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There's a warning at the beginning of Dust of Dreams from the author himself explaining that until this point in the series, there has never been a cliffhanger, but in order to finish this insanely huge series, the penultimate volume in the Malazan Book of the Fallen is the first and only to do so.

Throughout the book, I was prepping myself for lots of buildup with no payoff in the end. Every other ending to every other Malazan book has blown my mind more than anything I've ever read. Erikson's endings are the best in the business and easily make it worth the thousand plus pages it takes to get there.

So, knowing that there would be a cliffhanger, I assumed there wouldn't be any mind-blowingness going on at the end. Well, I'm happy to say that I was wrong. It is epic, tragic, brutal, and lovely all rolled into one. Nothing but the usual.

Now, that's not to say that a cliffhanger doesn't exist, I'm just saying you don't have to go through the entire book not expecting a great ending... like I did.

While I had a bit of a hard time with Toll the Hounds (although I still loved it), Dust of Dreams goes back to Erikson's normal style, which really just means Toll sans narration. We're introduced to more new tribes and peoples and the final setup is underway.

The Bonehunters have been hanging out in Letheras since they rousted the Tiste Edur and Tehol Beddict has been put in charge as king (Awesome!). Brys Beddict, Tehol's brother, is back, and in charge of the Letherii military (More Awesome!). I have to admit, I have a huge man-crush on Brys (great name btw).

Adjunct Tavore has decided the Bonehunters need to head east toward the Wastelands and even further and no one knows why... her usual MO. Their allies, the Perish Grey Helms and the Kundryl Burned Tears, are busy getting things ready in the east of the Letherii kingdom, but things aren't going too well with the Bolkando stirring things up.

We also tag along with the Barghast, led by their Warleader Onos T'oolan (or Tool), who's now no longer T'lan Imass - just Imass now, who are really ancient Barghast ancestors. The Barghast despise his leadership as they prefer their more barbaric traditions to his more civilized way of thinking.

This is a minor spoiler, but: It's interesting to note that Dust of Dreams actually begins before the ending of Toll the Hounds if you were wondering. :)

Why Read The Malazan Book of the Fallen?
The Malazan Book of the Fallen is the most confusing thing you'll never forget. Under the definition of "epic" in the dictionary, you'll find The Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I promise you, IT IS WORTH IT.

Erikson puts you right where the average soldier is, just do as your told and you'll end up all right, you don't need to know all the details just yet.

Add to this the feelings of jubilation when you figure something out, this series will blow your mind. Guaranteed.

4 out of 5 Stars (Compared to the rest of the series)
5 out of 5 Stars (Compared to anything else)

If you need any help remembering some of the characters/races/magics, check out the Malazan Wiki. It's amazing with a WARNING: Don't read too far into anything and especially, DON'T LOOK AT THE DECK OF DRAGONS. Go back to the previous books if you need to.