By Ian C. Esslemont, co-creator with Steven Erikson of the Malazan universe. It ties up one or two of the many loose ends from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. In tone, it's like the Malazan Book of the Fallen with everything diluted out in the direction of a typical fantasy novel, but not all the way. The setting is Darujhistan, where a scholar working for Humble Measure (from the Book of the Fallen) disturbs an old monster from the legendary days of the Tyrants. In the process we get some more pieces of the history of Darujhistan, and of the Seguleh super-warriors, who also come into the story importantly, but nothing as intense as Erikson's labyrinthine and metaphysically loaded archaeologies. A side plot has the ex-Bridgeburner Antsy exploring the remains of Moon's Spawn, the flying Tiste Andii city. There are a lot more characters shared with the Book of the Fallen, and in general Esslemont does a good job of taking them over, even managing some passable Kruppe. The most faded, however are Picker and Blend, the ex-Bridgeburner lesbian couple, and female characters are much fewer and more conventional than with Erikson. Also extremely watered down is all the pain, violence, and trauma that matter so much in Erikson's books. more of a 3.5 stars this, because while there are a number of flaws, I still rattled through it perfectly happily and will move on to the next. It's a tricky thing, to try and copy another's writer's style, esp when that writer is a major star of the genre, so at times this feels forced, and there are a number of the many threads that didn't really seem to matter to the overall plot and I didn't understand what was going on exactly anyway. SO maybe just me of course, but it didn't stop me enjoying another slice of Malazan fun anyway.
What do You think about Orb Sceptre Throne (2012)?
Definitely my favourite of Esslemont's Malazan novels to date.
—anna
Loved it, I really need to pick up the next book.
—chris
Excellent....weaves the human nature in magic..
—gorgon
