Fantasy

The God is Not Willing: The First Tale of Witness

The God is Not Willing: The First Tale of Witness

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-06-13 07:51:44
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Steven Erikson
  • ISBN：1787632873
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Summary

Many years have passed since three Teblor warriors brought carnage and chaos to the small lakeside settlement of Silver Lake。 While the town has recovered， the legacy of that past horror remains， even if the Teblor tribes of the north no longer venture into the southlands。 One of those three， Karsa Orlong， is now deemed to be a god， albeit an indifferent one。 In truth， many new cults and religions have emerged across the Malazan world， including those who worship Coltaine， the Black-Winged God， and - popular among the Empire's soldiery - followers of the cult of Iskar Jarak， Guardian of the Dead。

A legion of Malazan marines is on the march towards Silver Lake。 responding to intelligence that indicates the tribes beyond the border are stirring。 The marines aren't quite sure what they're going to be facing but， while the Malazan military has evolved and these are not the marines of old， one thing hasn't changed: they'll handle whatever comes at them。 Or die trying

Meanwhile， in the high mountains， where dwell the tribes of the Teblor， a new warleader has risen。 Scarred by the deeds of Karsa Orlong， he intends to confront his god， even if he has to cut a bloody path through the Malazan Empire to do it。 Higher in the mountains， a new threat has emerged， and now the Teblor are running out of time。
The long feared invasion is about to begin。 And this time it won't be three simple warriors。 This time thousands are poised to flood the lands of the south。 And in their way， a single legion of Malazan marines 。 。 。

It seems the past is about to revisit Silver Lake， and that is never a good thing 。 。 。

'Erikson is an extraordinary writer 。 。 。 treat yourself。' STEPHEN R。 DONALDSON

'A master of lost and forgotten epochs， a weaver of ancient epics。' SALON。COM

Acclaim for The Malazan Book of the Fallen:

'This masterwork of the imagination may be the high watermark of epic fantasy。' GLEN COOK

'Arguably the best fantasy series ever written 。 。 。 the quality and ambition of the ten books that make up The Malazan Book of the Fallen are unmatched within the genre。' FANTASYBOOKREVIEW

'Nobody does it better than Erikson 。 。 。 the best fantasy series around。' SFFWORLD

'In a league of his own in genre fiction terms - by turns lyrical， bawdy， introspective， poetical and blood-soaked 。 。 。 incredible。' BOOKGEEKS

'One of the most original and engrossing fantasy series of recent times。' INTERZONE

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Reviews

Adam Whitehead ，

More than a decade of peace has passed since the fall of the Crippled God。 The Malazan Empire， once an ever-expanding nation， has secured its borders and set about bringing stability and order to its holdings。 One of the furthest-flung of its outposts is Silver Lake， an isolated town in the far north of Genabackis， still reeling from the events of many years earlier， when three Teblor descended from the mountains and brought chaos with them。The 2nd Company of the Malazan XIVth Legion - reduced t More than a decade of peace has passed since the fall of the Crippled God。 The Malazan Empire， once an ever-expanding nation， has secured its borders and set about bringing stability and order to its holdings。 One of the furthest-flung of its outposts is Silver Lake， an isolated town in the far north of Genabackis， still reeling from the events of many years earlier， when three Teblor descended from the mountains and brought chaos with them。The 2nd Company of the Malazan XIVth Legion - reduced to just three squads and eighteen soldiers - is bound for Silver Lake to reinforce the garrison there。 To augment its strength， it has hired the very mercenary company they were recently fighting against， a practical measure that neither side likes very much。 With redoubtable allies， the Malazans have to hold Silver Lake against an implacable foe。 For the Teblor of the mountains， tiring of waiting for their Shattered God - Karsa Orlong - to return to them and motivated by a growing threat to the north， have made a decision to migrate south to seek out their reluctant deity。 What else are a people to do， when their god is not willing？Well， this was a surprise。 Steven Erikson's work has been called many things but "concise" and "focused" are not among them。 All of Erikson's twelve previous novels in the Malazan universe are sprawling， brick-thick volumes you could use to stun a yak。 The God is Not Willing， at a relatively breezy 473 pages， is easily his shortest fantasy novel to date。 Erikson's work has also been called （sometimes fairly， often not） "obtuse" and "confusing。" The in media res opening to the first book in the setting， Gardens of the Moon， remains fiercely debated on Reddit and fantasy message boards to this day。 The God is Not Willing is instead pretty streamlined and comprehensible。 The word - whisper it - "accessible" may be applicable。But if those terms are applicable， don't go thinking this is Erikson with the training wheels on， or restrained， or （grimace） going commercial。 The God is Not Willing is packed with the philosophical musings and rich worldbuilding of his prior work， it is just paced here with discipline and vigor， and an undercurrent of Erikson's distinctly underrated humour。 With the exception of the late， great Terry Pratchett and maybe Abercrombie in his more whimsical moments， Erikson may be one of the funniest writers in modern secondary world fantasy， something he usually keeps under check but here lets loose a little more。 This is still a dramatic and sometimes tragic story， but it's also one balanced by the kind of comedic banter between soldiers-under-duress that we've seen before in earlier novels， but here taken up a notch。The God is Not Willing is set ten years after the events of The Crippled God， in north Genabackis。 The events of the opening of House of Chains have left an ugly scar on the town of Silver Lake， with ex-slaves and ex-slavers having to find new roles after the Malazan Empire outlawed slavery。 Rast， the half-Teblor son of Karsa Orlong， has been exiled from his home by his mother。 The town's depleted garrison is reinforced by the Malazan XIVth Legion's 2nd Company， with the slight problem that the company has been almost destroyed in an engagement with a mercenary company， with heavy losses on both sides。 Fighting the mercenaries to a standstill， Captain Gruff hits on the splendid - or barking mad - idea of hiring the mercenaries to augment his depleted forces， which is slightly undercut by the two sides disliking one another。 Elsewhere， the Teblor tribes of the mountains have discovered that the fading of Jaghut sorcery from the world is about to have cataclysmic consequences， spurring a mass migration into the lands of the south， and a potential showdown with their reluctant deity Karsa Orlong， also known as Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Novel。And that's kind of it。 The novel rotates between these three storylines with a laser-like focus， with Rast's growth from a confused and terrified youth into a character of moral courage， using his Kara-like， single-minded and utterly unbendable determination as a force for good （or what passes for it） getting a lot of focus。 So too do the Malazan marines holding Silver Lake。 There's only eighteen of them left after the clash with Balk's mercenary company （who also get some attention， though it's more of a subplot）， allowing Erikson to explore most of their characters in a lot of detail。 It's the splendidly-written Stillwater who emerges as the best character in the novel， a lethal assassin-mage who has been trying to effectively trademark the idea （and ignoring the various assassin-mage organisations we've already seen in the previous novels， not least the Claw） and whose facility with the warren of Shadow is slightly complicated by her relationship with the Hounds of Shadow。 Stillwater entertains because of her determined lack of interest in the normal ongoings of the Malazan world， and her metacommentary on what is happening is the source of much of the book's humour。The book is relatively small in scale for most of its length， being concerned with very small groups of characters， until Erikson shifts things up a gear in the last hundred pages or so， when we suddenly pull back to a widescreen view of events and discover that things are about to go south very， very fast。 Entire cultures and nations are caught up as Erikson finally delivers when he nearly did in The Bonehunters - a fantasy disaster novel！ - and does so with spades。I was very surprised at this book。 A dozen novels， half a dozen novellas and thirty years into writing this series （and almost forty since he and Ian Esslemont created it for gaming purposes in 1982）， with the previous two-published books being commercial disappointments， you could have forgiven Erikson for writing a crowd-pleasing war story or a thousand-page recap of Malazan's greatest hits。 Instead， he delivers a determined， focused， well-paced and immensely rich novel of war， peace， hubris， consequence， sorcery and compassion。 He even finds time to right some wrongs from earlier in the series: the somewhat brushed-over consequences of Karsa's odyssey of destruction in House of Chains are here laid bare in full， and the logical （if long-in-unfolding） consequences of events in the main series which were outside the scope of that story are explored in depth by one of Erikson's finest casts of characters yet。The God is Not Willing （*****） is Steven Erikson bringing his A-game， turned up to 11， and delivering what is comfortably one of his three or four best novels to date。 The book will be published in the UK on 1 July and on 9 November in the United States。 。。。more

Jayadev ，

Yes， I loved itYes， I'm biasedFull Review to come soonProbably in a few months because the release date is so far away Yes， I loved itYes， I'm biasedFull Review to come soonProbably in a few months because the release date is so far away 。。。more

Sandra Gibbons ，

Aaaand my TBR continues to grow。

Stefan Bach ，

Prologue: Just finished the prologue。 Once， in Malazan main series， three Teblor warriors came down from the mountain。 One of them wreak havoc across the books， unable to find his place in the novels， he conveniently cut down loose threads， bitter enemies and despicable characters we couldn't stand。 Until he became a loose thread himself。 Such a loose thread that author simply dropped him because he didn't know how to use him anymore。 And now we have a whole pack of them in probably the most unn Prologue: Just finished the prologue。 Once， in Malazan main series， three Teblor warriors came down from the mountain。 One of them wreak havoc across the books， unable to find his place in the novels， he conveniently cut down loose threads， bitter enemies and despicable characters we couldn't stand。 Until he became a loose thread himself。 Such a loose thread that author simply dropped him because he didn't know how to use him anymore。 And now we have a whole pack of them in probably the most unnecessary trilogy of this world。 Elade Tharos， new Teblor Warleader， I pity you。 You don't stand a chance against the Malazan fandom and their unreasonable love to one of the most boring and predictable character in this universe。 Descriptions are good， though。。。 。。。more

José ，

¡Ya tenemos el título del primer libro de la trilogía de Karsa Orlong！ WITNESS！ ¡Ya tenemos el título del primer libro de la trilogía de Karsa Orlong！ WITNESS！ 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The God is Not Willing: The First Tale of Witness

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The God is Not Willing: The First Tale of Witness&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The God is Not Willing: The First Tale of Witness&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0