Midnight Tides: Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, Book 5

Book 5 takes place years before the start of the series and gives context that is absolutely needed for book 6. Book five in many ways could be used as an introduction to the series as a whole due to it being entirely separate from the first 4 books, with the exception that one character is present in book 4. This is in my top 3 favorite fantasy books of all time. Interesting characters and vast world building. There is a conversation in the middle of the book on how warrens work that I almost felt like should have been used in book 1 of the series for them to make sense. The book really ends on a fantastic high note and has very memorable moments. The Tehol and Bugg dynamic is a constant source of amusement and creative plot progression.

This book is simply amazing. If your reading through the series, it's a breath of fresh air that sets a much larger scene for a phenomenal 5 books that slowly leave the smaller, more accessible 2 worlds of the first 4 books behind. Some of my favorite characters are introduced and some that already are familiar are given a proper background. Enjoy a masterpiece.

With this book, Erikson shows us a "prequal" of sorts to the previous four books in the series... That said, I do think that the knowledge I had having read the other four books helped me understand this one, but this one could stand alone, if need be.As I read books 3 and 4 in the series, I had begun to tire of what I thought was an excessive use of magic and the way that magic seemed to solve most, if not all, problems. This book is more grounded, although magic still plays a major role, and it reads as more "believable" to me.The characters, although a mostly different cast than the other books, are real, mostly three-dimensional, and are engaging (after a somewhat slow start).The plot is fast-paced (as in the other books) and keeps you reading to see what happens next. There were also some plot twists that I did not expect and there were some situations in which the characters didn't live "happily ever after". Which, if you share my taste in books, is a good thing.The dialogue was at times tedious and I found myself skipping over some sections out of boredom. At times, it seemed like dialogue for dialogue's sake and did not move the plot along... Note that I am not talking about descriptions of places/events...Just dialogue between two characters.With all of that said, this book is a good addition to the series and because it is an improvement on 3 and 4 (in my opinion), I will definately buy the next book.

At the end of Book Four, Trull Sengar began to tell the story of how he became chained to the wall in the drowned pocket of Kurald Emurlan.As the events of Deadhouse Gates and Memory of Ice was happening (sort of, since the Silanah stuff really throws off the timeline) on the other side of the world, the Tiste Edur tribes have been united by the Warlock King. They are facing annexation by the greedy Lether to the south, a nation merchants who want the natural resources in Edur lands. They have destroyed other tribes through shady treaties and deliberate betrayals.The Warlock King has a new ally. He plans to send the Sengar Brothers (Fear, Trull, Binadas, and young Rulad) on a quest to receive a gift in the arctic wastes north of their lands. Will it prove the salvation of their people or their ruination.Another set of brothers, Beddicts, have their own goals. Tehol Beddict appears impoverished after his financial collapse, but he had actually discovered the secret to destroying his people's economy and flinched. However, when those whose people were destroyed by the Lethers want him to try again, will he accept? In the palace, Brice Beddict is the king's champion. Emroiled in the complex politics of Lether, he vows to protect his king even if the man isn't worthy of his devotion. Last, Hull Beddict plots his people's destruction in another way. He wants to save the Edur from the fate of other tribes, weighed down by guilt.A large cast of characters, both mortal, undead, and immortal, clash and swirl. This is one of Erikson's best books in the series. Tehol and Bug number among my favorite duo and it was great to read them again. Tragedy and misfortune swirl as no one's plans quite work out right. The darkest parts of humanity are exposed once more.This fantasy series continues to be unique and amazing. If you haven't read any of Malazan Book of the Fallen, you need to. It is worth the journey.

Wow! Erikson triumphs again in delivering yet another magnificent book. As I have said in other reviews Erikson is among the top three writers in the fantasy genre in terms of vastly imaginative scope, the use of eloquent language and descriptive prose, as well as addictive plot and character development. This novel, like the three prior, furthers my opinion of Malazan immensely. While this book began with yet another new setting and wide cast of characters, which may overwhelm some readers at first, don't dismay. Midnight Tides challenged my attention span and interest until about 1/4 of the way in, but after that point I did not want to put it down. Trull Sengar, Udinaas, and most of all Bugg and Tehol are all meaningfully and wonderfully developed characters (also I believe the hilarious b.a.m.f Karsa continues in his belligerence).I must say that this series, having read 7 books as of now, is easily my favorite epic fantasy series (that has been completed). While I still have very high hopes for Sandersons Stormlight Archive and Rothfuss' kingkiller series, unless Malazan takes a big dive in quality over the last 3 I have to read, I have a hard time imagining their works to far surpass Eriksons.5 stars!

The beginning of this one was a little jarring. Just as you're getting used to the characters and settings of the first four books, you're thrust into a new setting with all new characters. In his typical style, Erikson makes these characters believable and endearing by the end of the first act and then things take off in a big way. The family ties that are explored, are very believable in a very fantastical world. The politics of the new setting really make it very unique and fun. There is one character that may end up being one of my favorite characters in the entire series, in Tehol, and I can't wait to see what happens to him in the next books.

(I'm going to write one blurb and paste it for each of these books that I have purchased through amazon)I purchased the entire 10 book set in paperback after reading them all on kindle, and as many audio books as I could find to buy.I also have 3 or 4 of the side novels in kindle/audio format also.This story has pushed aside the Shanarra saga to become my favorite.They remind me of the feeling of the first few Shannara novels, lord of the rings, Game of Thrones.They are vast adventures spanning time and worlds with great characters and stories.The writing is very good I think (as someone who has read hundreds of fantasy novels and thousands of other books)Do note that these are for adults. Some of the books are pretty heavy with graphic violence and rape as well as sex and adult language. I'd suggest reading each book before deciding if they are appropriate for you teenager/young adult.All of it feels correct for the story but I'd thought I should mention it.

I am currently reading this series of books (in order) and haven't been disapointed yet. Some of the negative reviews of Midnight Tides really don't do it justice. Even as Erikson continues to tell the amazing story of the malazan universe, in Midnight Tides I feel like hes taken some of his biggest risks (so far). The biggest risk of all is creating an almost whole new set of characters half-way through a series. This at first put me back into the mode of confusion, learning whole new sets of characters, beliefs, legends and viewpoints. You are going to be forced to look at the cultures you thought you knew from the previous books in new ways.It starts off alot like I remember feeling when reading the first book - this huge world that I'm going to struggle to keep up with because of its vastness. And because of this, the book starts out slow. That would be the only negative I really felt about this book. It takes until about a quarter of the way through the book in order to get past all of the narrative of the different cultures and into the real meat of the story.But once you get there, it quickly picks up pace. I didn't want to put it down. And the characters... great as always. Following the same trend as his other books, your are going to be hearing this story from at least a few view points. There were two characters in particular that I always loved to hear about because their pieces made me laugh. They were genuinely funny, which is not something that I can really say consistently about any of the other characters in the series thus far and I appreciate the break from the seriousness of the subject matter occasionally. I really hope Erikson continues to tell the story of these characters in future novels.This book takes longer than previous books to draw itself back into the over-arching plot of the malazan universe. In it, you are going to hear even more important events about the past thats shaped this massive series. But once you get towards the end, you'll once again see how this is just another link in the chain thats holding this world together. Do not skip reading this great book.P.S.As far as the kindle edition goes: yes theres mistakes but nothing so huge as to take away from the story. If you've been reading the series on the kindle as I have up to this point, the mistakes are pretty much the same things as in the previous books.

Trama magnífica, personajes perfectamente construidos y algunos absolutamente espléndidos,... Para disfrutar de principio a fin

Non ne sbaglia una! Steven Erikson è il miglior autore fantasy che io abbia mai letto. Non solo il mondo da lui creato è originale e vastissimo, ma ogni suo libro è un capolavoro. Non si può competere con lui riguardo il fantasy medievale. Nonostante ci siano stati riproposti per anni le stesse noiose storie, con Erikson non possiamo che rimanere affascinati e sperare che continui a scrivere ancora per molto, moltissimo tempo.

Ótimo livro. Chegou sem defeitos e sem problemas na alfândega

The "first half" is a bit of preparation for the action of the other half of the book. Nevertheless you don't feel bored at all with awesome new characters (Tehol you rocks !) and good intrigue and dialogue.The absence of known figure is a good change of perspective in the Malazan world (the whole plot of this book hapenning of the continent of Lether), even though disappointing at first if you love the usual characters like me.Anyway, I have yet to be disappointed with any of the book.

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