Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson – review

Steven Erikson reveals to the reader in the prologue to Dust of Dreams that it is actually the first half of the final book and since that final book was way too long to publish as one volume, it has been split into two halves, Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God. Now, considering the size of this tome (816 pages), I, for one, am glad that it has been split up.  Some readers may complain that there are no definite endings here, but where in any of the previous books have there been “definite” endings?  No, we’ve seen a couple of story arcs come to a point that could be considered a close, but in the world of the Malazan, the reader can never take anything for granted.  Any given character can die, return from death, become a god, refuse a god, thwart a god, or betray friends and family.  And that isn’t even including the gods themselves!  No, there should be no finite expectations from the reader.  If you have made it this far, you are riding the roller coaster, and you must know that you have no control over where your little car goes.  Where it goes, you have no choice but to follow, and by this time, you have no way to get off–you are in it until that car stops.  But isn’t it fun?

Now, as to story, the reader will be introduced to several new players like the last Matron of the K’chain Che’malle who has pushed herself into madness to ensure the continuance of her people, and a group of children traipsing through the some barren wasteland without food or water or true direction, as well as some others we may not have expected to see again–Setoc the Wolf, Tehol Beddict, Bugg, and Ublala Pung, among others.  Once this part of the story has begun, we find Adjunct Tavore arranging a reading of the Deck that is very unlike those that have come before and, if possible, more powerful.

What follows is a plethora of POVs as we watch the Bonehunters, their allies, and many of the other disparate players make their way to a convergence.  This slows down a great deal of the action.  Some people may consider the pace too slow in that we follow many of the characters as they travel, and most of the true action does not happen until the end of the book.  Some of the more interesting scenes, however, are those between the gods as they maneuver around each other.  In addition, each of these POVs can shine another light on the final convergence, and the more information you have when you reach it, the better you will be able to understand the action.  Those final scenes are some real doozies, and while they somewhat complete the action, the reader is not given all of the end results yet.

I found it a very satisfying read and felt that it went quicker and more smoothly than Toll the Hounds.  While most of the Malazan books include violence of many types, there are a couple of scenes included in this one that may be a bit much for some.  I’ve seen some reviews that believe they were over the top and forced this book into a much darker niche than the others.  While I agree that the tone of this book was more subdued and there were definitely fewer laughs and smiles–we have to realize that the convergence is not a tea party and most of the characters realize that something is building and that the end may not be neat, pretty or happy.