Malazan reignites!

-

The God is Not Willing (Witness #1) by Steven Erikson    

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




A return to the world of Malazan is truly a pleasure, exhausting and invigorating—all in the same breathe.

Diving into Erickson’s complex and mind bending writing, reminds me again of how much I enjoy his work. I was hooked from the beginning with Gardens of the Moon and the roller coaster ride that is Malazan has never ceased to engage.

Descriptive, poetic, bardic in scope. Just re-read the Preface. Amazing! The cadence embedded in those few pages is a sample of what’s to come.

TGINW is at times visceral. (Is it too far flung to think of Erickson’s works as an Odyssey? Not to me.) The Malazan arc is epic, a saga of heroic proportions, tragic with subtle humorous intent

Set some years after the Crippled God, TGINW combines all this and more. 

Unrest on its borders has the Malazan army on alert. A war chief with an agenda is stirring in Teblor.

Gods, heroes, fighters, some we’ve met before, others who rise to new heights.

All I can say on greeting this first in a new Malazan series is “Hail fellow, well met”... or rather, well read!


(For those who have trouble keeping who’s who at the forefront Bill Capossere has written a great piece “Malazan Refresher: Everything You Need to Know Before Reading the God is Not Willing”, in Tor’s newsletter, tor.com October 4, 2021, followed by subsequent commentaries on chapters of the TGINW)


A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more