Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen #3)

The scattergun approach is not even supposed to work, but yet it has. And beautifully so. Just brilliant!

…a chilling tale of sacrifice, betrayal, and redemption.

The happenings in Memories of Ice are set parallel in the timeline to those of Deadhouse Gates. The story, while as complex as ever, continues to unravel mysteries and secrets, opening up the historical background to the world even more.

It’s much the same characters from Gardens of the Moon, with a very fine line between protagonists and antagonists. There’s an awful lot happening at the same time, so it’s easy to get carried away and be confused. However, the author helps readers (unlike the preceding two books in the series) but providing a lot of background info on the races, particularly the T’lan Imass.

Memories of Ice is now officially the single grimmest, bloodiest book I’ve ever read. The siege of Capustan was as macabre as it was thrilling to read. Such gore, such creative ways to kill and dismember! Such horror! Such terrible fighting odds! I felt truly sorry for the defendants.

A lot of people hail A Song of Ice and Fire for its grimness, for the willingness of the author to kill off main characters from time to time. I think this series goes one better by not only killing off characters en masse but also creating such memorable characters en masse as well. All of the characters are unforgettable. Even the minor ones. There’s a way the author presents his characters that makes them so endearing. I mentally shed a few tears after the wholesale slaughter at the end of the book (for someone like me, that’s a lot of emotion for a book).

The world-building as always is excellent. I took a sneak peek at the next book in the series and saw that there’s a whole new set of characters. That the author is able to write a single story employing every aspect of the vast world along with hundreds of seemingly unrelated characters, all the while making the entire thing so gripping and intense is a testament to his unique ability. Simply put, there’s not series quite like this one. The scattergun approach is not even supposed to work, but yet it has. And beautifully so. Just brilliant!

The plot is so convoluted, it’s hard to keep up. There are so many mysteries, so many threads all seemingly jumbled up in a thick-knotted mass of strange worlds and even stranger characters. I keep thinking there’s something I missed.

This series is not one to read in a haste. You’ll miss the juicy parts that way. Rather, it should be read bit by bit. I’m enjoying it that way, anyways.

On to the next one! Bring on the House of Chains. See you soon, black-hearted Kallor. Your Armageddon is near!