Beginning with the publication of Gardens of the Moon in 1999, The Malazan Book of the Fallen epic fantasy series by Steven Erikson has created one of the most complex and intriguing worlds in fantasy fiction. However, Erikson did not conceive the world and story alone. Now, Erikson’s longtime collaborator and co-creator of the Malazan world, Ian C. Esslemont, makes his first published entry in the Malazan series with his novel Night of Knives (Tor Books, May 2009, ISBN 0765323699).
A City Descends Into Chaos
The story is set in the port city of Malaz, and takes place before any of the Steven Erikson books. It was in Malaz that the Malazan Empire began, but as that empire has grown Malaz has become more and more of a backwater. The government of the Empire is in flux: Emperor Kellanved has been mysteriously missing for several years, leaving one of his lieutenants, a woman known as Surly, as regent.
Malaz’s peace is about to be shattered. It is the night of the Shadow Moon, an event seen only a few times a century. It is a time when demons run loose on the earth, the spirits of the dead rise up to prey on the living, and anyone with any sense barricades himself inside his home until the dawn.
This Shadow Moon, however, is even more significant. The regent herself is in the city, accompanied by the Claw- her expert force of deadly spies and assassins. Other realms of existence are converging, bringing great and ancient powers into play. Most of important of all, it is prophesied that this is the night Kellanved will return to reclaim the throne of the Empire he built.
Surviving a Night Gone Mad
The story follows two characters through this momentous night. Kiska is a young thief who hopes to see the larger world, and has aspirations of joining the Empire’s elite intelligence service. Temper is an aging soldier in the army of the Empire. Once he fought alongside Dassem Ultor, the greatest general and swordsman in the Empire’s service. Now Dassem is dead, and Temper serves out his days in the Malaz garrison.
Kiska ignores her aunt’s warnings to stay indoors during the Shadow Moon, and soon has a fateful encounter with one of the major players in events about to transpire. Meanwhile, Temper’s desire to protect a fellow veteran puts him in danger when she turns out to be a member of another one of the factions battling for power.
Both must struggle to survive in a city where vengeful spirits and undead are rising, cultists, soldiers, and rival factions of the Empire’s elite assassins stalk and kill each other in the streets, a pack of huge, ancient, supernatural hounds roams the city, and some of the most powerful people in the Empire struggle for control. When it is over, the Empire will never be the same again.
Evaluation and Comments
Night of Knives is an enjoyable entry in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Ian C. Esslemont shares Steven Erikson’s talent for intense action scenes, though the sardonic humor Erikson often adds is largely absent. Temper and Kiska are both likable characters, and their radically different perspectives- a naïve, adventurous girl full of ambition and dreams and a battered old man who’s seen far too much- complement each other nicely.
The book is much more constrained in scope than Erikson’s books, limited to the events of a single night in a single city rather than ranging across continents. This narrow focus has advantages, since once the Shadow Moon rises Esslemont is able to move the night’s chaotic events along at an enjoyably frantic pace and create an appropriate sense of urgency. The effect is rather different from much of Steven Erikson’s work, but still quite effective.
For long-time Malazan readers, Night of Knives finally reveals events that have been alluded to since the series began. The book is reasonably friendly to newcomers, but the significance of certain things may be lost on them. Most readers will probably be better off reading at least the first two of Steven Erikson’s books (Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates) first to have a better understanding of the context, but it’s not essential.
Conclusion
Night of Knives is planned to be the first of five books Ian C. Esslemont will write in a series called "Novels of the Malazan Empire." The Malazan Book of the Fallen has become one of the most exciting fantasy series of recent decades, justly earning comparisons to classics like the Black Company novels of Glen Cook. Esselmont’s Night of Knives is a fine addition to the Malazan world, and a promising sign of things to come.
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