I Read Books: Toll The Hounds
Toll The Hounds
At this, the 8th volume of the Malazan Book Of The Fallen, it’s time to take a look at the structure of the series. Counting the last two volumes as a single story (as the author suggests we do in his note in Dust Of Dreams) we can split the series into three trilogies based on where the majority of the action is set. Thus the novels set in the Seven Cities subcontinent (Deadhouse Gates, House Of Chains and The Bonehunters) came to a conclusion in the third volume of the sub-series, with the majority of characters leaving the apocalyptically devastated area.
Midnights Tides, Reapers Gale and the (to come) Dust Of Dreams/The Crippled God take place on and around the Empire of Lether. This leaves Toll The Hounds to finish the dangling plotlines left on the continent of Genabackis from Gardens Of The Moon and Memories Of Ice.
Dangling plotlines is the definitely the order of the day. Various escapees from the Seven Cities arrive, some by magic, others on a ship into the city of Darujhistan. Meanwhile at the end of the Pannion War the Tiste Andii, dark-aspected beings, settled in the city of Coral, now known as Black Coral due to the eternal darkness over the city. Other Tiste Andii are on their way there, with various intentions for Anomander Rake, the Son Of Darkness, who has created a new homeland for them.
There is intrigue in Darujhistan, and people of all walks of life being caught up in the levels of conflict that are exacerbated by the god-like struggles occurring. In Black Coral Tiste Andii who have been grieving for tens of thousands of years after Mother Dark turned her back on them now find themselves having to do new and terrible things. Outside the city a new god has arisen from where Itkovian accepted the pain and grief and memories of the undead T’lan Imass so they could move on. But another new god has risen in the former Pannion Domin, the Dying God, and things are getting weird out there.
My problem is that this novel is about sweeping up loose ends, and so most of the stories end by being simply and brutally swept away in the conclusion. Power calls to power is an axiom of the series, and with so much centred on these two cities, it’s obvious there will be a catastrophic collision. Or rather a series of catastrophic collisions. Somewhat unexpectedly Hood, the god of Death, steps out from the background of the story onto [SPOILERS] the streets of Darujhistan, for once choosing rough justice rather than impartial ending, and this is just the first act in a complicated other-worldly plan that rains destruction down on everything. Also the moon explodes, which I’d forgotten, and it’s not explained (I think maybe the cause is actually in Dust Of Dreams?*). Still, Death and his followers allow several dead characters and factions, some rather rudely and hastily killed in previous books, to make an encore. And Erikson’s finale is by parts huge, spectacular, devastating and occasionally even wonderous.
Read This: For all my complaints, it does tie up many loose
ends, setting up the last two volumes
Don’t Read This: Several character driven stories are just
wiped out in the endings, and also this is the eighth thousand-page volume in
the series, in media bloody res
* Nope
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