House of Chains

Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 4

By: Steven Erikson

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 35 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

In Northern Genabackis, a raiding party of savage tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flatlands. Their intention is to wreak havoc amongst the despised lowlanders, but for the one named Karsa Orlong, it marks the beginning of what will prove to be an extraordinary destiny.

Some years later, it is the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs. Tavore, the Adjunct to the Empress, has arrived in the last remaining Malazan stronghold of Seven Cities. New to command, she must hone 12,000 soldiers, mostly raw recruits but for a handful of veterans of Coltaine's legendary march, into a force capable of challenging the massed hordes of Sha'ik's Whirlwind, who lie in wait in the heart of the Holy Desert.

But waiting is never easy. The seer's warlords are locked into a power struggle that threatens the very soul of the rebellion, while Sha'ik herself suffers, haunted by the knowledge of her nemesis: her own sister, Tavore.

And so begins this awesome chapter in Steven Erikson's acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen.

©2002 Steven Erikson (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

New Narrator ruins experience.

Malazan Book of the Fallen is one of the most complex Epic Fantasy series every written. I listened to book one, and book two, then book 3. When I listened to book three, everything clicked. I went back and listened to the series again from the beginning, and this vast world is amazing. Gods walking among men, warrens, magic.. I could go on and on.. Ralph Lister was amazing. And now we have Michael Page... Who I've never heard narrate before... And to be blunt, all his voices are the same voice, with different variances of 'grate' to it. And I couldn't concentrate on the book. I couldn't connect to the characters. I was sad to look on Brilliance Audio's website to see the rest of the 10 book series will be released over the next 3 years, and they all have this new narrator. I've never reviewed a book where I focused on the narration before, but wow. This world is too rich to go from someone who narrates a character like Fiddler with a very fast, witty voice... Then have the have the same character turn into a gruffy sounding soldier who just grunts.

I'm just... Disappointed.

Ralph Lister is missed

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, but only in the sense that I want to continue with the Malazan series but do not have the time to read traditionally (I listen while commuting etc). While Page is competent, the memory of how vastly superior Ralph Lister was makes it difficult to enjoy the performance (as opposed to the book itself).

How did the narrator detract from the book?

It is a huge shame that Ralph Lister seems to no longer be narrating the books. While Michael Page is generally decent enough as a narrator, he simply doesn't have the range of voices, accents and intonations that Lister used. Admittedly, he makes an effort to distinguish characters (more than most narrators do), but he simply isn't as good as Lister. Lister's Kruppe will be missed!

What is also off-putting is that no effort seems to have been made to match pronunciation with the previous books. While I have no idea what led to the (very unfortunate for us readers) decision of letting Ralph Lister go, Michael Page should have acknowledged that he is picking up a series part way through and therefore should have made sure to maintain a consistent pronunciation. It is incredibly jarring to hear Page pronounce things in a manner which I (thanks to 3 gigantic books prior to this) think of as incorrect. Every time this happens I am brought out of the narration; constant interruptions to the flow of the narration like this make it difficult to enjoy the book. Unfortunately, with a book series like this with so many fictitious names and terms, it happens a great deal.

Write Brilliance Audio to get Ralph Lister back!

This book made me realize how spoiled I was by Ralph Lister with the first three books. Love this series so far but handing narration duties over to Michael Page was a big mistake. I'm not saying that Michael Page is a bad narrator, he does a wonderful job with the Locke Lamora series by Scott Lynch, he just is not the right guy for this series. They had the right guy, he read the first three books. Maybe it was a scheduling issue, but on the Brilliance Audio website it has Michael Page listed as the reader for the rest of the books in the series. Hopefully they come to their senses and switch back to Ralph Lister, if not I will probably be reading the rest of the series in print.

New Narrator is a Bummer

If you’ve listened to books by Steven Erikson before, how does this one compare?

This fourth installment os more or less on par with the pervious three but it is getting kinda carried away. One of the main reasons I loved the first three books as much as I did was because while there were wildly powerful characters in the story, many more were normal people in the midst of extraordinary situations. In House of Chains most of the characters have near god-like powers and I think it is getting a touch extreme.

Any additional comments?

As has been noted in other reviews the new narrator leaves a lot to be desired. The new voices for old characters is pretty jarring, Quick-Ben, for example, sounds nothing like he did in the first three book and it is distracting. There are other voices as well that have been dramatically altered.

No Brilliance in this audio

This is my first review which should give some clue as to how important it is for buyers, producers, and anyone having anything to do with this series.THE NARRATION BY MICHAEL PAGE IS TERRIBLE. I don't see why audio production companies are so geared towards ruining longer series. At the very least they could have made Page listen to Lister's narration so the names, titles, and places would sound the same as in the earlier books.
Even if he couldn't pull off close to the same voices as Lister he could have tried to make the characters sound like different people or beings. It is clear there was no effort put in to this production.
I am half way though the book and probably have twice the hours of the length of the book into it. Why?, you ask. Because of rewinding from confusion of who is who. Little difference in characters' voices make hard to know what is going on and that is a shame because this world is a complex and diverse world ruined by a bad narrator and producer. There is a reasons people listen to audio books and for me one of those is not having the time to pick up a book. I listen as I work or do chores and now I fear I will miss out on the rest of this series due to horrendous narration and oversight.

Story is Great, Narriation is Disappointing

Any additional comments?

I was introduced to this series through audible.com - as such I connected with these characters through the interpretive narration of Ralph Lister. I have to agree with other comments concerning the change of narrator. I think that had the series started with Michael Page - I may not be writing this review. But that is not the case - not only does the characterization of Fiddler, Sorry, and Cutter not match the mental picture I have of those characters - the pronunciation of certain words takes some getting use to (Felisin, Taverore, and Raraku). At this point, I am not certain I will continue with the remainder of this series - sorry Steven.

Viewing a landscape through a keyhole.

What did you love best about House of Chains?

Erikson's ability to construct the rich and historically vast world that is unveiled to us through his endearing character's adventures is mastery.

What other book might you compare House of Chains to and why?

This is a parallel closest to the Deadhouse Gates in terms of timeline and the continent it mostly takes place on.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Michael Page?

Absolutely change the narrator. Micheal Page tries but his range is too narrow to even attempt to pull this off. He mindless ploughs through the deadpan humor of the soldiers and doesn't grasp the subtle performance needed to breathe life into dialogue. He approaches every interaction from the same perspective and it unfortunately removes any identity from the characters whilst making the scenes seem repetitive. But Mr. Page is not to blame, Brilliance Audio gets an F for not recognizing that this was not a good match.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The scenes that would have moved me were lost in the abyss of the narration.

Any additional comments?

Huge fan of the series. Don't think I'll subject my beloved characters to anymore of this narration. If the plan was to release these over the next couple of years, its a stupid policy. Re-record these wonderful books and allow some life back into the story.

Narration is pretty bad

Would you try another book from Steven Erikson and/or Michael Page?

Steven erickson is great but Michael dosent do the series justice

What other book might you compare House of Chains to and why?

The other malazan books

How could the performance have been better?

If the narrater had been different

Could you see House of Chains being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes

Any additional comments?

The first 3 books were a great listen if you like big fantasy series and the naration was great. Michael page was not a good choice to replace R lister, the characters are a bit grey in a good way but lister brought them to life giving them each a uniqueness. Michael gives them all a similar drab voice along with severely different pronunciations. I found it hard to stay engaged in the story. The book is great just not brought to life as well as the first 3

Michael Page -- Where epic fantasy goes to die...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The book is amazing. I thoroughly enjoy Steven Erikson's story telling. His characters are deep and evolve in a realistic and compelling fashion. His plots are big complex arcs of glimpsed experience that leaves my imagination exercised and my concentration tested.

What was one of the most memorable moments of House of Chains?

Karsa Orlong is the uberprotagonist. He's one of my favorite characters of Erikson's.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I'm not sure how Michael Page still has a job doing readings. That may sound harsh but seriously, this guy phones it in. Did he even bother to listen to the previous books for an idea of what he was reading? You know, for some semblance of continuity? His reading is just jarring. His pronunciation of unique-to-the-world words is completely off in left field [soul-taken becomes soleytak'ken for instance]. Each one of his characters is COMPLETELY different from the previous books - so much so that it makes following dialogue almost impossible in some instances. Other instances, the voice he uses for bigger-than-life demigod types sounds like a tavern drunk… Its distracting to say the least.
Its the same crap he's pulled in other series when he comes in halfway through to wreck the experience (like when he follows Pacey and mangles Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

You probably just read it...

Any additional comments?

A message to Audible -- Start treating trilogies and series like single books and hire voice-over actors accordingly.

You wouldn't change voice-over actors halfway through "Gone With the Wind" so why is it OK to do it halfway through a trilogy series?!

Write up a contract for the life of the series instead of per book or whatever. I'm pretty hard on Michael Page above, but its probably more your fault or whomever contracts the voiceover work (after all, I really enjoyed The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence).

I know. You know. Michael Page knows. We can do better than this.

One of my favourite series, but ...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book to read, yes, the audiobook? No. The narrator is terrible, this is the second time he has ruined one of my favourite series. Why couldn't they keep the original narrator? Michael Page's voice sounds the same for every character, and they all sound like they swallowed a pail of gravel. Unfortunately it looks like he is doing the rest of the series too.

Do yourself a favour, if you are interested in this book, buy it and read it yourself.