Forge of the High Mage

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Well paced, more lore for the foundation of the Malazan Empire and the future conflicts its drawn into. Still crazy as a coconut, but much less frustrating because now, all his associates are aware of his unlimited potential, his infinite cunning and utter unpredictability. Forge of the High Mage is the fourth book in the Path to Ascendency that deals with the formation of the Malazan Empire. However, by Esslemont taking them away from the absolute forefront of this narrative, he is adding to their infamy and legend, when other perspectives are deciphering the rumours or contemplating the reputation of the pair. I felt like his original 6 were a little gimmicky - like seeing the rest of the Star Wars universe you always wanted to see but then realize it was better keeping it mysterious.

I absolutely loved the first three books from this series and had high expectations from this one but I felt that this was probably the weakest so far in the series. Malazan, Theloman, Tiste Andii, Crimson Guard and let's not forget the spider at the center of the web, a certain Dal Hon mage and his companion.

I had slightly higher hopes for the exploration of Falar, for actually going into the dark underbelly of the Jhistal cult and in that respect, this book didn’t quite hit the mark.

However, there was a considerable time jump from the previous book which means a lot of the Malazan expansion happened off page which was very disappointing. This series is a prequel to the events of Erikson‘s Malazan Book of the Fallen and Esslemont’s own Novels of the Malazan Empire, with this entry seeing Kellanved (The Emperor), Dancer (Master Assassin), Dassem Ultor (The Sword), Tayschrenn (High Mage) and their armies advancing into Falar.Esslemont and Steven Erikson co-created the Malazan world in 1982 as a backdrop for role-playing games. If you haven't read any of the main series by the authors yet, I very highly recommend that you do, you won't regret it. Only snafu was the absolute sudden unexplained and glaring omission of a character on page 111 who should have had an explanation for his unresolved absence. This book involves the continued conquests of Emperor Kellanved, as he takes over all of Quon Tali and turns his sights onto Falar.

Here, then, in the tracts of the Ice Wastes and among the islands of Falar, the Empire of Malaz faces two seemingly insurmountable tests - each one potentially the origin of its destruction . He'll never reach the heights of Steven Erikson but not all Malazan books have to be 1000-page tomes full of philosophy. Never the less, it is still a very enjoyable book, and a fun look back at some of the series' best characters. The book is a very enjoyable romp through the early years of Malazan expansion, featuring a lot of the big players from the main series making names for themselves.He’s not my favorite overpowered mage in the Malazan universe, but this volume does well to humanize him a bit. On the flip side, Mael himself is an active character in this book, he’s there to influence and sanction the proper use of power drawn from him (and not by the oily, slimy bastard Rel). slight spoilers here but i adored how dancer was handled in his reunion to ullara, especially considering the underlying tension with lasseen that makes the ultimate outcome that much more understandable.