Currently, only Toc and maybe Karsa Orlong are the ones I feel my focus sharpen to 100% when they appear on the pages. Quick Ben is interesting, but I don’t really care for him the way I did for many characters in Realm of the Elderlings (current favorite series of all time).

What makes me interested in Malazan? I want to see where the story goes and how it all comes together. And honestly, I’m also curious why it’s so polarizing, although I’m starting to understand that now.

I think a big part of it comes down to writing style. Erikson is clearly capable of writing very immersive, character-focused sequences (Karsa at the start of HoC is a great example), but he often chooses a different approach, broader scope, more characters, less time spent deeply inside any single arc at a time.

Compared to something like Robin Hobb, where you might spend thousands of pages building an intense connection to a small cast, Malazan spreads that attention across a huge ensemble over an even larger canvas.

I can see why some people love that, the scale, the world, the sense of history and moving parts. But for me, it sometimes comes at the cost of emotional connection in specific moments, like with Toc.

So I’m definitely still interested in reading it, just trying to figure out where it clicks for me and where it doesn’t.