Dancer's Lament
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Average rating4.1
Book 1 in the "Dancer's Lament" - Path to Ascendancy trilogy. For ages warfare has crippled the continent as minor city states, baronies, and principates fought in an endless round of hostilitites. Only the alliance of the rival Tali and Quon cities could field the resources to mount a hegemony from coast to coast -- and thus become known as Quon Taili. It is a generation since the collapse of this dynasty and regional powers are once more rousing themselves. Into this arena of renewed border wars come two youths to the powerful central city state that is LiHeng. One is named Dorin, and he comes determined to prove himself the most skilled assassin of his age; he is chasing the other youth -- a Dal Hon mage who has proven himself annoyingly difficult to kill. Li Heng has been guided and warded for centuries by the powerful sorceress known as the "Protectress" and she allows no rivals. She and her cabal of five mage servants were enough to repel the Quon Tali Iron Legions -- what could two youths hope to accomplish under their stifling rule? Yet under the new and ambitious King Chulalorn the Third, Itko Kan is on the march from the south. He sends his own assassin servants, the Nightblades, against the city, and there are hints that he also commands inhuman forces out of legend. While above all, shadows swirl oddly about Li Heng, and monstrous slathering beasts seem to appear from nowhere to run howling through the street. It is a time of chaos and upheaval, and in chaos, as the young Dal Hon mage would say, there is opportunity."
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17 primary books#4 in Malazan Authors’ Suggested Reading Order
Malazan Authors’ Suggested Reading Order is a 17-book series with 17 released primary works first released in 2001 with contributions by Steven Erikson, Ian Cameron Esslemont, and Ian C. Esslemont. 1 book is still to be released. The next book is scheduled for release on .
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4 primary books#1 in Path to Ascendancy
Path to Ascendancy is a 4-book series with 4 released primary works first released in 2016 with contributions by Ian Cameron Esslemont and Ian C. Esslemont.
Series
16 primary books41 released books#3 in Malazan
Malazan is a 41-book series with 36 released primary works first released in 1999 with contributions by Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont.
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3 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews
Before the Malazan Empire, a young, highly-skilled assassin encounters an equally young, enigmatic mage, and follows him to the famous city of Li Heng, which despite its powerful Protectress and mages, is soon besieged by avaricious enemies.
I've tried one of Steven Erikson's Malazan books. I know people who enjoy them, but I didn't find the world much to my taste - too much blood, not enough character. So, I'm almost entirely ignorant of the various forces - gods, nations, powers - at play. That's a hindrance to enjoying this start of a new prequel sequence by Ian Esslemont, which can be read without knowing Malazan, but would clearly be more enjoyable for fans.
It takes Esslemont a long time to get his story moving. While there are interesting elements, there's a very strong feel of rote assembly - a by-the-numbers approach of Stock Character #7, Reaction #4, Situation #23. In part, that's because his characters simply don't behave very consistently or logically. While there are several viewpoints on offer, we primarily follow a trained assassin, Dorin, who can't seem to decide what he wants out of life. That would work better if we hadn't been introduced to him as someone with clear goals and strong desires. Dorin spends much of the rest of the book wondering haphazardly what his career should look like. I'd have liked that to be the interesting part, but it wasn't. While he was engaging enough, he and other characters were so inconsistent that I stopped being interested in their introspection early on.
What did work in the book was the backdrop - the powerful and ancient magic forces, and the inquiry into new (or old) ones. Unfortunately, while it provides attractive scenery, very little of it is actually developed. It may well be that for Malazan afficionados, it all falls into place. For me, it offered only tantalizing glimpses of an infrastructure that was never fully exposed. That infrastructure, and the fact that Dorin is likeable (if uncertain), is the main reason I'd read a sequel, but it would be pretty low on my list of priorities. All in all, a smoothly written but formulaically constructed epic fantasy.
