The king of military... fantasy?

Any of you who are well-acquainted with the fantasy world are well aware of the buzz surrouding the (relatively) new Canadian author Steven Erikson and his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. He's a much-touted author who first became popular in the rest of the English-speaking world until his publishers consented to publish his books in the US in 2004 (since then, three of his six books in the Malazan series have been published, and the fourth is due out in August).

I recently finished the third of his books, titled Memories of Ice, and feel I have an adequate sampling to weigh in with a short review. I must say... the buzz is right. The man is brilliant.

To briefly sketch the books without major spoilage, Erikson is telling the story of an empire through its military campaigns. The Malazan Empire is a new, aggressive, highly structured empire that is using new military tactics and clever strategy to take a second continent of the world (the first having fallen and been consolidated prior to the series' beginning). Although ruthless in dealing with its enemies and internal corruption, the empire is mostly a benign dictatorship, relying on economics and a fair degree of freedom to conquered peoples (combined with a mailed fist of retribution to any rebellions), and has prospered. This expansion is taking place against a backdrop of upheaval in the pantheon of gods, where new (and forgotten) 'ascendants' are becoming prominent, more established gods are under assault, and the very essence of magic is being corrupted. Add in more than a pinch of politics, some philosophy and mysticism, and you've got the Malazan world.

The books (so far) follow a complex, multilayered plot following a whole host of carefully constructed characters through these tumultuous events... those events being the military campaigns of the Malazan Empire (mostly revolving around a single veteran army). These campaigns are rarely composed purely of engagements with the enemy, but are fit deftly into the growing complexity of the world and its problems.

Malazan's writing has a number of brilliant parts to it, from his interleaved plotlines to his fleshed-out characters, but what really sets his books apart is their focus and realism.

Most 'epic' fantasy series I've read have an entirely different approach. They are set against the backdrop of a fight of the protagonists against some vast evil endangering the cosmos, oftentimes with some individual character (or small group of characters) being the 'savior' of humanity. They may touch on military campaigns and engagements, but the focus is elsewhere.

In contrast, I feel that Erikson is telling a story about an army, and how it interacts with a complex world. He's writing almost akin to the style of some of the masters of military SF, where the story being told is about the military, not about some cosmic war.

And he does it amazingly well.

I love these books. They're brilliant, witty, thought-provoking, fresh, etc. I'd recommend them to anyone with the slightest interest in fantasy. The series has taken residence in my favorite four fantasy series/authors (along with Tolkein, Robin Hobb, and Steven Brust). Trust me, I have good taste, so that actually means something.

A few downsides, though. Erikson doesn't evade all of the fantasy cliches. He has a tendency to finish off each novel with a deus ex machina of one sort or another. At times, he can be a bit long-winded (though it rarely seems that way, with his rapidly shifting viewpoints and swiftly advancing plots). Also, sometimes things are a little bit too much 'just so' to work out convincingly. At least Erikson has no qualms about killing off important characters...

Well, there you have it. 'A love song for Steven Erikson.' My beautiful masterpiece, eh?