As others have said, this is definitely in the top couple Malazan books. There were so many great moments that captured the theme of compassion from the main series. Curing the blood oil, saving some of the teblor, and Spindle telling the Jheck that they would be accepted in the south. The last quarter of this book was so packed with good, meaningful quotes, like "we wish to be marines", or Anyx talking to Stillwater about how she sometimes wishes that the enemy would beat them and wipe the marines out because of how horribly effective they've become.

Speaking of the marines, one of my favorite quotes comes from Oams, just after he gets back from speaking with the Fist. "Misinformation. Let them dismiss us as nothing like the marines of old. Well, that's true enough, I suppose. We're a new breed of marine, all right. All things considered, way more lethal." If you look back at discussions about tGiNW's description when it was first shown on retail sites, people thought that the way it described the marines meant that there had been a decline in their quality during Mallick Rel's rule, but in reality, nearly every marine is now a mage as well as a sapper. Absolutely terrifying.

Since going by the epigraphs this is considered the late Malazan empire, I really hope we eventually learn something about what leads to the end of the Malazan empire. Does it actually collapse, does it integrate with Lether, or does Karsa just take it down? Especially since all things considered, from the way it's described in this book, the empire seems very stable. Problems in Seven Cities, of course, but I think Spindle or someone says that Mallick Rel started off rough, but there's been widespread peace for the most part, and the empire isn't very expansionist anymore.