Malazan Book of the Fallen Books In Order

Publication Order of Malazan Book Of The Fallen Books

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is a famous book series of high fantasy novels. This series is written by a well established Canadian author named Steven Erikson. It consists of a total of 10 volumes, which were released between the years 1999 and 2011. In the UK, the Bantam Books availed the rights of publishing the series’ books, while the Tor Books got to release them in the United States. This series is considered to be very complex, but with a vast scope. In the novels, author Erikson has presented the narratives of a huge characters’ cast that span many thousand years across numerous continents. The plotting done by Erikson present complicated events taking place in a world where the Malazan Empire is known to exist. The initial 5 books of this series are self-contained as the primary conflicts of the empire are resolved in each of them. However, a large number of underlying events and characters get interwoven throughout the rest of the series and bind it together. The world of the Malazan was co-created by Ian Cameron Esslemont and Steven Erikson during the 1980s. They came up with this fantasy world when they were working on their campaign of GURPS roleplaying. From 2005 onwards, author Esslemont started writing and releasing his own independent series of 6 books with its setting in the same Malazan world. Even though both the authors have separate series titles, their books are considered equally canonical & integral to the mythos of the series. The Malazan stories have gained widespread acclaim. Numerous reviewers have praised the plot complexity, characterizations, and epic scope of the novels. Even fellow writers like Glen Cook, Stepehn R Donaldson, etc. have hailed the series as a superb work of imagination. They have liked Erikson’s writing style so much that they could not themselves from comparing him to the likes of William Faulkner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Joseph Conrad, and Henry Williams. After completing the main series of ten books, author Erikson wrote a prequel trilogy series called The Kharkanas Trilogy. This series deals mainly with Tiste prior to their splitting into light, shadow, and darkness. This trilogy series explains in detail the events that are just mentioned without description in the original series. Some important characters from the main book series make appearances in the prequel series as well, including Draconus, Andarist, Anomander Rake, and Spinnock Durav.

Steven Erikson is the pen name used by author Steve Rune Lundin, who likes to write epic fantasy, coming of age, and science fiction stories. He is a renowned Canadian novelist and was born on October 07, 1959. In addition to being a reputed author, Erikson is also a well educated and well trained anthropologist and archaeologist. Eriskon is particularly very famous for his Malazan Empire books, which is believed to have sold more than one million copies all over the world. This series has been praised as the best work of fantasy in recent times. Erikson took birth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and spent his initial years growing up in Winnipeg. He has even lived in the United Kingdom for some time along with his loving wife and a son. However, he has now returned to Canada and continues to live in Winnipeg. Author Erikson graduated from the Workshop of Iowa Writers. Erikson has won a few writers’ contests during the earlier days of his career, which allowed him to receive grants for completing his incomplete thesis. Subsequently, all his initial novels were released by TSAR. Author Steven Erikson has stated that he loves to overturn and play with the conventions of the fantasy genre. He has often presented characters that have broken the stereotypes related to the roles. The writing styles of author Erikson include complex storylines filled with a large cast. Many a times, Erikson has received praises for his willingness of killing the central characters whenever he feels that it will enhance the further plot. Erikson has informed his fans that he has recently signed a contract with his publishers for writing a couple of trilogies and several novellas. So, they can expect him to publish a few of his novels in the coming years.

The debut book of the Malazan Book of Fallen series written by author Steven Erikson is entitled ‘Gardens of the Moon’. It was released by the Bantam publishing in the year 1999. Author Erikson has described the main characters in this book as Empress Laseen, Dancer, Anomander Rake, Dujek, etc. This novel deals with the detailed description of the struggles of getting control of power in an intercontinental region that the Malazans dominate. The unusual structure of plots and use of ‘high magic’, makes the book even more interesting to read. The central plot of this book describes the campaign of conquering the Darujhistan city, located on the Genabackis continent. Erikson has mentioned the book’s story in two parts, Prologue and Genabackis. At the start of this book’s story, it is shown that the year Malazan 96th year. Emperor Kellanved’s rule is about to come to an end as it is the last year of him being the emperor. Another plot shows the story of a young boy called Ganoes Paran, who wishes to become a soldier, but gets disapproved. Later, he goes on to make himself fit for a soldier’s job and achieves his lifelong dream. As the story proceeds further, various other events and characters get introduced that take it further. This novel’s grand success helped it to get nominated for the prestigious award of World Fantasy.

The next installment of this successful series is entitled ‘Deadhouse Gates’. It was also published by Bantam publishing in 2000. This book shows the chief characters as Sha’ik, Coltaine, Kalam, etc. Erikson has done the setting of this novel’s story in the fictional Otataral Island, Hissar, Raraku, and Seven Cities, all located within the world of Malazan Empire. This book opens several months following the events of the previous book and continues side by side with the third book’s story. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that the Malazan Empire faces a nobility cull as many of the residents are forcefully sent to the Otataral Island’s mines off the Seven Cities subcontinent coast. Seven Cities also face a rebellion called Whirwind that is led by Sha’ik from Raraku’s Holy Desert, who calls herself a prophetess. As the cities face overrunning, the forces in Malazan decide to evacuate its residents in danger. The task of escorting the 50 thousand refugees to a safe place away from Octaral Island is given to the 7th Army. This army is commanded by a its legendary leader named Coltaine.