604 pages
English language
Published April 23, 2005
Deadhouse Gates is an epic fantasy novel by Canadian writer Steven Erikson, the second in his series Malazan Book of the Fallen. Deadhouse Gates follows on from the first novel, Gardens of the Moon, and takes place simultaneously with events in the third novel Memories of Ice. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom as a trade paperback on 1 September 2000, with a mass-market paperback edition followed on 1 October 2001. The first United States edition was published in hardback by Tor Books on 28 February 2005 with a mass-market paperback edition following on 7 February 2006. This is the only novel in the series where the UK and US editions share the same cover; the other US books use a different cover artist and style. It received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising the tones, the softer introduction, and the plot. Some critics criticized the …
Deadhouse Gates is an epic fantasy novel by Canadian writer Steven Erikson, the second in his series Malazan Book of the Fallen. Deadhouse Gates follows on from the first novel, Gardens of the Moon, and takes place simultaneously with events in the third novel Memories of Ice. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom as a trade paperback on 1 September 2000, with a mass-market paperback edition followed on 1 October 2001. The first United States edition was published in hardback by Tor Books on 28 February 2005 with a mass-market paperback edition following on 7 February 2006. This is the only novel in the series where the UK and US editions share the same cover; the other US books use a different cover artist and style. It received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising the tones, the softer introduction, and the plot. Some critics criticized the way the book starts again in another continent.
This book was much darker than the first one and borrowed a lot more heavily from the horror genre. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first because it's something of a downer, but it was still a great read.
It's not Deadhouse Gates, it's me. It took me nearly 2 years to finish this book. Amazon kept throwing Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates at me as something I might like for a long time. I finally ordered them, as there were nothing but rave reviews for them. I enjoyed Gardens of the Moon alright, though it's not my favorite ever, but Deadhouse Gates? Wow. Another different story. It doesn't continue the story of the first book, and instead turns to the continent of Seven Cities. Said Seven Cities want to break the shackles of the Empire and throw their conquerors out, and so they rise up against the Empire.
In the middle of this, we have Mappo and Icarium from the first book, a band of Bridgeburners and friends chasing Apsalar and her father and at the same time plotting to assassinate the Empress. Furthermore, we have …
It's not Deadhouse Gates, it's me. It took me nearly 2 years to finish this book. Amazon kept throwing Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates at me as something I might like for a long time. I finally ordered them, as there were nothing but rave reviews for them. I enjoyed Gardens of the Moon alright, though it's not my favorite ever, but Deadhouse Gates? Wow. Another different story. It doesn't continue the story of the first book, and instead turns to the continent of Seven Cities. Said Seven Cities want to break the shackles of the Empire and throw their conquerors out, and so they rise up against the Empire.
In the middle of this, we have Mappo and Icarium from the first book, a band of Bridgeburners and friends chasing Apsalar and her father and at the same time plotting to assassinate the Empress. Furthermore, we have the story of Felisin, fallen sister of the Empress' second-in-command, and the Chain of Dogs, the Empire's army trying to lead 30,000 refugees to the safety of the only city that hasn't fallen to rebellion.
Especially those last two arcs are gritty, and in parts really turned my stomach. Let me just say, I find flies and moths utterly disgusting now. I am not sure the kind of gritty that Erikson does is for me. I literally felt sickened reading some of this, from the detailed crucifixion to chains sawing off people's heads. Yuck.
Even though it was really me forcing myself to finish this book, I am still giving it 3 stars, because the world-building is quite exquisite. The history of the world that Erikson is building is dripping off every page. Too bad I just don't like the writing style and the characters all that much.
Not sure if I'll read the rest of the series, there's another eight books in it, but for now I'll pass.
I do feel that 'Deadhouse Gates' was an amazing read - and as such it should deserve a fifth star. But like 'Gardens of the Moon', it has it's flaws. And those should not be ignored when reviewing this book...
