"Waiting On" Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases that everyone's excited about (created by Jill at Breaking The Spine.)

My choice this week is a bit of an odd one to feature here, but the way I see it, a little diversity is never a bad thing! I am anxiously awaiting Steven Erikson's The Crippled God, the 10th book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen:

Savaged by the K'Chain Nah'Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods -- if her own troops don't kill her first.

Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal. In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.

Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, and release her from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will be a force of utter devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world. And so, in a far away land and beneath indifferent skies, the final cataclysmic chapter in the extraordinary 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' begins.

There are some gay and lesbian characters (although their sexuality is no more important to the plot than their eye colour or the length of their hair), and there are some odd gender relationships (pretty much to be expected, when you're dealing with as many races as Erikson crams into the books), but it would be a stretch to classify this as 'alternative'.

What it is, in this gurl's humble opinion, is the greatest fantasy saga that nobody is talking about. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is truly epic in every sense of the word. It's grim, and dirty, and almost painfully realistic at times. The mythology is deeper, more complex, and more significant than in any other series. There are more characters than any reader should be expected to keep track of, yet each and every one is memorable. Most importantly, the storytelling is both superb and surprising. Erikson pulls no punches - literally anything can happen, and absolutely no character is safe or untouchable. There's a very real threat of death on every page that creates an unprecedented (and sometimes exhausting) level of suspense.

Although not due to be released in North America until March (which drives me crazy, since Erikson is a fellow Canadian!), the wonder and glory of the internet means I have already placed my order and am anxiously awaiting my copy to be shipped from the UK in early February.

Happy Reading!
♥