The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson (A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 6)

10/10

Picking up where Lee left off and having the chance to review Steven Erikson is a dream. Reviewing his books is like what I imagine it would have been to review Tolkien when Two Towers and Return of the King hit shelves. It is being part of an epic in the making, and one that could very well usurp Middle Earth as the greatest literary creation.

The Bonehunters sees us rejoining the Malazan Fourteenth Army, under the command of Adjunct Tavore Paran. Sha’ik is supposedly dead, the army of the Whirlwind in tatters, and the last survivors making for the refuge fortress city of Y’Ghatan under the leadership of Leoman of the Flails.

Contrasting with Midnight Tides before it and Reapers Gale following, Bonehunters is an action packed romper stomp through the history of the Malazan Empire. We are reunited with Fiddler (Strings, the worst kept secret in the entire Fourth Army according to Paran), Ganoes Paran, Apsalar, Quick Ben and Kalam, as well as a bounty of other characters new and old.

I cannot recall if he is new to this book or simply acquired prominence in this book, but one of the standout characters in this book was Bottle. Squad mage with just a little something extra about him, he definitely makes the book – and the game for the characters – more interesting.

The scope of this book is simply astounding. The giant destructing siege takes place within the first third of the book, leaving the rest of the book for Ganoes Paran and the Fourteenth Army plenty enough time to get themselves into two separate troubles that – no doubt – will have far reaching consequences.

And by the end of the book Ganoes is missing, the Fourteenth is the last movable army and all is not well back on Malaz.

Several times I found myself realizing the clock had scooted past two am and I had lost myself in the book. The siege at Y’Ghatan, Kalam in Malaz Island, and Ganoes Paran inside one of the Seven Cities, are just a few of the times that a chapter had to end before I could put the book down.

Steven Erikson has, somehow, for book number six, managed to once again up the ante in this series. There are rumours that he will go on to write another series upon the completion of the tenth book, the Crippled God. There is nothing I would like more than to see him continue this series well into the future. 

If you like good writing, if you like good stories, if you like both, or if you just want to be cool and know what we’re all raving about, Steven Erikson is for you. Don’t take my word for it; look at the countless 5 star reviews the book gets on Amazon and the critical acclaim that is seeing Steven Erikson become our greatest living English author. From Gardens of the Moon through to Bonehunters the writing is nothing short of brilliant, captivating, astounding and mind blowing. There’s a reason he gets full marks for this book!