Malazan Empire: Reading order (SPOILERS LIKELY) - Malazan Empire

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Reading order (SPOILERS LIKELY) yes, again

#1 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 03:44 AM

With Assail now finally being out, I realize I am in need of a re-read of the entire Malaz series.

I find myself with a somewhat hazy recollection of the secondary plot lines in a few of the latter books (esp ICE's books), so I was hoping the forumites can correct my proposed re-read order, if I am missing some tidbit that will throw the whole thing out of sequence with a past-time reference to an event in a book that I haven't read yet


so, here is my proposed order:

GotM
DG
MoI
HoC
MT
NoK (because it introduces Kiska and Temper, both of whom feature in tBH)
tBH
RG
RotCG (My reasoning for this is that RotCG deals with Dassem ever so briefly, before he appears in TtH, and there's also a mention of Ereko in TtH)

TtH
OST (I know conventional forum wisdom suggested that both MBotF and ME books be read in publication order, but from what I can remember, OST serves a as pretty direct sequel to the Daru stuff in TtH. I also don't like the idea of slipping an ME book between the concentrated awesomeness of DoD and CG.

SW - since it deals with a CG chunk, it has to take place before the end of MBotF, I think.

DoD
CG (due to the cliffhanger ending of DoD, I don't see myself reading this any other way than one after another)

BaB (wraps up Kallor and Jacuruku CG chunk)
Assail(ends the CriG arc)

I am leaving the Kharkanas trilo out of this, due to the fact that it seems to have its own ideas with regard to pretty much everything we felt we knew about Malaz, so I consider it to be a standalone

I am particularly concerned about SW and OST--I can't for the life of me remember if there are any common plot lines that would be tossed out of sync--such as Leoman and Kiska's journey. Also, I can't recall if there's any mention of the reconquest of Korelri in OST.

Any suggestions are welcome.
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#2 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 03:54 AM

Leoman and Kiska journey through Shadow in SW, arriving at the Vitr at the end of it. In OST, they start out at the Vitr. So their story is going to be out of order if you put SW after OST.

I don't think much else is affected by OST before SW. Aragan might make some off-hand references to Korel but it wouldn't have any major impact that I can recall.

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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#3 User is offline   blackzoid 

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 10:00 AM

yap, was thinking about this the otehr day and that order is pretty close to how I would do it. My order when I finally do a re-read (after the Tor reread is done, so maybe a few years away) will be

1: The Tales Of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach Vol1 (Not sure on this. But they are introduced before MoI/OST here and this doesn't spoil anything I think)
2:GOTM
3:DG
4:MOI
5:HOC
6:MT
7:NOK (As Mentalist, I really like the staggering of ICE with SE novels from here on)
8:TBH
9:RoTCG
10:RG
11:SW (EDIT: Only issue is that the Hounds of Light are in here before they are intro'ed in TTH. Ah well. Not a big deal.)
12:TTH
13:OST
14:DOD
15:TCG(I was thinking of putting BaB between the two. But it spoils that the world is not destroyed. So leave after.)
16:BaB
17:Ass (hehe)
-----------------------------
And a second reading order of the upcoming books that might work well I think.

18:Forge of Darkness
19:Fall of Light
20:Walk in Shadow
21: ICE Early-Empire 1
22: ICE Early Empire 2
23: ICE-Early Empire 3
24: Karsa Trilogy 1
25: Karsa Trilogy 2
26: Karsa Trilogy 3

This post has been edited by blackzoid: 02 September 2014 - 02:48 PM

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#4 User is offline   theocean 

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 12:29 PM

would love to hear some other opinions on this too. Just started me first reread almost through GOTM. Its awesome to see how i thought about people on the first read and now this time again. Thinking Rake was a dick at first, Paran getting tooled, WJ being all gruff and not likeable. Its amazing how the opinions change, and awesome to re read it knowing what the charaters become.
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#5 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 03:49 PM

The B&KB novellas aren't written in chronological order, so rearranging their order might be a good idea. I would spread them out so they are little cooldowns between the chunkier novels (and also so they fit chronologically with the rest). And let's not forget about Goats of Glory, which should at least come after TtH so the Shal-Morzinn and broken moon references can be caught.




1: Blood Follows
2: Gardens of the Moon
3: The Lees of Laughter's End
4: Deadhouse Gates
5: Wurms of Blearmouth
6: Memories of Ice
7: House of Chains
8: The Healthy Dead
9: Midnight Tides
10: Night of Knives
11: The Bonehunters
12: Return of the Crimson Guard
13: Reaper's Gale
14: Stonewielder
15: Toll the Hounds
16: Orb Sceptre Throne
17: Goats of Glory (could be a nice cooldown before DoD-TCG)
18: Dust of Dreams
19: The Crippled God
20: Blood and Bone
21: Assail
22: Crack'd Pot Trail (is it not a fitting epilogue to everything?)


So, up until MT you alternate novels and B&KB novellas, and then after MT you alternate SE/ICE.

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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#6 User is offline   blackzoid 

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 04:39 PM

Thats a nice order Drek I think I might go with that. Too much Bauchelain and Korbal Broach/novella in one go might well spoil their impact.

This post has been edited by blackzoid: 02 September 2014 - 04:40 PM

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#7 User is offline   BenJ 

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Posted 03 September 2014 - 03:29 AM

Goats of Glory? Is this real?
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#8 User is offline   worry 

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Posted 03 September 2014 - 03:58 AM

It's real...and it's spectacular!
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#9 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 03 September 2014 - 04:23 AM

View PostBenJ, on 03 September 2014 - 03:29 AM, said:

Goats of Glory? Is this real?


Yup! It's in a short story anthology called Swords & Dark Magic. Takes place somewhere in the western half of the Seven Cities continent (ie west of Nemil)

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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#10 User is offline   Garak 

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Posted 03 September 2014 - 05:43 AM

I have a question regarding SW and BaB. I've seen reading orders which put BaB after TCG but doesn't it take place at the same as SW? I'm basing this on Skinner who shows up at the end of SW for a brief period and then in BaB we get that bit from his pov as well (unless my memory is wrong). So shouldn't they be one after the other theoretically?
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#11 User is offline   D'rek 

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Posted 03 September 2014 - 02:26 PM

View PostGarak, on 03 September 2014 - 05:43 AM, said:

I have a question regarding SW and BaB. I've seen reading orders which put BaB after TCG but doesn't it take place at the same as SW? I'm basing this on Skinner who shows up at the end of SW for a brief period and then in BaB we get that bit from his pov as well (unless my memory is wrong). So shouldn't they be one after the other theoretically?


Yeah. SW, BaB, OST and TCG all sort of take place at the same time. Some of them span longer lengths of time so they don't necessarily all start at the same time. At a quick guess, I would say it's something like this (not including epilogues, many of which are a jump later in time):


<-----------------SW----------------->
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <---BaB--->
. . . . . . . . . . . <-------OST------->
. . <-----------------TCG---------------->

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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