• Stonewielder

  • Novels of the Malazan Empire, Book 3
  • By: Ian C. Esslemont
  • Narrated by: John Banks
  • Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (647 ratings)

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Stonewielder  By  cover art

Stonewielder

By: Ian C. Esslemont
Narrated by: John Banks
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Publisher's summary

Greymane believed he'd outrun his past. With his school for swordsmanship in Falar, he was looking forward to a quiet life, although his colleague Kyle wasn't as enamored with life outside the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. However, it seems it is not so easy for an ex-Fist of the Malazan Empire to disappear, especially one under sentence of death from that same Empire.

For there is a new Emperor on the throne of Malaz, and he is dwelling on the ignominy that is the Empire's failed invasion of the Korel subcontinent. In the vaults beneath Unta, the Imperial capital, lie the answers to that disaster. And out of this buried history surfaces the name Stonewielder.

In Korel, Lord Protector Hiam, commander of the Stormguard, faces the potential annihilation of all that he holds dear. With few remaining men and a crumbling stone wall that has seen better days, he confronts an ancient enemy: the sea-borne Stormriders have returned.

Religious war also threatens these lands. The cult of the Blessed Lady, which had stood firm against the Riders for millennia, now seeks to eradicate its rivals. And as chaos looms, a local magistrate investigating a series of murders suddenly finds himself at the heart of a far more ancient and terrifying crime - one that has tainted an entire land....

Stonewielder is an enthralling new chapter in the epic story of a thrillingly imagined world that takes place in the timeline right after the New York Times bestseller Dust of Dreams left off.

©2016 Ian C. Esslemont (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Stonewielder

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

meh

I love the universe that Erickson and Esselmont have created, but Esselmonts writing lacks the depth and complexity of his partner. This isn't helped by a narrator who doesn't know how to pronounce basic English and arbitrarily raises and lowers the volume of his voice, meaning I have to relisten to parts immediately after hearing them with the volume cranked up and hope I can turn it back down before he resumes the normal volume and I end up deaf.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I had little faith in ICE

I'm the biggest The Malazan Book of the Fallen fan there ever is. I'm ready to die after her finishes his trilogy. So I decided I wanted more of Malaz and decided to give Esslemont a try. Well I read NoK and it was absolute trash. Then I read RotCG which was even more confusing that GotM on account of its sloppy writing, though the plot was great. Now finally I've struck gold. This book was great that at some points I even forgot Steven Erikson didn't write it. I had no faith in this book but by listening to ICE's most recent book Dancer's Lament I had the evidence of tighter more compelling writing that I needed to pick back up his main series. It was worth it. I loved this return to Wu!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Esslemont's best work to date.

This book is a major improvement over Esslemont's first two books in this series. Story is good, characters are solid, narration is good. Brilliant.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

finally finished!

I absolutely love these books I can not get enough of them I hope they never emd

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite ICE novel so far!

This one was really quite great. From front to back this book encapsulates you and sucks you into the Malazan world! 10/10 Novel.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

This was an enjoyable read.
If you liked “A Tale of the Malazan,” you’ll probably enjoy this one as well. Esslemont’s writing is rather different than Ericksons’, yet he captivates you just the same.

I enjoyed the performance as well. It too is quite different than “A Tale of the Malazan” in tone and feel. This series has a distinct feel to it that I’m coming around to thoroughly enjoy.

On to the next book for me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing piece of thought provoking literature.

Atmospheric, epic scale, amazing characters and complex but still followable plots.

The best book I've read so far by this author. This was just amazing.

Admittedly I didn't like the first few books of this author's series and also really found the original 10 Malazan books by Erickson amazing until around book 8 where I started drifting off the world of Malazan and just completly fell out of interest at The Crippled God. So I'm a fan but not a super-fan deluded to not being able to see flaws.

This however reinvigorated my love for this world with how well written it was and the captivating atmosphere this author is able to create.

Some of the plot threads on where these characters are heading is gut wrenching and with such complex characters they felt realistic. I was easily able to identify the big players here and they felt living and breathing to me.

Admittedly some of the combat scenes went on longer then I liked but I understood the need as it was building to a climax.

The ending was just insane. The way this author formed up this religion, culture and fleshed out this world geographically was such a creative stroke of genius that I just was mind blown seeing how this world met it's eventual conclusion.

I'm so excited for Malazan again and can't wait to get into this series even further.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • C
  • 07-16-22

Sort of epic? Felt really disconnected.

There were definitely aspects of the story that I found very interesting. The mystery of “The Lady”, the Stormguard as some anti Nights Watch from ASOIAF, Toblekai just out here chillin. But it all felt really disjointed from itself. I was on the lookout for a convergence that kind of fizzled so all the plot lines felt… inconsequential and as a result some of them were really tough to get through. Cool ideas, just a kind of weak execution. Oh well. Still love and am invested in this Malazan world.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

worthwhile

the story was occasionally very captivating and the narrator did a fine job differentiating voices, but the quality. of the audio was tinny throughout.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I couldn't get into this

I restarted this book three times, because I just wasn't following along. Hopping through time with different groups of characters, it never held my attention. I never felt attached to any character, I never felt anything at all. If not for the narrator I'd never have gotten through it. I barely know what the story was about, and that was a lot off hours to be in this position for me. Normally I follow everything and get invested. Perhaps the character development was lacking early on, or throughout? I'll read other reviews and try to check myself. I feel odd leaving a negative review!

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