When I finished Toll the Hounds, my first thought was: what the hell did I just read?
Book Review: “Toll the Hounds”
- Series: Malazan Book of the Fallen #8
- Author: Steven Erikson
- 1008 pages, Hardcover, Tor Books
- First published June 30, 2008
- ISBN 9780765310088 (ISBN10: 0765310082)
- ASIN 0765310082
- Language English
- Available for e-readers in ePub, PDF, Audiobook
Plot
The storylines are so vast it’s nearly impossible to capture them in just a few sentences.
Return to Darujhistan
Steven Erikson takes us back to Darujhistan, where once again we witness epic battles and twists — oh, how epic they are! We follow the familiar retired marines in their tavern K’rul’s Bar, who, as always, manage to get tangled up in some big mess — but that’s no surprise, is it?
“Some of us still breathe,” said Blend.
“That’s not good. You can’t leave marines alive.”
“No, that’s never good.”
In this magnificent city, we meet Kruppe — that plump, kind man who once again plays a key role — along with Coll, Murillio, and an assassin you won’t expect. Cutter, Scillara, the blacksmith Barathol, and Chaur also join the mix. We see some great moments as the newcomers try to fit into Darujhistan, especially Barathol, who is determined to open his own forge. Unfortunately for him, the blacksmiths’ guild isn’t exactly welcoming.
And once again, in this grand city, Erikson brings together a cast of beloved characters — Karsa, Samar Dev, Traveller, Kallor, the sisters Spite and Envy, the schemers Cotillion and Shadowthrone, and plenty of gods. The result: epic battles, twists, and pure joy for the reader.
The Black Coral and Dragnipur Threa
A major storyline revolves around Anomander’s sword, Dragnipur, and the souls eternally trapped within it. We also learn more about its creator — Draconus.
Another thread takes us back to Black Coral, home of the Tiste Andii led by Anomander Rake. Ah, Anomander — how I love this character. Near the city lies the camp of a cult devoted to the god Redeemer (Itkovian), buried in a barrow mound, locked in a fierce struggle with the Crippled God.
Clip and Company
We follow the journey of Clip, Nimander, Skintick, Nenanda, and their companions through trials and psychological battles for dominance.
Toll the Hounds also delves deeply into the workings of the Trygalle Trade Guild — something I found especially intriguing given the image built in earlier books.
The Hounds of Light
And then, there are the Hounds of Light — vicious creatures who, unfortunately, enter a place full of people and… well, you can guess what happens next.
“Such sound! Such colossal heralding! The Hounds have come, dear friends. Come, yes, they have come to wreak havoc, to reap the most insane toll. Violence can come blind, without purpose, like the fist of nature. Cruel in its indifference, brutal in its senseless destruction. Like a flood, a tornado, an earthquake — so blind, so meaningless, so aimless! These Hounds… they were nothing of the sort.”
Meanwhile, the Dying God gathers an army of the dead.
“Heads are rolling downhill.”
Characters
Malazan never spares its heroes.
You can’t afford to grow too attached, because Erikson doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice them — and in the most spectacular ways. Yet they are so vividly written that it’s impossible not to care. Even characters who weren’t your favorites may start to surprise you.
My Thoughts
This book reaches incredible heights. Some readers may find it slow until the third part, but I think that’s deliberate — Erikson builds a world we genuinely care about, and the tension he creates pays off magnificently.
Until Toll the Hounds, I thought Reaper’s Gale was the best in the series. But Erikson surprised me again — and this time, it was mind-blowing! With remarkable ease, he weaves enormous intrigues between gods and ascendants, only to unravel them in ways you must read to believe.
The final section had so many unexpected twists and deaths that my mind is still trying to recover.
If you think Malazan can’t surprise you anymore, Toll the Hounds will shatter that illusion.
And finally — back to Anomander.
Oh, Anomander… if only you could be cloned into more people in the real world, it would be a much better place.
“No struggle is too great, no supremacy too absolute, for even if we fail, even if we fall, we will know that we have lived.”
— Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness
Now I turn the first page of the ninth tale, which is joined with the tenth. Apparently, even 1,024 pages aren’t enough for Erikson to close all his storylines — and maybe that’s the greatest proof of Malazan’s scale.
A thrilling, harrowing novel of war, intrigue and dark, uncontrollable magic, Toll the Hounds is the new chapter in Erikson’s monumental series – epic fantasy at its most imaginative and storytelling at its most exciting.
In Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that love and death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small round man in the faded red waistcoat, discomfiture is not just because of the sun. All is not well. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways, but the quarry has turned and the hunters become the hunted.
Hidden hands pluck the strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. While the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of Hounds…And in the distant city of Black Coral, where rules Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, ancient crimes awaken, intent on revenge. It seems Love and Death are indeed about to arrive…hand in hand, dancing.
