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Title: Assail
Series: Malazan Empire #6
Author: Ian Esslemont
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 784
Format: Digital Edition
Title: Assail
Series: Malazan Empire #6
Author: Ian Esslemont
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 784
Format: Digital Edition
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Synopsis:
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Gold has been found
in in the land of Assail. This leads a lot of people, in groups and
as individuals, to suddenly have an interest. There are also those
who are interested with longer term plans.
The natives,
however, aren't going to just sit down and let their lands be over
run by foreigners who don't care about the land and will destroy it
in with their gold fever. These natives, also known as Icebloods for
the trace of Jaghut blood they carry, are protecting the land from
the Assail who sleep in the mountains. If one greedy miner or soldier
awakens the Assail, the Assail will cleanse the continent of all
life. The problem is, most of the Icebloods don't believe the Assail
are real.
Remnants of the
T'lan Imass make their way to Assail, as it is the last bastion of
Jaghut magic and in its heyday denied them entrance. Now that it is
weakening, they can continue their purge of any Jaghut blood.
Silverfox opposes these renegade Imass who rejected the
transformation back to flesh and who do not know that there now
exists a pocket world protected by one of their own. Silverfox must
stop the massacre and let these Imass know that their vow is
completed and they can rest.
Fisher Kal Teth,
the bard, and Kyle the ex-Crimson Guardsman, who is now known as
Whiteblade, are both Icebloods. Fisher meets up with an amnesiac
Tiste Andii who has lost his memory but who Fisher suspects is
Anomander Rake. Fisher, Kyle, Jethiss (the name the Tiste Andii takes
on) meet up with other Icebloods to prevent the awakening of the
Assail. In the end they are part of a new agreement between races to
prevent the Assail from destroying them all. Jethiss makes a deal
with the Assail for a sword and they cut off his arm and use the
bones to make him a new legendary sword.
The Crimson Guard
make their way to Assail as that is where the 4th Company
is hanging on. Kazz, the leader of the Guard and the Avowed, knows
something but won't reveal it to anyone else. By the end of the book
it is revealed that the Vow of the Guard used magic from Tellan and
the Vow will not allow the Avowed to truly die. They have, in fact,
become a new clan of Imass, but one that has not found their own
redeemer who can give them final peace in death. So their search goes
on.
Several other
storylines wrapped around the above fill out the general picture of
what is going on in the land of Assail. But these, the Chronicles of
the Crimson Guard, are done.
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My
Thoughts:
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Man, what a difference several years can make. Last time I read this
was burnt out on Malaz, disappointed that there was no over-arching
storyline and sick to death of existential philosophy. I gave this
2.5stars then. I suspect Life was kicking my butt back in '14 and
when that happens I just can't handle any kind of sadness or despair
things. It gets all blown out of proportion. I think I stated that I
was completely done with Erikson and Esslemont?
And look at me now! I enjoyed this quite a bit on this re-read.
Whenever a character began waxing philophical (which happened a lot
less than I remembered), I just skipped it. Also having realized that
these Malazan Empire novels are actually the Chronicles of the
Crimson Guard, the ending was much more fitting. I also put
Esslemont's latest books in the running for the coveted Best Book of
the Year award last year. And this is why it is good to re-read
books.
This book seemed like it went at a slightly slower pace than the
previous book, Blood
and Bone. Another thing I noticed is that this ebook
edition says it is only 542 pages but the paperback edition stands at
782. This felt much more like an almost 800page book rather than a
sub600 one. I changed my info to reflect the larger number. Because
I can :-)
This finishes up the Malazan Empire novels and I can see myself
reading them again in another 5-10 years. Unlike the Malazan Book
of the Fallen, which I suspect my current re-read is my last,
these books by Esslemont leave me feeling that I'd like to come back
again some day. No rush but I'm definitely considering a third read
through in the coming years.
A few things annoyed me and kept this from being a 4.5 or 5 star
book. The whole Jethiss/Anomander Rake thing. Fisher suspects but
won't even say his suspicions or say the name Anomander Rake out
loud. Also, Fisher is just about the only one who believes that the
Assail are real and yet he refuses to name them or tell anyone why
awakening them is a bad thing. He just says it is a bad thing and
then shuts up and sulks. I just realized, I didn't like Fisher. He's
an ass actually. Everyone else, I had no problem with but him, he
pissed me off. Too bad he didn't die. Other than that, this was
right on par with the other Esslemont books.
I'm still shaking my head at how much of a change I had with this
book from the last time. A modern day miracle I guess.
★★★★☆
