Dust of Dreams

Another deep, epic tale in this ambitious series.

Steven Erikson's latest tale starts off as you would expect, with a prologue that jumps around and illustrates what you're about to dive into.  This includes children suffering in the aftermath of an unexplained crises, which is an incredible hook for the rest of the story.  Chapter one starts frantically, which is a bit of a surprise, but soon the story cools down and sets up the greater conflict with important meetings, maneuvers, and discoveries.  

For the most part, Dust of Dream is slower than many books in the series.  Including bit slower than its immediate predecessor, Toll the Hounds.  Without a doubt, it's because Dust of Dreams is setting up an explosion of a finale, and that build-up is unsurprisingly slower than the conclusion.  But by no means is Dust of Dreams a bad book.  It still contains the mature themes, epic battles, and interesting political maneuvers as the rest of The Malazan Book of the Fallen series.  While the build-up is slow, there are also some very interesting plot twists that answer the big questions left behind by Reaper's Gale.

And of course, the conclusion is every bit as good as could be anticipated.  An epic battle and some stirring revelations regarding the mysterious inhabitants of another continent will keep you up at night to finish the last few hundred pages of this mammoth book.  It's still incredible how ambitious this series is, and the final battle of Dust of Dreams is one of the most brutal Fantasy battles I've ever read.  In the face of devastating magics and monstrous creatures, how can human soldiers stand a chance?  Steven Erikson is simply a master of this genre.  

It's unfortunate that Dust of Dreams is the first book in the series to end on a cliffhanger, but regardless of negative opinions of it in this regard, it's still an absolute must-read, especially for Fantasy fans that love the new wave of dark, gritty epics.  Book 10, The Crippled God, is slated for a paperback release in the coming month, and I personally can't wait to witness the conclusion of one of my favorite Fantasy series ever: The Malazan Book of the Fallen.