Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Toll the Hounds
Unavailable
Toll the Hounds
Unavailable
Toll the Hounds
Audiobook44 hours

Toll the Hounds

Written by Steven Erikson

Narrated by Michael Page

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

"Extraordinarily enjoyable.… Erikson is a master of lost and forgotten epochs, a weaver of ancient epics." -Salon

In Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that Love and Death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small, rotund man in the faded red waistcoat, discomfiture is not just because of the sun. All is not well. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city streets like fiends of shadow. Assassins skulk in alleyways, but the quarry has turned and the hunters become the hunted. Hidden hands pluck the strings of tyranny like a fell chorus. While the bards sing their tragic tales, somewhere in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds…and in the distant city of Black Coral, ruled by Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, ancient crimes awaken, intent on revenge. It seems Love and Death are indeed about to arrive…hand in hand, dancing.

A thrilling, harrowing novel of war, intrigue, and dark, uncontrollable magic, Toll the Hounds is the next chapter in Erikson's monumental series-epic fantasy at its most imaginative and storytelling at its most exciting.

"Truly epic in scope, Erikson has no peer when it comes to action and imagination, and joins the ranks of Tolkien and Donaldson in his mythic vision and perhaps then goes one better." -SF Site

"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 10, 2015
ISBN9781469225852
Unavailable
Toll the Hounds
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.

Related to Toll the Hounds

Related audiobooks

Fantasy For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Toll the Hounds

Rating: 4.182926904471544 out of 5 stars
4/5

492 ratings19 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The story heads back to Darujhistan focusing on the Malazans, Cutter, Kruppe, and Anomander Rake. Of course, many new characters too. While overall the story was great and story was brought together in the end, the first 1,000 pages were not very exciting to read. It had great moments with a lot of new and old characters, but there were occasional parts that I still don't see the point in except to make the book long. It even made some characters that I enjoyed in previous books, not enjoyable in this book. The ending was fantastic though. It really came together and is making the possible conclusion to this series very exciting. It is difficult to rate this book as it had a mixture of positive and negative elements.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I may be reading these too close together, which may be causing a certain amount of Malazan fatigue. On the other hand, I keep picking them up, so...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Erikson is a master at winding threads upon threads through and around each other. Complex motives, deeply emotional themes, and amazing characters are forced to find their way through a landscape torn by war, greed, selfish desire and horror. But there is always hope.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Erikson experimented somewhat with voice in this novel. At times the author strolled across the stage, in the guise of Kruppe, re-orienting the reader with Darujistan, and the places and situations Toll the Hound's characters experienced. I found this indulgent, and made me resolve to give Malazan a break. This book, more than any Malazan novel, made me feel as though there was a very nice 200 page novel hiding within this 1000 page doorstop. Though even then, the broader Malazan plots were advanced hardly at all, and I felt as though the story lines that kept me reading were barely finished by the end. Erikson's writing is really great, but nobody's writing is so great that it can survive successfully, as free from plot and character development, as I found Toll the Hounds. We all slavishly purchase the next novel and the next, but at some point Mr. Erikson and an editor have to visit the room of mirrors, and take a good look at what they are serving up as worthy of fans' consideration.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    pretty darn painful to get through. I almost enjoyed this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5

    As with many of the other books in this series, this is a better book upon the second reading. This is a bit too slow in sections but makes up for it with an extremely fast paced, hectic and extremely impressive final 100 pages where the story takes you from laughing out loud, to sadness to giggling with childing delight and back to sad again. The slow setup works, but at times it is slow going.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    All that momentum Erikson built with Memories of Ice (we'll ignore the non-entity that was House of Chains) Midnight Tides and The Bonehunters comes to a screeching halt here. Reaper's Gale already showed Erikson returning to his worst, reach exceeding grasp, and so it is again. Quite why much of this book needed to happen I don't know. I wonder, given the threads left hanging, if wasn't simply to set up his pal ICE... I really didn't see the need to return to Darujhistan, I've never much cared for the Andii (who simply seem to get in the way of a lot of the story, much like the Jaghut) and certainly don't give a toss about what's going on within Dragnipur (the whole storyline of which seemed an exercise in excess and editorial failing).It's not to say this is an awful book, I just wonder how much any of what happens here will impact the last two books, and whether (as it seems now) it isn't all just filler and fluff.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "Beware the Toll."It is said that Hood waits at the end of every plot, every scheme, each grandiose ambition. But this time it is different. This time the Lord of Death is there at the beginning. Darujhistan swelters in the summer heat and seethes with portents, rumors and whispers. Strangers have arrived, a murderer is abroad, past-tyrannies are stirring and assassins seem to be targeting the owners of K'rul's Bar. For the small, rotund man in the faded red waistcoat knows such events will be dwarfed by what is about to happen: for in the distance can be heard the baying of hounds. Far away, in Black Coral, the ruling Tiste Andii appear oblivious to the threat posed by the fast-growing cult of the Redeemer -- an honorable, once-mortal man who seems powerless against the twisted vision of his followers. So while Hood waits at the beginning of a conspiracy that will shake the cosmos, at its end there is another: Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness, has come to right an ancient and terrible wrong.Toll the Hounds is the Eight Tale of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. And boy are we in for a ride! As we close in on the grand finale of this epic series story threads are really coming together. Things hinted at from book one finally come to fruition here. Many characters we haven't seen in a couple books are back and it's both great and painful to catch up with them. There is a change in writing style where the two main story lines are told by different narrators, one of which is by one of the story's characters. I quite liked this as it provided a larger scope of how events affect the area around them from points of view normally not seen. It also added the character's touch of flare and poetry to those sections that were beautiful to read. Erikson has mastered how, in two or three pages, he can relate a small scene to greater events with such depth and detail that you almost come to care for a character that has no impact on the overall story.Erikson continues to weave humorous parts throughout the story to help lighten up what is otherwise a fairly dark book. This culminates in one scene I'd secretly been hoping to see but never imagined it would really happen. All I have to say is Iskarul Pust and Kruppe.My main criticism of the book is that it is very slow moving in parts. This does not make the book boring however. It is a slow build of 800 pages or so which, compare to earlier books that had small climaxes throughout, make this one feel like it plods along initially. But once it takes off hold on tight!As always, the book ends in a massive convergence, this time on a scale not previously seen so far. Many story lines are nicely tied up and we are left with several set ups for the ending to come.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The author has described this book as a cipher for the series as a whole. I believe it's a cipher in more ways than one. Take for example the choice of delegating narration to Kruppe - not all of the time, but frequently the narrator is using his voice. He speaks directly to us as readers, sometimes blatantly telling us how a scene is to be interpreted or that its intent is to make us look inside ourselves to find our own answers and responses. The intention isn't to place us into the story; rather, it's the case of a character breaking the fourth wall and speaking to us outside of the story's confines. The use of Kruppe here may be only an affectation, a less in-your-face means for Erikson to address us more directly than he habitually does. You can tell this novel's message lies close to his heart, and he wants there to be no mistaking what he has to say.In a sense this is the true successor to the original volume, "Gardens of the Moon" featuring a return to the city of Darujhistan. It's a refreshing change from the seventh volume and brings back many characters I've missed since the first and third books. If you've a soft spot for the Hounds of Shadow as I do and anticipated this title, you won't be disappointed. The plot presents its own ciphers, as many characters (especially the Tiste Andii) speak often about how pending events make them feel, but little about what those events will be until they happen. Reading the ending will tempt you to conduct a re-read in order to find all the clues, with your new understanding of the context of those thoughts. This may be suggesting there's a surprise ending in store for the series that will invite a re-read under a new perspective.'Cipher' as key also applies thematically, the word 'compassion' being frequently mentioned. A great deal of space in this volume is dedicated to interior monologue about the need for it (or hopelessness of it) - or rather, internal philosophizing: characters thinking very deep thoughts about their circumstances and their views on life and its travails. Every one of them speaks with brazen certainty, and many share a very pessimistic attitude - almost depressingly so - but frequently they contradict one another in the details or choice of metaphor. There is more variety of opinion among them than at first meets the casual eye, and I likely missed many of the subtleties. I've received what I anticipated from this eighth volume: something daring that emphasizes the unique qualities about this series against the backdrop of so many lacklustre template fantasy novels. As readers we are being prepared for more than just the typical final confrontation between good and evil. Something more is waiting to be brought full circle in the final two volumes. Erikson is aiming higher than surface-level entertainment (though that is always provided in spades); there are layers here, and how fulfilled this reading experience will make you feel depends on how deep you choose to look.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    “The more civilized a nation, the more conformed its population, until that civilization's last age arrives, when multiplicity wages war with conformity. The former grows ever wilder, ever more dysfunctional in its extremities; whilst the latter seeks to increase its measure of control, until such efforts acquire diabolical tyranny.'
    - Traveller”

    Finally. Finally I can allow myself to give five stars to one book of the malazan series. I liked all the previous books a lot, but I never got around to giving the full five stars.

    What was different this time? A lot. Some of my favorite characters (Rake! Envy!) are protagonists, sometimes even very important ones. Also, for the first time, we get a closer look at the society of the Andii, something I have been wanting to get since the first book.

    Also, the writing style has changed. For the first time, we have a narrator that talks like he is telling a story, a change that I enjoyed very much. The book also had a tighter emotional grip on me (Erikson, for gods sake, stop killing my favorite characters already!). Some changes in the style might not suit everyone, for example the frequent use of explicit curses. Personally, that did not bother me all too much, although sometimes they did not quite fit the situation.

    All in all, I enjoyed the book very much, especially since the finale begins 200 pages before the end of the book and just keeps going. I lost quite a few hours today to this book, and that is exactly what I needed.

    Consider these five stars reparations for all the previous four star ratings. The Series earned it.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Toll the Hounds!


    fuck! i haven't write a review in ages... still! i need to give this shit a try! god damn this shit its good! as some of y'all know and by some i mean 2... i've been re-reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen series! not only because its awesome... but also cuz i'm broke and i aint got no money for new shit! so suck it!!! here is my review:


    I know I joke a lot about world domination! the big ol' fantasy of me taking over and imposing my will over everything that lives in this sad ball of fucked up that we call our home planet... but deep down i have huge issues with tyranny! i think it be retarded! still! its fun to imagine my sexy self as Supreme Dominator! dressed all sexy, with a red cape and awesome leather clothes like Neo! giving some retarded orders from my Fuzzy Throne (its big and pink and fuzzy! just like my inner me!) screaming crazy shit like "i'll finish what y'all started!!! i'll end y'all holy wars!!!!!" guaaaaa! but again... those thoughts are there just for my own amusement! nothing serious!


    Then you start reading about the real Tyrants in Erickson's world! and you get sad and shit! i hate feeling sad! and i hate feeling shit! maybe Tyranny ain't as fun as i imagine... maybe all it does is spread misery all over the place... enter Kallor!!! that High King! cursed to rise and fall... damn it! i'm already feeling it! the "alfonso, nobody cares about what you think is "deep shit" from those nerdy fantasy books you read! shut up! shut up! shut up! nobody cares!!!!" but this time... this time a nerd will have it his way!!!! i will talk about Kallor! and you gonna like it!!!! fuck you!


    where was i? oh yeah! Kallor! he this dude who was into dominating people! cuz let's face it! its fun! tell me you dont wanna wear funky capes and sit in fuzzy thrones and i will think you crazy! so... back to Kallor! (i really wish i could stay focused on one subject!!! it will make so much sense!)
    [

    meh! i lost interest! maybe i'll come back and finish this review later! now i need to go and cook dinner!!!!


    y'all suck!!!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Toll the Hounds is (thankfully) the beginning of the end. Some threads are actually more or less wrapped up, a lot of disparate characters are finally brought together, and I can believe that everything will eventually come to some sort of conclusion.

    The ending is moderately poignant, and many of the characters are those that I like pretty well. The pacing is leisurely at best, though, and I feel like there was a lot here that could have been cut - Karsa's extended trip felt like pure filler to remind us how he ended up in the pivotal scene. Stonny's kid better end up saving the world, too, for all the pages devoted to the little brat.

    I think in hindsight this series will be recognized as entirely a product of its era. There is so, so much naked criticism of unregulated capitalism (which doesn't really make a ton of sense in mercantile-at-best Darujhistan, unlike the crafted-to-order Letherii Empire.) It's not that I disagree with it ideologically, it's that I get damned tired of the repeated interruptions for yet another sermon directed at the choir. This volume was particularly tedious in this regard.

    I liked this one fine, overall, but it wasn't a standout. I vaguely recall loathing the following one beyond any other, so I'm not super excited about rereading it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I found several things to enjoy about Toll the Hound, particularly a series of beautifully constructed chapters observed from the unique perspective of the deliciously enigmatic Kruppe, and a return to long neglected favorite characters from early books in the series. Having said that, I found this overall to be the weakest book of the superb Malazan Book of the Fallen series to date. Erikson’s narrative style has varied quite a bit from book to book in the series, and this one is squarely back in “myriad storylines which ever so slowly move towards a cataclysmic multi layered climax” mode. Chapters in this book alternate between Darujhistan and environs (as observed from Kruppe’s perspective) and Black Coral and environs (as observed, presumably, from Crone’s perspective). By my count there are a dizzying fifteen distinct stories going on here, and while several of them worked quite well for me (particularly the Torvold Nom storyline, the K’rul’s Bar storyline, Harlo’s tale, and the adventures of the Trygalle Trade Guild), Erikson never really sold me on other critical parts of the story (especially the Clip and Nimander group, The Redeemer and his pilgrims storyline, and the denizens of Dragnipur). In several cases I struggled to understand what was happening and why characters were doing what they were doing, and somehow this bothered me more in the eighth book of a series than it did in the first. Toll the Hounds never really built momentum for me, and is missing the intermediate peaks that released tension in the earlier books. Compared to earlier books Toll features far less action, nary a single military battle, and only hints of the stunning imagery that has made for the most compelling highlights of the series. Having said all that, even the weakest book of this phenomenal series offers plenty of things to admire. For me, the most impressive thing about this book was the poetry and architecture of the various Darujhistan chapters, many of which felt to me like miniature masterpieces, nimbly moving from tragedy to comedy, and from outrage at injustice to an acceptance of inevitability. I also enjoyed returning to locales and long neglected characters from both Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice. We learn what has happened to the various survivors (for whom many years have passed since we last saw them), and see the threads of their existence being pulled back together. We get a few new characters, some bad, some good, and as usual in this series most drawn in shades of grey. We also learn more about the backstory of the Tiste Andii. The fact that I had recently reread Gardens helped a lot; I would probably have been better prepared for this book if I had also recently re-read books Memories of Ice and House of Chains.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Being a fan of the series, this book was a disappointment. A slow, rambling account that only picked up pace in the last 100 pages or so (out of +- 1300).There was nothing wrong with the actual story. It was good with a lot of twists, surprises and major plot developments, especially towards the end. But, but, but:a) Verbosity found a new meaning in this book. There are pages and pages of endless, meaningless philosophising and musings about past event that add nothing to the story. Instead you have to plod through the dros until something of substance comes up. I had to force myself to continue reading when I reached the halfway mark. The book could easily have been half its length with some judicious editing.b) Erikson jumped between characters like a jack in the box. You barely figured out amid all the prose which character's POV you're now sharing, before he jumps to the next one. This completely eliminates continuety and makes it harder to identify with the characters.c) In his previous books, Erikson often used the macabre and select obscenities for morbid humour and comic relief. This time, however, almost every scene contained murder, abuse, sex or some kind of depravity without the saving grace of being funny. Instead it felt gratuitous. Or else everyone in the Malazan empire has lost touch with morality. In previous books, a veil of lighthearted humour covered the very serious underlying tone of the story. This time, it was a veil of despair/depravity.I will definitely read the next book in the series as the overall story remains interesting, but this was by far the worst installment in the series thus far.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book took a long time for me to read, because in the middle of it I was quite ill and didn't read much. In addition, it's structured as a multitude of apparently disparate story lines, often told in very short (1-3 paragraph) chunks before hopping to another story line; a style I particularly dislike.Despite that, this still gets 4.5 stars from me. Why? Because, yet again, Erikson has taken my expectations in a number of places and totally subverted them for one. For another, there are huge, massive plot developments and although at moments I was left wondering if they'd be properly handled, the pay-off (although delayed) was beautifully done and far, far more satisfying than I'd initially expected. Details are, of course, spoilers, so I'll spare them.I'm looking forward to the next book immensely.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    this series is totally amazing. cast of thousands, literally - and most of them on both sides of the endless battlefield are written beautifully small. here the bridgeburners become prominent again. reads like the beginning of Erikson's endgame, so a lot of quests come together, and a lot of different races do some surprising things, right across time. i seriously don't want this series to ever come to an end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you've read this far in the series, you should have no problems enjoying this book. It does start out rather slow (and continues for a while as such) as events proceed at a slow boil toward the Big Climax, which takes up the last 150 pages or so, and left me cursing left and right in amazement and disbelief.I wanted to give this book 4.5 stars (with a half knocked off for the slow pace) but really couldn't justify that rating; as awesome as the ending is, looking back, it's hard to say WHY events happened the way they did. That won't stop a diehard Malazan fan from loving this latest entry, however.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    (Spoiler Free) The eighth book in the series doesn't disappoint. I am continuously surprised that Steven Erikson has managed to keep the tempo of the series going over so many 1000 page books. In fact, he seems to be improving as an author and the increasing amount of humour in the books is very welcome (and very well done). The plot is now building towards the grand finale and we meet some of the prominent characters again - more backstory about some of them, see some others in new light, and meet some new interesting ones! Recommended, but only if you've read the first seven...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    As I have said before, every book in this series is a slough; however, the endings are well worth the effort. The world building for this series is epic with much starting to come together for unexpected consequences and sad outcomes. I look forward to finishing this series. Highly recommended for people who have patience for truly grand scale.