The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach Volume 1.

The Blood Follows feels like it could almost be one of the threads of a real Malazan book, and is passing interested with fleshing out its little corner of the world and its citizens. But The Lees of Laughter's End is much more interested in being "funny" than in developing anything resembling coherent characters or enriching the setting, and The Healthy Dead goes completely off the rails with Erikson trying to write like Pratchett to spin some bizarre moralist allegory about it being good to be bad. The "jokes" in these often come down to crude descriptions of rape, transgender characters, or crude physical slapstick (you're supposed to be amused at one point that a character thinks of yoghurt while being asphyxiated in a pimply armpit). If you're trying to read "all" the Malazan novels, you can safely skip all of these without feeling like you're missing out on any interesting characters or corners of the world.

I was very unsure what to expect from this collection of stories. I devoured every Malazan Book of the Fallen and was eager for more of anything set in this world. But the namesake characters were two of my least favorite of the massive cast introduced by Erikson. I am so glad that I took the plunge anyway.As stated by another review, this is a very odd book. And I mean that in the best possible way. This series of stories appears to be where Erikson comes out to play. He teases at a strange sense of humor in his magnum opus, but here he just runs with it. The humor is ever so dark so if you don't enjoy that sort of thing you should probably move along. But if that is your bag then this is your book.The main characters remain thoroughly unlikable, but that is the point. The author gives us Mancy the Luckless to root for in every story. And this poor drug addled sop is absolutely hilarious and very hard not to love. I think I even started to warm up to the resident necromancer by the end. If that isn't talent then I don't know what is anymore!

The first I read from Steven Erikson. He portrays a fairly original fantasy world, and its interesting to follow the bad guys for once, though in reality you follow a couple of characters, so the anti-hero effect is greatly muted.I also have a hard time with Eriksons prose. The sentences, while detailed and vivid, are often overly convoluted, often over 30 words long. He also likes to use uncommon words all too frequently. I find it hard to follow his sentences and constantly find myself having to re-read large sections, often several times.Overall, I like the picture he evokes in my brain, but at the same time, it is a painful process.In the end, I dont see myself reading more from this author.

I enjoyed the story and it kept me interested throughout, however it was hard to keep all the unusual names straight and sometimes the story straight as it jumped around a lot and I kept trying to remember who was who. Other than that great read!

Had read all of Erikson's novels and wanted to continue the realms with Esselmont Was not the same.

Better than I expected. I am not generally a fan of short stories and novellas; I only ordered this book because I am such a fan of the Malazan series in general. I was pleasantly surprised. It read sort of like all the chapters of a side story from a larger book were pulled out and arranged together. Maybe people who normally like shorter form stories won't like it as much, but it suited me very well.

A delightful set of background tales that put meat on the bones of Bauchelain and Corbal Broach. No wonder they appear where they do, to ghastly effect.

I have read nearly every one of the Malazan series and this is the weakest. I suggest you skip it and try anything else in the setting.

Fantastic read; if you are looking to scratch your Malazan itch waiting for the next book to be released or just want a little more of the Malazan universe this compendium of novellas is great.Side characters from the main series get more depth. The light hearted and jovial nature of this book make it a very fun to read. Lots of satire, dry whit and a dash of absurdity. A fantastic read.

Of all the minor characters in The Malazan Book of the Fallen Bauchelain and Korbal Broach are among the more fascinating. But the best part of this is the back-story of Emancipor "Mancy" Reese, their man-servant. The bathos of his antics provides much humour.And despite the uber-dark nature of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach and their activities this is often funny. Lighter, of necessity, than the main canon of books but no less good for that.

Have tried to get this book for some time now. At last its in print!Onto the book, its very good. Very humerous in parts, macabre humour in others. Very readable, similar style to the Malazan books although the chapters are a lot shorter. Does not detract from the story though as each chapter deals with each character in turn.If you like the Malazan series of books this would complement them very well.

I love the deep intricacy of Eriksen's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, they are epic sweeping and vast in their ambitions and accomplishments.This feels reads lightweight, immaterial and somehow fake with its pseudo integration into "Wu." I can't judge it as someone not already into MbotF, maybe new readers won't have my misgivings, as Eriksen is a terrific writer and world creator.

Great characters from MOI. Steven Erikson obviously has fun writing the pair and their manservant. Reese’s backstory made me laugh.