[D'rek]

Egwene, on 14 January 2015 - 10:55 AM, said:

Hi D'rek,

I have taken the liberty of copying the reading order across to the Wiki and put in a link back to this thread. Hope that's ok.

I would be grateful if you and anyone else interested in the topic would take a quick look at it and check it over for any obvious mistakes.

http://malazan.wikia...d_reading_order

Many thanks
Egwene

I did a whole bunch of editing - mostly re-geared it into giving individual orders per-series and then the cumulative one at the end.

I also changed around the final cumulative list a bit, too. If someone goes to the wiki they might very easily just want to grab a list and not read about any nuances... so in that case I bunched the novellas up a bit so they can get more immersed into GotM+DG before having to sidetrack to novellas. Different then what I usually put out, but harder to discuss in a wiki format and more approachable to average readers-but-not-forum-members, I think.

Let me know what you think.

[Egwene]

Thank you very much, D'rek. That is just so much better than before. I am absolutely thrilled with your edits.

As you said at the beginning of this thread, reading order is something that comes up again and again, so it is fantastic to have a page which gives new readers the various options with comment that tell them the reasons for those different reading order suggestions.

Many, many thanks

[Egwene]

I have added your diagram to the thread as well

[heavymetaltroll]

D, on 07 January 2015 - 02:33 PM, said:

heavymetaltroll, on 07 January 2015 - 05:03 AM, said:

Currently re-reading the two main storylines interweaving in what I hope is a logical order. started with NoK followed by by the 1st 6 MBotF (in future reads I'm thinking MT will come right after GotM) and am now on RotCG planning on alternating the rest of the books between MBotF and NotME. I'll let y'all know how it goes in regards to all the sequence and spoiler points already brought up. Given the events of so many of the later books seem to intertwine and cross over, has anyone been crazy enough to break it down to a chapter level? Would really love to switch up between the books in a logical and chronological order but wouldn't know where to start.

Cool, I hope the re-read goes well! Thanks!

I semi-jokingly proposed a 99%-chronological order that split at the book/chapter level in another read order thread a long time ago. I'll see if I can find it again. I never had the courage to actually try it, though!

The re-read is going very well so far thanks. Currently on Stonewielder and am finding alternating between Erikson and Esslemont is immersing me far more in the NotME books than on previous reads. Where before I would struggle through parts of the first 3 I'm finding I grasp a lot more of the story this time through. Alas for being back to work and unable to read as much *sigh*.

As to the reading order in the spoiler free thread, I think a strong case needs to be made for adding in an option of reading NoK first for certain readers. I know the hard core Malazanites will howl at the very suggestion due to the Kal-dog and Cotty reveals, but in reality it is a very very minor spoiler and doesn't really affect the story all that much. For the practiced Fantasy/Sci Fi reader (or any hardcore reader really) then they should obviously start with GotM. It's sheer punch you in the face, drop you in the middle reeling, with no idea whats going on is amazing and one of the things that hooked me on the series to start with. But for those who aren't as in depth with their reading and/or new to Fantasy, it can be a total shock to the system and be quite off putting, potentially turning them off the series and not even being able to finish GotM. The Malazan world is far to amazing and wonderful for people to miss out on simply because they can't handle being dropped in the middle with GotM. For these people I think KoN(as well as the B&KB novellas) would be a far gentler start and get them hooked on the series and able to push on and persevere with GotM, without really taking away from the story.

D, on 08 January 2015 - 03:51 PM, said:

.
This is what I had posted a long time back:

D, on 12 April 2009 - 10:04 PM, said:

<!--quoteo(post=566604:date=Apr 6 2009, 01:25 AM:name=Skywalker)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Skywalker @ Apr 6 2009, 01:25 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=566604"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=566545:date=Apr 6 2009, 06:15 AM:name=petesapizza)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (petesapizza @ Apr 6 2009, 06:15 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=566545"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hello everybody. New to this website and boy is it awsome. Great resource. Thinking about doing my reread using the chronological order of the books themselves (despite repeated warning of ignoring anything to do with timelines). So it would be:
NoK-BF-LofLE-Hd-MT-GofTM-DG-MoI-HoC-tBH-RG-RoftCG-TTH.
I believe this is the actual chronological order.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Bravo sir... that is indeed the order, although I do think the B&KB novellae might be misplaced. Don't recall why I think that specifically, but I was under the impression at least one of those books was post MOI.

Also, if you want to be absolutely anal about chronological reading order, consider reading the MT, RG, MOI prologues before all else <img src="http://forum.malazanempire.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Or go for the even more extreme chronological order of:

1. RotCG Prologue
2. MT Prologue
3. RG Prologue
4. MoI Prologue
5. NoK
6. GotM Prologue
7. MT
8. HoC I (about halfway through, start reading a chapter of HoC for every book of GotM)
9. DG Prologue
10. HoC Prologue
11. DG and MoI, alternating every chapter or so
12. HoC II-IV
13. BH prologue
14. BH (during the last book, start alternating chapters with the start of RG)
15. finish off RG
16. RotCG
17. TtH prologue except for the first part
18. TtH
19. 1st part of TtH prologue
20. TtH epilogue
21. DoD prologue


(of course then there's the even crazier version where all your read a bunch of random flashbacks before starting any of the novels for real...)

(wow did my grammar used to suck or what... haha who am I kidding 'used to' )

Wow, you are so awesome
I may have to attempt this on my next read through, potentially taking notes so I can compile the ultimate chronological read order Mwahahahahahaha, Mwahahahahaha, MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sorting out where to place SW, OST, BaB and Ass (hehe) is the next challange :/

[Sethiroph]

I'm starting another re-read and beginning at FoD. My first re-read I started at GotM and read published order again to try and understand Erikson's world building and then read ICE for the first time after that this last year. I'm starting at FoD now and will just end up reading FoL wherever it happens to "fall" into my timeline, so that aside, where should I read DL chronologically? I'm planning on reading MT after FoD.

[Egwene]

Sethiroph, on 02 March 2016 - 05:07 AM, said:

I'm starting another re-read and beginning at FoD. My first re-read I started at GotM and read published order again to try and understand Erikson's world building and then read ICE for the first time after that this last year. I'm starting at FoD now and will just end up reading FoL wherever it happens to "fall" into my timeline, so that aside, where should I read DL chronologically? I'm planning on reading MT after FoD.

Here is the link to the reading orders on the Wiki:

http://malazan.wikia...d_reading_order

We haven't yet added it to the ultimate reading order - there hasn't been any discussion about it yet that I know of.

Personally, I would read it before any of the books in the main series as it really is a prequel. I am sure that in the future the Path to Ascendancy series will get recommended as an alternative entry point into the Malazan world to the infamous GotM. Are you re-reading the Esslemont novels as well? In which case maybe you also want to read NoK before embarking on GotM...

[Gorefest]

Despite what SE himself claimed, I genuinely cannot see FoD as an alternative entry point. There's just too much stuff that makes no sense without context. Many people may disagree, but I believe that a large part of the interest for FoD lies in seeing familiar or intriguingly unfamiliar characters in a different setting.

[Egwene]

Gorefest, on 15 March 2016 - 07:59 PM, said:

Despite what SE himself claimed, I genuinely cannot see FoD as an alternative entry point. There's just too much stuff that makes no sense without context. Many people may disagree, but I believe that a large part of the interest for FoD lies in seeing familiar or intriguingly unfamiliar characters in a different setting.

I would agree with you, Gorefest. Certainly if someone asked me for fantasy recommendations, I would say that they should start with GotM but if they found that too confusing then I would recommend they put it to one side and read DL first.

Where in the ultimate reading order would you place Dancer's Lament?