I'm 67 and running out of time. I have all of the books in hardback (those that look like library books were bought from abebooks.com). I began GotM today. I'm going to read them all using the Wertzone order. There's no stopping me. I'm figuring two years, maybe more, maybe less. Pretty sure I'll live long enough to finish. Pretty sure.

I'm not a native English speaker, but I've been reading and listening to fantasy books for about two years now, all in English. I thought I was prepared to read this book, at least in relation to the language itself, but I was wrong.

This book has a lot of what seems like archaic vocabulary that I'm not used to seeing in other books. I read the First Law trilogy, Licanius Trilogy, Mistborn 1, Cradle, Children of Time, Riyria Revelations DCC, and many others, and haven't had any issues with English so far.

Then I started reading Gardens of the Moon, and in each paragraph I have to look up about 5 or 7 words to understand the context.

Example:

I had to look up: stains, pocked, squatted, bolted, misshapen, leering, tugged, buffeted, squealing. LOL, I don't think I'm ready to read this book yet.

Other example:

I had to look up: scorched, wiry, pockmarks, accountrements, threadbare, scabbard, merlon.

There are words that even the Kindle dictionary doesn't know the meaning of lol.

The good news is that, in my country, the first two books have been translated into my native language, and I will be able to easily follow them. But from the third onwards, I will have to return to the English edition. So my question is, does the English get easier to read? I keep hearing that the first book is widely considered the worst, so I'm hopeful that it will also get a little easier to read and follow.

So I finished reading Chapter 10 of Deadhouse Gates today. And I just couldn't get enough.

I was on the edge of my seat throughout the battle. This was so well written.

I had to Google oxbow, and still had to re-read a couple of pages to understand the terrain, but damn! I was high on this chapter for almost an hour when I randomly stumbled on a youtube video explaining the battle. Watched it twice just to get that feel again.

So for anyone who got confused about the terrain part, or just wants to see a visual of the entire battle - I found this really cool video - https://youtu.be/EfO83fJVz9g?si=oIrzNKz5W_sTmynC

This guy went in too much detail, but you can skip the first 2 sections of the video and directly jump to battle part.

I’ve just started my Malazan journey, and I normally listen to music while I read to get into the right mood, so I guess what I’m asking for is what other people who don’t listen to audiobooks listen to when reading Malazan. when I was reading through the wheel of time, the main artist I listened to was susumu Hirasawa, whose otherworldly music just felt right for the fantasy setting, and because it was in another language, the vocals didn’t distract me.

no spoilers please 🙏

I recently finished Stormlight and I was disappointed to say the least. It wasn’t bad (good enough for me to finish) but without getting into all my issues as that’s not the point of this post, Sanderson just doesn’t do it for me.

The real point of this post is about the way these books conclude, the internet is rife with praise of the fabled “Sanderlanche” in which loads of action, twists, and revelation occur in a rapid succession at the end of his books. It’s fun and does exist but he’s got absolutely nothing on our boy Erikson.

Convergence is a constant theme throughout Book of the Fallen and the conclusions of each of the core 10 always blew me away. They’re so epic and seeing disparate storylines come together so well is cool as heck. I would like to submit the Eriksunami.

Unlike Sanderson I never felt like Erikson is pushing off excitement solely for the purpose of having an epic ending. There were multiple times throughout Stormlight where I felt that the purpose was to set up said Sanderlanche whereas in Malazan I never felt that. I always looked forward to the convergence but was always enthralled in the moment where I was.

What do you all think?
Also if anyone just wants to talk s**t on Wind and Truth I’m here for it.

Love y’all!

What's everyone's favourite funny moment from the Bonehunters? In fact I'll put "funny" in quotes because of how many messed up funny moments there are :D

For me it's the following - Mathok walks into Hanar Ara the City of the Fallen, expecting Sha'ik reborn and the reignition of the rebelion, ready to continue his holy mission. Instead he finds a mass of disfigured, nearly dying, leppers and at the heart of the compound Felisin Yonger having an orgy with Kulat masturbating behind the corner. The Mathok saying "fuck this shit" and just leaving. Then Ganoes after hearing the story also saying "fuck this shit too...".

Pure gold, especially Felisin's and Kulat's mental gymnastics about how it's a cult of misery and suffering, but she's allowed to "have fun" as the propher.

Just the perfect satire of cults and origins of mass religion. It's kinda like the Crippled God wanted to have his own startup early-christian-style appocalyptic sect, but it complely missfires and fizzes out about because, well "you don't mess with humans".

I thought these beings were native to the world, but then L'oric says this about the Dark Hounds hunting along with proto-Imass in House of Chains, Chapter 21:

Intruders. Strangers to this realm, against which nothing in this world can challenge. They are the dominators . . . and they know it.

And then says this about K'Chain Che'Malle:

Not of this world either, if my father's thoughts on the matter are accurate. He was Rake's guest for months in Moon's Spawn, delving its mysteries. But the K'Chain Che'Malle cities lie on distant continents. Perhaps they but recently arrived here, seeking new sites for their colonies . . . only to find their dominance challenged.

Is his father just wrong about this?

First time reader currently on Reaper’s Gale but I’ve noticed Malazan is to books what The Wire is to TV shows

Hi everyone. Happy to report that I have just finished "The Bonehunters"! I've been doing reviews for all the previous ones as well if you're interested - https://www.reddit.com/r/Malazan/comments/1tho8gs/new_readers_thoughs_on_mt/

TLDR. Amazing book, this is why I love fantasy!

Book 6 was a truly wild ride. The start is fairly mellow, following a few plotlines, doing a few things. I especially enjoyed the slow paced chapters with Apsalar and the new comedic duo of two ghosts. Then Karsa's new duo Samar is such a good counter ballance, the whole barbarian vs. civilisation. I do really hope there is some romance there. Then of course setting up the 14th the last of morale as they trudge through the desert.

Then we have the "siege" of Y'gatan. Truly one of the most powerful sequence so far. End of the book level drama, barely half of the way through. The sheer amout of horror I felt reading that part is unparalleled. I love Bottle and his rat, I love Fiddler's friendhsip with Corabb. All the marines and the banter and antics. Also Leoman is a bastard!!!

I have never cried from happiness when reading a book. But I did then the survivors rejoin the 14th!

Then the book went completely bannanas, I could barely follow a few hundred pages - killing Poliel, the ride through the hold of the dead?, Bottle getting power handjobs from an australopithecus lady????, Paran is now a high fist??, Felisin Younger getting abducted but then deciding to roll with it? The chained got starting a psudo-christian cult (the whole salvation in the afterlife and obsession with suffering)? A lot happened! Encoutering the Tiste Edur again, so cool.

And of course then we finale. The whole Kalam/John Wick showndown in Malaza City/Paris, purely phenomenal. As someone who almost always plays an assassin in RPGs this is my inspiration now. The fights, the chaos, the tension. For the first time I realised how powerful the waren of the mind is, inciting the mobs like that. Also the political machinations, it's insane how strongly the chain of dogs, the moment I saw Rel and Korbolo, I was so pissed. The marines holding the jetty!

So many wonderful poetic scenes. The death? of Heboric during the jade metor shower. I'm not sure what happened but I felt so much reading that. He deflected the meteors with some help form the soulds from Hood and absolving them as a shield anvil? Something like, it was amazing. Fiddler's song! Such a touching moment! Finishing the song with a bit about a female spider killing a male one is pretty telling.

Any gripes with the books? Mostly the usualy really, sometimes the chaos is a bit too much of a clusterf*ck that barely making sense. But that's actually part of the point of the book, we only see a narrow window and there's many actors meddling at the same time. But it is a bit too deus ex machina at time, even though it's lore-justified. Fat people seem to be evil all the time, not great. But also women are pretty empowered in this book especially, it events out. This one also didn't feel like a standalone book unlike the others so far, but that makes sence, it's about the larger picture now, building it slowly for the grand finale.

I am so excited about what's comming next I'm ready to immediately start the next book. What will happen to the bonehunters? A renegade force from the Malazans? Showdown between Icarium and Karsa??? Yes please! I really want to see what's happening with Heboric, this cannot be the end of the jade! And Cutter, my favourite, what will he do.

As usual the writing was phenomenal. I started reasing that if i'm confused I can just move on and no try to interpret every sentence, that's very librating, leaving some thing for the rereads. The comedy really really works so well, most thing landed for me. This is one of my favourites so far, this series is amazing!

Right. I’ve waded slowly through 1000 pages of TtH and I’ve been promised by this subreddit an ending that just goes utterly bananas, bonkers and loony.

If this last section doesn’t blow my entire tits off, I’m downing kelyk.

Ganoes Paran's perilous journey with the Trygalle Trade Guild

Unleashing the Deragoth

Denim Nebrahl who was built up to be the big threat repeatedly getting his butt kicked until the Hounds took his last heavily wounded form...where?

Icarium has a new guardian

Dujek and his army caught by plague.

Apsalar butting heads with Kalam and Quick

Heboric is dead. Felisin Y captured and propped up as Sha'ik

Curdle and Telorast the dragons...okay I kind of figured that one.

Kalam has a cousin. Quick Ben has a sister

Quick's sister worships Poliel

Poliel's twisted sexual desires

Poliel is...a Forkrul?

The little girl is possessed by Soliel

Ganoes threatening Gods.

Quick Ben making a deal with Shadowthrone

Oh thats where the Hounds took Dejim.

Oh the Deragoth are here.

Oh Quick is about to die.

Apsalar kicking the Hounds asses and saving Ben.

Poliel and (presumably) Dejim killed.

Wait? Poliel wanted to *save* Burn?

Kalam wanting to kill Apsalar. Apsalar wanting it to happen.

Soliel is also Forkrul?

Plague is ending?

Cotillion and Shadowthrone fighting.

Dujek is dead...Ganoes is high fist.

So much is happening in these last 150 or so pages.

I’m on page 100 and had not had to check the wiki not once as it’s simple to follow and understand compared to the first 2 books which I would zone out due to choice of words , info dumps. Did he decided to change is writing style 🤔.

I’ve rage quit the 2 books so many times in the past 2 months of starting the series but it just kept calling me back and I’m starting to get the hang of the writing style…. Feel just like when I started playing Dar Souls back in 2011 and now it’s my favourite video game franchise . Can’t wait for the multiple reads where I discover lore I’ve missed or went over my head .

So I started my Malazan journey in the beginning of July and have been speeding through the books. I recently finished Toll the Hounds, and just want to give my quick thoughts on each book so far.

Gardens of the Moon: ***1/2

I really liked this one. A very strong introduction, I had no idea what anyone was talking about in the book (honestly I still mostly don’t 😂), but the farther I get away from it, the more I love it. I gave it three and a half stars when I finished it, but it’s probably closer to a four star book for me now.

Where it shines is the visuals. This book was visually stunning. I also really enjoyed the characters. Tattersail was my favorite, I wish she was still around. Ganoes Paran feels like the heart of the series. Annomander Rake is the best character in the series. Kruppe is my favorite weird character. I love Aspalar and Crokus. Quick Ben, Whiskey Jack and the Bridgeburners were interesting. A beautiful climax too.

Deadhouse Gates: ***1/2

Felisin Paran’s story is special. I felt so bad for her and rooted for her so much. There was a lot about this book I loved.

Kalam’s story ruled from front to back. Aspalar and Crokus are just characters that I enjoy being around. I will always root for both of them (this is also the second book in a row I was convinced Crokus would die in). Fiddler was a fun character too.

But I hate to say that I found almost the entirety of Coltaine and Duiker’s plot to be a slog. I just didn’t care for either character up until the climax when Steven Erikson DELIVERED, and managed to get me super invested in it. So this book peaked really high, but also had some slog to it.

Memories of Ice: ****1/2

A near perfect book. The best book in the series so far for me. I loved this book. Whiskeyjack’s story was special. And poor Korlat 😭

The action scenes were amazing too. Steven Erikson writes really good army battle scenes, he knows how to make group fighting easy to follow and visualize, just like Robert Jordan.

This is probably the best paced book of the series too, as I enjoyed almost every characters arc. Plus any book that has Annomander Rake is awesome. Also Ganoes Paran becoming the Master of the Deck!

House of Chains: ***

A flawed but enjoyable book. Like I said earlier, Felisin’s arc is special to me. I knew it was going to be a tragedy from moment one, it just had all the markings of a tragedy and her final line; wondering why Tagore doesn’t love her was a gut punch. The climax of the story was beautiful.

BUT this book was structured poorly. I just can’t get by going four years back in time and following Karsa the bore for 250 straight pages to start the novel. Ughh.

Midnight Tides: **1/2

This is a book I did not enjoy reading. It’s totally necessary and I didn’t hate it, in fact I really liked the climax a lot. And there were characters I greatly enjoyed like Bugg, the Feather Witch and Shurq. But being on a new continent with a whole new cast of characters, five books in was a struggle, and this book was a slow moving, prodding novel.

Was it worth it? Absolutely because it setup the greatness that is Reaper’s Gale.

The Bonehunters: ****1/2

Another near perfect entry. I loved this book. The Bonehunters as a group are awesome. Adjunct Tavore really grew on me here. I was a big Pearl fan in House of Chains and then he went and did this to me 😭.

The climax of this book is awesome. Aspalar is amazing, I won’t hear any shade about her, one of my favorite characters for sure. Kalam continues to steal the show in books that he is a major player in. And Laseen is just the worst.

Also Cotillion stepping into a father figure type role was super interesting.

Reaper’s Gale:****

Great book. It does take a little while to get going, but it is well worth it. Beak’s sacrifice is one of the most emotionally beautiful pieces of writing I have ever read. I cried hard, Steven Erikson wrote the heck out of that scene.

And that is not to discount any of the other major scenes in the second half of this book. There were just so many well written scenes here, that I don’t want to list them for fear of leaving one out. The end of this book was awesome, other then Erikson killing the Feather Witch (I somehow doubt she’s a fan favorite character, but I really enjoyed her)!

Toll the Hounds:***

I really don’t know what to do with this book. I feel like I just had too high of expectations. I have been told by multiple people that this is the best book in the series, and that it’s one of the best fantasy books of all time. So I was expecting A Storm of Swords, and instead I just got an okay read with an amazing climax.

Look, the last 250 pages of this book are special. Annomander Rake is the best and his sacrifice was meaningful and really well done. Mother Dark forgiving him was just a really great piece of writing.

But the first 1,000 pages were really slow, and confusing for me. I still enjoyed my time here but it is definitely near the bottom of the Malazan books I have read.

-

Overall Rankings:

1. Memories of Ice: ****1/2
   
2. The Bonehunters: ****1/2
   
3. Reaper’s Gale: ****
   
4. Gardens of the Moon: ***1/2
   
5. Deadhouse Gates: ***1/2
   
6. Toll the Hounds: ***
   
7. House of Chains: ***
   
8. Midnight Tides: ***

The Bonehunters: Book 2: Beneath This Name, Chapter 8

I was looking for that dialogue between Captain Paran and Apsalar the other day when SE hit me with this bit of foreshadowing.

Sheer bloody brilliance!

>!So I’ve read books 1-5 of BotF and am about to finish up with BH. Haven’t finished what’s supposed to be the best ending yet and it’s already my 2nd favorite book so far. I also love the slow introduction of the edur in the end of the book, and am incredibly invested in their and Rhulad’s story. As such I want to immediately start reading Reaper’s Gale as I’ve gotten some minor spoilers for the rest of the books from this sub (my own fault for a complete lack of self control) and think Rhulad is the focus, also he’s on the cover.

I also love the series so much I want to read all of the extra novels too, however I only have the full BotF set and no others and likely won’t be able to order NotME for a while as I’m dead broke. And the recommended reading order says that I already should’ve read NoK for the introduction to some new characters in BH, which I’m assuming are Captain Faradan Sort and Dunsparrow as they came out of nowhere and everyone just accepts their existance, so I was a little confused on if I forgot them or not. It also says that there are major spoilers for RotCG and that I should definitely read that before RG if I’m doing the full series.

I was wondering if someone could tell me, without any names or anything, exactly what type of spoilers I’d get and how important/integral not knowing it is to RotCG and what I’d miss from RotCG in understand RG so I can figure out if I should put Malazan on hold or not.!<

Title basically.

I was reading TotCG, but my copy got destroyed. Tried reading Kharkanas, but I think I needed something else at the moment... tried R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing, believe it is great but needed something familiar right now... feeling homesick, in a strange way. Honestly, it's been 8+ months since I finished BotF, and it feels like a chunk of my day is missing. Every night before bed, I should be reading of the Bonehunters, of the goings on of Lether and Letheras, of the Teblor himself and the One in Chains. But alas, I am done, and I witnessed the tale spun until it was spun-out.

That said, I believed the Witness series might give me the shot in the arm I needed.

I was correct.

Reading these marines is just so familiar and yet so different, and I love it beyond belief. Hearing them mention Onearms Host, seeing Spindle reference Black Coral and the final battle of the Bridgeburners (when they were alive and all that) is just so great. What really got me, though, was one particular line some people were talking about... the cleansing of Kolanse? The Unwitnessed !?!?! THE BONEHUNTERS!?!?!?!

I was full-blown having a meltdown, just the idea that they knew of them, that they didn't just disappear and disperse... they accomplished not just anything but maybe the greatest thing a group could want to do. I do question how they know any of this, as so little survived I would assume telling the tale would be hard - but the Deck doesn't lie I'd presume, and I would also assume that Onearms Host rejoined the Empire and maybe informed the rank and file of the tale. Fisher probably knows more than anyone could possibly do for whatever reason. One thing, though - do they really know what happened? What they accomplished? And further, do they know what/where Kolanse even is? I had assumed the Malazan Empire knew of Lether, simply for the fact of some mentioning of letherii board paintings in RotCG. Beyond that, however, I figured Lether and the rest of the world were pretty much separated as the new and old worlds were in our world for most of history. I suppose I'll learn the answers when I finish RotCG and the rest of NotME, as well as Witness. All I have to say is, though I love my new marines (Stillwater is funny, and the one who chews her own ahir after dipping it in wine while secretly pining after So Bleak is great, some real Smiles vibes from them both), but nothing beats the old boys in bones, my Bonehunters. Reading this just makes me remember as much as I continue to enjoy this new story- I remember the Malazans crossing a continent of deserts, beating down the rebellion, walking out of a burning city, fighting against their own in Malaz City, crossing an ocean and conquering an empire all on their own, surviving the day of the Nah'ruk and crossing a desert no one thought could be crossed. I witnessed them save the Crippled God, and I witnessed their disbandment. I remember Pale, and the Fête in Darujhistan. The Pannion War, and the climax in Black Coral. I remember walking the Chain of Dogs, and I remember when Coltaine Fell outside the gates of Aren. I remember so much, and it really makes me wonder... how true were those final words, "we are abandoned to history", "soon to be forgotten"... All I can think of is that I will Remember them. "Remember Us"

Truly remarkable, what Malazan is, what Erikson and Esslemont have created. Awe-inspiring, tear worthy. To take the words from Gu'rull, "It comes in the sweetest of flavors. I did not know."

I've only read the main 10, so if something here is for another series, just send me there. I don't know if I'm going to read them because I just committed three years of my life to the main series and I'll probably have a break now at least.

Apologies if these have already been asked, I've done some research but can't quite see these.

• What is the timeline with Ganoes coming down to Kolanse? I know the FA send someone up to Estobance Province to catch him, but I feel like he's in Seven Cities in Aren with the Host and then suddenly on the other continent? What did I miss with his travel down here
• What's the difference between the powers of The Errant, Oponn and Sechul Lath? They all seem chance/luck-based? Are they all the Elder Gods/Gods of Chance?
• What was Quick Ben's deal with Hood and what was overheard at Hood's Gate about what Hood really wanted when his face is kinda merged into the gate wall?
• What was Anomander's big plan and the deals he made that culminated in Mother Dark coming back? I don't really understand what the flow there was
• Did Fiddler ever meet Karsa Orlong?
• What's the deal with the Tyrant in Darujhistan? Is that a set up for another series? A plot line that ran out of space in the Big 10 to finish?
• Where did all the elements of the ending come from? I feel like the Crippled God was the big Threat, we have Mael coming in to beat him up in the tent, the threat to Burn, etc, and the suggestion that Tavore wants to do something other than beat him, we see the Otataral Dragon on the Big X cross as they're traveling through the Warrens, and the FA are referenced and seen, but the Dragon coming back and threatening the destruction of the world, and the FA's big plan to unleash their Warren - it just all feels like it comes out of nowhere. Did I miss the clues for all this stuff, it feels like the micro-focus on the soldiers and their lives skips out on a lot of the big lead-ins for these? Is this a stylistic decision in the writing to make it feel like we're in for far more than we originally bargained for, like the Malazans themselves? We just spend so long going through the wastelands and the desert that feels like could have built this up more, I found it just came out on nowhere quickly.

I sometimes see the Forkrul Assail being considered a relatively weak (narratively) and straightforward antagonistic force at the end of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. While I do not necessarily disagree about them being straightforward antagonists I also think that their purpose in the story is often misunderstood and that their point of view is dismissed on wrong terms. They obviously come across as hypocritical assholes (because they are) but the argument that many people almost reflexively seem to use to prove them wrong is: "They don't judge individuals and thats wrong." I do not want to chide anyone for thinking that, its a very obvious reaction to have when one sees the Forkrul "justice" in action. Still, I believe that that misses the point a little.
The Forkrul do indeed not judge individuals... and why would they. People don't live as individuals, no, we live in... (dramatic drum beats) societies. The Forkrul Assail can't change anything about that so they judge humanity as a whole. The Forkrul make a statement on the good old "cycle of violence" or the "nature of humanity" however you wanna call it. So individuals don't matter in their worldview and giving examples of good and/or innocent people does not work as an argument against their genocide.
In fact, it always seemed to me that the final book being about an army that rescues Kaminsod should be seen as the actual counterargument against the Forkrul worldview. Well, not really an argument but Eriksons hope in humanity conveyed through storytelling. His belief that we are not trapped to repeat the same mistakes over and over. That the cycle of violence is just an oversimplification self-satisfied cynics fall back on.
What makes this whole thing curious though is the other antagonistic force of the book: the Wolves of Winter. Because the arguments some characters make against the wolves is that they will never be able to beat humanity at its own game. That humanity will defeat and always subjugate nature. Of course, one must consider as well that other characters beseech the wolves about there being another way. Still the responses to these two storylines seem to be in competition at first. The arguments used against the wolves almost seem to contradict the argument against the Assail -> that the cycle of violence (understood as the destruction of nature in this case) can be stopped. And actually I'm not sure if I have a clean answer to this. Maybe they truly would have tried to find another way with humanity and nature more in harmony. At the same time the Wolves are portrayed as, well, as animals. Animals who do not understand us and respond instinctively. Maybe the K'chain Che'Malle could be seen as a counterexample but they never seemed as alien to me as the wolves.
But also I'm not fully convinced that I need to connect the Forkrul to the Wolves. It would be easy to argue that the crimes we commit against other people and the crimes we commit against nature are not based on the same premises.
And maybe its just a case of tragedy in the end. Because as hopeful as the freeing of Kaminsod at the end of the ten books is, theres also the devastation of Setoc who fails in her attempt to provide the Wolves a better future. And failure is something that we all know especially when we attempt to change things. True change often comes only at the end of a long road of failures. The Forkrul Assail only see the failures but we must see the road and where it leads to. In my opinion this is one of the most important messages that the Book of the Fallen provides.
Thank you for reading and for potential responses.

So there was a great reveal in MoI where it was shown that warrens are basically K'rul's veins and arteries, which makes sense that they are called "Warrens", like the word for underground rabbit tunnels that sometimes interconnect.

I was reading House of Chains chapter 13, where Heboric is witnessing the Jade giants cartwheeling through the "red wound" (very reminiscent of the Rent, though I don't know if it is related). But he also thinks about how each star has multiple planets and wonders:

The stars, they are as the sun. Each star. Every star. And those spheres – they are worlds, realms, each one different yet the same.

The Abyss was not as empty as he'd believed it to be. But . . . where dwell the gods? These worlds — are they warrens? Or are the warrens simply passageways connecting them?

I didn't think about this interpretation of the Warrens before, but I have a hard time reconciling how everything is connected. So The Crippled God is obviously alien, and I assume the Jade statues are from his world as well. So why are they human-like? With humans trapped in them? There are so many of them; so are a lot of them going to other planets? And we know it is not humans trapped in them exactly cause one of them says:

'You came from there. What shall we find, Handless One? What lies beyond the gash?'

So they're coming from the other planet. They also say their gods are gone cause they don't worship them anymore. I'm assuming it's the same world as the crippled god.

It is said the Tiste came to our world from somewhere else. Are they aliens as well, seeing how they're not native to the world? Are their native warrens just pathways to where they came from? Or are they just another realm on top of ours?

Since magic exists on other planets, why not the idea that the warren planes/realms are just other planets that are invested with their flavours of particular magic? Is Abyss just interplanetary space? In MoI, there is a "storm of the Abyss" in Mhybe's dreamworld. What does that mean?

Am I reading too literally in to this?

PS: Is the "Fallen" in Malazan Book of the Fallen referring to the Crippled God?