Maybe the most grief-stricken Malazan in the series so far but that’s to be expected considering Erickson was losing his dad at the time. If you deal with anything similar, this book can really cut deep. But it also leaves off with a sense of hope and healing, which I haven’t exactly expected from these books… for once I actually don’t feel traumatized by the last hundred pages?!

Of the eight I’ve so far read, this book may be the best. It haunted me if I put it down for too long. Absolutely masterful and up there with Midnight Tides and Deadhouse Gates at the top of my personal list of favourite Malazan instalments.

There's a subset of the MBoF readers who really love this book - and with good reason. There are some fantastic story points (Harlo in particular stands out as a really refreshing story arc) and a fair amount of pretty profound reflections on redemption, justice, and grief. The author was going through his own personal grief while writing and there's a catharsis here that is pretty powerful stuff.

I am not one of those people who loves this book.

I like it fine.

The ONLY thing keeping this from being a five star installment for me is that half the novel is framed in Kruppe's voice. I find him immensely entertaining when he is serving the plot... and that's usually when he is NOT talking. The rest of the time, no matter how well written his verbosity may be, I want to jump off a building when he's in control. He's every distracting character I've ever played at a D&D table. Fun to play. Horrible for the story. AND he has so much good stuff to say here. It's just all buried in his nonsense so deep that I may never take the time to find out what he's really saying. He's TOO much for me.

Which is a me problem.

Normally, I can tune him out. But in this book... he is the shepherd for the most interesting content. And as a result I am REQUIRED to be annoyed by him. Which makes me grumpy as hell.

Still, plot wise... there's some great stuff here. I'm finding myself less annoyed by the Tiste Andii than I was in previous read throughs. Seerdomin's little arc is an awesome foil to the Redeemer. Even Cutter finally has a little meat on the story bones. Traveler and Karsa is a great combo. And Rake... whoo boy. If you like Rake's gothy edginess... you'll love this one (I think he's way less cool than I used to... but he's still pretty cool).

Big moves, big reveals, and a big ol annoying Kruppe single handedly keeping it from being one of my favorite novels.

Toll the Hounds is truly a sequel of sorts to the Memories of Ice story arc. We're back on Genabackis! Darujhistan! Kruppe! How I missed thee, all! I have a couple of books left to finish, but I can safely say Toll the Hounds will be in my top 3 at the end. Only The Bonehunters is better, and just barely at that. This book truly set the stage for major events sure to impact the finale two books of the series and there is a plethora of memorable moments forever etched in my mind. Also, Toll the Hounds is the only book that is narrated mostly by the voice of one character in it, reflecting on the events like they are in a tavern surrounded by an audience, so that makes it unique.

Starting off this book felt like coming home. There's a number of characters that we haven't seen for 5 books, which for me literally meant over a year. I loved catching up with Murillo and the gang, the leftover Malazans at Krul's Bar, and other characters. An added wrinkle of getting in the minds of some Tiste Andii was much welcome as their people and culture have been a great source of intrigue for me, as well as Anomander Rake. This book really answers a lot of questions and mysteries while, of course, raising all new ones. If one of your greater sources of frustration is not knowing what is going on or how this world works, you should find Toll the Hounds to be quite satisfying.

I will say, the pacing and tone of this book is a bit disjointed, but not in any way that hurt my enjoyment of it. There are moments, mostly with the Tiste Andii sections, that the book slows down and there are scenes so vivid and repulsive as if from a horror movie. The tone is dark and bleak but these parts piqued my curiousity the most. Other sections, like those mostly based in Darujhistan, are easier to read and a little more comical here and there. Overall, like the majority of Malazan Book of the Fallen, the tone is dark and horrible things happen to good people. A few gut-punching scenes pop up in the middle and took me by surprise and characters met abrupt ends that I wasn't ready for. All of this builds to the spectacular crescendo that is the finale.

Before that, though, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Chapter 19. It is a prose masterpiece. The chapter may as well be called "Grief". I don't normally put quotes in my reviews but this one is too poignant, too powerful to not mention it. Anyone who has encountered grief personally should feel this resonate, and Chapter 19 is full of these words of wisdom:

A dear friend is dead, and there is nothing just in death. When the moment arrives, it is always too soon. The curse of incompletion, the loss that can never be filled. Before too long, rising like jagged rocks from the flood, there was anger.

Or this one:
Survivors do not mourn together. They each mourn alone, even when in the same place. Grief is the most solitary of all feelings. Grief isolates, and every ritual, every gesture, every embrace, is a hopeless effort to break through that isolation. None of it works. The forms crumble and dissolve. To face death is to stand alone.

Oof. Just masterful, Mr. Erikson. These all revolve around a singular event about 3/4's of the way through that gutted me. To read a chapter of the characters all dealing with grief was cathartic for me and brought much self-reflection. Moments like these are what make Malazan stand out in the genre and what will help it stand the test of time when so many other series will fade away. There's a depth of humanity in this series that is unmatched in many of the series I have read.

So about the final quarter of the book, I was flipping pages faster than I ever have before. Event after event shook everything I thought I knew about the world and the gods in it. I'm pretty sure I uttered words of amazement out loud often and had to occasionally set the book down to remember to breathe. Unfortunately, it's hard to talk about anything without spoiling the story. Let's just say, there's plenty of action pieces that had me dropping my jaw and probably the best one-on-one swordfight in the series. Also, let's just say that a certain two characters who ride "smaller" animals finally meet in one of the funniest clashes I've ever read and it was everything I wanted since Deadhouse Gates.

Every arc paid off in the end and I was left satisfied multiple times over as Erikson closed the multiple threads in the series. How he brought certain aspects and people into the story that I wasn't sure I'd ever see again was a pleasant surprise and I was giddy with excitement and numerous character reveals. The hardest thing for me was closing this book and picking my jaw back off the floor. The implications, oh my! The implications going forward are colossal and this book sealed Malazan Book of the Fallen as my all-time favorite series.

Malazan Book of the Fallen
Gardens of the Moon - 9.0/10
Deadhouse Gates - 9.5/10
Memories of Ice - 10/10
House of Chains - 10/10
Midnight Tides - 8.5/10
The Bonehunters - 10/10
Reaper's Gale - 9.5/10
Toll the Hounds - 10/10
Dust of Dreams - 9.5/10
The Crippled God - 10/10

I haven't cried this much at the ending of a book since Dumbledore died (and, for that matter, at the end of Moreta)

‘There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail – should we fall – we will know that we have lived.’

I will never be the same.

This series continues to be the best thing I’ve ever read.

Finally, many of the loose threads and seemingly unconnected storylines from the previous seven books start comming together in a coherent manner.

As much as it irks me, Erikson's habit of killing off my favorite characters does, ironically, elevate his storytelling from good to great. Suffering is a part of the human condition, and inclusion of that very real experience is a refreshing change from the "good guys always win and bad guys always lose" tripe that seems to plague the fantasy genre.

For a Malazan novel this is a 3/5. BUT the last 100 pages is a 5/5. This book is close to 1300 paperback pages and I believe the longest in the series, counting the side books and Esslemont books...(I'm reading everything in publication order) and I'd say about 1100 pages of this was rather a slog and slow going. I've nothing against slow going, but I, like others, found myself rather disengaged and disinterested at times, until that last 100-200 pages. There were brief bits of excitement and intrigue throughout, but they were rather scarce. Please do not misread my 3/5 and my negative comments. This was an epic book! BUT it was the weakest yet. Still a literary masterpiece. When compared and contrasted to the others though, I must give it the rating I feel it deserves... "for a malazan novel". This would be a 5/5 compared to most anything else.

This book is shock and awe in the end. Shock... and ... AWE. And grief. Oh the grief. But it takes a long ass time to get to that. I found myself very confused at times, more so than usual. Books 4-7 left me far less confused. Even in the end I find myself struggling to remember some of what I just read, so much happened, so many characters, so much perspective hopping. And god, I've got an awful memory. I may need to read the Tor Re-Reads summaries of books 1-7 again, and this one... before the next book, because wow, I've been reading these since 2019 and I'm really forgetting stuff bad now, in spite of how much I've practically studied these.

The chapters are so very fragmented that it can be difficult to actually put things into memory. You will read a few pages of a character, then nothing for a long long time. Or in some cases a mere paragraph, then a perspective shift. I found this very jarring. I also found the narrative speaking to the reader a bit unfitting. Normally I love Kruppe but I found him mostly boring in this book. Usually he is the absolute highlight of any scene or book. He had some amusing moments, to be fair, but on the whole, I was disappointed with the Kruppe content.

Everything eventually comes together, but in a rather confusing way. So this sadly, gets a 3/5 overall. It took a long time to read. I started it a week into April and only finished it end of May. That said, I had other books I was reading on the side, for when I couldn't handle malazan. Sometimes I need an easier read. And as mentioned, there were periods of boredom with this book.

I found the narrative at times too introspective and philosophical in its lengthy or countless diatribes. THAT SAID, I didn't hate this book. I know I sound like I am putting Erikson down here. You come into this book with certain expectations. This book wasn't like the others. It was meandering and slow going and introspective and rambling and confusing. BUT IN THE END... it was WORTH IT. I actually look forward to some day finishing all 26 (soon to be 27 and more) books... so I can reread them all with more clarity, and pick up and understand the bits I missed along the way.. I know I am missing a lot.

Looking forward to Dust of Dreams! (though I hear it is super slow). I have so many questions about what's to come, and what's happened.

I had watery eyes when I finished this book! A grown man! With watery eyes! Alas, I am helpless in the face of great writing.

I cannot talk about anything in this book without spoiling everything sadly. If you can make it to the end... this book is worth the struggle.