Things to Check Out: Malazan Book of the Fallen

Whenever I'm struggling with my typical list posts (my "I want to write for Cracked but I don't so I'll pretend I do" posts), I should just recommend shit. This struggle has obviously led to there being an absence of posts on this blog (since November for all none of you who've been keeping track). I was less than successful in my suggestion of Peep Show last time. Let's hope I can actually sell the damn thing I'm telling you to check out.

So, back in 1982, two Canadian archaeologists (like Indiana Jones but with a hockey stick instead of a whip . . . actually, that'd be pretty cool) got together and created a world to use as a backdrop for an RPG. They created the world of Malaz.

After quite a bit of time, one of these guys, Steven Erikson started writing books taking place in this fully fleshed out world. He eventually finished the ten-book long Malazan Book of the Fallen, an enormous fantasy series that is arguably the best fantasy series I have ever read.

Yes, it's better than Wheel of Time (though that gained detractors as it went on, once Jordan started going all S. Morgenstern on his readers and detailing more than necessary).

Yes, it's even better than Song of Ice and Fire, and I realize it's nigh blasphemy to say that now that HBO has done a marvelous job translating the first book to the screen. As awesome as those books are, they aren't as brilliantly imaginative as Erikson's series gets. But they aren't done yet, so we'll see.

Incidentally, Martin published Game of Thrones in 1996 and still has two books to go in the seven book series. Erikson published Gardens of the Moon (first book in Malazan series) in 1999 and wrapped up the TEN BOOK SERIES just this past year. Lest you think he wrote shorter books, he didn't. His books rarely dropped below 1000 pages. They are long. Uh . . . but don't let the time commitment needed deter you (shit, I'm fucking up already . . . )

Dare I say it's even better than Lord of the Rings? Dare I insult that curmudgeonly old linguist Tolkien?

I'll say this: I enjoy Malazan Book of the Fallen far more than Lord of the

Rings.

And now, with the Lord of the Rings movies, I don't have to read them ever again!

It's true. If you watch a movie based on the book, you are officially reading that book.

Alright, I've talked it up enough. I have to defend it. Why is this series so good?

For one thing, there is no good and evil. Oh sure, there's a big bad and there are characters who are arguably protagonists. But the morals and dilemmas are never black-and-white. Characters switch sides often and find themselves against former friends all the time.

And not in that crappy Heroes way where it's done because it's sweeps week and you need Sylar to get the drop on someone.

No, really, it's nothing like Heroes. Shit, why'd I invite the comparison even?

Alright, alright - why else are these books so good? Every time I started one, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. No! That's a good thing! It always provided this ah-ha moment at the end of the book. The second book picks up on an entirely different continent than the first one and you are just lost. The fourth book follows one character who you don't know you've met before for the whole first half. I would compare these books to those Magic Eye posters I can never do. It all looks like nonsense until suddenly the image jumps out at you and everything's clear. It's a schooner, you dumb bastard!

Of course, not everyone can do those . . . so I'm suggesting that some people won't understand what's ever going on. Aw hell.

It's funny! It's very funny! Moments of hilarious comedy show up at the most intense parts, providing actual comic RELIEF. I laughed out loud. I never laugh out loud when I'm reading books because I don't want to look like those people who laugh out loud so people ask them about what they're reading.

But I'm not saying it's frivolous. The series has deep, complicated themes concerning politics, religion, war, friendship, environmentalism, socialism, capitalism, everything you could imagine, and never once seeming preachy as it is the characters thinking these deep thoughts, so a lot of the time the views contrast. So it's funny with deep conflicting views on timeless subjects. Wait, that sounds like it has an inconsistent tone. Hood's breath!

Look, the best things out there are impossible to properly explain. I'd say

words fail me, but really I fail the words. When reading these, I'd be exhausted after finishing each book in the series because they are so engaging. They are dense. They are intellectually stimulating in the best way. They defy the tropes and the cliches of the genre. They even threaten to destroy the concept of genre entirely (something I've always been a fan of).

The only other books that have awed me, truly awed me, are the books of Tom Robbins.

And The Berenstain Bears.

So make of that what you will and take the recommendation or not. I really suck at this. I'm going to get a glass of wine and sit down with Night of Knives by Ian C. Esslemont. It's the first in ANOTHER series taking place in the world of Malaz. That's right. There's a whole other series to read AFTER Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'll report on it when I'm done.

This is exhausting.