No. 15 - Night of Knives

by Ian C. Esslemont

Started: March 20
Finished: March 24

Notes: Though Steven Erikson is the author generally noted for his lengthy fantasy series on the Malazan, his is a shared world with author Ian C. Esslemont. I've now read four of Erikson's novels and probably will read more of them (if not all) before the year is out, but I wanted to check out Esslemont's Malazan books, too, mainly to see how another writer handles this dark fantasy world. This particularly novel takes places sort of between the prologue and chapter one of Erikson's first Malazan novel, Gardens of the Moon, if I understand correctly.

Mini review: I can readily recommend this novel to any fans of Erikson's Malazan series. The writing here is very similar, so much so I almost have to wonder if Erikson didn't help out a bit along with an editor. Where Erikson's lengthy Malazon novels usually focus on a hundred different people, this one focuses on ... oh, only fifty or so. But the storytelling techniques are the same, and it's worth it. I'm sure to look for more of Esslemont's Malazan novels.