Stonewielder

Novels of the Malazan Empire, Book 3

By: Ian C. Esslemont

Narrated by: John Banks

Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

Finally feels like I'm reading Malazan.

Maybe it was just me getting used to the new narrator in 'Night of Knives' and 'Return of the Crimson Gaurd'. Maybe I was just getting used to Esslemont's writing style as opposed to Erikson's. Maybe Esslemont found his footing for this book in particular. Regardless. While 'Return of the Crimson Gaurd' only began to show true signs of life by the end of its dense pages, Stonewielder read from beginning to end like a true Malazan narrative. The cast is familiar, and used efficiently, and the new faces wonderfully bring the foreboding continent of Fist to life. I hope Esslemont can keep this spark going as I get ready to dive into 'Orb Scepter Throne'.

If you were able to make it through 'Return of the Crimson Gaurd' and still want more then this is Esslemont at his best so far.

Nice story.

Cool story and characters. A lot of them from Ericsson books. Couldn't understand some of the narators voices, somehow men talked like wemens.

another amazing chapter in the Malazan world!!!

I like how the separate storyline deals with entire different continents of the world while using the same magic system pretty amazing work they're doing together.

awesome!

just plain awesome I love the book love the author love the narrator I would recommend this to everyone

awesome

heres another great book and great narration, I'm getting the next in the series now