You’re a bolder BookTuber than I am, Andy! I’m not sure I could commit to a ranking, but I like your reasoning for most of your picks. I’d probably put a couple books a bit higher, like Deadhouse Gates, but with the restrictions you gave yourself, I can agree with where you placed The Crippled God. Lots of fun - thanks!
Stopping this video at Memories of Ice for obvious reasons. I am appreciating Deadhouse Gates more now than when I finished reading it back in May. Looking back, I can't think of anything quite like Coltaine and the Chain of Dogs. Such powerful imagery and atmosphere in those battles.
I agree that Felsons story is underrated, she basically has all the bad luck in the family, while Paran seems to always have the good luck after his meeting with the twins in gardens of the moon. Also the audience is always rooting for her to change, but her ending asks the question how would you expect someone who has been through so much trauma to change
my tier list is the same, but i put TtH at the first place (with tCG), and Dust of Dreams in the ascendent tier. Toll the Hounds is so amazing, Rake's dialogues are something I'll never forget. 16:13 is so amazing... I would also like to mention the INCREDIBLE story of Spinnock Durav, his journey to Assail and all his adventures, to have the admiration of ONE man (Rake)
Discovered this video when I was reading Bonehunters. Watched all the way till them, then stopped. Got back to the video after every next book. Finished Crippled God today and oh, how happy I am that I didn't watch you rating it before I read it :)
Currently reading through the series, only on book 7 so I'm stopping at that book here but will come back to finish the video once I complete the series. Felt like taking a stab at this based on what I've read so far, but I'll be interested to come back and update this once I've finished. Elder God: Memories of Ice Ascendant: The Bonehunters, Deadhouse Gates Imperial Mage: Midnight Tides (only because I'm trying to spread these out through all tiers) High Mage: House of Chains, Reaper's Gale (so far, only about a quarter of the way through so this may not be fair) Squad Mage: Gardens of the Moon
Loved this video even if everything you said about Toll the Hounds was why I would put it in Squad Mage for me. Also after being so positive on Dust of Dreams you threw it near the bottom :( DoD is so underrated I think, since it does have thematic unity (“dust” appears so many times throughout, and I think it explored death in a more interesting way than TtH did with the Dying God)-it had an amazing climactic and emotional battle sequence, but most of all it had tremendous character scenes with the Bonehunters on the march/on the boats. The way Erikson brought so many of the minor characters to life during more quiet scenes puts Dust of Dreams in Elder God tier!
Am struggling with this one. Half way through on reread. The nearest comparison I can come up with is God Emperor. Lots of story and background that most of which seems to be filling in some blanks for the grand finale. It is interesting to read Kruppe in complete sentences and that even he agrees after his conversation with Marillo that he can obfuscate what he is trying to say which is completely missed my the listener. Sometimes this is his goal but can cause problems when he wants to actually make a point.
Great video, I excited for your prequel reviews! I love them, but they do take a toll and need a few breaks to get through. Especially forge of darkness which lacks the usual humor in other Malazan books that balances out the bleakness
Slightly different rules for me: I have to place 2 books in each category Gardens of the Moon: Incredible moments and this book feels full of live. The desert settings in other titles makes this a 'lively' experience, even though others might have problems with lacking exposition. 2nd in Imperial Mage. Deadhouse Gates: Pacing issues and characters that you appreciate with hindsight, but are not really enjoyable in the moment. Chain of Dogs makes this still an incredible book, but only enough to put it over one other Malazan book for me. 1st in Squad Mage. Memories of Ice: Incredible and well paced. Probably the book with the highest low, but the book I struggle the most to recollect exactly. Likely underrated, but on the first read 1st in Imperial Mage. House of Chains: Solid all-throughout but missing the high-high-high impact scenes that most of the other books have. Least of the pacing issues with the other desert like books, so its above DG and DoD as 2nd place in High Mage. Midnight Tides: The most well-rounded of all the books. 2nd in Ascendant The Bonehunters: The highest high in action-sequences for me, because they are so varied in PoVs. Y'Ghatan and especially the escape through the tunnels is incredible. 2nd in Elder God. Reaper's Gale: Too many plotlines that hang too loose imo. Shake can't be fully appreciated and Red Mask still confuses me. Might be higher on a Re-Read. 1st in Squad Mage because of Beak. Toll the Hounds: The best single book for me. The heavy reliance of theme and drama made this my favorite of all the books. Start of being more heavily focuses on philosophy benefited the series. 1st in Elder Mage. Dust of Dream: Reached out too far and streched on for too long with plotlines that could have been shorter. Some incredible moments redeem it but its a toss up with DG in Squad Mage. Crippled God: Incredible finish, single handedly carries unappreciable plotlines and makes its predecessors better. 1st in Ascendant With better formatting, I ended up with: __________________________________________________ Elder God: Toll the Hounds, The Bonehunters __________________________________________________ Ascendant: The Crippled God, Midnight Tides __________________________________________________ Imperial Mage: Memories of Ice, Gardens of the Moon __________________________________________________ High Mage: House of Chains, Reaper's Gale __________________________________________________ Squad Mage: Deadhouse Gates, Dust of Dreams __________________________________________________
It's been months since I've read and relistened to the series and the mere mention of Beak broke some small beaver dam in my brain and i started tearing up. Shine bright Beak.
Loved the tier list. Quibble here and there but the only major change would be to put Reaper's Gale as Elder. Beak's story comes out of nowhere to break your heart. Then Silchas Ruin, Udinaas, and that whole group on its trek. How Eriksen using the Patriots being a take on how quickly fascism can take hold on a society. Then Eriksen using the infiltration of the marines to let us become acquainted with them again after all the big visual/epic scenes so we don't forget them. On the reread it is these small scenes that resonate.
Damn. I want to watch this so much. Alas....for fear of inevitable spoilers, I shall have to wait until I am done. I watched up end of House of Chains so far.
I think it's fantastic how each book hits different people in different ways, and on different read throughs. Genuine testament to the work and its depth and range
I agree with your list in so far as all the books can be reasonably placed anywhere due to them all being good. Respect for The Crippled God and Toll the Hounds ranking. I can see your reasoning for the other choices as well and am inclined to agree. The only one I’m salty with is HoC being lower than GoTM. It doesn’t have the punch sure, but that’s the problem with viewing that book in a vacuum. In series wide narrative structure context, I think it’s the unsung hero. Besides that, I think the writing is undeniably better. For me personally, I loved how it allowed me to emotionally digest the earlier books, the way the weight of the world and story settled in, and the way it hinted at future developments, sparking a sense of wonder in me. Really though, it’s Tavore and Felisin’s story that shook me so deeply. Nothing else in the series hit me that hard, and the way it contrasts with DG and MoI, and the way it sets up TCG, I think is just brilliant. Great video though, love your content.
@@AndySmithMN I totally get that. Keep in mind that I have not reread the series yet so my opinion may change once that happens. Nothing gets me in the Malazan mood more than the opening epigraph of GoTM, it's an undeniably iconic novel, I admit. Btw, love the collab you did on Iskar's channel, you have a great perspective. To that extent, you have gotten me interested in other authors you have talked about, like Robin Hobb, which I am looking forward to reading. Thank you again for your work!
My top 10 would be: 1. Midnight Tides 2. Memories of Ice 3. The Bonehunters 4. Deadhouse Gates 5. Dust of Dreams 6. House of Chains 7. Toll the Hounds 8. Gardens of the Moon 9. The Crippled God 10. Reaper's Gale
Wow, mine is quite different. I find it amazing how different people find different things to love in the series and there really is no consensus which is best and which is worst. Truly a masterpiece of a series, and even as you put them in tiers you know they are competing only against each other, so you don't feel bad putting some lower than others. Also, your ranking might change upon re-reading. At first, I really disliked Deadhouse Gates. It was only after reaching Midnight Tides and coming back for a re-reading that it became one of my most liked. S - Memories of Ice A - Reaper's Gale, Deadhouse Gates, Toll the Hounds B - House of Chains, Midnight Tides, Gardens of the Moon, The Crippled God C - The Bonehunters D - Dust of Dreams
@@AndySmithMN Definitely. You can notice a tendency but the individual preferences can vary soo much. I think if you are a proficient reader and you like reading, not just experiencing, it's almost impossible bot to enjoy Malazan. It's just so rich and interlocked, it feels like reading about an actual world, just different from ours, and not a fictional one. It is a feeling very few other authors are able to capture, and none so well (at least that I've read).
It's interesting... In my case, I still need to read TtH, DoD and TCG ... But so far my top goes like this: 1) MoI 2) TB 3) HoC 4) DG 5) MT * 6) RG * 7) GotM *) I have to say I don't necessarily hate Tehol, but he's far from being one of my favorites Pd: Probably the last 3 positions could vary from each other...
Midnight Tides is my favourite, because of Tehol and Bugg, the ratcatchers' guild, Trull Sengar, Hull Beddict. Oh, and did i mention Tehol and Bugg? (#TeholForPresident). House of Chains is my least favourite (still awesome though) because i hated Karsa in the beginning. (I am warleader, witness: eyeroll)
I think you mean Quick Ben is a squad mage, Hedge is a Sapper lol. Now my thoughts on your rankings/the books. Obviously your opinion is your opinion and mine is mine, so no hate. I'm really loving your channel and all of the Malazan content. I'm kinda surprised Gardens didn't go into the Squad Mage tier. Not that I don't love it, but it's kind of difficult to get into on a first read (though on subsequent reads it just gets better and better). Memories of Ice is definitely up there. I'm currently working through it for the 3rd time (audiobook this time) and honestly every time I go through this series parts that I disliked before become better and better to me. I used to hate the Mhybe but this time I find that I'm significantly more sympathetic to her. I still hate Silverfox though. House of Chains, I kind of agree that it's not quite as strong after the first book, but the introduction of Trull and Onrack makes it higher for me. I absolutely love the two of them. Midnight Tides I had the EXACT SAME reaction. I was so mad when I started it and was AGAIN in a completely new place with new characters, but it did not take long at all for them all to win me over. I LOVE Lether and the commentaries on the US "manifest destiny" garbage and the capitalism, and obviously my favorite duo in the series. Bonehunters would be my Elder God ranking. I don't even have words for all the feelings that book makes me feel. Pretty much agree with your assessment on Reaper's Gale. Poleil and Paran's scene is one of my favorites in the whole series. Sooooooooooooo satisfying. Toll the Hounds for me is tough to rank because it feels soooo slow early on but as it builds it just keeps getting better. Dust of Dreams honestly didn't really stick with me. I regrettably never made it back to it on my second readthrough (got partway into Toll the Hounds but life got too busy for me to keep at it). All I really remember is Kruppe's narration. Is that also where the Snake came into it? Because admittedly the point of the Snake went right over my head and I'm really hoping when I get back to it on my current readthrough I am able to parse its meaning better. The Crippled God is absolutely fantastic, can't blame you at all for putting it in the top spot.
Like the tier list a lot. Mine would be much the same only I'd swap MT with MoI and DG with BH. My reasoning for DG is that the emotional impact from it was just devastating, the most unique experience I had had reading, so even though BH has so many epic moments I have to give the nod to the sheer impact that the Chain of Dogs had on me. As for MT, I just think it's straight up a better book than MoI. It's just gorgeous. Even though I had read it several times many years ago, when I read it this year the imagery had my mind imploding with how vividly I could see it. So many times I had to stop reading and just admire the picture Erikson had painted in my mind's eye. A few scenes off the top of my head; Hannan Mosag's sea demon pushing the unmanned seal ships into the harbour, waves crashing into the harbour front. When the Sengar bros descend the chasm in the ice sheet, there's this image of hundreds of carribou (or the Malazan equivalent, ranag maybe?) frozen mid stampede by the Jaghut ritual. Then Trull's running battle against the Jheck had me salivating with how epic it was. The Edur - Letherii battle, where he K'risnan magic gets out of control and forms literal tornados of elder magic. Iron Bars vs the Toblakai gods. Hannan Mosag vs Kuru Qan. I could name every scene from this book and I'd almost be completely justified here LMAO Anyways good video, love the Malazan content, you offer refreshing takes on the series so I hope you can keep it going along with everything else you'll be busy reading. Probably expecting a lot there though ha.
Great Tier list though I dipped out before TCG just in case. Bonehunters (currently) is at that top spot for me...I just love so much about it. And Reaper's Gale for sure stands as my biggest disappointment...I just thought the pay off for all that had been set up was underwhelming at best, which made me sad.
Turns out Lether is actually based on the British empire, I thought it was American capitalism too until i saw daniel greene's interview with Erikson the other day. Can't agree with DoD in High Mage, the marine sections are some of my favourite parts of the series, so damn good
Using your rules: (and generally Left > Right in a tier, but not hard and fast rule) Elder God: The Bonehunters Ascendent: Toll the Hounds, Midnight Tides Imperial Mage: Memories of Ice, The Crippled God, Deadhouse Gates High Mage: Dust of Dreams, Gardens of the Moon, Reaper's Gale Squad Mage: House of Chains Wrote this out before your vid... and jesus I think I agree with you a little too much. Really only one difference.
Were there no restrictions/measuring against other books, not internally to the series, I think at *least* the top 5 there are S tier, 10/10 perfect. The degrees of difference in quality from 'Elder God' to 'Squad Mage' here are just absurdly minor.
Sophie's Choice as a book review. Up to toll on my reread so can't comment on last books but MoI is such a favorite due to Itkovian and then the final scene with Duiker ... just when you are picking up your heart off the floor it gets ripped out again. Iskars bracket is also getting painful.
Tier 1: Toll the hounds Tier 2: Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates & Memories of Ice Tier 3: Reapers Gale, Bonehunters, Dust of Dreams, House of Chains Tier 4: Midnight Tides Tier 5: The Crippled God
@@AndySmithMN, Yeah it didn't do it for me. As the series goes on the theme sort of gets focused on compassion to a degree where it gets repetitive. A strength of Erikson is his ability to tackle many themes and viewpoints simultaneously and i felt that the Crippled God lost that. I was being force fed a single narrative. But, its still a phenomenal book and one of the best ending to a long fantasy/sci fi series i've read. It's much easier to wrap up a trilogy than a larger story.
Reading Dust of Dreams for a 3rd time "The sea is blind to the road And the road is blind to the rain The road welcomes no footfalls The blind are an ocean's flood On the road's shore"
There is heavy critique of capitalism and heirarchy throughout the series, so I guess if your views don't hold up to criticism then yes, this isn't the series for you.
@@ryanoneal8480 I'm just really not interested in glorifying failed economic systems. I mean, I suppose fantasy is the correct genre for it, but I'm not going to read any fantasy books that preach flat earth theory either. To suggest that someone would only avoid such propaganda because their "views don't hold up to criticism" is disingenuous. I'm not going to entertain an idea that has been so profoundly disproved so many times. There are too many wonderful books out there to waste time on yet another defense of socialism.
@@travisbplank ah yes the failed economic systems that are currently flourishing in Cuba and Vietnam, not to mention many many mixed economies around the world...you're very smart to not want to learn about it ;)
@@ryanoneal8480 Our definitions of "flourishing" are very different. If by "flourishing" you mean well-known for human rights violations, crime, and overall poor standards of living and being stuck in the agricultural age, then yes they're doing quite well for themselves.
You’re a bolder BookTuber than I am, Andy! I’m not sure I could commit to a ranking, but I like your reasoning for most of your picks. I’d probably put a couple books a bit higher, like Deadhouse Gates, but with the restrictions you gave yourself, I can agree with where you placed The Crippled God. Lots of fun - thanks!
Stopping this video at Memories of Ice for obvious reasons. I am appreciating Deadhouse Gates more now than when I finished reading it back in May. Looking back, I can't think of anything quite like Coltaine and the Chain of Dogs. Such powerful imagery and atmosphere in those battles.
I agree that Felsons story is underrated, she basically has all the bad luck in the family, while Paran seems to always have the good luck after his meeting with the twins in gardens of the moon. Also the audience is always rooting for her to change, but her ending asks the question how would you expect someone who has been through so much trauma to change
my tier list is the same, but i put TtH at the first place (with tCG), and Dust of Dreams in the ascendent tier. Toll the Hounds is so amazing, Rake's dialogues are something I'll never forget. 16:13 is so amazing... I would also like to mention the INCREDIBLE story of Spinnock Durav, his journey to Assail and all his adventures, to have the admiration of ONE man (Rake)
Discovered this video when I was reading Bonehunters. Watched all the way till them, then stopped. Got back to the video after every next book. Finished Crippled God today and oh, how happy I am that I didn't watch you rating it before I read it :)
Currently reading through the series, only on book 7 so I'm stopping at that book here but will come back to finish the video once I complete the series. Felt like taking a stab at this based on what I've read so far, but I'll be interested to come back and update this once I've finished.
Elder God: Memories of Ice
Ascendant: The Bonehunters, Deadhouse Gates
Imperial Mage: Midnight Tides (only because I'm trying to spread these out through all tiers)
High Mage: House of Chains, Reaper's Gale (so far, only about a quarter of the way through so this may not be fair)
Squad Mage: Gardens of the Moon
Loved this video even if everything you said about Toll the Hounds was why I would put it in Squad Mage for me. Also after being so positive on Dust of Dreams you threw it near the bottom :(
DoD is so underrated I think, since it does have thematic unity (“dust” appears so many times throughout, and I think it explored death in a more interesting way than TtH did with the Dying God)-it had an amazing climactic and emotional battle sequence, but most of all it had tremendous character scenes with the Bonehunters on the march/on the boats. The way Erikson brought so many of the minor characters to life during more quiet scenes puts Dust of Dreams in Elder God tier!
So glad you matched Toll the Hounds's color to its tier.
Am struggling with this one. Half way through on reread. The nearest comparison I can come up with is God Emperor. Lots of story and background that most of which seems to be filling in some blanks for the grand finale.
It is interesting to read Kruppe in complete sentences and that even he agrees after his conversation with Marillo that he can obfuscate what he is trying to say which is completely missed my the listener. Sometimes this is his goal but can cause problems when he wants to actually make a point.
Hood's Bony Prang here! Great tier list my good man! Keep up the awesome work, let's grow this community!!
Letherii Empire is so Colonial England man... Being from Australia and knowing the stunts pulled on the Aboriginals.
Great video, I excited for your prequel reviews! I love them, but they do take a toll and need a few breaks to get through. Especially forge of darkness which lacks the usual humor in other Malazan books that balances out the bleakness
Wasnt Paran vs Poliel in BH? Awesome vid :)
While I disagree with having Reapers Gale so low, great video! I hope you keep the Malazan content coming!!
Slightly different rules for me: I have to place 2 books in each category
Gardens of the Moon: Incredible moments and this book feels full of live. The desert settings in other titles makes this a 'lively' experience, even though others might have problems with lacking exposition. 2nd in Imperial Mage.
Deadhouse Gates: Pacing issues and characters that you appreciate with hindsight, but are not really enjoyable in the moment. Chain of Dogs makes this still an incredible book, but only enough to put it over one other Malazan book for me. 1st in Squad Mage.
Memories of Ice: Incredible and well paced. Probably the book with the highest low, but the book I struggle the most to recollect exactly. Likely underrated, but on the first read 1st in Imperial Mage.
House of Chains: Solid all-throughout but missing the high-high-high impact scenes that most of the other books have. Least of the pacing issues with the other desert like books, so its above DG and DoD as 2nd place in High Mage.
Midnight Tides: The most well-rounded of all the books. 2nd in Ascendant
The Bonehunters: The highest high in action-sequences for me, because they are so varied in PoVs. Y'Ghatan and especially the escape through the tunnels is incredible. 2nd in Elder God.
Reaper's Gale: Too many plotlines that hang too loose imo. Shake can't be fully appreciated and Red Mask still confuses me. Might be higher on a Re-Read. 1st in Squad Mage because of Beak.
Toll the Hounds: The best single book for me. The heavy reliance of theme and drama made this my favorite of all the books. Start of being more heavily focuses on philosophy benefited the series.
1st in Elder Mage.
Dust of Dream: Reached out too far and streched on for too long with plotlines that could have been shorter. Some incredible moments redeem it but its a toss up with DG in Squad Mage.
Crippled God: Incredible finish, single handedly carries unappreciable plotlines and makes its predecessors better. 1st in Ascendant
With better formatting, I ended up with:
__________________________________________________
Elder God: Toll the Hounds, The Bonehunters
__________________________________________________
Ascendant: The Crippled God, Midnight Tides
__________________________________________________
Imperial Mage: Memories of Ice, Gardens of the Moon
__________________________________________________
High Mage: House of Chains, Reaper's Gale
__________________________________________________
Squad Mage: Deadhouse Gates, Dust of Dreams
__________________________________________________
It's been months since I've read and relistened to the series and the mere mention of Beak broke some small beaver dam in my brain and i started tearing up. Shine bright Beak.
Happy Halloween to you 👻🧙♀️🍂🍁🎃 happy reading to u!!
Loved the tier list. Quibble here and there but the only major change would be to put Reaper's Gale as Elder. Beak's story comes out of nowhere to break your heart. Then Silchas Ruin, Udinaas, and that whole group on its trek. How Eriksen using the Patriots being a take on how quickly fascism can take hold on a society. Then Eriksen using the infiltration of the marines to let us become acquainted with them again after all the big visual/epic scenes so we don't forget them. On the reread it is these small scenes that resonate.
This is close to my rankings. My rankings change every time I reread.
TtH, DoD/TCG (it's one book), BH, MoI, MT, RG, DG, GotM, HoC
Damn. I want to watch this so much. Alas....for fear of inevitable spoilers, I shall have to wait until I am done. I watched up end of House of Chains so far.
Just for Fun, out of the 4 I have completed : 4-Gardens of the Moon; 3-House of Chains; 2-Memories of Ice; 1- Deadhouse Gates.(1 being highest)
I think it's fantastic how each book hits different people in different ways, and on different read throughs. Genuine testament to the work and its depth and range
I agree with your list in so far as all the books can be reasonably placed anywhere due to them all being good. Respect for The Crippled God and Toll the Hounds ranking. I can see your reasoning for the other choices as well and am inclined to agree. The only one I’m salty with is HoC being lower than GoTM. It doesn’t have the punch sure, but that’s the problem with viewing that book in a vacuum. In series wide narrative structure context, I think it’s the unsung hero. Besides that, I think the writing is undeniably better. For me personally, I loved how it allowed me to emotionally digest the earlier books, the way the weight of the world and story settled in, and the way it hinted at future developments, sparking a sense of wonder in me. Really though, it’s Tavore and Felisin’s story that shook me so deeply. Nothing else in the series hit me that hard, and the way it contrasts with DG and MoI, and the way it sets up TCG, I think is just brilliant. Great video though, love your content.
@@AndySmithMN I totally get that. Keep in mind that I have not reread the series yet so my opinion may change once that happens. Nothing gets me in the Malazan mood more than the opening epigraph of GoTM, it's an undeniably iconic novel, I admit. Btw, love the collab you did on Iskar's channel, you have a great perspective. To that extent, you have gotten me interested in other authors you have talked about, like Robin Hobb, which I am looking forward to reading. Thank you again for your work!
My top 10 would be:
1. Midnight Tides
2. Memories of Ice
3. The Bonehunters
4. Deadhouse Gates
5. Dust of Dreams
6. House of Chains
7. Toll the Hounds
8. Gardens of the Moon
9. The Crippled God
10. Reaper's Gale
Wow, mine is quite different. I find it amazing how different people find different things to love in the series and there really is no consensus which is best and which is worst. Truly a masterpiece of a series, and even as you put them in tiers you know they are competing only against each other, so you don't feel bad putting some lower than others. Also, your ranking might change upon re-reading. At first, I really disliked Deadhouse Gates. It was only after reaching Midnight Tides and coming back for a re-reading that it became one of my most liked.
S - Memories of Ice
A - Reaper's Gale, Deadhouse Gates, Toll the Hounds
B - House of Chains, Midnight Tides, Gardens of the Moon, The Crippled God
C - The Bonehunters
D - Dust of Dreams
@@AndySmithMN Definitely. You can notice a tendency but the individual preferences can vary soo much. I think if you are a proficient reader and you like reading, not just experiencing, it's almost impossible bot to enjoy Malazan. It's just so rich and interlocked, it feels like reading about an actual world, just different from ours, and not a fictional one. It is a feeling very few other authors are able to capture, and none so well (at least that I've read).
You're videos help get me through really boring work days. I'm legitimately pumped for this to drop.
It's interesting...
In my case, I still need to read TtH, DoD and TCG ...
But so far my top goes like this:
1) MoI
2) TB
3) HoC
4) DG
5) MT *
6) RG *
7) GotM
*) I have to say I don't necessarily hate Tehol, but he's far from being one of my favorites
Pd: Probably the last 3 positions could vary from each other...
Midnight Tides is my favourite, because of Tehol and Bugg, the ratcatchers' guild, Trull Sengar, Hull Beddict. Oh, and did i mention Tehol and Bugg? (#TeholForPresident). House of Chains is my least favourite (still awesome though) because i hated Karsa in the beginning. (I am warleader, witness: eyeroll)
I think you mean Quick Ben is a squad mage, Hedge is a Sapper lol. Now my thoughts on your rankings/the books. Obviously your opinion is your opinion and mine is mine, so no hate. I'm really loving your channel and all of the Malazan content.
I'm kinda surprised Gardens didn't go into the Squad Mage tier. Not that I don't love it, but it's kind of difficult to get into on a first read (though on subsequent reads it just gets better and better).
Memories of Ice is definitely up there. I'm currently working through it for the 3rd time (audiobook this time) and honestly every time I go through this series parts that I disliked before become better and better to me. I used to hate the Mhybe but this time I find that I'm significantly more sympathetic to her. I still hate Silverfox though.
House of Chains, I kind of agree that it's not quite as strong after the first book, but the introduction of Trull and Onrack makes it higher for me. I absolutely love the two of them.
Midnight Tides I had the EXACT SAME reaction. I was so mad when I started it and was AGAIN in a completely new place with new characters, but it did not take long at all for them all to win me over. I LOVE Lether and the commentaries on the US "manifest destiny" garbage and the capitalism, and obviously my favorite duo in the series.
Bonehunters would be my Elder God ranking. I don't even have words for all the feelings that book makes me feel.
Pretty much agree with your assessment on Reaper's Gale. Poleil and Paran's scene is one of my favorites in the whole series. Sooooooooooooo satisfying.
Toll the Hounds for me is tough to rank because it feels soooo slow early on but as it builds it just keeps getting better.
Dust of Dreams honestly didn't really stick with me. I regrettably never made it back to it on my second readthrough (got partway into Toll the Hounds but life got too busy for me to keep at it). All I really remember is Kruppe's narration. Is that also where the Snake came into it? Because admittedly the point of the Snake went right over my head and I'm really hoping when I get back to it on my current readthrough I am able to parse its meaning better.
The Crippled God is absolutely fantastic, can't blame you at all for putting it in the top spot.
Like the tier list a lot. Mine would be much the same only I'd swap MT with MoI and DG with BH. My reasoning for DG is that the emotional impact from it was just devastating, the most unique experience I had had reading, so even though BH has so many epic moments I have to give the nod to the sheer impact that the Chain of Dogs had on me.
As for MT, I just think it's straight up a better book than MoI. It's just gorgeous. Even though I had read it several times many years ago, when I read it this year the imagery had my mind imploding with how vividly I could see it. So many times I had to stop reading and just admire the picture Erikson had painted in my mind's eye. A few scenes off the top of my head; Hannan Mosag's sea demon pushing the unmanned seal ships into the harbour, waves crashing into the harbour front. When the Sengar bros descend the chasm in the ice sheet, there's this image of hundreds of carribou (or the Malazan equivalent, ranag maybe?) frozen mid stampede by the Jaghut ritual. Then Trull's running battle against the Jheck had me salivating with how epic it was. The Edur - Letherii battle, where he K'risnan magic gets out of control and forms literal tornados of elder magic. Iron Bars vs the Toblakai gods. Hannan Mosag vs Kuru Qan. I could name every scene from this book and I'd almost be completely justified here LMAO
Anyways good video, love the Malazan content, you offer refreshing takes on the series so I hope you can keep it going along with everything else you'll be busy reading. Probably expecting a lot there though ha.
only one book in Elder God... it better be Toll the Hounds if for no other reason then the most epic 1v1 fight in fantasy ever
Book 1 of House of Chains is Faces in the Rock. Poignant title!
Great Tier list though I dipped out before TCG just in case. Bonehunters (currently) is at that top spot for me...I just love so much about it. And Reaper's Gale for sure stands as my biggest disappointment...I just thought the pay off for all that had been set up was underwhelming at best, which made me sad.
You are right it's all top tier. The toppest tippy toppity top tier
Turns out Lether is actually based on the British empire, I thought it was American capitalism too until i saw daniel greene's interview with Erikson the other day.
Can't agree with DoD in High Mage, the marine sections are some of my favourite parts of the series, so damn good
Using your rules:
(and generally Left > Right in a tier, but not hard and fast rule)
Elder God: The Bonehunters
Ascendent: Toll the Hounds, Midnight Tides
Imperial Mage: Memories of Ice, The Crippled God, Deadhouse Gates
High Mage: Dust of Dreams, Gardens of the Moon, Reaper's Gale
Squad Mage: House of Chains
Wrote this out before your vid... and jesus I think I agree with you a little too much. Really only one difference.
Were there no restrictions/measuring against other books, not internally to the series, I think at *least* the top 5 there are S tier, 10/10 perfect. The degrees of difference in quality from 'Elder God' to 'Squad Mage' here are just absurdly minor.
Sophie's Choice as a book review.
Up to toll on my reread so can't comment on last books but MoI is such a favorite due to Itkovian and then the final scene with Duiker ... just when you are picking up your heart off the floor it gets ripped out again.
Iskars bracket is also getting painful.
Oh, this gun be good
Tier 1: Toll the hounds
Tier 2: Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates & Memories of Ice
Tier 3: Reapers Gale, Bonehunters, Dust of Dreams, House of Chains
Tier 4: Midnight Tides
Tier 5: The Crippled God
@@AndySmithMN I was thinking the same thing. It was a perfect ending for the series
@@AndySmithMN, Yeah it didn't do it for me. As the series goes on the theme sort of gets focused on compassion to a degree where it gets repetitive. A strength of Erikson is his ability to tackle many themes and viewpoints simultaneously and i felt that the Crippled God lost that. I was being force fed a single narrative. But, its still a phenomenal book and one of the best ending to a long fantasy/sci fi series i've read. It's much easier to wrap up a trilogy than a larger story.
Or put in another way. The Crippled God is way better than most fantasy books, it's only low tier in Malazan context.
Reading Dust of Dreams for a 3rd time "The sea is blind to the road
And the road is blind to the rain
The road welcomes no footfalls
The blind are an ocean's flood
On the road's shore"
The poliel storyline was in Bonehunters, not in Reaper's Gale.
Poliel and Paran happens in Bonehunters!
Hedge isn't a squad mage lol, he's a sapper.
Hedge is a Sapper you fake fan.
(Kidding)
Did you just say "Hedge is just a squad mage? He's a sapper! Bottle is just a squad mage. Beak is just a squad mage!
Midnight Tides is the best.
how this dude says Malazan ruins it for me...
Lies! The Lord of the Rings is the best fantasy serie in history!
Wait. The heroes in this series are socialist revolutionaries? Maybe I won't be reading this series after all.
There is heavy critique of capitalism and heirarchy throughout the series, so I guess if your views don't hold up to criticism then yes, this isn't the series for you.
Just read it like you would any fantasy series. You might not even notice it.
@@ryanoneal8480 I'm just really not interested in glorifying failed economic systems. I mean, I suppose fantasy is the correct genre for it, but I'm not going to read any fantasy books that preach flat earth theory either. To suggest that someone would only avoid such propaganda because their "views don't hold up to criticism" is disingenuous. I'm not going to entertain an idea that has been so profoundly disproved so many times. There are too many wonderful books out there to waste time on yet another defense of socialism.
@@travisbplank ah yes the failed economic systems that are currently flourishing in Cuba and Vietnam, not to mention many many mixed economies around the world...you're very smart to not want to learn about it ;)
@@ryanoneal8480 Our definitions of "flourishing" are very different. If by "flourishing" you mean well-known for human rights violations, crime, and overall poor standards of living and being stuck in the agricultural age, then yes they're doing quite well for themselves.