Malazan Book of the Fallen : Books 1-4
by Steven Erikson · first published 2018
61% recommend35% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Huge, dark epic fantasy with deep characters, an ancient complex world, and intelligent takes on politics, religion, and philosophy; suits readers wanting ASOIAF-scale worldbuilding who will stick with a hard start.
Common criticism: Slow, hard to get into at first; some feel it needs tighter editing
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2016–2026Gardens of the Moon
Steven Erikson
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 136 recommend · 13 mention6 recommend · 136 recommend
2009–2026Mistborn
Brandon Sanderson
Recommended by 94 · mentioned by 15994 recommend · 159 mention94 recommend · 15994 recommend
2015–2026The Eyes of the Overworld
Jack Vance, Arthur Morey
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 95 recommend · 9 mention5 recommend · 95 recommend
2015–2022The Emperor's Soul
Brandon Sanderson
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 66 recommend · 6 mention6 recommend · 66 recommend
2014–2026Carrion comfort
Dan Simmons
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 119 recommend · 11 mention9 recommend · 119 recommend
2007–2026The Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan
Recommended by 57 · mentioned by 20857 recommend · 208 mention57 recommend · 20857 recommend
2019–2023Differently Morphous
Yahtzee Croshaw
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 33 recommend · 3 mention3 recommend · 33 recommend
2017–2021The Broken Road
Patrick Leigh Fermor
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen is a monstrous 10 book (finished) series with a huge, ancient, complex universe, a great mythos and some epic plotting. Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber is pretty dark and very well written. That's…
on “Entitlement issues (2009)” ↗'Malazan: Book of the Fallen' by Steven Erikson (that is actually 10 huge books). I've only read 2 books and a half so far and it is brilliant! I'm not a big fan of fantasy books (prefer hard sci-fi), but Malazan just blew my mind.…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗…near-ish future, a big asteroid comes whizzing into the solar system. Looks weird, so we investigate. It's a total page turner, and reads like an adventure/mystery. Highly recommended. --------- The Malazan Book of the Fallen series - Steven Erikson A fantasy series, set in a really unique setting. It's an epic fantasy series with a huge ensemble cast and a bunch of parallel plots that break a lot of the usual tropes. It's…
on “Ask HN: What good books have you read lately?” ↗…tedious chore, particularly around the Knitting Circle leaving Ebou Dar with the Aes Sedai. All that is pretty obvious grinding to quota from the author. If you want some next level fantasy, check out The Malazan Book of the Fallen, by Steven Erikson. Few stories have so emotionally buffeted me. It is brutal, macabre, tragic; but also redemptive, funny, clever - dazzlingly imaginative.
on “Why Do Fantasy Novels Have So Much Food?” ↗…good, R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels are good, L.E. Modesitt Jr's Imager series, etc.). Or vice/versa - escapism may just not work for you, in which case something more thoughtful like Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen may be worth trying. I will say I've rarely put down a fantasy series in the middle the way you've mentioned. Scifi will get me to do that though - I have the entire Mars trilogy on my bookshelf, but…
on “Just Read the Book Already” ↗…Saga by Raymond E. Feist (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon), while not an officially licensed D&D tie-in, is based on a D&D campaign the author played in at UCSD in the 1970s. I think the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is also based on an RPG campaign, which started out as D&D then switched to GURPS. Both are worth reading.
on “The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons” ↗I re-read the 10 doorstopper long "Malazan Book of the Fallen" high fantasy series by Steven Erikson and enjoyed it just as much as I did originally, slightly over a decade ago. Still my favorite series of all time. This took up a pretty big chunk of the year, so…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024” ↗Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, Midnight Tides, The Bonehunters, Reaper's Gale, Toll the Hounds, Dust of Dreams, and The Crippled God - aka Malazan Book of the Fallen - all by Steven Erikson. Talk about a renewed interest in reading. After getting through Gardens of the Moon, I realized that I didn't really know what was going on or why these characters were doing…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024” ↗Hofstadter - GEB - for sure The Malazan Book of the Fallen (10 volumes) - Stephen Erikson - redefines impenetrable Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks - master of the interwoven narrative
on “Ask HN: What is the most mind blowing book you've ever read?” ↗"The Malazan Book of The Fallen" by Steve Erikson It's supposedly fantasy, but it contains some of the best (fun and insightful) examinations of political systems, economics, religion, the environment, military culture and more. If…
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗If you are looking for sheer scale, can recommend Steven Erikson's Malazan family (around 36 novels set in the same world; starting with the Malazan Book of the Fallen) though the atmosphere is much bleaker. Another recommendation would be Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere multi-series (Mistborn, Stormlight Archive), currently in progress, closer to WoT thematically.
on “Reading in the Age of Constant Distraction” ↗…I've accepted it. Parris needs the royalties. /salt: Somehow, within that time, Robin Hobb managed to spit out a trilogy seemingly once a quarter. Thankfully, Steven Erikson came along and wrote The Malazan Book of the Fallen, which, if you like books, honestly puts ASoIaF to shame on numerous levels (and has the benefit of being done).
on “Programming: Doing it more vs. doing it better” ↗* Red Rising (series) by Pierce Brown * Stormlight Archive (series) by Brandon Sanderson * The Three-Body Problem (series) by Cixin Liu * Malazan Book of the Fallen (series) by Steven Erikson Why all fiction? No matter how much I read about the human mind or current affairs or computer science or quantum physics or ..., there is no deeper, more lasting feeling in…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗…paint the atmosphere of the books. For short fictions (150 pages), I'm OK with the cover, but for anything longer a few full pages pictures kinda kept me in. It anchored me in the story. I'd enjoyed The Malazan Book of the Fallen more if I had this edition: https://subterraneanpress.com/erikson-gotm/
on “Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun” ↗I read the entirety of Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. I've been meaning to since I heard about it in college over a decade ago. With a new baby here and some extended parental leave, I ploughed through all 8000 pages or so and it was so, so worth it.
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗