Memories of Ice (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 3)

Where to start on a review for this book/series? I mean with something on the epic scale and imagination as this story, characters, and world building. The Mythology of the world alone is on such a epic scale. So much to comprehend. All I have been hearing since I started reading Fantasy again in 2011 is “you have to read Malazan!” So I finally listened and started. I think I have a new obsession. I can now see what everyone has been going on and on about for all this time. I am hooked and I now need more! So yes I will be continuing this series, and I can’t wait! I know more greatness awaits and I am highly anticipating the journey to come. Overall a great read. I was entertained, I loved the epic sprawling world created here, and I want to go right into the next book and get more from this series. This might not be for everyone but after starting this series, I know it is for me. I liked the first two books, but this book is quite on another level. I loved it. A magnificent read. The only thing I can think to describe it is a mind blowing. Everything is just so rich and complex, and such a joy to wrap your mind around. Such fantastic and intriguing characters. That reminds me of a question I always seem to get asked when I post these reviews. Who are your favorite characters from this book? So a new section in my Malazan reviews. FAVORITE CHARACTERS FROM THIS BOOK: I love me some Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, crazy necromancers? Yes please. Others are Ganoes Paran, Anomander Rake, and of course Kruppe! As you know if you have read my reviews before I am not about long reviews with synopsis and spoilers. I just give my opinion on my experience with this book and you can take it from there. Now on to the next book. 5/5 Stars! - Mighty Thor JRS

In Genbackis, in the aftermath of Pale and Darijistan, Dujek One-Arm and his Malazan army have gone renegade against the Empress. They need allies now to deal with a rising threat in the south, the Pannion Seer and his cannibalistic empire. They must reach out to their enemies, Caladan Brood and his allilance against the Malazans. They have to parley with him and hammer out an alliance between dispirited groups, including the revelation that the child Silverfox contains the souls of two Malazan sorceresses reborn into a new entity. Paran, now commanding the Bridgeburners, has to grapple with his new powers growing in him mixed with his lingering affection for Tattersail, one of the souls forming the child Silverfox. He needs to deal with the growing incursion of the Crippled God interfering in the world. This growing threat may be behind many dark events rippling across the world. In Capustan, the Gray Shields have been hired to defend the city from the approaching army of the Pannion Seer. A religious, mercenary group dedicated to the God Fener who suffered mishap on the far side of the world. As the Pannion Seer approaches, they face the impossible task of saving the city from the cannibal horde and the demonic undead about to tear them apart. Lastly, the T'lan Imass gather, summoned by Silverfox. The undead's 100,000-year long war may finally be coming to an end if Silverfox grants them what they crave: freedom from the mistake they made all those eons ago. And that's just some of the storylines found in this book. War, death, love, guilt, forgiveness, and grief fill the pages of Memories of Ice. A powerful novel with dozens of compelling character all vying for their own goals, trying to overcome the danger of the Panion Seer and fix the wrongs that happened in the distant past. This story is epic and dark, full of brief moments of joy amid that dark depths of humanity. Erikson shows us how the human spirit can be wrapped and mangled, how entire civilizations can go mad and descended into barbarity. Erikson never finches from the worst aspects of humanity. Despite that, his characters fight for themselves, for those they love, for strangers that they never met but are united against the same fight against the horrors of war and genocide. Memories of Ice is one of the most compelling fantasy books I'd ever read.

Memories of Ice is a 900+ epic fantasy novel by Canadian author Steven Erikson. Three-dimensional characters and gritty realism enrich this story. The plot combines Lord of the Rings battle scenes and the desolation of Mordor, Game of Thrones without the endless graphic sex, and an imaginary world similar to Perdido Street Station. This is the third book in the 10-book series The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but the only one I enjoyed enough to purchase for a reread. The story centers on characters opposing a religious zealot bent on world domination and a Crippled God manipulating the destruction from afar. The plot is complex, often unnecessarily so, and the cast of characters expansive (there are four pages of named characters in the book’s front matter). Yet the author’s writing is strong enough to draw the reader through the story. The main characters are deftly portrayed and compelling: a veteran soldier Whiskeyjack who longs for peaceful retirement; Ganoes Panon, a nobleman trying to avoid the gods and earn the respect of his squad; Gruntle, a caravan guard who becomes much more from the pressure of war; a knight named Itkovian whose compassion stole my heart, and Lady Envy, a vain sorceress with a droll sense of humor. Struggling to survive when attacked by the religious zealot and his cannibal followers, and the survival of the entire world if they can’t stop the Crippled God’s poisoning of the earth, create compelling stakes. The tension from these high stakes kept me turning pages. My emotional reaction to the story was the most resonant aspect of the novel. I literally cried at the funeral scene after the novel’s climax. Intense battle scenes are balanced with hilarious dialogue. Exchanges between the caravan captain Gruntle and a guard, Stonny: “If he’s smart he’ll quit that contract.” “Well, none of us are as smart as you, Stonny.” “Don’t I know it.” Stonny is one of many strong and interesting female characters. Although most of the leads are male, the women steal the story when they’re on the page. Here’s more dialogue between (female) Corporal Picker and her scout Blend: “No doubt there’s a tale there.” “Indeed, but it’s not relevant.” “Meaning you don’t know it.” “Precisely.” The prose itself was another pleasure, equal parts poetry and true-to-life realism: The rain was abating, the dawn’s steel smear pushing through heavy clouds to the east, the wind falling off into fitful gusts. Midges swarmed the tall-grass prairie, the grainy black clouds tumbling over the faded, wavering green. Oxen bellowed and moaned in their yokes, their eyes covered with clusters of the frenzied insects. I don’t really understand the magical warrens, which functioned as portals, or entire multiverse-worlds, or as sources of magic, or all of the above. Some characters died and stayed dead, others came back to life through these portals, and there were undead characters as well. At times this hand-waving was too convenient, though it worked most of the time in this book. Memories of Ice is a satisfying reading experience with strong characterization and emotional resonance.

One of the things I appreciated the most about "Memories of Ice" is that it shows how, with every book, the saga gets better and better. From a certain standpoint, this third installment might be deemed as the heir to "Gardens of the Moon" and "Deadhouse Gates": the former bequeathed the richness of the plot, whereas the latter the emotional intensity of the narration. I would like to highlight two aspects about this third book. On one hand, the world-building reaches a new peak thanks to the introduction to new races, places and - on top of everything - new mysteries that belong to the lore and past of Malazan. On the other hand - and here lies the beauty of "Memories of Ice" - Erikson gives us the most emotional book of the saga, so far. Here, indeed, characters are forced to deal with their flaws and limits: in particular, they must face the dire consequences of the war and the departure of certain gods, that leaves them completely lost. Thus, they look helpless in front of situations way bigger than themselves. Unfortunately, there were some parts that were unnecessary and, there, I was under the impression that the author was dragging the plot. I do know it is impossible to maintain the same high-quality level throughout more than 1100 pages, but I felt that several scenes could have been cut to make the experience lighter and smoother. All in all, "Memories of Ice" is my favorite novel of the series - so far - and it distinguish itself for the maturity that Steven Erikson was able to convey. UPDATE: after having read "House of Chains" - a light 5/5 for me, I had to round up my "Memories of Ice" rating to 5. Weaker from a certain viewpoint than the sequel, but still epic in its execution.

Comme dans chaque volume, il faut être patient, notamment car il y a toujours de nombreux nouveaux personnes à "apprivoiser". Je n'ai pas encore fini le volume (900 pages in english, en lisant en parallèle "A dance with dragon" de GRR Martin et "Tigana" de GG Kay - également 2 très bons bouquins - ça aide pas!), avec beaucoup d'aller-retour avec la liste de personnage (mais c'est qui Picker déjà???) et la carte au début du livre (très utiles!), c'est pas rapide, on rame un peu parfois mais on dévore ça à petit feu et c'est délicieux!

Book is not in great condition. It doesn't look like it has been read, but the cover is damaged all over the front and down the spine

It took me some time to finish this book, not because it wasn't any good, I really loved it ... it's that I struggled to find the time to read the past month. It was great going back to the continent of Genabackis with the return of a lot of interesting characters from GotM. Besides this, Erikson brings again a very interesting story, this time with the introduction of the Pannion Domin. I feel that the story is really starting to pick up in this book. While we mainly focused on the Malazan army in the previous two books, and still do now, we also get glances from an overarching story line in MOI. This story line introduces the Crippled God and how he's trying to escape his chains. As we proceed with the story more riddles start to unfold regarding the Crippled God, but also regarding other events. As in previous books, Erikson keeps on hinting to new events on other continents as well. Luckily Erikson also gives some answers on current and older questions, but still a lot remains unresolved. One of the strongest points of MOI is the military action we get from Erikson (it wouldn't be MBotF without). Erikson really knows how to write some great military scenes. In this book especially the siege on Capustan was very interesting, but also the final battle brought some really memerable scenes and again a lot of deaths. The way Erikson makes you feel with those deaths is even more absorbing ... There were many moments like that, but one in particular stays in my mind. Again some great writing on this point from Erikson. I feel there were a lot of great characters in this book. We have some nice returning characters: Anomander Rake, Quick Ben, Whiskeyjack, ... but there are also some new interesting characters. Some members of the bridgburners get a more important role in MOI (Picker, Blend, Trotts, ...). The Grey Swords are very interesting as well from the moment they get to the foreground (Brukhalion as the Mortal Sword, Karnadas as the Destriant, Itkovian as the Shield Anvil) ... and plenty of others that keep the story really engaging (e.g. Caladan Brood). This doesn't mean that MOI is a perfect book. I loved the story and it didn't prevent me from giving it a 5 star rating, but I feel that it did have some weak points. On the other hand, Erikson does provide some information on previous events that made me appreciate Deadhouse Gates even more. Conclusion: I think that I prefer Deadhouse Gates a bit over this one. Especially with new information regarding some events in the Felesin storyline; some things that were unclear earlier get explanation. Even so, MOI is still another great instalment in this series. It has a great story with huge battles and some breath-taking events, engaging characters, amazing worldbuilding and a very interesting magic system. Even now that I've finished book 3 (and have read about 2300 pages), I still get the feeling that I've only seen a bit of the world and story. There are so many reasons why this book and series series should be read ... It's simply amazing!!! Rating: 9.2/10

Good read, fun rollick. Great fantasy, I've enjoyed all of the series so far and this doesn't disappoint. Thoroughly enjoyable!