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Deadhouse Gates (Book 2 of The Malazan Book Of The Fallen) by Steven Erikson
01/05/2007 . Source: Tom Lloyd-Williams 
pub: TOR-UK. 604 page enlarged paperback. Price: $14.95 (US), $21.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-31429-0. Buy Deadhouse Gates in the USA - or Buy Deadhouse Gates in the UK  check out website: www.booksattransworld.co.uk
Giving a quick overview of 'Deadhouse Gates' isn't as easy as it should be for the second book in a fantasy series. The events are, in parts, only loosely related to the events of Book 1: 'Gardens Of The Moon', while the enemy they were all discussing at the end of that novel doesn't appear at all.
Taking place in the Seven Cities just as the citizens rise up against their Malazan rulers, Kalam, Fiddler and Sorry of the Bridgeburners, accompanied by the young thief Crokus, have travelled there to return Sorry home and assassinate the Empress. They find themselves caught up the prophesied revolution, the Whirlwind, as well as a soletaken convergence that's drawn every shapeshifter on the continent in search of Godhood. At the same time, a noble-born girl and a former priest are sent to work as slaves in the otataral mines, a place they are not intended to survive. The Whirlwind forces Coltaine, commander of the Malaz 7th Army, to evacuate thirty thousand Malazans or see them slaughtered by the Whirlwind's followers.
Religious fanaticism, desert states and occupying imperial forces lend an immediate resonance with the real world when reading this, despite the fact that it was written over seven years ago. Combine that with a raising of the bar in terms of grim intensity and what you have is an affecting and powerful novel beyond the good standard set by 'Gardens Of The Moon'.
For me, this is where the series really hits its stride and starts to out-strip the competition. The brutal lack of sentimentality and depth of detail makes the world all too easy to believe it, depressingly so in parts as life is carelessly spilled. Fortunately, what it doesn't do is make one side look better than the other in the conflict - no influencing force comes out looking good - so there's no political agenda to cheapen the novel.
Since Erikson is developing on characters and themes from the previous book, but not simply following on from that plot, the scope of the series is shown to be breathtakingly wide and he's careful not to skimp on working the reader's emotions. The Chain of Dogs - Coltaine's harried march/fighting retreat - is an affecting piece of writing that left me feeling shell-shocked by the end of it because he'd wrung so much from my emotions.
Complaints about the books remain minor considerations for those willing to put the effort in. The complexity, while a challenge to keep up with remains one of the selling points however much I need a catch-up at the start of each book and his tendency to over-write parts still contributes to the overall atmosphere of the novel. The scope of the series and beautifully-realised world more than make up for those two and set the Malazan series above any other in the fantasy genre.
Tom Lloyd-Williams
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