Blood and Bone: Novels of the Malazan Empire, Book 5

Blood and Bone is the penultimate book of Ian Cameron Esselmont’s main Malazan Empire series (I say “main” because he has just begun a prequel trilogy) and while it has its issues, it easily ranks in my top three of the main series’ six titles thanks to a few well-drawn characters and, especially, thanks to its relatively unique setting.That setting is the jungles of Jacuruku, one of the as-yet unexplored continents of the Malazan universe. The continent is mostly split in half, with one side under the dominion of a group of sorcerers known as Thaumaturgs and the other half, referred to as “Himatan,” is ruled by the powerful and mysterious Ardata, worshipped by some as a goddess and by others as the Queen of Witches. As has periodically happened, seeking to expand their control of the continent, the Thaumaturgs have launched an invasion of Himatan. The “Army of Righteous Chastisement” is led by Commander Golan, and has in it as well a young mage named Pon-Lor and a deliciously wry scribe named, aptly, Thorn. The Thaumaturgs themselves, however, are under attack, for a foreigner known only as Warleader has united the southern tribes and now leads them in an invasion of the Thaumaturgs capital. Leading two of the largest and most important tribes are the poet-prince Jatal and the princess Andanii.Meanwhile, as armies tramp around the continent, several smaller groups pursue their own agendas in the area, most of them centered on a piece of the Crippled God buried in the Dolmens of Jacuruku. These groups include:• The ascendant Spite, who leads a group of Malazan soldiers, which includes the mages Murk and Sour, in search of the shard• Skinner, who leads a group of Dis-Avowed Crimson Guard on a mission for the Crippled God to retrieve the shard• K’azz, who leads a group of Avowed, including the mage Shimmer, to deal with Skinner at the request/demand of Ardata• Saeng and her brother Hanu, a pair of natives who seek the long-lost Temple of Light in order to prevent the repetition of a great cataclysmMore disconnected in terms of geography is a recurring conversation via brief scenes between Gothos and Osserc, though as with the others, eventually this plot line will eventually converge with the others.My favorite aspect of this novel was the setting. Jungles are not done very often so far as I can think off in fantasy, so it was a true pleasure to get a fresh sort of setting. And Esslemont does a great job of conveying the jungle through multiple senses — its look, its smells, the strange noises, the way it constantly hems you in, the fecund life, the rot and decay, and also the way the jungle wears on the minds and bodies of those who are either opposed to it or don’t understand it. Or even try to. One such example of this is the contrast between Murk and Sour — Sour, who decides to learn from the jungle’s inhabitants (not just the humanoid ones either) and adapt to his environment, and Murk, who disdains the way Sour has “gone native” and prefers to stick to his same old ways, despite the misery such stubbornness inflicts. And even starker examples is the Thaumaturg’s attitude toward it, which is that all this land is being “wasted” or “under-utilized” — oh, the things they could do with it that these stupid little natives aren’t!And there you see another strong aspect of the novel — the analogue to colonialism/imperialism. If this book has any literary debt, it’s to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and I appreciated that work’s many echoes throughout Blood and Bone.With so many plot strands, it’s probably no surprise that some fare better than others. My personal favorite is probably the one following Murk and Sour’s group, mostly because of the great way in which Esslemont writes the Malazan “grunt” characters — those in the field — and for the duo of Murk and Sour themselves, which is funny, emotional, realistic, and layered.Depth of characterization is the reason I also enjoyed the Crimson Guard scenes, thanks to the character of Shimmer, who is sharply drawn throughout. Theirs is the story that most directly parallels Conrad in terms of plot, as much of their time is spent on a ship traveling on a river through the jungle. My one complain about the this plot is the way it drags out the mystery of the Vow taken by the Crimson Guard, a riddle that has now carried through several books and which is, in my mind, starting to overstay its welcome as a plot point, especially as we’ve had so many strong hints to at least a general answer.The two Thaumaturg plots are also enjoyable. The one focusing on the army for yet another classic Malazan duo — in this case Commander Golan and his Scribe Thorn. The dry wordplay between these two is so dry it threatens to such the moisture out of the room you’re reading in. Meanwhile, another plot line involving a Thaumaturg named Pon-Lor who goes off on a side mission casts a somewhat different light upon the Thaumaturgs thanks to Pon-Lor’s youth and somewhat open-mindedness.The invasion of the Thaumaturgs is OK, but for me was somewhat marred by a few aspects. One is less a problem in the writing than with me probably — and that is that Warleader’s identity is so clear to the reader so early but far less so to the characters, which means we spend a lot of time just waiting for someone, anyone, in the book to figure it out. The other issue is more problematic, and that is that Jatal’s character, which starts out quite engaging and strong, starts to wear more and more as the novel continues, though I won’t say why so as to avoid spoilers.Osserc and Gothos’ conversation (if one can call it that) runs the same risk, and in fact does feel pretty overly-strung out over the course of the book, but the scenes are very brief with lots of space in between, so it’s less of an issue.In general, the plots are a bit random encounter-y, but in my mind that’s at least partly, if not wholly, intended, since here the setting and the journey (and the effects of each) is really the story less than a tightly constructed action plot. On the other hand, sometimes the encounters are a bit too random and contrived, some plots peter out a bit, and, as can be an issue with Esslemont, sometimes things are a little too unnecessarily fuzzy as to just what is happening and/or why.There’s no doubt, therefore, that Blood and Bone has its flaws, some of which we’ve seen before — some pacing and balance issues, etc. But as I mentioned at the start, its strengths outweigh its weaknesses, making it one of Esslemont’s best efforts in the series, with some of its most enjoyable aspects (the jungle setting, the relationship between Murk and Sour, Golan and Thorn) rivaling anything in prior books. Recommended.

I'd call it 2.5 stars. The first half of the book was 2 stars, while the back half was decidedly better at 3 stars. To be fair I began reading Blood and Bone while also reading another book (Malus Domestica) which I rarely do, and which I enjoyed more. So the first half of this book was weighed down by the fact that I set it down for a bit to focus on Malus, and thus was not able to fully invest myself in the story until the back half. Having said that however, I'm not going to place all the blame on myself here.I've touched on this before with ICE's Malazan Empire series, but I suppose it bears repeating. I believe that ICE would benefit greatly from cutting down the amount of POV characters in his work, and thus cutting down the length of his work. This is something that I feel Blood and Bone would especially benefit from. There are simply too many characters, viewpoint characters no less, who I don't care about. With a good handful of his POVs I'm just left thinking, why do I care? What does this person have to add to the story? And yes, by the very end sometimes these characters do contribute in some way. But not enough to warrant their own viewpoint and their own hundred pages of story. I'm constantly left making the comparison to Erikson's series (of course), but I will do so again. One of the things that made the Book of the Fallen stand out were these larger than life characters. Yes, there were many, many viewpoints in that series; but Erikson had a knack for making you care about characters very quickly, and more importantly you always returned to one of your favorites before too long. Someone you loved to read about. With ICE I'm sometimes left wondering just who I should care about.Okay, critique aside, I liked the book. And I don't want it to seem like I didn't like any of the characters. Murk and Sour were standouts for me; I'm just a sucker for that Malazan banter. I enjoyed the Crimson Guard plot as well, though I thought it should have been more of a focus. And as I mentioned the back half of the book was well done, and converged properly. It was also nice to see old Book of the Fallen heads like Osserc, Gothos, Spite, and.. well, one more. I won't reveal him here because it was fun to realize it was him.Now, I've got just one ICE book left, and it is without a doubt the one I've been looking forward to most. The mystery surrounding the island of Assail has been tantalizingly growing since early in the Book of the Fallen. I'm excited to finally see what's what.

Very entertaining. I enjoyed very much all the plot in a jungle landscape! The written style remind me that of Erikson, this colorful and detailed description. Anyway, I highly recommend it for those who have been following the Malazan series from Esslemont and Erikson as well.

First off, let me acknowledge my place in the Malazan fan club. I, up until now, have loved all the stories. Some more than others, but I found all of them solid. This book, however, was definitely the worst of the bunch. All I have to ask is, "did George R.R. Martin ghost write this?". All that seems to happen is people tromp around the jungle. Oh no, my weapons and armor have rotted. Oh no, I'm sick. Oh no, what will I eat. I would love to say that there were moments that made the experience worthwhile, but I would be lying. Characters seem to be thrown in for little or no reason. Events are coyly referred to, but that's about it. I read it, page after mind-numbing page, believing that there would be some spectacular conclusion lurking somewhere in the last 50 pages. Nope...not to be found. Had this drivel been written by anyone else, I would have given it only one star. But, since Esslemont's other books were solid additions to the Malazan saga (still think it's the greatest series of all time), I'm willing to soften the blow a bit. Hopefully, his next book will redeem him.

Unlike some of Esslemont's novels this ones would still be readable without having read Erikson's books.We have a few groups of characters who have been mentioned in other books but never really shown, it is especially interesting to see the dynamic between K'azz and the rest of the Crimson Guard.We also see more of Kallor than before, with him shown as a complete narcissist as expected but we also get a better view into his history and the people who dragged down the Crippled God to try and destroy him and see that he was not exactly the unrelenting evil that was suggested in other books.The plot moves quite quickly with several stories interlinked by geography and history more than action. There are several bizarre characters to supply humourous interludes and a large dose of surreal politics and magic.All the plot threads are ended well leaving a nice wrapped up feel to events even without fully closing things off.

I like Esslemonts story telling and in my opinion this book is one of his better ones. The territory is relatively virginal with regards to what Erikson has written about, and I think this plays out in Esslemonts favor, or should have. Because fewer people would be dissapointed by how favorite oldtimers were used/written by Esslemont as opposed to Erikson. I think he is getting better at writing dialogue and quirky characters as there are 2 very weird and awesome mages in this book, who took my straight back to the Black Company. - I know Esslemont doesnt get quite the same applause as Erikson, but if you dont expect Erikson to be the author when you buy an Esslemont book, I dont think there is any reason to give the book less than 4 stars. It is well written, well told, with engaging characters. I recommend it to anyone, especially younger fantasy readers. It doesnt have to be read in sequence with the other books imo. Although it would leave out alot of depth if you dont understand the references to the Malazan world and the events in it at large. Alot of which comes nicely together with the story in this book.

I await anything by Esslemont and Erikson like the coming of xmas.... and so it is :)You have to be up to speed with all things Malazan to appreciate any of these books as the story lines and characters are so complex and interwoven - often find myself having to re-read the previous books to fully appreciate them. But that's what I like about these authors as they don't pander to critics by oversimplifying, but stick to their style and that's what I personally want. Just gets better and better with each book and the unfolding story just gets more engrossing with every page. Love it.

Hmm, I am a bit in two minds about the Malazan empire. Loved the early books and even managed to slog through to the final book. Thought the last couple of books where hard to finish. Actually just started to re-read it and i have picked up alot i missed before.The Ian C books get a bit of bad press, So for I have really enjoyed them. Particularly the Crimson Guard. However I found this and the last book really hard to finish. They are very disjointed and hard to follow. And this one in particular was a little bit predictable.

It’s not as good as some of the other books in the series but still very engaging!! I have read it about three times!