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

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New Read Order (+ost)

#21 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 13 May 2012 - 08:09 PM

Well on a reread I think people should read them however they want. But first time through, NOK should probably go right before TBH for maximum impact. Definitely not before DG.
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#22 User is offline   Jorram 

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Posted 26 May 2012 - 12:33 AM

Just to make that clear, the ST/Cot reveal is available in GotM... if you know what to look for.
It's in the dialogue between WJ's squad and Tattersail when they first meet, pretty early in the book.
Of course at this point no reader could possibly make a connection, and of course it's far more black-on-white in DG, but still...
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#23 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 26 May 2012 - 12:47 AM

The fact that it's there obliquely at the start but only dawns on you gradually (or more pointedly in DG) is the whole point. There is no "but still...", it's a deliberate layering of something awesome that readers suss out over the course of the first couple books. There's a reason the opening crawl to A New Hope doesn't tell you that Luke Skywalker is Darth Vader's son, just so you have all the facts.

edit: That's not an argument with you in particular, Jorram, even though it comes after your post and I mention the "but still" part...it's just in terms of the thrust of the thread topic.

This post has been edited by worrywort: 26 May 2012 - 12:49 AM

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#24 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 26 May 2012 - 02:05 AM

After some mulling about it, I'm changing my preferred read order (for first-time readers) to:

GotM >> DG >> BF >> tLoLE >> WoBM >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> tHD >> NoK >> tBH >> RG >> CPT >> RotCG >> TtH >> SW >> DoD >> OST >> TCG >> B&B >> Assail


I think OST between DoD and TCG gives a much-needed pause between which amplifies the post-DoD anticipation, and the references to TCG hype up that book nicely, an effect that is not the same if read post-TCG (at which point it is more of a "so that's why ____ and ____" effect, which is not as powerful).

Furthermore, it means TCG is the last novel for the three "main" zones - quon tali/7C, genebackis and Lether. OST being after TCG steals a bit of its epic-finale thunder, but B&B and Assail, being on not-yet-visited continents, will probably not do this the same way.

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.
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#25 User is offline   Kruppe's snacky cakes 

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Posted 26 May 2012 - 02:51 PM

View PostJorram, on 26 May 2012 - 12:33 AM, said:

Just to make that clear, the ST/Cot reveal is available in GotM... if you know what to look for.
It's in the dialogue between WJ's squad and Tattersail when they first meet, pretty early in the book.
Of course at this point no reader could possibly make a connection, and of course it's far more black-on-white in DG, but still...


Maybe it's only because I started GotM over in the middle, and therefore read the relevant dialogue twice...but I agree with Jorram. I considered the DG discussion to be more of a rehash than a reveal. If SE intended it to be a shocking reveal in DG...oops...I considered it old news at that point. :)

I'm embarrassed to have to award the plot twist crown to George Lucas, instead. Posted Image

Having said that, I endorse, and am religiously following the read order advice of this forum...
I'm George. George McFly. I'm your density. I mean...your destiny.
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#26 User is offline   Abalieno 

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Posted 31 May 2012 - 05:44 AM

My suggested (first-time) reading order up to The Bonehunters:

This River Awakens <- not Malazan, but it's a wonderful book that prepares you perfectly for what is to come. It's like a tuning exercise. I really think it works best for new readers to start here. Lots of Malazan themes have their origin in this book.

Gardens of the Moon
Deadhouse Gates
First two Bauchelain & Korbal Broach (Blood Follows & Lees of Laughter's End)
Memories of Ice
Crack'd Pot Trail (because it works great as cooldown from MoI)
House of Chains
Night of Knives (I put this before MT because HoC is the book that the most delves in past events)
Midnight Tides
Third B&KB (The Healthy Dead, because plays with some themes in MT)
The Bonehunters

then it would probably go:

Reaper's Gale
Return of the Crimson Guard
Toll the Hounds
Stonewielder
Dust of Dreams
The Crippled God
Orb, Sceptre, Throne

This post has been edited by Abalieno: 31 May 2012 - 05:53 AM

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#27 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 07:54 PM

Now that FoD and B&B are out, here's the revised reading order, IMO (with flexibility!):

Attached File  reading order.jpg (426.62K)
Number of downloads: 17

edit: changed to updated version

This post has been edited by D'rek: 26 May 2013 - 05:34 AM

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.
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#28 User is offline   Dexter1258 

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Posted 27 December 2012 - 05:51 AM

Nice work
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#29 User is offline   Salt-Man Z 

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Posted 07 January 2013 - 03:49 PM

"Goats of Glory" should be read after TtH because of references to certain astronomical conditions.
"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?"
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#30 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 07 January 2013 - 06:58 PM

View PostSalt-Man Z, on 07 January 2013 - 03:49 PM, said:

"Goats of Glory" should be read after TtH because of references to certain astronomical conditions.


Oh yeah, I forgot GoG had that little reference (which seems to never be mentioned again post-TtH)

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.
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#31 User is offline   lastname 

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Posted 13 May 2013 - 05:47 AM

I need some suggestions please. I've followed the following order as a first time reader and it's worked pretty well: GotM -> DG -> HoC -> MT -> BH -> NoK -> RG -> RotCG -> TtH

I just finished TTH and thought it was phenomenal. I'm oscillating between "I have to read the rest of the books ... yesterday" and "OMG only two more SE books in the series. What will I do with the rest of my life?"

I have both DoD and TCG sitting on my bookshelf. I can't find Stonewielder or OST anywhere in my neck of the woods and it might be some time before I can get hold of them.

So ... how much poorer does my experience (as a first-time reader) become if I go DoD->TCG->Stonewielder->OST the rest of the way? Is it worth waiting a couple of months so that I can read the books in the recommended order?
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#32 User is offline   lastname 

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Posted 13 May 2013 - 07:55 AM

I think the this thread gives me some answers and, yes, I was a lazy ass for not searching before posting but I'd still appreciate suggestions.

http://forum.malazan...-back-to-rotcg/
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#33 User is offline   Defiance 

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Posted 13 May 2013 - 01:12 PM

Finish the main series.

I might be wrong, but there are no major spoilers for Stonewielder in Dust of Dreams or The Crippled God. There might be one or two vague references to events, but I don't think your experience will be any poorer for reading it afterward.
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#34 User is offline   lastname 

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Posted 15 May 2013 - 04:27 AM

View PostDefiance, on 13 May 2013 - 01:12 PM, said:

Finish the main series.

I might be wrong, but there are no major spoilers for Stonewielder in Dust of Dreams or The Crippled God. There might be one or two vague references to events, but I don't think your experience will be any poorer for reading it afterward.


Thanks. Will get going on DoD in a bit.
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#35 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 15 May 2013 - 04:40 PM

Yeah, the only ICE book that really inserts itself into the MBotF is RotCG. There's some hefty spoilers of RotCG that come up in DoD, and there's plotlines that go directly from RotCG into TtH. But SW, OST and B&B are more removed from the MBotF, mostly because they all take place around TCG, anyway, so reading them after all the MBotF is not a big deal.

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.
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