Stonewielder: Novels of the Malazan Empire, Book 3

Of the three Malazan Empire novels that I've read so far I would place Stonewielder right in the middle. I enjoyed it more so than Night of Knives, and less so than Return of the Crimson Guard. It was a solid read though, and a worthy addition to the Malazan universe. Hell, the more books in this universe the better in my opinion. I'm just glad to get to spend more time here.It wasn't without its faults. I thought there were significant portions of the plot that moved very slowly, or felt a little too meandering overall. I think a portion of this had to do with my inability to connect with some of the POV characters. This actually brings to mind something that occurred to me about ICE as I was reading this. I would not be surprised to learn that his preferred method of storytelling is something other than that of multi-POV epic. Part of me feels like ICE would better serve his readers if he focused in a bit more, and cut it down to a few points of view, but that he felt obligated to present the story in the same way that Erikson did. Now I could be way off here of course, but in my opinion ICE's writing would benefit from that.Faults aside, as I said, I enjoyed Stonewielder. And I'm excited to see what the next installment brings. The ending was strong and suggested that many characters I enjoyed here have more to their story ahead. Consider this one 3.5 stars.

There's nothing wrong with this novel, the writing as always was impeccable. All the characters were well rounded and brought to life. The subject matter wasn't all that interesting to me. There was a couple of characters lines that was of interest to me, other than that, it was just filler to me. This story fits the standard for a Malazan story, so you can't go wrong. I'm currently on a malaz journey, all the books, in order. Glad to have added this one in.

"Stonewielder" is the latest edition of extra Malazan books from Ian C. Esslemont. This book is 720 pages in length and the Kindle version is a 1264 Kb download.*SPOILER*The book follows several groups of individuals in the telling of two main tales...1.) A Malazan force returns to the remote island grouping of 'Fist' where a previous attempt of conquest by the Malazan empire many, many years ago resulted in only partial success. However, after being seemingly forgotten, the surviving members of that first Malazan group have gone rogue and have decided to rule the land they occupy, independent of the mother country. This 'attitude' of course cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to go on unchecked.2.) In addition, the natural inhabitants of this multiple island grouping have some serious problems of their own (apart from the left-over initial Malazan faction). An alien group of sea-creatures have been attempting to invade the land for several millennium. These attempts have been thwarted by the erection of a towering sea wall built along leagues of shoreline on the northern most coast. But problems are occurring with the wall, for it appears to be rapidly deteriorating and this is due to two main reasons; the repeated freezing and thawing of seawater in cracks has become more frequent and more severe every year and also because the large number of personnel required to maintain and repair this long wall, has fallen significantly of recent times.*END SPOILER*The tale has some interesting people, great battles on land, sea and even in some subterranean areas. There are magical items and persons in this fantasy adventure. And importantly to me, the story is generally believable within the context of its genre.I think this tale perfectly demonstrated the difference in writing technique between Esslemont and Erikson. Both writers tend to follow the story of several individuals or groups; stories that frequently come together towards the end. Where they differ is in the way they present their individual characters...Erikson tends to present the reader with a substantial amount of 'musing' and 'philosophical' opinions from a lot of his protagonists. And while I like Erikson's character depth, there were times I tended to get confused by some of his peoples' conversations, thoughts and even sometimes, their actions...requiring me to try to almost study some areas in an to attempt to glean the right interpretation for what he was trying to describe.Esslemont, on the other hand, I find easier to read and follow, and subsequently tend to enjoy more because I don't get as tired and weary trying to figure out some obscure passages. He tends to stick, by and large, to the telling of an interesting and compelling tale, with not quite so much emphasis on character development. That is not to say there is no character development because there is, it just tends to be maybe, less 'profound', than his fellow author.In addition, there are two good maps; one, a global view of the entire 'Fist' complex of islands and the second, a more detailed view of the area of shoreline that encompasses the enormously long seawall that borders the northern-most main island.If I had one gripe, (and this applies to both Esslemont and Erikson) it would be this: I wish they'd reduce the amount of time spent that deals with someone or some group that seems to spend the entire book traveling through (and frequently lost in) a 'warren' (a warren is a type of worm-hole if you will, that permits certain special denizens of the land to travel, although not necessarily very quickly, from one place to another). I find these areas tend to be less focused (at least to me) and they often seem to break up the continuity of the main story(s).CONCLUSION:Another great Malazan fantasy adventure from Ian C. Esslemont. Easy to read, an intriguing plot filled with some interesting people, some great battles and several unexpected twists and turns. 4 1/2 Stars.Ray NicholsonP.S.1.)Interesting to note that the paperback and hardcover edition of this book will not be available on amazon.com until May 2011, whereas the e-edition through Kindle is available now. In Canada (on amazon.ca) the paper editions are available now but not the e-edition.2.)Ian C. Esslemont and Steven Erikson are co-creators of the Malazan world. And both welcome each others contributions to the ongoing Malazan saga.

This book continues Esslemont's parallel story line to the Malazan Book of the Dead. This time detouring slightly from the Crimson Guard of the previous book, but keeping them close at hand by focusing on a few characters that left during the course of events. This book tells a more Empire centric story and finally gives firsthand knowledge of the infamous Stormwall that is so often referenced in these stories. And this locale is as rife with tension as any other in this universe.The beauty of the setting is that almost all groups are presented as very well rounded. There are two distinct sides to the conflict at hand, but neither one is all that villainous, and they certainly aren't overly virtuous. As you get swept along for the ride you get to see the puppet masters on both sides. Only then do things begin to make more and more sense and a more informed judgment of motives becomes possible.Without spoiling any plot points, the ending really is kind of tragic for all parties. This world never does seem to lend itself to happy endings. But even by the typical standard of these books, this one ends darkly. That isn't to say it ends poorly. The manner in which the situation resolves itself seems very natural and very satisfying. And there is one happy ending that brought a smile to my face.

After reading all of Eriksons and ICE's malazan novels, I have to rate this bottom of the pile with deadhouse gates as my least favourites. There just were not enough interesting story threads in the book and too much that I didn't really care about either way.The last quarter of the book is good as the action / story threads conclude but most of the rest was pointless plot lines.Character wise Greymane & Kyle are predominant but simply not enough of them, the Crimson guard are also present and they are good points of the book and also the Malazans Rillish, his company & the Koreli storm guard - all make interesting reading. There is also some humour from an excellent character called Manask.There was just to much I didn't care about - the Ivanr & Bakune story threads and what were the Kiska parts about, she didn't achieve anything and was not related to the story in anyway. They all felt like fillers and unless developed in the future they started nowhere and generally went nowhere. Completely pointless. All in all not one of my favourites

Disclaimer: I am a malazan maniac.At first I was disappointed with ICE's books. Knight of knives was difficult to get through for me and ROTCG I only managed to finish because of my undying (see what I did there?) love for the crimson guard. Their story is fascinating but I feel it was poorly executed in ROTCG.But it's getting better. The writing style is flowing a little smoother (the over use of the word "merely" was killing me). The plot lines are getting tighter. The characters, stronger.I think he still has a way to go, but I really did enjoy this book and recommend it to any malazan fan.

I really didnt like this book much. I thought NoK and RotCG were much better efforts, and the Erikson malazan books in another league.The only thing going for this book is its setup - find out what the Greymane and the Koreli Stormguard are all about, and in theory what happened after RotCG. The first 2 get wrapped up, but not in an especially satisfying way, and the rest is mentioned (a lot) but doesnt amount to much.The rest is too dull, with the usual mix of battles and pondering. But the pondering is far too ponderous, and the battles just dont seem to be clear as to what's going on. No real suprises till the end, when there are a couple of interesting ones, and an all to convenient wrapping up of greymane. Most annoying however is the random plot lines which dont seem to serve any purpose, ceretainly not for their length - Ivanar, Kiska, Quint, etc. I also got pretty bored with the 1d minions - Suth, etc.Worth pointing out however Ipshank and Manask - they were good & set up way, way back in Eriksons work, if you look hard enough.Would read it, but only for completeness & backstory, probably before Toll the Hounds, certainly before Dust of Dreams.Bring on The Crippled God is all I say & please try harder next time mr ICE

This is Esslemont's third Malazan novel, and his writing has continue to develop with every book. A host of his previous characters and a whole bunch of new faces clash as we finally deal with the oft mentioned Stormwall.Kyle, the main protagonist from the last novel, continues his journey together with Greymane, as the Malazans mount another invasion of Korel. The latter in particular is developed in much more depth.Naval combat has played a minor role in the Malazan books thus far, but here we finally get an in-depth engagement involving the Moranth Blues and a host of sorcery. The battle is excitingly written and one of the best scenes Ian has written thus far.We also continue the trials of Iron Bars and his comrades as the Guardsmen join the defenders of the Wall; there's a real sense of futile desperation to the neverending combat with the Riders.As if this wasn't enough, we also get the return of Kiska as she travels with a major Erikson character in search of the lost mage Tayschrenn.The strands left dangling at the end of the novel left me wanting more; I'm sure Esslemont will deliver.

This book is another grand entry in the Ian C esslemont franchise, and whilst it takes on the same universe as Steven Erikson, it sets an entirely different tone.From the fleshing out, to the closure, of Greymane's character in depth to the Wall and rounded character development of some of the smaller characters across the board, it adds closure to others.Only greivances I had when reading this was losing track of 2 characters with similar names, so picking the scenario between the 2 made it interesting. The second being a short insert with 2 unnamed characters interacting.