Malazan Empire: What exactly is wrong with Tor's reading order? - Malazan Empire

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What exactly is wrong with Tor's reading order?

#1 User is offline   Anaximander 

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Posted 17 October 2013 - 03:30 AM

Hi, all. Complete neophyte here. Thinking about giving Malazan a whirl sometime in the near future. Quick question:

I know that people here recommend publication order, and presumably they don't like the order over at the Tor "Reread of the Fallen" site. The most glaring shift there has to do with the placement of Night of Knives. Now...I'd kind of like to follow their reread, but not at the cost of severe spoilers. So...what exactly would be the problem with reading Night of Knives second?

(Incidentally, I seem to recall someone offering an opinion somewhere on this site that the placement of NofK didn't really matter that much.)
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#2 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 17 October 2013 - 03:37 AM

You can read Night of Knives third without any major spoilers as far as I know, but the first two books include a mystery that Night of Knives -- as a prequel -- delves into and "spoils" pretty thoroughly.
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#3 User is offline   Anaximander 

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Posted 17 October 2013 - 03:41 AM

Ah, excellent info--thanks! I've heard that DG is awesome, so I don't want to spoil that one...
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#4 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 17 October 2013 - 03:58 AM

Funnily enough, it's not a huge plot spoiler for DG so much as a mythology/world-building spoiler. Kinda sorta. As you will come to find out, these things aren't so easy to separate in this particular series.

Anyway, even though I said you're safe with it at third, I'd still recommend forum order over Tor order (the latter is a re-read after all) because there's a certain level of information-building that has a cumulative effect and enhances the fun of reading. Also, more practically speaking, I feel ICE's books shouldn't be read so far apart either since they too make up a series, more or less.
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#5 User is offline   Anaximander 

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Posted 17 October 2013 - 04:11 AM

Okay, I'm persuaded. Thanks much!

I hope to get cracking relatively soon--I've got other reading projects on my list, but I've been looking forward to Malazan for a while now.
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#6 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 17 October 2013 - 01:11 PM

Furthermore, there's a little mystery in MoI that, if you've read NoK, might be really easily solved early on, but that one is more of a chicken and egg situation - you could also say that reading MoI first makes the NoK mystery easy!

This post has been edited by D'rek: 17 October 2013 - 01:11 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.
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#7 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 17 October 2013 - 07:32 PM

Oh yah, I always forget about that one.
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#8 User is offline   Aertheron 

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Posted 19 July 2014 - 05:44 AM

And where can I find either of these two lists?

I'm currently just reading MBotF book 1 - 10
But now i'm hearing that this might not be the best way to read them.

I have searched but could not find the thread which indicates what is the best reading order.
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#9 User is offline   amphibian 

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Posted 19 July 2014 - 06:34 AM

I suggest that you read the series in this order:

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
Blood and Bone
Assail

You can read the Bauchelain and Broach books any time after Memories of Ice, but they're better somewhere in the Reaper's Gale stretch, as rhythm breakers.
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#10 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 17 September 2014 - 02:08 PM

View Postamphibian, on 19 July 2014 - 06:34 AM, said:

I suggest that you read the series in this order:

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
Blood and Bone
Assail

You can read the Bauchelain and Broach books any time after Memories of Ice, but they're better somewhere in the Reaper's Gale stretch, as rhythm breakers.


Return of the Crimson Guard BEFORE Reaper's Gale? Utter madness!!!

(Seriously, I would *not* recommend that. Not only does RotCG spoil some bits of Reaper's Gale, but some elements of Reaper's Gale foreshadow RotCG revelations, too.)

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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#11 User is offline   Khellendros 

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Posted 17 September 2014 - 02:17 PM

Yep, I second D'rek on that one - Return of the Crimson Guard AFTER Reaper's Gale.

Otherwise I agree with the reading order. Technically, Orb, Sceptre, Throne probably fits in best in between Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God, but common consensus is that those two books (DoD and tCG) should not be split up.
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#12 User is offline   Whiskey Jim 

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Posted 04 December 2014 - 12:20 AM

View PostKhellendros, on 17 September 2014 - 02:17 PM, said:

Yep, I second D'rek on that one - Return of the Crimson Guard AFTER Reaper's Gale.

Otherwise I agree with the reading order. Technically, Orb, Sceptre, Throne probably fits in best in between Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God, but common consensus is that those two books (DoD and tCG) should not be split up.


So would you put Orb,Sceptre,Throne before Dust of Dreams, or put it after Crippled God?
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#13 User is offline   Andorion 

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Posted 04 December 2014 - 02:05 AM

View PostWhiskey Jim, on 04 December 2014 - 12:20 AM, said:

View PostKhellendros, on 17 September 2014 - 02:17 PM, said:

Yep, I second D'rek on that one - Return of the Crimson Guard AFTER Reaper's Gale.

Otherwise I agree with the reading order. Technically, Orb, Sceptre, Throne probably fits in best in between Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God, but common consensus is that those two books (DoD and tCG) should not be split up.


So would you put Orb,Sceptre,Throne before Dust of Dreams, or put it after Crippled God?


Put it after Crippled God. It spoils something which would otherwise be huge in Dust of Dreams. I dont want to post it here in the New Members thread even under Spoiler code.
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#14 User is offline   Whiskey Jim 

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Posted 05 January 2015 - 09:29 PM

Thanks. This is my reading order then:


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

I'm currently in MoI and I trust this group to lead me onwards.
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#15 User is offline   Gorefest 

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Posted 06 January 2015 - 11:35 AM

Your OST placement choice is interesting, I'd be very interested to see whether you can stick with it once you get to that stage or whether you feel too compelled to pick up tCG first :)

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 06 January 2015 - 11:35 AM

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