The end of it all. The massive, multi-layered complexity of the series and impossibility of keeping all the pieces in one's head without recent reading made me think that I should re-read Dust of Dreams before tackling The Crippled God, particularly given that Erikson had explicitly set them up as two volumes of a single final novel; also, doing so added to the sense of anticipation about hitting the finale, which promised so much.
Anyhow, reading these two in succession makes it clear how much they do fit together as an integrated conclusion to Erikson's epic Malazan series, as a whole heap of things are gathered together and set up in Dust of Dreams that then come to fruition in The Crippled God - and more generally, that last is a fittingly explosive end to the whole ten-book cycle, most (though by no means all) of the main threads pulled together, its first half highlighted by the Shake's stand at Lightfall as Light and Dark are finally thrown directly into conflict, and its second all about the convergence and shattering series of engagements in and around Kolanse as the remaining Malazan forces and virtually every other major power clash over the heart of the crippled god himself. It's a spectacular ending, worthy of the series as a whole - like the nine that came before it, it's something out of the ordinary.
(Previously: [1-8], then starting again with [1-3], [4-5], [6], [7], [8], & [9] ... plus (1), (2), (3).)
Anyhow, reading these two in succession makes it clear how much they do fit together as an integrated conclusion to Erikson's epic Malazan series, as a whole heap of things are gathered together and set up in Dust of Dreams that then come to fruition in The Crippled God - and more generally, that last is a fittingly explosive end to the whole ten-book cycle, most (though by no means all) of the main threads pulled together, its first half highlighted by the Shake's stand at Lightfall as Light and Dark are finally thrown directly into conflict, and its second all about the convergence and shattering series of engagements in and around Kolanse as the remaining Malazan forces and virtually every other major power clash over the heart of the crippled god himself. It's a spectacular ending, worthy of the series as a whole - like the nine that came before it, it's something out of the ordinary.
(Previously: [1-8], then starting again with [1-3], [4-5], [6], [7], [8], & [9] ... plus (1), (2), (3).)
