I did finally finish “House Of Chains” (HoC) yesterday and I did it right here in front of the fire – watching the snow fall. It took me longer than I’d anticipated – partly because I worked through the week before Christmas – very little extended time to read until Saturday – but worth every minute. All I could think as I turned the last page – was I even paying attention the first time I read this book?
I took so much more out of it this time around and with every book in the series that I reread, I’m that much more thankful that I’ve decided to do a reboot on the entire body of work. I’m completely convinced that anyone who enjoyed these books – as rich and dense as they are – will find them even more worthwhile the second time through.
Here’s a series of random takeaways for me as I’m working through the series a second time:
- None of the books in this series are quick or casual reads. Another reason it took me longer than expected to finish HoC was due to the fact that I never left a page without first making sure that I’d digested all the content and understood the significance of everything S.E. had written. That often required me to reference the Wiki. It occasionally required me to backtrack and reread earlier sections. At times, it forced me to return to earlier books, run a word search to find critical content so that I had proper context. For this reason alone, I strongly recommend reading all these books off an e-reader. On more than a few occasions, I went back to “Deadhouse Gates” or “Memories Of Ice” to reread a scene and being able to access content via search was really helpful. Long to short – so much is going on in this book – it’s easy to move through quickly and assume that unanswered questions won’t matter – don’t. With these books – almost everything matters. Go slow – understand everything – it makes a huge difference.
- I didn’t find or read “Night Of Knives” or “Gardens Of The Moon” until I’d finished “Deadhouse Gates”, “Memories Of Ice” and “House Of Chains”. I appreciated all three of those books but too much of their content refers back to events in both NoK or GotM. This shouldn’t be startling to anyone but starting at the beginning really helps.
- Reading the first two books of the Forge Of Darkness prequel – and the third as soon as it arrives – is really helpful. They’re not as entertaining as the entries in the main series – there’s nothing but sorrow, betrayal and inevitable tragedy in these books – but it’s important to experience it. You really need to know something about the history of the Tiste races and the Warrens before you get into the main series. A lot of that content was confusing to me the first time through and I struggled with it – questions and uncertainties kept piling up as I worked through the books.
- Same thing is true with respect to the Path To Ascendancy prequel – understanding the early history of the Malazan Empire and the Old Guard makes for a smoother entry into the main series. In some ways, they’re also the lightest, funniest, most entertaining books in the entire body of work. They give you the chance to meet Kellenvad, Dancer, Dassem, Surly and all the other members of the Old Guard at a young age – when victories can be won with little sacrifice – before their choices lock them all into hard, bloody and all too often fatal futures. These aren’t the most meaningful or impactful books that Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont have written but they are – in many ways – the most fun. You’ll actually find yourself chuckling from time to time as you read these.
- I think it’s fair to say that there’s more going on in “House Of Chains” than in any of the books that precede it. I was really amazed as I read through it a second time just how many pieces slipped into place and how many of my questions were answered. It also amazed me just how either the content hadn’t stayed with me or how much I’d missed the first time through. This is a pivotal book in the series – things either end or they’re resolved in such a way as to prepare you for the bigger events about to come. Get this one right and you’ll be really ready to move forward. I just didn’t give it the time or attention it deserved the first time around.
- Use the Wiki – just use it – you’ll be thankful you did.
Finishing a book like this is really satisfying – you feel like you’ve accomplished something. It also leaves me a little conflicted. I’m ready for the next book in the series – “Midnight Tides” – but I know that locks me into another solid week of reading. Given the limited time I have and the big stack of books I want to get through over the Holiday, I’ve decided to take a brief detour – mix things up a bit. I started “The Templars” by Dan Jones. Won’t hurt to transition from the imagined to the real for a few days.
Hope everyone had a truly wonderful Christmas Day. Ours was a blessing and I feel like the Holiday is only just beginning. I’m about to start a new fire and spend the better part of the evening reading about the Catholic Church and its warrior priests.