House of Chains

In Northern Genabackis, just before the events recounted in Gardens of the Moon, a raiding party of tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flat lands. Their intention is to wreak havoc among the despised lowlanders but for one amongst their number, it is the beginning of an extraordinary destiny. His name is Karsa Orlong.

Some years later, it is the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs. Coltaine, revered commander of the Malazan 7th Army, is dead. And now Tavore, sister of Ganoes Paran and Adjunct to the Empress, recently arrived at the last remaining Malazan stronghold of the Seven Cities, must take charge. Untested and new to command, she must hone a small army of twelve thousand soldiers, mostly raw recruits, into a viable fighting force and lead them against the masses of Sha'ik's Whirlwind. Her only hope of success rests with the few remaining survivors from Coltaine's legendary march.

In distant Raraku, in the heart of the Holy Desert, the seer Sha'ik waits with her increasingly restless rebel army. And waiting is never easy, especially when a disparate collection of warlords - tribal chiefs, High Mages, a renegade Malazan Fist and his sorceror - is locked in a vicious power struggle that threatens to tear the rebellion apart from within. And Sha'ik herself suffers, haunted by the private knowledge of the one she knows is her nemesis . . .

So begins this epic novel of war, intrigue, betrayal and magic - the awesome fourth chapter in one of the landmark works of epic fantasy, Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Review

Reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen . . . is the most masterful piece of fiction I have ever read. It has single-handedly changed everything we thought we knew about fantasy literature and redefined what is possible. ― SF SITE

Erikson's magnum opus, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, sits in pole position as the very best and most ambitious epic fantasy saga ever written. ― FANTASY HOTLIST

Arguably the best fantasy series ever written. This is of course subject to personal opinion . . . but few can deny that the quality and ambition of the ten books that make up The Malazan Book of the Fallen are unmatched within the genre. ― FANTASY BOOK REVIEW

About the Author

Archaeologist and anthropologist, Steven Erikson is the bestselling author of the genre-defining The Malazan Book of the Fallen, a multi-volume epic fantasy that's been hailed ‘a masterwork of the imagination’ and one of the top ten fantasy series of all time. The first novel in the series, Gardens of the Moon, was short-listed for the World Fantasy Award. He has also written several novellas set in the same world. Forge of Darkness is the first Kharkanas novel and takes readers back to the origins of the Malazan world. Fall of Light continues this epic tale. A lifelong science fiction reader, he has also written fiction affectionately parodying a long-running SF television series and Rejoice, a novel of first contact. The God is Not Willing is the opening chapter in a new sequence – The Tales of Witness – and is set in the world of the Malazan Empire, ten years after the events recounted in The Crippled God.
Steven Erikson lives in Victoria, Canada. To find out more, visit www.steven-erikson.org – and he's also on Facebook: Steven Erikson–Author.