Toll The Hounds: Epic fantasy from this master storyteller (The Malazan Book of the Fallen 8)

Steven Erikson

May 2009 · The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Book 8 · Random House

About this ebook

'Fantasy cliches are dodged or given new twists; the narrative teems with clever invention . . . the writing is excellent' SFX
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In Darujhistan, the saying goes that Love and Death shall arrive together, dancing...

It is summer and the heat is oppressive, yet the discomfiture of the small rotund man in the faded red waistcoat is not entirely due to the sun. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city's streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways but it seems the hunters have become the hunted. Strangers have arrived, and while the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds. All is palpably not well.

And in Black Coral too something is afoot. Memories of ancient crimes surface, clamouring for revenge and Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, has come to right an ancient and terrible wrong. And so it would seem that Love and Death are indeed about to make their entrance...

This is epic fantasy at its most imaginative, storytelling at its most exciting.
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What readers are saying:

***** 'Epic action and breathless tension'
***** 'Dark and compelling . . . it was really hard to put down'
***** 'Innovative, unexpected . . . filled with laugh out loud humour, but also terribly poignant'

Ratings and reviews

It felt at this point that the author lost control of the series. This author creates endless numbers of characters that are impossible to keep track of across multiple books. I enjoy the authors writing, but there are too many characters, and to many characters in this book are utterly forgettable. It's a real slog to get through this book in the series.

Probably the weakest book in the series. Too many side plots that take forever to build up and go nowhere really. Some of the characters are only there so we wouldn't forget they exist. The last 300 pages were good, everything up until then not su much. I understand the author tries to replicate the greatness of second book: a slow drawn out conclusion, but there's just too much building up that feels irrelevant at the time. I'm hoping the next book will correct all the mistakes of this one.

This is not my favorite of the Malazan Empire series. I can't put my finger on what keeps me from giving it four stars. I enjoyed most of the book, but I was also sometimes annoyed as well. Which is likely why I scored 3 stars instead of 4. Still, I will move on to the next book in the series.

About the author

Archaeologist and anthropologist Steven Erikson's debut fantasy novel, Gardens of the Moon, was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award and introduced fantasy readers to his epic 'The Malazan Book of the Fallen' sequence, which has been hailed 'a masterwork of the imagination'. This River Awakens was hist first novel, and originally published under the name Steve Lundin. Having lived in Cornwall for a number of years, Steve will be returning to Canada in late summer 2012. To find out more, visit www.malazanempire.com and www.stevenerikson.com