In Northern Genabackis, a raiding party of savage tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flatlands. Their intention is to wreak havoc amongst the despised lowlanders, but for the one named Karsa Orlong it marks the beginning of what will prove to be an extraordinary destiny.
            Some years later, it is the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs. Tavore, the Adjunct to the Empress, has arrived in the last remaining Malazan stronghold of Seven Cities. New to command, she must hone twelve thousand soldiers, mostly raw recruits but for a handful of veterans of Coltaine's legendary march, into a force capable of challenging the massed hordes of Sha'ik's Whirlwind who lie in wait in the heart of the Holy Desert.
But waiting is never easy. The seer's warlords are locked into a power struggle that threatens the very soul of the rebellion, while Sha'ik herself suffers, haunted by the knowledge of her nemesis: her own sister, Tavore.
            And so begins this awesome new chapter in Steven Erikson's acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen . . .

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Longtime fans may be surprised by the fourth book in Erikson's masterful fantasy epic that began with Gardens of the Moon (2004), because the long opening section follows a single character, the Teblor warrior Karsa Orlong, and his companions on a gory raid through enemy territory and into the human lowlands of Northern Genabackis. The time-hopping, perspective-shifting, looping story lines typical of this Canadian author return later, as Erikson ties Karsa's actions to the ultimate showdown between the forces of the Malazan Empire and Sha'ik's Army of the Apocalypse. Against a backdrop of brutal power struggles, the stubbornly determined Karsa is able to accomplish more than even he could have imagined. Unusual among fantasy writers, Erikson succeeds in making readers empathize equally with all sides involved in his world's vast, century-spanning conflict. Newcomers will eagerly seek out previous books in the series. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The fourth volume of the Malazan Book of the Fallen takes place some years after the death of the famous Seventh Army commander, Coltaine. Now Tavore, adjunct to the empress, is trying to assemble the army's surviving veterans and a ragtag collection of tribes, wanderers, and recruits into a viable fighting force. Not far away, the seer Sha'ik, Tavore's sister, is trying to organize a successful rebellion out of equally disparate elements, including warlords, sorcerers, and renegades. Despite a fairly complex array of subplots that support the rather dark tone of the story, it is the duel between the sisters and the abundantly detailed world Erikson has built that really carry the book. Indeed, with the help of the glossary and cast of characters Erikson provides, this book is enjoyable even without previous acquaintance with the Malazan tales. So it will please the already acquainted, and may inspire the unacquainted to read its predecessors, Gardens of the Moon (1999), Deadhouse Gates (2000), and Memories of Ice [BKL Ap 15 02]. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved