A Malazan Meditation - (On Species)

This is a continuation of my 'meditation' on Steven Erikson's opus: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, which I view as an exercise in attaining reader catharsis. If you haven't already, for some context, please read my prior posts - a Prologue that explains what this is all about, Part 1 - Elements, and Part 2 - Quirks & Features. If you have already, read on...

Warning: This post contains spoilers for various books in the series, but I have tried to stay away from revealing too many specifics. The imagined species that make an appearance in the series, their physical attributes, and some portions of their history and overall arc are mentioned. I don't think I reveal anything that will necessarily spoil your experience of reading the books; if anything it might enhance your appreciation for some of the elements... but that's just what I think.

This (and the next post) will be the most spoiler-filled of the lot. If you're completely anti-spoiler, please stay away!

A Malazan Meditation (Part 3: Species)

Where I look at each of the eponymous elements of the world, their role or agency in-story and in the series as metaphors and motifs...

A Malazan Meditation - (Quirks & Features)

This is a continuation of my 'meditation' on Steven Erikson's opus: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, which I view as an exercise in attaining reader catharsis. If you haven't already, for some context, please read my prior posts - a Prologue that explains what this is all about, and Part 1 - Elements. If you have already, read on...

Warning: This post contains spoilers for various books in the series, but I have tried to stay away from revealing specifics. Some tropes used, and the social/ philosophical dilemmas explored will however be revealed. That said, I don't think I reveal anything that will necessarily spoil your experience of reading the books; if anything it might enhance your appreciation for some of the elements... but that's just what I think.

If you're completely anti-spoiler, please stay away!

A Malazan Meditation (Part 2: Quirks and Features)

Where I try and point out what makes this series ‘special’ or what literary devices within it expand upon the primary theme. To highlight how this series is set apart from other SFF literature, I propose to compare it where appropriate with the writings of JRR Tolkein (the grand-daddy of fantasy literature) which have served as templates for much fantasy fiction in the last sixty or so years.

I'll start with the low-hanging fruit, the easy 'structural' features and then move into heavy territory...

A Malazan Meditation - (Elements)

This is a continuation of my 'meditation' on Steven Erikson's opus: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, which I view as an exercise in attaining reader catharsis. If you haven't already, for some context, please read my prior post that explains what this is all about. If you have already, read on...

Warning: This post contains spoilers for various books in the series, but I have tried to stay away from revealing specifics. Broad plot structure, the various crises explored etc. will however be revealed. That said, I don't think I reveal anything that will necessarily spoil your experience of reading the books; if anything it might enhance your appreciation for some of the elements... but that's just what I think. If you're completely anti-spoiler, please stay away!

A Malazan Meditation (Part 1: Elements)

Where I describe some of the building blocks of the series...

A Malazan Meditation - (Prologue)

Once upon a time, there was a world...

How would you tell the story of Planet Earth? Is there a coherent story to tell?

Would you focus on the 150 million year reign of the dinosaurs, their rise and cataclysmic fall, or the roughly 10,000 year history of ‘civilized’ apes? Is it enough to depict the rise and fall of the Neanderthals – a "failed" branch of ‘humanity’ as broadly defined - who eventually lost to us Homo Sapiens? Should it be the tale of the triumph and attendant hubris of Humanity itself?

Will you project the end of us self-acclaimed "intelligent overlords" of the Earth – the only species in existence to (arguably) subjugate its environment – and laugh and cry at the colossal, idiotic waste and ephemeral achievement?

Well... must you choose?