another way (The Bonehunters), here is finally a truly renegade Malazan army. You really got the sense from ICE that they've fallen far from their high military standards (unsurprisingly given that they've fought no campaigns for over a decade and generally just bully the local populace - the only sensible military tactics come from a non-Malazan, Borun), but every so often ICE allows you a glimpse of the Malazans they used to be, and the shame and regret that on occasion takes hold, as in a scene between Ussu and Enesh-jar. You had to pity them in some ways - no longer Malazans, but certainly not of Korel either. That they were just as confused was brought out fantastically by ICE, when he has them ironically speaking of the Malazan army as 'foreigners' and 'invaders'.
- Ussu: Whenever he wasn't putting his hand in someone's chest, you got the sense that Ussu was, actually, an alright dude. Because of that, I would say that he is ICE's most Erikson-like character - the greyest of greys. Whereas you admired his resistance to the Lady's calls, his friendship with Borun, his attempts to remind others they were still Malazan, his obvious intelligence and his somewhat resigned weariness, you couldn't help but be disgusted by the things he resorted to in order to cling on to his access to magic. I loved the way he attempted to convince himself that he was no torturer, and failing in the attempt.
- Leoman: Well, it was just awesome to have Leoman back, wasn't it?
- Manask: He was genuinely funny, even if it was at times just basic physical humour. A great character, and a great subversion of what we normally imagine when we think 'master thief.'
CONS:
- Ivanr and the Army of Reform: Started interestingly - a pacifist Toblakai. But quickly we got into Kyle from RotCG territory - a character caught up in and being led by events without having any influence on them until, helpfully, being told exactly what to do and when to do it. Ivanr just did not strike me as the leader that he was supposed to be. And his continued questioning and complaining just got tiring. Don't like the Army? Then leave, no one was actually stopping you. Incidentally, Kyle worked so much better as a secondary character.
- Bakune: This was really disappointing, because it started with so much promise. I loved the way we're introduced to a young Bakune dreaming of moving on to bigger and better things, and then, twenty years later, he's still in the same job. The interaction with Karien'el was also really good, the two worked well as a pairing. But then, as with Ivanr, he starts getting led along by the nose by other characters. This is his investigation, and I would have liked to see him work it through to its conclusion - which he never ends up doing. Indeed, he just kind of fades away from the story.
- Suth: Boring, boring Suth. I get it, he's meant to be just a normal, regular-Joe soldier, but it doesn't make for a great read, unfortunately. It might have been different if Suth actually had a personality, but he doesn't. He's not funny, or reckless, or clever in any way, he doesn't ask any pertinent questions of others which move the story along. Always surrounded by more interesting characters that you actually wanted to hear more from, any scene could have been done just as easily, and better, without him in it.
- Greymane: Yeah, a con. Why do we not learn more about Greymane's past and motivations in a book which, ostensibly, revolves around him? Why do we hardly see him after the first part of the book? It's almost as if he's forgotten about by the author, then 'oh yeah, he's got to go and break the Wall'. The plot really does revolve, and everything changes, because of his actions. Such a momentous change calls for far more background detail than we get. I just felt we never truly got who Greymane was, why this responsibility was given to him, etc.
- The Stormriders: Erm, so what were they? Surely, surely in this book of all of them we should have found out. It was crying out for someone to have a coversation with one of them and for us to learn about them in more detail. But nothing, aside from a couple of skirmishes.
- Kiska's Journey: Mostly because she didn't have a clue as to what she was doing most of the time, which irritated me. But also, and I admit this is probably more a personal irritance, because it bore no relation to the rest of the novel, which was a bit odd considering everything else was so Korel-focused.
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS:
- First, the big one, and the main reason why I feel the book feels unfinished: Who/what was the Blessed Lady? At first I thought it was the Crippled God by another name, but then I realised that it wasn't. Because you see the Lady at the beginning, this putrid, fish-scaled giant. So clearly she was originally of the sea, which makes sense as to why the Stormriders were her enemy from ages past. It seems to me that she came across pieces of the Crippled God on Korel, and used them to her own ends - setting herself up as a goddess through their power and at the same time protecting herself from the Stormriders. But what happened to her? Is she gone? We don't know. What was she originally? We don't know. What was her beef with the Stormriders? We don't know.
- Who put on Martal's armour after her death? I may have missed this.
- Why did the Stormriders save Rillish? Because he was a nice guy? Who was he to them though?
- If Nok had taken a vow never to set foot on land, why do we see him on land in House of Chains?
- I enjoyed the little one-line mentions of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, and Ruthan Gudd
- So what was Mallick Rel's motivation in sending an army to Korel if they were just going to pull out again, as it seems they do at the end? Strikes me that he didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart. I don't think you can explain it as Mallick's ties to Mael, because those were severed in RotCG. And Mallick never appeared to me as one who was in the loop when it came to the larger, world-changing picture. Does Mallick really care if the Stormwall comes down or not? I got the impression he gave Greymane command because he's a pragmatist, and Greymane was someone who knew the land, as did Rillish, and had a vested interest in coming back (by which I mean revenge against his usurpers, not the Stonewielder thing). Surely Mallick doesn't care if Korel is freed of the Lady or not, he just wants the lands under Imperial control and more coins going into the Imperial coffers. Plus a successful campaign would do wonders for a new emperor. But we never really get an explanation as to why the army was sent, other than to teach the 6th Army a lesson. But was that really it? I find it hard to believe.
Probably loads more things, but this post is long enough already methinks
