It is said that Hood, Lord of Death, gathered unto himself a host of gods, in a place beyond the reach of mortals. It is said that Hood waits at the end of every plot, every scheme, each grandiose ambition. But this time it is different. This time he’s there at the beginning…

Darujhistan swelters in the summer heat and seethes with dire portents, unsettling rumours and insidious whispers. Strangers have arrived, a murderer is at work, and past tyrannies might be reawakening. The retired Bridgeburners of K’rul’s Bar have been singled out by the city's assassins with deadly consequences, and a small, rotund, red-waistcoat-clad man, while dismayed by his expanding girth, knows that this is the very least of his worries. For somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds.

And far away in Black Coral, the Tiste Andii rule with seeming indifference. At a massive barrow outside the city, thousands gather – adherents to the cult of the Redeemer, a once-mortal man whose virtue and honour seem defenceless against the twisted ambitions of his followers.

So, as Hood stands at the beginning of a conspiracy that will shake the cosmos, at its end, there waits another. For Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, the time has come to right an ancient and terrible wrong…

With this epic new chapter, Steven Erikson’s awesome fantasy adventure enters its final, climactic stages.
“Truly epic in scope, Erikson has no peer when it comes to action and imagination, and joins the ranks of Tolkien and Donaldson in his mythic vision and perhaps then goes one better.” – SF Site
Published
June 21, 2008
Where to find this book
External links open a book search at the selected retailer. Availability may vary.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen

The series

Full series details →

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a ten books epic fantasy series written by author Steven Erikson. The scope and breadth of this series is so truly vast as to be unrivaled in the fantasy field today, mostly thanks to Erikson's finely crafted storytelling and his twenty years of experience in anthropology and archaeology.

Read full series description

Using mythology incarnate, vast legions of gods, mages, creatures, dragons, and humans play out the fate of the Malazan Empire, with action and battle scenes among the most brutal and exciting in fantasy, and the landscapes and cities among the most morose.

Risingshadow

Rating distribution

How reader ratings are distributed across the 1–10 scale.

1013
91
82
72
60
50
40
30
20
10
Risingshadow

What did you think of this book?

Share your experience with other Risingshadow readers.

Risingshadow

Reader reviews

1 review

What Risingshadow readers think about this book

10/10

This one's a slow burner. Erikson is collecting all his threads, shuffling his players around on the board - keeping some, removing some, preparing for a grand finale.

A slow, deliberate, torturing build-up and then everything EXPLODES!!

Probably my favourite out of all the Malazan books.

Risingshadow

Readers Also Enjoyed