Forge of the High Mage

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It shows him coming into his power as he pushes himself beyond what he thought was his limits, only to discover an almost limitless supply of power on the other side of his mental barricades. The book's title is perfect in describing his character arc: which includes his doubts and concerns, trying to understand his place within the military, his working relationship with Nightchill and Dujek Onearm, as well as his magical potential, leading to mastery. Most people have stopped that (not all, for some reason) and now you can enjoy his books and let them shine for what they are. Forge of the High Mage is the fourth book in the Path to Ascendency that deals with the formation of the Malazan Empire.

I was quite disappointed by the previous book, Kellanved’s Reach was far too short and spread across too many plotlines, but Forge of the High Mage is a great comeback to proper Malazan form. ICE, earlier in his Malazan days, suffered the curse of being continually compared to the incomparable, Erikson. When reading Forge of the High Mage, like previous entries in this series, it is easier to keep track of the people, places, and the plot.Esslemont continues to deliver page-turning epic fantasy in the fourth installment of the Path to Ascendancy series. But two can play at that game, for the Emperor sails towards Falar aboard his flagship Twisted - a vessel that is itself thought to be not entirely of this world. The storyline was good and has advanced the Malazan Empire as well as individuals such as mainly Tayschren (and of course MR). He'll never reach the heights of Steven Erikson but not all Malazan books have to be 1000-page tomes full of philosophy. The book’s title is perfect in describing his character arc: which includes his doubts and concerns, trying to understand his place within the military, his working relationship with Nightchill and Dujek Onearm, as well as his magical potential, leading to mastery.

Here, then, in the tracts of the Ice Wastes and among the islands of Falar, the Empire of Malaz faces two seemingly insurmountable tests - each one potentially the origin of its destruction . And then the theocracy of Falar is itself far from defenceless - its priests are in possession of a weapon so terrifying it has not been unleashed for centuries.

It was thought that "people who weren't Malazan readers would look at that and it would be a meaningless title for them. Still crazy as a coconut, but much less frustrating because now, all his associates are aware of his unlimited potential, his infinite cunning and utter unpredictability.

Never the less, it is still a very enjoyable book, and a fun look back at some of the series' best characters. The finest Esslemont novel so far, and a superb Malazan novel in its own right' - DRYING INK You may also be interested in. Surprisingly, Forge of the High Mage is exactly what the title says, the forging of the High Mage Tayschrenn into the formidable and intimidating figure seen in MBotF. I do have a few major gripes with the plot as a whole, mostly the fact a lot of key elements I was most looking forward to in the prequels have been skipped in the time jump ie the formation of the Malazan legions, the first clash against the crimson guard, Topper meeting Surly etc but mostly it is that major characters don't.Finally, it is worth noting that there are a couple of big-name cameos in Forge of the High Mage with characters who are not directly involved in the action taking place (yet). The cataclysmic ending is a tad contrived, but the various storylines sync well and everything Malazan and Crimson is in fine form. On the flip side, Mael himself is an active character in this book, he’s there to influence and sanction the proper use of power drawn from him (and not by the oily, slimy bastard Rel). This book really dumbs down the series and the characters, delivering a bunch of epic events and confrontations with hardly any of the emotion that the series is known for.

He has a degree in Creative Writing, studied and worked as an archaeologist, travelled extensively in South East Asia, and lived in Thailand and Japan for several years. There is a bit of a time-jump in the chronology (since the events in Kellanved’s Reach) and the Empire is already fairly established, with several ongoing campaigns of varying success in play at this point. This series is a prequel to the events of Erikson‘s Malazan Book of the Fallen and Esslemont’s own Novels of the Malazan Empire, with this entry seeing Kellanved (The Emperor), Dancer (Master Assassin), Dassem Ultor (The Sword), Tayschrenn (High Mage) and their armies advancing into Falar. Learned lots and lots of background on lots of characters, especially the growth of our titular mage.While I love maps and often scoured the map at the beginning as to where PoVs are are are referring to I laughed when I found the much more detailed map at the end of the book. The entire novel is a series of short scenes, swapping back and forth between around a dozen characters.