Steven Erikson Malazan Books In Order

[Alexandrie Gallup]

Blood and Bone takes place chronologically at the same time as The Crippled God (literally, our heroes in B&B see and sense the world-changing events at the end of The Crippled God three-quarters of the way through the book) and extends beyond it, so should be read after The Crippled God."

I read the books up to finishing Dust of Dreams in that order (except I read Stonewielder after Reaper's Gale), very slowly sometimes with a year between books. I especially like how that order once Esslemont appears breaks up reading one author all the time. I haven't felt like reading The Crippled God since I finished Dust of Dreams back in I think March. You wrote about the characters in Blood and Bone seeing and sensing the world changing events of The Crippled God. How badly does it spoil it and could I get away with reading Blood and Bone first? Is it just a vague something's happening or an outright bwahaha it sucks that you didn't read the other book first? I've read other posts on reading orders that say Stonewielder spoils something in Toll the Hounds and Return of the Crimson Guard spoils something in Reaper's Gale yet I don't remember anything I felt spoiled about reading those.

Mostly it would give away the fact that the planet and everything on it isn't completely destroyed by the Big Bad in Crippled God. But then the fact there's more books to come probably already spoiled that, so it's not the end of the world. It's just a bit narratively more coherent to read Crippled God first.

Crippled God, btw, is a much stronger book than Dust of Dreams if that's what's holding you back.

Dont remember "Return of The Crimson Guard" spoiling anything in "Reapers Gale", nor "Stonewielder" spoiling anything in "Toll the Hounds". I read "Return of the Crimson Guard" right after "The Bonehunters", and that feels like the right order in hindsight as well. I allso think it would be a huge mistake to not read "Orb, Sceptre, Throne" right after "Toll The Hounds". It really does feel like the climax to "Toll the Hounds". Definetley think Adams list is the right way to go.

Certainly dont think one should read "Blood and Bone" untill after "TCG", since it spoils the ending of "TCG".

Adam, I'm sure you're familiar with the suggested reading order over at the Malazan Empire forum. Actually, your order (aside from the novellas) differs only in placement of three ICE novels.

I value your judgment a lot and I'm wondering what you think of Stonewielder supposedly spoiling Toll the Hounds?

I haven't read these books yet and don't want to read in the spoiler discussion but from what I've seen in the non-spoiler discussion there seem to be different opinions about the gravity of this spoiler.

From what I understand, your argumentation is that Orb Sceptre Throne works best as a coda to Toll the Hounds. Placing SW after TtH would either break this two-book set or reverse the order of SW and OST.

Do I get this right?

I'm looking forward to eventually dive into the Malazan reading adventure and I'd like to get the best experience on first read, avoiding unnecessary spoilers if possible.

So, I'm very grateful for these recommended reading order.

Thanks so much, Wert!

Splitting DoD and TCG is a big no-no. I disagree with SE splitting the two books - they could have been one novel, easily, if he'd pulled the second third of DoD (which was mostly pointless) and reduced the opening third or so of TCG - but DoD has the only real cliffhanger ending in the entire series (leading right into the next volume).

From what I remember, the Hounds of Light aren't a spoiler because, well, if there are Hounds of Shadow and everything else is rooted in that duality then their existence can be inferred form Book 1. Also, they do jack that's really important to the plot from what I remember.

I don't recall Stonewielder spoiling TTH, but given that TTH has a pretty major plot event in the ending, it would be useful to avoid that spoiling if it's there. Technically you could move Stonewielder to after OST (there is no character overlap) but that'd be weird.

Having TTH and OST separated by so many books I think is a major mistake. TTH had a problem when it came out that it spent the whole book building up the Tyrant and he never shows up, so having OST afterwards makes the most amount of sense.

Wert, I would feel that its unfair to a new reader for us to assume that their experiance of the Hounds of Light reveal should be so downgraded. Erikson does devote a section in TTH to their reveal after all. In Stonewielder its just a given that they are there. Spoilers should always trump chronology in my view. Another case for putting RoTCG after Repears Gale is that Toc the Elder hasnt died yet in RG. It does make Hood look pretty silly to not know that when talking to Toc the Younger when he arrives at Hood's Gate in RG. Though of course there are still Tiste Edur ships attacking Stratem in RoTCG but you could chalk that up to a small fleet that as yet to come home.

How about this then. 2 ICE books in a row. The end of TTH, doesnt imply that the Tyrants return is going to happen right away. After all, there is a book between GoTM and MoI after all as well.

Gardens of the Moon

Deadhouse Gates

Memories of Ice

House of Chains

Midnight Tides

Night of Knives

The Bonehunters

Reaper's Gale

Return of the Crimson Guard

Toll the Hounds

Stonewielder

Orb Sceptre Throne

Dust of Dreams

The Crippled God

Blood and Bone

Assail

Hi, could anyone who has read Path to Ascendancy tell me were it would fit in in this list or the updated reading list:

-malazan-reading-order-and-map.html

Can I save them for the end or do I need to read them in between the books in the updated list.

Good point. Path to Ascendancy I think can work in one of two ways: as an alternate new way into the series for new readers (especially as it sets up major characters in Gardens of the Moon, esp. Nightchill, Tayschrenn and Tattersail) or later on. I'm waiting for Book 3, Kellanved's Reach (out next February) to make a firmer decision on that.

i haven't read the series, but all reviews are utterly intriguing, but also intimidating. a few questions about the core series:

1. for those of us who aren't terribly strong readers and want a less confusing reading experience, how about starting with the seven cities duo (deadhouse gates and house of chains), followed by the genabackis duo (gardens of the moon and memories of ice), then continuing with the rest of the main series in publication order?

2. my understanding is that midnight tides takes place prior to books 1-4, so how about starting with it to maintain chronological order?

3. unrelated to this post, where's your review of the bonehunters, wert? can't seem to find it...

1. You can start with DHG, but I think you have to double back and then read GotM and MoI. There's some timeline funkiness if you do otherwise. HoC starts bringing in characters from the GotM/MoI storyline and also acts as an immediate set-up book for Book 5, so you really need to leave that where it is.

2. You can start with Midnight Tides but you'd then take another 5 books until you find out what happens with the Midnight Tides characters, which is a long time. Midnight Tides is also arguably when Erikson's slight tendency to purple prose kicks in, which isn't present in the earlier four books. Midnight Tides is certainly much more narratively conventional than Books 1-4 though.

3. I'm re-reading The Bonehunters now. On a go-slow as I decided to rewatch the entirety of Game of Thrones before the new season starts, but that's nearly finished (on Season 7, Episode 4 tonight) so I can then bring the reading up to speed again. I still got the third Earthsea book review to put up as well.

Wert

Not that my authority matters lol, but I agree 100% with your list for every single reason you outlined.

It's the smoothest read order while maintaining ICE story threads moving forward.

Kharkanas works as an awful entry point.

Path to Ascendancy is best read after, too, due to the tons of cameos being thrown in those books that work much better if you've encountered the characters before.

Mind you, this is what I would recommend as a list for a new reader.

For a reread one's mileage may vary, and in the past mine certainly did.

I started with gardens of the moon and was really intrigued by Anomander Rake so I then went back to forge of darkness and fall of light to get more of him, and i really really enjoyed my time reading those books. I don't understand the hate on them at all. Maybe because it's like history building and tying the knots of the past together to make a good narrative. But having no knowledge of the upcoming events I was still very interested and enjoyed the prequel trilogy. I didn't read a lot before maybe thats why i still found them epic and cool as fuck.

Thanks For this going to start with this and got gifted for the first 3 books on this list. Will start there then decide if I am buying the whole thing :).

Love L.E. Modesitt J.R, Jordan, Sanderson (and others)and have not read a new series in a long time.

I am working my way through the Malazan books in this order, currently in Night of Knives and noticed a throwaway reference in this book that could have been a spoiler for a somewhat import plotline in Deadhouse Gates. I won't mention it here, but I am glad I am following this reading order.

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