Midnight Tides

The Malazan Book of the Fallen 5

By: Steven Erikson

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 31 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Midnight Tides: The Malazan Book of the Fallen 5 by Steven Erikson, read by Michael Page.

After decades of warfare, the five tribes of the Tiste Edur have finally united under the implacable rule of the Warlock King of the Hiroth. But peace has been exacted at a terrible price - a pact made with a hidden power whose motives are at best suspect, at worst deadly.

To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether has devoured all of its less-civilised neighbours with rapacious, cold-blooded hunger. All, that is, save one - the Tiste Edur. For Lether is approaching a long-prophesied renaissance - from kingdom and lost colony of the First Empire to Empire reborn. And so its people have fixed their avid gazes northward, to the rich and abundant lands and coasts of the Tiste Edur. And beneath the suffocating weight of gold, or by slaughter at the edge of a sword, it seems the Tiste Edur must fall. Or so Destiny has decreed.

As the gathering for a pivotal treaty between the two nears, ancient forces are awakening. For the impending struggle between these two civilisations is but a pale reflection of a far more profound, primal battle - a confrontation with the still-raw wound of an old betrayal and the craving for vengeance at its heart.

Among the Tiste Edur - among Trull Sengar's people - it is believed that the darkest hungers of the spirit arrive on the tides from the south, and these tides come at midnight....

War and betrayal, magic and myth collide in this, the stunning fifth chapter in Steven Erikson's magnificent Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence - a monumental achievement that is being hailed as an epic of the imagination and a fantasy classic in the making.

©2004 Steven Erikson (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks

Tehold on a minute and listen this ASAP

How many times this author will beat me to my senses into loving new characters and widening my perception of the Malazan World? not enough it seems.

Rhapsody about greed and power

Capitalist rhapsody. "Power of idea in wrong hands - they are all wrong hands." These days, Russia attacked Ukraine and there are some relatable points and war atrocities depicted in this book. And the destructing power of greed, power and endless expansion (greatly depicted in Kuru Qan Empty Hold magic). Great and terrible Ericson - at the beginning it felt a bit more in the middle, mundane, less madhouse compared to previous books, but later it step up to its bizzarity, albeit it is somewhat different than previous books. As before, vivid imagery and language is included. In the beginning, I was a bit disappointed, that there is not something like the Pannion Seers Che'Malle from Memories of Ice, but when the parasite for Shurq appeared (and the drowning of indebted too), I was starting to be (partly comically) entertained. The whole Tehol and Bug storyline and characters is the most entertaining for me. The dark humor tone there is great, just enough that the book is still kind of tragedy, but a very multifaceted one. In this book, I especially realized the difference when I am listening to the book (I listened to most of them) and reading it (I listened to this too, but I tried to read some parts) - listening is much more confusing at the beginning, probably thanks to all those names and Erikson's style). Going through characters on wiki usually helps. Another narrator can change the overall feeling too, I would like to try another one someday (not that Michael Page is bad). Bug reminds me Saturnin the servant from the Czech novel by Zdeněk Jirotka, if some Czechs are reading this (Saturnin was a man servant with various hidden talents too).

Slow , but explosive ending

So the beginning was so slow , it took me longer to get going than the previous books. Definitely worth the effort.