4 / 5 stars So, half way through Malazan I thought I’d share some thoughts on the series so far, so this could be considered as kind of a spoiler free mid-series-review. I have never experienced anything in the modern media, and media in general, that comes even close to the sheer scale and scope that is the Malazan Book of the Fallen. If there is just one objectively positive thing that I can share about this series it is my deepest respect and admiration for Steven Erikson’s vision and his execution of it. Every bit of storytelling, every dialogue and every scene feels thought out masterfully to the point where it partially blows my mind even thinking of it. Malazan doesn't feel like your traditional tale, it feels more like the history of a whole universe unfolding beautifully before the readers eyes. It is in no way perfect (at least as of now) but it is a truly special and unique experience to witness. Even though there are some parts (if not to say many) of the story so far that utterly confuse or just bore me, at least the confusion I felt seems kind of intentionally placed by Erikson just to be (often probably much much later) resolved in further installments of the series. This makes me glad to be reading the books relatively close back-to-back because this way I don’t find myself completely lost every time I start the next installment in the series. Something that I also want to mention is the structure of the story so far. While the first two books of the series felt pretty overwhelming with all the new storylines and characters, especially because Erikson throws you right into the story without giving some information which might be considered as pretty important by the average fantasy reader, such as not explaining the magic system at all, the last three installments of the first half of the series felt way more condensed and approachable. Now that all of the storylines feel set up after the first 5 books, the actual main part of the story can finally start converging. Although the Malazan Book of the Fallen isn’t a 5 star read for me as of jet, I can definitely see it becoming so. Now that what feels just like the setup for the actual story has come to an end, I can not wait to see Erikson’s vision unfold in truly epic scale.

Midnight Tides katapultierte uns in die ferne Vergangenheit und breitete ein komplett neues Imperium vor uns aus. Auch dieser Band ist mit Sicherheit gut geschrieben, aber omg war das teilweise anstrengend und zäh. Mich konnten große Teile der Handlung einfach gar nicht abholen und die Geschehnisse ließen mich überwiegend kalt. Schon wieder neue Charaktere, die wir, glaube ich, nur kennenlernten, um sie sterben zu sehen und der Mehrwert vieler Aspekte blieb mir schlichtweg verborgen. So viel Handlung, die irgendwie einfach im Sande verläuft… *gähn*. Manche Abschnitte gefielen mir dagegen richtig gut, um nicht zu sagen sie waren fantastisch. Und insbesondere die letzten 2-3 Kapitel waren durchgehend einfach der Wahnsinn. Ich frage mich, warum hier Vieles so künstlich in die Länge gezogen wurde, denn meines Erachtens hätte das Buch sehr davon profitiert, etwa die Hälfte der Handlung zu streichen… Ich bin jedenfalls froh, dass es vorbei ist und wir nun hoffentlich wieder packendere Geschichten erzählt bekommen.