Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont

Stonewielder is Ian C. Esslemont’s third book in the Malazan series co-created with Steven Erikson, and which Erikson has been exploring for years with his own series. If you look over my reviews for Esslemont’s first two Malazan books, Night of Knives and Return of the Crimson Guard, you’ll see I’ve given them mixed reviews, though I thought Return of the Crimson Guard was an improvement on Night of Knives and boded well for the next book in the series. That prediction turned out to be mostly accurate, as Stonewielder is, in my mind, clearly the best Esslemont has turned out so far, though it’s still not without its flaws… Some of the storylines lag a bit here and there, some parts feel a bit stretched or repetitive, but there’s no doubt Stonewielder is not simply an improvement but a big jump up in class and the first of Esslemont’s Malazan books I can fully recommend… I have to say I’m quite excited for Esslemont’s next work. Read the rest.