The Crippled God

Je viens de terminer The Crippled God, le dixième et dernier tome du cycle de fantasy Malazan Book of the Fallen de Steven Erikson. Après cette longue aventure commencée au coeur de l'été, je ne regrette pas ce voyage incroyable et mémorable. Le final est magistral et bouleversant.

Steven Erikson est un auteur de grand talent, qui sait nous prendre aux tripes avec des personnages terriblement attachants et des histoires à la fois épiques et humaines.

Je referme cette saga monumentale avec un sentiment de satisfaction : le temps passé à lire les dix pavés qui la compose en valait largement le coup. Il y a eu des hauts (beaucoup) et des bas (quelques uns, plus rares) mais l'ensemble est une réussite, une oeuvre magnifique, de la très grande fantasy, de la très grande littérature.

Je sais que j'aurai un jour envie de relire toute cette saga pour en redécouvrir certains aspects. J'ai aussi très envie de lire les différentes séries dérivées de celle-ci, que ce soit les récits parallèles des Novels of the Malazan Empire de Ian C. Esslemont ou les préquelles et séquelles proposées par l'un des deux auteurs. Ce ne sera pas pour tout de suite, car j'ai besoin de lire autre chose pendant quelque temps, mais je reviendrai visiter cet univers si riche.

Executive Summary: A good, but not great end to a good, but a not great series (ducks the attack from the Malazan diehards)Full ReviewThis time two years ago I had never heard of Steven Erikson or Malazan book of the fallen. Last January, some friends were organizing a big group read of the series and I decided to join in. I don't think I would have enjoyed reading this series nearly as much as I did if not for the great discussion over in Malazan Fallen.I started this 10-book journey 16 months ago with 20 something other people. I ended it with somewhere around 5 or the original readers and a few other gained along the way. In a way this sort of parallels the series. Many characters introduced, and many Fallen along the way. Much like the other books in the series, if you're hoping for clear answers, you're going to be disappointed. Maybe it was foolish of me, but I had been hoping this series was building to a head and “all will be revealed” at the end of the journey.I should have known better. There is so much left unclear and unexplained that Malazan diehards may find fun, I found frustrating. Sure there are clues, and maybe you can piece things together to answer some of the questions, but I just find myself not caring anymore.That isn't to say that I'm unhappy with the end. If there is one thing Mr. Erikson has been consistent about in this 10-book series it's writing enjoyable endings. Overall I found this book a vast improvement over [b:Dust of Dreams 4703427 Dust of Dreams (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #9) Steven Erikson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388268201s/4703427.jpg 4767755], which is supposed to be the first half of this. If the two books had been released as one however, I would have given it a lower rating.In fact I found most of the last 4 books to be bogged down in far too many new subplots. I'm still left scratching my head over the point of a few of them. They didn't really offer much in the way of closure for me with the characters involved and mostly felt like a diversion in attempt to make the world more “epic”.The main story however was really enjoyable for the most part, when Erikson managed to focus on it. It featured all of my favorite characters doing some truly awesome things and some of my favorite moments in the series.The humor, especially that of the marines is great as always. The relationships between many of the characters, even some of the more minor Malzans I find far more compelling that some of the subplots and characters introduced late in the series.I plan to continue on with more Malazan eventually, and in a few years from now I might be up for a reread. Maybe I'll enjoy the series more being able to better appreciate the complexity of this series rather than find it frustrating so often. Either way for right now I'm exhausted and need a break.

And now the page before us blurs. An age is done. The book must close.


To cut to the chase, I give this book 5 stars. Not that the entire book is worth 5 stars, but it's mainly appreciation for the ending of the book and for the series as a whole. Undoubtedly, one of the best (fantasy) series I've ever read.

Since “Dust of Dreams” and “The Crippled God” should be seen as one book, the book doesn't start with a prologue. The reader picks up where “Dust of Dreams” left off.

During the first half of the book, you don't feel like you're reading the last few hundred pages of a 10,000-page epic fantasy series. Actually, as a reader, you don't really have a clear idea of where it's heading. The ultimate destination gradually becomes clearer, but the focus doesn't seem to be there yet. There are still seemingly random background stories shared about characters you met six books ago. I couldn't bring myself to care.

With any other writer, I might start to worry a little. Thankfully, Erikson's trust, based on the previous nine books, was not betrayed.

The last few hundred pages of the book are like a rollercoaster. No doubt now that you're in the finale of an epic fantasy series. Not all storylines get a conclusion, and not all the ones that do are concluded satisfactorily. But the main threads are brought to an end in a very sophisticated way. Emotional, brutal, but also with a lot of compassion. The two epilogues are very satisfying.

What Erikson has delivered with this entire series is a true tour de force. Thematically, everything is expertly tied together.

“I am as true as anything you have ever seen. A dying child, abandoned by the world. And I say this: there is nothing truer. Nothing.
Flee from me if you can. I promise I will haunt you.”

Well, I'm finally done with the Book of the Fallen. It's been...really something.

So many parts that really spoke to me, so many characters to remember, like Fiddler and Hedge, Hellian, the Paran siblings to mention a few. And the children's snake...heartbreaking...

Onwards toward Ian C Esslemont.

“‘Will you all die in the name of love?' The question seemed torn from something inside him.
‘If die we must, what better reason?'”

10 books, 9962 pages, 6 months.

But these are only number and don't reflect what I felt reading the Malazan book of the fallen. The depth I need in every books I read, was in the ten thick books.

This is not an easy story, neither the most complex one, but it's one of the most sincere I've ever read. When I started it with The gardens of the moon, I've never thought I'ld read such empathy, compassion, tragedy, social essays, human essays, philosophical passages...
It was way more than fantasy books. It was indeed epic and grandiose sometimes, but it wasn't the point of what Steven Erikson wanted to write. I can't compare with any other fantasy books because it's such a unique series, you'll never find another similar series.

The themes are powerful, you go through every forms of love, grief, you feel like a father, like a mother, like a child, like a sister, like a brother, like a soldier, a commander, a betrayer, a murderer, a friend, a lover ... through all the povs and that's what I enjoy about reading: having a pov I've never/ won't feel or live, and Erikson put a lot of efforts in building these povs and make me feel like them. I lived the struggle with the characters. I lived the death of some characters like I knew them. I felt the dryness of the desert. I felt the hunger of children. I felt the harshness of life. I felt injustice.

The diversity of the characters is so realistic, from different skin colour people to autistic persons, without forgetting the 300 000 old living people (not realistic but ... you'll get an idea when reading the wise (?) words of the T'lan Imass