Toll the Hounds

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My cover is more in line with the Bantam Book, but the pub and ISBN are Tor 9780765348852.

Grief is the most solitary of all feelings. Grief isolates, and every ritual, every gesture, every embrace, is a hopeless effort to break through that isolation.
None of it works. The forms crumble and dissolve.
To face death is to stand alone.

A heavy book, both physically due to its size and thematically rich content. The book follows a frame narrative, narrated by a character in the series who sometimes evokes controversy and irritation due to his verbosity and peculiar way of expression. This structure allows Erikson to adopt a more contemplative tone compared to other books in the series.

The ‘stylistic break' is framed within this narrative, within a frame narrative. One could almost forget that the entire series is a frame narrative. This book, spanning over 1000 pages, is more theme-driven than plot-driven. Erikson returns to Darujistan, one of the locations from the first book, and picks up some abandoned plotlines after around 6000 pages. The scope of some storylines is truly epic.

Various storylines converge in Darujistan, albeit slowly. The pacing is slow but effective. This gives Erikson the opportunity to explore themes such as grief, redemption, compassion, and responsibility. Erikson introduces subplots that may not contribute directly to the overarching story of the series but align with the mentioned themes. This infuses a philosophical character into the book.

It is both the strength and weakness of the book. This book may not be appreciated by everyone, which is quite a daring move to change the tone of voice in the eighth book of a 10-part series in a way that could potentially alienate readers. On the other hand, if you've advanced to the eighth part of this rather complex series, would you be deterred by a book with a more philosophical approach?

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can appreciate about 95% of the thematic developments, Erikson occasionally overindulges himself. Especially in the reflections on the Tiste Andii, the ponderings can be lengthy. If profound thoughts are put on paper merely for their depth but lack substance, they miss their mark. Conciseness is then advised, and this occurred only a few times, in my opinion.

As is often the case in the series, the end of the book is irresistible. For a long time, it's unclear where the book is heading, but Erikson steers all plotlines tightly towards the book's conclusion. The reader is drawn, as if in a vortex, towards the end. I am curious about how this book will fit into the entire series.

5 stars.

Toll the Hounds est le huitième tome du cycle de fantasy Malazan Book of the Fallen de Steven Erikson.

Après Reaper's Gale, le tome précédent qui était devenu mon préféré du cycle, je dois dire que celui-ci frappe encore un grand coup, peut-être au point de devenir à son tour mon préféré. Le ton est différent des autres tomes, plus poétique, plus philosophique, plus mélancolique aussi. L'ouvrage est dédié au père de l'auteur, décédé peu avant, ce qui explique peut-être cela. Quoi qu'il en soit, c'est un magnifique roman, à la fois comme oeuvre de fantasy et comme livre sur le deuil.

”There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail - should we fall - we will know that we have lived.” Anomander Rake

I am very happy I gave this series another shot, it is so good! This one is quite different in some ways from many of the others. There is much less military campaign and more following other characters and problems, some ‘normal' people and some of the rich and powerful.

There is lots of death, of characters both old and new - enough to break your heart. It is very well-written and I found lots of quotes that spoke to me.

Of course it's also a book with a lot of Kruppe and Iskaral Pust, and so you will find yourself reading a sentence like this: “The gate creaked open, inviting invitation and so invited Kruppe invited himself in.”

I have no words for this novel.
This was my favorite Malazan book of the fallen so far. I was impressed, now I'm just wordless.

Executive Summary: To me this book lives or dies by its characters, if you liked the people from Darujhistan in [b:Gardens of the Moon 55399 Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355144064s/55399.jpg 2646042] you'll likely enjoy this as much as I did. If not, you may find this one slow.Full ReviewThis book provides an interesting contrast with [b:Reaper's Gale 459064 Reaper's Gale (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #7) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1356447867s/459064.jpg 4379974] for me. A lot more happens in Reaper's Gale, yet I enjoyed this one a lot more.So why is that? The characters. The worst thing a storyteller can do is have characters you don't care about. I don't mean dislike. [a:Robin Hobb 25307 Robin Hobb https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1205023525p2/25307.jpg] writes great characters that I love to hate.Normally Mr. Erikson does as well. For many of the characters in [b:Reaper's Gale 459064 Reaper's Gale (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #7) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1356447867s/459064.jpg 4379974], I just didn't care. It made me bored.Maybe it's because it's book 8 and Mr. Erikson decided he couldn't afford to keep dumping 20 new characters on us, but the beginning of this one didn't piss me off like many of the others.With this book we return to some old favorites, some of which we haven't seen for a very long time. We're also introduced to a very small number of new ones that quickly fell into that “love to hate” category for me. You know a writer is doing a good job when you start hoping he'll kill someone off.The chapters alternated between Darujhistan and people outside it. The Darujhistan were far more enjoyable for me, but those other chapters became moreso as the book went on.I feel like I've come home again to the Phoenix Inn and caught up with old friends. Plus, the stage is set for an epic meeting of Kruppe and Iskaral Pust! Something I've been waiting for a very long time, and man does it not disappoint!Of course not everything is a happy reunion. Forces are converging and the hounds are gathering. I'm always impressed at how Mr. Erikson can blend a story of gritty realism with the fantastical and occasional levity to keep your sanity in check.I can see people finding this book slow if they don't enjoy the characters. But as usual, Mr. Erikson writes a great ending that even though who do will suddenly find the book impossible to put down.We're in the home stretch now, and just 1 book that was so long that it was split into two left to go!