A Book Review: Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont (Path to Ascendancy #1)

Dancer's Lament, written by Ian C. Esslemont, returned me to the beloved world of Malazan. What is Malazan? This is an epic fantasy series created by two Canadian authors, Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont. The world, and the story of Malazan defy the tropes in fantasy. Erikson's works, Malazan Book of the Fallen, is a titan consisting of 10 books, and it told a powerful story about compassion, and the problem of suffering; if there is such a thing as "War and Peace of the fantasy genre", then this is it. As an avid reader of the fantasy literatures, I consider this critically acclaimed series, the most important books ever written in the genre and it is my favorite series of all time.

The co-creator of Malazan is Ian C. Esslemont (who authored a 6 book series called Malazan Empire), but I have never read his books. During a visit to my local book store, however, I chanced upon Dancer's Lament. The book arrested my attentions. After a glance through the book blurb, I discovered that Dancer's Lament is the first book in a prequel trilogy to Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

A preqeuel trilogy? Count me in!

I purchased Dancer's Lament and took it home with me. I set my eyes on the opening paragraph, and I was hooked instantly. Dancer's Lament is not an easy book to read, yet I read the most of it during the weekend nevertheless. Esslemont's writings differ vastly to Erikson's own, but I like it. Out of all the fantasy novels I read this year, Dancer's Lament may be the most satisfying one yet.

Synopsis:

The story is set on the continent of Quon Tali. Regional powers divided this land following generations of warfare. At the onset of a border war, an young assassin known as Dorin ventured into the powerful city state of Li Heng. Dorin has two agendas on his mind. Firstly, he wished to establish his name in a big city as the best assassin of his time. Secondly, he is hot on the trail of a Don Hon mage, a little fellow called Wu, who seemed immune to Dorin's stabbing blade. These two young men, whose fates entwined, plotted a scheme to take over Li Heng from the ruling hand of a powerful sorceress known as the "Protectress". Meanwhile, the Quon Tali Iron Legion laid siege to the city.

Chaos ensued, it is the stuff of cloak and dagger, magics, and knife fights. Or, as Wu would say, it is also a time for... opportunities.

My thoughts on this book:

Those who have read Malazan Book of the Fallen will spot easter egg galore in Dancer's Lament. Unlike Erikson's books which usually have dozens of POV characters, Dancer's Lament only has 4 to 5 POV characters. Lengthwise, Dancer's Lament counted to a reasonable 400 pages, where Erikson's books are usually 1000+ pages each. In other words, Dancer's Lament is a lot easier to read than Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Esslemont also writes his book differently to Erikson; where Erikson dived deeply into philosophy and economy, Esslemont focused more on the storytelling instead. I like Erikson's books and Esslemont's prequel trilogy equally, for each has his own voice and style.

This book is set in a city called Li Heng. While this name may invite one to guess that the story's setting is pseudo Asian, but that is far from the truth. I can not relate the cultural setting in this book to any known culture in our world, or with the world from any other fantasy book. This is because the worldbuilding in this book is unique. Malazan is renowned for its detailed and revolutionary worldbuilding. Its scope is breathtaking. If you think George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is epic, then wait until you read Malazan. Its world, and the story, are spanning across 4 continents, each continent and its people is abundant with lores and history. When it comes to races, there are really interesting ones in Malazan. You won't see the elves, dwarves, or halflings in Malazan. Instead, Malazan offers fascinating races that stretch the boundary of imaginations. Furthermore, in Malazan, you also won't find the pseudo European setting typical in most Tolkienesque fantasy books. No, every culture in Malaz is one of a kind. Despite its alienness, however, the world of Malazan is also believable, rich, and lively. I think the rich and original worldbulding in Malazan is due to Erikson and Esslemont's trainings, where both authors are archeologist as well as anthropologist.

Dancer's Lament cast Dorin as the main character. It is no universal secret that Dorin's partner in crime, Wu, would later become the founder of the Malazan Empire; where Wu is to become emperor Kellavend, and Dorin would become Dancer, the chief advisor to Kellavend. But somewhere down the line, this duo would advance in their careers to become gods, and therefore key players in Malazan Book of the Fallen series. So how did it all happen? How did a vagabond mage and a penniless assassin found an empire and then ascended to become gods? This book narrated the duo's humble origins, and the misadventures which paved the way to their ascendancy. Writing a prequel can be tricky. In the prequel, the author has to make sure the characters are consistent with the original series, as well as being reflections of their younger selves. In Dancer's Lament, Esslemont did a sterling job at maintaining the continuity of characterizations. In this book, Dorin and Wu were inexperienced and ambitious, but I also saw the personality traits in them, the traits that marked them as Contillion and Shadowthrone in Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Of the duo, Wu is eccentric, his overly ambitious schemes often landed them in the deep ends of trouble, making the partnership between Wu and Dorin uneasy, but also humorous.

In this book, the story's focal point was Dorin and Wu's plan to take over the city. This story was quite complex, it involved stratagems and shady dealings with the criminal underground. Despite its intricate plotting, the storytelling was seamless and exciting. I did not experience a second of boredom while reading this book. Every intrigue was accompanied by fast-paced action scenes that left me sitting at the knife's edge. Speaking of actions, this book had it all; from knife fights on the rooftops, assassinations in the shadowed back alleys, siege battles, to warring mages hurling explosive magics and wrecking havocs. I think Esslemont is a master at writing the action scenes, while his depictions are not as detailed as Erikson's, but Esslemont wrote his action scenes, fiery paced, with lots of thunder.

Aside from Dorin and Wu, Dancer's Lament also featured a cast of supporting characters who were very memorable. For example, I like the Protectress and her five city mages. These characters inhibited a very grim and dark world, but each of these character carried a touch of humor with them, and they were likable. It is also worthwhile to mention, Dassem Ultor appeared in this book. Here, Dassem's career as a remarkable swordsman was just budding at the temple of Hood. Dassem only had a minor presence in Malazan Book of the Fallen series, but he is one of my favorite characters. I am very glad that Esslemont's prequel trilogy is telling the origin story of Dassem. From the look of it, it seems Dassem will take on a major role in the future books and I am very excited about it.

The last 100 pages of this book was a converging event and it was very epic. From there, the book became unputdownable. I let out a sigh of contentment as I flipped over the last page in the epilogue. This is an excellent, action-packed novel that will sate a fantasy reader's hunger for an exciting tale. Veterans of the Malazan world would not want to miss out on this one. On the other hand, I think Dancer's Lament can also be a good starting point for a new comer to this series.