Malazan Book of the Fallen
The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the Canadian author Steven Erikson. The series, published by Bantam Books in the U.K. and Tor Books in the U.S., consists of ten volumes, beginning with Gardens of the Moon and concluding with The Crippled God. Erikson's series presents the narratives of a large cast of characters spanning thousands of years across multiple continents.
His stories present complicated series of events in the world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. Each of the first five novels is relatively self-contained, in that each resolves its respective primary conflict; however, many underlying characters and events are interwoven throughout the works of the series, binding it together. The Malazan world was [|co-created] by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont in the early 1980s as a backdrop to their GURPS roleplaying campaign. In 2004, Esslemont began publishing his own series of six novels set in the same world, beginning with Night of Knives. Although Esslemont's books are published under a different series title – Novels of the Malazan Empire – Esslemont and Erikson collaborated on the storyline for the entire sixteen-book project and Esslemont's novels are considered to be as canonical and integral to the series' mythos as Erikson's own.
The series has received widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers praising the epic scope, plot complexity and characterizations, and fellow authors such as Glen Cook and Stephen R. Donaldson hailing it as a masterwork of the imagination, and comparing Erikson to the likes of Joseph Conrad, Henry James, William Faulkner, and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Books
List
Erikson and Esslemont recommend reading the books in order of publication. Tor.com published a reading order based on the approximate chronological order of events in the series, which the authors did not consider suitable as a reading order for a first-time reader.| # | Title | Series | Approximate Word Count | 1st Publication |
| 1 | Gardens of the Moon | Malazan Book of the Fallen #1 | 205k | 1999 April 1 |
| 2 | Deadhouse Gates | Malazan Book of the Fallen #2 | 264k | 2000 September 1 |
| 3 | Memories of Ice | Malazan Book of the Fallen #3 | 346k | 2001 December 6 |
| 4 | House of Chains | Malazan Book of the Fallen #4 | 298k | 2002 December 2 |
| 5 | Midnight Tides | Malazan Book of the Fallen #5 | 265k | 2004 March 1 |
| 6 | Night of Knives | Novels of the Malazan Empire #1 | 92k | 2004 September 1 |
| 7 | The Bonehunters | Malazan Book of the Fallen #6 | 355k | 2006 March 1 |
| 8 | The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 1 | The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach #1-3 | 68k | 2009 September 15 |
| 9 | Reaper's Gale | Malazan Book of the Fallen #7 | 378k | 2007 May 7 |
| 10 | Toll the Hounds | Malazan Book of the Fallen #8 | 391k | 2008 June 30 |
| 11 | Return of the Crimson Guard | Novels of the Malazan Empire #2 | 273k | 2008 August 15 |
| 12 | Dust of Dreams | Malazan Book of the Fallen #9 | 371k | 2009 August 18 |
| 13 | Stonewielder | Novels of the Malazan Empire #3 | 233k | 2010 November 25 |
| 14 | The Crippled God | Malazan Book of the Fallen #10 | 376k | 2011 February 15 |
| 15 | Orb Sceptre Throne | Novels of the Malazan Empire #4 | 217k | 2012 February 20 |
| 16 | Blood and Bone | Novels of the Malazan Empire #5 | 227k | 2012 November 22 |
| 17 | Forge of Darkness | The Kharkanas Trilogy #1 | 292k | 2012 August 2 |
| 18 | Assail | Novels of the Malazan Empire #6 | 207k | 2014 August 5 |
| 19 | Fall of Light | The Kharkanas Trilogy #2 | 355k | 2016 April 26 |
| 20 | Dancer's Lament | Path to Ascendancy #1 | 144k | 2016 February 25 |
| 21 | The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 2 | The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach #4-6 | 123k | 2018 September 20 |
| 22 | Deadhouse Landing | Path to Ascendancy #2 | 130k | 2017 November 15 |
| 23 | Kellanved's Reach | Path to Ascendancy #3 | 112k | 2019 February 19 |
| 24 | Upon a Dark of Evil Overlords | The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach #7 | 2020 October 31 | |
| 25 | The God is Not Willing | The Tales of Witness #1 | 191k | 2021 July 1 |
| 26 | Forge of the High Mage | Path to Ascendancy #4 | 151k | 2023 April 6 |
| 27 | No Life Forsaken | The Tales of Witness #2 | 2025 October 23 | |
| TBA | Legacies of Betrayal | The Tales of Witness #3 | TBA | |
| TBA | Walk in Shadow | The Kharkanas Trilogy #3 | TBA | |
| TBA | Unnamed | The Tales of Witness #4 | TBA | |
| TBA | Unnamed | Path to Ascendancy #5 | TBA | |
| TBA | Unnamed | Path to Ascendancy #6 | TBA | |
| TBA | Time's Cursed Cartwheel | The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach #8 | TBA | |
| TBA | Unnamed | The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach #9 | TBA |
Malazan Book of the Fallen
This is the main series, written by Steven Erikson, and commenced, in terms of publication order, before any of the other series. This first novel, Gardens of the Moon, was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award. The second novel, Deadhouse Gates, was voted one of the ten best fantasy novels of 2000 by SF Site.The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach
The first three novellas were published together as The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 1. The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 2 includes the second three novellas.- Blood Follows
- The Healthy Dead
- The Lees of Laughter's End
- Crack'd Pot Trail
- The Wurms of Blearmouth
- The Fiends of Nightmaria
- Upon a Dark of Evil Overlords
- ''Time's Cursed Cartwheel''
Novels of the Malazan Empire
The Kharkanas Trilogy
The Kharkanas Trilogy is a prequel series written by Steven Erikson after the completion of the main series. The series deals with the Tiste before their split into darkness, light and shadow. It sheds light on the events that are often hinted at in the background of Malazan Book of the Fallen. Many of the important Tiste characters from the Malazan Book of the Fallen make an appearance like Anomander Rake, Draconus, Spinnock Durav and Andarist.Path to Ascendancy
The Path to Ascendancy is a prequel series set in the world of Malazan, written by Ian Cameron Esslemont. The stories deal with the early adventures of Dancer and Kellanved and their eventual rise to power on Quon Tali.The Tales of Witness
The Tales of Witness is a series written by Steven Erikson as a sequel to the main series featuring Karsa Orlong and his quest to destroy civilization.In July 2024, Erikson stated that the series would now be four novels instead of the planned trilogy, as the second novel needed to be split in two.
- The God is Not Willing
- No Life Forsaken
- ''Legacies of Betrayal''
Conception
Ian Cameron Esslemont wrote the Novels series from 2004 to 2014.
After finishing the two main series, Erikson and Esslemont continued on to further projects in the Malazan universe. While writing the last novels in The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Erikson decided that his next project, The Kharkanas Trilogy, would be a "trilogy traditional in form," saying the following: "If the Malazan series emphasized a postmodern critique of the subgenre of epic fantasy, paying subtle homage all the while, the Kharkanas Trilogy subsumes the critical aspects and focuses instead on the homage."
At one point, Steven Erikson indicated that the two authors would collaborate on The Encyclopedia Malaz, an extensive guide to the series, which was to be published following the last novel in the main sequence. In an interview on a later date, however, he mentioned talks underway with an RPG 20D group to produce a game adapted from the Malazan universe, in which case the maps and notes created by Erikson and Esslemont would be released through installments or expansions rather than through the publishing of an encyclopedia.
The Malazan world has no official unified name, although Steven Erikson has jokingly called it Wu.
In an interview with a Spanish fantasy blog, Erikson said that the hand-drawn version of the Malazan world which he had at home was too large to be photocopied; however, he also said that the maps created by fans were coming close.