Overview

Series Overview: The Malazan Book of the Fallen

Introduction

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a ten-volume epic fantasy series written by Steven Erikson, published between 1999 and 2011. It is widely regarded as one of the most ambitious, complex, and rewarding works in the fantasy genre -- a sprawling narrative that spans multiple continents, hundreds of characters, and a history reaching back hundreds of thousands of years. The series is complemented by six novels by Ian Cameron Esslemont, who co-created the Malazan world with Erikson, as well as Erikson's prequel Kharkanas Trilogy and Esslemont's Path to Ascendancy prequel series.

The series takes its name from a fictional historical record -- the "Book of the Fallen" -- commemorating the soldiers who died in the wars of the Malazan Empire. This framing is significant: the series is fundamentally concerned with the experience of soldiers, the cost of war, the nature of power, and the possibility of compassion in a brutal world.

The Books

Title

Abbreviation

Year

Primary Setting

1	Gardens of the Moon	GotM	1999	Genabackis / Darujhistan
2	Deadhouse Gates	DG	2000	Seven Cities
3	Memories of Ice	MoI	2001	Genabackis / Capustan / Coral
4	House of Chains	HoC	2002	Seven Cities
5	Midnight Tides	MT	2004	Lether
6	The Bonehunters	BH	2006	Seven Cities / Malaz Island
7	Reaper's Gale	RG	2007	Lether
8	Toll the Hounds	TtH	2008	Darujhistan / Black Coral
9	Dust of Dreams	DoD	2009	Lether / Wastelands
10	The Crippled God	TCG	2011	Kolanse

Major Narrative Arcs

The series weaves together multiple interconnected arcs that span different continents and timelines before converging in the final volumes:

The Genabackis Arc (GotM, MoI, TtH)

The Malazan campaigns on Genabackis, the Convergence at Darujhistan, the Pannion War (Siege of Capustan, Battle of Coral), the Fall of the Bridgeburners, the founding of Black Coral, and Anomander Rake's final sacrifice. This arc explores imperialism, the bonds between soldiers, and the nature of Darkness.

The Seven Cities Arc (DG, HoC, BH)

The Whirlwind Rebellion, the Chain of Dogs, the rise and fall of Sha'ik, the formation and tempering of the Bonehunters, and the fires of Y'Ghatan. This arc explores colonialism, resistance, prophecy, and the forging of identity through suffering.

The Letherii Arc (MT, RG)

The conflict between the Letherii Empire and the Tiste Edur, the Edur Invasion, the corruption of Rhulad Sengar, Tehol Beddict's economic revolution, and the arrival of the Bonehunters. This arc explores capitalism, economic imperialism, and the corruption of power.

The Bonehunters Arc (HoC through TCG)

The formation, betrayal, and march of the 14th Army from Seven Cities to Malaz City to Lether to Kolanse, culminating in the Battle of Kolanse and the freeing of the Crippled God. This is the series' central arc in the second half, exploring duty, faith, and compassion.

The Crippled God Arc (threading through all books)

The overarching mystery of the Crippled God -- a being pulled from another realm, shattered, and chained -- whose suffering poisons the world and whose liberation becomes the series' ultimate goal. This arc provides the thematic spine of the entire series.

Themes

Compassion

The series' central theme. The Malazan Book of the Fallen argues that compassion -- the willingness to witness and share in suffering, to extend mercy even to those who seem undeserving -- is the highest moral act. This theme culminates in the Battle of Kolanse, where an army fights to free a suffering god.

The Cost of War

The series is unflinching in its depiction of war's consequences. Soldiers suffer, civilians die, and the glory that empires celebrate is built on human wreckage. The Chain of Dogs, the Siege of Capustan, and the Bonehunters' march all explore this theme.

Power and Empire

The Malazan Empire, the Letherii Empire, the Pannion Domin, and other political entities are examined with nuance -- their achievements and their cruelties, their ideals and their failures. The series refuses to present any empire as simply good or evil.

The Nature of Divinity

Gods in the Malazan world are powerful but not omnipotent, and they are as morally complex as the mortals who worship them. The relationship between mortals and gods -- worship, manipulation, rebellion, compassion -- is explored throughout.

Memory and History

The series spans vast timescales, and the weight of history -- forgotten, distorted, and recovered -- shapes every event. The T'lan Imass's eternal war, the Tiste Sundering, the First Empire's fall -- ancient events whose consequences ripple through the present.

The Bonds Between Soldiers

The most intimate and emotionally powerful theme. The relationships between soldiers -- their dark humour, their loyalty, their refusal to abandon each other -- provide the series' emotional core. From the Bridgeburners to the Bonehunters, the series celebrates the human capacity for connection in the worst circumstances.

Author and Publication

Steven Erikson (born Steve Rune Lundin) is a Canadian anthropologist and archaeologist whose academic background profoundly shapes the series. His training in anthropology informs the series' treatment of cultures, religions, and social systems, while his archaeological knowledge shapes the deep history that underlies the narrative.

Erikson co-created the Malazan world with Ian Cameron Esslemont during a GURPS role-playing campaign in the 1980s. The two developed the world's cosmology, history, and major characters collaboratively, then each wrote their own novels set in the shared world. Gardens of the Moon was written in 1991-92 but not published until 1999 by Bantam UK, after being rejected by multiple publishers.

Companion Works

Esslemont's Novels of the Malazan Empire

Night of Knives (2005)
Return of the Crimson Guard (2008)
Stonewielder (2010)
Orb Sceptre Throne (2012)
Blood and Bone (2012)
Assail (2014)

Erikson's Kharkanas Trilogy (Prequel)

Forge of Darkness (2012)
Fall of Light (2016)
Walk in Shadow (forthcoming)

Erikson's Witness Trilogy (Sequel)

The God is Not Willing (2021)
No Life Forsaken (2023)
A Child Dreaming (forthcoming)

Esslemont's Path to Ascendancy (Prequel)

Dancer's Lament (2016)
Deadhouse Landing (2017)
Kellanved's Reach (2019)

Reading the Series

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is famously challenging for new readers. Gardens of the Moon drops readers into the middle of events without extensive exposition, and the series maintains this approach throughout. Erikson trusts readers to piece together understanding from context, implication, and accumulation rather than from explicit explanation. This approach rewards rereading and rewards attention, but it can be disorienting on first encounter.

The series is best read in publication order for the main ten books. Esslemont's novels can be interleaved chronologically or read separately. The prequel trilogies can be read before or after the main series, though they contain spoilers for the main series' revelations.