Reaper's Gale

Executive Summary: After what has to be my favorite of the series [b:The Bonehunters 478951 The Bonehunters (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #6) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320434864s/478951.jpg 3898723], this one is a big letdown. Too many new characters really bog the story down for far too long, but it ends strong enough to save it from being a bad book.Full ReviewThis book seems to take everything about [b:Midnight Tides 345299 Midnight Tides (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #5) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1366996057s/345299.jpg 3898719] and ramp it up. Unlike that book however, I didn't find myself confused and frustrated at the beginning. I was simply uninterested. So unlike Midnight Tides where I enjoyed the story once I got my bearings, this one just kept leaving me bored for far too much of the book.One of the flaws I often see in Epic fantasy is introducing too many characters and subplots that it bogs the story down. This is the main fault I found with the Wheel of Time series that could badly use editing to make books 8-10 into 1 or 2 much tighter novels.This one isn't quite at that extreme, but I hope that things turn around with [b:Toll the Hounds 938544 Toll the Hounds (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #8) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1316126179s/938544.jpg 3898730].The Letherii/Tiste Edur story just isn't that interesting to me. Maybe it's because I find almost no likable characters in the bunch apart from Tehol and Bugg. All of the new characters, especially the Patriotists are despicable. That's all well and good, but I feel Mr. Erikson spends entirely too much time convincing just how despicable they are. I think there were enough (or nearly enough) characters from [b:Midnight Tides 345299 Midnight Tides (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #5) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1366996057s/345299.jpg 3898719] that could have been used to tell this story without adding so many new faces.Thankfully the Malazans come to the rescue of this story, albeit a lot later than I would have liked. Old favorites like Fiddler and Quick Ben and the banter of the Marines are a relief from the tedium that is the Letherii/Edur story.Mr. Erikson seems to always write really terrible beginnings (even though I know he's capable of writing good ones) but really excellent endings. This one is no different. However I won't let another strong ending fool me into forgetting about how bored I was for far too much of this novel.There were enough enjoyable chapters in this book to save it from a 2-star rating, but overall this has been the weakest novel in the series for me so far. Readers who enjoyed [b:Midnight Tides 345299 Midnight Tides (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #5) Steven Erikson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1366996057s/345299.jpg 3898719] more than I did may come away with a different opinion, but I for one am happy to move on.