Fantasy

House of Chains

House of Chains

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  • Create Date：2021-06-23 09:55:35
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Steven Erikson
  • ISBN：0765348810
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Summary

An alternate cover edition can be found here。

In Northern Genabackis， a raiding party of savage tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flatlands。 Their intention is to wreak havoc amongst the despised lowlanders， but for the one named Karsa Orlong it marks the beginning of what will prove to be an extraordinary destiny。
Some years later， it is the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs。 Tavore， the Adjunct to the Empress， has arrived in the last remaining Malazan stronghold of Seven Cities。 New to command， she must hone twelve thousand soldiers， mostly raw recruits but for a handful of veterans of Coltaine's legendary march， into a force capable of challenging the massed hordes of Sha'ik's Whirlwind who lie in wait in the heart of the Holy Desert。
But waiting is never easy。 The seer's warlords are locked into a power struggle that threatens the very soul of the rebellion， while Sha'ik herself suffers， haunted by the knowledge of her nemesis: her own sister， Tavore。
And so begins this awesome new chapter in Steven Erikson's acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen。

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Reviews

reactorr ，

"Pressioni e forze sono sempre in opposizione。 E la lotta tende sempre verso l'equilibrio。 Tutto questo è， naturalmente， al di là degli dei。 Così è il corso dell'esistenza。 Anzi no， è al di là anche di questa， poiché l'esistenza stessa è contrastata dall'oblio。 È una lotta che abbraccia ogni cosa [。。。]。 Alla vita corrisponde la morte。 Alla luce， l'oscurità。 Al successo travolgente， il fallimento catastrofico。 Alle maledizioni， le benedizioni。 Pare che tutti gli uomini tendano a perdere di vista "Pressioni e forze sono sempre in opposizione。 E la lotta tende sempre verso l'equilibrio。 Tutto questo è， naturalmente， al di là degli dei。 Così è il corso dell'esistenza。 Anzi no， è al di là anche di questa， poiché l'esistenza stessa è contrastata dall'oblio。 È una lotta che abbraccia ogni cosa [。。。]。 Alla vita corrisponde la morte。 Alla luce， l'oscurità。 Al successo travolgente， il fallimento catastrofico。 Alle maledizioni， le benedizioni。 Pare che tutti gli uomini tendano a perdere di vista tale verità， soprattutto se accecati da un trionfo dopo l'altro。"Casa delle Catene è caratterizzato da intense vicende familiari， segnate dalla vendentta， dalla ricerca di un ricongiungimento， da redenzione o dalla ricerca di qualcuno per cui vivere。 Senza però quell'epicità raggiunta nel terzo capitolo， ma non per questo è un libro peggiore， anzi in virtù non solo dell'eccezionale ironia， ma degli insegnamenti e riflessioni dell'autore sulla religione， sulla vita e su ciò che conta realmente， Casa delle Catene， lo ritengo il migliore tra i quattro libri letti fin'ora。 Senza dimenticae quella peculiare sensazione di scoperta e sense of wonder， che si prova scavando nella backstory del mondo， o quando si attraversano i luoghi incredibili partoriti dall'immaginazione dell'autore。 Inoltre， c'è il miglior prologo che abbia letto fin'ora。 。。。more

George Rolls ，

3。5/5

Evan ，

more of what you expect with a Malazan book only now some characters are going by other names making it even more confusing lol。 Still great & epic though！

A ，

i’m done with malazan’s books for a couple years， dnf @75%， 3🌟 being generius because it’s amazing in an sort of way

Grace Rolfe ，

I actually enjoyed this more than Memories of Ice。 Unlike the first 3 books， for me， there didn’t seem to be a slow part in this book。

Raine ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 How do you even review a book like House of Chains？ My copy of this book have so many sticky notes， it looks like a dissertation paper。 The beauty of the series is in the reread so I just know that there are all these nuggets that I am getting now that are already so good but then will become so much more amazing in hindsight。 There are a lot of things I am not understanding but what I do understand， I love。 And those moments where something suddenly clicks， priceless。In this book， we finally me How do you even review a book like House of Chains？ My copy of this book have so many sticky notes， it looks like a dissertation paper。 The beauty of the series is in the reread so I just know that there are all these nuggets that I am getting now that are already so good but then will become so much more amazing in hindsight。 There are a lot of things I am not understanding but what I do understand， I love。 And those moments where something suddenly clicks， priceless。In this book， we finally meet Karsa。 I say finally because I have seen Karsa in almost everybody’s list of favorite characters。 Most of the first book is centered around him and his backstory。 Comparing the first three books， mainly sticking to that one character most of the time actually made it easier/faster to get through。 Karsa is such a big part of this book and even though it is only book 4， it is easy for me to understand why he is so high in everyone’s list。 I love his story， even the gruesome parts。 I love the development of the characterOne of the critiques that was given to Steven Erikson is that he is not able to do characterization。 I don’t know how people are able to say that。 The characterization in these books are actually one of the strongest things for me。 These are people I remember， can either be hate or love or somewhere in between， but at the end of the day， I feel something for them。 I remember them。 This book felt more emotional to me than Memories of Ice， primarily because we are going back to Aren and we are seeing the impact of the Chain of Dogs。 The sacrifice that was levied by Coltaine， Duiker and countless men/women to save as many people as they can。 In terms of the pacing of the book， I can see why people find gripes with this book。 Yes， it was amazing that the 1st quarter of the book were mostly Karsa but then on the latter part of the book， it was kind of detrimental since there seems to be so many people that we are following。 Some parts felt slow and unnecessary and given the difficulty of the text itself， it feels quite bogged down。 SE loves to leave nuggets everywhere and I know that some people love this and when they finally figure everything out， but there are weak moments wherein I feel like pulling out my hair and that Steven Erikson would just spell it out for me。 Thankfully， those moments pass and I am able to avoid the go-to Google for this。 I am so scared of spoilers and want to experience the whole MBOTF for myself。The thing I love most about this series so far is the humor that Steven Erikson manages to inject in the exchanges as well as the relationships he builds among the characters。 I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the friendship between Torvald and Karsa， Onrack and Trull， to name a few。Things I loved about this book: anything with Karsa Orlong， Trull Sengar， Cutter， Strings， backstory of Tavore sending Felisin to the mines， Fiddler/Strings， the Greek tragedy that is the Shaikh“I would not kneel when chained…Why would I do so now？”“Because your truth would burden me。 Force me to find my kin once more。 Your truth would chain me to this world—to my world， once more。 And I am not ready for that”Ranking of BooksDeadhouse GatesMemories of IceHouse of ChainsGardens of the MoonFavorite Characters in the SeriesQuick BenKalamCrokus/CutterKarsaOnrackTrull Gesler DuikerColtaine Heboric 。。。more

Cadome ，

The book is really good。

Amanda Nieves kellerhouse ，

I liked the previous book a little better I think， but still 5 stars。 This series is unlike anything I've ever read。 I liked the previous book a little better I think， but still 5 stars。 This series is unlike anything I've ever read。 。。。more

Umang Upadhayay ，

2。5⭐My first Malazan disappointment and a huge one at that。。 This book was nothing but a set of random events， without any proper direction， gathering into a convergence at the end which was so boring to read that terrible things were happening to people and I couldn't care less。If not for Karsa， I would have given this one a 2 star。 A huge step down from the masterpiece which was Memories of Ice。Hopefully I won't be disappointed in the future books。。 Witness！ 2。5⭐My first Malazan disappointment and a huge one at that。。 This book was nothing but a set of random events， without any proper direction， gathering into a convergence at the end which was so boring to read that terrible things were happening to people and I couldn't care less。If not for Karsa， I would have given this one a 2 star。 A huge step down from the masterpiece which was Memories of Ice。Hopefully I won't be disappointed in the future books。。 Witness！ 。。。more

Kaffeeklatsch and Books ，

What a ride。。。 Wow 😳This is my favorite malazan book so far。

Whitney Jamimah ，

Sometimes it feels hard rating the Malazan books for several reasons but I can say that I enjoyed this one more than Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice but I still liked Deadhouse Gates the most so far。 I feel like， as a first time reader， I am still missing things here and there throughout so I will eventually need a re-read and it may not be fair to rate the books at all until my re-read when I am grasping more of the overall story in a second exploration。 Also， I have found that sometime Sometimes it feels hard rating the Malazan books for several reasons but I can say that I enjoyed this one more than Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice but I still liked Deadhouse Gates the most so far。 I feel like， as a first time reader， I am still missing things here and there throughout so I will eventually need a re-read and it may not be fair to rate the books at all until my re-read when I am grasping more of the overall story in a second exploration。 Also， I have found that sometimes when I make more progress in the story of Malazan as a whole I will feel differently about different installments， in fact， I just recently went back and changed my star ratings for a couple previous books and I can foresee myself doing this again potentially in the future。 Anyway， in this installment we travel back to the continent of Seven Cities and we wrap up the conflict between Dryjhna and the Malazan Empire （put about as neat and sweet as you can make it）。I am finding that I am kind of a Seven Cities kind of gal so this book automatically appealed to me and I definitely was not disappointed。 I don't know exactly what it is about Seven Cities， but it just gels with me。 I think maybe it has been because， overall， when we were in Seven Cities we typically get to spend more time with the magics of the world and typically spend a little less time in the military politics。 I don't classify myself as a military fantasy reader， I tend to feel that my eyes glaze over when the combat and war tactics get heavy but there is always enough mystery and magic in Seven Cities that I guess I don't feel inundated with military。 I'm sure many could argue with me that Genabackis has tons of magic stuff too but it's just the way I feel ok？！I loved how this book had me screaming and cheering many times。 The climax sequence was a ton of fun for me though I am aware that this book was among the least of some people's favorites。 I feel like GotM and MoI were a whole story arc together and now DG and HoC were another whole story arc and now everything has been wrapped up as nicely as a Malazan storyline can be at this point and I am very interested to see where exactly the story is headed next。 Again， I need another little breather from Malazan but I know I will be highly looking forward to jumping into Midnight Tides。 。。。more

Bryan ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This book is 1 million pages long and features a notable reduction in the mentions of guys jizzing at the moment of death。

Jethro ，

WITNESS

Kevin Sanchez ，

Continuing the events of Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice， this book really takes you for a ride。 Especially since slowly new problems are beginning to take form。 Thus series is amazing and I highly recommend it！

Carson Alsup ，

House of Chains is a huge letdown after the previous masterpiece。 The novel is a drag。 The brightest parts include a new character， Karsa， who we see some incredible character development occur。 The main cast from Deadhouse Gates is a boring letdown， with the anticipated showdown between Tavore and Felisin sticking out in particular。 One of the best moments in the book aside from Karsa's storyline， include a small humorous scene involving。。。 Scorpion fighting。 This novel was just an overall miss House of Chains is a huge letdown after the previous masterpiece。 The novel is a drag。 The brightest parts include a new character， Karsa， who we see some incredible character development occur。 The main cast from Deadhouse Gates is a boring letdown， with the anticipated showdown between Tavore and Felisin sticking out in particular。 One of the best moments in the book aside from Karsa's storyline， include a small humorous scene involving。。。 Scorpion fighting。 This novel was just an overall miss for me。 I wasn't invested in most of the new characters， and some of the storylines completely bored me （Onrak。） 。。。more

Frank ，

There were parts that were incredibly board to read and it felt like the ending just kind of ended， but it may have also been that i was reading chapter by chapter each night。 Definitely preferred it to Memories of Ice， but it told a different sort of story

James Morpurgo ，

Witness！

Sue A。 ，

Against seemingly popular belief， I loved Karsa Orlong！ Onto book 5！

Michelle ，

While I completely understand the gripes that some people have had with this one， I just didn’t have that same negative experience。 Although it was a definite change with some of the POVs and pacing， I absolutely loved it。 It gave me everything that I didn’t know I wanted from the series at this point。 I was glued to the pages and jotting notes every step of the way， loving how I was gaining a better understanding and appreciation for “difficult” areas I had in previous Malazan books as well。 I While I completely understand the gripes that some people have had with this one， I just didn’t have that same negative experience。 Although it was a definite change with some of the POVs and pacing， I absolutely loved it。 It gave me everything that I didn’t know I wanted from the series at this point。 I was glued to the pages and jotting notes every step of the way， loving how I was gaining a better understanding and appreciation for “difficult” areas I had in previous Malazan books as well。 I am sure I will eventually hit a book in this series that doesn’t have me as amazed as all these have done， but it has been an incredible journey so far。 。。。more

Carmen Luzon ，

Me rindo con Malaz。 Esta saga no es para mí， me he esforzado por seguir leyendo a pesar de que no disfrutaba absolutamente nada la lectura， pero ya me he cansado。 No voy a seguir leyendo。

S。K。 Inkslinger ，

I just finished reading House of Chains。 It's pretty good， but definitely nowhere near as good as Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice。 I'm anticipating what's next for Karsa Orlong's story， though， and that part near the end about Fist Gamet and Felisin got me good。 I just finished reading House of Chains。 It's pretty good， but definitely nowhere near as good as Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice。 I'm anticipating what's next for Karsa Orlong's story， though， and that part near the end about Fist Gamet and Felisin got me good。 。。。more

Thomas Powell ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 4。5 stars！ Let me just start off by saying， at the start of this book I did not like Karsa。 He reminded me of the leader of a group of jocks on a high school football team。 By the end of this book， I LOVED TOBLAKAI！ Holy hell， he is by far one of the greatest characters in this entire series so far。 It's strange how Mr。 Erikson seems to have a penchant for making you come to love characters who are either A） absolutely terrible people who constantly commit atrocious acts for the majority of thei 4。5 stars！ Let me just start off by saying， at the start of this book I did not like Karsa。 He reminded me of the leader of a group of jocks on a high school football team。 By the end of this book， I LOVED TOBLAKAI！ Holy hell， he is by far one of the greatest characters in this entire series so far。 It's strange how Mr。 Erikson seems to have a penchant for making you come to love characters who are either A） absolutely terrible people who constantly commit atrocious acts for the majority of their lives， or B） are annoying。 His arc in this book was incredible; he went through so many changes， and the initial reveal of who he was had me WHOOPING out loud in my bedroom with glee。 I hope that Karsa continues to defy the power of The Crippled God， even though it seems like he's officially a part of the "House of Chains"。 As for the rest of this book， I really， really enjoyed the majority of it。 I'm not sure why， but I LOVE falling action。 When there is a huge， world-altering event （in this case the Chain of Dogs）， and getting to see the repercussions of that， how it affected characters who carried over from Deadhouse Gates， etc。 The first half of this book had a ton of that， and I absolutely ate it up。 Visiting the hill where Coltaine was crucified， seeing Aren Way after the bodies were removed from the trees。 I couldn't get enough。 All of the storylines were interesting and well-planned。 I think out of all of the books so far， I liked how by the end of this one， all of the separate stories had interwoven into one larger narrative that flowed together easily。 I read the second half of this book in just over one week， and I attribute a lot of it to that。 It felt like a page-turner。 There was a section about midway through the novel when Onrack and Trull were traveling through the Nascent; I felt like some of the imagery and dialogue became a little too abstract for me to focus on， and I was lost for a little while。 I had a similar feeling towards the end of the book during the climax in Raraku and the ensuing fallout。 Overall， I was able to figure out what was going on， and I still enjoyed it。 The book wouldn't be complete without it！ And hey！ Our first mention of Rallick Nom since Gardens of the Moon （here's to hoping that we see him again in Midnight Tides）！ Also， when Kalam summoned Quick Ben to help him in the Oasis。 Awwww HELL YEAH！！ And Fiddler's hug when he's reunited with them both。 :'） 。。。more

Brent ，

Karsa Orlong is awesome which is why this book got off to a hot start。 For once it was a focused story with an interesting character。 The rest of the book。。。not so much。After getting introduced to the first character in this series I actually found interesting he pretty much gets sidelined for almost the rest of the book。 There were some other interesting plot elements in here， but nothing even remotely comparable to the awesome battles that drove my enjoyment of Memories of Ice。 It's mostly cha Karsa Orlong is awesome which is why this book got off to a hot start。 For once it was a focused story with an interesting character。 The rest of the book。。。not so much。After getting introduced to the first character in this series I actually found interesting he pretty much gets sidelined for almost the rest of the book。 There were some other interesting plot elements in here， but nothing even remotely comparable to the awesome battles that drove my enjoyment of Memories of Ice。 It's mostly characters I don't care about talking in dialogue I find unrealistic and somewhat pretentious。 Even when interesting or cool things happen because of the purposely obscured storytelling style they seem to lack impact for me which brings me to my next point。I will be continuing with this readalong because I want to participate and say I finished the series， but I have realized some things。 This series has a defined ceiling for my enjoyment。 There can be epic moments or chapters like in Memories of Ice that can hit some high highs， but Erikson's writing style， characters （with 1 or 2 exceptions）， and disjointed storytelling choices are just not for me。 That's not going to change with "giving it 1 more book"。 I'm never going to like those things。 When there aren't those epic moments in a book， like there wasn't in this one， it's going to really suffer。In the end I probably liked this more than I liked Deadhouse Gates since I got through most of the book before questioning if I want to DNF it and the series instead of just a couple chapters。 That being said it barely beat it out thanks to Karsa。 。。。more

Phil ，

House of Chains marks a turning point for me in the MBotF series - one good， and one， at least thus far， something I am not thrilled with。 Because I listened to this story with Audible， I will， unfortunately， need to address something unique to that - which has no impact on the story - which is why， while critical of the Audible version， I still rated the book 5 Stars。For the first three novels， Ralph Lister performed superbly。 Every character had unique personally and tone that I felt reflected House of Chains marks a turning point for me in the MBotF series - one good， and one， at least thus far， something I am not thrilled with。 Because I listened to this story with Audible， I will， unfortunately， need to address something unique to that - which has no impact on the story - which is why， while critical of the Audible version， I still rated the book 5 Stars。For the first three novels， Ralph Lister performed superbly。 Every character had unique personally and tone that I felt reflected them well。 Book 4 - and through the series' completion - switched narrators to Michael Page。 Unfortunately， Page just did not do nearly as well as Lister。 This is not a critique of Page。 Indeed， Page narrated my very first audible book I ever listened to - The Gentlemen Bastard series， Lies of Locke Lamora。 After hearing him it took me a long time to accept other narrators as I didn't feel they were up to snuff。 Here， however， I just did not feel like Page was the right narrator。 Part of this is because I already expected characters to sound a certain way which caused confusion when they had completely different dialects and pronunciations of words。 Other things I found quite valid in not enjoying - for example， Fiddler sounding like a Scottish Lord was just not something I think Fiddler should sound like。 Page probably did better than Lister in some aspects， but overall， mid-way through this novel I ended up purchasing the series in physical copy form because I just did not enjoy Page's narration。With that critique out of the way， the other turning part for me was when I realized that， despite learning about Karsa's beginnings， we had already met him in Deadhouse Gates。 When I made the connection， I realized that I needed to explore the Malazan wiki - much as I did with the Wheel of Time series。 There are so many terms and characters that I had missed and going through painstakingly through each previous novel， clicking on terms/people I didn't recognize， and generally learning about the world and its history proved invaluable to me。As I felt more comfortable with things， I enjoyed the story more。For me， House of Chains started in a manner that was interesting， but I found difficult because Karsa simply is not a good person or likeable 。。。 at all。 He's conceited， ignorant， a rapist， a murderer 。。。 I mean， the list goes on and on。 As the story unfolds， and focuses less on Karsa and more on the overarching story of Raraku， I felt more invested。 And as Karsa's story intertwines with those current events， I found myself more interested in him， as he has begun to slowly develop his own flaws and characteristics - while still maintaining some that are， to be blunt， abhorrent。I was fairly critical in my review of Deadhouse Gates' focus on the chain of dogs。 I felt it went into too much detail not realizing that it would be central in later novels。 There is quite a bit of emotion in House of Chains as we reminisce on those characters and that novel has more meaning to me now that I have gone back and researched it。 HoC builds off of that novel as the Malazan forces seek retribution from Korbolo Dom et al。Final Verdict: 4。4 out of 5I am ignoring the narration in my final review because the author should not be penalized for that choice。 HoC really drives home what I believe to be the ultimate long-term narrative in MBotF which likely will see a final confrontation with the Crippled God。 Previous installments， in my mind， focused too much on only a few characters。 While the same can be said for the start of the story， by the mid-point it was in full swing and I enjoyed all the different voices we heard， and made all that much better since they all intersected in various ways by the end。 。。。more

Farhad Shawkat ，

After three five star books and a great start to the series， I arrive at House of Chains – currently my least favourite so far。 By quite a bit。 Starts off well， with a really interesting character who goes through a decent arc。 Who in the second half of the book gets sidetracked， to the detriment of the plot。 What I’ve loved so far about Malazan are the characters， in the first three books that is。 Each was unique and memorable， and it was difficult to pick a favourite， or even a top ten。 Really After three five star books and a great start to the series， I arrive at House of Chains – currently my least favourite so far。 By quite a bit。 Starts off well， with a really interesting character who goes through a decent arc。 Who in the second half of the book gets sidetracked， to the detriment of the plot。 What I’ve loved so far about Malazan are the characters， in the first three books that is。 Each was unique and memorable， and it was difficult to pick a favourite， or even a top ten。 Really hard to see anyone from this book get into that particular list。 Karsa the possible exception。And finally， characters ascending was a cool trick in the earlier parts of the series。 Now， it just seems like a cheap plot armour – shocking deaths， who ascend anyway （not a criticism of this specific book， perhaps， but in hindsight， the first four books overall）。 Deaths here just don’t mean as much as other fantasy series， at this point。Still looking forward to the next one， hoping normal service is resumed。 。。。more

Jiri ，

4。5*

Seb ，

This was definitely the easiest book to read thus far， while still being a Malazan book。I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this because as far as I could tell it is not one of the more well-liked books among the fandom。 I haven't seen anyone say they didn't like it but not many people seem to rank it very high。 While House of Chains was not MoI， which was a Hood damned Masterpiece。 It was still quite enjoyable。 I feel like if you are to divide this series into acts this would be the end of th This was definitely the easiest book to read thus far， while still being a Malazan book。I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this because as far as I could tell it is not one of the more well-liked books among the fandom。 I haven't seen anyone say they didn't like it but not many people seem to rank it very high。 While House of Chains was not MoI， which was a Hood damned Masterpiece。 It was still quite enjoyable。 I feel like if you are to divide this series into acts this would be the end of the first act。 It wrapped up many plot threads left hanging from both DG and MoI while still giving a sense of finality。 This almost felt like an ending。 Though I'm glad it's not。 House of Chains was great even if it wasn't on the level of its predecessor it was still amazing and if there was anything to take away from this book for me it was this: I love Malazan。 It's so strange to see something already gearing up to compete with WoT in my fantasy series rankings。 And I even see the likelihood of a fierce battle with the newly crowned LOTR for the high seat if it continues being this good。 Let's talk about it， shall we？ The book begins in Genebackis before the events of GotM and gives us the backstory to a background character from DG and though he starts off pretty rough and makes it kind of hard for you to like him， because of the Rape and child murder。 But despite this fact which honestly I doubt is bad compared to what other characters in Malazan have done even characters in this book。 Karsa Orlong is a phenomenal character who could carry this book himself if he wanted to。 I've heard that he's supposed to be the lead in Erikson's new series Witness which the first one is coming out this year and if that's the case then great I can't wait to read it。 Because Karsa is so awesome。 He is the definition of a Tank in D&D only difference here is that magic can't even touch him。Then we return to where we left off in DG after the chain of dogs with the two opposing armies， the Malazan's under Tavore and the Army of the apocalypse under Sha'ik （Formerly Felisin）。 I think this overall conflict makes this book great。 Though it feels slow-moving at times especially with the Malazan marching and me ultimately not having many characters I cared about on the Malazan side。 I think Erikson still does a great job here because he manages to make you root for both armies even when they are both kind of horrible and awful。 If I'm being honest most of what I enjoyed in this book was the Karsa and Army of the apocalypse stuff。 Those were the things that made this book for me。 Also， can we talk about the accomplishment of character work which is Felisin Paran。 I talked back at DG about how much I loathed her， but since then I've had time to rethink things a bit。 While I still think she is truly detestable if I consider her circumstances throughout DG and the lifestyle she was accustomed to as former nobility。 I think it's also important to understand that through all of this she's just a kid who thought she was betrayed by her sister。 And in this book， she's not as angry as she was in DG because she's Sha'ik。 But whether or not you love her or hate her。 I think we can agree she's a phenomenal character。I don't know what else to say， this was good。 I both look forward to and am a little worried for MT。 。。。more

Pushpendra Nagle ，

Unexpected revelations， great world building， epic battles and brilliant characters。This book is just as good if not better than the previous one（Memories of Ice）。

Brian ，

After four books in to the Malazan series， I am at a point where most of the confusion has disappeared， and I have a very sense of the world。 I appreciate the expansive world that Steven Erikson has built， his no-nonsense way of telling stories。 Unfortunately， though， this series isn't necessarily clicking for me as a great one。 In many ways， the expansiveness of the world is precisely the cause of its failures， because it is difficult to really understand the characters when you are jumping aro After four books in to the Malazan series， I am at a point where most of the confusion has disappeared， and I have a very sense of the world。 I appreciate the expansive world that Steven Erikson has built， his no-nonsense way of telling stories。 Unfortunately， though， this series isn't necessarily clicking for me as a great one。 In many ways， the expansiveness of the world is precisely the cause of its failures， because it is difficult to really understand the characters when you are jumping around so much。I don't foresee myself stopping at this point but at the same time， I do not think this is going to be an all time favorite series of mine either。 。。。more

Ryan ，

For as much as I’m enjoying the Malazan world， and as much as I liked meeting Karsa， there just wasn’t very much that actually happened in this installment。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=House of Chains

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=House of Chains&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,House of Chains&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0