Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
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Review by George Roesch
I don’t know about you, but I was lead to believe by reading interviews that this book was to be a bit slower paced so that everything could be put in order for that concluding push in the final book. Well I’ll tell you, this is my kind of slow.
We’re back with the Malazans marching into the Wastelands to meet up with their allies the Burned Tears and the Perish to head into territory where they believe they will have the final confrontation with the crippled god. But an uneasiness seems to have taken hold of the Malazans as their leader, Adjunct Tavore has grown even more distant and unfocused while crossing the Wastelands. This is added to by the feelings of betrayal from the “sensitives” in the ranks. Definitely a different view of the Malazans to see them so unsure of themsleves.
There are also many subplots that become resolved amongst the other armies and races. Specifically the Shake find a closure to their past, while the Barghast, Bolkando, and T’lan Imass all find their own kind of closure to the present.
And we’re finally given a real look at the K’Chain Che’melle. Throughout the series they appeared enough that we knew they were not as extinct as everyone thought, and that they would have some crucial part to play, but I didn’t expect they had an army in the shadows. Nor did I expect their former slaves, the “Short Tails” to appear and battle it out with them one last time. Though now we see the conclusion of the warren full of sky keeps Quick Ben found in “Memories of Ice”.
As fror Dragnipur, I was surprised that Draconus was the only entity to make an appearance after the sword was destroyed and everyone trapped inside was set free. I was hoping for a little more mayhem than that to result.
As I stated before, a strength of this series is the way in which major characters are eliminated, but I never imagined the scale in which people disappeared this time. I was getting flashbacks of George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords. But for the first time in this series we have a cliff-hanger ending. With the good news is we only have to wait a year to see who survived.
Dust of Dreams is the 9th book in Erikson's Malazan sequence. For those new to the series, it is advised to start at the very beginning with Gardens of the Moon. Believe us, it is worth it.
Dust of Dreams (Book 9 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen) (Amazon.co.uk)
Author: Steven Erikson
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 509
Publication date: 2009-08-17
Publisher: Bantam Press
RRP: £20.00
Lowest new price: £9.75
Lowest used price: £7.99
Dust of Dreams (Malazan Book of the Fallen #9) (Amazon.com)
Author: Steven Erikson
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 509
Publication date: 2009-08-18
Publisher: Bantam Press
RRP:
Lowest new price: $42.50
Lowest used price: $80.34
On the Letherii continent the exiled Malazan army commanded by Adjunct Tavore begins its march into the eastern Wastelands, to fight for an unknown cause against an enemy it has never seen. The fate awaiting the Bonehunters is one no soldier can prepare for, and one no mortal soul can withstand - the foe is uncertainty and the only weapon worth wielding is stubborn courage. In war everyone loses, and this brutal truth can be found in the eyes of every soldier in every world. Destinies are never simple. Truths are neither clear nor sharp. "The Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen" are drawing to a close in a distant place, beneath indifferent skies, as the last great army of the Malazan Empire seeks a final battle in the name of redemption. Final questions remain to be answered: can one's deeds be heroic when no one is there to see it? Can that which is unwitnessed forever change the world? The answers await the Bonehunters, beyond the Wastelands.
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