Sign in with Facebook
Gordon's Reviews > Toll the Hounds
Toll the Hounds (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #8)
by
by
Blech. I think that's a word, at least it's onomatopeiac. Anyway, that's how I feel about Toll the Hounds.
I waited a couple of days to write this review, just so I wouldn't be too negative, but I think it's only reduced my invective.
Anyway, after slogging through the 600 or so contract-filling pages I made a concerted effort in the last week to polish this guy off. And succeeded. But it's the weakest Erikson yet. It has hundreds of pages of filler and attempts to add colour (the humour of Kruppe and the Magus of Shadow is, umm, pathetic?) and attempts to be literary (I don't care what the effing ox thinks, ok!).
Characters do things randomly, some characters are omniscient (and perhaps omnipotent) but then choose not to do things until the last 50 pages (could have done it 550 blessed pages sooner), some characters die with feeling, some randomly, some scenes are so set that they lose all context (I could spoiler to death here the world's most meaningless duel when a simple suicide would have done, and the fight itself was glossed over after technically being the most complex to occur).
Basically bad. Not awful, but bad. I would 2 star it with my normal ranking but 2 star in goodreads is "ok" which I think is too generous, so 1 star it is.
I was reluctant to start Toll after #7 Reaper's Gale but I persisted. But before I do #9 I'll definitely be reading reviews and getting advice. I don't even mind it might be bad if I get to see the overall story progress, it's just that the Erikson books are such a damn time commitment I'm unwilling to do it in this case.
The end?
I waited a couple of days to write this review, just so I wouldn't be too negative, but I think it's only reduced my invective.
Anyway, after slogging through the 600 or so contract-filling pages I made a concerted effort in the last week to polish this guy off. And succeeded. But it's the weakest Erikson yet. It has hundreds of pages of filler and attempts to add colour (the humour of Kruppe and the Magus of Shadow is, umm, pathetic?) and attempts to be literary (I don't care what the effing ox thinks, ok!).
Characters do things randomly, some characters are omniscient (and perhaps omnipotent) but then choose not to do things until the last 50 pages (could have done it 550 blessed pages sooner), some characters die with feeling, some randomly, some scenes are so set that they lose all context (I could spoiler to death here the world's most meaningless duel when a simple suicide would have done, and the fight itself was glossed over after technically being the most complex to occur).
Basically bad. Not awful, but bad. I would 2 star it with my normal ranking but 2 star in goodreads is "ok" which I think is too generous, so 1 star it is.
I was reluctant to start Toll after #7 Reaper's Gale but I persisted. But before I do #9 I'll definitely be reading reviews and getting advice. I don't even mind it might be bad if I get to see the overall story progress, it's just that the Erikson books are such a damn time commitment I'm unwilling to do it in this case.
The end?
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to see if any of your friends have read
Toll the Hounds.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
February 16, 2009
– Shelved
February 16, 2009
–
3.57%
"good lord, 830 hardback pages of small type - I hope it's one of Erikson's good ones and not one of his dragging tomes... Kruppe has already"
page
36
February 27, 2009
–
13.99%
"turgid... I wonder if this will be the first Erikson I bail on. Would be a shame as it's #8 in and I've read 7*c800=5400 pages so far."
page
141
March 21, 2009
–
47.12%
"pg 475. Hopefully most of the build up and dull parts are done. I'm ready to start building to an appropriately confusing Erikson climax."
page
475
Started Reading
March 31, 2009
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Lee
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Jun 27, 2012 03:25PM
Whilst I gave this book 5 stars and enjoyed the story, I enjoyed reading your view and opinion. I laughed in regards to the battle and that suicide would have been a better option. A good point.
reply
|
flag
While I didn't mind the ox actually, I agree that Kruppe is getting on my last nerve. His actual interactions are tolerable, but his sort of omniscient exposition about who's doing what gets painful
I agree with your synopsis. Malazan is such an investment that by book 8 perpetual motion keeps you going. there is much more rewarding fantasy out there if your going to drop 40 hours of reading into.
You just described how I felt after this book! The parts about Kruppe and Pust are so irritating and don't add anything valuable. I ended up skipping them all because I know I won't miss anything important.
Luke wrote: "I agree with your synopsis. Malazan is such an investment that by book 8 perpetual motion keeps you going. there is much more rewarding fantasy out there if your going to drop 40 hours of reading i..."Which series are you referring to in terms of rewarding fantasy?
