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Malazan


Ammanas

Favorite Malazan Book  

15 members have voted

  1. 1. Favorite Malazan Book

    • GotM
      0
    • DG
      0
    • MoI
      5
    • HoC
      0
    • MT
      3
    • Bonehunters
      3
    • RG
      2
    • TtH
      2
    • DoD
      0
    • CG
      0
    • FoD
      0
    • FoL
      0
    • KoK
      0
    • RotCG
      0
    • Stonewielser
      0
    • OST
      0
    • BoB
      0
    • Assail
      0
    • Dancers Lament
      0
    • Deadhouse Landing
      0
    • Kellanved's Reach
      0


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@Hoiditthroughthegrapevine I do know that the first Witness book is finished and being edited. Hypothetically Fall of next year for Witness but with Covid ruining the publishing world who knows. On the Malazanempire website it says that the Esslemont book The Jhistal is finished and I believe that while these books are money makers for Tor let’s face it: it’s a niche audience and publishing dates are being pushed back for these lesser series and given the priority to more profitable ones. I know these books are niche because Tor refused to fund more Malazan reread posts and bailed on Forge of Darkness. They are literally on their fifth (I think) read through blog posts on Wheel of Time. Also I do know the sales for Kharkanus has been abysmal while the new Esslemont books a been fairly decent.

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3 minutes ago, Ammanas said:

On the Malazanempire website it says that the Esslemont book The Jhistal is finished and I believe that while these books are money makers for Tor let’s face it: it’s a niche audience and publishing dates are being pushed back for these lesser series and given the priority to more profitable ones. I know these books are niche because Tor refused to fund more Malazan reread posts and bailed on Forge of Darkness. They are literally on their fifth (I think) read through blog posts on Wheel of Time. Also I do know the sales for Kharkanus has been abysmal while the new Esslemont books a been fairly decent.

Hmm, any word from ICE what Jhistal is going to be about, like a blurb or something? 

That's funny that they have 5 Wot retreads on the Tor website, reminds of Michael Keaton's line from Beetlejuice, "I've seen the Exorcist 27 times, and it just keeps getting funnier ever single time." Seems like they're probably long past the point of diminishing returns on beating that dead horse.

What did you think of the Malazan reread of the Fallen? I read an interview with Erickson where he said that a major conflict between two insanely powerful characters was actually decided by the roll of a 20 sided dice when he and Cam were playing/creating Malazan. (spoilered for TotH)

Spoiler

I looked at the Reread to see if it was the clash between Spinnok Durav and Kallor, Anomander Rake and Hood, or Rake and Dassem Ulter. They didn't mention it, but from the text, there's the point where Hood tries to back out of his bargain with Rake, so my gut says that bit of uncertainty might be the nod to the roll of the fated D20. 

Have you heard which characters this di roll decided the fate of? If not, it would be a great question to ask Erickson or Esselmont. 

 

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@Hoiditthroughthegrapevine I loved the Malazan reread of the fallen. I thought the hosts were fantastic and Bill was very knowledgeable and really helped my understanding of the story. Amanda was really sharp too. I also thought they did a great job of being fair and critical where it’s needed but also praising it when this series deserved it. I’m still kind of bummed it was canceled because I think they could of shed some light on some of the more obscure parts of the Kharkanus books.

haha yes about Wot. This latest one they decided to “shake things up” and have a new host and have it be their musings and thoughts with this being their first read. I think they are somewhere in Fires of Heaven

As a matter of fact I do know what that dice roll decided. 

Spoiler

Yes you are right it refers to the end of Toll the Hounds in the big showdown between Dassem and Hood. Can’t remember where I read that though but I feel confident about it. I think Toll the hounds has my favorite prologue. They set up the events of ending with Hood and Rakes sword in it but it’s written in such a confusing way you don’t realize it until after you finish it. In fact I believe Erikson breaks the fourth wall by having one character turn to the other and say, “ It’s all kind of confusing isn’t it?”

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

-“Do you not wish to know my name?”

-“No. I will call you Dayliss.” (ch 1 pg 66 mmpb  HoC)

Cold Karsa. Just cold. One of the harshest retorts in the series IMO. Almost forgot how much Karsa changed throughout the series. He’s a completely different character then he was when first introduced. Skipping MoI at the moment because I wanted to stick with the seven Cities storyline for the moment and check out the new narrator. 

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On 1/10/2021 at 5:53 AM, Ammanas said:

Cold Karsa. Just cold. One of the harshest retorts in the series IMO. Almost forgot how much Karsa changed throughout the series. He’s a completely different character then he was when first introduced. Skipping MoI at the moment because I wanted to stick with the seven Cities storyline for the moment and check out the new narrator. 

Ralph Lister's Karsa sounds a bit like the Lennie type character in Looney Tunes, the "Tell me about the rabbits George" one. Totally not right for Karsa. Michael Paige's Karsa is beyond perfect, especially how he draws out the word "Witness".

It is interesting seeing what a horrible and seemingly irredeemable character Karsa started out as, he feels a bit like Howard's idealized Barbarian but devoid of Conan's devil may care affability. He does describe the arc of Howard's barbarian though, with his goal of toppling all of civilization. Talking about House of Chains is getting me excited for The God Is No Willing!

Edited by Hoiditthroughthegrapevine
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  • 4 weeks later...

I was reading though the Entertainment forum hoping for help deciding what I should read next. Need something good to get me over my RoW withdrawal. Then I stumbled up this thread, and now I'm thinking: maybe I should just re-read the whole Malazan series? I always thought I'd read it all again someday, after I'd forgotten it all so I could enjoy it like the first time (since it's the the Absolute Best non-cosmere series ;)). Well I cracked open Bonehunters and flipped through the prologue and chapter 1, and sure enough I remember next to nothing!

I bet by the time I finished a full series re-read Lost Metal would be out...

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On 2/4/2021 at 7:40 PM, PleatherDuster said:

I was reading though the Entertainment forum hoping for help deciding what I should read next. Need something good to get me over my RoW withdrawal. Then I stumbled up this thread, and now I'm thinking: maybe I should just re-read the whole Malazan series? I always thought I'd read it all again someday, after I'd forgotten it all so I could enjoy it like the first time (since it's the the Absolute Best non-cosmere series ;)). Well I cracked open Bonehunters and flipped through the prologue and chapter 1, and sure enough I remember next to nothing!

I bet by the time I finished a full series re-read Lost Metal would be out...

Pip pip! It's definitely a fun ride.

How are you going to do your reread?

I've only reread MBotF, all the rest of the series I've only read one time through. I'm the most excited to give the Novels of the Malazan Empire another read honestly. Feel like there's still a bunch of dots to connect through that series, I just have to steel myself to get through Night of Knives and weather the pretty lame cast that only appears in the Esselmont books, especially the thoroughly unremarkable saga of Kyle.

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13 hours ago, Hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Pip pip! It's definitely a fun ride.

How are you going to do your reread?

I've only reread MBotF, all the rest of the series I've only read one time through. I'm the most excited to give the Novels of the Malazan Empire another read honestly. Feel like there's still a bunch of dots to connect through that series, I just have to steel myself to get through Night of Knives and weather the pretty lame cast that only appears in the Esselmont books, especially the thoroughly unremarkable saga of Kyle.

Oh wow, you've RE-read the entire 10 book series? I've reread Gardens of the Moon--maybe 5 years ago--but all the rest just once. I just put a hold at the library for Gardens, and VERY excited to read it again. Can't wait to re-meet Fidler, Whiskey Jack, Crocus, Sorry, Toc, ectx20. lol. So many great characters! Glancing at the Dramatis Personae (sp?) at the beginning of Bone Hunters (which is for some reason the only book I can find at home), I'm just blown away by the depth of the story in terms of characters and plot lines. 

So... by "Novels of the Malazan Empire" do you mean the Esslemont books? I read Night of Knives shortly after finishing the 10th book (Crippled God), and...I didn't love it. Is Kyle the main guy in that one? Do they get better? 

Instead of re-reading Book of the Fallen, I had considered reading the Esslemont books or the Kharkanas (sp?) trilogy. But, since I can't remember much of what happens in those 10 books, I figure it would be more enjoyable to start over from the beginning. So I can properly connect those dots!

 

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9 hours ago, PleatherDuster said:

Oh wow, you've RE-read the entire 10 book series? I've reread Gardens of the Moon--maybe 5 years ago--but all the rest just once. I just put a hold at the library for Gardens, and VERY excited to read it again. Can't wait to re-meet Fidler, Whiskey Jack, Crocus, Sorry, Toc, ectx20. lol. So many great characters! Glancing at the Dramatis Personae (sp?) at the beginning of Bone Hunters (which is for some reason the only book I can find at home), I'm just blown away by the depth of the story in terms of characters and plot lines. 

Yeah, I've read Malazan Book of the Fallen twice, and it is such a good series! The characters are great, the world is large an interesting and the endings are always great. And there are a lot of threads woven through the whole series that connect in an incredibly compelling fashion when you reread the series. A lot of details tie neatly into plot lines that just seemed baffling or mysterious the first time through. Good stuff for sure! 

 

10 hours ago, PleatherDuster said:

So... by "Novels of the Malazan Empire" do you mean the Esslemont books? I read Night of Knives shortly after finishing the 10th book (Crippled God), and...I didn't love it. Is Kyle the main guy in that one? Do they get better? 

The Novels of the Malazan Empire by Esselmont are pretty good, Night of Knives is kind of hard to get through, but they definitely get better. And Stonewielder is one of my favorite Malazan books. 

Kyle is one of the main protagonists, introduced in The Return of the Crimson Guard, and this might just be my opinion, but I think he is possibly the dullest character ever. He never really does anything except associate with other characters who are very cool. He's like the guy that the most you can say about him is that if he's around the group is larger by 1 person. 

The Path to Ascendancy series is fun, it's an interesting view into Dancer and Ammanas' partnership before the founding of the Malazan Empire. I think the Novels of the Malazan Empire are better, but a lot of people really like Esselmont's PtA books. 

It's not a super popular opinion, but I love the Bauchelain and Korbal Brooch novellas (with the exception of Crack'd Pot Trail, that one was a bit too much for me). Blood follows, where you see Emancipor Reece hired on as Bauchelain's ill fated manservant is great, The Lee's of Laughter is mildly disturbing but overall quite fun, and the Healthy Dead is one of the best bits of satire this side of Jonathan Swift's Indecent proposal. 

The first two books of the Kharkanus trilogy are great too, but are definitely slower and more in the vein of long form essays than tightly plotted gripping fantasy. They deal with the ancient schism between the Tiste, and the strange powers of the Azathanai. They have a couple of my favorite scenes in Malazan, but overall they are very unlike Erickson's MBotF novels. Thankfully Erickson has started working again on the 3rd book, Walk in Shadows, and hopefully he has an easier go on that one then he did on Fall of Light (which took 4 years to finish). 

10 hours ago, PleatherDuster said:

Instead of re-reading Book of the Fallen, I had considered reading the Esslemont books or the Kharkanas (sp?) trilogy. But, since I can't remember much of what happens in those 10 books, I figure it would be more enjoyable to start over from the beginning. So I can properly connect those dots!

There are a bunch of recommendations on how to read M as lazan out there, but for my money, I'd say the best way to read it is do your reread of MBotF first, it's the primary fount of the History and mythos of the World of Malazan. Then you can pick which fork you want, but the most contemporaneous connections exist between the Novels of The Malazan Empire. Path to Ascendancy is a prequel, and the Kharkanus books tske place 300,000 years before the events of MBotF. 

However you do it, it's a great ride for sure. Would love to hear your reactions as you read through Malazan, it's a truly great series and it's always fun to talk with intelligent people about good books! 

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On 2/7/2021 at 9:57 PM, Hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

There are a bunch of recommendations on how to read M as lazan out there, but for my money, I'd say the best way to read it is do your reread of MBotF first, it's the primary fount of the History and mythos of the World of Malazan. Then you can pick which fork you want, but the most contemporaneous connections exist between the Novels of The Malazan Empire. Path to Ascendancy is a prequel, and the Kharkanus books tske place 300,000 years before the events of MBotF. 

However you do it, it's a great ride for sure. Would love to hear your reactions as you read through Malazan, it's a truly great series and it's always fun to talk with intelligent people about good books! 

Thanks for sharing your view of the series--great stuff! I can't wait to start in again on Gardens of the Moon. Might even try the audio version, assuming the library has it, so I can "read" in faster. 

Do you have any other favorite book series (fantasy or otherwise). I can tell you have good taste in books :lol: I've received some good books suggestion lately...but mostly YA, and while that can be fun sometimes, I tend to enjoy darker/grittier stories. 

 

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7 hours ago, PleatherDuster said:

Do you have any other favorite book series (fantasy or otherwise). I can tell you have good taste in books :lol: I've received some good books suggestion lately...but mostly YA, and while that can be fun sometimes, I tend to enjoy darker/grittier stories. 

If you like dark and gritty, and are a fan of black comedy, you should definitely check out the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas (especially the ones in the first collected stories of B&K). Don't know if you remember those two very evil Necromancers and their hapless manservant, but you see them for the first time in Memories of Ice when they travel with Gruntle's caravan. And their meeting in MoI with Quick Ben is one of the my favorite moments in all of Malazan. 

The guy who started this thread, @Ammanas, recommended Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series to me, and it's one of my favorite series of all times now. It was written in the late 80's, and is cited by Martin as a major inspiration for Song of Ice and Fire (I actually think it's a bit more than just inspiration, Martin basically combined the magical elements of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn with the political intrigues of the War of Roses, and added in a dash of realistic brutality). The first book in MSaT, The Dragonbone Chair, is one of the tightest plotted books I've ever read. The beginning is a slow ramp into the world of Osten Ard, but it's also laying down thematic strands that are woven through the whole series. 

And the best part is that there's a follow up series, The Last King of Osten Ard, that is nearly complete, and that is just as good as the original trilogy. The plotting is not as tight as MSaT, but the world building is better and there's a bit more realism to the battles (more gore, yet still tastefully done). Also, the new series takes place roughly the same number of years between the publication of the two series, so you get a follow up series 30 years after the end of To Green Angel Tower. And the 3rd book in the series, The Navigator's Children is slated to come out this year. 

 

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On 2/10/2021 at 4:58 PM, Hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

The guy who started this thread, @Ammanas, recommended Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series to me, and it's one of my favorite series of all times now. It was written in the late 80's, and is cited by Martin as a major inspiration for Song of Ice and Fire (I actually think it's a bit more than just inspiration, Martin basically combined the magical elements of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn with the political intrigues of the War of Roses, and added in a dash of realistic brutality). The first book in MSaT, The Dragonbone Chair, is one of the tightest plotted books I've ever read. The beginning is a slow ramp into the world of Osten Ard, but it's also laying down thematic strands that are woven through the whole series. 

My dad had these books when I was a kid, and I remember gazing in wonder and their nerdy amazing cover art :lol: I actually have ebooks of them, and they sound really good. I'll definitely be giving them a read. 

On 2/10/2021 at 4:58 PM, Hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

If you like dark and gritty, and are a fan of black comedy, you should definitely check out the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas (especially the ones in the first collected stories of B&K). Don't know if you remember those two very evil Necromancers and their hapless manservant, but you see them for the first time in Memories of Ice when they travel with Gruntle's caravan. And their meeting in MoI with Quick Ben is one of the my favorite moments in all of Malazan

 

I'm pretty sure I read the first Bauchelain and Korbal Broach story while waiting for Crippled God, but it is gone from my brain like everything I read back then. Do you think if I read them before my full series re-read, I'd be missing out on anything? Are they fairly self contained? I'm pretty sure black comedy novellas are exactly what I need in my life right now. 

Thanks again btw. I feel like I finally have enough reading material (even if I'm indecisive about order to read it all) to hunker down until spring. 

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2 hours ago, PleatherDuster said:

I'm pretty sure I read the first Bauchelain and Korbal Broach story while waiting for Crippled God, but it is gone from my brain like everything I read back then. Do you think if I read them before my full series re-read, I'd be missing out on anything? Are they fairly self contained? I'm pretty sure black comedy novellas are exactly what I need in my life right now. 

Yeah, they are probably the most self-contained stories in all of Malazan. You can read them at anytime without fear of spoilers for mainline events, they are kind of sequential, but even in the B&K series they could be read in any order. 

I have a pretty good tolerance for the strange and dark, but I do think Crack'd Pot Trail went too far, and I think that Erickson with that one was a bit too keen on writing a Twisted Canterbury Tales. But Blood Follows, Lee of Laughter's End, The Healthy Dead and Wurms of Blearmouth are great. It's kind of like if Jeeves was a powerful, amoral Necromancer and Wooster was instead his luckless manservant and they are both travelling with a homicidal, demented maniac who also happens to be a Necromancer, and hilarity ensues. 

Bauchelain is the master of understated dialog, and a lot of the truly funny bits are the classic British farce style irony of situation. And Erickson really let's himself go and has his most Dickensian named cast in the B&K books. 

I'm actually doing a Reread of Blood Follows right now, and it's so incredibly good! Not everyone's cup of tea for sure, so if you like it, great, if not there are lots of different cups with lots of different tea out there. 

Here is how Blood Follows opens:

Quote

THE BELLS PEALED ACROSS THE LAMENTABLE CITY OF Moll, clamouring along the crooked, narrow alleys, buffeting the dawn-risers hurriedly laying out their wares in the market rounds. The bells pealed, tumbling over the grimy cobblestones, down to the wharfs and out over the bay’s choppy, gray waves. Shrill iron, the bells pealed with the voice of hysteria. 

 

Edited by Hoiditthroughthegrapevine
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Sorry for the double post, but this is some good new info.

I was looking up something up about the Bauchelain and Korbal Brooch novellas on the Malazan Wiki, and I saw that the B&K Novella, Upon a Dark of Evil Overlords, that Erickson was writing and releasing on his facebook page, one handwritten page a day, was finally done. Here is an index to the individual pages on his Facebook page (or you can just use the arrow navigation from Erickson's Facebook page):
https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/Upon_a_Dark_of_Evil_Overlords

While looking through his Facebook page, I noticed he had some maps that show where the God is Not Willing is going to take place (on Genebackis mostly it seems).

This first one is one of his original maps drawn during for his gaming sessions with ICE, showing the part of Genebackis that TGINW takes place in, and may or may not have some spoilery bits:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1628451033973857&set=a.893848104100824

This is the version of the map that Erickson drew and submitted for inclusion in the God is Not Willing (like his other maps, this will be redrawn by an artist at Tor for the final book):
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1736950586457234&set=a.893848104100824

 

 

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On 2/13/2021 at 9:17 PM, Hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

While looking through his Facebook page, I noticed he had some maps that show where the God is Not Willing is going to take place (on Genebackis mostly it seems).

I had to google "The God is Not Willing" cause I didn't know what it was. Very exciting that he's planning a trilogy set after the original 10. I've forgotten a lot of the characters and plots, but Karsa is one that has stay with me more than most. (Probably only remember Fiddler and Toc's stories more... Well and Whiskyjack. I remember that plotline). I always thought if I ever got a kitten (one of my life goals XD) I would name it Karsa Orlong. 

Well, after reading the first chapter of Tad William's Dragonbone Chair (which I enjoyed and will read someday), and checking out a half-dozen ebooks from the library...I ultimately started re-reading Gardens of the Moon yesterday. It was inevitable and absolutely the right decision. Just finished Part I, and I don't even have words for how much I've enjoyed it. I just love the characters and love the intertwined plots. I made myself a badass and super-nerdy timeline of the Malazan Empire, updating it as I go along, so I don't miss anything this time around. 

Also! Caladan Brood! OMG I love it so much. He's not it it yet, but just hearing his name being dropped made me LOL. I'm telling myself that Brando absolutely named Kaladin after him!

 

 

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19 hours ago, PleatherDuster said:

I had to google "The God is Not Willing" cause I didn't know what it was. Very exciting that he's planning a trilogy set after the original 10. I've forgotten a lot of the characters and plots, but Karsa is one that has stay with me more than most. (Probably only remember Fiddler and Toc's stories more... Well and Whiskyjack. I remember that plotline). I always thought if I ever got a kitten (one of my life goals XD) I would name it Karsa Orlong. 

Hahaha, when you give your kitten Temptations, and as you watch the speed and brutality with which your kitten dispatches them, you'll have to say "Witness!" 

19 hours ago, PleatherDuster said:

Well, after reading the first chapter of Tad William's Dragonbone Chair (which I enjoyed and will read someday), and checking out a half-dozen ebooks from the library...I ultimately started re-reading Gardens of the Moon yesterday. It was inevitable and absolutely the right decision. Just finished Part I, and I don't even have words for how much I've enjoyed it. I just love the characters and love the intertwined plots. I made myself a badass and super-nerdy timeline of the Malazan Empire, updating it as I go along, so I don't miss anything this time around. 

Gardens of the Moon is great! The unfolding of Shadowthrone and Cotillion's plan is great, and the demented puppet Hairlock is one of the best minor villains of all times. 

It's an even better book on a reread, all the different events make a lot more sense. 

Definitely post again when you've finished it, the ending, like all the books in MBoF, is epic, and makes a lot more sense the 2nd time through. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Cover art available for new Karsa book. I absolutely love it! One of the strongest of the series I think if not my new favorite! One of the many contributors to the Kharkanus books poor sales was the boring cover art but this just really pops! I have no idea who the women in it is. Perhaps a character we haven’t seen yet? I’ll include the link where I found this info: https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2021/03/cover-art-revealed-for-steven-eriksons.html?m=1

38619270-B88C-4FEA-B8A5-22A7A4364C55.png

Edited by Ammanas
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  • 2 months later...

Just saw on Tor's website that The God Is Not Willing is going to be released on November 9th of this year. They also put the Prologue for it (which Erickson had previewed on his Facebook page) up on their website. 

https://www.tor.com/2021/05/11/excerpts-steven-erikson-malazan-the-god-is-not-willing-prologue/

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 5/15/2021 at 1:04 AM, Hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Just saw on Tor's website that The God Is Not Willing is going to be released on November 9th of this year. They also put the Prologue for it (which Erickson had previewed on his Facebook page) up on their website. 

https://www.tor.com/2021/05/11/excerpts-steven-erikson-malazan-the-god-is-not-willing-prologue/

Being released here the 1st of July. I am in Ireland

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5 hours ago, Ammanas said:

Chapter 1 is up. I havnt read it because I like to just be able to read it straight when it’s released but many enjoy these early previews. 
https://www.tor.com/2021/06/01/excerpts-steven-erikson-malazan-the-god-is-not-willing-chapter-one/

I think I'm with you on this one, I'm going to wait until the book is out too. I read the Prologue and a little bit of chapter 1, but it's been long enough since an Erickson Malazan release that I can wait to enjoy it in full. 

3 hours ago, Quick Ben said:

Being released here the 1st of July. I am in Ireland

Lucky! I'd love to hear what you think of it after you finish it. 

I'm super excited for The God Is Not Willing, pretty awesome that it's post Crippled God!

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