Deadhouse Landing, by Ian C.
Esslemont, is the second book in the Path to Ascendancy trilogy.
This is a prequel to Steven Erikson's acclaimed series, Malazan
Book of the Fallen. The trilogy began with Dancer's Lament, where it explored the humble origins for Dancer and Shadowthrone
(AKA Kellaved), both key characters in the Malazan series.
A few weeks ago I read Dancer's
Lament. It was superb; excellent storytelling, good humors, and
great characters. I was hooked by the story. I wanted more of it.
Fortunately, Deadhouse Landing, the sequel, was already
waiting for me on the bookshelf. With much eager I resumed Dancer's and
Kellaved's misadventures. I read Deadhouse Landing in 3 days. It was just as good as its predecessor, if not better.
Synopsis:
Dancer and Kellaved, two comrade in arms, their ambitious plan
went pear-shaped in Li Heng. The duo fled to a small island city
called Malaz, where pirates and gangs controlled its streets. Soon,
the island's environ rekindled Kellaved's old passion to take over
the world. Between Dancer and Kellaved, the two partners hatched a
scheme to take control of Malaz by subduing the other power factions
on the island. To do so, they joined forces with a band of Napans who
allegedly fled from their home land due to a civil war. Things were
finally looking good for the duo and success was in their grasps.
However, their plan went skew when Kellaved became fascinated with an
alien and dangerous structure on the island known as Deadhouse.
My thoughts about the book:
Deadhouse Landing is a
fast-paced book with great characters. In this book, Dancer and
Kellaved were once again plotting to take over a city, and they do so
with cloak and daggers. This time, they are
going up against gangs and pirates. This book is like The
Godfather set in the grimdark fantasy world. One can expect knife fights
in the dark alleys, naval battles, shady deals and treacheries
galore. The cast has increased in size since Dancer's Lament.
Yet, Esslemont weaved every character's background story, seamlessly,
into the main plot. The narratives in Deadhouse Landing were
intricate and complex, but the main story was very easy to follow.
Esslemont flashed out his characters well, even the smallest support
character made an impression on me.
Dancer and Kellaved reamined the
highlights of this book. I liked the portrayals, for how Kellaved's
strange fascinations with Deadhouse, affected the dynamics in their
friendships. I am very fond of this duo, whose ambitions often turned
into misadventures that borderlined hilariarity. However, there are
also moments when these two partners, one an assassin, the other a
mage, flashed their true powers to remind me that they are dangerous
individuals not to be trifled with. Aside from Dancer and Kellaved,
the third character who arrested my interest was Dassem. I will not
spoil Dassem's part in the story. Let me just say Dassem is the
incarnation for awesomeness (especially at the ending).
Those who are initiated with the Malazan series will also identify many familiar faces in this book. I am unable to
talk about every one of them because there are too many. Although a noteworthy mention here is the origin story for
Empress Laseen. Deadhouse Landing showed us what
she was like before she became the empress. Laseen's origin story was
indeed fascinating. It will satisfy the veterans of the Malazan
books.
The characterizations in this book are
impressive, but Esslemont also deserves credit for the depictions of the fight and battle scenes. In this book, the action scenes are
energetic and nail-biting. The fight scenes are not the main focus in
the story, but it brought tension and suspense to
the book, making it a very entertaining read.
I adore Deadhouse Landing as
much as I adored Dancer's Lament. Between all the novels I
read in 2017, these two books are my favorites in the epic fantasy
category. My woe is the wait for the next book. The third book in
this trilogy titled, Kellaved's Reach, does not yet have a release
date. However, judging by the previous publishing history of one book
per year (Dancer's Lament in 2016 and Deadhouse Landing
in 2017), I am hoping at some time in 2018, the third book will be within the clutch of my grubby hands. Meanwhile, I highly recommend the Path to
Ascendancy trilogy to those readers who enjoy the epic fantasy
genre.
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