Ian C. Esslemont

Esslemont has a completely different style of prose than Erikson, do with that as you will. It's a much lighter read, but after coming straight off of MBotF it felt a little bland.Â

With important MBotF character introductions and with a plot that actually progresses, this shows the initial stages of the empire that MBotF only ever alluded to. It's better than the first, almost to where I'd say this should have been PtA's start instead.Â

A few too many pov chapters from characters I really couldn't care less about, but overall a good follow up.

Much more readable than Erikson (and more enjoyable than many reviews suggest - for example I liked the writing), but also more generic as a fantasy. The Malazan mithology and world still felt overburden for me, though, even in this simplified form, so now I can definitely say I am not a Malazan fan in any form and abandon any further attempts in this world.