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Midnight Tides
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Midnight Tides
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Midnight Tides
Audiobook31 hours

Midnight Tides

Written by Steven Erikson

Narrated by Michael Page

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

"The series has clearly established itself as the most significant work of epic fantasy since Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant." -SF Site

After decades of internecine warfare, the tribes of the Tiste Edur have at last united under the Warlock King of the Hiroth. There is peace, but it has been exacted at a terrible price: a pact made with a hidden power whose motives are at best suspect, at worst deadly.

To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether, eager to fulfill its long-prophesied renaissance as an empire reborn, has enslaved with rapacious hunger all its less civilized neighbors. All, that is, save one-the Tiste Edur. And it must be only a matter of time before they, too, fall-either beneath the suffocating weight of gold or by slaughter at the edge of a sword. Or so destiny has decreed.

Yet as the two sides gather for a pivotal treaty neither truly wants, ancient forces are awakening. For the impending struggle between these two peoples is but a pale reflection of a far more profound, primal battle-a confrontation charged with the still-raw wound of an old betrayal and the craving for revenge at its seething heart.

"Erikson ranks near the top of the epic fantasy pantheon." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This novel and all others in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series follow my own pronunciations of 'Malazan' words and names. My thanks to Michael and Jane and everyone at Brilliance Audio." -Steven Erikson, Victoria, B.C. Canada, January, 2014

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 4, 2014
ISBN9781469225791
Unavailable
Midnight Tides
Author

Steven Erikson

STEVEN ERIKSON is an archaeologist and anthropologist and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His Malazan Book of the Fallen series has met widespread international acclaim and established him as a major voice in the world of fantasy fiction. The first book in the series, Gardens of the Moon, was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award. The second novel, Deadhouse Gates, was voted one of the ten best fantasy novels of the year by SF Site. He lives in Canada.

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Reviews for Midnight Tides

Rating: 4.326585727395412 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

741 ratings20 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book. The cast of characters in this one is greatly reduced from previous novels, but it made the story more focused and easier to follow upon initial reading. The new cast of characters are interesting and complex, and Bugg is easily one of my favorites in the series so far. I also love the family dynamic of the Sengar family, especially Fear and Trull. It feels very real and organic with loyalty to family conflicting with what is best for their people. Overall, this is among my favorite books of the series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another fantastic book in the Malazan series. This book takes place in a completely different area and focuses on completely different type of people. A more contained story then the others while also having much more explanation on the world. To me, this actually seemed like a good book to start with, as it explains much more than the first book. Practically all the characters are new and all are extraordinary and stand out on their own. There is much more comedy in this book too, especially with Tehol and Bugg. Great book for a great series.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book is way too much. We jumped back in time just eons and eons. There's only one familiar character--Trull Sengar, from just last book, I think. And he was minor there, and haunted by some dread treachery that I really didn't think we needed to see more of, as it was explained adequately in that book. But of course, it's not the author's style to go back and explain /anything/ in depth. Now, what we seem to be covering is the prelude to Trull Sengar's betrayal. And also, more about the Tiste tribes and mythos. Damn, we're talking about truly epoch, a lot of time passing. What the Tiste Edur people seem to consider their gods are still only people who were running from their old world and its destruction. Thus, the actual gods still aren't made apparent. Of course, the world they came to has its own perfectly powerful and effectual gods and peoples, so there's that to deal with and sort out as well.

    So, struggling so much with this volume, I hopped on the Malazan forums searching for inspiration to continue the story. And found that many people consider this book one of the best in the series.

    What. The. F&*(.

    They especially like some of the new characters introduced here: Tehol Beddict, a rather foolish and trivial seeming guy, living in disgrace with a single servant in some degree of poverty and starvation. Sure enough, as the story progresses, this guy turns out to be a mercantile and criminal mastermind, hiding a fortune that he won several years ago with his semblance of absolute destitution. And yes, he is a comedy all the way. He and his beleagured servant/partner-in-crime are very like a more subdued Blackadder and Balrick. Their scenes are the most fun. Thank gods, because the imperial court intrigues of the Letherii are boring and cliche-ridden.

    Udinaas, a Letherii slave of the Tiste Edur, is totally intriguing, though. The Letherii seem to be the best part of this volume. The Tiste Edur are certainly dull and stodgy, all honorbound and tribal.

    ----------

    I did finally finish this book a few months back. So very happy to finally put the whole thing behind me, as I never really warmed up to the Tiste Edur's side of things. Really nobody's. Except maybe the entirely competent Malazan soldiers who turn up out of bloody nowhere and get right into the thick of things. I got the feeling from the fan forums that certain of these people are really really awesome elsewhere and this whole thing is Significant. I can see that, but it didn't make it much easier to slog through this swamp of different cultures and personalities and hopes and expectations...all of which happened VERY VERY LONG AGO, to a bunch of people hitherto unknown in this massive series full of massive tomes.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Challenging but good. 1st have was drawn out and a horrible slog but second part was good.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Best fantasy series I’ve read continues to deliver book after book :)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A little hard to get into, since this book introduces an almost entirely new set of characters on a different continent from any of the previous books. Once it got going, I was drawn into the story, though, and enjoyed it quite a bit.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Groucho Marx was secretly an economic genius living in poverty while manipulating the stock market and buying and selling shares of all the major coorperations and business in the capital of a huge nation? No? Well, maybe you should. Or maybe you should just read this book that follows a character named Tehol Beddict, the oldest of four brothers who basically fits the bill. =) Probably my favorite character contantly saying and doing rather inane things while moving things behind the scenes to benifit those he things ought be benefited.

    But he is only one character of several followed in multiple plot lines in this book. This is book 5, if you've read the previous books you already know that this series is full of multiple characters who are threaded throughout the story. Most of them are interesting or become so eventually. A very epic in scale fantasy effort as the characters span the globe this takes place on and rather than being the story of a people or nation follows multiple nations and peoples. I took a break before coming back to the series but am glad I gave it a shot with this book and will probably go ahead and read the next one too.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book also spans a huge chunk of time by starting with a story from ages past when Scabadari (leader of the Tiste Edur) and Silchas Ruin (the leader of the Tiste Andii) fought in a huge battle up to the more present day war between the Edur and the Leterii along with the ever present involvement of the Crippled God. If there is one thing you can say about Erikson it is that he isn't afraid of scope.

    This story also offered me my frist glimpse of the Crimson Guard. In a world populated with an endless amount of total badasses the Crimson Guard seems like they fit in perfectly. That little taste is enough for me to want to read more about them and I will, eventually, once I get into Erikson's partner's books - The Novels of the Malazan Empire authored by Ian Esslemont.

    Thus, even though this book started off a little slow by the end Erikson had won me over again.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is the first of the series that I really don't like all that much. There are some great characters and some interesting elements, but the negatives far outweigh them. Tedious anti-capitalism ranting, laughable gender relations musing, more rape and hamhanded attempted psychonanalysis thereof (the one thing in Erikson's favor on that subject is that the females are as likely to be callous incidental rapists as the males.) While there's a kernel of a good story here, this book drags.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ok thank you Seth for remind me that I need to post a review on this one and also make a shelve for it…

    Here my review: everybody that knows me is aware of the fact that I’m terrified of paraphilia in books… why? You ask… well I dream most of what I read… (by the way I hate Cormac McCarthy for making me have one of the most fuck up nightmares I ever had…) that being said I think this book cured my fear of necrophilia!!!!! Hooray for sexy undead comic relief characters!!!!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Empire of Letheras has been expanding for centuries. A combination of rampant capitalism, merciless greed and military might has lead numerous peoples to complete cultural annihilation. Now, the empire has turned it gaze towards the lands of six tribes of the Tiste Edur for new resources. After decades of civil war the Tiste Edur tribes have united under a Warlock King and are at peace. What most of the Edur don't know is that peace was bought at a high price - a secret alliance with a maimed and twisted god - and that the Warlock King's ambitions go far beyond just uniting his tribes. The two nations are on a collision course, one that will pit not only armies against each other but also dreadful magic and powerful ideologies. It is a clash that cannot fail to attract the notice of the gods. Midnight Tides is the fifth book in Steven Erikson's epic Malazan Book of the Fallen series. This book is different from the others in that we're a half a world away to the Tiste Edur lands and surrounding areas, a place we have not seen thus far. There is only one character from previous books, Trull Sengar, and we get to learn his back story as well as history of the Edur race. Again we are introduced to a huge cast of characters. The character development in this book is amazing. Powerful, emotional, brilliant, funny, weird and quite believable. The banter between some of the characters is lough out loud funny at time, similar to that found in Memories of Ice. I hope this is a trend that continues with future books. I was also surprised at the amount of compassion that some characters had for others that could easily have gone more to resentment given the circumstances.Timeline wise I'm not entirely sure where we are in relation to the previous books. The use of holds for magic instead of warrens suggests we may be a few decades in the past. However some character conversations also lead me to believe that maybe we are in the same time as Gardens of the Moon, just that with this continent being so far away it is stuck in its own bubble, the people never modernizing, choosing instead to stick with traditions of the past.I noticed a couple minor things that tied in with scenes of previous books, which was a lot of fun to read. I look forward to how more of the set ups in Midnight Tides will relate to future books.The ending to this book completely blew me away. The last 150 pages really should be read uninterrupted if at all possible. For anyone that enjoys epic, complex fantasy, I cannot recommend this book high enough.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was warned in advance that this fifth book brings the story to an entirely new continent with an almost entirely new cast of characters. That had me braced for some heavy lifting, but within the first hundred pages I was as deeply engaged in this volume as any that came before, if not more so. For the first time in this series I felt like I was reading a conventional novel, and - despite my admiration for the unusual structure of prior volumes - this book is better for it. Erikson still fits in plenty of philosophical introspection, obtuse poetry, grim foreshadowing and elaborate metaphors but this time without getting in the way of the story. I've developed enough comfort with this world now that I never felt disoriented - although I've a deep appreciation for the scene in which one character finally asks another: "What's a warren?". Well-rounded characters to care about, humour that turns on parlance, action scenes on a scale to match the prior volumes - all of the best ingredients are here.There was some very striking imagery in this volume, with key scenes I'm not liable to forget. From the halfway point on, this book frequently had my pulse going. No middle volume quandary here - for me this is definitely the high point of the series so far.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another Malazan novel and another brick of a book. How fares this one? Overall, it's pretty good. As with Karsa in House of Chains we step back in time a short while (if the conclusion to Memories of Ice is the furthest point along the timeline) and are introduced to new characters and locales. The first half of the the book I greatly enjoyed, the second half a little less so. The main reason for this is vaguely knowing Trull Sengar from the previous book. Perhaps it's not a good idea to, like I did, re-read the prologue to House of Chains to try and recap the situation with Trull. If you remember much of what surrounds Trull in HoC it somewhat spoils Midnight Tides; it makes the second half of the book a slightly dull procession. Certainly there are still some poignant moments for Trull but the later half of the book didn't hold any major surprises (except for the fates of the Beddict brothers).Lack of suspense - that's my major beef with this book. Everything else is fairly by the books for Erikson, for better and worse, and if you've read this far into the Malazan saga you ought to have your opinions formed already and nothing in here will change them.Although, props to Erikson for introducing a nakedly capitalist society into a fantasy setting. That's very commendable, even if I don't think Erikson does quite enough with it (and Shand's plot line completely fizzles out halfway through the book, something that, if there weren't so much else driving the book forward, might be (and maybe should be anyway) a major criticism). Also, I don't know whether we'll see them again but any more time devote to Tehlo and Bugg would be welcome as their double act is one of the best things in the series so far.So, the usual mix of the impressive and the disappointing with Erikson. Most of it's good this time around and his reach doesn't exceed his grasp quite so badly as it has done in past novels. The more narrow focus on the Edur and Letherii certainly helps as we're not saddled with yet more Malazan, Seven Cities, Jaghut, Imass, Elder Gods, and who knows what else history and machinations. Erikson continues to frustrate me but the bulk of what he does here is impressive and it's a good rebound from the somewhat disappointing HoC.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Some hilarious bits (Tehol and Bugg, Shurq Elalle and the other undead guy), some serious gore (provided by Brys Beddict towards the end), people trapped in Azath houses (obviously) and a really unlucky villain.All in all, awesome and splendidly characterised.Rhulad needs more love, poor thing...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book involves no characters from the other books in the series. I found it very challenging to follow and read in the first half of the book. This book has some extremely interesting characters (Tehol, Bugg and Trull for instance) but spends too much time on ancillary or irrelevant, or just down right repetitive action. That being said, I really enjoyed the ending of the book; the tying together of the characters etc. The story is good, the characters are interesting, but it just isn't that well written in my opinion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Just when it seemed as if the massive Malazan cast and plot intricacies were getting manageable, Erikson drops us into a THIRD theater of war in this fifth book of the series, which initially made me back off and put the brick of a book down for a breather, but when I picked it up again it turned out to be arguably the best so far. A far simpler grand conflict throws the emotions of the large cast of striking, original characters into stark relief, and leaves room for some truly shocking and unexpectedly emotional scenes. Amazing twisted moments where the worlds of gods and magic careen off each other at odd angles. A tangled web of a plot that focuses into one unforgettable throne room scene at the climax. And a strong comedic supporting cast that feel at times like Shakespeare's Mechanicals. Completely enjoyable from start to epic finish. And it's on to the next one for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is another great entry in the Malazan series, but I have to warn that you won't find any familiar characters here -- Midnight Tides takes place on a whole new continent. I am once again amazed at the magnitude of events. Erikson is a master of leaving you unsure of how each encounter will turn out, and when I'm disappointed with a result, it just makes me more empathetic to the losers. The witty conversations between Bugg and Tehol also deserve note for providing unexpected comic relief. All in all a great book, and I look forward to seeing how all the story threads of each continent come together in future installments.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another amazing book from Erikson. I am in awe of this author, who if anything is getting better as the series advances. In many ways this is the easiest book to read of the series so far, with a simpler narrative structure (only two main storylines, set at the same time, on opposite sides of a war). The characters and geopolitical setting are essentially 100% new (it's not until page 700 that we get a clear reference to the geopolitical arena of the previous volumes). This is epic storytelling, with memorable, complex characters, lots of bad guys and few good guys. Erikson has an amazing ability to conceive and describe vast myth-making occasions, frequently echoing great nordic and native american mythology. By now, I think we have learned not to expect an unambiguously happy ending. I never thought I would ever utter the words "better than Tolkien," but at this point I am ready to say that if Erikson can finish the series with five more books as good as the first five, I will call this the best fantasy series ever written. If you are looking for simple fairly tales where the characters live happily ever after, DO NOT read this author. If you are looking for gritty epic fantasy a la Song of Ice and Fire, you are in for a real treat.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Book five in an epic series. You're expecting more of the same, character development and probably not much of that as the back-story takes so much tending.Not with Steven Erikson. We have not 1 but 2 completely different cultures introduced, sufficiently alien that although by the end of the book I'm fairly sure they're on a distant part of the same world as the earlier books, I'm only fairly sure.It is another compelling read, with bizarre and fascinating characters and relationships, wonderfully worked, yet again. It is also a story of culture clashes, and the rise and fall of Empires, whilst being comfortably intimate and friendly all the time.I'll be reading something light and short before diving into the next book in the series, but I can't wait. Top notch once again.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    MT continues Erikson's rich Malazan series. It envolves the tension between the alien Tiste Edur and the human Letheri, mostly following Trull Sengar (before his appearance in House of Chains), and two of Erikson's most fun and fascinating characters, the brilliant impoverished businessman Tehol Beddict and his manservant Bugg. MT does fall into the trap of trying to do too much; as the book goes on more and more characters, heroes, gods, and monsters appear, to the detriment of the otherwise focused and compelling plot. Overall, it's better than the gruesome Memories of Ice, but perhaps not as good as Deadhouse Gates