Midnight Tides: Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, Book 5

Book 5 takes place years before the start of the series and gives context that is absolutely needed for book 6. Book five in many ways could be used as an introduction to the series as a whole due to it being entirely separate from the first 4 books, with the exception that one character is present in book 4. This is in my top 3 favorite fantasy books of all time. Interesting characters and vast world building. There is a conversation in the middle of the book on how warrens work that I almost felt like should have been used in book 1 of the series for them to make sense. The book really ends on a fantastic high note and has very memorable moments. The Tehol and Bugg dynamic is a constant source of amusement and creative plot progression.

This is a breathtaking masterpiece that stands out even in this incredible series. As a dedicated Malazan fan, I was blown away by this books fresh setting, unforgettable characters, and emotional depth. Unlike previous books, Midnight Tides shifts to the continent of Lether, introducing a new cast led by the Tiste Edur brothers—Trull, Fear, and Rhulad Sengar—and the quirky Letherii duo, Tehol Beddict and Bugg. The story explores themes of empire, greed, and family through a war between the Edur and the expansionist Letherii. Erikson’s prose is sharp, blending gut-wrenching tragedy with laugh-out-loud humor (Tehol’s schemes are gold!). The world-building, from the Edur’s tribal culture to Lether’s capitalist excess, is immersive, and the climactic battles deliver the series’ signature intensity. The only slight challenge is the abrupt shift to a new cast and setting, which might disorient readers expecting direct continuation from House of Chains. But the story’s brilliance quickly won me over. I’m diving into The Bonehunters next! Highly recommend for epic fantasy fans who love complex, heart-wrenching tales.

I am currently reading this series of books (in order) and haven't been disapointed yet. Some of the negative reviews of Midnight Tides really don't do it justice. Even as Erikson continues to tell the amazing story of the malazan universe, in Midnight Tides I feel like hes taken some of his biggest risks (so far). The biggest risk of all is creating an almost whole new set of characters half-way through a series. This at first put me back into the mode of confusion, learning whole new sets of characters, beliefs, legends and viewpoints. You are going to be forced to look at the cultures you thought you knew from the previous books in new ways. It starts off alot like I remember feeling when reading the first book - this huge world that I'm going to struggle to keep up with because of its vastness. And because of this, the book starts out slow. That would be the only negative I really felt about this book. It takes until about a quarter of the way through the book in order to get past all of the narrative of the different cultures and into the real meat of the story. But once you get there, it quickly picks up pace. I didn't want to put it down. And the characters... great as always. Following the same trend as his other books, your are going to be hearing this story from at least a few view points. There were two characters in particular that I always loved to hear about because their pieces made me laugh. They were genuinely funny, which is not something that I can really say consistently about any of the other characters in the series thus far and I appreciate the break from the seriousness of the subject matter occasionally. I really hope Erikson continues to tell the story of these characters in future novels. This book takes longer than previous books to draw itself back into the over-arching plot of the malazan universe. In it, you are going to hear even more important events about the past thats shaped this massive series. But once you get towards the end, you'll once again see how this is just another link in the chain thats holding this world together. Do not skip reading this great book. P.S.As far as the kindle edition goes: yes theres mistakes but nothing so huge as to take away from the story. If you've been reading the series on the kindle as I have up to this point, the mistakes are pretty much the same things as in the previous books.

At the end of Book Four, Trull Sengar began to tell the story of how he became chained to the wall in the drowned pocket of Kurald Emurlan. As the events of Deadhouse Gates and Memory of Ice was happening (sort of, since the Silanah stuff really throws off the timeline) on the other side of the world, the Tiste Edur tribes have been united by the Warlock King. They are facing annexation by the greedy Lether to the south, a nation merchants who want the natural resources in Edur lands. They have destroyed other tribes through shady treaties and deliberate betrayals. The Warlock King has a new ally. He plans to send the Sengar Brothers (Fear, Trull, Binadas, and young Rulad) on a quest to receive a gift in the arctic wastes north of their lands. Will it prove the salvation of their people or their ruination. Another set of brothers, Beddicts, have their own goals. Tehol Beddict appears impoverished after his financial collapse, but he had actually discovered the secret to destroying his people's economy and flinched. However, when those whose people were destroyed by the Lethers want him to try again, will he accept? In the palace, Brice Beddict is the king's champion. Emroiled in the complex politics of Lether, he vows to protect his king even if the man isn't worthy of his devotion. Last, Hull Beddict plots his people's destruction in another way. He wants to save the Edur from the fate of other tribes, weighed down by guilt. A large cast of characters, both mortal, undead, and immortal, clash and swirl. This is one of Erikson's best books in the series. Tehol and Bug number among my favorite duo and it was great to read them again. Tragedy and misfortune swirl as no one's plans quite work out right. The darkest parts of humanity are exposed once more. This fantasy series continues to be unique and amazing. If you haven't read any of Malazan Book of the Fallen, you need to. It is worth the journey.

Wow! Erikson triumphs again in delivering yet another magnificent book. As I have said in other reviews Erikson is among the top three writers in the fantasy genre in terms of vastly imaginative scope, the use of eloquent language and descriptive prose, as well as addictive plot and character development. This novel, like the three prior, furthers my opinion of Malazan immensely. While this book began with yet another new setting and wide cast of characters, which may overwhelm some readers at first, don't dismay. Midnight Tides challenged my attention span and interest until about 1/4 of the way in, but after that point I did not want to put it down. Trull Sengar, Udinaas, and most of all Bugg and Tehol are all meaningfully and wonderfully developed characters (also I believe the hilarious b.a.m.f Karsa continues in his belligerence). I must say that this series, having read 7 books as of now, is easily my favorite epic fantasy series (that has been completed). While I still have very high hopes for Sandersons Stormlight Archive and Rothfuss' kingkiller series, unless Malazan takes a big dive in quality over the last 3 I have to read, I have a hard time imagining their works to far surpass Eriksons. 5 stars!

Good

Just keep going and you’ll make it through and enjoy the ride while you go on and on and on

When I began this book, I was quickly confused. I was pleased to see the familiar character, Trull Sengar, but found him to be in circumstances completely different than those in which we'd left him. I had to do a bit of googling to confirm my suspicion: This book takes place before the previous book. Somewhere around the same time as book two or so, from what I can gather. There doesn't seem to be complete agreement about it in the forums. So, this book gives us a peak into more detailed background for Trull Sengar, and introduces a number of other characters who quickly become complex and compelling. As much as I've enjoyed this author's writing, I started to find myself a bit distracted by his overuse of sentence fragments. I'm a fan of sentence fragments. I think they can add a great deal of impact when used skillfully, but I felt I was seeing them far too often, and unnecessarily. Despite that issue above, I found every aspect of this book engaging. In past books, I was less thrilled with certain POVs, like Karsa Orlong. Never again the hundreds of pages of Karsa Orlong, please! Anyway, where this book was concerned, I actually found myself caring about all of the POV characters. I was momentarily disappointed each time I ended someone's scene, only to be quickly drawn into the next, happily pulled down the rabbit hole. I'm trying to figure out why I'm feeling more drained after reading this one than the others. My first thought was that the ending was darker than the others, but then I consider what happened between Tavore and Felisin in the previous book, and you don't get much more tragic than that. It could be that the ending in this one had fewer uplifting moments to balance out the tragedy, but I'm not sure that's true either. There was still some pretty good payoff in the end, with regard to at least a couple of people. But I'm left with more of a hopeless feeling than the previous books left me with. That must be it. So, in that way, I suppose this one was darker. There were a few questions that were left unanswered, and I really hope to see those answers in the next few books.