Night of Knives is the first of Ian C. Esslemont’s six Malazan Empire books, which are designed to be read alongside the ten-book Malazan Book of the Fallen series written by Steven Erikson. Erikson and Esslemont co-created the incredible world of Malaz over thirty years ago, and given that they’re writing about the same world and characters I don’t think it’s at all unfair to directly compare Esslemont with Erikson . . . but, sadly, there is no real comparison here.The story of Night of Knives is set several years before the events of Erikson’s (vastly superior) series, and focuses on an event that has hitherto been only mysteriously alluded to: the night the Emperor disappeared. It’s a great idea for a novel, and the actual story itself should feel quite nicely self-contained, set as it is over the course of a single night. Unfortunately Esslemont’s somewhat pedestrian writing style makes this relatively short novel feel like a real slog. The plot is slow and clumsy when it should be fast-paced and exciting; the settings are flat and repetitive when they should be evocative; and the characters are distant and passive when they should be sympathetic and engaging.Night of Knives centres around two major POV characters: Kiska, a local-born thief; and Temper, former bodyguard to the great Dassem Ultor (another legendary figure name-dropped throughout the main series). While neither of these characters is dislikeable, I felt a complete lack of connection with Kiska, and had only marginally more sympathy for Temper due to the few flashbacks granting us a little of his history. Esslemont’s characterisation is far from subtle, with Kiska coming across as an irritating self-centred youth and Temper’s every action seemingly completely contradicting his thoughts. I found that I had no idea what either character was going to do next, and even less idea of whether or not I cared.I think one of the main problems regarding the characters is how little they actually do. Characters from the main series such as Tayschrenn and Temper seem to spend most of the novel acting like curious bystanders rather than major players and, while it’s nice to see them given more page time here, they seem to have no real impact on the plot itself. Even Kiska spends pretty much the entirety of the book reacting to events rather than participating in them. This sense of passively witnessing proceedings, rather than actively taking part in them, is perhaps a large part of why Night of Knives doesn’t feel particularly engaging. Although Esslemont does manage to scrape together a nice (if somewhat feeble) air of tension, most of the real action happens off-screen, and as such the characters – and thus the reader – feel as though they are of little importance in the night’s events, and have even less at stake in their outcome.And it’s not just the characters I had issues with: I also felt the pacing of events to be a little off, with the much-anticipated climax occurring off-screen, followed by another series of events with yet another climax. These final events involve a vague subplot comprising an Azath house and a magical attack on the island, and its relevance to the rest of the events is not made entirely clear. It all feels a bit bewildering, as though two separate stories have been shoehorned together. Another thing I found confusing was the surplus of ‘dark figures’ and ‘men in cloaks’; Esslemont’s use of noun phrases rather than names meant that I sometimes had difficulty keeping track of who was who, and just what the hell was going on, particularly in the ongoing conflict between the Claws and the shadow cultists.However, it’d be unfair to say that there are no positives to be found in Esslemont’s debut novel. For instance, I really enjoyed the extended flashbacks involving Temper’s time in Y’Ghatan: these segments reveal a lot about events that have so far been only cryptically alluded to in the main series, and provide a nice bit of backstory for Temper’s character. The novel as a whole actually improves as it progresses, and the imagery the author manages to evoke – mystic ice-bound beings, fog, darkness and shadow, monstrous hounds, undead – creates a nicely eerie atmosphere. In fact, the entire concept of the novel – set on a single night, on an ice-besieged island, during a Shadow Moon – is awesome. It’s just a shame it’s so awkwardly executed, and that the presenting of circumstances seems so painfully contrived (what are the chances an unpredictable Shadow Moon would just happen to occur on this night of all nights?).So, the premise of Night of Knives is fairly solid, and its resolution fairly satisfying. However, I find myself left with a lot of questions, such as: Why is Temper so desperate to involve himself in the night’s events when his current mission in life is to remain under the empire’s radar? What exactly is a Shadow Moon? Why are they so unpredictable, how do they work, and why are they never mentioned in the main series? Who is Agayla? Who was the old man in the fishing boat? Who was the old man in the pub? What was that vague mention of a prophecy all about?Why couldn’t Steven Erikson have written this book instead?
Given that Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series has just released its 9th doorstop of a tome (well, it's been released in the UK, and all real fans already have a copy, even if we haven't all read it yet), it's hard to not to compare Night of Knives to those works. Erikson and Esselmont created the world and its history and characters over the course of many years starting in the early 80s, originally as a world for their roleplaying campaign. As both were aspiring writers, they planned to share the world, and with Night of Knives (2005) and the more recent Return of the Crimson Guard, Esselmont has entered the fray.So, as I said, it's hard not to compare them. I've been quoted in reviews as suggesting that Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen just may be the greatest epic fantasy series being written right now. Regardless of the truth (or not) of that claim, it shows the respect that I have for the series, and I worried somewhat about how this would hold up. The good news: I wasn't disappointed. Esselmont writes well and tells a good story. Here, he fills in some of the history that came before Erikson's Gardens of the Moon, but he does so in a very compact story: excepting an extended flashback, the action takes place over the course of a single days--quite different from Erikson's sprawling stories. For some readers, this economy will be a strong point in its favor. I like my fantasy on an epic scale. At the same time, Erikson has a definite seriousness of purpose in the novels he's writing: they're not just good stories, but they also explore interesting ideas--sometimes real-world, human issues, sometimes more speculative issues, but always thoughtfully done. Esselmont doesn't really attempt any such thing--it's too spare to do much more than tell a good story, and it succeeds in that. Ultimately, it's probably just a matter of taste, and some readers will surely prefer this novel to Erikson's work, but I'm not one. This is a solid story, and there's certainly nothing to disappoint a long-time Erikson reader--it might even bring some new readers reluctant to try Erikson's big, imposing work. It was good enough--and added enough to the depth of the world--that I look forward to reading Esselmont's other work.
What do You think about Night Of Knives (2007)?
I enjoyed this book, but I would love to see the notes Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont have on their Malazan world because it still seems like I'm missing something. I was expecting insight on Kellanved, Dancer, and Surly but that's not what this prequel is. I liked the new characters, Temper and Kiska. Edgewalker was cool. The real surprise was how much I liked Artan and Hatter. It was also a much easier read than Erikson's books. Update 2/5/12The first time I read this I had only read the first three Erikson books and had a shakey understanding of the series and the world. After getting lost I read this hoping for some clarity. It didn't help. Well now I have read all the books of the main series and yes I did understand and enjoy this one more. I don't recommend reading it too early. There's an introduction that tells this world was always meant to be a shared world. But where The Book of the Fallen seems to have little in common with the books like Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms this one would fit right in. Not that it's bad. It's not. But it does seem like Malazan-lite. It does give interesting background on the history of the main series, but it does almost seem like a fan fiction. Let me put it another way. I watched the show Lost. After it had been on a few seasons they decided to introduce new characters to the island. Characters who had always been there but unseen. They even shot scenes where these characters were in the background of scenes from the previous seasons. They were given too much importance. Another example. A popular device in fan fiction is to plant a new character in with established characters to stand in for the reader. I couldn't help but think of this for Kiska and Temper. But especially Kiska. I won't spoil it, but she witnesses one of, if not the most, the most important events in the Malazan world. And that stretched my belief a little too much.I would've rather had a book that focused on Kellanved, Dancer, Surly, and Tayschrenn alone without buffer characters. But it was good if not quite on the same level of the Erikson books. I recommend it to any fans of that series that haven't read this yet. For readers who haven't read then yet it probably won't do much for you. And for anyone who wonders if it will change your mind about the series, probably not.
—Traci
Updated after re-read in 03/2015: Now trying to read the series chronologically. Not much to add to my previous review, except that the way Esslemont sometimes describes the same scene from different perspectives is really clever.After finishing The Crippled God, I decided to loiter in the world of malazan and started reading this book (Mostly because I fear that if I start reading another series before continuing with Malazan books, I will have forgotten all the characters and will be unable to understand what is going on).It was a short book, especially compared to the 10 000+ pages of the main series (d'oh), so there was not as much space for character development (Perhaps the thing I enjoyed most about the original series), but all in all, I don't feel like I have "wasted time" reading this book. It was a good read, it answered some of the pressing questions I had about Cotillion and Shadowthrone, not to mention Dassem Ultor. It feels like it belongs into the world, which is probably the most important thing.Ian C Esslemont is obviously no Erikson (Which makes sense, considering that that position is already taken). His style is different from Eriksons, but not in a bad way. And since this book has the second reference to a stuck weather vane in Malaz City, I want to know what all that is about. So, bring it on, Esslemont. Return of the crimson Guard is in the mail.
—Max
OK, so it wasn’t much of a break, I finished this in an afternoon/evening. Also, I’m betting that “Ian C. Esslemont” is not a pen name (Erikson is). That’s just too much name to be made up.ORIZIT?DUNDUNthissstupid. Stop it! Silly.Right. Where was I? The book.There’s not much to it.The back cover copy should have just said “The night of Kellanved & Dancer’s ascension.” Seriously. I mean yeah, they barely get any scene time at all (a handful of lines), but that’s really why we came right? To see what the hell happened?Well, we still don’t really find out. That kind of pissed me off. They went back into the Deadhouse they’d lived in for years…and that did it? WHAT?So, other than NOT having the critical information that I was looking for and ALSO having some extended sequences about dudes riding ice that… did not make a whole lot of sense, especially given the epilogue scene (but that will surely be picked up on later, right?) was it OK?Yeah, I guess. It had some Bridgeburners. But they were total dicks? Except for one. And we got some background on Dassem Ultor and how he went down. That was cool. And it was a fast read. The two leads were… OK. Neither of them very bright and driven… or perhaps consumed by their own natures. Really not bad for a first book, especially when he kind of has/had to compete with Gardens of the Moon.TWO AND SEVEN EIGHTHS STARSBecause I skimmed a lot because things were unclear (without being apparently crucial, a la Erikson) and some extended descriptions were uninteresting. Or didn’t feel relevant. Also, I may be unfair in my judgement because I really wanted to see things from Kellanved & Dancer’s perspectives. Annnd I want to know wtf happened to make them gods. Seriously.[update before post: I'm 200 pages or so into Bonehunters, and it has already referenced a few things specifically from this book, so that's interesting. ]
—Onefinemess
