Thoughts on The Bonehunters

I'm new here, but I figured I would offer up some of my thoughts/questions on The Bonehunters after having finished it the other day. Steven Erikson continues to impress me more and more with each volume of the series. I think House of Chains is still my favorite, but The Bonehunters was certainly a worthy contender to the title, and there were some really emotional moments (am I the only person who was struck more by Truth's death than just about any other moment?).

I really enjoyed Corrab's story, and I never once expected him to wind up where he did. That was a completely unexpected twist. If I had one qualm with it, it was simply that he kind of seemed to disappear from the narrative after joining up with Fiddler, only getting a couple of scenes from that point on. I hope he still can give more of his perspective in the future. The Bonehunters in general were all really great, and that scene with the lost soldiers returning at the end of Book 3 was absolutely chilling. I'm really interested to see where those guys go next, and I'm glad that Tavore is finally starting to show some more of her personality to people.

The final part of the story also firmly cements Mallick Rel and Korbolo Dom as complete slimes if that wasn't already established. Yet, at the same time I find myself compelled by all of their scheming, and I want to see where it all leads to. Rel seems to have a pretty strong endgame in mind, and a lot of the people who would have strongly opposed him are off the board. The events within the Empire itself feel a lot more interesting now than before, and I hope that the Wickans can make it out of all of this alright.

Trull and Ahlrada's reunion was also a touching moment for me, and then Ahlrada had to go and die, which was a shame (although I had been really worried that Trull and Onrack weren't going to make it out of things alive, which would have been a big gutpunch after not even getting to see them for most of the book).

I'm still wondering what was up with everything going on in the Imperial Warren during the book, but I guess that might be something explained later (or I just missed something important). The stuff with the Jade Giants and the world almost ending also was a bit confusing, but I think it went well enough since most of the characters were also pretty confused. But Mebra seemed to have some knowledge of this happening in advance judging by the notes of his Apsalar discovered talking about Heboric. Was that connected to why the Nameless Ones killed him?

Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I didn't have too many unanswered questions. I've already gotten started on Reaper's Gale, but a part of my heart is still living in The Bonehunters (I've found this often happens whenever I finish one of these books; a part of me feels empty for several days, even if I already have the next book to read).

Spoilsport Stonny, on 07 February 2014 - 07:27 PM, said:

Yr at an interesting point where you can soon veer off and read Return of the Crimson Guard. I won't get into any detail, but your curiosity re: what becomes of the Malazan Empire should be nicely sated by the contents of that novel. Plus reading it immediately following Reapers Gale provides a small, but rewarding, payoff before you get to Toll the Hounds.

I'm definitely planning to do so. My plan has been to read all of the books roughly in publication order, having already slotted in Night of Knives before I read The Bonehunters. So once I get through Reaper's Gale, I'll continue on to Return, which I'm looking forward to because I'm interested in learning more about the Crimson Guard, in addition to all of the Malazan Empire stuff.

Malazan Empire: Thoughts on The Bonehunters - Malazan Empire