The Crippled God

Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, Book 10

By: Steven Erikson

Narrated by: Michael Page

Savaged by the K'Chain Nah'Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods - if her own troops don't kill her first.

Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal.

In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long-lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.

Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas, and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will rise as a force of devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world.

©2011 Steven Erikson (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Amazing

One of the best series ever. It only got better and the narration is has very few things to be disappointed about.

Best yet!

What an amazing ending to a wonderful series. all those characters you loved and wanted back, well here they are!

An excellent ending for the best saga I've read.

The best epic saga I've read so far. Deep, intense, immensely sad and with just the right amount of fun.

An epic conclusion to a master crafted tale.

Easily a match for The Wheel of Time. if you love epic fantasy, this series is a must.

just the best!

The definition of epic fantasy. We always tried to capture the magic in our tabletop RPG. Can't be done, of course. But the trying was tremendous fun!

simply amazing

I loved it it was better than game of thrones or any other story that's a been written is just amazing

Confused most of the book

I spent a lot of time confused not knowing who was talking at any particular time in regards to certain characters in the book. I also didn’t understand at first the purpose of having the children in the book, or they’re in importance for the story line, or the amount of time given to them. not until near the very end did I finally understand why they were included. I felt the children were given too much time and more time should’ve been given to the other characters in the book and their stories. For me I loved all the other books except for this one.

Great series!!!

loved it, would definitely read another book from Steven Erickson. Great ending to a long series... never put the book down.

Excellent conclusion to amazing series

Amazing wrap to a fantastic series. If you made it this far I’m not convincing you about sticking with the series - you know, it’s amazing. Not everyone is into this kind of high fantasy, but it is superb. Love every minute.

The Capstone to the Epic Masterpiece

My hopes were riding on a strong end to what must surely be the most epic fantasy saga ever written, and I can say this: This book was freaking awesome.

This is the culmination of all the time and effort, and so many of scenes were simply beautiful to behold. After 3 1/2 million words, Erikson had well-earned the tears that came to my eyes.

As it should be, the battles in this book are some of the most epic in all of the series, and in all of epic fantasy, by far. So many moments of awesome - events foreshadowed seven books and thousands of pages ago finally come to fruition. Moments where you just want to cheer or laugh as eyes tear up - scenes so deep and evoking that few works of fiction can compete with - this is a masterpiece.

As hard at it must have been to properly end this series and tie everything together, Erikson does it and makes it look so natural This book is the capstone to a storyline unequalled (to my knowledge) in epic fantasy. In a real sense, this book brings the entire series into its proper perspective. I never thought it could morph into such a touching story of hope, love and compassion, but it does. And the characters - so many of which started out feeling vague and unknowable - are now cemented into my mind, their own personal stories and struggles pulling at my own heartstrings.

If you've stuck it out this long, then this final book delivers the payoff and the satisfaction that you wanted. Not every loose end is tied up, of course, but we can hope for more perhaps in the future.