Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson
This first installment of the Kharkanas Trilogy introduces the realm of Kurald Galain as it was long before the advent of the Malazan Empire. Told from various characters' points of view, it relates the events leading to the schism of its old and recent inhabitants, particularly the Tiste. Readers will be able to deduce how the Tiste broke up into what are now known as the Andii, Liosan, and Edur. There are familiar characters from the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, notably a younger and more emotional Anomander, as well as new characters including those that are mentioned only in passing in the other books. Readers will be reintroduced to the Vitr, Azath, Shake, Hust Swords, and the Warrens or Houses. Several clues are given to the origins and functions of those mentioned, but new questions will come to mind. Unlike the Malazan series however, the story is told in a direct manner, seldom steering away from the main story; that's if the long character ramblings a...
