‘Toll the Hounds’ – Steven Erikson (Bantam Books/Tor)

I’m a big fan of the Malazan series; there’s a lot of good fantasy fiction out there but only a few of these series can hold a candle to what Steven Erikson (and Ian Cameron Esslemont) has got going on here. Why then, after having ‘Toll the Hounds’ sat on the shelf for the better part of a year, has it taken me three attempts to get through this book?
There are reasons which I will go into, in a little more detail, later on. Other reasons include a train journey whilst hung over (I just cannot read Malazan books when hung over) and the fact that ‘Toll the Hounds’, in hardback, is simply not a practical book to read on the morning commute. Trust me on that one...
However, when it gets to the point where ‘Dust of Dreams’ is about to hit the shelves (and I still haven’t read ‘Toll the Hounds’) then it’s clear that something needs to be done. A week in Egypt was the ideal time to start reading but it still took me a further week (after we got back) to finally get it done. It was heavy going but ultimately very satisfying by the end...

As the Malazan Book of the Fallen nears its conclusion, there are still plenty of twists and turns that will affect the final outcome. Most of these will take place in the cities of Darujhistan and Black Coral where Gods walk the streets and the Guild of Assassins have their eye on the current owners of K’rul’s Bar. When the baying of hounds can be heard, all hell will break loose and only the machinations of a small plump man (with a fondness for pastries and wine) will have any chance of saving the city he loves. Gods born in these tumultuous times will be in mortal peril, who knows what the morning will bring? One thing is clear; the resolution of an ancient and terrible wrong will be decided one way or the other...

It’s the eighth book in an epic multi-volume series and you’ve got any number of characters all engaged in their own plot lines. The thing is though that there are only two books left in the series so you really need to start wrapping things up and pulling it all together. If you’ve got a huge cast list to deal with then this approach can really drag...

I never thought I’d say this but ‘Toll the Hounds’ is Steven Erikson’s ‘Crossroads of Twilight’; a bridging novel that sets things up for the endgame but takes far too long in doing so. This is what made me put the book down twice for something a little more exciting and fast paced.
There is simply far too much going on to be able to get a decent feel for each of the individual plotlines; just as I was getting into something I would find myself shifted onto another story entirely and have to start the whole process again. As far as I was concerned, this made for a particularly disjointed and slow paced affair which was only cancelled out in the closing stages when characters converged and the plot streamlined. There was plenty to get into but the book itself stopped me getting into it. When things streamline however, it’s a whole different story with Erikson writing some amazing stuff that got me teary eyed in a way that I hadn’t been since the Chain of Dogs... Reaching the closing stages, and finally getting the whole of Erikson’s vision for the book, blew my mind and it was a shame that this didn’t happen a little bit sooner.



I was also left wondering whether this part of the series was the best time for Erikson to deliver the whole narrative from the point of view of one particular character, something he hasn’t done before. The character in question is an absolute delight to read but only in small doses; his verbosity only adds to the slow pacing of the plot and made it even more difficult for me to really get my head round things. Again though, credit has to go to Erikson for making this small, plump individual the focal point of potentially world shattering events and the way these are dealt with always bought a smile to my face.

All this must sound like I really didn’t get on with this book at all and there’s no point in denying that I had real trouble getting into it. Despite this though, I found plenty of evidence of Erikson doing what he always does best. If you’ve read this far then you’ll finish the series no matter what but there is still plenty to enjoy in the meantime...

Steven Erikson is a guy who sets off fireworks inside my head not only with his imagination but the way he gets it down onto the page. I’ve already mentioned a couple of ‘teary eyed’ moments; Erikson is a writer that’s not afraid to really let his readers get involved with a character before introducing them to the natural outcome of anyone’s life. It’s not just the main characters he does this with either; Erikson may not spend as much time on the lesser characters but all this seems to do is refine his writing and make his depictions all the more poignant.

He’s also a writer that can make you laugh even in the midst of the tears. In the middle of a particularly apocalyptic conflagration of magic, pieces of prose like this are dropped into the mix...

Iskaral Pust rode like a madman. Unfortunately, the mule beneath him had decided that a plodding walk would suffice, making the two of them a most incongruous pair.’

Made me laugh! On top of all this, Erikson retains his ability to write a spectacle like no other, the events at the end of the book have to be seen to be believed!

Once you get past the issues regarding its presentation (and this may take some doing), ‘Toll the Hounds’ has plenty to offer the long term Malazan fan. I won't be waiting quite so long before picking up 'Dust of Dreams'...

Eight out of Ten