Crack'd Pot Review
Sep. 30th, 2011 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
So I just blew through Crack'd Pot Trail by Steven Erickson. It's a Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novel which means that it's set in the Malazan Empire world (that 10-book monster series I've been reading the past decade) and it's about these two amoral wizards (a demonologist and necromancer respectively) and their hapless manservant.
Except...they don't actually appear in this book (well, not until the very end anyway). No, this book is partially about Nehemothanai -- a group of warriors who want to track down these two and kill them (they have left a rather impressive trail of destruction, both accidental and deliberate, behind them) and it's partially about the artists and pilgrims on their way through the desert trying to reach the next city and it's annual festival.
These novels are short bits where Erickson gets to soap box on a topic for awhile. In this case, the topic is art. Erickson tends to cynicism, but one of his strengths as a writer is that he's pretty good about arguing passionately for other viewpoints and, as a writer himself, he's acutely aware of the stones he's throwing in this very nice glass house he lives in.
I liked it. Erickson is always a pretty worthwhile read and I laughed out loud in a couple of places which is always a good sign. I was disappointed that the story didn't involve Bauchelain and Korbal a little more directly and I hope there will be future installments. The book stands alone, you wouldn't necessarily have to read any other other Malazan books to understand what's going on, but your enjoyment will probably ratchet up quite a bit if you've read other Malazan books before this one.
later
Tom
So I just blew through Crack'd Pot Trail by Steven Erickson. It's a Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novel which means that it's set in the Malazan Empire world (that 10-book monster series I've been reading the past decade) and it's about these two amoral wizards (a demonologist and necromancer respectively) and their hapless manservant.
Except...they don't actually appear in this book (well, not until the very end anyway). No, this book is partially about Nehemothanai -- a group of warriors who want to track down these two and kill them (they have left a rather impressive trail of destruction, both accidental and deliberate, behind them) and it's partially about the artists and pilgrims on their way through the desert trying to reach the next city and it's annual festival.
These novels are short bits where Erickson gets to soap box on a topic for awhile. In this case, the topic is art. Erickson tends to cynicism, but one of his strengths as a writer is that he's pretty good about arguing passionately for other viewpoints and, as a writer himself, he's acutely aware of the stones he's throwing in this very nice glass house he lives in.
I liked it. Erickson is always a pretty worthwhile read and I laughed out loud in a couple of places which is always a good sign. I was disappointed that the story didn't involve Bauchelain and Korbal a little more directly and I hope there will be future installments. The book stands alone, you wouldn't necessarily have to read any other other Malazan books to understand what's going on, but your enjoyment will probably ratchet up quite a bit if you've read other Malazan books before this one.
later
Tom
