Rate this book

Empuñapiedras (2010)

by Ian C. Esslemont(Favorite Author)

4.03 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

La Factoría de Ideas

series

Malazan Empire

review 1: This book is really amazing where I think ICE has come on his own with his writing skills, he is not SE who likes to keep mystery from the start to the end of the book, but ICE gives you easily what SE makes you figure out every time.The book has story lines of 1.GreyMane2.Crimson Guard3.Cult who has risen against lady4.A malazan marine named suth5.Kiska in search of tryaschrenn.Greymane storyline is very interesting where in he is heading back to korel to conquer the island against renegade malazans who have declared themselves supreme authority over the islands I think mallick rel plays a really good game over here when he makes greymane high fist as he knows the man will do best possible to wipe clean the slate.We also have kyle from crimson guard who has abandoned the ... moreguard and is now adjunct to greymane.We also come to know why greymane is called stonewielder.The second story line basically about iron bars who has became a champion on the storm wall and we have shell, lazar , blues and fingers who hear about him and come for his rescue.We also his squad mage cowl whom the koreli are using to make iron bars fight on the wall.The third story is about uprising of peasants against the noble born on the island of fist which is leaded by martal who is known as black queen and a group of mages who have managed to stay alive on the island in spite of the lady.We also see lady who does not tolerate any kind of magic on the island.In the fourth story line,like return of crimson guard here we have a raw malazan marine becoming a veteran and this is really where ice's writing shines through.We encounter suth who is a dal honese resident and has joined the malazan marines we encounter nuances what makes the malazan army a potential force because individual fight as a unit and not as single individuals.In fifth story we have kiska whom we encountered both in Night of knives and Return of crimson guard and last we saw tryaschrenn was sucked into the abyss when he was fighting the mad mage fedding on choas.We also her travelling through kurald emruhaln with Jheval whom many will recognize and we also have them encountering a mad priest of shadow named warren, this part was absolutely awesome to read.As a whole all the story lines converge except kiska and the writing in few final pages is really good especially the battle scenes, also the switching between pov is very seamless in this book.I definitely think this is one of the best book in the series although it is written by ICE.
review 2: IntroductionMy expectations when opening this book were naturally high (we ARE talking about a Malazan book here), and I'd heard ICE's books get better as we go along.Also knowing that this book would be centered on Greymane was a major plus.World - 5/5Yet again we enter a new area of the Malazan universe. We've visited the Stormwall on the occasion, but this is the biggest window yet, and it's totally awesome. The Stormwall is an awesome concept (maybe not as awesome as GRRM's Wall, but still), and although we don't learn as much about the Riders as I would like, seeing them is more than awesome.The other areas surrounding Korel are kinda dull, but not every part of the Malazan Universe can be as awesome as the Stormwall so it's all good.Plot - 2/5The plot is EXTREMELY disappointing. None of the warfare is interesting, and it doesn't really even make too much sense. Mallick sends the Malazans into Korel (why is not very well explained). Then there are armies that they fight against. I suppose it's that simple, but somehow I couldn't wrap my head around the structure of the opposing armies or the purpose they had. In the end none of the warfare really even seems to matter, anyway.Greymane is also totally ineffectual, and the only somewhat interesting storylines surround Kiska and the Crimson Guard, but they are merely sideshows compared to the Malazan offensive.Characters - 2/5There were a few characters that I enjoyed in this book. I can actually name all of them, but in short it is the Crimson Guard, Kiska, Jheval, and Warran. No one else did anything very exciting, unfortunately. Most had some pretty boring, unbelievable dialogue.My biggest complaint in this book is Kyle. I just don't like Kyle, and somehow he becomes an awesome warrior between the last book and this one, which doesn't make much sense to me. AND he is the adjunct to Greymane. Really just doesn't make sense. Why didn't ICE name him Joseph or Larry?Writing - 2/5This book was not well-written. As someone points out in another review I read, the dialogue is really, really bad. The example used by the other reviewer was that in the middle of a battle a soldier yells out, "Now they'll ignore wounds!" No one would ever say that under any circumstance in a battle, even if some such spell were used, and it's clearly just the easiest way for the author to explain what happened, even if it does make no sense.This book was also so so so so much longer than it needed to be, just like many of the other Malazan books. Looks like the next two are going to be shorter though, which bodes well for ICE.Epic-Ness - 4/5Alright, it's hard to have a book about the Stormwall NOT be epic. But rest assured that the only epic things about this book were the Stormwall, the Stormriders, and the Crimson Guard on the Stormwall. Otherwise the book was excruciatingly disappointing in the epic-ness front.Conclusion - 6/10I would not recommend this book if it weren't connected to the Malazan universe, and it would have scored much lower if it weren't. However, it is an interesting addition to the universe, so if you're this invested it's a no-brainer to read.Just don't get your hopes up too high.- Sommer less

Download links for: Empuñapiedras

Advertising

Online stores:

Amazon

Copy in the library:

Find

Torrents:

Find

Links:

Reviews (see all)

Brit

This is another good, solid foray into the Malazan world. Much like Esslemont's other novels, the prose is not going to blow you away and there are some discrepancies between Erikson's novels (the feel and the characterization are just... different).But, if you are a Malazan fan this is a must read. There is lots of great info and backstory on Korel, Greymane, and the Crimson guard. And if you are addicted to these novels like I am, then every little nugget of information that SE and ICE give to the reader is priceless and brings you one step closer to understanding the Malazan World.One Complaint: I expected to lear a lot more about the Stormriders! I still have no idea where they came from, what their motivations are, or what they are? I hope SE or ICE delves into the Stormriders in a later book but it seems like their part of the books is over...

peaches

If you read the novels in sequence then Stonewielder comes after Toll the Hounds, which is the messiest and most dissatisfying of all of the Malazan books I've read so far. So having a solid structure that tells a complete story and some great characterisations makes SW one of the best in the series. The thing I liked the most about this book was it asks the question "what if the deity that inhabited the land was corrupted and evil" This foundation works well for the multi-thread storytelling style of the Malazan creators. There's wonderful imagery around the Storm Riders and their constant assault on the wall, and the action is well paced throughout the book. The temptation now is to read OST instead of finishing DoD/TCG

Katem73

O melhor livro do ICE até agora, ele finalmente encontrou a voz dele.

Deb

slow start. builds well. solid addition to Malazan franchise

JerSeaGal

Why is this as shared universe?

Write review