A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 2

peoples is but a pale reflection of a far more primal conflict. Ancient forces are gathering, and with them rides the still-raw wound of an old betrayal and a craving for revenge ...
    'Marvellously gripping ... a riveting read, punctuated as ever with pockets of humour and fantastically individual characters'
SFCROWSNEST
    'This series has clearly established itself as the most significant work of epic fantasy since Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'
SF SITE
    9780553813142

THE BONEHUNTERS
    A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
    A new chapter in Steven Erikson's epic masterpiece ...
     
    The Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of Y'Ghatan under the fanatical command of Leoman of the Flails. The prospect of laying siege to this ancient fortress makes the battle-weary Malaz 14th Army uneasy. For it was here that the Empire's greatest champion was slain and a tide of Malazan blood spilled. It is a place of foreboding, its smell is of death.
    Yet this is but a sideshow. Agents of a far greater conflict have made their opening moves. The Crippled God has been granted a place in the pantheon and a schism threatens. Sides must be chosen. But whatever each god decides, the rules have changed – irrevocably, terrifyingly – and the first blood to be drawn will be in the mortal world ...
    'The most significant work of epic fantasy since Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'
SF SITE
    'This is true myth in the making, a drawing upon fantasy to recreate histories and legends as rich as any found within our culture'
INTERZONE
    9780553813159

NIGHT OF KNIVES
    A novel of the Malazan Empire by Ian C. Esslemont
    'Night of Knives marks the first installment of the shared world that
    we had both envisioned'
Steven Erikson
     
    The small island of Malaz and its city gave the great empire its name, but now it is little more than a sleepy, backwater port. This night, however, things are a little different. This night the city is on edge and a hive of hurried, sometimes violent, activity, its citizens bustle about, barring doors, shuttering windows, avoiding any stranger's stare. Because this night there is to be a convergence, the once-in-a-generation appearance of a Shadow Moon – an occasion that threatens the good people of Malaz with demon hounds and other, darker things ...
    It was also prophesied that this night would witness the return of Emperor Kellanved, and there are those prepared to do anything to prevent this happening. As factions within the greater Empire draw up battle lines over the imperial throne, the Shadow Moon summons a far more ancient and potent presence for an all-out assault upon the island. Witnessing these cataclysmic events are Kiska, a young girl who yearns to flee the constraints of the city, and Temper, a grizzled, battle-weary veteran who seeks simply to escape his past. But this night each is to play a part in a conflict that will not only determine the fate of Malaz City, but also of the world beyond...
    Drawing on events touched on in the prologue of Steven Erikson's landmark fantasy Gardens of the Moon, Night of Knives is a momentous chapter in the unfolding story of the extraordinarily-imagined world of Malaz.
    9780593057810
    NOW AVAILABLE FROM BANTAM PRESS

House of Chains
    A Tale of the
Malazan Book of the Fallen
    STEVEN ERIKSON

For Mark Paxton MacRae, for the KO
punch. This one's all yours, my friend.

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
    The author wishes to thank his cadre of readers, Chris Porozny, Richard Jones, David Keck and Mark Paxton MacRae. Clare and Bowen as always. Simon Taylor and the crew at Transworld. And the terrific (and patient) staff at Tony's Bar Italia: Erica, Steve, Jesse, Dan, Ron, Orville, Rhimpy, Rhea, Cam, James, Konrad, Darren, Rusty, Phil, Todd, Marnie, Chris, Leah, Ada, Kevin, Jake, Jamie, Graeme and the two Doms. Thanks also to Darren Nash (for the yeast always rises) and Peter Crowther.



DRAMATIS PERSONAE
     
THE URYD TRIBE OF THE TEBLOR
    Karsa Orlong, a young warrior
    Bairoth Gild, a young warrior
    Delum Thord, a young warrior
    Dayliss, a young woman
    Pahlk, Karsa's grandfather
    Synyg, Karsa's father
THE ADJUNCTS ARMY
    Adjunct Tavore
    Fist Gamet/Gimlet
    T'amber
    Fist Tene Baralta
    Fist Blistig
    Captain Keneb
    Grub, his adopted son
    Admiral Nok
    Commander Alardis
    Nil, a Wickan warlock
    Nether, a Wickan witch
    Temul, a Wickan of the Crow Clan (survivor of the
Chain of