Midnight Tides (Malazan Book of the Fallen)

Now there's an impending clash between the recently-united barbaric tribes of the Tiste Edur and the adjoining Kingdom of Lether, whose capitalistic decadence would make it quite sympathetic if not for policies of ruthless expansionism and slavery.

We come to know people on both sides: the Tiste Edur are driven by fierce honour and have strange, fascinating customs (Erikson is an anthropologist). But their Warlock King has, so to speak, switched gods in midstream and allied with a distinctly dark power while seeking a potent "gift" from another unreliable deity. Ironically, despite the provocation of Letheran seal-poachers on his coast, the Warlock King wants a safe, unassailable peace. His supernatural allies have other plans, and the tribes find themselves following a fearsome but also pitiable new Emperor into war.

Oddly enough, an old, ambiguous Letheran prophecy about an emperor is about to fall due. Meanwhile this kingdom has internal enemies, including a master financier plotting ruin while living in abject poverty with his resourceful manservant: this double act provides a vein of Jeeves-and-Wooster comic relief. There are complex manoeuvres in court circles. The undead walk--but that's normal in Lether. Restless stirring is felt in the ancient Hold where dark magic has long been confined. Then comes the clash with the Tiste Edur, and sorcerers' weapons of mass destruction are unleashed on both sides.

It's a big, complex, satisfying blockbuster, crammed with horrors, humour, spectacular effects and devious twists. Loose ends will presumably be picked up in later volumes. --David Langford

Some readers insist in comparing the different books in this series to each other. While Midnight Tides does not have an ending with the same kind of impact as 'Deadhouse Gates', or reach the breathless climax of the final battle in 'Memories of Ice', I would still rate it as the best one he has written so far. The balance of humour, drama, tragedy and excitement has never been as finely tuned as in 'Midnight Tides', and the cultures and societies never as intricately constructed. Neither has Erikson marshalled as varied and as finely wrought a cast of characters as he does here. I do feel this is his finest book.

I've read all the major fantasy writers of the last twenty years (with the exception of R. Scott Bakker, something I intend to remedy soon) and I would really put Erikson at the top of the list. Thats not something I would have ever said after reading 'Gardens of the Moon', and I would have been reluctant to make such a claim even after reading 'Deadhouse Gates', but I have no reluctance in doing so now.... Mr. Erikson, hats off to you!


Getting Back on Form, But Still Not the Best   October 8, 2005
 10 out of 12 found this review helpful

The fourth Malazan book, House of Chains, was a serious misstep in Erikson's writing, with a weak central plot propped up by far more interesting subthreads focusing on more interesting characters. Arguably the most interesting of those characters was Trull Sengar, the Tiste Edur warrior left to hang on a wall by his 'brothers'. In Midnight Tides we find out his backstory.

It's a couple of years earlier, on a distant continent on the far side of the world to Genabackis, Seven Cities and Quon Tali. The Kingdom of Lether and the neighbouring Tiste Edur tribes are planning a peace conference to resolve their differences. The fearsome Tiste Edur Warlock King is actually keen on peace, having expended his strength and troops on uniting the tribes. However, one of his warriors concludes a dark pact with the Crippled God (the series' primary unifying force and the only 'person' whose presence is felt in all the novels) and is resurrected to become the new Tiste Emperor, equipped with sorcerous weapons of mass destruction, which are rapidly hurled in the direction of the Letheri capital. In the capital various political games come to a head as new characters take centre stage.

Midnight Tides is extremely important to the rest of the series, despite not featuring any of the same characters (bar the Crippled God and Trull Sengar), as it sets up the Tiste Edur as the Crippled Gods' mortal empire on the Malazan world, heralding a possible confrontation with the Malazan Empire later on. As a plot, it's arguably the best in the series, challenged only by Deadhouse Gates and perhaps Memories of Ice. However, there are problems.

As with House of Chains, Erikson is obviously becoming too popular to be edited. Some of the prose (particularly at the start of the book) is self-indulgent twaddle of the highest order. Several of the characters are so pretentious you want to hit them. Luckily, whenever anything gets too out of hand you can rely on Tehol and Bugg to pop up. Their witty sparrings and repartee are more Pratchett than Pratchett and give the book a much-needed lighter edge. The battle for Letheras at the end is also interesting, though completely lacking the epic scale and jaw-dropping horror of the Siege of Capustan in Memories of Ice. The ending is somewhat muddled as you ponder whose side you should be cheering (both sides have valid points of view and sympathetic characters) but that is probably the point.

Midnight Tides is a good novel, readable and deserving of its (extreme) length. Erikson continues to show every sign of being the next great fantasy author. However, until he can get his page-count down and stop philosophising every other page, George R.R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Paul Kearney and Jack Vance can sleep easy.


no no no   July 20, 2005
 3 out of 33 found this review helpful

This book is simply dreadful. weak one dimensional characters that are wholly unlikeable. Amazing that this could be written by the same author as the rest of the series.