Goodreads link:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/43493-malazan-book-of-the-f…
Very good deal, it would normally be like 100$+ dolalrs for them individually
Honestly not my favourite series (I find its the opposite of what I like in a writing of a fantasy book) but it is critically aclaimed and is one of the more successful/popular series.
The download is a Epub file.
lol I read a lot of fantasy and couldn’t make it past the first. Started the second I think but it was almost like starting a whole new series.
First was very good though, I’ll give you that much
This series is something else, and I don’t mean in a good way. I have the entire series and am half way through the 4th book before I gave up/have it on a long hiatus.
I am an avid fantasy reader and even this was just too complex for me. I’m sure it would be great for a very specific audience, but that audience is far far from the layman.
I'll buy this (thanks OP) - I've had them for years on my kindle in a pirated .mob format. Haven't made it through even half of them, just pick it up every now and then and get drawn in, read it constantly for a while then put it back down again.
The amount of intertwining stories and character is insane, I can't imagine how a writer plans this out. Mindblowing.
Very 1 sided review IMO. I'll cop negs for this but its my 2 cents from a guy that has read many fantasy series including GoT, Kingkiller Chronicles, The wheel of time (yes all of them), Wizard of Earthsea, Gentleman Bastard series, Realm of the Elderlings (mostly), more than half the fantasy novels by Brandon Sanderson and so many other fantasy books/series. This is one of the only series I had to put down and not because of the complexity. I found the fight scenes/battles far too long and drawn out. It felt like most of the time all that was happening were constant battles to the point of boredom or characters were just struggling/starving and trying to move from point to point. Then you would get an interesting read at about the last 10% of the book. I only read 4 books but thats what I recall. It was a similar experience to the wheel of time for those that have read that except I was able to finish that series (albeit I was looking for a book series that was not too interesting to help me sleep).
TLDR: it was laborious to read these books IMO. If you are a newbie to fantasy strongly recommend something else like Kingkiller Chronicles.
Oh to be back in a time with so many popular fantasy books yet to read
About to trap more people in the Rothfuss eternal hiatus
I'm glad there are other people in the world who appreciate the Malazan novels. I actually started with the third novel (Memories of Ice) since my local library didn't have the first, which actually turned out fine since Book 3 has little relation to Books 1 and 2. Now I have read 16 of the Malazan novels, just not the latest ones (Kharkhanaz trilogy and Paths to Ascendency). It was probably easier for me to make it through the novels since I have a Major in English Literature and have been trained in reading things that normal people find difficult or boring.
To me the big 3 series of the Fantasy world are LOTR, Game of Thrones and the Malazan series. I would like to see a TV or film adaptation but admit that the Malazan novels would be more difficult to adapt to TV and of less appeal than The Game of Thrones.
If you find the scale of the Malazan novels too much, I would recommend instead the 5 novels of the Demon cycle by Peter Brett (it is focused on just a few characters). There is an excellent audiobook version by Graphic Audio if you would rather listen. That series has more potential for TV or film but in our current PC world will be skipped over because it negatively depicts a Muslim like culture (called Kraysians, they are obsessed with the concept of Jihad).
Game of Thrones does really not deserve to be on that list.
You have Game of Thrones but not the Wheel of Time? For shame.
First book is an absolute slog to get through. Not because of the world building or history or anything, just that his writing skills at the time were apparently pretty substandard. I'm just at the end of the first, but from what I've read online the rest of the series is a big improvement. I really hope it is haha.
Its a very very very big and complex fantasy world! But well worth the read.
Already have the books but given the typical size (and weight!) nice to get them as ebooks.
I have the series as Audiobooks and the VA work is fantastic. Brilliant but complex series. The world building in it is second to none. If you like high fantasy, give it a shot.
Annoying that the narrator changes part way through the main series though. First guy was excellent.
great deal! I have the physical books and cost much more than that to buy them all years ago
Instabuy for me, this is one of my favourite series across all genres. Although I was finding it hard to get through Book 8 in particular during my most recent reread of the main series - some characters are going to be less compelling when there are just so many, can’t be avoided. All of the other insanely compelling and well-reasoned characters across the series easily make up for it.
The writer loves presenting you with everyone’s viewpoint, and I do mean everyone. Would recommend if you are the sort of reader who can’t put a good book down.
Even though I own the 10 "Book of the Fallen" volumes, this is still a great deal in order to finish the collection. Thanks OP!
Also means I will finally have them all on one platform instead of spread between a few services.
Also means I will finally have them all on one platform instead of spread between a few services.
Since they are DRM free you can use them on any platform you like, which is a big draw for me.
Great series if you get into it
Great series. I had to comment since I'm listening to the 7th audiobook right now as I saw the post.
Thanks op, Love this series, halfway through my first reread. Nice to have some legit epubs now
Username checks out.
Hahaha, you got me! Whiskeyjack's my boy
Avid fantasy reader here.
First book is a real challenge to get into/through. Took me two attempts and a lot of perseverance. Worth it though.
Deadhouse gates, the second book, is probably my favourite fantasy book, ever.
Coltaine and the chain of dogs is just epic storytelling.
Highly recommended series.
I have been a voracious reader of anything I can get my hands on since I was a kid, and Deadhouse Gates is by far my favourite book. Basically the entire book, a long series of running battles lasting months, characters that you grow to love giving their lives to get as many people to safety as they can. And not in a chivalrous, white knights and fair maidens sorta way, but mud, blood, treachery, tears, triumph and pathos, where they win, but also loose. How can anyone not be moved by that?
Pretty sure I read these when I was a kid, but I remember nothing of them. Guess I can re-read them and it'll be like the first time
The other great thing about this series, is that it is so long, and dense, it can be re-read a few years after you finish reading the first time and discover a lot of stuff that you didn't really understand the significance of the first time. I have read the books twice and listened to the audio books twice as well.
Having read nearly all of Goodreads top 100 fantasy, all Hugo award winners for the last decade, plus many many more, I can say without a seconds hesitation this was the most impactful series I have ever read.
Would I recommend it to everyone?
No…
It was only through stubborn persistence I made it over the hill and into books 6+ where this massively woven story started to come together.
But - this is the beauty of the story, and if you can trust the author knows what he's doing, you won't be disappointed.
Here are a few points I found on Goodreads that help.
- The series is written from a "historians" perspective, that is to say, written by people in the middle of the story.
- There are no explanations for "assumed" knowledge. You won't learn how the magic system works, who or what a god is, or even how some races look until well down the track.
- This is all by design…. In amongst this incredibly interwoven story, information is slowly revealed that leaves you awestruck from the impact to key moments in previous books.
- You're not reading a linear story. Your favourite storyline may be two or three books between updates.
Lastly, there are a few recommended reading orders if it all sounds too challenging.
https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/Suggested_reading_order?file…
![[eBook] Malazan Book of The Fallen Series Bundle (17 Books) $27.38 @ Humble Bundle](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/23/794923.jpg?h=101589df)
This series IMHO is the finest example of high fantasy yet written, bar none. I know I will get plenty of naysayers, many struggle with the complexity and depth of this series. In an early interview I read many years ago, the author Steven Erikson stated that fewer than 50% of readers made it through the first book and initial potential publishers urged him to reduce the complexity to make it easier to read. I am very glad he did not.
The first book is admittedly a challenge for new readers, but once you get through that and you get your head around the dozens of central, and +100 main characters, non-linear storytelling and time scales over literally hundreds of thousands of years, all feeding events happening in the past, future and present, then nothing is more involving to read. There are moments in reading this series where I have been inspired, others I have been devastated others I have sat bawling my eyes out, and others where I have quite literally, laughed out loud.
Do you self a favour, buy the set, DON'T GIVE UP during the first book, by the end of the second book EVERY other fantasy writer will appear amateurish. No Joke.