You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
The Forge of Darkness is the first book in the Kharkanas Trilogy. It is a prequel trilogy, taking place hundreds of thousands of years before the immense Malazan Books of the Fallen. Its focus will be the splintering of the Tiste people—what happened and why.
Structurally, this seems to be a real change from how Erikson wrote all of the MBoF. In that series, even though there were continuing storylines, each book seemed to be more self-contained, with climaxes built into each volume. So, for example, we got the Chain of Dogs story, which climaxed and had resolution within a single volume, although there were characters and storylines which continued into subsequent volumes. The Forge of Darkness, however, is structured more like the first volume in a traditional fantasy series. When it climaxes, it is rather a setup for the next volume in the series. There is no resolution to the storylines found here; this is buildup to the larger storyline.
In many other ways, this is a typical Steven Erikson novel. There is a massive pool of characters, with revolving POVs from many of them. Even though it is set hundreds of thousands of years before the MBoF, there’s already lots of hazy backstory that we learn about through rumor and speculation. Characters are prone to rumination and philosophizing.
Many familiar characters appear here: Gothos, Draconus, Anomander Rake, Silchas Ruin, just to name a few. No, we don’t get POVs from any of these high level characters. That duty falls to numerous other friends, relations, vassals, etc who live and act around these familiar names.
If you’ve made your way through all 10 books of The Malazan Books of the Fallen, then absolutely you’ll want to read this. Most likely you are someone engaged with the complexities of Erikson’s world, and you are used to some of its more difficult aspects. There are so many under explained portions of his creation that there is more than enough room for prequels without falling into the many usual traps of that sort of thing.
If you are new to the Malazan world, should you start here? That probably would not be my recommendation. The Forge of Darkness is no less complex than any of the Malazan books which have preceded it. Without the perspectives of the Malazan soldiers, Erikson’s writing is more opaque than is perhaps usual. His Tiste perspectives given in this book are more detached, and archaic in their speech and manner. It’s an unusual choice, and one that makes it more difficult for new readers than the more modern manner of his Malazans.
Structurally, this seems to be a real change from how Erikson wrote all of the MBoF. In that series, even though there were continuing storylines, each book seemed to be more self-contained, with climaxes built into each volume. So, for example, we got the Chain of Dogs story, which climaxed and had resolution within a single volume, although there were characters and storylines which continued into subsequent volumes. The Forge of Darkness, however, is structured more like the first volume in a traditional fantasy series. When it climaxes, it is rather a setup for the next volume in the series. There is no resolution to the storylines found here; this is buildup to the larger storyline.
In many other ways, this is a typical Steven Erikson novel. There is a massive pool of characters, with revolving POVs from many of them. Even though it is set hundreds of thousands of years before the MBoF, there’s already lots of hazy backstory that we learn about through rumor and speculation. Characters are prone to rumination and philosophizing.
Many familiar characters appear here: Gothos, Draconus, Anomander Rake, Silchas Ruin, just to name a few. No, we don’t get POVs from any of these high level characters. That duty falls to numerous other friends, relations, vassals, etc who live and act around these familiar names.
If you’ve made your way through all 10 books of The Malazan Books of the Fallen, then absolutely you’ll want to read this. Most likely you are someone engaged with the complexities of Erikson’s world, and you are used to some of its more difficult aspects. There are so many under explained portions of his creation that there is more than enough room for prequels without falling into the many usual traps of that sort of thing.
If you are new to the Malazan world, should you start here? That probably would not be my recommendation. The Forge of Darkness is no less complex than any of the Malazan books which have preceded it. Without the perspectives of the Malazan soldiers, Erikson’s writing is more opaque than is perhaps usual. His Tiste perspectives given in this book are more detached, and archaic in their speech and manner. It’s an unusual choice, and one that makes it more difficult for new readers than the more modern manner of his Malazans.
Just as well written and epic as the original Malazan series, this book begins a trilogy prequel. My only complaint: not enough Anomander!
Can't get enough of Erikson and the Malazan universe.
I'd recommend *not* starting with this book though if you're in your first foray into the Malazan world. I don't think I honestly would have finished reading this if I'd tried reading this before the main Book of the Fallen series.
I'd recommend *not* starting with this book though if you're in your first foray into the Malazan world. I don't think I honestly would have finished reading this if I'd tried reading this before the main Book of the Fallen series.
I give up.
I've been reading this book for 13 days, and I'm only 250 pages in. I normally read at least fifty pages per day, but I found 'Forge of Darkness' such a slog that I found myself reaching for my phone, old videogames, bad movies - anything other than this book.
'Forge of Darkness' tells a sprawling fantasy story set in a sad, broken, used-up world. The sprawl, though, far outweighs the story. There are so many different storylines, all populated with characters with hard-to-recall fantasy-type names, that the book flits from one to the next before the reader can become invested in any of them. The world itself seems to feature three sentient races, but maybe more. I really couldn't tell. Two of them are some kind of gods or faeries, and the most human of them seems vaguely immortal. But the author spends no time actually telling us who's who in the zoo, so to speak. There's no Basil Exposition saying, "Once upon a time there was Race A. They looked like this and did such-and-so. Then Race B came along. They looked different and did something else. And then Race C appeared -- you get the idea." All I could figure out is that one group had tusks.
It's as if the author expected the reader already to know about the history, ethnography, and geography of his fantasy realm, so he didn't bother to explain any of it. Well, I need a little orientation. I need characters I can actually get to know so that I can invest in their stories. I need, well, I need a book that doesn't assume I'm committed to 1800 pages of a trilogy so it can spend 250 pages of scene setting, with no instigating action, stakes, and actual suspense in sight. Basically, I need to be entertained.
A friend recommended this book, so it clearly worked for him. As for me, I'm throwing in the towel. There's too much great stuff out there for me to waste my time slogging through something that isn't working for me.
I've been reading this book for 13 days, and I'm only 250 pages in. I normally read at least fifty pages per day, but I found 'Forge of Darkness' such a slog that I found myself reaching for my phone, old videogames, bad movies - anything other than this book.
'Forge of Darkness' tells a sprawling fantasy story set in a sad, broken, used-up world. The sprawl, though, far outweighs the story. There are so many different storylines, all populated with characters with hard-to-recall fantasy-type names, that the book flits from one to the next before the reader can become invested in any of them. The world itself seems to feature three sentient races, but maybe more. I really couldn't tell. Two of them are some kind of gods or faeries, and the most human of them seems vaguely immortal. But the author spends no time actually telling us who's who in the zoo, so to speak. There's no Basil Exposition saying, "Once upon a time there was Race A. They looked like this and did such-and-so. Then Race B came along. They looked different and did something else. And then Race C appeared -- you get the idea." All I could figure out is that one group had tusks.
It's as if the author expected the reader already to know about the history, ethnography, and geography of his fantasy realm, so he didn't bother to explain any of it. Well, I need a little orientation. I need characters I can actually get to know so that I can invest in their stories. I need, well, I need a book that doesn't assume I'm committed to 1800 pages of a trilogy so it can spend 250 pages of scene setting, with no instigating action, stakes, and actual suspense in sight. Basically, I need to be entertained.
A friend recommended this book, so it clearly worked for him. As for me, I'm throwing in the towel. There's too much great stuff out there for me to waste my time slogging through something that isn't working for me.
I've never read anything by Steven Erikson, but this was amazing! I cannot wait to read the rest of the series and other books by him :)
This is not a review. This is sort of a praise.
First, a paragraph from the book:
"That said, he knew that he was a poor teacher. He wove his
histories as if they were inventions, disconnected and not
relevant. Worse, he preferred the sweeping wash of colour to
obsessive detail, ineffable feeling over intense analysis, possibility
over probability; he was, by any measure, a dreadful historian."
Oh the irony!
Apparently what Steven Erikson finds dreadful in a historian, I cherish in a fantasy writer. Let me say, I can't see myself dipped into a 10-book fantasy world if i don't like the writer. Better than OK story put aside, I linger on the pages Steven Erikson focuses on the countless number of characters. I like the way he tells about them from their own point of view. The word "ineffable" loses its meaning on those pages (for me anyway). No other writer has done this for me and as a fantasy fan who flipped through a large array of fantasy books, i think i'm safe to say no one ever will.
A confession: When i read the prelude which was published here a couple of months ago, i thought it was uninteresting and he was losing his touch.
But when i got the book and read past the prelude, i remembered "this is how he rolls". It's like he hides bits of ordinary fantasy in the story. The more you find these bits, the more you're committed to the book and when you read say a hundred pages you put the fantasy on second place and indulge in his intense story-telling, marvel at the detail of the world he created and his unique characters.
I am delighted to be in the same world of Malazan series and especially in a different time.
First, a paragraph from the book:
"That said, he knew that he was a poor teacher. He wove his
histories as if they were inventions, disconnected and not
relevant. Worse, he preferred the sweeping wash of colour to
obsessive detail, ineffable feeling over intense analysis, possibility
over probability; he was, by any measure, a dreadful historian."
Oh the irony!
Apparently what Steven Erikson finds dreadful in a historian, I cherish in a fantasy writer. Let me say, I can't see myself dipped into a 10-book fantasy world if i don't like the writer. Better than OK story put aside, I linger on the pages Steven Erikson focuses on the countless number of characters. I like the way he tells about them from their own point of view. The word "ineffable" loses its meaning on those pages (for me anyway). No other writer has done this for me and as a fantasy fan who flipped through a large array of fantasy books, i think i'm safe to say no one ever will.
A confession: When i read the prelude which was published here a couple of months ago, i thought it was uninteresting and he was losing his touch.
But when i got the book and read past the prelude, i remembered "this is how he rolls". It's like he hides bits of ordinary fantasy in the story. The more you find these bits, the more you're committed to the book and when you read say a hundred pages you put the fantasy on second place and indulge in his intense story-telling, marvel at the detail of the world he created and his unique characters.
I am delighted to be in the same world of Malazan series and especially in a different time.
Please note; my star rating on any book is completely subjective and limited to the label for each star.
1 Star I didn’t like it
2 Stars It was okay
3 Stars I liked it
4 Stars I really liked it
5 Stars It was amazing!
If I do actually have something to say about a book other than what my enjoyment factor was, I will write a review and share my thoughts. If I say I didn’t like a book but there wasn’t anything about it that I thought needed to be shared, then that’s it, I just didn’t like it.
If you’d like to start a discussion about a book or you’d like an actual review, ask any question you like and I’ll be happy to try and comply/respond.
Additional note; I do not feed the trolls. If you don’t have something constructive to say, or if you can’t say it in a respectful way, you won’t get a response from me. Ever.
1 Star I didn’t like it
2 Stars It was okay
3 Stars I liked it
4 Stars I really liked it
5 Stars It was amazing!
If I do actually have something to say about a book other than what my enjoyment factor was, I will write a review and share my thoughts. If I say I didn’t like a book but there wasn’t anything about it that I thought needed to be shared, then that’s it, I just didn’t like it.
If you’d like to start a discussion about a book or you’d like an actual review, ask any question you like and I’ll be happy to try and comply/respond.
Additional note; I do not feed the trolls. If you don’t have something constructive to say, or if you can’t say it in a respectful way, you won’t get a response from me. Ever.
Forge of Darkness is a well written book with wonderful phrasing and beautiful language. It reminds me of a Shakespeare tragedy. Despite that, I found it difficult to get into all the way to the end. I usually love books that follow multiple characters, but there are so many and with such similar names and the chapters just brush against them that I found myself not caring about any character and not always following what was going on. Because I wasn't invested in the people, I often found my mind wandering and at some point I stopped trying to go back and figure out what I missed and instead just tried to push forward and get to the end already.
Steven Erikson does it again. Weaving such visuals from mere words.