Steven Erikson - Dust of Dreams

Erikson conceived of this as the first half of a two-volume novel that will conclude his epic Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and it shows. The (as ever) many strands making up its complex plot pretty much all run through the whole of the book, and all are left pretty much unresolved by the time the book comes to an end. There's a lot of scene-setting in Dust of Dreams, and relatively little significant character development or reconfiguration, with some of the treatments seeming rather superficial; of most interest are the coming to prominence of the K'Chain Che'Malle and the progression of Yan Tovis, Yedan Derryg and their Shake, although my favourite parts continue to tend to be those focusing on the Malazans, and the horrific trek of the Snake also sticks in the mind. Happily, Erikson turns these out very quickly; all the evidence is that the final book in the series, when it comes out, will bring events to an immensely satisfying close.