Toll the Hounds, a Malazan Book of the Fallen

In Darujhistan, the saying goes that love and death shall arrive together, dancing...It is summer and the heat is oppressive, yet the discomfiture of the small rotund man in the faded red waistcoat is not entirely due to the sun. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city's streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways but it seems the hunters have become the hunted. Hidden hands pluck the strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. Strangers have arrived, and while the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds. All is palpably not well. And in Black Coral too, ruled over by Anomander Rake Son of Darkness, something is afoot - memories of ancient crimes surface, clamoring for revenge, so it would seem that love and death are indeed about to make their entrance.



I have been trapped for two days now, a very willing prisoner, a fitting testament to such an author. And the sights I've seen, the sights Erikson has shown me, have beggared me.

The action has moved from the continent of Lether, and we're back on familiar ground, with familiar faces. Darujhistan, jewel of the continent of Genabackis, is on the cusp of a fell convergence. Familiar players have begun their opening moves. Cutter, once Crokus Younghand, has come home, and he brings with him a resolution of sorts. The few men and women left of the Bridgeburners, now owners of a bar in the Estates District, need to find the strength to fight when they come under vicious attack by the Assasin's Guild. The regulars of the Phoenix Inn, and the magnanimous Kruppe himself, find themselves drawn ever tighter in a web of plots, with deadly consequences.

Across the continent, in Black Coral, Anomander Rake, the Lord of the Tiste Andii broods in his city of perpetual night. A new faith has emerged in the wake of the devastating siege and battle that took place 6 years before, a faith centred around the Cult of the Redeemer. But now something has begun threatening its adherents.

In between these two cities, travellers are on the move. Karsa Orlong, the man known as Traveller, and Nimander Golit and his band of bloodkin, the immortal Kallor, all moving towards destiny. They have different destinations, but they are thematically similar. They are travelling towards purpose.

And in the realm of the dead, Hood, the Lord of Death, High King of the House of the Slain, Embracer of the Fallen, waits to end a game that started aeons ago. A game with surprising participants, and a very unexpected ending, for all involved.

The pace of the book was slow at the beginning. Indeed, the first 200 or so pages merely sets the tone. But by the middle, you look up and see that half the night has gone by. By the end, you're left gasping for breath. The plotting is masterful, the sense of foreboding apparent. And the end . . . was cataclysmic.

This book marks the beginning of the end. Toll the Hounds serves to tie up many of the subplots that were brought up during the course of the series. It suffered a bit, in my opinion, especially during the early third. Too many characters were introduced, and the use of Kruppe as narrator tends to be jarring, for he can sometimes be too verbose.

But the small inconsistencies are not the sum of its parts. The book itself is a worthy addition to the Malazan series. And considering Erikson is being hailed as the most significant author of the millenium, then this is the best time to start getting to know his work.

So what the hell are you waiting for?