Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
So here we are for the eighth time and it just gets better and better. I found this book to be a bit less frenetic than The Bonehunters as it seems like Mr Erikson is getting things organised for the final push. But that is by no means a reason to believe the action slows down. I guess things just seem more in control since we don’t spend any real time with the Malazan army.
The main events center around Darujistan, and more specifically around Kruppe. There is a dialogue throughtout the story of observances and asides that all come from Kruppe’s thoughts, so while we still don’t see his true nature, we see he is much more than meets the eye since he is even commenting on events in other story lines he does not seem involved in, as well as telling stories around the fire with elder gods.
And as always the unexpected twist is right there grabbing your attention. I mean who would have ever expected Karsa Orlong to find a friend and ally worthy of his respect? We all knew who Traveller was but when Anamander Rake finally called him by name it still felt shocking. And what’s this stuff about Kallor having a heart and just being a victim of circumstance? You can’t make me feel sorry for the guy who killed millions in his power struggles with the gods. Besides, he killed Whiskeyjack, and it will take more than 6 books in between for me to forget that.
Which brings me into what keeps me coming back to this series, its strength and boldness. It seems like everything I knew about magic and heroes has been redefined. It’s like the whole fantasy genre has been given a shake and put back down a bit to the left. And as has been shown again and again since that fateful day when Whiskeyjack left us, beloved and seemingly irreplaceable characters die here. But I never dreamed the list of characters we lose this time and can’t wait to see where it takes us.
This Toll the Hounds book review was written by George Roesch
We interviewed Steven Erikson on 2009-09-03
All reviews for: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
The First Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
Set in the awe-inspiring world of the Malazan Empire, three tales of the enigmatic and eccentric necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach collected in a single, readily av...
The Wurms of Blearmouth
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
Tyranny comes in many guises, and tyrants thrive in palaces and one-room hovels, in back alleys and playgrounds. Tyrants abound on the verges of civilization, where disorde...
The Second Collected Tales of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
The necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach - scourges of civilization, raisers of the dead, reapers of the souls of the living, devourers of hope, betrayers of faith, sl...
Gardens Of The Moon
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 1
Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, the vast, sprawling Malazan empire simmers with discont...
The Crippled God
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 10
The Bonehunters march for Kolanse, led by Adjunct Tavore. This woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confide...
Deadhouse Gates
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 2
In the vast dominion of Seven Cities, in the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha’ik and her followers prepare for the long-prophesied uprising known as the Whirlwind. Un...
Memories of Ice
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 3
The ravaged continent of Genabackis is a terrifying new empire, the Pannion Domin, that devours all. An uneasy allliance resists: Onearm's army, Whiskeyjack's Bridg...
House Of Chains
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 4
In Northern Genabackis, tribal mountain warriors raid southern flatlands. Years later, Tavore, Adjunct to the Empress, enters the last Malazan stronghold. New to command, s...
Midnight Tides
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 5
After decades of warfare, the five tribes of the Tiste Edur are united under the implacable rule of the Warlock King of the Hiroth. But the price of peace is a pact with a ...
The Bonehunters
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 6
The Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Sha'ik is dead. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of Y'Ghatan and under the fanatical command of Leoma...
Reaper's Gale
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 7
All is not well in the Letherii Empire. Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, spirals into madness, surrounded by sycophants and agents of his Machiavellian chan...
Toll the Hounds
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 8
In Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that love and death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small round man in the fade...
Dust of Dreams
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 9
In war everyone loses. This brutal truth can be seen in the eyes of every soldier in every world… In Letherii, the exiled Malazan army commanded by Adjunct Tavore be...
Have you read Toll the Hounds?
We've found that while readers like to know what we think of a book they find additional reader reviews a massive help in deciding if it is the right book for them. So if you have a spare moment, please tell us your thoughts by writing a reader's review. Thank you.
Toll the Hounds reader reviews
Dave from Michigan
Best book I've ever read, well, there's nothing to add, and beside of George rr M and the bible its a literary wonder. Steven Erikson is THE BEST fantasy author of the 20th and 21st century. And those, who don't give this book more than eight points are blind.
Dave Kuhn from USA
Interesting the bimodal distribution of reviews for this series. I found it to be the most compelling fantasy I've read in many years. I've finished the series and am going through it again... and I'm doing it for reasons that some complained about - there's a LOT going on. There are a lot of characters, the plot's are vast... and it's often a challenge to stay oriented (especially if you're reading the novels over some period of time). Having said that... there are VERY few authors who can keep a story coherent over so many books. Some authors (Like the excellent Jim Butcher) create series that are connected individual stories... and some (Jordan) try to create an expansive story spanning the series... and inevitably fail to some extent (Jordan could have skipped 4 or 5 mid-story novels and not lost anything). Erikson IMO had a mix of the two approaches and looking back from the final novel I felt he was hugely successful at telling the story of the Bridgeburners, neat and clean it is not... but the story arc is there and it's compelling.
Robin from Nepal
First of all thanks to Steven Erikson for these books. What a gripping tale. Perhaps only A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE comes close to this epic series. I have to say it is a very difficult book to come in terms with. The patience required by the readers to continue reading is appalling. The philosophies projected, the change of heart of immortals... why ideas in every paragraph can be debated... contested. Fantastic book sir! A toast to you!
Gary from USA
I have never before found myself cursing an author like I do Erikson. Stupid, irrelevant verses at the beginning of chapters, meandering plots crowded with an endless parade of characters and stuffed till bulging with filler. And finally, when something interesting begins to unfold, count on Erikson to drop it like hot coals and then wander into another subplot that takes pages of sheer pap before it even begins to make sense. I will never, NEVER again buy three books ahead just to save postage!
T.L. from USA
Yeah I'd have to agree with Shandalar from France. There have been many times in the previous books where I would get frustrated with bogged down details that had no relevance to the story or curse at the slow pace in which the plot would move along. Even more frustrating was when the plot suddenly collapsed and a string of revelation and deus ex machina's would come to fill in the gaps. But the other books were still enjoyable. In Toll the Hounds it felt like this flaw was extrapolated and all the characters seem to be philosophically rambling on and on over the same mundane problems but only worded differently. Endest Silann is one character that I hated, even Rake and Spinner pissed me off. I would speed read whever I saw their names and skip to the next chapter.
Tom from Columbus, Ohio
This is the last book of the series that I have read and I will not be reading any more. The Kruppe parts were the best part of the book for me and the Karsa parts were the worst. I know these books are very popular with a lot of people but they just never got me to care about the characters.
Shandalar from France
For the first time in this series I really got bored. A lot of pathos and exaggeration. The characters turn into caricatures. And even though the volume becomes predictable (for instance, you understand from page 10 that one of the main character will sacrifice himself in the end), it does not seem that you have moved a single step toward the end of the series. It really felt like a huge filler. I was greatly disappointed.
6.3/10 from 8 reviews
Write a reader review
Thank you for taking the time to write a review on this book, it really makes a difference and helps readers to find their perfect book.
More recommended reading in this genre
Chronicles of the Black Company
Glen Cook
Darkness wars with darkness as the hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must. They bury their doubts with their dead. Then comes the prophec...
The Macht
Paul Kearney
On the world of Kuf, the Macht are a mystery, a seldom-seen people of extraordinary ferocity and discipline whose prowess on the battlefield is the stuff of legend. For cen...
Shadow Ops series
Myke Cole
Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer. Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the d...
Breach Zone
Myke Cole
The Great Reawakening has left Latent people with a stark choice: either use their newfound magical powers in the service of the government, or choose the path of the Selfe...
The Divine Cities Trilogy
Robert Jackson Bennett
A special omnibus edition, collecting all three books of Robert Jackson Bennett’s acclaimed Divine Cities trilogy in a single volume. &nbs...
The Rigante Novels
David Gemmell
Born in the storm that doomed his father, Connavar grows to manhood among the mist-covered mountains of Caer Druagh, where the Rigante tribe dwell in harmony with the land ...
The First Law
Joe Abercrombie
Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body...
The Ascendants of Estorea
James Barclay
The Estorean Conquord has stood for 850 years. Its Advocate, Herine Del Aglios, knows that she presides over the greatest civilisation in history. But she wants more. And i...
The Drenai Novels
David Gemmell
The Legend Druss, Captain of the Axe: the stories of his life were told everywhere. Instead of the wealth and fame he could have claimed, he had chosen a mountain lair, hig...
Great fantasy books published in 2008
Toll the Hounds
Steven Erikson
In Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that love and death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small round man in the fade...
The Hero of Ages
Brandon Sanderson
Tricked into releasing the evil spirit Ruin while attempting to close the Well of Ascension, new emperor Elend Venture and his wife, the assassin Vin, are now hard-pressed ...
Nation
Terry Pratchett
On the day the world ends... Mau is on his way home from the Boys' Island. Soon he will be a man. And then the wave comes - a huge wave, dragging black night behind it ...
Stick Man
Julia Donaldson
Stick Man lives in the family tree. With his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three. But it's dangerous being a Stick Man. A dog wants to play with him, a swan ...
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resid...
The Spook's Mistake
Joseph Delaney
As danger increases in the Country, Tom is sent north by his master to be trained by Bill Arkwright, another spook. Arkwright lives in a haunted mill on the edge if a treac...
The Ten Thousand
Paul Kearney
10,000 elite mercenaries of a legendary race known as the Macht are hired by an Empire exile to take the throne by force. But when their employer is killed, and they are su...
Tender Morsels
Margo Lanagan
Liga raises her two daughters in the safe haven of an alternative reality, a personal heaven granted by magic as a refuge from her earthly suffering. But the real world can...
The Two Pearls of Wisdom
Alison Goodman
Under the harsh regime of an ambitious master, candidate Eon is training to become a Dragoneye - a powerful Lord able to master wind and water to protect the land. But Eon ...
Looking for more suggestions? Try these pages:
