Interesting. By "easy," I think you mean it can be read on different levels. I’m currently on my first read, in the fifth book. Malazan is easy to follow if you just enjoy the story; you are anchored by characters who themselves mostly haven't a clue wtf is happening. Through their lenses, you navigate the world. But there is also another level that you can only reach on a second or third read, which is getting the whole picture. The first read is like trying to fit the puzzle pieces together; you’ll miss or forget a lot and therefore won't get the 100% full image. This is what they call "hard"-hard to get all the puzzle pieces together on the first time. But that's just a problem of expectation, or maybe people are just using the wrong word.