A Book Review: Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont (Path to Ascendancy #2)

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.