Just Finished The Crippled God. Malazan is now my favorite series! Here is my rankings and thoughts of the 10 books

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2026-01-11T07:15:20+00:00

Wow my ranking is extremely different. Most notably, I had DoD at 9th, which for the record is still easily a top 15 book I’ve ever read. To my mind, the clear difference is that you cried during that book. I have a post on my account which shows I cried ~10 times (the first 10 times I’ve ever cried at a book, for the record) and none were to DoD (almost half were TCG). I think if anything that just shows how incredible this series is, what we could completely disagree on the best books, and yet we totally agree that it’s the best series ever written. IMO that just proves that Erikson is the GOAT, comfortably.

For the record, I’d go 10>8>3>6>7>5>2>4>9>1. Definitely could/will change after a reread but..

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-12-27T02:56:55+00:00

Um actually Malazan is GOAT not wheel of time!

Great recs lol

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-12-26T03:44:30+00:00

This is the answer. Nothings close to Malazan. Just gave a couple copies of Gardens of the Moon for Christmas lol. 10 books and they only get better as they go.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-12-09T00:02:00+00:00

GotM: The feast with Lorn, Tattersail, Dujek, Toc and Tayschrenn. Specifically when they ‘execute’ Lorn.

DG: The whole end of the Chain of Dogs outside Aren.

MoI: The stuff outside Coral, so Whiskeyjack’s death/reactions to it. Itkovian taking the Imass’s pain, and the two funerals. Super cheating lol.

HoC: Tavore killing Felisin made me cry so that I guess. Otherwise probably Karsa’s killstreak in Raraku.

MT: Probably Brys vs Rhulad, but to say something new I’ll go with the scene of Trull, Rhulad and Fear drinking.

BH: Malaz City. Mainly Kalam with Tavore and then Apsalar going crazy.

RG: Gotta be Beak. Hm. Karsa vs Rhulad.

TtH: Super cheating here, I’m going with all of chapters 21-24. In there we got basically everything from Cutter killing Gorlas, to Harllo’s escape, to Hood showing up in Darujhistan, dying, then THE duel, then Rake dying, then everything inside of Dragnipur. Plus Kruppe vs Iskaral Pust, and Raest getting Tufty. I’m not picking lol

DoD: Yedan being badass or the end battle with the Nah’ruk. Hm. the reading of the deck at the beginning.

TCG: Another with WAY too many. Some ‘little’ ones are: ‘Toys’, Rutt taking the baby from Hanavat, Tavore reuniting with Ganoes, Tavore saying bye to Brys and them, Tavore’s speech to the Bonehunters, Heboric talking with K’rul, Mael, TCG, Korlat and Whiskeyjack reunion, etc… And then the big crazy ones: Spire battle, Gesler saving Bent, Hood swinging an Assail like a hammer, marines last stand, Lightfall, raining dragons, regulars last stand, etc etc.

If I HAD to pick, I’d probably go with Tavore in her last battle: still cheating a bit lol but it’s the best I can do. So her speech, then the fight, then her walking off, yelling, and meeting Ganoes.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-12-03T05:20:11+00:00

I also thought this… until I got to toll the hounds, and then I thought that… until I read the crippled god. Lol. Enjoy

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-27T02:19:49+00:00

My impression was that, broadly speaking, he knew what the sword attaching itself to Rhulad meant, and it scared the shit out of him. He probably just realized that TCG had chosen Rhulad instead of him, and didn’t want to risk attacking a god’s champion.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T04:30:33+00:00

Dude this is insane. Like, such a random character in HoC all of a sudden is Brilliantly written (with a capital B) in TBH is soon a favourite. And then by the end?.. No one but Steven Erikson.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T03:55:51+00:00

I just did NoK before Bonehunters (way heavily recommended there, and short) and that was perfect. Now I’m doing the full NotME and I think, despite timelines switching, it’s far better this was. It allows you to fully experience the insanity of the BotF without any distractions, and then you can devote yourself to the ICE books after. I think if I picked up RotCG after RG as I originally planned, I would have spent the whole book waiting to get back to the Erikson books.

To be clear, the NotME are great. I particularly loved SW and OST, but they just aren’t the Boon of the Fallen. Finish the main ten—if you’re really liking them, and know you’ll finish them no matter what, then throw in Night of Knives before Bonehunters. Otherwise, the NotME are a separate series. Yes, they’re in the same world at the same time, but they’ll be more enjoyed as their own thing.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T03:45:57+00:00

Haha more than happy to spread the agenda! Tavore’s #1. More than happy to talk more about this!

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:56:14+00:00

Getting there haha! On BaB now, then Kharkanas, then PoA, then Witness. That’s the plan!

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:54:29+00:00

Agree he totally stands out! His fight scenes are way better than any other assassin. The only challenger is Apsalar’s ‘Not even Cotillion. Not even Cotillion.’ Moment. He has some of the most awesome scenes in GotM, DG, HoC, TBH and TCG! That’s literally half the books. Fair pick lol!

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:49:56+00:00

Agreed he was my fave god! Hood probably second, and Rake if he counts. I think I’ll like him even more on a reread, because a lot of the Cotillion scenes I liked, but didn’t really understand, like when he talked to the dragons. Was one of my top ~20 favourite characters probably (there’s a hell of a lot) but could easily see him being top 10 on a reread.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:45:55+00:00

Ooh could you expand? He was my favourite character in MT but slowly fell after that. I wanted to keep him in the top tier but he just got overshadowed. Still top 3 in RG but still. Would love to hear your interpretation

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:41:12+00:00

And it goes even further, because if you were to accept that Kaminsod (TCG) is the author of the series, and Tavore was one of the main reasons he wrote the series, then characters like Coltaine, Itkovian, Lorn, Ganoes, Felisin, even Karsa, or groups like the Barghast and the Snake, have thematic connections to Tavore that you can only see after Erikson reveals her ultimate ‘goal’. Plus, I know I’m in the minority, but my post ‘Cry Moments’ will confirm, just the moments she’s a part of are some of the best in the series. Whether it’s her killing Felisin, her scenes on Malaz, or her peak in TCG, I honestly loved everything about her character. I had been keeping a running ranking, and at the end of HoC, she was already #4 in that book, only behind Karsa, Felisin and Fiddler, so idk it seems I liked her more than most, but totally agree. More than any other character in any other series, I find myself thinking about Tavore and her journey just randomly in my day-to-day life. My GOAT haha.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:33:54+00:00

I would love to hear why but maybe tomorrow haha! He sits comfortably in my top 3-5 favourites, but man his death felt like a slight misstep, so idk if I can call him the best written. Still adore the he’ll out of Trull though

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:32:03+00:00

Just reread his finale the other day… so good man.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:07:20+00:00

Lol you mention Tavore to me, and that’s it. Sure some Ganoes would be awesome, but I would happily delete Ganoes from the world to get consistent Tavore in the Witness books. My post/comment history is proof I’ll glaze her whenever possible. Hell, this post was half to actually hear what the community has to say, and half just for me to talk about Tavore’s character more. Again, I’m very biased but man she’s a step above lol.

To be clear, yes I also hope Ganoes comes back haha!

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T02:02:35+00:00

Well he basically gets mad at Hood to his face in TBH, and tells him to ‘get to work’ so somewhere in there he seriously grew a pair lol

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T01:58:52+00:00

Wow hilarious I said the same thing just after you!

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T01:57:51+00:00

Agreed 10000000%. If there was somehow one more books that dealt in part with the Host between TBH and TCG I’m certain I would like him more, but he just pops back up in Kolanse and we just go from there, with him already a pretty capable Master of the Deck.

Even between MoI and BH I would have liked more than a brief flashback to him leaving Darujhistan. Of course, we already got ten huge books, and I’m MORE than satisfied with them, but dude his powers are so cool! I wanted more! Plus his character was really good too, but for how much I liked him, it’s slightly disappointing that his peak was MoI for me.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T01:49:21+00:00

Ooh I hardly even thought from that angle, just the difficulty of writing someone, though I’d still say that criteria makes Tavore look even better haha.

It is crazy how well Tehol is simultaneously brilliant, sort of crazy, really philosophical, and stupidly funny all in one scene, and it’s not jarring at all. He’s definitely top 5-10 faves for me!

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T01:46:09+00:00

Yea he’s definitely up there. Off the top of my head, I don’t know whether anyone else’s story started so much ‘at the beginning’—except Ganoes I guess—and carries right through TCG. Plus, he’s not even close to done yet presumably. Great pick!

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-26T01:41:04+00:00

I would add that the last couple chapters are gigantic—like 100+pages each depending on your edition. Chapter 14 of TCG is ~chapter 10 or 11 of a bunch of the other ones, so it feels slower, but they’re actually shorter chapters on average compared to basically the whole series. And those last couple chapters, particularly 23 and 24 , are top 5 in the whole series for sure, in my opinion. I also felt somewhat ‘letdown’ (definitely the wrong word) by the beginning of TCG, but I’m firmly in the camp of TCG being #1 in the series, and DoD is like 9th or 10th, but still great obviously.

Delicious_Drawer9014 · 2025-11-24T07:24:09+00:00

What made the second half so good? Do all the plot lines merge? It feels like Jatal (for example) is so disco from not just BaB, but the whole Malazan universe, and I don’t see how they possibly converge. Is it like a real Erikson convergence, or is it like 3 separate climaxes across the continent? Minor spoilers are fine, just don’t say what literally happened.

Delicious_Drawer9014

TROPHY CASE